
Issue No 98		01 June 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Letters to the Editor

Toasting May Day

Re: Toasting Mayday

1 May 2001

M1 protest attracts a crowd of 2000 in Sydney

6 May 2001

Official May Day march called off by 20 blokes in the rain

The people turned out for May Day. Whose side are you on?

ER Macnamara

************

Many thanks to you for pursuing an editorial practice based on open and honest dialogue. I would like to elucidate on a few issues raised around May Day 2001 and the ongoing discussion.

I expected to find commentary and opinion in relation to the cancellation of May Day 2001 in WoL following the event (or unevent). As stated in my original letter, upon discovering that the march had been cancelled my emotions ran high and I appreciated the actions of FBEU members on the day. Others I have spoken with are also very disturbed about the march being cancelled.

I am grateful to Comrade Mark for raising the issue (WoL 95) although it is fortunate for me that I peruse all letters sent to the Editor otherwise I might have missed his letter under the heading "Compo: the great tradition." Perhaps the Editor did not want this contribution to be lost in the rather lengthy discourse around M1(titled May Day The Great Debate. WoL95). Thanks again.

That said however, it is lamentable that this discussion has detracted somewhat from the original issue; that being: how did it occur that May Day 2001 was cancelled? I am surprised that as yet no reply has been forthcoming from either the May Day Committee or a representative of that committee. A response from the committee would be well within the bounds of progressive democratic principles and practices � things I have always thought May Day and the May Day Committee represent.

It is remiss of me if I have given the impression that those who contribute to WoL will leave themselves open to personal attack (Cde ML, WoL 97). This was not my intention and I do apologise to Comrade Mark.

I look forward to a response from the May Day Committee in this or the next issue of WoL.

In Unity

Sharny Chalmers

************

Ed's Reply:

Will ask someone form the committee to reply in a similarly comradely spirit next issue!

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Issue 98 contents

Interview: Balancing the Books
Opposition Finance spokesman Lindsay Tanner on bringing a Labor agenda to managing the nation�s finances.

Compo: Undampened Spirits
Despite atrocious weather, building workers took to the streets this work over the carnage in their workplace. Mark Hebblewhite was there.

Unions: Giving Blood
Local government workers are mounting a campaign to have leave to give blood donations recognised in their award.

Women: A Checklist for Women Voters
With a mountain of demands on Australian working women, the biggest question could well be which is the biggest?

History: May Day Meditation
May Day has been and gone, but we thought Peter Linebaugh�s take on its meaning was worth reading on all the other days too.

International: The Weeks of Living Dangerously
The now almost inevitable fall of Indonesia�s President Abdurrahman Wahid could have drastic consequences for the increasingly militant working class movement in that country.

Economics: No More Mr Nice Guy
In his new book, Steven Keen outlines why the public needs to know that economics is intellectually unsound.

Satire: NZ to be Disbanded
Following the successful disbanding of the armed forces the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, has unveiled a new bold plan to total disband the entire nation.

Review: Action in the House
Workers Online�s Big Brother Addict argues the time has come for the contestant�s to take some industrial action.

» Twenty Grand � The Cost of a Life in 2001

» Compo Protest Virtually Ignored

» Workers Tell Jodie: It's a Bit Rich

» Disbelief at Dubai in the Sky

» Wage Rise For Two Million Workers

» Casuals Win Parental Leave Rights

» Egan Budget Welcomed � But Social Audit Still on Agenda

» Bad Rosters �Like Being Drunk�

» Nurses Act on Ward Rage

» Council Workers Brace for Border Skirmish

» Meatworkers Win in Federal Court

» Hotel Bosses Linked to Tobacco Industry

» Workers Demand Treaty With Indigenous Australia

» Activists Notebook

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Pop and Politics - Where's Billy??

» Satire is not Serious

» Toasting May Day

» WorkCover - Questions for NRMA

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