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Issue No. 328 13 October 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

Straw Men
Somewhere between Bangalore and Surrey Hills a story about off shoring of Australian jobs got confused this week; unleashing a round of hand-wringing that speaks volumes about the political and commercial potency of this issue.

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

 Activists Notebook

 Money Walks Over Jobs

 Classifieds the New IR Attack Dog

 States Keep Stakes in IR Blueprint

 Meatworkers Boned by WorkChoices

 Tune Up for Radio Rentals

 Democracy Overboard in Bass Strait

 Unionist Targeted for Deportation

 Taxpayers Taken to the Cleaners

 Staff Sunk By Float

 AWB Sets New Low

 Heinemann Pushes the Envelope

 Giant Catastrophe for Crew

 Workers Lose Right to Choose Lawyers

 Skill Vouchers A Dud, AMWU

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
 Honest John, Would You Like Lies With That
 The Unpromised Land
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Heinemann Pushes the Envelope


Heinemann - the electrical parts manufacturer that docked 53 workers a week's wages for an overtime ban - is continuing to push John Howard's new federal IR laws to the extreme.

The South African-owned company has attempted to stop employees from seeking to protect their entitlements should the company go bust.

But the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has upheld a previous decision - appealed by Heinemann - that seeking protection for employee entitlements is not 'prohibited content' under Howard's new laws.

Under WorkChoices, all content not directly pertaining to the employment relationship is banned from workplace agreements.

Heinemann sought an order to stop members of the Electrical Trades Union taking protected industrial action on the grounds the union was pursuing prohibited content.

But the AIRC's full bench said a claim protect employee entitlements in the event of liquidation did pertain to the employment relationship, similarly to claims for employer superannuation or insurance against loss of earnings.

In August, while attempting to negotiate an enterprise bargaining agreement which guaranteed their entitlements and granted a reasonable pay rise, the workers stopped working voluntary overtime for a week, but continued to work normal hours.

Heinemann - which wanted to slash penalty rates for overtime and shift work - refused to pay 54 Victorian employees for that week's work, owing them $33,000 in total.

The workers are continuing to fight for a fair collective agreement.


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