Issue No 70 | 07 September 2000 | |
NewsThe Organised Olympics
Sydney is shaping up as the most unionized Olympics ever with over 10,000 workers at Olympic venues signing up under the Unions 2000 banner.
Unions 2000 is a structure of combined unions organizing together and coordinated by the Labor Council of NSW. Unions 2000 coordinator Chris Christodoulou says for many workers particularly those aged 16-24 it is their first involvement with the trade union movement. 'After the Olympics all these workers will have the opportunity to remain union members in their primary occupations,' he says. Along with workers at Olympic venues there have been major contributions to the games by a highly unionized police force and public transport, Telstra and energy union members. Chris Christodoulou says cooperation between the union movement and SOCOG in the making of the Sydney Olympics and Paralympics State Award will ensure that workers are some of the best paid in Olympic history. 'In addition the strategic location of union officials at Olympic venues will ensure workers can take up grievances early so as to avoid unnecessary industrial disputes,' he says. This contrasts with Atlanta where there was a 400 per cent turnover in staff, jobs were cash in hand and there was a wage explosion in a range of areas. There was a high level of sexual harassment of the workforce, and a lower level of workers rights.
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Interview: New Internationalism In its battle with Rio Tinto the CFMEU has pioneered global campaigning. National Secretary John Maitland talks to Workers Online about globalisation, a union response and using new technologies to organise . History: Pickets and Police S11 protestors would do well to be wary. Fred Paterson, CPA member of the Qld Parliament, was bashed by the Queensland police on St Patrick's Day 1948, when a Labor Government was in power in that state. Education: The WEF -Why Should We Care? An event like the World Economic Forum attracts all the spin doctors for every interest, often obscuring real issues. For educators the issues may seem remote but a closer look shows that services like public education could be dramatically affected by the unfolding agenda of global trade liberalisation says Rob Durbridge. Economics: A Vandalised Economy Since New Zealand was opened up to the forces of globalisation, it has performed dismally, both economically and socially. NZCTU Economist Peter Conway reports. Unions: Our Vital Role in Society Eight months into his new role as ACTU Secretary Greg Combet reflects on the challenges facing Australian unions. International: Turning Up The Heat John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO says the union movement can and will reform the global economy, for as Dr Martin Luther King taught us, the moral arc of history is long but it bends towards justice. Satire: Threat to withhold pocket money derails S11 protest MELBOURNE, Tuesday: Members of the activist collective S11 announced today that they had decided to cancel their protest at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting at Crown Casino.
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