*****
There is a certain kind of something in that separates the Tool from others that occupy this mortal coil.
Whether it is their complete disregard for their fellow human beings; a blighted arrogance unsullied by either thought or logic; the subtle genius that may appear to the lay person to be little more than pig ignorance; a distinguished contribution to the public debate by displaying the sort of cultural sensitivity associated with Attilla the Hun; or just being a good old fashioned wanker, arriving in the Workers Online Tool Shed is a measure of just how cretinous a person has become.
So, on our 300th edition, to celebrate the many that have passed through the Tool Shed, Workers Online presents the Deck Of Tools, a full set of playing cards featuring the 53 most distinguished bunch of drongos ever assembled this side of a Liberal Party National Council.
This deck of cards, similar to those issued by US forces for the day when they would be greeted by rapturous Iraqis, is an aid in helping members of the public to identify those persons around the shop that are generally responsible for all that is brown and sticky around the place.
This handsomely packaged, limited edition Deck Of Tools makes a wonderful gift and is available for the bargain basement price of $10.00. Interested parties can email their order, including a name, postal address and daytime contact number, to [email protected]
Below is a list of those exceptional people who have spent time in the Tool Shed over the years, and have risen above other Tools to feature in our top 53 Tools Of The Week, long with their position in the deck, the editions they have featured in and a brief explanation of their contribution to Tooldom.
Joker - Piers Akerman (Editions: 1-43, 110, 129, 152, 157) The original Tool! A model of intellectual inconsistency
Ace Spades- Rupert Murdoch (Edition 182) Never let the truth get in the way of a good story
King Spades - George W. Bush (76, 127, 145, 207, 244, 280) the man who represents those who are "fighting to put food on their families"
Queen Spades - Janet Albrechtsen (168, 253) The thin-skinned corporate lawyer who likes to attack the big targets; like starving children and dying workers
Jack Spades - Peter Hendy (242, 291) The combover that lied - cheerleader for paying people in salt
10 Spades - Jonathan Hamberger (50, 203) The employee advocate who doesn't like employees
9 Spades - Lynton Crosby (120, 262) You can fool some of the people some of the time, and Lynton does just that for the Liberal Party
8 Spades - Des Moore (247, 266) The nutty professor - believes that the biggest problem facing business is having to pay wages
7 Spades - Heather Ridout (252) An economic genius - claims that providing menstrual leave will raise interest rates
6 Spades - Garry Brack (84) Only the boss should have a union. Garry's union, Employers First aka Employees Last
5 Spades - Mark Bethwaite (273) The most honest yachtsman this country's seen since Alan Bond
4 Spades - Max Moore-Wilton (186) the former public servant who privatised himself and took advantage of the Not Nailed Down Act
3 Spades - Tom Schieffer (166) The former US Governor of Australia
2 Spades - Paddy McGuinness (186) Another middle class loser who ran to the right when he realised he didn't have any mates
Ace Diamonds - David Murray (69, 149, 268) Got nearly $3500.00 for every person he sacked at the Commonwealth bank, a figure that totals up to $50 million
King Diamonds - Peter Costello (53, 97, 116, 133, 175, 181, 210, 220, 249, 252, 264, 274) The smirkin' merkin and Prime Miniature in waiting and waiting and waiting. Learning the art of Dog Whistling.
Queen Diamonds-Christopher Pyne (81) The oldest member of the Young Liberals is a great statesman. He really is. Just ask him
Jack Diamonds - Peter Reith (51, 73, 114, 124, 158, 163) "A wharfie threw my mobile phone overboard! Honest!"
10 Diamonds - Roger Corbett (260, 285) The Woolworths Fresh Food CEO, with fresh ideas on how to drive truck drivers to an early grave
9 Diamonds - Jodee Rich (99) How many times can a rich kid go broke? As many times as he likes it would seem; luckily it's only workers entitlements and other people's money at stake
8 Diamonds - Geoff Dixon (169) The Spirit of Australia is now the Spirit of Geoff Dixon's Ego
7 Diamonds - Merideth Hellicar (235) "Let them eat Asbestos!"
6 Diamonds - Hugh Morgan (255) Invented the hole, called it the Pilbara declared himself a genius. Resents paying people and other people using his air 5 Diamonds - Frank Cicutto (131-32) paid zillions for developing the PfG strategy: Protecting Frank's Gonads
4 Diamonds - Lucy Turnbull (200) Brought peace to the Middle East, which she thinks is somewhere between Woolloomooloo and Bondi Junction
3 Diamonds - David Flint (217) Has a fondness for old queens
2 Diamonds - Vince Graham (245) You would have to work really hard to stuff up the NSW rail system, and Vince is doing just that
Ace Clubs - Alexander Downer (68, 122, 148, 267) "Daddy won the war awl by himself!" Lord Downer of Bagdad and sometime historian
King Clubs - Tony Abbott (44, 78, 87, 98, 102, 106, 138, 143, 241, 259, 278) His Holiness Pope Abbot I blends his muscular Christianity with a unique strand of sociopathic zealotry
Queen Clubs - Bronwyn Bishop (45) Big Hair Big Teeth Small Brain [Bronwyn_bishop.tif]
Jack Clubs - John Anderson (113, 135, 185, 195, 237, 269) A country member, and we remember, even if he doesn't
10 Clubs - Robert Hill (206, 223) The Minister for Defence, who left his job before anyone found out the choppers can't fly, the submarines leak, the boots don't fit - luckily the troops are safely out of harms way in the middle east 9 Clubs- Ross Cameron (52, 234) The morals crusader who should have started off with the guy he looked at in the mirror each morning
8 Clubs - Danna Vale (172) Made the ultimate sacrifice for her country by saving us from evil hordes and proposing that the butchering of young men at Anzac Cove be turned into a theme park
7 Clubs - Michael Wooldridge (108) The Health Minister who was so impressed, he bought the company
6 Clubs - Barnaby Joyce (292) Promised to defend us from the perils of Canberra, but he didn't respect us in the morning
5 Clubs - Louise Markus (287) The Federal Member for unctious bible bashing hypocrisy
4 Clubs - Ian Campbell (229) Doing his bit for global warming by producing a lot of hot air
3 Clubs - Warren Truss (156) The only Truss that provides no support
2 Clubs - Julian McGuaran (277) The Rat who used his finger to show that, despite thoughts to the contrary, he can count to one
Ace Hearts - Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey (174, 192, 250) Believes that family members of politicians shouldn't have to obey the law
King Hearts - John Howard (47, 55, 65, 72, 88, 105, 109, 118-19, 164, 167, 190, 205, 209, 232, 239, 265, 283, 288, 293) The Prime Miniature, the Rodent, call him what you will. Never told anything by anyone and never did anything
Queen Hearts - Amanda Vanstone (140, 178, 263) Minister for Deporting Australians
Jack Hearts - Brendan Nelson (197, 226, 256) Having stuffed education and health he has now been left in charge of defending the country.
10 Hearts - Kevin Andrews (198, 215) Believes WorkChoices will offer employees the option of being able to do what they're jolly well told.
9 Hearts - Philip Ruddock (86, 179) Minister for Saving Us From Evil Hordes Intent On Slitting Our Throats In The Night
8 Hearts - Richard Alston (58, 184, 188) The eyebrows have it; currently in orbit around the planet Neptune
7 Hearts - Andrew Robb (275) The man with no mates who is upset that working people get paid
6 Hearts - Helen Coonan (55) Accidentally became Communications Minister
5 Hearts - Erica Betz (227) The lovable Tasmanian Senator who is agin' whatever it is he thinks they're going on about
4 Hearts - David Oldfield (172) Believes all Muslims are terrorists
3 Hearts - Ian Hanke (271) Works very hard to make the Liberals workplace laws seem logical - fails
2 Hearts - Nigel Hadgkiss (225) out to stamp out crime in the construction industry - except if that crime is perpetrated by employers
Andrews has denied claims that a slew of WorkChoices regulations, released under cover of the Commonwealth Games, allow bosses to undercut the minimum wage.
But Sydney workplace barrister, Ian Latham, says any reading of Andrews' handiwork makes it clear that is exactly what is proposed.
"That's (Andrews' statement) wrong," Latham says. "The regulations make it clear you can earn less, over 12 months, than you should have been paid over any part of the 12 months.
"Specifically, they provide for the minimum wage to be averaged out over a year.
"The regulations use the example of fruit picking. Fruit pickers can be forced to sign an AWA that states they will be paid less than the minimum wage for the off-season.
"What happens if that person is dismissed, or leaves, at the end of the off-season when all their wages have been paid at less than the minimum rate?"
Latham says the Andrews defence fails on two counts - the concept of agreement, and the lack of any form of redress.
Nobody at a workplace of less than 100 people will be allowed to contest an unfair dismissal.
And, Latham contends, the worker would have been paid all entitlements, under an AWA written in those terms, anyway.
There is no payment floor, for this situation, contained in Andrews' Act or his regulations.
Latham warns there is a double-whammy for fruit pickers under "averaging out" provisions.
Another AWA, he says, might average earnings to protect the employer from meeting the highest rate over the peak season.
"What about the woman who works right through the high season and leaves, or is dismissed, at the start of the off season? Averaging has seen her paid less than what she should be entitled to for the most productive part of the year?
Latham says the regulations, and the seven-day time frame, before they control workplaces are a recipe for "chaos".
Political control of workplaces is the central them of 400 pages of WorkChoices regulations and explanations.
Andrews will personally monitor the wages and conditions of every Australian on a collective contract.
Under his regulations, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission must report to him, every week, on any workplace that applied to take industrial action and the Office of the Employment Advocate must report every three weeks on every collective agreement concluded.
The regulations confirm rank and file workers, unions and companies will all be liable for thousands of dollars in fines if they agree to anything Andrews decides to "prohibit".
Off limits already are agreed clauses on union recognition, rights of entry, delegate training and job security, including limits on causals and labour hire.
Fines of up to $6000 per worker, and $33,000 for a union official, can be imposed if any agreement contains a mechanism for an employee to contest an unjustified dismissal.
Andrews has also decreed that anything that doesn't apply to "all" persons covered by an agreement is "prohibited". Lawyers have already suggested that might invalidate maternity leave agreements.
Unions NSW secretary, John Robertson, says the reporting provisions are significant.
"They are about direct political intervention in the workplace," he says.
"The clear message is that if agreements deliver better arrangements for workers, he will stop them occurring with the stroke of a pen.
"That is the only reason for including those requirements. He already has the AIRC and the Office of the Employment Advocate.
"This is about Kevin Andrews' determination to Big Brother."
Dozens of disputes, legally pursued under Howard Government laws, will become illegal today (Monday) and go on ice, for at least eight weeks, while affected workers are put through a series of bureaucratic and legal hoops.
One of the first beneficiaries will be Howard Government backer and WorkChoices promoter, Geoff Dixon, whose airline, Qantas, is trying to claw thousands of dollars out of family incomes, and send skilled Aussie jobs offshore.
Angry maintenance workers protested at Melbourne and Sydney airports, last Friday, when they learned they would have to go back to square one to protect themselves and their unions from massive fines.
AMWU national president, Julius Roe, called the legislation "extraordinary" and "hypocritical".
"Our people have been fighting this campaign, industrially, for three weeks. They have dotted the i's and crossed the t's to satisfy federal law," Roe said.
"With a stroke of a pen, the Minister has changed those rules, midstream.
"It's extraordinary legislation because it purports to treat industrial matters as corporate matters, under corporations law.
"It's totally hypocritical because, in its treatment of workers, it ignores the basic safeguards applied to corporations.
"If a corporation enters into a contract, it is binding and can't be altered. Under this law an employer can sign a contract one day and is encouraged to undercut it, the next, by using an AWA.
"Under corporate, and criminal law, when new legislation is passed, part-heard matters continue under the rules they started under. We are part way through important campaigns and the rules have been changed, with seven days notice."
Qantas is just one of dozens of workplaces around the country, where Australians resisting employer offensives, will be forced to abandon legal industrial campaigns by Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews.
Roe pointed to Melbourne's lift operators strike, into its fourth week in an effort to halt $120 wage cuts, and EBA action at Portland Aluminium and Preston Motors as others that would be immediately curtailed.
He revealed that the sudden change of regime, imposed by Andrews, would almost certainly cost trades apprentices $50 a week.
The increase was won by the AMWU, before the AIRC in a bid to stem the nation's damaging skills decline, and was to have been flowed onto awards across the trades.
However, under Andrews regulations, those awards lapse and, worse still Roe says, there is no alternative vehicle to see the decision applied to thousands of young trades people.
Meanwhile, Qantas negotiator Glenn Thompson, says the airline and the Minister shouldn't start counting their chickens, just yet.
"It's frustrating and it's unfair but we are used to that," Thompson said.
"They have tried to hamstring us industrially but they can't hamstring us in the community.
"Australian people know the score on skilled jobs and safety. They expect unions to campaign on those issues and they won't be disappointed."
The Building Industry Commission has demanded an urgent meeting with CFMEU branch secretary, Andrew Ferguson, over comments it read on Workers Online.
"You are quoted in Workers On Line of February 24 2006," the letter signed by Building and Construction Commission Northern Director, Trevor Young, reads.
"Invesigators from the Australian Building and Construction Commission are anxious to interview you ..."
The Commission, armed with coercive powers and staffed by lawyers and recruits from the federal police, can order people in the building industry to attend interrogation sessions, on pain of prison.
It appears to have taken offence to Ferguson's comments to Workers Online criticising its lack of action on behalf of a young Cook Islands immigrant bashed by his employer.
The Commission, set up on the pretext of criminality in the building industry, has limited itself to industrial matters.
Ferguson dismissed the written demand for an interview as another attempt to bully and silence critics of the enforcement agency.
Unions NSW Secretary John Robertson said everyone had a right to speak out against the Howard Government's policies.
"We will stand shoulder to shoulder with any union or any worker in their right to speak up," Robertson said.
With WorkChoices on the horizon, PacNat drove an aggressive campaign, pushing pay cuts for new starters, staffing cuts, and sidelining the union.
PacNat backed its aggressive strategy with threats of legal action against rail workers who resisted.
"With WorkChoices coming up the company did try to force us agree to anything," said Greg Harvey from the Rail Tram and Bus Union. "But we kept our heads and didn't panic.
"This outcome is a testament to how workers at PN have stuck together."
Harvey, who picked up the ACTU's 'Organiser Of The Year' award for his role in marshalling 2,200 workers across five states, said while they were aware of the impending arrival of WorkChoices, union principles were key to resisting Pacific National's agenda.
Workers voted almost nine to one against a non-union agreement, with the ballot attracting a high turnout across all parts of the company.
The campaign featuered innovative use of technology, such as email and sms, to keep the membership informed and allow them to take ownership of the campaign.
The deal sees workers maintain existing conditions while delivering pay rises of 7.3% over the next 18 months.
The Printing Industry Association and Australian Industry Group (AIG) have refused to flow on skills-based payments to thousands of people in the Bush, employed under the Country Printing and Publishing Award.
The AMWU won increases of up to $3200 a year, in October, for Graphic Arts Award members by convincing the AIRC of the need for better skills recognition.
Up until this week, that recognition would have flowed to people of the same skills in rural Australia, but WorkChoices has put an end to that.
And, last week, industry heavies gave bush workers the metaphorical middle finger.
Stunned AMWU official, Steve Walsh, said the decision was a kick in the teeth for skills recognition and rural Australia.
"Thousands of country workers will be denied increases that the AIRC has determined their skills entitle them to," Walsh said.
"We are left with a five level structure with no skills relationship.
"These employers are greedy and selfish. They have shown a complete lack of concern for skills and rural Australia, despite the best efforts of the union.
"It is amazing that an industry body can adopt a policy that deliberately consigns most of its members to a commercial disadvantage. That's exactly what the Printing Industry Association has done to its own members in urban Australia."
The AIRC accepted the union's contention that the Grahpic Arts Award should adopt an eight-point skills recognition structure.
Workers Online understands that between 10,000 and 15,000 people, outside the major cities, are employed under its rural counterpart.
They work for commercial printers and non-daily regional newspapers.
Rural Press is one of the largest employers covered by the Country Publishing and Printing document.
The Prime Minister claimed, last week, that the only only Australian who needed to worry about his Government's decision to remove unfair dismissal rights was the office whinger.
Unions NSW secretary, John Robertson, called the comment 'offensive and trivialising", to people who had had the courage to stand up for their rights.
Over recent years, he said, the following workers had used these laws to overturn unfair behaviour.
- A western Sydney mum, sacked by Another World 4 Kids Kindergarten-Pre-school after telling the boss she wanted to take maternity leave to have her first baby.
In the case NSW IRC Commissioner, Ian Cambridge, said the injustice of the sacking provided a "case study for the protection provided by unfair dismissal laws." (June 2005)
- The director of a Cronulla child care centre, sacked while on holidays, for refusing to sack staff when the business changed hands.
- A University of NSW librarian, sacked for signing a union petition
The magnitutde of injustice in the first example provoked IRC Commissioner, Ian Cambridge, to describe it as 'a case study' for the protection of unfair dismissal laws.
"The Prime Minister's comments trivialise what is a serious attack on the rights of working Australians," Mr Robertson said.
"Many of those who make use of these legal protections are working women - for whom job security is vital in their efforts to balance the demands of work and family.
"That's why unions are part of a broad community campaign against these changes and will work over the coming 18 months to hold the government to account for its actions."
Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, has announced that the Corporation will lose its staff-elected director, after 23 years.
The decision has provoked ABC staff representatives to renew their calls for independent governance.
"It's about time Government addressed the real problems with the Board. It's political stacking must cease and it should introduce a process based on merit," CPSU representative Graeme Thomson said.
"We need a system like the UK's Nolen Rules that assure the broadcaster can work at arms-length from the government."
Since its election in 1996, the Howard Government has consistently attacked the national broadcaster, egged on by extremists like Piers Ackerman, Ron Brunton and Janet Albrechtsen.
The last two have been rewarded with seats on the ABC Board.
Canberra has starved the broadcaster of the resources needed to fulfil its statutory role but the biggest assault its credibility was the controversial appointment of Jonathan Shier, a lightweight with Liberal credentials, as its chief executive.
Shier's reign was a disaster that embarrassed his sponsors to the point that when he resigned they were unwilling to appoint an ideologically-driven replacement.
Thomson said the staff-elected representative had played an important role in decision-making.
"Over its 23 years, the position ensured that real knowledge and understanding of program-making and journalism got a hearing at the board table," he said.
"This decision is all about the federal government's cultural war. It continues to stack the board with political hacks and supporters because it wants the ABC silenced."
A stand off with National Cash Registers over negotiations on its first Enterprise Bargain Agreement had threatened to cause extensive disruptions to IT systems at Sydney and Brisbane airports, banks and ATMs in regional centres.
Workers had been seeking a three per cent pay increase. Negotiations Negotiations broke down on NCR's insistence on a two percent movement, plus individual contracts.
ASU Secretary Sally McManus said last week's result meant further disruptions were not necessary.
"The issue of skills being recognised in the IT industry is huge. At the moment there are thousands of IT workers who are highly qualified, who spend an enormous amount of their time and money getting qualifications but struggle to get these skills properly compensated for by IT companies," McManus said.
The agreement will go before a final vote of NRC staff before being lodged with the Office of the Employment Advocate.
RailCorp is refusing to release the results of a secret report into the air quality at Sydney's Town Hall station in the wake of discoveries of asbestos across the rail network.
"The public could be being threatened every day for all we know,' says RTBU secretary Nick Lewocki. "We don't know because RailCorp has no asbestos register."
Asbestos was found at more Sydney stations this week with Thornleigh being the latest station to testing positive to the deadly dust.
Paul Bastian from the AMWU slammed comments from RailCorp CEO Vince Graham that only small amounts of asbestos were being detected.
"There is no such thing as a safe level of asbestos," said Bastian, who warned that the next big explosion in asbestos related diseases would come from members of the public exposed to the deadly fibre in situations like those found at RailCorp.
Lewocki echoed Bastian's concern at RailCorp's attitude to public safety.
"Vince Graham shouldn't be playing with people's lives,' said Lewocki.
Rail workers are rallying at 10am on Monday, International Rail Safety Day, at Sydney's Central Station to pressure RailCorp over its handling of asbestos at railway stations.
Three Westpac staff members were in fear for their lives when a gang of armed criminals leapt over "anti-jump barriers" at a Victorian branch in September 2004.
The Financial Sector Union repeatedly warned Westpac about gaps in the barriers before the incident.
"To Westpac we wrote 23 times to get the problem fixed," said FSU Secretary Geoff Derrick.
Derrick said to upgrade security, Westpac needed to spend just a quarter of the money it donated to the Business Council of Australia's promotion the Federal Government's anti-worker laws.
"It is a pity that Westpac seems more attracted to the extreme industrial laws of the Howard Government rather than the best interests of Westpac staff," he said.
The FSU is investigating other suspected breaches of Westpac's duty of care where staff have been left traumatised.
"No worker should have to put up with coming into work and facing these risks," Derrick said.
Peter King, 56, said United KG management refused his request to take away the five-year contract so he could consider it.
"They didn't let me see it," King said.
He was told the agreement paid an $18-an-hour flat rate, with no shift penalties or allowances.
"They spent half an hour telling me how rich the company was."
The Kiwi said he had seen individual contracts destroy working conditions in his homeland, and was now watching the same thing happen here.
"I'm trying to tell everyone," King said.
United KG has been at the centre of controversy at the Opera House, where it has been forcing workers from a collective agreement onto AWAs, which strip up to $20,000 a year.
Favelle Favco Cranes sacked two thirds of its workforce and brought in contractors and labour hire while leaning on about 25 remaining employees to sign Australian Workplace Agreements that slash wages and conditions.
The company, stalling on a collective agreement since before Christmas, introduced Australian Industry Group representative, Adrian Price, to the negotiations in January.
The AIG has been a major backer of the Howard government's industrial relations agenda.
"Things went down hill from there," says ETU organiser Brad Curry.
50 of the 75 employees' were made redundant following AIG's involvement without notice and asked to leave, effective immediately.
"This was nothing but backdoor privatisation," says Electrical Trades Union organiser Russ Wilson. "Employees from State Owned Corporations like Delta are sick of work being contracted out and then being told there is not enough work."
Wilson slammed the contracting out as nothing but a ruse to punt experienced maintenance staff that are vital to managing outages at the plant.
"These are highly skilled people who work in power stations and they are trying to get rid of them. They should be utilised rather than being dumped when the country is facing a skills shortage.
"It is bean counting gone mad."
Workers at the plant accused Delta of undermining maintenance tradesmen by contracting out work, evidence that there was plenty of work available for existing staff.
"They hired a contract manager to find outside work for maintenance staff," says Wilson. "While they were contracting out work they already had."
Bans on overtime and other duties by maintenance staff led to the issue going before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, where Deputy President Harrison ordered Delta to cease the practice of contracting out work until such time as there is agreement with the union.
"Delta even tried to intimidate a delegate after I went to inform him about the orders,' said Wilson.
Kone, Otis and Schindlers are pace-setters in a clawback campaign that has seen a four-week strike effect buildings across the Melbourne CBD.
"They want a $120 cut to base earnings and, from there, are only offering 2.8 percent. Any movement above that is conditional on trade-offs," AMWU organiser, Brendon Whelan, reported.
"They've been happy to play hard ball on the basis that WorkChoices will strengthen their position. Kone, for one, has made no secret of that."
Whelan said technicians, members of the ETU and AMWU, had gone out of their way to limit disruption and ensure essential services were maintained.
They voted to exclude hospitals and rest homes from the action and had provided emergency services to ensure affected buildings had at least one operating lift.
City Loop stations were also exempted because of commuter pressure associated with the Commonwealth Games.
Despite those public safety measures, lift workers will be forced to abandon their campaign on Monday by WorkChoices. Penalties for continuing their action, under existing rules, could run into millions of dollars in fines.
The South Coast Labour Council has launched its web site at www.sclc.com.au One for the bookmarks!
Louise Markus wants a rally
Dear Fellow Greenway Activists,
Louise Markus is organising a rally with special guest NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam to attend. Her rally is about land valuations, yes another State Issue.
She states in her letter "But we need your support to force Government to make these changes for our community." Well lets give her support for the rally but I am sure we want to known where Peter Debnam stands on WorkChoices and hear Louise Markus justify her stance.
She won't come to our meetings so lets go to her rally.
Rally details:
Saturday 25 March 2006
3 pm
Riverstone Bowling Club located on Riverstone Parade, Riverstone
Please let your friends know and it would be great to fill the club.
Regards
Stephen Bali
0414 525 007
Workers' breakfast
Wednesday 29 March Brisbane
To mark the passing into law of the Howard Government's IR laws, the QCU will be holding a workers' breakfast in King George Square on Wednesday 29 March from 7:00am. Guest speaker will be Tim Brunero (Tim from "Big Brother").
"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.
Saving Medicare
Politics in the Pub
2.00 pm Saturday April 8th, 2006
Hotel Gearin 273 Great Western Highway, Katoomba
Speakers:
Bruce Childs
ex Senator and Save Medicare Alliance
Dr. Con Costa
Doctors Reform Group
Call on the Federal Government to use the record budget surplus to
restore Medicare to world-class standards.
While the big end of town clamber for yet another tax cut, federal
government under-funding continues to threaten our healthcare system,
in particular Medicare.
With almost daily revelations about poor staffing levels at hospitals,
declining bulk billing rates and escalating costs of medicine,
thousands of hard-working Australians face ever-increasing health
costs in the family budget.
Those that try to ensure high quality healthcare by joining private
funds face a rat race of spiralling costs that bear no resemblance to
wage growth.
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]
We have become accustomed to being ruled by bullies: in government, at work, and (too often) at home. We don�t produce the "loud roaring noise of sadness and despair" which could be expected from a population of Pooh bears who got their heads stuck in the honey jar of promised economic prosperity. We can manage a few muffled protests which will soon be totally silenced if the Counter-Terrorism laws come into force. And I mean Force. Some hothead may turn on a taunting bully but he or she will get done over by a system that cares more about suppressing emotion and partying on than it does about alleviating pain and preventing deaths.
Why on earth do we need even more repressive laws? Why do employers need to be encouraged by government to show their worst bullying tactics - and actually forbidden to devise more humane agreements? All this in the name of letting the market do its thing. Why do divorced fathers, no matter how violent and vile they may have been, be given even further licence to beastify their families under the changes to family Law?
What is it with us? We don't seem to care if we get done over as long as some other poor bugger cops it even worse. The great Australian Masochistic Resentment streak that I noticed back in the 70s has become a way of life.
Who holds the power in this country? It is not refugees, asylum seekers, single mothers, people on welfare (apart from corporate), the unemployed and people in public housing. Loud, bullying pollies pass repressive and inhumane laws and their media mouths beat up verbally on the most vulnerable in our society. Our public (and contracted) services do their dirty work.
The old French Foucault had it right: "It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the working of institutions which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticize them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight them."
The instruments of government bullying are often public servants. As in "Serve you right, bloody public". I am a coward and I know what it's like to work as an instrument (no matter how ineffectual) of an unreasonable and despotic regime. I was an employee of the Department of Immigration for more than 12 years (viz New Matilda #59 Dim and DIMIA)
DIMIA is only a microcosm of the other organisations - public, private and community - perpetrating bad policies and worse practices. It is not one lone deviant, it is part of an overall grim picture. The immigration portfolio has long been used as a stalking horse for unpalatable legislation and policies. Like experiments on animals who can�t fight back.
Detention without charge or trial, privative clauses which stop people getting access to the courts, forcing the use of registered migration agents, imposing personal liability for costs on legal representatives, withdrawing government funding from NGOs who advocate, disadvantageous retrospectivity: all these democratic practices were well-honed by Immigration.
But we didn't want to know about all that and we still don't.
Many people in deteriorating situations (eg bully-run workplaces) try not to be noticed and even feel a certain schadenfreude of relief that it wasn't them - this time.
But masochistic resentment is beyond schadenfreude. It actively seeks to put someone else down and possibly stand on them. Masochistic resenters don't think that they may one day be affected by the strictures they gleefully apply to others.
Cowardice will destroy us unless we stand together and help each other. Surely anyone who knows anything about Pol Pot, Saddam, Nazi Germany, Chile under Pinochet, Argentina under the Generals, Ukraine under Stalin etc etc would understand something of what Pastor Martin Niem�ller was saying in the 1940s:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
It would be a great leap forward for Australia if all of us appealed to those in power - in government, in bureaucracies, in politics, in business, in families and elsewhere - to feel ashamed of the bullying they've perpetrated or condoned. If only we could encourage each other to come out fighting for people who are worse off than ourselves, instead of bullying, victimising and resenting them.
Ariel Marguin, NSW
Once again your editoral strikes the right chord. I work in a very conservative industry and often feel very isolated. Your email is always most welcome. Maintain the rage!
Kris, NSW
Is it arrogance or blindness.
Howard has taken credit for Labor's huge win in South Australia but denies that his extreme IR changes had anything to do with this win.
Labor candidates when campaigning were often told that voters were concerned about these changes.
This is the biggest win for Labor in 76 years and there must have been a trigger for this.
L Crossing, SA
It was the height of tech boom and our mix of tabloid news, people-based features and irreverent comment, including the infamous 'Pierswatch' column; gained us instant notoriety and, perhaps, an inflated sense of our own significance.
A lot has changed since those first editions.
Today, rather than being a one-man show, Workers Online is put together by a team of journalists under the guidance of Jim Marr. While I still wear the badge of editor this is really only so I can have the indulgence of these weekly sprays.
The news gathering process has changed too. In the early days compiling Workers Online was really an act of conjuring headlines out of nothing, today it is a process of filtering the best stories from a broad base of issues being generated around the country every week.
Where Workers Online was initially a cry for help, a new approach to the staid process-driven missives of national executives, these days it is more a showcase of grass-roots activity, smart campaigns and latertal thinking.
This evolution has been driven from a number of sources - the decade long commitment to organising, the increased cooperation across the movement in the face of an external threat, the realisation that unions can't rely on the ALP to fix everything.
But we would like to think we have played a small part in this shift- the example we have set in bringing issues to life, along with the research, media management and strategic support we give unions, has been part of this virtuous cycle.
Our sponsoring organisation has changed too. The Labor Council of NSW has become Unions NSW, the leadership baton passed from Michael Costa to John Robertson, but the courage in giving us an independent editorial voice has remained an important constant.
In 1999, the Labor Council saw itself as almost the ACTU's opposition, rivalries that went all the way back to the Cold War and festered during the Accord years were still driving relations. Today the two organisations are partners in the Rights at Work campaign.
But perhaps the biggest change since 1999 is the one you could never have predicted - the Tech Wreck. No, we didn't lose a fortune on NASDAQ, but the collapse of the online bubble did deflate some of our more ambitious dreams.
Back then I was convinced the web was it, that the virtual world would become the new reality and initiatives like our virtual chat rooms seemed to us to be the infrastructure that would redefine unionism.
While the chat rooms gather virtual dust, a more interesting development has been the way Workers Online has been converted back into print.
These days, Workers Online journalists also produce a range of trade union magazines. And along with the tabloid treatment to those union's issues and members, these journals carry 'Workers Online' news digests - highlights from the online editions; as well as syndicated features on broader industrial issues.
So the dream of an all of movement voice is slowly making its way from its online source, into the magazines that are starting to see the benefits in building a sense of movement outside their specific member focus.
In another 300 issues it would be nice to think every union would be carrying a little bit of Workers Online in their journals.
For now, as we brace for WorkChoices, Workers Online is a part of the infrastructure that stands the movement in better stead for what will come than our enemies realise. For this. at least, I think we can be proud.
Peter Lewis
Editor
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