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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

Contracts Shut Down


Eight workers at a Sydney roller shutter company who refused to sign individual agreements have gone back to work on a collective agreement that preserves their picnic day.

The eight, who protested outside the Turella premises of Thompson's Roller Shutters for four weeks, have won a collective agreement with a four percent pay rise and a boost to redundancy entitlements.

Before they went on strike, an AMWU delegate was sacked after protracted negotiations for a collective agreement; then Thompson's offered non-unionists a higher pay rise on AWAs than they were prepared to offer those on the collective agreement.

But the unionists came out on top.

Their nine colleagues who accepted AWAs were given a no-frills 3.2 percent pay rise.

The result is a victory for the protesting workers who'd feared losing the security of their entitlements under an AWA, said AMWU official Geoff Wallace.

"The workers at Thompson's have shown enormous courage. They will return to work with dignity," said Wallace.

"They have not been forced to sign AWAs and they have secured a collective agreement that will protect their entitlements, wages and conditions."

The workers, who'd never been on strike before, were nervous they'd be victimised on their return to work.

But the employer has assured the union that there would be no ramifications in the workplace for the protesting workers, Wallace said.


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