E D I T O R I A L

Justice, Applied Liberally
To think, Phillip Ruddock used to be a liberal.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Australia�s Most Wanted
The ACCC is the latest state agency to turn its guns on the construction union. National official, Dave Noonan, discusses the implications.

Industrial: The Fox and the Contractor
With new laws looming for �independent contractors�, Foxtel subbies have had the carpet pulled from under their feet, writes Nathan Brown.

Unions: Industrial Wasteland
A group of inner-Sydney veterans appear to be working to strip their families of retirement incomes. Jim Marr records their desperation.

International: Two Bob's Worth
German and British workers are participating in business decisions while WorkChoices locks Australians out of the conversation, writes Anthony Forsyth.

Economics: National Interest
John Howard claimed that interest rates would always be lower under a Coalition government than under Labor, Neale Towart crunchess the numbers.

Environment: The Real Dinosaur
Economic ignorance remains at the top and the critics are oblivious says Sol Power

History: Only In Spain?
The experiences of self management during the Civil War have been the one positive factor to come from that tragic event, and the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation thrives today.

Review: Clerk Off
Nathan Brown draws solace from some fellow social misfits.

N E W S

Boss Gives Dad the Finger

Amber's Law Pulps WorkChoices

Westfield Flogs Good Deal

Building Workers Spooked

Bankers to Train Assassins

Astroboy Blasts Off

First Global Deal Docks in Germany

Bans Stop the Press

Deportation for Pay-To-Work Tradesman

Telstra in Bush Bloodbath

Boss Punts Assaulted Teen

Ballots Stuffed By WorkChoices

Howard in a Spin

Extras � The Waterfront.

Activist's What's On!

C O L U M N S

Legends
Westie Wing
MLC Ian West ventures beyond Macquarie St and into the desert of the eco rats.

The Soapbox
Testing Times
Former RLPA secretary and Newcastle Knights prop, Tony Butterfield, fires up over dawn raids.

Obituary
Dare to Win
The union movement has lost an inspirational leader of working men and women, writes Jeana Vithoulkas

Fiction
Tommy's Apprentice
Chapter Two - Tommy�s Tale.

L E T T E R S

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Boss Gives Dad the Finger

In a statement, sighted by Workers Online, a 46-year-old Korean says the employer refused to call an ambulance after four of his fingers were hacked off at work.

Cho Hyun Kwon said he didn't believe his employer had workers compensation cover, required by law.

Cho admitted he was working in Australia illegally but his predicament will spark union calls for rogue employers to face sanctions.

Legal Section 457 visas and illegal immigrants, in industries like building and construction, have been used to hold down Australian wages and conditions.

Evidence about the prevalence of illegal labour was presented to the Cole Royal Commission, as far back as 2002, but it chose to do nothing about it, while recommending harsh sanctions on unions who tried to prevent the workers comp and tax rorts it engendered.

The CFMEU has flagged a campaign for penalties on employers who use illegal workers as cheap labour.

It claims there are more than 50,000 illegal immigrants working in Australia without any protections.

Cho's statement gives a chilling insight into their lives.

He said he lived inside the Bankstown factory where he was required to labour for up to 120 hours a week. He said, for two years, he was paid a flat rate of $10 an hour, with no holidays, sick leave, or super.

"On May 19, this year, all my fingers on my hand were chopped off in a machine," Cho says.

"My boss has refused to pay any wages since the accident. He knew I was illegal but, when I had the accident, he decided to tell the Immigration Department to have me arrested.

"I am desperate."

Workers Online has changed the name of the worker, and omitted the company title, to protect his identity.

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URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/322/news1_finger.html
Last Modified: 01 Sep 2006