
Issue No 88		16 March 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Trades Hall

Paul Howes’ Week on the Web

This week our resident geek checks out Advice for working students, virtual resignations, plus the latest antics and games from the Comrades.

Workers & Students Unite!

The UK's Public Sector Union Unison http://www.unison.org.uk the UK National Union of Students http://www.nusonline.co.uk have recently launched a joint website aimed at providing information, advice and general assistance for working students in their employment.

The site aptly named Trouble at Work http://www.troubleatwork.org.uk features Q&A, latest news and plenty of advice and information on joining trade unions. This is a welcome initiative and should be considered very seriously by unions and the student movement in Australia.

Quitting in Style

I Resign http://www.i-resign.com is a site all about quitting your job. The site is both a parody and serious, useful information for UK & US jobseekers is provided as well as real info about resigining. However the site really comes into a form of its own when you check out the parody sections which include form-resignation letters and resignation count down clock plus much more.

Trots Online

Resistance http://www.resistance.org.au a trot youth group related to the Democratic Socialist Party http://www.dsp.org.au & Green Left Weekly http://www.greenleft.org.au (also Labor Council's favorite recruitment zone) has a new website. For a site produced by a fringe organization it is surprisingly well designed, attractive, easy to navigate and not even to feral. Sure it features the usual diatribes about global capital and the Sino-Soviet split, but the site (deceivingly) almost portrays the organisation as an effective campaigning machine and almost sane. It even has a game in which you can reenact the Crown Casino blockade .... fun for the whole family!

Whilst I'm on the subject of trots it appears that the far left have embraced the concept of rationalization. The larger remaining trot and socialist organisations in Sydney & Melbourne have followed the lead from the UK and are launching electoral alliances. The main organizations being the Democratic Socialist Party/Resistance, the International Socialist Organisation/Socialist Worker and Workers Power are behind the main push and it seems that even AMWU Victorian Branch Secretary Craig Johnston is getting involved. The alliance will be known at the "Socialist Alliance" http://www.socialist-alliance.org and is being launched in Sydney Trades Hall on April 10 at 7 pm.

  Got a site for our readers? Let us know!

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 88 contents

Interview: Labor Law
Shadow Attorney General Robert McClelland outlines his plans for workers entitlements, legal aid and a Bill of Rights

Unions: Poetic Justice
The ACTU kicked off its 2001 Living Wage campaign this week with a new shock tactic: poetry.

Technology: Big Brother’s Legacy
Organisations with restrictive staff email polices risk locking themselves in the Industrial Age by treating their staff as units to be monitored.

Corporate: Scumbags Exposed
On the eve of the inaugural Corporate Scumbags Tour, we look at the worst of the worst from the Top End of Town.

International: Playing Away
Pat Ranald looks at a proposal to hold Australian companies to basic standards when they invest in developing countries.

Environment: Nuclear Titanics
The Maritime Union has joined Greenpeace in a campaign to stop our seas becoming a nuclear highway.

History: Out of the Bog
Neale Towart looks at the life of big Jim Larkin, one of the heroes of an Irish trade union movement that continues to thrive.

Politics: Westie’s Macquarie Street Alert
The Workers MLC, Ian West, provides the first in a series of regular rundowns on the upcoming Parliamentary session

Review: The Next American Century?
How will the United States maintain its global power in an era when the very notion of the nation-state is under challenge?

Satire: Dollar Crashes Through Psychological 0.00c Barrier
The bedevilled Australian dollar dropped below the crucial 0.00c barrier losing its battle to avoid the humiliation of being worth less than the commemorative Bradman coins distributed by the Sunday Telegraph last weekend.

» Directors Face Criminal Charges Over Super Scam

» Call Centre Code Picks Up Speed

» Staff Demand Action as Jobless Number Grows

» Lifeguards to Down Togs Over Sweaty Speedo Scam

» Hotel Workers Refuse to Raise Sweat

» Blood on the Beds at Sleep City

» Paint Lock-Out Claims First Victim

» Casino Workers Seek Full Metal Jacket

» Leichhardt Council Endangers the Public

» Casual Teachers Break Through

» Tide Turns on Award-Stripping

» Workers Demand Seat on Racing Board

» Shangri-La Faces D-Day

» Fiji PM Appointment Illegal

» Activists Notebook