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Issue No. 334 24 November 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

It�s Who The Economy Works For, Stupid
As the movement prepares for the National Day of Action on November 30, we embark on the third, final and, perhaps most difficult phase of the Rights at Work campaign.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Common Ground
Nature Conservation Council director Cate Faehrmann on the fight against global warming and how unions and greens can learn from each other.

Industrial: A Low Act
The Low Paid. The Fair Pay Commission knows who pays them. We can do something about it as they will not.

Unions: The Number of the Least
Forget 666 - 457 is looming as the scariest number for Aussie workers and their families, Jim Marr writes.

Politics: The Smoking Gun
Hayek's henchman, Raplph Harris, goes to free market heaven, writes Evan Jones

Economics: Microcredit, Compulsory Superannuation and Inequality
They are supposed to ensure the wealth of well-being of individuals. Whats wrong with that? asks Neale Towart

Environment: Low Voltage
Nuclear Power and Prime Ministerial pronouncements are seriously short of a few volts, wrties Neal Towart

History: The Art of Social Justice
Tom Martin was a terrific cartoonist and part of a great tradition in labour movement history and culture, swrties Neale Towart.

Review: Work�s Unhealthy Appetite
It pays the bills � usually � but going to work should come with a warning, wrties Jackie Woods.

Culture: A Forgotten Poet
There is little information on the public record about the radical working class poet Ernest Antony, writes Rowan Cahill.

N E W S

 OWS: Cash for Query Scam

 Watchdog Bites Own Pups

 Silver Lining to Qantas Storm

 Wages Heading South Under WorkChoices

 Hardies Finally Coughs Up

 Face Up to Save Harbour

 STOP PRESS: Workers Docked for Meeting Pollies

 Telstra Redundancies �Inhumane�

 AWAs Carpeted

 Contracts Shut Down

 ILO Gets Tough on Forced Labour

 Houston Win Sparks Hope for New Era

 Full List of November 30 Venues

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Robbo Goes Green
John Robertson's speech to the Walk Against Warming

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Ian West takes a look at a former public institution and its contribution to NSW.

L E T T E R S
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News

OWS: Cash for Query Scam


One of the first victims of WorkChoices has been told she has to pay nearly $100 to discover the results of a government investigation.

Doctor�s receptionist Rhonda Walke has been told she must pay to see the results of five page report into her sacking, after 20 years of service, by the Office of Workplace Services.

Walke attracted media headlines when she sacked from a medical centre in the first days of the new IR laws after questioning arbitrary changes in shift work.

As with all high profile cases that have the potential to embarrass the government, the OWS contacted her to investigate her claims.

But since that investigation, the OWS has blocked access to the report, indicating 'certain procedures need to be followed and fees paid, which have so far totalled $97.00.

United Services Union executive president Michael Want says the treatment of Walke is unacceptable and that workers should have the right to know the results of investigations about them.

Un ions NSW assistant secretary Mark Lennon says its ironic that the OWS is happy to leak reports to the media to attack unions, but won't disclose results to the subjects of the inquiry.

"This is another sign that this body is fulfilling a political function for the government rather than protecting the rights of workers," Lennon says.


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