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Issue No. 322 01 September 2006  
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
 Please Don�t Go
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Telstra in Bush Bloodbath


Fears are mounting for telephone services in the bush with Telstra announcing a further 48 job cuts to regional NSW.

In a move that will bring Telstra's total number of regional NSW sackings this year to 255, the telco has decided to punt network design planners from local areas.

Responsibility for designing the bush telephone network will be centralised in locations such as Newcastle and Brisbane from later this year.

CEPU NSW secretary Jim Metcher predicted delays for customers waiting for new phone installations or broadband connections.

"The ongoing promises by Telstra of providing fast speed internet and next generation cables for rural communities is now a myth," Metcher said.

CEPU organiser Steve Dodd said the design planning positions were highly specialised and required intimate knowledge of local areas.

"This will lead to mistakes and in three years time they will be turning around and saying what a stupid mistake it was to get rid of these guys," Dodd said.

The North Coast will be the heaviest hit by the job cuts, with 14 job losses, followed by the Riverina and the Illawarra with eight losses apiece.

The job losses follow the sacking of 207 Telstra technicians from regional NSW in July this year.


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