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November 2002   
F E A T U R E S

Interview: Life After Keating
Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd looks at the world and wonders what might have been ...

Industrial: That Friday Feeling
Anthony Stavropoulos has been working six days a week for the last eight years and now he wants his weekends back. �Remember that Friday feeling?� he asks. �You just don�t get that anymore.�

Bad Boss: Begging to Work
They may put themselves about as the Saints of the Fourth Estate, but bosses at the Big Issue Magazine have been nominated by their own vendors for this month�s Tony award.

Organising: Project Pilbara
Sydney University�s Bradon Ellem reports on how unions are bouncing back in Rio territory

Unions: Off the Rails
The Federal Government is attempting to turn NSW Railways into a political football with a proposal that threatens the safety of freight and passenger trains in NSW and life in our rail Towns, writes Phil Doyle.

International: Brazil Turns Left
Union stalwarts throughout the American hemisphere are cheering the election of Lula � the peanut seller and shoeshine boy, turned union leader - who has been elected as the first working-class President of Brazil.

Environment: Brown Wash
Stuart Rosewarn argues the Johannesburg Sunmmit was a gripping showcase of Australia�s lack of a strategic vision.

History Special: Learning from the Past
Ray Markey looks at union membership growth in the 1880s & 1900s to argue that today�s unions must engage to grow.

Corporate: Will the Bullying Backfire?
Job insecurity, unemployment, a growing gap between rich and poor, massive global poverty and environmental danger are the big issues for the protests at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Sydney.

Technology: Danger Lurks For The Passive
If unions fail to exploit opportunities on the web to gain members, other organisations are likely to fill the void and provide services to workers on the internet.

History: In Labour�s Image
Neale Towart looks at a long-overdue initiative to around NSW through the eyes of the workers.

Politics: Without Power Or Glory
South Coast contributor Rowan Cahill gives his take on the Cunningham by-election result.

History Special: A 'Cosy Relationship'
Barbara Webster looks at Rockhampton between 1916 � 1957 to debunk the �dependence� theory of trade union growth.

Culture: Blood Stains the Wattle
Former Queensland Treasurer Keith De Lacey has turned up in print with a rollicking tale of life during the famous Mt Isa strike of the 60s.

Satire: Iraq Pre-empts Pre-emptive Strike
Saddam Hussein has launched a pre-emptive strike on the United States to prevent it from pre-emptively striking Iraq first.

Poetry: The Executive Pay Cut
Executives accepting pay freezes, or even pay cuts? This outrageous proposal has been put on the table by some capitalists themselves, and taken up by our bard.

Review: Time Out
When a family man invents a new life after losing his steady job, Tara de Boehmler watches his charade escalate until there is no turning back.

C O L U M N S

Month In Review
War and Pieces of Work
The Bali Tragedy dominated the news this month, leaving many questioning the motive and wondering if this is fallout from Australia�s unquestioning support of George Dubya�s �War On Terror�.

The Soapbox
Beware of Greeks Bearing Historical Allusions
Roland Stephens argues that the current popular line that the USA is a modern day version of the Roman Empire is flawed.

The Locker Room
Over The Fence Is Out
Phil Doyle warms up for another season of hard hitting and fast bowling in the park, making the rules up as he goes along.

Indigenous
The Sea of Hands
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation are five years old. Spokeswoman Dameeli Coates addressed labor Council to mark the event.

Postcard
Tokyo Youth Call
Tokyo unions are relying on young organisers to infiltrate workplaces as part of a major organising campaign, which focuses on non-unionised companies, reports Mary Yaager.

Bosswatch
Still Crazy After All These Years
With new research suggests CEO carry similar personality traits to psycho-paths, the AGM season is proving that there�s little room for logic in our nation�s board rooms.

E D I T O R I A L

Why The User Should Pay
Unions have often been the victims of the user-pays ethos � the pointy end of the assault on the State by the Top End of Town that has left our public sector looking like the poor relation to the corporates.

N E W S

 Bargaining Fees In the Dock

 Deadly �Slave Labour� Racket Exposed

 Zoo Workers Buck Indecent Proposal

 Cabinet Takes Stick To Abbott's Carrot

 Cyber Action Behind Hilton Win

 Aussies Back On Board

 City Workers To Help Country Cousins

 Sour Taste for Wine Workers

 Government Grounds Ansett Levy

 TAB Workers Winners as Cup Strike Averted

 Aussie Post Gets Mail On Sick Leave

 Council Backs Community Radio Venture

 First Steps to Compo Clean-Up

 Workers Out! Conference Opens In Sydney

 Aussie Union Rep Power, Yes Please: TUC

 New Burma Shame File

 Activists Notebook

L E T T E R S
 Trashing the Siren Theory
 More Bali Feed Back
 Clean Election Laws Now!
 And Now, Some Fan Mail!
 Policy Vacuum
 Tom's Postscript
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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Poetry

The Executive Pay Cut

By David Peetz - House Bard

Executives accepting pay freezes, or even pay cuts? This outrageous proposal has been put on the table by some capitalists themselves, and taken up by our bard.

************* Former BHP Billiton chief executive Paul Anderson recently urged a freeze on spiralling executive salaries pending a major rethink on pay levels for the nation's bosses. Oddly, we couldn't remember him saying much about this when he was in the trough himself, but that's probably just faulty memory. But it's no surprise he's speaking up now, given the embarrassment that revelations about share options, executive salaries, directors' fees and platinum parachutes have caused the capitalist class. So we reflected on what might happen if people took up Anderson's suggestion - or better still, followed the magnificent but unique example set by Gerry Harvey of Harvey Normal Holdings, who reportedly took a $100,000 pay cut to bring his salary to just $150,000 a year.

THE EXECUTIVE PAY CUT

by David Peetz

I was gazing out the window
When some words took me aback
The CEO addressed the board
"It's time to face the facts
I'm not sure that I'm really worth
My bountiful contract"

The chairman of the board stood up
"I wish to make a point
Directors, too, are overpaid
I know we disappoint"
And as I glanced out to the sky
I thought I heard an "oink"

One by one, the rest spoke out
All eager to agree
"Our fancy cars and sumptuous lives
Just smell of rampant greed!
There's others, with much less than us
Who have far greater needs"

I opened up the window
My head was in a spin
But worse was yet to come
When the chairman said, "We've sinned
We have to take a cut in pay!"
'Twas then the pigs flew in

A whole flock of them soared around
With air-borne snorts and squeals
While down below, executives
And directors spoke with zeal
Of how the lay-offs, just last week,
Were all to be repealed.

"We've seen the light!" they shouted
"We'll share the wealth around!"
As if in some great contest
Tossing money on the ground
While the pigs, doubled and trebled,
Made an almost deafening sound

The tumult rose and thundered
Till a banker blurted out
"Stop! Are we all going mad?
Of our greed we must be proud!"
And with ne'er a noise, the flying pigs
Just vanished like a cloud

A strange silence fell on the room
They were stunned, and pretty scared
At what had almost happened
How they'd nearly lost what's theirs.
But the only sign of something wrong
Was the pigshit on the chairs.


------


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