Workers Online
Workers Online
Workers Online
  Issue No 69 Official Organ of LaborNet 01 September 2000  

 --

 --

 --

.  LaborNET

.  Ask Neale

.  Tool of the Week

Features
*  Interview: Global Warrior
International unions have won a game of political football with soccer`s hierarchy - and Aussie Tim Noonan is behind the victory.
*
*  History: King of Broken Hill
John Shields recounts the colourful life of William Sydney 'Shorty' O'Neil (1903-2000) and his place in the rich history of a remarkable town.
*
*  International: History Repeats At Firestone
More than 8,000 workers, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), are set to strike at nine Bridgestone/Firestone plants in the United States at midnight tonight.
*
*  Politics: The Past We Need To Understand
In his Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Malcolm Fraser retraces the path of Australian race relations and laments the terrible impasse we've reached.
*
*  Unions: Economic Democracy
Sharan Burrow on making Working Australia's money talk and reforming corporate culture for the 21st Century.
*
*  Satire: Another windscreen washer joins millionaire list
SYDNEY, Monday: After just a year in his new job, John Samuels has added his name to the burgeoning list of enterprising Australians who have made their fortunes by offering partial car-washing facilities in convenient inner city road-side locations.
*
*  Review: No Long Term
Much political commentary is about the global marketplace and the use of new technologies as hallmarks of the new capitalism. Richard Sennett investigates another dimension of change: new ways of organising time, particularly working time.
*


Tim Noonan: Global Warrior

What you can do

Notice Board
- Check out the latest events

Latest Issue

View entire latest issue
- print all of the articles!

Previous Issues

Subject index

Search all issues

Enter keyword(s):
  


Workers Online - 2nd place Labourstart website of the year


BossWatch


Wobbly Radio

News


Which Bank Puts Staff on AWAs?


New Benchmark In Bank Greed
Thousands of Commonwealth Bank staff and supporters marched to Martin Place today taking their fight against individual contracts, and for decent staffing levels and a fair pay rise to company head office.
[ Full Story » ]

Olympics Deal Sparks Soccer Ball Victory
An agreement between Sydney Olympic organisers and the NSW Labor Council and ACTU has been the catalyst for an historic victory in the push to halt the use of child labour in the production of soccer balls.
[ Full Story » ]

Two Day Strike Hits BHP Mines
Mineworkers at five BHP coal operations in Queensland and NSW stopped work for 48 hours this week with the company refusing to address workers' claims.
[ Full Story » ]

Leightons, SOCOG Tremble Before Haka
Maori workers performed a Haka, in front of over 200 CFMEU delegates at the Trades Hall on Thursday after union solidarity led to the recovery of their wages and entitlements.
[ Full Story » ]

Hilton Hotels Limp As Strike Bites
Chefs, porters, kitchenhands, housekeepers and engineering staff from the Sydney Hilton and the Airport Hilton went on strike today as part of a continuing series of rolling stoppages throughout most Sydney Hotels.
[ Full Story » ]

Wran Lends Boffins A Hand
Scientific staff from CSIRO and other scientific organisations have been heartened by growing public support for their campaign against the government's plans to outsource their information technology systems to the private sector.
[ Full Story » ]

ACTU Meets Joy
Union and ACTU representatives met with Joy Mining Machinery in Sydney this week for talks aimed at resolving the long-running and bitter Moss Vale Joy dispute.
[ Full Story » ]

Barracks Workers Put The Pinch On Local MP
Cooks and kitchenhands who work at North Queensland's largest Defence facility, in Townsville, are angry that the Defence Department has either not paid them their wages on time, or paid them incorrectly - and Defence also forgets to provide a payslip.
[ Full Story » ]

Olympic Win For Taxi Drivers
This weeks announcement by the Minister for Transport, Mr Carl Scully of a 10% increase in taxi fares for drivers during the Olympic period has been warmly received by TWU members and the majority of Sydney metropolitan taxi drivers.
[ Full Story » ]

Australian Unions Keep Spotlight on Fiji
Sharan Burrow, the ACTU President, is flying out on Saturday as the head of a five person Australian mission to Fiji to assess the current situation.
[ Full Story » ]

Staff Eye Telstra Prize
TELSTRA'S record profit announcement has galvanised unions in the build-up to one of the year's most important bargaining campaigns.
[ Full Story » ]

Dice Loaded Against American Workers
Workers' basic rights are routinely violated in the United States because U.S. labor law is feebly enforced and filled with loopholes, according to a Human Rights Watch report released today.
[ Full Story » ]

NZ Union Federations Heal Split
New Zealand's two central trade union organizations have agreed to merge, forming a united group representing nearly 275,000 workers.
[ Full Story » ]

Pressure Mounts On Nike To Live Olympic Ideal
Have you ever wondered, as you slipped on your sneakers or pulled on a pair of jogging shorts, what life might be like for the person who made them?
[ Full Story » ]


Letters to the Editor
  • Tragedies Waiting To Happen

  • Kudos For OHS Officers

  • Open Letter To William Shawcross

  • Chippo Politics forums

  • Editorial

    A Feral Government

    Two events this week brought home with a thud the reality of what reactionary times Australia is living through under a Howard Government.

    First, the incredible attack by the Government on the United Nations Treaty system in anticipation of an unfavourable report on the treatment of Aboriginal issues. And second, the attack on their own workforce by the management of the Commonwealth Bank.

    In his Vincent Lingiari lecture, published this week in Workers Online, Malcolm Fraser asks; did we mean it when we ratified the numerous United Nations treaties on Human Rights or were we trying to say "we ratified these instruments so that we can apply them to the rest of the world but they do not apply to Australia"?

    Sadly, with the behaviour of an insecure, sulking child the Government seems to think the latter. Fraser, for so long a villain in Labor folklore, has made an honest appraisal of our history face to face with Australia's Indigenous people and puts forward humane suggestions to further the issues.

    In stark contrast stands a Liberal Government hijacked by a cabal who seem to be indistinguishable from the far right on social issues.

    While championing globalisation in economics the Howard Government has no hesitation in pandering to the One Nation electorate with their fears and paranoias about the United Nations committees.

    The mind boggling arrogance and indecent greed of the banks is hard to get a handle on. In the same week as posting a record $1.7 billion profit the Commonwealth Bank cries poor in pay talks with their staff and plays handmaiden to Reith with an attempt to deunionise the organization with individual contracts.

    It is hard not to notice the presence of several former executives from union-hating CRA among the fatcats of the Bank.

    It's early days but already Commonwealth Bank staff and their union, the FSU, have found quick and strong support from the rest of the union movement. As with the MUA dispute trade unionists won't take this lying down.

    Noel Hester
    Editor


    Columns

    Soapbox Lockerroom From Trades Hall Toolshed
    Soapbox lockerroom trades hall Toolshed
    The Heart of Europe The Unthinkable Versus The Unpalatable Paul Howes' Week on the Web Koala Killer Descends From Bank Fairyland

     


    
    

    [ Home ][ Notice Board ][ Search ][ Previous Issues ][ Latest Issue ]

    © 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW

    LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW

    URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/69/index.html
    Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

    [ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ]

    LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW

     *LaborNET*

     Labor Council of NSW

    [Workers Online]

    [Social Change Online]