Issue No 67 | 18 August 2000 | |
Letters to the EditorTom's Mantra
First let me congratulate you on your first Editorial, a very insightful piece of writing. Unfortunately you appear like many others who are to deep in the forest to be unable to see the trees , and believe in your own rhetoric or should I say " Mantra". You can have all the training for delegates, officials or paid representatives you want, but unless there is a fervent belief in the cause, you have nothing. I say, "Today the Trade Union movement in Australia, has all but nothing". You talk of empowering members, how can you do this when the only power Unions have is in the internal squabbles about who gets to be the "Leader of the Band", or who gets first suck on the Saveloy. Of course peoples interest in politics has not diminished, it has increased as they realize the power that they actually have in communion with others of like mind. And most Unions are no longer , of like mind! We as a species are at the crossroads, do we wish to continue to empower weak and mediocre Union Leaders, who feed us bullshit, or because they have chosen the easy path , through the mushroom sheds , or do we want real leaders. Leaders who will grasp the nettle and carry the banner at the vanguard rather than the rear. Perhaps there are none of these zealots left? Democracy is the Trade Unions only way to the future! Team Work Tom
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Interview: Slyly Selling the Silver In their recently published book Privatisation, Sell-off? or Sell out? (ABC Books), Bob and Betty Walker took a long hard look at the major government asset sales of the last decade. Here they tell Workers Online what they've learnt. Politics: Dysfunctional Society Noel Pearson looks at the plight of Aboriginal people through a prism of class and comes up with a challenging perspective on Aboriginal welfare, law and order and the state of our society. History: Money Power Should the People or the Banks Rule? Reserve Bank Governor McFarlane thinks he knows the answer. Eddie Ward was pretty strongly of the opposite view when the ALP introduced the Commonwealth Banking Legislation in 1945. International: Soccer Pro Tackles Nike Olympic sponsor Nike is under pressure over its human rights record in the run up to the Sydney Games. Economics: Globalony Frank Stillwell looks at the contradictory nature of the globalising economy and fears it is turning into a race to the bottom. Satire: IVF Debate: Federal Government Tells Lesbians: "Get Fucked" MELBOURNE, Monday: The Federal Court decision to allow single women and lesbians to use infertility treatment in Victoria has been attacked by the Federal Government, the Catholic Church and by pro-family community groups. Review: Confessions Of A Union Buster It's not a new tome but the threat for Australian Unions remains the same if not greater as when this book appeared five years ago.
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