E D I T O R I A L

Split Infinitives
As unions across Australia put up a united front against the Howard IR assault, events across the Pacific serve as a warning of what can happen when individuals start going one out.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Battle Stations
Opposition leader Kim Beazley says he's ready to fight for workers right. But come July 1, he'll have to be fighting by different rules.

Unions: The Workers, United
It was a group of rank and filers who took centre stage when workers rallied in Sydney's Town Hall, writes Jim Marr.

Politics: The Lost Weekend
The ALP had a hot date, they had arranged to meet on the Town Hall steps, and Phil Doyle was there.

Industrial: Truth or Dare
Seventeen ivory towered academics upset those who know what is best for us last week.

History: A Class Act
After reading a new book on class in Australia, Neale Towart is left wondering if it is possible to tie the term down.

Economics: The Numbers Game
Political economist Frank Stilwell offers a beginners guide to understanding budgets

International: Blonde Ambition
Sweden can be an inspiration to labour movements the world over, as it has had community unionism for over 100 years, creating a vibrant caring society, rather than a "productive" lean economy.

Training: The Trade Off
Next time you go looking for a skilled tradesman and can�t find one, blame an economist, writes John Sutton.

Review: Bore of the Worlds
An invincible enemy has people turning against one another as they fight for survival � its not just an eerie view of John Howard�s ideal workplace, writes Nathan Brown.

Poetry: The Beaters Medley
In solidarity with the workers of Australia, Sir Paul McCartney (with inspiration from his old friend John Lennon) has joined the Workers Online resident bard David Peetz to pen some hits about the government's proposed industrial relations revolution.

N E W S

Centrelink to Cheat Workers

Foot Soldiers Get Blisters

Feds to Lift Voting Age

Taskforce Plastered

Paint It Slack

Howzat!

Hadgkiss in Safety Failure

Freedom to Starve

Police And Thieves

Feds Make Asbestos Blue

Scabs Farewelled

Capital Idea Under Threat

Masterton Homes Crumbles

Activists Whats On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
State of the Union
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson lifts the lid on �The Nine Myths of Modern Unionism�

The Locker Room
Wrist Action
Phil Doyle trawls the murky depths of tawdry sleaze, and discovers Rugby is behind it all.

Culture
To Hew The Coal That Lies Below
Phil Doyle reviews Australia's first coal mining novel, Black Diamonds and Dust.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite State MP, Ian West, reports from Macquarie Street that the Premier is all the way with a State Commission.

L E T T E R S

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Activists Whats On!

G8 protests > eyewitness report

Jim Casey, sydney activist and firefighter, has just returned from Scotland where he participated in the huge mass mobilisations at the G8 summitt. He will give an eyewitness report on the protests and show video footage of the direct actions in the fields and streets of the scottish lowlands around Gleneagles.

7-8.30 pm, Tuesday, July 26

(upstairs) Gaelic Club

64 Devonshire St, Surry Hills

(close to the Central Station tunnel)

All Welcome : Entry by Donation

The forum will be preceded at 6.00pm by the regular 30A Network organising meeting, which is planning protests at the Global CEO confererence to be held at the Sydney Opera House on August 30. www.30a.org

Sneak Previews of Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis� political thriller

June 28, 2005: Union Aid Abroad � APHEDA and the Sydney Social Forum (SFF) proudly present advance screenings of the compelling new documentary The Take, a film by Avi Lewis and best-selling author Naomi Klein (No Logo), at the Chauvel Cinema on Thursday 14 July and Friday 15 July. Canadian director, Avi Lewis will present a Q&A after each screening.

Life Without Unions - The New Reality?

The NSW Fabio Society is conducting this forum with:

Greg Combet, Secretary ACTU

Heather Ridout, CEO AIG

When: Wednesday 20 July from 6.00pm - 7.30pm

Where: LHMU Auditorium, 187 Thomas Street, Haymarket

Free

Chair: Peter Lewis, Editor Workers Online and Director EMC

Member of the NSW Fabian Society

Forthcoming Fabian Society Forums

August: Israel & Palestine

With: Speakers to be advised

When: Wednesday 24 August from 6.00pm to 7.30pm

Where: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe

September: Media Reform

With: Andy Nehl & Julianne Schultz

When: Wednesday 21 September from 6.00pm to 7.30pm

Where: Theatrette NSW Parliament House

October: One Year Down &. Two to Go - Can Labor Win in 2007?

With: John Singleton & others TBA

When: Wednesday 19 October from 6.00pm to 7.30pm

Where: NSW Parliament House

The Wages of Spin

From the company behind the smash hit stage production of the

"Children Overboard" Inquiry, CMI: version 1.0 presents

The Wages of Spin

Does it matter we went to war on a lie?

Canberra: July 20 - 30

> "You went abroad in our name on a just cause.... Thank you from Australia." - John Howard

> "Nobody knows, nobody has asked and nobody even tries to establish what the level of casualties might be. That is true, isn't it?" - Senator John Faulkner, Senate Estimates Committee

> There is no point in producing information that may be misleading or unhelpful." - Defence Minister, Senator Robert Hill, in response.

Last year Sydney's version 1.0 went overboard with its surreal and gut-wrenching CMI (A Certain Maritime Incident), taking the transcript of the Senate's "Children Overboard" Inquiry as a performance text. Now the company has turned its attention to the war on Iraq, and the fabricated (and shifting) justifications for it, with a new show, The Wages of Spin (Performance Space, May 20 - June 5).

The Wages of Spin is political theatre, version 1.0 style - playful, surreal, visceral and tragic, with no easy answers. There may be casualties. There certainly will be liberties taken with the found texts. So, in the words of a thousand arts journos and a thousand PR hacks, what can the audience expect to see? Expect to see kittens in gift-wrapped boxes, flag gags, fake blood, shock-and-awe slapstick and Benny Hill-esque puns about weapons of mass destruction. Expect to laugh... until you're confronted with the horrors of POW interrogations. Expect to see some serious grappling with the horrific possibility that the Right may have been right... the war may have been a good thing.

The Wages of Spin plays to Canberra's political elites at The Street Theatre (July 20 -30). Bookings: 02 6247 1223.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Artists Performer/Devisers: Stephen Klinder, Deborah Pollard & David Williams Dramaturgy: Paul Dwyer Outside Eye: Yana Taylor Lighting: Simon Wise Video: Sean Bacon Sound: Gail Priest Producer: Harley Stumm

Canberra The Street Theatre, Cnr Childers St & University Ave. July 20 - 30 (Tue - Sat 8pm + 2pm matinee, Sat 30th) Tix $29/24. Bookings: 02 6247 1223

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Workers rights union rights your rights

2-5 PM Saturday 18 June 2005

Tom Mann Theatre

136 Chalmers St Surry Hills

Public Forum

Speakers include

Mark Lennon Unions NSW

Sally McManus ASU

Andrew Ferguson CFMEU

Doug Cameron AMWU

Kerry Nettle NSW Greens Senator

Garry Moore NCOSS

Robert Coombs MUA

Derrick Belan NUW

Lee Rhiannon NSW Greens MLC

When the Coalition takes control of the Senate in July Prime Minister John Howard will introduce industrial relations laws that will increase the burden on working people and the wider community.

The Greens are helping unions to mobilise support for decent working conditions and an industrial relations system that recognises the rights of working people to organise and to strike.

All welcome

Lee Rhiannon MLC

www.lee.greens.org.au

The Past is Before Us

The Ninth National Labour History Conference will be held at the Holme Building, University of Sydney from Thursday 30th June until Saturday 2nd July. Over 100 presentations of papers, films, and an exhibition from Unions NSW and the Noel Butlin Archive. Meredith Burgmann, MLC, President of the NSW Legislative Council will officially open the conference. The Conference dinner at NSW Parliament. For more information go to the conference home page

The conference program is up on the website - http://asslh.econ.usyd.edu.au/program.htm

Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA Study Tour

Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA is inviting applications for of East Timor a study tour between July 17th and 24th. The ideal participant will be active in the Australian trade union movement, deeply committed to international solidarity, and keen to investigate the effectiveness of APHEDA projects in East Timor. An ability to have fun and enjoy warm weather is also a must!

The cost of the study tour is $2,050 which includes airfare ex-Darwin, accommodation, in-country transport, interpreter services, breakfasts and the study tour itself. For more information about contact Thomas Michel (02) 9264 9343, 0410 814 360

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005