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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

Crane Boss Lifts Her Profile


The newly-elected president of the Crane Owners Association has flexed her political muscle by sacking a union delegate with 40 years industry experience.

Botany Cranes boss Anne Bradstreet gave Barry Hemsworth his marching orders after he objected to the company shifting OH&S responsibilities to its staff.

Bradsteet, named top tog at the Crane Owners Association barely two months ago, used WorkChoices to avoid unfair dismissal repercussions.

A meeting of over 75 percent of his workmates, last week, gave Hemsworth a unanimous vote of confidence but Howard's building industry specific laws prevent them acting in his defence.

Howard's Building Industry Commission has dragged 107 construction workers before the federal court after they struck in support of a sacked delegate on the Perth-Mandurah rail project. It is seeking $28,000 fines against every individual.

Hemsley has erected a shed outside Botany Cranes Bandsmeadow gates and says he is going nowhere.

"They can't get rid of me that easily," he told Workers Online.

"I am going to make the public aware of how some companies are using this legislation. During my 10 years as delegate we hadn't had a single stoppage at Botany Cranes but I opposed their move to make workers draw up their own risk analysis statements.

"It was trying to move its OH&S obligations onto workers. We accept that workers have their own responsibilities but that doesn't mean employers can evade their duty of care.'

Hemsworth was in the process of bringing industry players - unions, employers, WorkCover and peak bodies - together to thrash out policy for the sector.

The CFMEU is calling for community support, urging Sydneysiders to visit Hemsworth at Exell St, Banksmeadow, or contact the company.

Botany Cranes can be contacted by phone on (02) 9666 6366 or by email at: [email protected]

Workers Online understands CFMEU lawyers are considering avenues to contest Hemsworth's axing under WorkChoices laws that bar unjustified dismissal actions to people from jobs with less than 100 staff.

In the past eight years, with Hemsworth as delegate, Botany Cranes, has gone from nine to 15 cranes, and staff has jumped from 15 to 36 operators.


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