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Roosting Chooks
It wasn�t that long ago that John Howard was the great Conservative leader who wanted to remake Australia in his own image, defending the monarchy, beating up gay mums and attacking the ABC.
Interview: Australia@Work
Labor's Penny Wong has the job of getting more people into the workplace and keeping companies honest. In her spare time ....
Unions: State of the Union
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson unveils the annual survey of attitudes of workers to their jobs, thier lives and the union.
Industrial: Fashion Accessories
Jim Marr unpacks the unlikely claim of a suburban house to be considered the New Mecca of the New Right �
Legal: Leg Before Picket
Chris White looks at how the federal industrial changes will impact on the basic right to strike.
Politics: Business Welfare Brats
Neale Towart asks why the only form of legitmate welfare seems to be going to the top end of town.
Health: Cannabis Controversy
Zoe Reynolds looks at how drug and alcohol testing is leading to some addled outcomes.
Economics: Debt, Deficit, Downturn
As the indicators head south, Frank Stilwell wonders whether it is the way we do economics that is to blame.
History: Politics In The Pubs
Phil Doyle reports on the increasingly-popular Struggles, Scabs and Schooners day out.
Review: Three Bob's Worth
Doing their best Margaret and David, Tara de Boehmler and Tim Brunero have different takes on the new Australian flick Three Dollars.
Poetry: Do The Slowly Chokie
Workers Online bard David Peetz teaches how workers to dance to Howard's industrial laws.
Freedom From Choice
Hostile Takeover - Can Howard Do It?
Premier Sues Miners
Vanstone Shows Brickie�s Cleavage
Sparkies Refine Safety Tactics
Ten Cent Deal Cuts Beards
Kiwis Vote for Flight
Death Penalty No Deterrent
Costa Railroads Jobs
Greystanes Soiled
Aussies in Ivy league Battle
Drivers Shake the Cage
Employers Come Clean
Big Call in Newcastle
Bosses Back Gaol for Cowboys
Activist�s What�s On
The Soapbox
Notes From a Laneway
Mental Health Workers Alliance member Toby Raeburn shares a week on the frontline. The Locker Room
War, Plus The Shooting
The Socceroos aren�t their own worst enemy after all, or so says Phil Doyle Culture
Life Imitates Art
The jokes have been around for some time about the economic rationalist's approach to the orchestra, writes Evan Jones. Parliament
The Westie Wing
Ian West takes the secret passage out of Macquarie Street to deliver his take on NSW Parliamentary Committees and other goings on.
Adler Should Be Hung
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Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation
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News
Sparkies Refine Safety Tactics
A Brisbane Caltex refinery will provide fire blankets, fix safety showers and improve safety procedures after 400 workers struck for a week.
Staff at the Lytton facility identified seventy problems with safety procedure at the site.
The safety audit was prompted by a hydrogen fluoride gas leak last week which hospitalised 24 workers. The employees were rushed to hospital suffering breathing difficulties and skin rashes.
The staff were exposed to the deadly gas while working on an acid return line. Exposure to the gas can damage calcium in bones.
As well as distributing safety blankets to extinguish burning workers, the company will introduce remote alarms, and more gas detectors.
Caltex will also ensure emergency helicopters can land near emergency muster points and increase emergency training for staff.
ETU Queensland secretary, Dick Williams, said the dispute is a timely reminder of the risks inherent in John Howard's proposed industrial relations changes.
"Under his proposed changes.....workers will not be free to protect themselves in this way from renegade companies, especially petrochemical companies such as this, which ignore the safety of workers and the general community," Williams said.
During the dispute Williams had described the Caltex refinery as another Longford ESSO refinery explosion waiting to happen.
In September 1998 an explosion at ESSO's Longford gas plant killed two workers and injured eight others. Victoria coroner, Graeme Johnstone, later found ESSO was solely responsible for the disaster and tragedy.
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Issue 259 contents
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