
Issue No 62		14 July 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

News

World Banks' PNG Edict: Six Thousand Bucks per Job!

The World Bank has tied a grant of $40 million to Papua New Guinea to the condition that the public sector slash 7,000 jobs - or 14 per cent of all staff.

The revelation was made by a senior Papua New Guinea union official, Napolean Liosi, as he addressed the NSW Labor Council this week.

Liosi, the national president of the Public Employees Association of PNG says World Bank assistance has come with strings, including public sector 'restructuring' and an aggressive privatization campaign.

The jobs for money trade-off means that the PNG Government receives about $6,000 for every job it slashes.

Liosi says the policy is having a real impact on jobs and services in PNG; and while the public sector is 80 per cent unionized, the World Bank deal was hitting his members hard.

"The whole deal is premised on the myth that the private sector always does things better," Liosi says. "We're still waiting to see the evidence."

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Issue 62 contents

Interview: Fair Trader
AMWU boss Doug Cameron is gearing for a showdown with the ALP over their free trade agenda. But what's he really on about?

Politics: Free Trader
Trade Minister Peter Cook states his case for coninuting trade liberalisation and why the 'fair trade' agenda is against the interests of Australian workers.

History: Organising - Fifties Style
What do the new wave of organisers do? Pretty much the same hard slog that Audrey Petrie did in the 1950s around Sydney for the Hotel, Club and Restaurant Union (HCRU).

Unions: The Whistleblower
A lone Chinese seafarer is fighting to stop a Panamanian flagged vessel from dumping toxic waste into Australian waters

International: Jakarta Breakthrough
Indonesian workers have just won a new historic bill of rights which gaurantees them legal protections when they form unions.

Solidarity: Rio Versus the Rest of the World
Union members around the world have taken part in a week of international action against the mining giant Rio Tinto. Andrew Casey looks at all the hot spots.

Satire: Amnesty Branch Targets Lazy Letter Writer
Police are investigating claims that the Glebe branch of Amnesty International has captured and tortured a member whose tardiness in letter writing had become renowned.

Review: Little by Little
Clinton Walker's groundbreaking book, CD and video charts the careers of indigenous artists like the legendary Jimmy Little.

» Hotel Workers Get Serious on Olympic Pay

» Global Rio Tinto Campaign Bites

» Nike Faces Olympics Shame

» Cameron Calls for 'Social Audit'

» Orange Rally Softens Email Job Losses

» No Joy in the Chase

» Reith Scheme Short Changes Workers

» World Banks' PNG Edict: Six Thousand Bucks per Job!

» New Wages Scam - Sink Company to Avoid Pay

» Shaw Returns to Bar Room Life

» Newman! Minister Dumps on Staff for GST

» Taxi Drivers Win GST Justice

» Unchain Your Mind

» ACTU Womens' Conference