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Highway To Help
After five weeks, five and half thousand kilometres, and 40 regional town meetings attended by thousands of regional workers, the bright orange Rights at Work bus has finally come to rest.
Interview: Polar Eclipse
Academic David McKnight challenges some sacred cows in his new book "Beyond Left and Right".
Industrial: Wrong Turn
Radical labour reform is on the horizon but some workers, like Sydney bus driver Yvonne Carson, have seen it all before, writes Jim Marr.
Unions: Star Support
It wasn't just families who backed workers' rights at The Last Weekend, but a bunch of musicians who set the tone, writes Chrissy Layton.
Workplace: Checked Out
Glenda Kwek asks you to consider the plight of the retail worker, and shares some of her experiences
Economics: Sold Out
The Future Fund and industrial relations reform are favourite projects of the PM and the Treasurer. Both are speculations on the future and the only guarantee with them is that you will be worse off, writes Neale Towart.
Politics: Green Banned
The impact of new building industry laws won�t be confined to one industry, writes CFMEU national secretary John Sutton.
History: Potted History
Lithgow is a place with a proud history as a union town. The origins of broader community solidarity lie in the early industrial development of the town and the development of unions. The Lithgow Pottery dispute of 1890 was a key event.
International: Curtain Call
The curtains have opened for East Timor�s young theatre performers, thanks to a Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA project.
Review: Little Fish
At last! An Aussie film with substance, suspense and a serious dose of reality, writes Lucy Muirhead
Poetry: Slug A Worker
In a shock development, the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, gave a ringing endorsement to the poetry pages of Workers Online, writes resident bard David Peetz.
AWA Threat - Soy You Later
'Drama Queen' Court Out ... Again
Work Law Refugee Turns On Howard
Police Force Choice
Low Blow in �d Wars
Free Lunches to Cost Wal-Mart
Robbo in Swan Song
Howard Mines Pockets
Star Chamber Faces Eclipse
Mums Teach School a Lesson
Sleepless In Seattle
Safety Blitz After Accident
Mushroom Mum Gets Satisfaction
Builders Skirt Apprentice Claim
Howard Threatens Wage Umpire
Gunns Trained on Free Speech
Activists What�s On!
The Soapbox
Families First
New Senator Stephen Fielding turned a few heads with his Maiden Speech to Parliament. The Locker Room
The New World Order
Phil Doyle declares himself unavailable for the fifth and deciding test. Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite MP, Ian West, reports from the NSW Government's Safety Summit Postcard
On The Bus
A bright orange bus travelling the state has become the focus of the campaign against federal IR changes. Nathan Brown was on board.
Fair Play
Latham Lament
Missed the Mark
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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
Star Chamber Faces Eclipse
Malcolm Fraser is backing human rights legislation that would pull the rug out from the federal government�s building industry star chamber.
The proposed Human Rights Act would protect Australians from the possibility of prison for refusing to dob-in workmates over industrial issues.
Next month, Fraser, the ACTU's Greg Comet, legal luminary Elizabeth Evett AC and others will launch their push for new protections from the Federal Government's extreme social and economic agenda.
The union-busting Australian Building and Construction Commission will probably fall foul of their proposed law.
Earlier this month, CFMEU construction secretary John Sutton said Australian workers would, for the first time, be subjected to imprisonment for refusing to testify to the new Commission about workmates who take part in industrial action.
"All Australians should be concerned about these changes as the government has already made it clear they are the future blueprint for the whole workforce" Sutton said.
And, it would seem, Fraser's team agrees.
"If workers are forced to testify and possibly incriminate themselves, the Commission would fall foul of the Australian Human Rights Act," said Associate Professor Spencer Zifcak, who is in charge of drafting Fraser's proposed law.
Fraser, Combet, Evett, Zifcak and others are part of a group called New Matilda. It is motivated by the "inhumane" immigration policies and an increasing lack of accountability by the Government.
The new Act, which the group is drafting itself, seeks to protect rights in the workplace, as well as the right to vote, to a fair trial, to decent health services and education.
The campaign for a Human Rights Act will be launched at Sydney Town Hall, next week.
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Issue 282 contents
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