
Issue No 35		15 October 1999

News

AFL-CIO Computer Deal Keeps Union in Control

America's peak union body has secured a deal for low-cost computers and Internet access - while maintaining full control of web content - unlike the ACTU's proposed deal with Virtual Communities.

The AFL-CIO made the announcement at its biennial conference in Los Angeles this week.

The American union's peak body says the deal will offer low-cost Internet service and discounted American-made computers for union families.

A range of union-friendly products also will be available to working families through an e-commerce shopping link, and the federation is considering how to add an education component that will allow union members to tap into a variety of training.

"It will provide union members one main access point to the Internet--a personalised "portal" page tailored by the individual user to his or her own interests and featuring, for example, news stories, stock quotes, links, private chat areas and even perhaps a daily horoscope," the AFL-CIO says.

Social Change Online's Sean Kidney says the main difference between the AFL-CIO model and the ACTU plan is that US unions will retain their control of their portel, rather than giving it to a commercial interest.

"They recognise that the portel is what the game is all about and it is the primary channel of communication with members that need to be at the heart of union activity," Kidney says.

In contrast, the ACTU plan being developed by Bill Kelty would allow Virtual Communities to control the union portel, offering exclusive deals to commercial suppliers in a bid to maximise e-commerce profits.

Under the plan, users would have to log off and enter the net through a separate service provider in order to visit sites not endorsed by the web entrepreneurs.

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  Issue 35 contents

Interview: Strategic Responses
NSW Police Association president Mark Burgess has worked in the coal mines and the waterfront - now heï¿½s the public face of NSW police

Republic: Negative Campaigning
If the Republic fails, one of the main complaints which should be leveled against the ARM is its refusal to play dirty.

Unions: Interpreter smooths the way for Kosovar Refugees
ï¿½The people really appreciate what Australia has done for them but they still want to go home," said Ariana Biba, a HREA member who has been worked recently as an interpreter assisting newly arrived refugees from Kosovo.

Education: Count Yorga's Evil Plot
NTEU president Carolyn Allport looks at Kemp's brazen attack on univestities and warns the battle is not won yet.

Safety: Death in the Snowy
Beyond the engineering achievements of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, there is the tragic story of those workers killed or seriously injured in the construction of the project.

International: Why Is the WTO So Anti-Labour?
Driving the cost of labour down appears to be the main priority of the World Trade Organisation

History: The Importance of Tradition
Historical documents bring us into closer contact with the past and its concerns as this 1945 extract from the NSW Nurses Association journal, The Lamp, shows.

Review: McLibel - The Mice That Roared
This documentary is the classic tale of the little guys against the system, a battle for the right to dissent.

Satire: Government Privatises Numbers
Prime Minister John Howard released a new policy on numerals yesterday, to bring them in in line with the Liberal Party's plan to privatise ï¿½Pretty much everything before we lose office.ï¿½

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» AFL-CIO Computer Deal Keeps Union in Control

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» Labor MPs Asked to Stand Up and Be Counted

» Reithï¿½s Second Wave Smokescreen

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» Itï¿½s Time! Republic Goes Funky

» STOP PRESS: Combet Elected ACTU Secretary Unopposed