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Issue No. 327 06 October 2006  
 
F E A T U R E S

Interview: Cowboys and Indians
Finance Sector Union national secretary Paul Schroder is standing between the big banks and a bucket of money.

Industrial: Seven Deadly Sins
Chris Christodoulou gives seven reasons why WorkChoices is bad for business

Unions: The IT Factor
The future of Australian IT looks grim as big companies lead the rush to India and China, writes Jackie Woods.

Politics: Bargain Basement
Simple principles of democracy underpin the ACTU's collective bargaining proposal, insists ACTU Secrteary Greg Combet.

Environment: An Inconvenient Hoax
Al Gore may be warning of climate breakdown, but what hope the truth when he's up against such a well-oiled machine? asks Paul Sheridan

Corporate: Two Sides
Bilateral trade agreements are a good idea � just ask the US multinationals. The rest of us should strongly disagree says Pat Ranald

International: Unfair Dismissals
Nearly 10,000 workers were fired for their trade union activities in 2005, an annual trade union survey shows.

History: A Stitch in Time
Neale Towart takes some lessons from female textile workers while considering the case for recognition ballots.

Review: The Wind that Shakes the Barley
A film charting the turmoil of the Irish war for independence against British occupation during the 1920s might seem an odd choice for top honours at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

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L A T E S T   N E W S

OWS Blesses Tassie Plunder
John Howard's Office of Workplace Services is endorsing an oil company's move to strip up to $200 a week off Tasmanian employees.

United Petroleum, owned by Victorians Avil Silver and Eddie Hirsch, used WorkChoices to drastically undercut award minimums without giving workers at 13 gas stations any say. [full story]

Feds Knew About Wage Slashing
When it introduced WorkChoices, the federal government knew its laws could be used to slash the wages and conditions of existing staff, says Flinders University Law Professor, Andrew Stewart.

While many observers believed Employer Greenfields �Agreements� could only apply to brand new operations, Stewart says Canberra knew they could be used to disadvantage existing staff. [full story]

Data Farmers' Bitter Harvest
The personal details of thousands of western bank customers are being farmed and harvested from Indian offshore processing centres.

As the backlash against off-shoring of jobs to India gathers steam, a report by Britain's Channel 4 'Dispatches' program exposes major security breaches in centres Australian banks are targeting as cheap labour bases.  [full story]

Umpire Delivers to Posties
Organisers of the November 30 national day of action have been buoyed by an AIRC ruling that unions can promote the action without facing massive fines.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission has overturned a ruling that prevented Australia Post workers participating in the June 28 national protest.  [full story]

It's a Goal - Compass Out-Pointed
While another Dragons season was slowly disintegrating at the SFS, 63 catering staff were kicking a goal for hundreds of workmates.

They rolled a wage-cutting, condition-stripping contract lobbed up by international fast food conglomerate, Compass, by an overwhelming 50-13 scoreline. [full story]

Childcare Giant Goes Union
Australia's biggest private childcare chain has negotiated a collective agreement for its workers in a move the union says will standardise conditions and help professionalise an industry dogged by poor pay and conditions.

The agreement, to be voted on next month, covers over 10,000 childcare workers at ABC Learning Centres around Australia.  [full story]

ALSO MAKING NEWS

 Meat Head Jumps The Queue

 AWAs � Thanks a Million

 Vets� Fight On

 TB Threat From FoC Ship

 Hamberger in Cancer Blue

 AMWU Challenges Forced Deportation

 Let�s Dance � Andrews Get Hot

 Legal Centres Under Threat

 Activists Notebook

email workers to a friend latest breaking news from labornet
Rock The Vote - Catch top Aussie and international acts at a music festival organised by Queensland Council of Unions and Your Rights At Work

E D I T O R I A L
The current backlash suggests that we are not mugs, and that companies that rub the flag in our faces and then shift jobs away will be punished harshly by the public�s well-honed bullshit detector.

Class Worrier

C O L U M N S

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Ian West takes a walk around the backyard with the Prime Minister�

The Soapbox
Rise Up
Hugo Chavez's explosive address to the United Nations

Culture
The Fear Factor
A new analysis of the history of fear takes us from the war on terror all the way to the modern workplace.


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