
Issue No 70		07 September 2000

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News

The 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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Issue 70 contents

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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» Fairfax Joins Ferals

» Federal Government Blocks Rail Merger

» Auditor-General Blows Whistle On Outsourcing Madness

» Fly By Night Labour Takes Off

» CFMEU Rejects Reith Mischief

» The Organised Olympics

» Killjoy Reith Targets Picnics and Fun

» New Economy Spawns New Plagues

» Multi-national Stymies Peace Talks

» Greed of the Fatcats

» Women Challenge Prejudice in Maritime Industry

» Building Union Raises $42,000 For Paralympians

» Get Organised! NZ Unions Tell Army