***
The Australian Mines and Metals Association is a laugh a minute crowd.
They recently held their annual powwow in the shadow of the Tasmanian state election; in Launceston to be precise.
While Howard's new workplace laws fill nine out of ten Australians with feelings ranging from nausea to revulsion, the suits at the AMMA who like to pass themselves off as if they actually do something productive, accused WorkChoices of being too soft.
No doubt looking nostalgically to the age when they could send a nine year old down a pit, and obviously unhappy they haven't killed as many people as they'd like, the AMMA, led by their fearless leader Steve Knott, called on the so-called WorkChoices to be toughened up.
The AMMA is working on an "alternative model" for employee relations in Australia believing Work Choices has not gone far enough.
It remains unclear whether compulsory servings of gruel, floggings or serving up the lives of the firstborn are what Serious Steve has in mind.
Apparently euthanasia is part of the solution; or, more specifically, euthanasing the award system. This system is constantly eroding profits because these miners, tinkers, pederasts and sundry odd job men of the stellar right are constantly forced to have to pay people. Slavery would provide them with the flexibility they have long desired. That, and other agendas that make Dr Evil look like a Civil Rights Activist.
The award system itself should be "euthanased", Knott told the slavering mass. "The award system is limping along like a wounded dog; and needs to be put down." He told the gregarious mix of the mad, the bad and the clinically insane.
Maybe not a wounded dog, but old Knotty does a fair impersonation of a mad dog, illustrating his sophisticated understanding of just what this industrial relations debate is about, by presenting an overhead projection of a picture of a startled Chimpanzee as an example of the ALP's reaction to workchoices.
Given that Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon is about to be returned on the back of a re-election strategy of nailing his flag to the Your Rights At Work campaign, despite showing a public policy sophistication seldom seen outside of Djibouti or Sierra Leone, our Tool Of The Week exhibits a subtle genius in insisting his policy is a prescription for popular renewal.
It immediately became apparent to everyone outside of Knott's asylum that the only thing close to being euthanased was this drongo's credibility.
Knott said his crew is working on a paper 'Beyond Enterprise Bargaining', also known by its working title Arbeicht Macht Frie.
Knott is another in a litany of sad, sorry individuals who are ensuring that Howard is losing this industrial relations war. Sure, he may win a few battles, but with peanuts like Knott in his saddlebag it is inevitable that this policy will one day be little more than bleached bones in the desert.
Besides, if Knott thinks that euthanasia is a solution he may want to start with the bloke he looks at in the mirror each morning.
Corporate law firm, Freehills, has been contracted to track down blue collar workers who objected to �fleapit� conditions and prosecute them in court.
Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, has endorsed the campaign to secure up to $1.5 million in fines against AMWU members who struck to improve Outback living conditions.
A spokesman for the Minister endorsed the prosecutions and promised similar actions "would be pursued across the country".
The cases, alleging breaches of the federal Workplace Relations Act, stem from action by around 70 people, last year, over inhabitable living conditions at Moranbah, central Queensland.
AMWU members stopped work for three days but returned, after securing improvements, to complete maintenance on a dragline for a nearby coal mine.
Maryborough father of two, Charles Palazzi, told Brisbane's Courier Mail of the situation that confronted him and his colleagues when they arrived.
"There were feral cats everywhere, some of the boys had fleas in their rooms and all you could smell was sewage," he said.
"The standards we were living in out there - prisoners and illegal immigrants, they don't get those standards. If you can't stand up and say 'this is no good' whithout being fined, what is going on?"
Mr Palazzi said he had a wife, two young children and a mortgage, and the fine being sought by the federal government would cripple his family.
AMWU state secretary, Andrew Dettmer, says the prosecutions are political.
They are not being pursued by the Gladstone-based contractor that employed the maintenance crew, Eagles Engineering.
"This is John Howard's war on workers gone mad," Dettmer said. "Now he is telling Australians that if they refuse to live in vermin-infested accommodation, they will be pursued and taken to court.
"The place was fleapit."
Dettmer said it would be a classic David-Goliath confrontation because most members couldn't afford a lawyer, much less Melbourne's dearest.
In the federal court, last week, government lawyers were given more time to track down people who had tried to improve their living conditions.
It followed the issue of 30-page subpoenas on about a dozen Moranbah survivors, an AMWU organiser and the union.
It is understood the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations is seeking fines of up to $18,000 against individuals and $100,000 against their union, if prosecutions are successful.
�He said he was going to smash my 'maggot head' and kill me,� said worried union organiser David Bibo.
"He's demonstrated he's a volatile individual in the past."
The alleged threats followed reports that a hospitality worker had been kidnapped after complaining to the Department of Immigration about guest workers being abused by Canberra employers.
Bibo backed claims by ACT Senator Kate Lundy that Margarito "Gary" Sorrosa had complained to the Immigration Department about the abuse, contradicting the federal department's assertion that it had no knowledge of such incidents.
Despite Immigration Department claims that Sorrosa never spoke to it, a witness who has been in the Canberra hospitality industry for years, supports Sarrosa's version, even naming the Immigration official he spoke to.
Sorrosa alleges, three days after making his complaint to Immigration in October last year, five men arrived at his house, forced him into a car and drove him to Sydney International Airport.
On the way, they were stopped by NSW police near Mittagong because the driver was speeding. Sorrosa told the police he had been abducted and one of the officers reportedly drew his gun before handcuffing one of the men.
ACT Labor Senator Kate Lundy understands the matter was referred to Australian Federal Police and has asked for a briefing from AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty.
ACTU president Sharan Burrow called for an immediate inquiry into the skilled migrant visa program.
Department of Immigration figures released this week show 1000 people a week arriving in Western Australia alone on temporary working visas, which unions claim is creating a slave trade that will lower wages and standards.
An Immigration Department spokesman rejected the suggestion, saying the program was professionally and competently run.
Immigration expert Bob Kinnaird says some of the skilled migrants, most of whom were tradesmen, accepted very low pay in the hope of being sponsored by their employer for permanent residency when their four-year visa expired.
He also warned that authorities, who are desperate to help fill the skills shortage, sometimes issued the subclass visas, known as 457 visas, to poorly qualified tradesmen.
Secrecy underpins the terms of guest labour visas and Australian Workplace Agreements. They come together at South Australian meatworks where the terms of thousands of workers, including hundreds of imported Asian labourers, are kept secret, by law.
The focal point is Naracoorte, where industry giant, Teys Bros, has locked out 20 locals for choosing not to sign pattern AWAs that strip their rights to an Australia Day holiday and reduce annual leave and overtime entitlements.
One locked out member of the Meat Workers Union discovered that when he reverted to the safety net award, his hourly rate was higher than on the Teys AWA.
While union members are locked out, Teys employs 20 imported Chinese guest workers on temporary Section 457 Visas.
At the state's biggest abattoir, Murray Bridge, around 200 of the 750 strong workforce are "guests" from Asia, employed on AWAs.
Meat Workers Union state secretary, Graham Smith, says the widespread use of guest labour is an "absolute rort", costing locals wages, condition and jobs.
He says the Murray Bridge region has the highest unemployment rate in South Australia, after being rocked by last year's Clipsal shutdown.
And, he says, government-enforced secrecy is preventing an informed debate.
Government policy decrees that holders of four-year Section 457 visas must receive $39,100 per year, irrespective of existing agreements or going rates.
But, that doesn't apply to regional Australia, where no earnings floor has been prescribed.
"Get this," Smith says, "for the purposes of these visas, the whole of South Australia, including downtown Adelaide, is a regional area.
"We have got no idea what these people are earning, or their minimum conditions, and nor has the public.
"AWAs are secret and so, in regional Australia, are the minimum terms for guest workers."
Regional applications for Section 457 Visas are triggered by endorsements from local Chambers of Commerce.
Theoretically, according to government and Immigration Department spin, they are only issued if skills cannot be sourced locally.
But, Smith says, Naracoorte and Murray Bridge prove that claim is "rubbish".
"There are not 200 skilled positions at the Murray Bridge Abattoir. At best, if these positions were all genuine there would not be a skilled Australian worker in the place and that is certainly not the case.
"As for Naracoorte. The guest workers are labourers but, it doesn't matter how you paint it, you can't claim to be affected by a skills shortage when you turn around and lock out your skilled workers."
The Meat Workers Union is expected to challenge the legality of the Naracoorte lockout.
Webcke Uses Fend
Meanwhile, Brisbane Broncos star and Teys Bros spruiker, Shane Webcke, has distanced himself from the company's behaviour at Naracoorte.
The Kangaroo prop features on the Teys Bros website, promoting the company as an employer offering "top-notch training", a "promising career path" and "good money".
"In no way have I endorsed Teys Bros or any of their employment practises," Webcke told Workers Online.
"They were offering local people jobs and skills training at their plant in Rocky (Rockhampton) and that's why I allowed myself to get involved.
"I grew up in regional Australia and I am all for local people getting local jobs, that's why I was happy to do it, but the relationship is over now."
On the issue of Australia Day, Webcke said he thought Australians got too many public holidays.
AMWU members at Hastings Deering, Townsville, are celebrating the banning of Clifford Buckby, following an Industrial Relations Commission conference, last week.
"He has been barred from the workshop and driving around the site," AMWU organiser and former Hastings Deering delegate, Rick Finch, reported.
"The guys are relieved he can't interact with our workshop people. That's what they wanted."
Workers Online understands the compromise settlement restricts Buckby to the carpark, office and spare parts department , and, requires the company to notify the delegate whenever Buckby is on the premises.
The action stemmed from an incident in October, 2003, in which Buckby drove his vehicle at workers seeking an improved enterprise bargaining agreement.
AMWU member, Andrew Burton, was forced to cling onto the bulbar of Buckby's landcruiser. Witnesses say the earth moving contractor drove another 30 metres with Burton attached.
One hundred angry unionists demanded that he be barred from their workplace as a health and safety risk but Hastings Deering said it would take no action until legal processes were exhausted.
On December 20, last year, Buckby was found guilty of dangerous driving by magistrate, Laurie Vera.
Mr Vera said he was satisfied Buckby had exposed picketers to real danger.
However, when employees sought action against him, Hastings again refused.
They backed their concern with a mass petition and the commission action.
"People are still angry about his behaviour," Finch said. "We were acting in support of our EBA when he drove his four-wheel drive at picketers.
"It was the only piece of bad feeling during the dispute. People were always happy to work on his equipment and deal with his people but they didn't want him in the workshop."
�It was only because of the good work of local rail workers on their OH&S committee that this contamination was identified and now is finally being dealt with,� says NSW Rail Tram and Bus Union secretary Nick Lewocki.
WorkCover is now conducting an asbestos audit of RailCorp facilities after a second railway station booking office, in as many weeks, has been found to contain asbestos during maintenance works.
Edgecliff booking office was closed this week, while Eastwood booking office was closed last Friday. Since then the ceiling, containing asbestos, collapsed this week.
The RTBU is calling on the NSW Government to immediately take action to guarantee rail workers are not being unwittingly subjected to asbestos poisoning across its City Rail network.
The RTBU is awaiting the release of RailCorp's asbestos register that should detail the extent of asbestos throughout the system.
"The RTBU wants the Government to establish and Occupational Health and Safety Oversight Committee to implement the recommendation to come out of the WorkCover audit," says Lewocki. "The NSW Government must act immediately to guarantee the safety of rail workers and the public.
"The RTBU is calling on the Government to instruct WorkCover NSW to conduct an audit of all City Rail Stations and work locations to identify any potential hazards associated with asbestos.
"This is further evidence that management has taken their eye off the ball in relation to providing not only a safe work environment for rail workers but also a safe transport system for the NSW public."
This year's tour features an expanded itinerary, running from the end of May to late July and taking in more regional centres, including Tweed Heads, Glen Innes, Broken Hill and Cobar.
"Bloody brilliant," was the reaction of Phil Shannon from Glen Innes upon hearing the news.
"We'll be getting people in from Inverell and Tenterfield as well. We should get a fair crowd."
Shannon, an employee of Country Energy, has been active in setting up a grassroots committee in the Northern Tablelands town, said news of the bus coming back to the community would be warmly welcomed by locals.
Last October Shannon and other workers from the local Country Energy depot were surprised and excited when the bus pulled up on its way to Armidale for an all too brief visit.
Country Energy workers spontaneously decided to follow the bus down to Armidale, a distance of over 100 kilometres, in order to attend the scheduled lunchtime meeting there.
This time they will have a meeting in their own town where the local community will hear about the next stage in the campaign to get rid of the unpopular WorkChoices legislation.
Glen Innes was one of many communities that had a large turnout during the November 15 National day of Action.
Starting in late May this year's tour will consist of five legs, covering the South, North Coast, North West, West and South West of the state.
The artwork, featuring a chained kangaroo and koala being herded by a whip-wielding boss, is presented in the unique style of the famed artist, musician and designer. The words "Zero Tolerance For Industrial Relations Changes: Just say No" frame the picture.
The offer has been warmly received by Unions NSW secretary John Robertson, himself a keen aficionado of the surf culture synonymous with Mombassa's work.
The designs will also be used on T Shirts produced by Unions NSW
Mombassa, real name Chris O'Doherty, will have his work featured at the Damien Minton Gallery, 61-63 Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, from March 25, along with five other artists, with works celebrating the landscape of the west Macdonnell ranges, following a painting exhibition in October last year.
United Airlines plans to hire two non-union contractors to handle reservation calls and airport work in Australia. It also plans to outsource call centre services to TeleTech Holdings Inc. of Englewood, Colorado, to provide the call center services starting in June and Millers Point, Australia-based Patrick Corp. to provide bag handling and other airport ramp work, UAL said in a statement yesterday.
The plan is part of the move to cut $7 billion in annual costs by 2010. The airline, based in Elk Grove, Illinois, only exited bankruptcy last year.
The Australian Services Union Assistant National Secretary Linda White issued a list of demands to management at United Airlines and gave them until midday, Tuesday to withdraw its plans.
The ASU's Michael Flinn said United's plan would see only 20 current workers remain employed.
Workers want guarantees that there will be no limits on redundancy entitlements for those who leave, and that current working conditions will be kept for those who stay, he said.
Mr Flinn said the workers will consider strike action if the conditions are not met by Tuesday, and they will also be refusing to do overtime until then.
"What that means is that if they reach the end of their shift and passengers have not been checked-in, then they will not proceed to check the rest of that flight in," he said.
Devandar Naidu had a career-debilitating nervous breakdown after being subjected to all sorts of abuse while working at News Ltd sites around Sydney.
The NSW Supreme Court heard News Ltd's Fire and Security Manager, Lance Chaloner, called the Fijian, "coconut head", "monkey face" and "black c---".
Justice Michael Adams described the abuse as "extraordinary".
Over the four years they worked together, Chaloner would kick Naidu's chair out from under him, throw tantrums and force Naidu to work more than three hours after his shift without pay.
When Naidu went on a holiday to Fiji, Chaloner required him to ring in each day. When he returned, Chaloner forced him to do manual work in Chaloner's home.
News Ltd was ordered to pay $2 million in compensation, and Naidu's former employer Group 4 Securitasto pay $1.7 million.
Unions NSW OHS Officer Mary Yaager said the payout would set a precedent for a lot of other cases.
"It shows what can happen if employers don't have strategies in place to stop workplace abuse," Yaager said.
Yaager said using Unions NSW's Dignity and Respect in the Workplace Charter was one way to get the ball rolling on curbing bullying.
Workers Online understands Naidu had a nervous breakdown and is unlikely to work again.
Contract employees for Energex held two stop work meetings last week to draw attention to new contracts, which have unqualified workers cutting trees touching live 11,000 volt power lines.
Electrical Trades Union Queensland Deputy Secretary Paul Simpson said these "vegetation contracts" put at risk the lives of workers and the public.
"It's only a matter of time until some poor bastard dies," Simpson said.
Simpson said the Electrical Safety Office and the Queensland Government needed to act immediately.
Audits in the past two days have found dangerous trees in South Brisbane, Capalaba and most recently, outside the West End State School, all of which pose grave dangers to the public.
Simpson said Energex was using the unqualified workers to drive down wages.
"(The contracts do) not allow for industry-standard rates of pay and conditions and encourages unscrupulous employers to undermine long established wages, conditions and safety standards."
McDonald's workers will be joining a protest at Britomart at 1pm this Saturday that will march up to Myers Park to join the "Big Pay Out" free concert. The concert includes 8 Foot Sativa, Stylus, Olmecha Supreme, Shona Laing and Geneva.
Fast food workers campaign group, SupersizeMyPay.com, has pressured McDonald's into paying all workers the new minimum wage three weeks early despite previous threats that it would only pay it to non-union members, a move the workers union, Unite, claimed was intended to break the union.
McDonald's reversed its position after Unite filed legal papers before the Employment Relations Authority two weeks ago claiming McDonald's was actively acting in bad faith during negotiations.
McDonald's has since backed down, saying they are now "committed to treating all crew on a similar basis" and would give union members the same pay increase that it had given to non-union members.
"McDonald's says they are paying union members now because they don't want to discriminate against workers - but that is a bunch of lies," said Hene Moeke, 18, shift supervisor from Pt Chevalier McDonalds, who had served the company with the legal documents on behalf of her workmates two weeks ago. "Why did it take them so long? They are only going to pay us now because they are scared of us - a bunch of low paid workers who have decided to stand up for ourselves.
The pay rise is separate to ongoing wage negotiations, which were called off after the McDonald's advocate, Mr. Tony Teasdale, allegedly assaulted an Australian journalist who was filming in the foyer of the Teasdale Associates.
Mr McCarten said that without provocation or warning Mr. Teesdale rushed into the foyer and physically attacked the journalist and wrestled her camera off her resulting on lacerations to her fingers.
"Despite several requests for the return of the equipment Mr. Teesdale refused. Therefore the meeting was abandoned. The camera was later returned without the film," he said.
A complaint will be lodged with the police and the union is taking legal advice about whether to pursue this matter. The journalist does not work for the union.
An international email campaign to get McDonalds to pay decent wages in New Zealand has been launched by international union website, labourStart. For more information click here:
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/
Alcan Alumium joined several unions in seeking registration of a three-year document that provides annual five percent wage increases and rolls over all existing conditions.
"It (Alcan) enabled us to get the document in front of the Commission the day after we finished negotiating," AMWU Territory organiser, Jamie Robertson, reported. "A lot of families will have their living standards protected for another three years.
"Alcan wasn't interested in playing politics, it just wanted to get on with the job."
The Alcan attitude contrasts with that of some employers who are holding out on negotiations in the hopes of using new laws to cut wages or claw back conditions.
Large companies, including Qantas, have indicated they will use severe restrictions on workers' rights to slash overtime and other conditions.
At least one Melbourne company has flagged its intention to rip hundreds of dollars out of weekly pay packets.
The federal government is still drafting regulations that will underpin the new regime but it is expected to become effective within the next four weeks.
Robertson pointed out that the Gove EBA hadn't been due to expire until the end of the year.
He called the development "very encouraging".
"People in the Territory are very concerned about Work Choices. This is a sign that with good will, and a bit of vision, it doesn't have to mean conflict," Robertson said.
.
In sentencing a man to 17 years for murdering his wife, Justice Betty King said overwork had been a contributing factor.
Paul Jason Margach stabbed his wife to death in front of their eight-year-old daughter, after he suspected his spouse was having an affair.
"What was occurring was a suburban tragedy, a tragedy for all concerned - your wife, her family, your daughters, your friends and family, and also you," the Judge said.
Noting Margach's ambitions to climb the corporate ladder, Justice King said bosses had to assess the pressure they placed on employees.
"Or there will be more and more people unable to cope with the combination of high pressure of working long hours for no more benefit than to retain their jobs, the pressure of family and saving for ... retirement from your early 30s," she said.
"(These people could) explode, often over something small, and their anger overtakes them and, as can be seen, the consequences can be totally devastating."
Justice King said Margach had been diagnosed as suffering a major depressive disorder.
Victorian Trades and Labor Council OHS Officer Renata Musolino said the incident could be seen as a tragic example of the results of corporate culture.
3rd Anniversary of war in Iraq
March and Rally for Peace and Justice for the Iraqi people
Saturday 18th March starting at 1pm at Belmore Park
Organised by the Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition and the Sydney Stop The War Coalition
More info at www.nswpeace.org
John Howard: 10 Years On
It is now 10 years since John Howard was first elected as Australia's Prime Minister.
This forum will consider the Howard Government's 10 years in power and the impact it has had on Australia.
With:
Julia Gillard MP, Shadow Health Minister
Gerard Henderson, columnist with the Sydney Morning Herald
Judith Brett, Author
When: Wednesday 22 March from 6.00pm to 7.30pm
Where: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
Cost: Free
Chair: Senator John Faulkner, President of the NSW Fabian Society
"GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK"
The Katoomba Branch of the ALP presents the Oscar-nominated story of CBS journalist Edward R Murrow, who took on the malevolent power of muckrating Senator Joseph McCarty. In a climate of fear, Murrow and his dedicated staff defied corporate and sponsorship pressure to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'.
Newsweek has called it 'a passionate, serious, impeccably crafted move tackling a subject Clooney cares about deeply: the duty of journalism to speak the truth to power.'
Written and Directed by George Cloonet. Starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, george clooney, Jeff Daniles, Robert Downey Jr and Frank Lagella.
Introduced by Roger Milliss with champagne supper and discussion.
At MT VIC FLICKS
7.30 pm - Thursday 30 March
Bookings essential - Tickets $20/$15 concession
Available from Megalong Books & Mt Vic Flicks
Or phone 0401 369 935 or 4782 3429
Email: [email protected]
A fundraiser for Katoomba ALP
"We cannot defence freedom abroad by deserting it at home." Edward R Murrow
APHEDA VICTORIAN ACTIVISTS MEETING
Tue 4th April, 6.30 PM.
The first meeting of the Victorian Activist Group will be held 6.30 PM,
Tuesday 4th April 2006. Meeting Room 9, Community & Public Sector Union
(CPSU), 11th Floor, 575 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Light refreshments will be
provided. RSVP to [email protected] by Monday 3rd April.
The Activist network enables members and supporters to meet and share
recourses locally as they support Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's overseas
projects and campaigns.
Palm Sunday
Ecumenical service March and Rally
Sunday 9th April, 1pm at Prince Albert Park Parramatta, finishing at Parramatta Town Square
Organised by the Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition
More info at www.nswpeace.org
APHEDA MELBOURNE MOVIE FUNDRAISER
Thu 20th April, 6.30 PM
Make it a date to remember!
Join Melbourne members and supporters at the Cinema Nova for a night of film
and fundraising. Raising much needed dollars for Union Aid Abroad-APEHDA's
overseas projects, tickets are just $20/$15 to see the Academy Award
nominated film Tsotsi in it's first week of release (see below for movie
blurb). Thursday 20th April 6.30 PM at the Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon Street
Carlton.
Contact Steve Mullins for bookings (payment MUST be made before the night)
Mobile: 0413021412 [email protected]
Tsotsi - (m) nominated for Academy Best Foreign Language Film
Set amidst the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto - where survival is
the primary objective - Tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless
young gang leader who ends up caring for a baby accidentally kidnapped
during a car-jacking. Tsotsi is a gritty and moving portrait of an angry
young man living in a state of extreme urban deprivation. His world pumps
with the raw energy of Kwaito Music - the modern beat of the ghetto that
reflects his troubled state of mind.
The film is a psychological thriller in which the protagonist is compelled
to confront his own brutal nature and face the consequences of his actions.
It puts a human face on both the victims and the perpetrators of violent
crime and is ultimately a story of hope and a triumph of love over rage.
Winner, 2005 Toronto Film Festival, People's Choice Award
STRUGGLES, SCABS + SCHOONERS is BACK
29th April 2006 from 1:30pm.
This year it is all about the history - and ongoing battles - of working class women. Join us for stories, memories, hope, singing and beer.
Tickets are $30, which includes dinner.
If you wanna get on board the bus (walkers are welcome & free), please let us know ASAP - you'll have a confirmed seat if you get us the money before the day - please make cheques payable to the PROUD TO BE UNION COMMITTEE INC (send to Struggles, Scabs & Schooners - c/- FSU, PO Box A2442 Sydney South 1235).
RSVP to Chris ([email protected]
POLITICAL FICTION
With the country on the edge, what can one person do?
A new Australian play crashes through at the Old Fitzroy in April with a story of
intrigue and crisis in personal and public life. Political Fiction, by Geoffrey
Sykes, is a parable of Australia now, in which hope and despair are pitted
against each other... with surprising results.
A disgruntled member of the government, a young singer and a free thinking staffer in
Foreign Affairs. Their journey, through sex, power, intrigue, betrayal and - finally - clear
vision, is a graphic exploration of what faces us all in our fallible attempts to relate to the
wider world.
Political Fiction plays and replays with the myths that control our public world � when the
country is on the brink, what can one person do?
Playwright, documentary-maker and academic, Geoffrey Sykes has put words in the mouths
of some of Australia's finest actors and has written for some of our most provocative
exhibitions and theatre events including those at the National Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW,
MCA and the Powerhouse Museum.
Directed by Robina Beard (NAISDA, Ausdance, Belvoir, Adelaide Festival) and starring
Sarah Doyle, Alan Popely, Karen Cobban and Marc Kay, Political Fiction moves at pace
from Australia to South America and back as conspiracy brings people together, then blows
them apart...
POLITICAL FICTION by Geoffrey Sykes
April 18 to May 6
THE OLD FITZROY THEATRE
Cnr Cathedral and Dowling Streets, Woolloomooloo
Tues-Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm
Tickets $27 ($19 concession)
Book (02) 9294 4296 or online at www.oldfitzroy.com.au
Beer Laksa and Show deal (from 7pm) $33
Cheap Tuesdays and Previews (April 18 and 19)
Presented by Southview Projects
May Day Toast
Monday, 1st May at 6pm at Souths Leagues Club
Tickets cost $30 each and are available from Jaime Midson on 02 9264 5024
May Day March and Rally
Sunday 7th May at 11am at Hyde Park North
More info from Warren Smith on 02 9264 5024
Dave Peetz in conversation with Jennie George
Brave New Workplace: how Individual Contracts are Changing our Jobs
By David Peetz
The federal government's new industrial relations laws were passed just before Christmas: will the High Court challenge from the NSW state government overturn them? If they remain, how much is going to change anyway? Foremost IR expert David Peetz peels away the claims and counterclaims to examine the 'big picture' and explain who benefits and who loses under the new system.
Once employees knew they would be paid properly for working nights and overtime and that they couldn't be dismissed on a whim. Now employees are being asked to do their own bargaining, one on one. Employers and government claim this will lead to higher productivity, while unions and church groups cry foul. What's really going on?
The push for individual contracts for employees overturns a century of collective efforts to create basic rights and a 'fair go' in Australian workplaces. David Peetz closely examines the corporate and government doublespeak to uncover what's really happening in relations between employers and employees. Explaining who benefits from individual contracts and who doesn't, and how this is already changing the way we work, Peetz locates individual workplace contracts in a wider debate about whether we are moving away from collective ideals towards individualistic values.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Peetz is Professor of Industrial Relations at Griffith University. He worked for ten years in the former Commonwealth Department of Industrial Relations, and is author of Unions in a Contrary World.
Thursday 23rd March
Cost: $9/$6 conc. gleeclub welcome
Venue: Upstairs @ 49, gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe
To book: 9660 2333 or [email protected]
Tune in to Workers Radio Sydney 88.9FM Weekdays 5:30am - 9:00am
Interested as I sometimes am in rare, obscure and unique cultural events, I spent a part of my lunchtime last Monday outside St Andrews Cathedral listening to the Commonwealth Day Service. I nearly burst out laughing when I heard the Prime Minister start his reading from Isaiah 53, verses 1-6: "Who has believed what they heard from us?"
John Shapiro, NSW
A group at Brisbane Water NSW has formed the "Friends of George Frost House and Brisbane Water Maritime Heritage Park Inc" to try to get Gosford Council to acquire George Frost House, Kincumber - the last intact relic of the timber-getting and shipbuilding industry which was the basis of settlement in Brisbane Water - and develop a museum to honour the memory of the men and women who toiled to cut the timber and build the boats which opened up Brisbane Water and forged the coastal trade in the 19th century. The tonnage of shipping produced in Brisbane Water in the 19th century was second only to Sydney's. If you would like to help, to join our Association, or simply to know more please send for a brochure to me [email protected] or to our President, Ruth Ross at [email protected].
If this house is lost, our last publicly accessible tangible tie to the industry will be gone.
Kay Williams, Qld
It's now eight years since we voted against becoming a Republic, when our collective desire for national independence could not outweigh our dislike of politicians, fuelled by a cynical monarchist campaign.
Since that vote our national self-image has taken a buffeting - the Bali bombings, war on terror, Tampa panic and lager louts on Cronulla beach wrapped in Aussie flags.
And these are just the headlines; behind these symbols there has been a less public shift in what it means to be Australian.
Since John Howard came to power in 1996 we have witnessed a relentless increase in the number of Temporary work Visas issued - from 100,000 in 1996 to more than 700,000 today.
That's more than ten per cent of the Australian workforce working without the security of citizenship or the industrial rights that come with it. If you think a guest worker will take a stand, join a union and risk being sent home, you're kidding yourself.
Now some of these visas go to backpackers on working holidays, others to business people flying in for business, but more and more of them are going to workers from developing countries working in abbatoirs, manufacturing plants, building sites and the hospitality industry.
The road leads one way: to a growing class of second-class, non-citizens being openly induced to undercut the wages and conditions of the local workforce.
All this is occurring under the cover of big business's 'skills crisis' - which could more honestly be called the Howard Government's National Training Failure.
And while our wages and conditions are being undercut at home, more and more work is being off-shored - from IT to call centres, even the maintenance of our national aviation icon.
If ever there was a recipe for national insecurity this is it - just don't expect the Howard Government to debate the issue honestly; weighing the benefits and costs of global integration and being honest about who the winners and losers are.
And not a word about the Republic - after all, when we are selling off our jobs to the lowest bidder who wants to talk about national independence.
This government is far better at harnessing these fears into cultural crusades in the name of ordinary Australians, against indigenes, bludgers, working mums and Muslims.
Like the flag wavers on Cronulla, it's all a lot easier to pick a team to cheer for and an enemy to boo.
Which is maybe why we cheer so manically for gold - even when it's only the vestiges of a long-past Empire that we refuse to leave that we are beating to the finish line.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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