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Issue No. 293 | 20 December 2005 |
Waves of Destruction
Interview: Back to the Future Unions: A Real Page Turner Industrial: The Pin-Striped Union International: Around The World In 365 Days Legends: Terrific, Tommy Your Rights At Work: Worth Fighting For Politics: The Year That Was Economics: Master and Servant Revisited Culture: 2005: The Year of Living Repetitively Bad Boss: The Bottom Ten Religion: Hymns from a Different Song Sheet
Harper's Bizarre Excuse for Failure Workers Walk As Warnings Wiped Professionals Fear for Their Kids
Predictions The Soapbox Parliament The Locker Room Postcard
Free to Rat Tax Cuts and Cockroaches Proportion, Not Distortion Corp That!
Labor Council of NSW |
News Boeing Steals Christmas
Australian Workers Union Newcastle Secretary Kevin Maher said three Boeing managers were caught off guard in an Industrial Relations Commission hearing when pushed on why collective agreements would be detrimental to the company's interests. "It was crystal clear that it's not for any other reason than a philosophical one," Maher said. The dispute has seen workers spend more than 200 days camped outside Boeing's site at Williamtown, just outside Newcastle. "We didn't expect to be here at Christmas, but we didn't expect to be here 203 days either," striking worker Adam Burgoyne said. "It's just plain arrogance." He said the onus was on John Howard or Kevin Andrews to end the dispute by "making a phone call" to put the matter to arbitration. Burgoyne said the workers were in "high spirits" and would stay on the line for another 200 days if they had to. "Our motto has always been one day longer than Boeing and it will continue to be," Burgoyne said. AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten said Boeing's workers at Newcastle were paid about $20,000 less than people with the same skills in other parts of Australia. "Through our current enterprise bargaining negotiations with Qantas, we know that Qantas aircraft maintenance engineers are paid $20,000 more than our members at Boeing Williamtown, and equivalent employees at Hawker De Havilland are earning roughly the same as at Qantas," Shorten said. To make a donation to the Boeing boys contact the AWU's Newcastle office on (02) 4967 1155.
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