*****
Yes, welcome back, welcome back...to the Tool Shed.
The sporting world was thrown into turmoil last week when it was discovered that Max Walker was still alive.
The one time Melbourne footballer and the only bowler in living memory to use the karma sutra to develop his run-up, Walker was aghast this week that the MCG could be used by ordinary people.
"I love the MCG. It should be for the good of the people, not for the bad of the people," said Walker, upon hearing that the ground would be packed out in November with working families protesting about WorkChoices.
It is puzzling as to which aspect of WorkChoices Walker thinks is for the good of the people.
Does Walker prefer getting people to work on weekends for a flat rate? I guess that would save people from having to get involved in grass roots sport, freeing up more people to attend motivational speeches from Mr Walker.
Or maybe Max prefers people being able to be sacked without notice or reason, like his colleague Bill Lawrie was as Australian captain?
Maybe the former test cricketer thinks that having a safe workplace, being treated with dignity and respect, job security and a living wage are bad for people?
Or maybe our Tool Of The Week likes WorkChoices because he's a brain dead klutz who has spent his entire life sucking up to the big end of town like some performing monkey for Melbourne's B list.
When Keith Stackpole, Ron Barassi, Dean Jones and even that arch-trotskyite Sam Newman, have no problem with working families using the ground, surely Max has some idea about how far on the outer he is.
It's not as if Max Walker is really in the first tier of the pantheon of Australian sportspeople - with that trade mark moustache it's hard to imagine him getting a thousand wickets, or a thousand of anything else really.
After all, he should be able to remember that Billy Graham used the MCG on his crusade for lost souls and Jimmy Swaggart's missus. If it's good enough for televangelism, the Pope, David Bowie and Madonna, it's good enough for working families.
Cripes, even Billy Joel has played a concert there, how's that supposed to be for the good of the people Max?
Imagine if Max Walker could use his amazing powers for good, instead of evil.
Sure, we'd be less one motivational speaker, but hey, that's the price we have to pay if the MCG is to be used for the good of the people, not for the bad of the people.
As for our Tool Of The Week, he should stick to his one great achievement in life, blowing the theme to Wide World of Sports out of his nostril.
Wonderful stuff that.
Revelations of Sol Trujillo's massive go-away deal, in the Rocky Mountain News, have shocked shareholders of US telco Qwest.
According to the paper, Trujillo stepped down as CEO of US West after its June 2000 merger with Qwest Communications, taking with him a $US 72 million package.
Trujillo's golden parachute included:
- a $36.9 million merger payment,
- a $10 million reward for signing the agreement,
- a $13.7 million pension payment, 2 million stock options,
- a $5.5 million corporate jet allowance for three years,
- $2 million worth for office space and administrative support, plus nearly $1 million in perks - including memberships at exclusive country clubs and limousine services.
Details of the package were discovered by a Denver attorney investigating the company on behalf of aggrieved shareholders.
CPSU national secretary Stephen Jones says the payout is "mind blowing" and "way out of step with community standards"
"I think most Australians would see this kind of payout as quite offensive. That money had to come from somewhere.
"Even in the heady world of executive payouts, Sol's golden handshake is shocker."
It is understood Trujillo is paid around $3 million year at Telstra - about 60 times the average Telstra worker's salary. If he walks, willingly or unwillingly, he pockets at least another $3 million with the potential for vastly more in unknown share options.
In a statement the company acknowledged Trujilloi was "a wealthy man not in need of a full-time job... the fact that he chose to accept this 24/7 job on the other side of the world away from his family demonstrates his commitment to transforming Telstra."
His plans for transforming Telstra include the shedding of at least another 12,000 jobs over the next five years.
In latest trading Telstra shares slipped 4c to $3.89.
Downer has told subcontractors it wants work in rural areas to be paid at the same rate as in the big smoke.
The scheme would see rate drop from $105 to $80 a job.
CEPU secretary Jim Metcher said the cut would make it even harder for regional subbies, who pay all their own work expenses such as petrol, to provide services to the bush.
"With the price of petrol through the roof, further interest rate rises and the overall cost of living increasing rapidy, a pay cut of this magnitude has many of the bush's technicians wondering how they are going to provide for their families and retain their homes," Metcher said.
The rate cut follows Telstra's punting of 207 of its own technicians from regional NSW.
"This attempt to slash the rates of regional subcontractors just goes to show the contempt with which the Federal Government and Telstra hold for telecommunication services in the bush."
The CEPU and subcontractors are continuing discussions with Downer to get the rate reduction nixed.
The prospect of massive damages bills, on top of $28,000 fines, was floated by the head of John Howard's Building Industry Commission at an industry gathering in Sydney, last week.
John Lloyd told the Building Science Forum damages claims against individuals who struck in support of a sacked delegate were options that hadn't been ruled out.
CFMEU national secretary, John Sutton, a guest at the forum, was left in no doubt about Lloyd's intention.
"Unscripted, he raised the prospect of suing our members," Sutton said. "I took it as another threat, a shot across our bows.
"He was telling us he had a nuclear device in his arsenal and he was prepared to use it."
The 12-day stoppage on the Perth-Mandurah rail project, in March, has seen the Commission, and the employer, test a new armoury delivered by a federal government that has made no secret of its desire to destroy the CFMEU.
Leightons has filed a $13 million damages claim against the CFMEU in the Supreme Court, while the Commission has targeted individual members.
The existing actions, and threatened damages, come under either Howard's revamped Workplace Relations Act or his recently-passed Building Industry Improvement Act.
Amazingly, the crippling actions stem from a case in which the employer, Leighton-Kumaigi, appears to have already conceded it was in the wrong.
It sacked delegate, Peter Ballard, against a background of complaints over safety standards and repeated claims of victimisation.
Workers Online understands the joint venture eventually resolved the sacking issue by making a substantial payout to Ballard.
"The men on the job considered the sacking unjustified and there is some evidence the company came to the same conclusion," Sutton said.
Sutton said whether or not Lloyd chose to go for the jugular with damages actions would be a political decision.
"This is all part of a softening-up process aimed at curtailing democratic and civil rights," Sutton said.
"John Lloyd is a political appointment to a political position.
"When it comes to suing these individuals he will make a political assessment, rather than a legal one.
"His consideration will be whether or not, at this stage of the campaign, suing individual workers will damage his political masters and his office."
Solidarity with the 107 visit: www.cfmeuwa.com/cfmeuwa/supportthe107/solidarity
A Penrith driver ended up with shards of glass in his eye after a brick was thrown through a bus windscreen in Luxford Road Mt Druitt last Sunday.
In another incident a four-year-old boy was injured and a mother terrified after a "really large" rock hit a bus window in Mt Druitt, while last Friday a Glenmore Park bus was hit with a hail of rocks near a local school.
Desperate drivers from Penrith and Blacktown met last week and declared "no-go zones" to protect drivers and passengers, saying a fatality is a "matter of time" unless action is taken.
"These attacks must stop," Penrith bus driver Jim Bowman. "We simply want to be able to do our jobs safely and provide a good, efficient service for the public. It is sad we now have to avoid specific streets to protect our own safety."
Drivers hope the troubled areas can be cleaned up in the near future.
Transport Workers Union (TWU) drivers met with the Ministry of Transport last week.
"It was decided plain-clothed police officers will commence work on board public buses to protect the safety of bus drivers and the traveling public," said Transport Workers Union (TWU) Assistant Secretary Wayne Forno. "The TWU is very serious about implementing solutions that protect bus drivers at work and the members of the public they work so hard to serve."
The TWU has been fighting for months to have surveillance cameras installed on every bus and security screens for bus drivers.
Williams is the Executive Director of Workplace Relations for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Western Australia.
In announcing the decision, Attorney General Phillip Ruddock praised Williams as an "experienced manager (bringing) a wealth of practical experience to the Commission".
Given the reduced role of the AIRC under WorkChoices, he may end up with practically nothing to do.
The West's Williams has a long history working for employer groups since 1984. He is a H.R Nicholls society regular, appearing as a key-note speaker at the anti-worker group's 2003 conference.
The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been an aggressive champion of AWAs and guest labour.
The job-for-life at the AIRC will net Williams an annual salary of more than $200,000 once his appointment takes effect on 14 August.
The newest pro-business appointment continues the government's policy of rewarding Liberal party supporters, government staffers and business lobby personalities with key posts, both here and overseas.
The former chief counsel at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), James Smythe, was presented in July with a plumb posting to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva.
It is the first posting to the UN body since 1996 when Canberra cut off relations, stung by ILO criticisms of Peter Reith's Workplace Relations Act, the proto-type of WorkChoices.
News of the 'Geneva option' followed hard on the heels of the stack in the Federal Magistrates Court (Issue 314)
Another WorkChoices architect from Kevin Andrews' office, Liberal staffer John O'Sullivan scored a Federal Magistracy despite dubious legal credentials.
All Trades Queensland backed away from its unilateral collective agreement, stripping award conditions, as union radio and newspaper ads condemning the company were about to run.
The company will now bargain with unions.
Electrical Trades Union (ETU) organiser Keith McKenzie said under the company agreement, apprentices stood to lose RDOs and have overtime rates, annual leave and allowances reduced, and work hours increased.
About 2600 apprentices will be covered under the agreement, which will be negotiated with the ETU, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Plumbers Union.
Negotiations will start this week.
All Trades Queensland boasts that it is Australia's largest employer of apprentices and trainees.
And the Commission has revealed its "compliance powers" are being wielded by a former federal policeman who was accused of routinely using illegal communications intercepts.
Nigel Hadgkiss has had a dream run of federal appointments since being fingered in evidence to the NSW Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, in 2003.
Former undercover detective, Michael Kennedy, told the committee Hadgkiss had used covert recordings to fit him up for falsely accusing Joint Drugs Task Force members of corruption. Years later, Kennedy said, Hadgkiss had taken credit for unmasking the same people.
Kennedy said he had lodged formal complaints about the "criminal and illegal activities of Hadgkiss" and others.
When the Howard Government began its anti-building worker campaign it appointed Hadgkiss to head-up an interim taskforce.
Under Hadgkiss' direction, the taskforce aggressively prosecuted building industry unions and their members.
His methods drew censure from at least two federal court judges.
Another former detective who had criticised Hadkiss, Michael McGann, was sacked from the taskforce, last year,
After he lodged a Freedom of Information request, in a bid to prove his axing was part of a Hadgkiss "vendetta", the organisation claimed to have lost records at the centre of his claim.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations wrote to McGann to tell him sought interview notes had been "lost" by the Taskforce.
The holder of the NSW Police's highest bravery award, the Valour Medal, was adamant he lost his Taskforce job because of evidence he had given to the 2003 Parliamentary inquiry.
"I told the inquiry Hadkiss' investigators, at the Wood Royal Commission, fabricated evidence and he should have known about it," McGann said.
"As soon as I came onto his radar at the Building Industry Taskforce I was a marked man. In October, we had to reapply for our jobs and I was the only person not reappointed."
In February, 2005, the decorated former officer publicly warned the government to think long and hard about who it appointed to its permanent Building Industry Commission.
When the Commission was established, John Lloyd was named Commissioner and Hadgkiss a deputy commissioner.
Lloyd immediately delegated sweeping enforcement powers to Hadgkiss and fellow deputy commissioner, Ross Dalgleish.
They have the power to force workers to attend secret interrogation sessions, answer questions and produce documents. Any refusal, carries a prison term.
It was Hadgkiss who signed writs delivered to 107 Perth building workers, last month.
A number of unions have complained the OEA is holding up collective agreements, sometimes for months, then delivering non-specific judgements that further delay settlements.
On the other hand, non-negotiated AWAs become effective on lodgement without any form of checking against minimum standards.
Affected unions are loathe to go public because they fear any comment will rebound on their chances of delivering for members through a system that has become secretive and bureaucratic.
Under WorkChoices, employers have to lodge collective agreements and they can be fined thousands of dollars if they agree to anything the federal government doesn't like.
It is a defence against including this "prohibited content" to get sign off from the OEA but, increasingly, the Office is playing Pontius Pilate on anything it suspects might help union organisation.
The OEA admitted to Senate Estimates that it was taking 60 days to turn around collective agreements.
"Increasingly, the OEA is making assessments about what it thinks a clause might mean rather than what it actually says," ACTU industrial officer, Michelle Bissett, said.
"They are saying clauses 'could' fall foul of WorkChoices rather than giving a direct answer.
"If the OEA says a clause could be prohibited there is an argument that the employer then has no legal defence.
"The federal government argued the IRC was interfering in negotiated agreements well this situation is much worse. It is a level of bureaucracy that can't be penetrated because the whole process is secretive."
Under the old system, the IRC published agreements but, under WorkChoices, they are kept secret.
There is concern the OEA could be litigating and re-litigating the same issues because, under Howard's law, nobody but the immediate parties can access what finally passes master.
Dozens of agreements, signed off on by bosses and workers, are awaiting a clean bill of health from the Advocate.
Bissett says the problem is exacerbated because workers have no control over the lodgement process and any question about prohibited content makes employers "understandably nervous".
While employers are fined if they lodge any clause that is not WorkChoices compliant, workers and their unions don't get off the hook.
They can be fined for asking for the inclusion of provisions such as union safety training paid time off for delegates, or limits on the use of AWAs or labour hire.
Blue Mountains City Councillor, Adam Searle, successfully moved last week for the council to use the state industrial umpire as a private arbitrator to solve industrial problems between council management and staff.
Searle hopes the move with protect both council workers from federal workplace laws, and provide the council with industrial harmony.
""It's important for council to send a clear signal to employees that they will continue to do things the way they have been done," says Searle.
"The council is a community leader and a major employer. It has a leadership role is sending a broader message to the community that relationships between employers and employees should be fair and equitable rather than the dog eat dog world of WorkChoices."
Searle said the arrangements were consistent with WorkChoices laws, which allowed employers and employees to appoint a third party arbitrator by agreement.
Although the arrangements required the goodwill to create a consent agreement between bosses and workers, Searle said there was no reason why similar arrangements could not be rolled out by responsible employers in the private sector.
Changes to NSW legislation had allowed the NSW Industrial relations Commission to take up the role of a private independent arbitrator.
Pending final approval, the ACTU hopes to hold November's rally at the MCG, building on June's national day of protest that saw 150,000 union members and their families flood Melbourne's CBD.
ACTU Secretary Greg Combet predicted that the ground record might be under threat.
"I think the capacity is 95,000 to 100,000 but we are hopeful also of having people stand on the ground... but I think there will be a lot of people attend this rally in late November and it could well be that we will have quite a few people outside the ground as well, I think, who won't be able to get in" he said.
Similar to last November's protest that drew over one million people Australia-wide, this year's event would be broadcast via the Sky Channel network to locations across the nation.
News of the proposed rally reportedly ruffled the feathers of some MCC members. However there was support for the union plan from unlikely quarters.
The Murdoch-owned Herald Sun had tongue firmly in cheek when it pondered "Blue collars and no ties at the MCG? What's the world coming to?" before describing the move as "politically smart".
AFL football personality and self-styled ladies man Sam Newman declared his support, musing; "We have covered religion, politics and sport at the MCG - nothing much is left. Maybe they can hold a giant Sexpo there".
The MCG is Australia's most famous sporting venue with a history stretching back to 1853.
The iconic ground is best known as the home of the Australian Football League grand final and the Boxing Day cricket test match. 'The G' has also been the stage for rugby league, rugby union and soccer matches.
However the hallowed turf has also been the setting for rock concerts, papal masses and royal visits.
Ironically, the ground record was not set during a sporting contest. That honour goes to evangelical preacher Billy Graham who packed in 130,000 faithful during a 1959 visit.
The Association of Independent Schools had been pushing a non-union agreement that slashed conditions for teachers at elite private schools as a trade-off for pay rises.
But teachers in schools across NSW unanimously voted 'no' to having any agreement not negotiated with the IEU.
The IEU has now secured a deal with the AIS to enter into negotiations, beginning immediately, on both on the AIS "multi-business" proposal and a new state award for those remaining in the state system.
"For schools which may be in the federal jurisdiction and wish to be covered by the terms and conditions of the state award, it can be processed as a federal collective agreement," says IEU General Secretary Dick Shearman.
The private school teachers will now have collective agreements, with the Independent Education Union pushing to protect pay and conditions based on the current state award.
The new state award will replace the current award from 2007.
The figure was one of a number, in the latest MYOB survey of the sector, that suggest John Howard's small business constituency is turning its back on his IR agenda.
The accounting software firm also revealed that 42 percent of small business operators thought the laws were unfair to low skilled employees.
Just 12 percent of respondents accepted Howard's claim that WorkChoices would boost productivity, while only three percent "strongly agreed" with the contention.
The July survey covered a national sample of 1,189 small business proprietors and general managers. They were either owner operators or employers of less than 20 staff.
Just nine percent of businesses said they would change their approach to employment because of the new law.
Despite a $55 million taxpayer funded advertising campaign in support of the laws, 40 percent said they still had a low level of understanding of them.
The small business survey came on the back of attempts by Victorian and NSW Liberal leaders to distance themselves from WorkChoices, and a poll in the Sydney Morning Herald that listed IR as the second most important state issue.
Omir Majstrovic, 37, was sacked after he was told five times by foremen at formwork company Formbrace to withdraw his claim, on two occasions being threatened with the sack.
Workers Online understands 11 other Formbrace workers have been sacked for the same reason.
CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson said Majstrovic has no means for redress under the Howard Government's industrial relations laws, or the State Government's occupational health and safety laws.
"These workers have done nothing wrong," Ferguson said.
"All they did was undergo a hearing test where a doctor confirmed they had serious loss of hearing caused by their work, and when they put in a claim they were bullied and eventually sacked for standing up for their legal rights."
Majstrovic first learnt of his deafness after following up on a pamphlet he found in a work lunch room advertising free hearing tests.
A doctor at Westmead Hospital confirmed the diagnosis, leading Majstrovic to make a claim for compensation.
"After I put in my workers compensation claim a company foreman threatened me, told me to stop the claim, and warned me I would be sacked if I didn't back down," Majstrovic said.
Ferguson called on the Iemma Government to ensure workers making a compensation claim were protected under state laws.
"Someone who is injured at work should be guaranteed protection from dismissal, but increasingly we are seeing unscrupulous employers use clauses in Howard's new laws that allow workers to be sacked without reason."
The ACT government is looking at the first Tuesday in November to and save the traditional holidays.
Industrial Relations Minister, Andrew Barr, has flagged a round of consultation to settle on the new public holiday, and is also looking at other arrangements to compensate workers who would lose picnic days.
""The family picnic days put on by Unions ACT are well patronised," says Matt McCann from the Electrical trades Union's Canberra office. "The kids have memories from these days that they take with them through life."
The building trades hold a social golf day on their picnic day that attracts over 200 participants and allows employers and employees to socialise outside work.
"This creates a strong sense of community in the industry," says McCann.
"It is a tribute to the workers who fought for conditions such as union picnic days that the ALP government is moving to enshrine these conditions in legislation."
Barr said options to protect the union picnic days included:
o An additional public holiday for the ACT, possibly on Melbourne Cup Day;
o A declared holiday for workers covered by specified awards, specified agreements or in specified industries; or
o Other forms of compensation for effected workers.
The ACT government is calling for submissions, which close by 18 August 2006.
It is urging unions and supporters to petition the state government to adopt the longtime maritime monicker, the Hungry Mile.
Naming submissions need to be filed with Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, by this Friday.
The Hungry Mile would celebrate two centuries of maritime labour in the precinct where as many as 24,000 people were employed, prior to the advent of containerisation.
The Hungry Mile has inspired film, verse, song and rebellion.
It got its name during the Great Depression when men trudged from wharf to wharf in search of work, either going hungry or toiling around the clock in tough, perilous conditions on 24-hour shifts under the oppressive Bull System.
The Hungry Mile became an Australian labour icon. It was the birthplace of maritime unionism.
It saw solidarity protests, including bans on pre-war Japanese shipments, the Black Armada of Dutch arms during the Indonesian independence war, opposition to French and US wars in Vietnam, apartheid in South Africa, French nuclear testing, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. It became a focal point for maritime struggles and expressions of internationalism.
It was on the Hungry Mile, in 1998, that hooded goons with dogs forced workers off cranes, ships and wharves at Patrick as part of a government-employer conspiracy to replace union workers.
To make submission on names for East Darling Harbour go to: http://www.newharbourheadland.com/EntryForm.cfm
Vanstone denied there was rorting of the foreign worker visa system, but industry sources say she merely changed the rules to protect T&R Pastoral's abattoir at Murray Bridge, which is employing more than 100 foreign workers on 457 Visas.
Vanstone then admitted on the ABC's 7.30 Report that abuses are occurring.
"She can't have it both ways," says Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union South Australian secretary Graham Smith. "Now we have learned from industry sources that the Minister is negotiating an agreement to water down visa provisions - effectively legalising the rorts we exposed."
"I understand the deal will include the ability to use foreign workers in unskilled or lower skilled jobs that could be done by Australian workers and the ability to use AWA's to set wages for these workers at a rate that is lower than the minimum salary level set by the rules of the visa."
"This is a direct contradiction of the intent of the visa, which is supposed to be used to fill trades shortages on a temporary basis where Australian tradespersons are unavailable in a particular area.
"It is like giving a fox the key to the henhouse."
A DIMA examination of the visas at the Murray Bridge abattoir, the investigation was completed in May but has not been released.
The AMIEU has called on Vanstone to release in full in the T&R report.
Trivia Challenge 2006
August 4, Friday,
Happy Hour 6pm - 7pm, Trivia 7pm sharp
2nd Floor, TLC Building
16 Peel St, South Brisbane
Teams of 8, $15 per person
Drinks available at bar
NOTE: Table numbers strictly limited to 25
To donate prizes or more info contact:
Joan Skewes, Paula Rogers, or Beth Mohle on 3840 1444
Warm Up For Winter
August 5, Saturday, "Warm Up for Winter" Annual Dinner
6.30pm Thirroul Railway Institute, Railway Pde, Thirroul
$35 per head, Mike Deakin on piano, special guest David Field
Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA NSW South Coast Activists
Book now by calling 02 4229 6737 or emailing
[email protected]
Report from Iraq: Workers & Women Fight for Freedom
August 7, Monday, Report from Iraq: Workers & Women
Fight for Freedom
Public Meeting with Nadia Mahmood
6.30pm University of Technology, Broadway
24th floor of Tower, room 11
For further info contact Jalal: 0402 217 864,
or Lynn: 0439 640 118
Web: www.international.activism.uts.edu.au
NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS FORUM 2006
Ends with cocktail evening
Fair Go From Here?
2nd in the 'Fair Go' conference series
Hosted by the Australian State and Territory Governments, this one-day event provides an opportunity for employers, workers, social commentators and academics to engage in constructive and open debate about the real impact of the federal Work Choices legislation on the Australian workplace.
The forum provides an affordable opportunity to hear a balanced and broad range of views from reputed experts in academia and advocacy and will discuss the implications of the federal government's industrial relations changes examine ways of working under these changes and the implications for IR in practice and explore ways forward in the new IR environment.
Date: Thursday 24th August 2006
Location: Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney
Time: 9.30am - 5.10pm
Conference website: www.iceaustralia.com/ir
Fair Go website: www.fairgo.nsw.gov.au/Conference/index.html
Conference Secretariat:
ICE Australia
Email: [email protected]
Make Life Fair Everywhere
September 20, Wednesday, "Make Life Fair Everywhere"
Annual Dinner
6.30pm for 7pm start
Petersham RSL (7 Regent St)
More info: 02 9264 6343 or [email protected]
Pope Talks IR
Monday 25 September 2006.
Brisbane Work and Industry Futures QUT, and the Department of Industrial Relations Griffith University are convening a one-day conference that explores Work, Industrial Relations and Popular Culture.
David Pope, the cartoonist behind the Heinrich Hinze cartoons will be Keynote Speaker with his presentation - "Is the pen mightier than s356? Cartoons and Work" (www.scratch.com.au)
We welcome any paper that explores the manner in which popular culture is used by unions, management or policy makers or alternatively, how work and industrial relations is represented within popular culture.
Sub-themes for the conference include: - Policy, Influence and Modern Mediums - Which is Reality, Work or TV? - Popular Music: Is it the End of the Working Class Man? - Working in the Movies: What do we see? - Popular Culture as a Teaching Tool. Call for Papers. Abstracts are due 14 July 2006 Full papers are due 11 September 2006 Location; Southbank, Brisbane.
The convenors would welcome participants to submit proposed titles earlier to assist in preparations. For further information please contact Keith Townsend ([email protected]) or David Peetz ([email protected])
Rekindling the Flames of Discontent: How the Labour and Folk Movements Work Together
A Conference - Dinner - Concert
The Brisbane Labour History Association is holding a Conference/Dinner/Concert on Saturday 23 September. This event will explore the historical relationship between the labour movement and the folk movement in Australia with a particular emphasis on Queensland.
Why? To celebrate the history of the interaction between the Folk and Labour movements, and promote its longevity.
When? Saturday 23 September. Conference from 1pm. Concert from 7pm.
Where? East Brisbane Bowls Club, Lytton Rd, East Brisbane, Next to Mowbray Park
It is still in the formative stages, but to date the following are confirmed:
1-5pm CONFERENCE (will include music with the presentations):
Doug Eaton on John Manifold & the Communist Arts Group in Brisbane, Brisbane Realists
Bob & Margaret Fagan on Sydney Realist Writers
Mark Gregory on trade union & labour songs/music, nationally/internationally
Lachlan & Sue on international perspectives
5 - 7pm Drinks followed by DINNER
7 - 11pm CONCERT
Combined Unions Choir
Bob and Margaret Fagan
Mark Gregory
Jumping Fences
For more information contact the BLHA President Greg Mallory on [email protected], or Secretary Ted Reithmuller on [email protected], or Dale Jacobsen on [email protected]
As a resident of Cranebrook , I cannot understand why anyone would want to throw rocks at our Bus Drivers.
We have one driver who not only provides commentary and conversation for his passengers , but goes that extra mile for the many older passengers including myself , by dropping them off as close to their homes as possible , by stopping for them when they are not at the bus stop. But two weeks ago he even surprised me with his kindness and generosity. An 84 year old friend of mine Connie , lost her husband John, that same day , John the bus driver called round to visit and see if there was anything he could do for her , he visited her several time between then and the funeral service at Pinegrove , which he and his wife attended.
I think John the Welsh/Pommie Bus driver definitely deserves a positive mention in your paper.
Brenda Erai
Who was B.A. Santamaria?
When I was a kid in the late 60's/ early 70's I sometimes would watch his 5 minute Tv newsletter on Saturdays on NBN3 Newcastle, and wonder what he was on about?
Ray Butler
The writer calling for balanced reporting of the middle east war may well be right.
However a lifetime of Labor/union activism has told me some storys are not for us to read.
Along with about 80% of workers and Labor voters I let the true left have play at such times and am more than pleased the headlines usually show its one of those no need to read storys.
Like anything that once Aussie owned TV news broadcaster owns its meant to be one sided, not balanced.
Lies are more a weapon in the middle east than an AK47 and we need less of them and a united nations that is united and acts to stop these things.
murder on both sides? yes and the truth died years ago.
Allan Bell [Belly]
Perhaps the following should be placed as an ad in asian newspapers.
GUEST WORKERS NEEDED
Australian tax payers are currently looking for skilled guest workers to replace the Federal Government.
The job would entail repairing and rebuilding the Health Care and Education Systems.Creating a Tax System that does not favour the wealthy and disadvantage lower income earners.Create training and stable employment opportunities for young Australians and future generations.Create a fairer more compassionate country for all Australians without blaming Unions for every problem.
A lack of toadyism to American Presidents would be an advantage.
Existing Government Members are invited to reapply for their jobs under 3rd world pay and conditions.Ofcourse such applicants would be treated with the respect they deserve.
MUA crew .Pacific Titan
That's the question John Howard and his sometime ally, Peter Costello, are asking the electorate after their core 2004 promise, to keep interest rates low, took a third strike this week.
The essence of their argument, of course, is the get out line of deceivers down the generations - well yes, but it wasn't our fault.
Essentially, the Prime Minister and his Treasurer argue, the latest interest rates jump was sparked by a Queensland hurricane and international demand for oil - occurrences outside the control of mere mortals, or even them.
Anyone that swallows the banana line is a monkey. Shoppers could tell you it's not just tropical fruit stretching the family budget - meat, fish, vegetables and milk have been heading north at a rate of knots for years.
And, you've got to wonder if our pollies have tried to rent accommodation lately.
Besides all that, the federal government looks after its northern National constituency by refusing to allow bananas to be imported, even at times of hurricane-induced shortages.
Then there's the matter of oil. Yes it has gone up, and significantly, but for Costello to compare this situation to 1973, when OPEC increased prices by 400 percent, is a nonsense.
International prices for benchmark "light sweet crude" have increased by 40-45 percent in the five years since 2001.
And who is to blame for that? George Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard and their Coalition of the Killing can take a fair share.
Their illegal invasion of Iraq slashed oil production by between one and two million barrels a day.
Clearly, this government has a problem. It's called credibility.
They've been caught out in the porky department before. The difference is that the latest round - WorkChoices, inflation etc - go directly to the hip pocket of middle Australia.
That doesn't, however, mean it will lose the next federal election.
Whatever you might say about this Coalition Government, it is perceived as consistent. Consistently awful, maybe, but consistent, nevertheless.
The Right tells us we live in a post-ideological world but that's the biggest con job of the lot. Howard's perception of consistency comes from a thorough-going ideology that casts wealth, privilege and power as model Australian virtues.
Think of most any issue - the workplace, human rights, immigration, media policy, or war in the Middle East and you know exactly where he will stand before he opens his mouth.
That's where there is an urgent need for Kim Beazley and his Labor sidekicks to fill in a few blank spaces.
Ripping up WorkChoices is a good start but it is not nearly enough. Labor, and any other alternative government, needs a coherent set of alternatives that stem from a recognisable set of values.
Frankly, when your next public utterance seems to throw open the doors to greater uranium expoitation and the nuclear proliferation that goes with it, a lot of people will question your coherence.
The ALP cannot afford to enter next year's election with a bunch one-off policies, tailored to meet specific electoral demands.
It needs to nut out a cogent alternative strategy based on social democratic values and then sell it.
If it can't do that, it won't win an election. The Liberals might still lose but the distinction is important because we would have gone from a democracy to occasional ballots for a chief executive.
- Jim Marr
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