
Issue No 59		23 June 2000

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Orange at Risk - Call for City's Help

Threatened workers from the western NSW town of Orange are pleading for support from city workers as a cloud looms over the future of the city with its largest employer Email facing takeover.

Orange Trades and Labor Council secretary Mick Madden made an impassioned appeal for support to last night's Labor Council meeting in Sydney at the request of the Email workers.

The Labor Council is now planning to charter a train to transport city unionists to Orange for a July 6 community day of support for the Email operations. Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says he'll be inviting the Prime Minister and Premier to attend the event.

Madden says that if Email fails, 1500 jobs could be lost - with a flow-on effect that would wipe out 35 per cent of the region's economy. Madden, the Australian Workers Union state president, says that steel giant Smorgens is currently eying Email for a takeover. The fear is that if the takeover goes ahead the new owner will keep Email's profitable steel-making operations but sell-off the manufacturing wing - decimating an entire rural community.

The focus of the workers is ensuring that current Email management place obligations to maintain the manufacturing operations as part of any sale packet if it decides to proceed

Now he says it's time for the labour movement, which has been talking about organizing and the importance of the regions, to put its money where its mouth is. "If we, as a labour movement, are fair dinkum about regional areas, now is the time to show it," Madden says.

"This should not be a campaign against the current Email management - who have provided jobs for the people of Orange for many generations - it is about keeping Email as a part of our city," Madden says.

Madden will now report back to Email workers about Labor Council's support for their cause and develop a program for the day.

See next week's Workers Online for more details on the Email train

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Issue 59 contents

Interview: Holding the Line
Diwan Shankar, Assistant National Secretary of the Fiji TUC, is in Australia to consolidate support for his members and plead for ongoing bans.

Technology: D-Day for VC?
NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa explains the motivations behind the new Get on Board computer-internet venture.

Legal: Knock, Knock - Who's There?
When the nine year old son of CFMEU construction division state secretary Andrew Ferguson recently responded to a Saturday door knock, it was neither a friend nor a Jehovah's Witness.

Unions: Are You a Good Listener ?
Mark Hearn goes inside the Energy Australia call centre to find a workplace where there is a code for evrything - even trips to the toilet.

International: Union Observers Barred from Zimbabwe Poll
Five observers from the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and 19 other South Africans aligned to Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice are among 233 observers barred by the Zimbabwean government from monitoring the parliamentary elections.

History: Community, Class, and Comparison
Despite its occasional romantic tendencies, new labour scholarship is mapping collective action within working class communities.

Satire: Rural Poor Return to Labor
Thrilled by the great new branding, the new Country Labor party has caused scenes of great rejoicing in the country.

Review: The Wicked Webs We Weave
LaborNet web-meastro Paul Howes trawls the web for some hot sites for all you political junkies.

» STOP PRESS: Get on Board Moves Virtual

» Orange at Risk - Call for City's Help

» Unions to Get Equity in New Computer Deal

» Aussie Competition Laws Protect Fijian Terrorists

» Union Rat Sinks Industrial Laws

» Olympic Rail Deal Struck for Games Period

» GST Fears for Union Delegates

» No Cigars for Casino High Rollers

» Frustration Boils Over Olympics Blowout

» Support for Campaign Against TAFE Cuts

» Private Sector Health Workers Seek Pay Equity

» Bosses Hoist on Own Petard

» Construction Industry Assists East Timor Training

» AFL-CIO Leader to Address Congress

» Full ACTU Congress Coverage on LaborNet

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Freudian Slip

» Volunteers in Policing

» Tax Farce

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