Workers Online : Issue No. 5, 19 March 1999


Issue No 5		19 March 1999

Features
Interview: Towards An Information International
FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings talks about the development of the Union Network International and its potential to organise globally.

Unions: The Integral Price of Loyalty
Workers at Integral Energy are asking for their share of the fruits of power reform.

History: A Very Public History
Historian Ray Markey and Public Service Association General Secretary Janet Good take a look at the union�s first 100 years.

Review: Bullworth - Beatty�s Political Rap
Warren Beatty makes some gutsy calls in his new film about a politician who, when all else fails, tries the truth.

Campaign Diary: The Ultimate Punt
As the leaders slug it through the final weeks of the campaign, the armchair critics get their chance to work their pet election theories.

Tearing Down the Debt Wall

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News

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia Addresses FIET

Streamlined ILO To Focus On �Decent� Work
The new chief of the ILO plans to regenerate the body by drastically cutting the number of programs to refocus on the global creation of 'decent' jobs.
[ Full Story » ]

Kelty Sees Global Minimum Wage On Horizon
ACTU secretary Bill Kelty has predicted the development of a global minimum wage as an inevitable consequence of the rise of an international labour consciousness.
[ Full Story » ]

International Superunion Given Go-Ahead
An international superunion representing more than 15 million information workers worldwide won support from delegates at the FIET World Congress in Sydney this week.
[ Full Story » ]

FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall
Mallet-wielding unionists destroyed a symbolic �debt wall� to support a campaign for the cancellation of Third World debt, at a rally in Sydney this week.
[ Full Story » ]

Is The World Bank Anti-Union?
The World Bank has been asked to clarify its stance on trade unions amidst allegations it advised the Bangladeshi Government to prevent bank workers from organising a trade union.
[ Full Story » ]

Lectures Cancelled Over University Pay Claim
Lectures at the University of NSW were cancelled last as academics walked off the job over an ongoing pay dispute.
[ Full Story » ]

100 Reasons Why Public Sector Unionism Will Survive
Premier Bob Carr has reaffirmed his commitment to an independent public service as the Public Service Association celebrates its centenary year.
[ Full Story » ]

Maccas Death Call
The death of a 19-year-old McDonalds worker highlights management�s responsibility to provide safe work places and adequate training to young workers.
[ Full Story » ]

Cleaners Time Out Hours Cut
The Menzies cleaning contractor has dropped plans to cut working hours by 30 per cent after a strong Union campaign in NSW.
[ Full Story » ]

Plenty More History

Time For Fresh Look

A Pat On The Back

A Very Provincial Press

Anyone checking their newspapers or TV news this week for stories from the FIET World Congress could have been forgiven for thinking the thing had been called off.

Apart from a brief run on SBS-TV, there was no coverage of the weighty issues discussed by the delegates representing more than 100 nations.

Foreign debt, global trade unionism, the future of the ILO -- they all went through to the keeper.

The only interest seemed to be generated by domestic figures Bill Kelty and Kim Beazley; and in neither case was the interest linked to what they told the conference. For Kelty it was the tired inquisition on when he's standing aside; for Beazley it was a debate on domestic uranium mines.

But fear not, Workers Online is here to fill the breach, focussing on some of the significant issues and debates run this week in Sydney.

The fact that you will only read about them here, not only reflects on the provincial focus of the Australian media, but also underlines the potential for this publication.

If our media is indeed turning inward, then we need open forums like this to exchange the ideas that will drive the union movement's agenda into the next century.

While the broader media paint us as the dinosaurs, the past week shows it could be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Peter Lewis
Editor




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