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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.
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.
 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
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.
Honest John, Would You Like Lies With That
The Unpromised Land
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News
Workers Lose Right to Choose Lawyers
The Federal Court has ruled a government agency can block workers it is interrogating from being represented by lawyers of their choice.
WA building worker Michael Bonan challenged the powers of Australian Building and Construction Commission investigator Nigel Hadgkiss to reject his right to choice of lawyer, while conducting a secret interrogation into alleged industrial action.
Hadgkiss made the ruling on the basis that the lawyer was representing other workers in relation to the same matter.
In his decision, Justice Besanko ruled that the ABCC had the power to deny the worker the choice of lawyer during the secret interrogations.
The court did, however, rule that the ABCC had exceeded its power when Hadgkiss attempted to prevent Bonan using his preferred lawyer outside the secret investigation.
CFMEU Construction Division National Secretary Dave Noonan says the decision shows how extreme the Howard Government's anti-building industry laws actually are.
"What the court has said is that a government official can deny a worker the basic right of choosing their own legal representative.
"The effect of this decision is that workers can be called before a secret hearing of Howard's hand-picked political appointees and forced to answer questions under the threat of six months jail - without a lawyer of their choice.
"This decision reinforces the repressive nature of these laws, which have been enacted with minimal public scrutiny or debate.
"These laws are bad for workers, bad for democracy and bad for the building industry, which has always thrived when employers and employees work together cooperatively," Noonan says.
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Issue 328 contents
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