
Issue No 94		04 May 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Trades Hall

Paul Howes’ Week on the Web

Our wonder Geek looks at some unions gearing up for the federal election, celebrates May Day online and has a perv at the Big Brother set.

Teachers Start Election Campaign Online

The National Office of the Australian Education Union has just launched a Federal Election website aimed at providing information about public education in the lead up to this year's Federal Election.

Located at http://www.aeufederal.org.au/election the site is lacking in ascetics but comes through with plenty of info. It seems that the Nation Union of Teachers in the UK have also latched onto this idea and launched an election website in the lead up to the UK General Election this year http://www.education-election.org.uk/.

Well it's now clear that capitalism survived the M1 mobilisation outside the Sydney Stock Exchange, it seemed for a while when the protesters moved into Pitt Street that capitalism might crumble, but at the last moment the bourgeoisie rallied their forces of global capital and defeated the working class martyrs of M1. Such is life.

However if you missed the revolutionary uprising you can check out the highlights online at the M1 website http://www.m1alliance.org. Is it just me or isn't it ironic that the anti-globalisation protesters use the tools and benefits of globalisation to organise?

Netslaves

Netslaves have done an interview with our very own editor Peter Lewis which is worth checking out http://www.netslaves.com/comments/988711484.shtml, it deals directly with the Labor Council's proposal to build and I.T. Workers' website http://www.labor.net.au/forums/itworkers/ and addresses other issues to do with LaborNET and Workers Online.

Big Brother, Big Bore

With the Big Brother craze sweeping Australia, I thought I would take some time out to check out their website http://www.bigbrother.com.au. It's a good site obviously had plenty of cash pumped into it, but frankly I find the whole concept boring, in fact I'm think about starting a petition to get Channel Ten to put the Seinfield re-runs back on instead of watching 12 pretty freaky people run around in a Branch-Dravidian style compound scratching their arses on national television.

Inside North Korea

Not many sites exist that provide information on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea more commonally known as North Korea but I did find a view and they are well worth checking out for entertainment value.

"The People's Korea" http://www.korea-np.co.jp/pk/ site is run out of Japan and features lots of classic 1950's Stalinist propaganda on the Great Socialist Paradise that is North Korea.

"The Korean News" http://www.kcna.co.jp/ is another site run out of Japan but is the Official mouthpiece for the Central News Agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Check out all the news and gossip from Pyongyang in news items such as "EU delegation gives luncheon for Kim Jong Il" or "Kim Jong Il inspects KPA unit no. 655" and "Kim Jong Il's birthday celebrated"

If you have a site you want Paul to review let him know mailto:[email protected]

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Issue 94 contents

Interview: Global Action
The CFMEU has been a world leader in fighting the war on global corporations. John Maitland has been one of the generals.

Unions: Sisters United
In her May Day address, Bus Union state president Pat Ryan looks at the role women have played in the labour movement.

Politics: M1 and the Trade Unions
Phil Davey was one of the forces behind S11 but chose to sit out M1. He looks at this week's action.

History: Il Duce Roberto?
His modern-day fan club might not like it, but Rowan Cahill argues wartime PM Robert Menzies sailed close to the winds of Fascism.

International: Cuban Call for Global Labour Rights
An international meeting of union representatives in Cuba has vowed to start a campaign to defend workers rights from the effects of globalisation.

Economics: The G-Word
ACTU President Sharan Burrow asks if there's a better way forward for global trade.

Media: Birth Of A Nation
East Timor's young journalists are struggling with language barriers and technical difficulties most Australian media professionals wouldn't be able to comprehend. But they're keen and eager to learn.

Review: The Tremulous Hopes of the Fifties
Behind the the good times mythology of the 1950s was a desperate quest for the ordinary.

Satire: Teen Angst Poems a “Danger”
The Teen Angst Gun Massacre Affair has broadened, with staff at the NSW Department of Education revealing that “gangs of conspirators” have been found operating out of high school poetry competitions.

» Workers Seek Security on Back of Living Wage

» Temple Workers Return to India Victorious

» Unions Get Down to Workers Comp Talks

» Firefighters Hand Hoses To Politicians

» Unions Back Corruption Fight

» 'Workers Bank' Protest Rally Backs Cleaners

» Smoking Decision Sparks Call for Pub Bans

» Boycott Trade, Travel with Burma

» Qantas Takeover No Impulse Buy

» Sick Chicks Win Privacy Rights

» Arnotts Workers Seek More than Crumbs

» Jageth Backs Jakarta Hotel Workers

» Equity Members Send a Dear John Letter

» New Theatre Under Threat

» A Toast to May Day

» Activist Notebook