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Issue No. 325 22 September 2006  
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
 Fair Crack
 Aussie Values DOA
 It�s Not Cricket
 Kim�s New Platforms
 Reaping What You Sow
 Roll Out the Tanks
 Auntie Hijacked
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Qantas Workers Ground AWAs


Maintenance workers at Qantas have secured a collective agreement from the company that has set itself up as a cheerleader for the Howard Government�s new IR laws.

Members of the AMWU and AWU joined forces to secure the deal, which delivers efficiencies to the airline and a three per cent annual increase for the workers.

But AMWU's Glenn Thompson says what is not in the agreement is just as significant.

"At the outset of what has been an 11 month process, the company was initially proposing an agenda that would have cut conditions that would have represented pay cuts of up to 20 per cent.

"And they put this on the table against a back drop of their CEO Geoff Dixon, publicly endorsing WorkChoices, funding the campaign with company money and opening the prospect of AWAs in Qantas.

"Pushing back from this position has been a significant win for workers - and it has only been possible because the workers have remained united throughout the process.

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten says the proposed agreement would provide protection for AWU Qantas members from many of the worst aspects of the Howard Government's unfair industrial relations laws.

"When our negotiations with Qantas for a new EBA began last November, AWU members at Qantas were justifiably concerned that the company would seek to use John Howard's unfair laws to strip back their conditions," Shorten says.

"We are pleased our members held firm through the protracted negotiations, and through their strength, appear to have secured vital protections.".


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