
Issue No 94		04 May 2001

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News

Unions Back Corruption Fight

The NSW labour movement last night vowed to support the CFMEU's state and national leadership in their fight against 'criminal elements' in the construction industry.

And it's warned the Howard Government that any attempt to cash in on internal union affairs by running a Royal Commission are likely to back-fire.

Addressing the Labor Council, CFMEU national secretary John Sutton outlined how elements in the union associated with the discredited BLF are "working in concert with criminal elements seeking to increase their influence" in the industry.

Sutton said these elements were working to get a foothold in the scaffolding and crane industries.

"If a trade union doesn't have a good reputation for being corruption-free, then it has nothing," he said.

Total Support from CFMEU

Delegates to the Labor Council backed a resolution from the Maritime Union of Australia, placing on record its recognition of the support the CFMEU has given other unions.

MUA state secretary Bob Coombs said the support in his own union's dispute with Patricks on the Waterfront was only one instance amongst many where the CFMEU was at the barricades.

Meanwhile, Labor Council secretary Michael Costa warned federal workplace relations minister Tony Abbott to back away from his call for a Royal Commission into the Industry.

Costa says neither the federal Painters and Dockers Royal Commission or the Gyles Royal commission in NSW had found any evidence of corruption amongst trade union officials.

"Previous Royal Commissions have proven only one thing - that there are corrupt employers in the building industry."

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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 ï¿½Dangerï¿½
The Teen Angst Gun Massacre Affair has broadened, with staff at the NSW Department of Education revealing that ï¿½gangs of conspiratorsï¿½ 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