E D I T O R I A L

A Values Call
Opposition leader Kim Beazley has copped a bit of flak in the past week for his Aussie Values Pledge, but we reckon he got it at least half right.

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

From Comrades to CUBs

Workers Demand Right to Know

Flying Kangaroo Eyes Passage to India

It�s A Secret: Ballot Boosts ABC Campaign

Brake WorkChoices, NSW Urged

City or the Bush? It�s Telstra�s Call

Compo Rights a Burning Issue

2500 Get Coles Shoulder

Hardie Payrise Stiffs Victims

WorkChoices Reverse Somersault with Pike

Qantas Workers Ground AWAs

Latest Import: Childcare Workers

Let Tem Eat Cake!

Mugabe Thugs Mug Unionists

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

WHAT YOU CAN DO

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Workers Demand Right to Know

As unions put forward a proposal to change the law to force company to tell customers where their information is sent overseas, Westpac is refusing to tell their back office workforce what it intends to do with them.

The Finance Sector Un ion exposed the plans to cut jobs from its Concord processing centre on Wednesday, 24 hours before the staff was to receive the rules of a review into the centre, which handles sensitive information of Westpac customers.

Under intensive media and public pressure, Westpac refused to rule out the off-shoring option, instead buying time by delaying the review for another eight weeks.

FSU national secretary Paul Shroder said the aim was now to force a Westpac back-down through sustained public pressure.

"We don't think the bank expected the heat that it has received; they now want it to cool off before sneaking their announcement through. We are determined this will not occur."

The FSU will maintain public pressure and is also mounting a political case for changing privacy laws to force companies to disclose when data is off-shored,.

"We know from our research that the public will make purchasing decisions based on where their information is handled; so we t6hink there is a compelling case that banks should be up front with this information," Mr Shroder said.

"FSU members, including those from the Concord centre have already been to Canberra to talk to politicians about these changes and we think it is something that both sides of politics should support."

For the latest on the campaign go to www.fsuion.org.au

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URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/325/news2_westpac.html
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2006