
Issue No 8		09 April 1999

News

ACTU Braces for Reith’s Second Wave

ACTU President Jennie George has begun work on developing a community coalition to oppose Reith's second wave of industrial laws.

She told Labor Council that her priority was working with churches, women's groups and community organisation to lobby the Democrat senators who will control the Senate after June 30.

To this end, the ACTU was preparing comprehensive briefing notes to be sent to targeted community organisations.

She said the ACTU would focus on the impact that labour market deregulation has had on the New Zealand economy, particularly its impact on the social safety net there.

Ms George also foreshadowed a National Week of Protest against the Second Wave, which would be co-ordinated by state Labor Councils, "to maximise the pressure and the focus" in the lead-up to any vote.

The second wave assault, foreshadowed in a paper on 'employment' prepared for Reith, (see Workers Online issue #2) includes:

- further undermining the award system by allowing employers to "opt out".

- promoting the further spread of individual contracts

- pre-strike ballots before all industrial action.

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Issue 8 contents

Interview: John Coombs - The Mouse Who Roared
We talk to the man who stood firm in the face of the federal government’s all out assault on the waterfront 12 months ago.

Unions: The Waterfront One Year On
One year after what was arguably the biggest Australian industrial dispute in living memory and the Maritime Union of Australia is STILL Here to Stay.

History: Walsh Bay Wharves : Space and Place
For historians looking at a historic structure or site like the Walsh Bay wharves, there is a big difference between 'space' and 'place'.

International: Compo Search for UK Coal Miners
An international search is on for former coal miners who worked mines in England and Wales from 1954 and have since suffered from chest disease.

Review: War on the Wharves
Some of the most honest reporting of the waterfront dispute came from the pens of the nation's cartoonists.

» Angry Geeks Down Mouses in Industry First

» Patrick dispute commemorated

» Costa Pushes Social Audit Plan

» Currawong: Majority Support But Veto Rule the Hurdle

» A Firey Call: Give Currawong Back To The Unions

» ACTU Braces for Reith’s Second Wave

» Gordonstone Miners Come to Town

» Women Take the Fight to Rio’s Front Door

» Sydney Solictor Appointed ICTUR Secretary