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Issue No. 313 30 June 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

Spin Cycle
As another successful Week of Action comes to an end, we have again been exposed to the Howard Government�s defence of its IR laws, perhaps the flimsiest in Australian political history.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Rock Solid
Bill Shorten gives the inside story on the Australian Workers Union's involvement in the Beaconsfield rescue.

Industrial: Eight Simple Rules for Employing My Teenage Daughter
Phil Oswald bought up his kids to believe in their rights; so when his 16-year old daughter was told to cop a pay cut she was never going to take it quietly.

Politics: The Johnnie Code
WorkChoices is encrypted deep in the PM's political DNA, writes Evan Jones

Energy: Fission Fantasies
Adam Ma�anit looks at the big business push behind the 'clean nuclear' debate that is sweeping the globe.

History: All The Way With Clarrie O'Shea
The WorkChoices Penal Powers are the latest in a long line of penal sanctions against trade unions, writes Neale Towart

International: Closer to Home
If Australia can forgive its debt to Iraq, why not to Indonesia and the Philippines, write Luke Fletcher and Karen Iles

Economics: Taking the Fizz
While the Treasurer has been popping the post-Budget champers, Frank Stilwell gives a more sober assessment.

Unions: Stronger Together
Amanada Tattersall looks at the possibilities of strengthening alliances between unions, environmental and community organisations

Review: Montezuma's Revenge
Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in a film about racism and retribution, writes James Gallaway.

Poetry: Fair Go Gone
Employers in the land rejoice, for we are girt by greed.

N E W S

 Bold Post Spy at Rally

 NRL Throws Tradition a Dummy

 Ballarat Derails AWA Push

 Graphic Glimpse Behind the Veil

 Biz Blows Cover

 John Howard Vs God (0:1)

 Andrews A Bit Rich on Wages

 Sydney Backs Booze Deliverers

 Record Numbers in Blacktown

 Hardie Busted Over Burn Victim

 Sacked Mum Has Last Laugh

 Unions: Book Dodgy AWA Bosses

 Jobs War Gathers Pace

 Activist's What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Beaconsfield Declaration
As the Prime Minister feted Brant Webb and Todd Russell, their colleagues were outside with a message to the rest of Australia.

The Locker Room
Run Like You Stole Something
Phil Doyle observes that there are some tough bastards out there.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
That fun-loving friend of the workers, Ian West, reports from the red leather of the Bear Pit.

Education
Class Action
Phil Bradley draws the lines between education funding and the current skills crisis.

L E T T E R S
 Man-Goat Love Drug Link
 Dare To Dream
 Better Get A Lawyer
 The Last Laugh
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Record Numbers in Blacktown


Shoppers and small business operators lined the streets and applauded as the largest march ever seen in suburban Sydney snaked its way through Blacktown, last week.

The 40,000 who braved a cold winter morning were among over 200,000 people across the country that took to the streets on a national day of action against John Howard's workplace laws.

All roads to Blacktown were clogged with heavy traffic, while passengers who packed trains from the city and further west were greeted by station staff, transit officers and busy shopkeepers doing a roaring trade decked out in orange and yellow Your Rights At Work T Shirts and badges.

Another 30,000 workers turned out at over a dozen venues across regional NSW.

The rally at Blacktown heard real life stories from people affected by the Work Choices laws.

Paul Weston, a garbage truck driver from Wyong on the Central Coast, told the rally that WorkChoices threatened to slash his take home pay.

"I'd like John Howard to look my wife and family in the eye and tell them why we have to put our house on the market."

Lifetime Liberal voter Jane Lee, sacked from her job as a childcare worker nine days after the new laws came into effect, told the rally she wouldn't be voting for Howard at the next election.

"The message is clear, John Howard has to go," John Robertson, secretary of Unions NSW told the rally.

The 40,000 workers then marched through the shopping district of suburban Blacktown, receiving a warm welcome from shoppers, with many business operators coming out on the footpath to applaud the rally.

Upwards of 150,000 rallied in Melbourne, with the march starting from four points around the city.

Kim Beazley told the Melbourne crowd that, if elected, the Labor Party would "tear up" the Workchoices laws.

Tens of thousands rallied in Brisbane, Adelaide Perth and Tasmania, where a 3,000 strong march in Launceston was lead by Beaconsfield mine survivor Brant Webb.


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