
Issue No 98		01 June 2001

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Hotel Bosses Linked to Tobacco Industry

Hospitality industry workers have challenged the Australian Hotel Association to come clean on its links to the tobacco industry.

The LHMU Hospitality Union says material tabled in the Tasmanian Parliament has linked the AHA in a direct financial relationship with the tobacco industry.

'The LHMU condemns employers who would put sponsorships before the safety of workers in the industry," the unions's Brian Daley says.

The Hospitality Union this week set up a passive smoking register as the first step in a public campaign to make hospitality workplaces smoke free.

Daley says the AHA has an unhealthy relationship with the tobacco industry and were being disingenuous by displaying a relaxed and comfortable attitude to the issue of environmental tobacco smoke when they know the overwhelming facts meant they should have been in support of the union's call.

Those facts include:-

� Undisputed medical evidence on the hazards of passive smoking

� Medical research in Australia which has shown residual toxins in the blood of hospitality workers who were exposed to a polluted passive smoking environment

� International and Australian research which has shown that there is no economic loss to hospitality establishments when non-smoking environments are introduced

� Expert evidence which says controlled ventilation systems don't adequately protect workers from the hazards of passive smoking

� The AHA's own research that shows more than two-thirds of the community in Victoria support of a ban on smoking in hospitality establishments

'Despite all this evidence the employer body has steadfastly remained in support of voluntary codes of conduct with ineffectual solutions such as asking patrons not to blow smoke at workers," Daley says.

The Hospitality Union has also called on the Victorian Government to extend its smoke free dining laws to include all hospitality workplaces.

Daley says the union will put a resolution to the ALP State Conference tomorrow in Melbourne to support the union's call to pursue further steps to make the hospitality industry in Victoria smoke-free.

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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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