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Issue No. 323 08 September 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

Double Jeopardy
As more examples of the human misery that is WorkChoices comes to light, the Howard Government is constructing a devious defence strategy that further erodes the independence of the public service.

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

 All Work and No Pay

 Peking Ducks Safety Regs

 MPs Face Super Clean-Out

 Gas Man Won't Say What's Cooking

 Crane Boss Lifts Her Profile

 World Bank Hollers for Marshalls

 Pork Choices

 Medibank Sale Looking Crook

 Radio Rentals Off Air

 Finger Man Gives For Sale Sign

 Libs: Lay Off Our Oppressor

 Cleaners Mop Up a Big One

 15 Percent All Round - Super!

 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
 Wicked Ways
 Catch a Tube
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Gas Man Won't Say What's Cooking


A giant new gas monopoly is refusing to divulge plans for the extermination of a thousand Australian jobs.

Western Australian-based Alinta has celebrated a $6.8 billion takeover of AGL by announcing plans to shed 200 South Australian positions and up to 800 in NSW, but it won't let workers on the secret.

AWU official, James Day, says the union has been asking for information since the merger plans were floated six months ago.

"We have sought information so we can brief the people affected but heard nothing. Other than the outsourcing of IT arrangements, they haven't provided us with one piece of paper." Day said.

The union has taken its concerns to the NSW government.

It wants the Iemma administration to examine the takeover in the light of AGL's importance to the state.

"We have grave fears they will embark on a slash and burn exercise," Day said. "We are talking about an essential service for NSW industry and residents."

Day says technical staff at AGL are already stretched. Many are on standby for up to 26 weeks of the year, unable to drink or move more than 90 minutes from their homes.

Alinta has brought up most of Victoria's gas operations where, critics say, it replaced experienced technical staff with cheaper, unskilled operators.

AGL service arm, Agility, is responsible for the maintenance of NSW's gas network.


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