Workers Online : Issue No. 41, 26 November 1999


Issue No 41		26 November 1999

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Features
Interview: A Bob Each Way
ALP tactician Bob McMullan is responsible for charting Labor industry policy into the next millennium. He tells us where he�s heading.

Unions: Organiser of the Year
Just ten days to go before entries close for our $2000 air ticket. Here�s another nomination.

History: Labour Daze
A report from the 6th National Biennial Conference of the Australian Society For The Study Of Labour and Community.

Politics: Tomorrow�s Questions
While the turn of the century sees Sydney play host to the Olympic games, the International Youth Parliament 2000 will bring world focus to contemporary issues facing young people.

Health: Red Ribbons
December 1, World AIDS Day has a special place in the history of the AIDS pandemic.

International: Organised Chaos
Persistent rumours are floating around Jakarta that the former boss of the official pro-Soeharto Indonesian trade union movement is about to be charged with corruption.

Economics: Seattle Numbers Grow for WTO Protest
News of the agreement to smooth China�s entry to the World Trade Organisation has created its own "China Syndrome" for organisers of the Seattle WTO event.

Satire: Too Many Media Players!
The Productivity Commission has issued a report calling for the abolition of existing cross-media ownership laws.

Review: Leviathan
John Birmingham has lifted the lid on Sydney�s shady past - and found trade unions to be at the centre of the sordid tales.

Deface a Face: Reith Loses His Shine
With his Second Wave looking more like a splash in the bath-tub, Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith still reigns as the union movement�s favourite bogeyman.

Deface His Face

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Workers Online - 2nd place Labourstart website of the year

News

The View from the Nerve Centre

Labor Hire Faces Deregulation
A proposal to deregulate labour hire firms would open the way to bodyhire cowboys and could lead to workers being forced to pay to get jobs, NSW unions have warned.
[ Full Story » ]

Democrats Poised to Say No
The Australian Democrats are poised to block the bulk of Peter Reith's second wave industrial relations reforms, with a critical report to be tabled in the Senate this week.
[ Full Story » ]

Olympic Job Cut Fears
Unions fear Olympic organisers are planning to cut back on the number of paid workers for the games and replace them with volunteers under the weight of budgetary constraints.
[ Full Story » ]

Inspectors to Act on Ships of Shame
Forty inspectors of the International Transport Workers Federation will blitzkrieg foreign ships entering Australian ports next week.
[ Full Story » ]

Grave Concerns About Body Bags
Funeral industry workers fear they could be forced to move corpses without protective body bags, if a planned deregulation of the industry goes ahead.
[ Full Story » ]

Former Trades Hall Boss Into Teachers Fray
Deputy president Peter Sams, a former secretary of the NSW Labor Council, has been assigned by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to conciliate the bitter teachers dispute.
[ Full Story » ]

Tools for Timor Plea
Workers are being asked to donate tools and building equipment to the Australian Navy to assist in the rebuilding of East Timor.
[ Full Story » ]

Rio Tinto Sacks 84 for Christmas Eve
Rio Tinto remained true to its mongrel pedigree when it told 84 mineworkers at its Mt Thorley open cut that they were sacked for Christmas Eve.
[ Full Story » ]

Hotel Workers in Unprecedented Action
The emerging activism of Sydney hotel workers will be highlighted when they hold a city-wide work meeting next month.
[ Full Story » ]

Tug Action Hits Sydney Harbour
MUA deckhands on tug services are taking protected action over proposals to cut crew in the new enterprise agreement negotiations.
[ Full Story » ]

Free National Parks Access as Bans Kick In
Staff in the National Parks and Wildlife Service will begin work bans from Monday morning, including New Years Eve and Olympic work.
[ Full Story » ]

Parkers Issue Ticket To Loitering Government
Parking Patrol Officers have imposed bans because the State Government will not give them assurances about their job security.
[ Full Story » ]

Stop Forced Repatriation of Burmese Migrant Workers
APHEDA � Union Aid Abroad has called for the Thai government to delay the process of forced repatriation of Burmese migrant workers until their safety can be guaranteed.
[ Full Story » ]

Will the Real Casual Workers Please Stand Up?
It�s time we had a closer look at casual work and the employment arrangements that many so-called �casuals� work under, says a major new report to be released in Sydney next Tuesday.
[ Full Story » ]

STOP PRESS: Labor Wins NZ Election
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions has congratulated Helen Clark and the Labour Party on their decisive election victory.
[ Full Story » ]

Invitation to Visit Indonesia for May Day 2000

Online Sales

Republican Soapbox

'Union Bosses' Hurt the Workers

For Whom Belanger Tolls

The Teachers' Debate

POSITION VACANT: Electorate Office Manager

Time For a Breather

We're pleased to report that the popularity of Workers Online has catapulted LaborNet to the nation's number one political web-site, as ranked by the Australian internet industry's official charts.

The ranking - which can be found at http://www.top100.com.au -- is an indication of the growth of LaborNet, as the nations' largest cluster of union sites, over the last 12 months. So in the tradition of Australian success stories ... we're going to quit while we're ahead.

Accordingly, this is the last weekly edition of Workers Online for the year - after 41 weeks straight and with the silly season approaching, we reckon we deserve a break.

In a fortnight we'll publish a special Year in Review issue that, hopefully, will keep our readers sated till we return in February.

We'll be updating the news over the summer, so keep coming back to the site over the break and see what's brewing.

In the downtime we'll give ourselves a makeover and better incorporate the newspaper into the LaborNet portal. Any suggestions on making the site better will be gratefully received.

Thanks to all those who have contributed and subscribed; 41 weeks after the launch I can honestly say the venture has been more successful than I could ever have dreamed.

Beyond the number of readers, the activity that has been created around the Labor Council and individual affiliate shows the real potential to use Internet technology to give a platform to new voices.

But it's only a first step and it's our challenge to keep pushing the boundaries of online unionism. See you all in the year 2000 when we'll do precisely that.

Peter Lewis
Editor