E D I T O R I A L

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

Death Sites Under Construction

Bank Pledge - Safe as Houses

Brush Big Business: Keating

Sydney the New Mumbai

CFMEU Blocks Vets Sale

Workers Go Cattle Class

Pay for Work Scheme Floated

Howard Blesses His Brethren

Uni Flunks AWA Test

Minchin Takes Back Door Route

Solid Group Goes Grassroots

Shrinking Act

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

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Sydney the New Mumbai

After accusing critics of the section 457 scheme of xenophobia, Vanstone is posed to approve an application by American Express to ship in workers for its Sydney call centre, claiming it can't find Aussies to do the work.

The NSW government and unions are opposing the plan, which would see the workers paid under the legal minimum of $41,000, arguing that if the wages were decent, locals would do the job.

The $41,000 minimum has been the centrepiece of Vanstone's defence of the scheme, claiming it e3nsures that foreign workers are not exploited.

But NSW industrial relations minister John Della Bosca says businesses who train their staff and pay Australians Australian rates are also being disadvantaged.

"Local firms can't compete with companies paying well under market rates," Della Bosca says. "And Australians can be forced into signing substandard agreements because they know they will be replaced by someone on a 457 visa if they don't."

The case has put the spotlight back on the assault on Australian wages and conditions in the fianc� industry, with the 'off shoring' of some jobs and the 'on shoring of others.

Finance workers have called on the Prime Minister to personally convene an industry wide forum on the future of the finance industry.

"In one corner we have banks like Westpac looking at sending work off-shore to drive wages down - and now we have Amex wanting to bring foreign workers in under the bogus guise of the skills shortage," FSU antional; secretary Paul Schroder says.

"The reality is there are no shortage of Japanese speaking people who would take on a secure job, provided it delivered a decent wage."

"The finance industry is at a crisis point and more than 100,000 secure Australian jobs could be lost over the next five years if there is no national leadership on the industry.

"If the government just sits back and allows jobs to be sent off-shore and cheap foreign labour to come on shore there will be very few viable careers left in the industry.

The FSU has written to the Prime Minister seeking his personal intervention to convene an industry forum, as well as support for consume protection ''right to know' laws that would require banks to inform customers when personal information is sent offshore.

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Last Modified: 29 Sep 2006