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  Issue No 80 Official Organ of LaborNet 01 December 2000  

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Letters to the Editor

Botsman Off Beam II


Ten out of ten for phony iconoclasm-zero out of ten for facts, premises and therefore conclusions. First factual error-the AFLCIO is in fact organising in 'new industries.'For example Microsoft temp workers, IT to a "T", except they suffer problems of temporary employment status, low wages (comparativly speaking) and no security of employment. Sound familiar Peter? Like post graduate students, university tutors, medical staff and other service workers at the higher end of the so called 'new service economy'in the US.These workers have all been involved in organising drives devised by unions in the US that are all too well aware of the significance,for those who have no bargaining power, of being in any industry whether new or old. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose, Peter. Next factual error. The coffee shops, bars and restaurants in Newtown exhibit a mixture of ownership and employment patterns-like small business everywhere. However the last time I looked (yesterday) there were about five 'jobs vacant' cards in a strip of approximately a kilometer along King Street. So someone actually is required to employ people. More importantly, Peter's facile attempt to lump together the international tourist industry labour market, with the traditional main street aggregation of small business is not worthy of any serious analyst of labour market trends. Just which small, friendly family firms employ mum, dad and the kids, in the Continental hotel chain, the Marriott group, the Hilton chain, the Sebel group, Novotel, McDonalds and the like? I think you will find Peter, that it is precisely this sector, a sector of the service economy which is increasingly ecomomically important both here and abroad that has been the focus of very successful campaigns by unions in this country and in the US. Or don't you think these workers in this sector of the 'new economy' need power, representation and a voice at work? Or perhaps you think that international tourism and food services is not an important part of the 'new economy'?

Your basic premise that because increasing numbers of young people want to own their own business, the ACTU should turn its attention to teaching people to be nice to their employees, is simply ludicrous. First, a desire to be independent of the employment contract is neither new nor surprising in the context of the 'new labour market' which is increasingly regulated by management prerogative. Yes Peter, despite the deregulation mantra, in fact the labour market has become increasingly regulated, this time by law firms and unchecked managerial prerogative. Many young, and not so young people, are voting with their dreams and their feet, on this reality. Problem is, dreams are not necessarily reality. How do you explain the fact that despite the increasing level of understandable escapist fantasy on the part of those who must deal with this reality, that there has never been so many people in paid employment in this country? Perhaps you missed the fact that around 65% of all women now participate in the labour market compared to about 35% a decade and a half ago? I can assure you that the idea that all these women are busy building small networked consultancies from their computers at home is as much a fantasy, as the twentysomethings' dream that he/she will be able to run a small business and be independent. By the way, checked the figures on small business failures recently?

Iconoclasm is a great technique for moving a debate forward. However it depends for its effectiveness on finding a response in the receiver of the outburst. To find a response, there must be some rough relationship between the proposition pushed and the facts on which it bases itself for effect. On this one Peter, facts count,not fantasies, be they 1st way, 2nd way, or 3rd way. Ignoring concrete reality is no way at all for serious people who must attend to serious issues.

PS Peter, Why don't you leave the 'Tank' and go out with a couple of organisers in areas of the new economy, both top and bottom end. You might learn something.

Linda Carruthers


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*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 80 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Chewing the Fat with Della
In a rare extended interview, NSW 's new industrial relations minister State John Della Bosca outlines his vision for the new workplace.
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*  Unions: Organising - There Is No Choice
LHMU national secretary Jeff Lawrence responds to Brisbane Institutue director Peter Botsman's attack on organising.
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*  Corporate: The Riddles of Democracy at Telstra
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne explains how the big guys ran roughshod when he and trade union activists attempted to stand for the Telstra board.
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*  Education: Training for Change
Labor Council's Michael Gadiel outlines a traiing agenda for the 21st century.
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*  History: A Stack of Hypocrits
Ballot rigging, sanctioned by the courts, sponsored by the government were a Liberal Party and Bob Menzies speciality - and they introduced legislation to legalise it.
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*  International: African Unions Go To War Against AIDS
The war on AIDS is now the number one priority of the ICFTU's African Regional Organization (AFRO), which has launched an ambitious five-year action plan in nine of the most severely afflicted African nations.
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*  Satire: Teenage Hackers Behind Shock Cabinet Reshuffle
Seasoned front-benchers and political greenhorns alike were joined in stunned surprise today, as a sudden Cabinet reshuffle radically altered the shape of the Federal Government.
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*  Review: Manufacturing Dissent
A new production explores Australian's approach to refugees and their experiences coming to a strange land.
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News
»  It's Official: Union Leaders More Trusted than Bosses!
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»  Reith Isolated on Workers Entitlements
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»  Light for Shafted Woodlawn Miners
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»  ATO Workers Stand Up to Bullying Bean-Counter
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»  Schweppes Lockout Bubbles Internationally
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»  Online Registration Takes Hold
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»  Bush Apprentices Face Breadline
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»  ALP Council Faces Workers' Wrath
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»  Local Action to Back Burma Sanctions
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»  WorkCover Needs First Aid Help
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»  Shier Under Fire � At Your ABC
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»  Social Charter Puts Heat on Howard
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»  Wattyl Make 'Em Fair Dinkum?
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»  International Union Aid Jobs on Offer
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Columns
»  The Soapbox
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  Botsman Off Beam
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»  Botsman Off Beam II
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»  Fatherly Advice
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»  Concerns on Fundraiser
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»  Let's Be Frank about Frank!
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