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Issue No. 308 26 May 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

If the Answer is Nuclear �.
At least George Dubya still has some influence. Not in his own country, certainly not in Europe, not even in the former dominions of Latin America.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Out of the Bedroom
Reverend Jim Wallis is leading a crusade to take the moral debate into the public arena.

Industrial: Cloak and Dagger
The Howard Government has begun a series of workshops to sell its WorkChoice vsision. Sean Ambrose sneaked through the doors for Workers Online.

Unions: Lockout!
Jim Comerford�s eyewitness account of the 15-month Lockout of 10,000 New South Wales miners in1929-1930 records the inside story of Australia�s most bloody and bitter industrial conflict

Legal: The Fantasy of Choice
Professor Ron McCallum argues the WorkChoices laws are built on a fundamental fiction.

Politics: Labor Pains
Labor has dealt itself out of the crucial workplace relations debate by failing to articulate a credible policy alternative to Howard�s new WorkChoices legislation, argues Mark Heearn and Grant Michelson

Economics: Economics and the Public Purpose
Evan Jones pays tribute to John Kenneth Galbraith, a big man who never stopped arguing that economics should serve the public good, not create public squalor.

Corporate: House of Horrors
Anthony Keenan takes a tour of Sydney�s notorious, Asbestos House, courtesy of Gideon Haig.

History: Clash Of Cultures
Neale Towart with a new take on Mayday through the words of a punk icon

International: Childs Play
An ILO report into Child Labour shows some progress is being made to curb this gobal scurge .

Culture: Folk You Mate!
Phil Doyle dodges Morris Dancers to find signs of Working Life at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over the Easter Weekend.

Review: Last Holeproof Hero
Finally, a superhero who has worked out how to wear his underpants. Nathan Brown ogles V for Vendetta

N E W S

 Death Site Under Wraps

 Lets Get Physical, Building Bosses

 Retailers Spotlight Wage Cuts

 Sparkie Vote Will Go To the Wire

 More Front Than Meyer

 Nine Vanish in Melbourne Triangle

 Black is White, Andrews

 Kev Nicks from Kids

 Toothless Tiger Squeals

 High Standard Bugs Boss

 Labor Roots In Graft Allegations

 Security Posted

 ALP Urged to Front Up

 On the Road Again

 Activists What's On

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Albo's Meltdown
Labor's environment spokesman Antony Albanese argues that Chrernobyl is one reason why the ALP should stand firm on nuclear.

The Locker Room
A Sort Of Homecoming
Phil Doyle plays to the whistle.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite MP, Ian West reports from Macquarie Street on some strange collective acction.

L E T T E R S
 Spotlight on WorkChoices
 Noll On
 Riders on the Strom
 No Gerry Can
 Insight Fires Up
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

ALP Urged to Front Up


The Howard government's anti-union laws will mean a dramatic decline in the standard of living, the secretary of Unions NSW, John Robertson, told a meeting of over 100 people in Toongabie, last week.

The meeting was called to help build the June 28 rally against the laws at nearby Blacktown, one of Sydney's major industrial centres.

Robertson said values that define Australia are under attack by the Howard government in the interests of big business. Some 27% of working people now have casual jobs and this is expected to rise to 35% in the next five to ten years.

'If you are unemployed and knock back a job you lose your benefits for eight weeks - even if it means signing a contract with no rights,' he said.

Robertson said the campaign against the laws will continue to build 'so that by April 2007 we will have 150,000 to 200,000 on the streets'.

'The campaign is not simply about kicking out Howard because the ALP's position is not where it should be,' he warned. 'The Labor Party has to adopt an industrial relations policy based on fairness, equity and decency.'

Sharon Canty from the Parents and Citizens Association of NSW warned that young people were particularly vulnerable to Workchoices. She said the legislation had to be seen in the context of other attacks on basic rights such as the welfare to work laws, the introduction of voluntary student unionism and the changes to occupational health and safety.

Sister Libby Rogerson, the Social Justice Coordinator for the Diocese of Parramatta, said there were no choices in Workchoices.

'The laws impact on those sections of the community least able to defend themselves such as women, young people and migrants,' she said.


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