E D I T O R I A L

The End
In vintage Workers Online fashion we have detected a minor, but telling, factual error in last week’s missive/suicide note. It’s not a seven year itch – this is, in fact, the end of an eight year project.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Terminator
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson looks back on the highs and lows of a year when the battle lines were drawn.

Industrial: Vive La Resistance
Jim Marr glances back through a year of news and discovers plenty of reason for optimism…

Unions: Breaking News
The web offered new ways of covering unions issues. Here’s ten ways Workers Online tried to do things differently.

History: Seven Deadly Sins
Looking back on our annual year-ender editorials gives a nice overview of the journey we have taken.

Economics: Back to the Future
Political economist Frank Stilwell looks back at a year that saw the passing of the drivers of two strains of economic thought.

Politics: Organising and Organisations
Organising for unionists can mean overcoming the “union”. The “rolling of the right” by the BLF rank and file shows the power of workers united to defeat the power of bosses and certain union bosses.

International: Web Retrospective
Unions and the web – What's changed in the last seven years? The short answer is – everything and nothing, wrties Eric Lee

Review: Shock Therapy
Unreconstructed Kazakhi journalist Borat is unleashed on the ‘US and A’ offending everyone – except the bigots.

N E W S

High Flyers Go For Gold

Hospital Staff Prescribe Radical Surgery

Holland Goes Dutch on Safety

New Thinking to Transport Sydney

Check Mate - Track Your Personal Info

WorkChoices on a Trolley

See No Evil, OEA

Feltex Carpets PM's Fibs

Workers Blood on the Walls

Lift For Unfair Dismissal Campaign

No Discrimination on Choice

Vanstone Opens New Meat Market

Activists' Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Future
So Where to Now?
Amanda Tattersall outlines her plans for Working NSW and the challenge of connecting research, communications and campaigning.

Obituary
Gone But Not Forgotten
Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (1915-2006). His memory is still being honoured, writes Jim Marr

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite politician bids adieu and hangs up his chestnuts.

L E T T E R S

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Hospital Staff Prescribe Radical Surgery

Workers at Nepean Hospital, the biggest workplace in the federal marginal seat of Lindsay have set up a campaign committee that this week presented NSW Premier, Morris Iemma with a petition of more than 2,000 signatures.

The Nepean Hospital group is running the first workplace-based Rights At Work campaign in Australia. With a 3000 strong workforce and hundreds of patients and their families moving through each week, the potential for campaigners is extraordinary.

"This issue affects the whole community and we're determined to do something about it," says nurse Jason Mullavey.

"If our award conditions were abolished we'd lose not only penalty rates, shift loading, pay and conditions but provisions governing reasonable workloads designed to ensure quality care for patients."

Servicing communities in marginal state and federal seats in Western Sydney, Nepean Hospital workers are also worried about what a Liberal-led state government will do.

"We've already heard they're going to cut thousands of public sector workers and hand over state IR powers to the Howard Government," says Linda Everingham in Emergency.

"As a working mum with two small children, I work weekends at the hospital to earn penalty rates that help pay the bills. Now I'm hearing my job is in the firing line and my wages and conditions could be cut."

John Robertson, secretary of Unions NSW says campaign committees like this one will be a key factor in the outcome of upcoming state and federal elections.

"Two thousand informed and trusted health workers having one on one conversations about the impact of these changes are going to touch many more people than John Howard and his million dollar ad budget ever could.

"These are regular hard working nurses, doctors, ambulance officers and other health professionals who have probably never done anything political in their lives but to them, this particular issue is just too important."

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URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/356/news2_surgery.html
Last Modified: 21 Dec 2006