
Issue No 42		17 December 1999

News

Peace in the Gong

Warring factions within the Illawarra Labor Movement have finally made peace, setting the scene for a successful ACTU Congress to be held in Wollongong in June 2000.

The movement there had been in meltdown since June, when Paul Matters claimed victory in a disputed ballot for the leadership of the South Coast Labor Council. Matters has since announced his retirement.

Disaffected unions quit the council and moved to set up their own competing body, before union stalwarts Tas Bull, Tom McDonald and John Whelan stepped into to broker a compromise.

Members of the South Coast Labor Council and the breakaway Illawarra Council of Trade Unions has agreed to hold elections for a reunified SCLC in March 2000.

Independent arbiters, labour lawyers Wayne Haylen and Steve Rothman will oversee any disputes over the electoral roll.

The NSW Labor Council has agreed to put $30,000 into a special fund to meet a range of outstanding accounts owed by the SCLC.

Under the deal all unions who walked out of the SCLC will reaffiliate and agree to abide by the outcome of the ballot. Whelan and McDonald will continue to oversee the peace process.

Issues came to a head in October when the ICTU sought formal recognition from the NSW Labor Council.

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Issue 42 contents

Interview: Costa Bravo
Labor Council�s chief trouble maker chronicles the battles of the past year and ponders those still to come.

Unions: More Wins Than Losses
Workers Online ranks the Top Ten industrial relations stories from a year of frenetic activity.

International: Eric Lee's Year in Review
The editor of Labourstart looks back over his favourite stories of 1999.

Politics: So Many Questions
It was a year in politics that threw up more questions than answers. We look at some of the sticky ones.

Republic: Referendum With Class
Labor heretic Michael Thomspson analyses the failure of the Republican proposition.

Environment: Seattle Kills Greens V Jobs Bogey
The sight of US unionists, environmentalists and human rights activists being attacked by police in Seattle shows how far the progressive movement has come.

Deface a Face: Give Him a Hairdo
What better present could Michael Costa offer Workers Online readers than the chance to give him a Deface a Face style make over?

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
See the latest issue of Labour Review, our resource for officials, activists and students.

Review: Cultural Wasteland
Workers Online resident door-bitches Zanga and Paul pass judgement on the year that finished the millennium.

» What Price Aussie Jobs as Olympics Loom

» TWU Activist Named Organiser of the Year

» Unions Lock in New Years Eve Deals

» 'Scrooge' Destroys Staff Christmas

» Rule Changes to Restructure Council

» The Great Salary Rip-Off

» George to Kick Start NSW IR Reforms?

» Shaw Loses Key Advisers

» More New Faces at the New ACTU

» Reith Second Wave Not Beached Yet

» Peace in the Gong

» Workers Support Register Gathers Steam

» Pay Equity Enters Campaign Mode

» Union Aid Agency to Establish Dili Office

» Job Vacancies at the LHMU

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Aquilina's Insult

» Well Done 1999

» US Union Site Worth a Look

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