Issue No 94 | 04 May 2001 | |
NewsSmoking Decision Sparks Call for Pub Bans
Hospitality workers want smoking to be banned in all hotels and pubs following a landmark passive smoking decision this week. Marlene Sharp was awarded $466,000 after contracting cancer from passive smoking while she worked behind the bar of the Port Kembla RSL. After a three-year court battle the club was found to be negligent in not providing a safe place of work for Mrs Sharp, who worked there for 11 years. LHMU liquor division secretary John Barrie says his union has been advocating that hotels and clubs should become smoke-free through the department for Health';s smoking taskforce. "This decision makes it clear that employers have an absolute obligation under the Occupational Health and safety Act to make enclosed workplaces smoke-free," Barrie says. WorkCover: Please Explain Meanwhile, Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said he will, in his capacity as WorkCover Board member, seek an explanation as to why the Authority spent three years fighting the case. It has emerged that Mrs Sharp was prepared to accept a much smaller settlement, but that WorkCover refused to settle the matter and pushed it into a court action that ended up costing more than $1 million. Costa says he'll also seek details on the role the tobacco industry played in resisting the settlement of the action.
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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.
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