What were we really thinking? What are Kev and Krew really thinking?

What were we really thinking all through 2007 ...

....as Kevin Rudd topped the polls

....as his me-too-ism made him a small target for the Liberal/National Coalition

....as Kevin and Julia made promises to business about AWAs

....as Kev courted people with religious affiliations who had never voted Labor - ever

....as Bill Shorten of the AWU and Greg Combet of the ACTU trumped pre-selection processes and long standing, faithful sitting members to gain pre-selection and election in safe Labor seats and then rewarded with positions as Parliamentary Secretaries

We - the trade unionists, those who cared about wage and income equity, those who marched for justice - kept putting our views forward persistently. We did not say what we really felt when the ALP policies were watered down into a new reality and The Greens put forward an industrial relations policy we found more understandable. The ACTU did not want to ruffle feathers and merely expressed disappointment.

We were realistic. We wanted Howard and his henchmen and women gone. We knew that this would be a big ask. We understood that Kev and Krew would have to play it cool to get across the line. We were not going to rock the boat. We would stay on message - even if it meant biting the anxious tips of our tongues off.

Kevin got across the line - but, just as Miss Eagle questioned during the campaign the state of Kevin's Spine, she now questions Kevin's gratitude.

There has been much watering down of industrial relations policy in an attempt to mollify business interests. Changes will not be fully in place until 2010.

Let's get frank now, Kev.

You were elected in December 2007. How would it be if we said to you, Kev, "Congratulations, Kev. You've won the election, Kev. You've beaten Howard, Kev. But, Kev, you will not take power until 2010. Until then Howard remains in power and continues to live at Kirribilli. He'll water down his behaviour and his hubris a bit. In fact, he'll try very hard not to use the numbers he has in the Senate to really rock the boat. But, Kev, go away and stay cool until December 2010."

Makes real sense, doesn't it Kev. Highly rational.

In fact, Kev, in 2010 we are due for another election and - if you lose it (I realise it is considered unlikely) - it could be that nothing of lasting consequence will have changed on the industrial front and you will go down in history as Kould-have-been, Kould-have-done Kev.

To my mind, Kev, this seems darned ungrateful and downright rude.

You see, Kev, all those corporations, business people, and corporate councils you mollified or attempted to mollify did NOT turn out the vote for you, Kev. If any of them changed their vote from Liberal to Labor for you, it was precious few and certainly not in tide-turning numbers.

Not like us, Kev. Not like us - the trade unionists, the justice seekers, the footsloggers in march after march. We worked. Agreed - some of us were in targetted electorates with huge support from the ACTU, campaign organisers, and organisations like PolMin. It was these resources - financial, organisational, and human - who turned out the vote for you, Kev. True, some of them - like Miss Eagle - gave their No. 1 to The Greens for their industrial policy while ensuring the final vote went to you. But even so, we turned out more votes for you and made the difference for you in a way that no other sector of the population did - and we did it for at least eighteen straight months.

Your Rights At Work Campaign on Election Day 2007.

So, Kev, guess what? We don't give a fig for 2010. We want industrial change now. We want equity now. We don't give a fig about what you had to say to business because we think your first loyalty is to us and not to them and that there are more of us in the Australian polity than there are of them.

I realise, Kev, that it is a long time since you and Therese felt the need to have the Union help you achieve some sort of justice for yourselves in the workplace. But perhaps you might pause to think how much Unions have helped you to Christmas Dinner at The Lodge. We ask you to think about that Kev, you and your Krew, and you might be a bit indigenous about it. It is pay back time. Time to show recipricocity, recognition and gratitude. Time to be well-mannered and acknowledge how you got to be Prime Minister. Thanks, Kev. Over to you and Krew.

Your Rights At Work Teams Celebrating Kevin Rudd's Victory, December 2007

Spread the word! Shout it out!
Don't let your employer force you into signing an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA).

This is not just Miss Eagle saying so. This is none other than Nicholas Wilson, the Workplace Ombudsman. That's right. The Workplace Ombudsman. The Workplace Ombudsman set up by the Howard Government.

The WO has said they will go after anyone who is co-ercing employees to sign up to AWAs to try to get in ahead of the ALP Government's proposed legislation. The largest employer trying it on is Telstra, run by those princes of de-regulation, The Three Amigos.

BTW, dear Reader, did you know that Telstra is a substantial corporate funder of that bastion of neo-liberalism, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). The IPA hates regulation (and this means it is against awards and for AWAs) probably more than it hates the plague and has been known to publish the odd article or three which is favourable to the de-regulatory point of view of The Three Amigos.

The best thing, dear Reader, is - if you are not yet a member of the trade union relevant to your particular industry - join a trade union to-day. No excuses!

People say but I can't join a union on my own when there's no one else in my work in a union. Not true. You - as an individual - can join a union and no one else need ever know. In fact, you have human rights and part of those human rights is your right to be a member of a free trade union! Don't let anyone deprive you of your human rights.

Think of it this way, dear Reader. Workplace and Industrial Law insurance. You pay for fire and storm and tempest insurance on your home and belongings. Union membership is the most cost effective way to obtain workplace and industrial law advice and assistance.

Union membership is like any other form of insurance. You may pay the premium and may never use its services. In fact, you hope and pray you never have to use its service. But the day you need the union and you aren't a member, you can find yourself in deep trouble.

And you can obtain services from your trade union without ever having to see a trade union official or have one come to your workplace.

Pay your dues and you can get all the information you need to express an articulate point of view to your employer by placing a telephone call. You can give every appearance of being your own representative - but have the full backing of your trade union in providing you with an arsenal of arguments and a stack of suggestions. All without the boss knowing you are a member of a union.

Of course, 99 times out of 100, your boss will be a member of his/her union - namely an organisation of employers for the respective industry. So, if it is worthwhile for your boss to be a member of a trade organisation so he can get information, backing and support, why is it not worthwhile for you?

And, of course, the modern trade union provides a range of additional services. The trade union that used to employ Miss E as a union official had an excellent service for members involved in workcover/workers' compensation issues. Again, the sort of thing you hope never to need - but when you do....

The members who had used this service could not speak highly enough of it. They appeared before boards in the company of the union's legal practitioners - all for free. Something that frequently gave an edge and made the difference in a claim succeeding. Those who needed to go to common law to seek damages needed only to keep their union membership up to date to be represented legally for nix.

And who has protected working people from the ravages of AWAs by campaigning to unseat the Howard Government? The trade union movement across Australia.

And they did this by working with members of the general public - many of whom are not union members or have retired from the workforce and no longer current union members. So a thorough community campaign in conjunction with the union movement has brought crucial votes to the Labor Party to give workers a fair go.

So, give yourself a fair go, dear Reader, and keep your union membership up - and your powder dry.

ALL CHICKENS ARE ON THE ROOST: THE MAN OF SHAME HAS CONCEDED DEFEAT

John Howard's chickens have finally come home to roost

This morning a tune keeps coming into my mind. I hum it away but the words are a little different from the original. The tune is "After the Ball" and I apologise to Charles K Harris for the interference with his lyrics:

After the election’s over, after the votes are in,
After the worker’s leaving, after the poster’s gone,
Many a heart’s rejoicing, if you could read them all—
Many the hopes that have heightened after it all.

And here is why:

We don't know yet if John Howard has been defeated in his seat of Bennelong by Maxine McKew. But it appears more than likely. John Howard sought to make it into the history books - by longevity as Australian Prime Minister. He would have like to equalled or surpassed the long period of office of Sir Robert Menzies. He failed. He is second only to Menzies. But he will make it into the record books for another reason which he almost surely did not ever imagine - he would be kicked out by the voters of Bennelong. John Howard did not seek this record - but he will become only the second Prime Minister in Australian history to be voted out of his own seat.

As Miss Eagle's campaign against John Howard's retirement until the chickens come home to roost has shown, John Howard has meted such inhumanity out to so many people that his actions could not go unaddressed by the electorate. This has happened. The chickens have roosted. They are in the henhouse. They sit on their perch - and John Howard has been knocked off his.

John Howard was the Prime Minister for Injustice. The Minister for Injustice, Mal Brough - co-author with John Howard of the military intervention into Aboriginal life and land in the Northern Territory - has been kicked out of his seat of Longman. It is pleasing to know that the ALP has won the seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory. There are only two Federal seats in the sparsely populated NT - one was already held by Centralian stalwart Warren Snowdon for the ALP. Now the other seat has been snatched away by the ALP from the Coalition. The people of the Northern Territory have expressed their views on the military intervention at the ballot box.

Of course, a number of Liberals are in the safest of safe seats but because of their administration of injustice need to go. This raises the question of resignations and by-elections. In this category, Philip Ruddock tops the list. His horrific administration of Immigration followed by his deceptive and devious administration of the Attorney-General's portfolio has meant that he does not deserve membership in the Parliament of Australia - but the electorate of Berowra has decided to return him anyway. We look forward to his resignation from Parliament within the next twelve months.

The current incumbent in the Immigration portfolio is Kevin Andrews who has proved to have only lower-levels of competence and a complete intolerance of the heat in the political kitchen. His report card should read: Consider your future.

Another who needs to consider his future is Tony Abbott. If there is a particular hallmark in the character of Tony Abbott, it is his absolute high-level rudeness. If Tony Abbott is to continue in Parliament, graduation from a reputable charm school should be mandatory. Why should the Australian public have to witness his carry-ons?

And does Alexander Downer consider that he has a future in the Parliament? What heights of power and fame does he think he can now aspire to? Methinks, Alexander is an example of the Peter Principle. He has risen to his level of incompetence. Didn't know about the AWB corruption, Alexander? You must be incompetent then, Alexander. Otherwise, you must be telling porkies, eh?

So onto a new day...

We can't know or say what we are getting with Kevin 07 and his Krew.

We just believe that Howard & Co had to go.

We hope for a just, fair, equitable future for all.

And some of us are determined to keep Kevin and Krew to that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And - for those who might be interested in how it happened in Australian democracy yesterday - here it is

Miss Eagle did her stint at Upper Gully School.
Schools traditionally use Election Day as an opportunity for fundraising

Miss Eagle as Booth Captain was there at 5.30am setting up for Your Rights At Work. YRAW is unique in that it had no candidates of its own but it did have a voting ticket to distribute. Our organisers in La Trobe, Katie and Sam, had provided us with a huge amount of bunting and there was a huge amount of fence to take it. So YRAW won the Fence Competition!
Posters, posters all about!

Booth Workers:

The Greens; ALP, the Officer in Charge of the Polling Booth, Liberal; What Women Want; Liberal.

Within two hours, we had formed a jolly little community of civic minded people.

Election hostilities are put far away on the day.

Australia does not use computerised voting although there have recently been pilot programs for the visually impaired. We use the plain old fashioned method: pencil and paper and placing in a secure box for counting, under scrutiny of all political parties, at the close of voting. Australia does not have the big issues of electoral fraud one hears of in the U.S.A. If there are disputes arising from the polling or the counting, matters can be referred to the Court of Disputed Returns for decision.

On Election Night, there are parties - private, public, and political - so people can gather for drinks, food, and watching telecasts from the National Tally Room in Canberra. Last night, in the seat of La Trobe, Your Rights At Work and Kevin 07 people gathered in a small church hall in Tecoma and watched on the big screen - with more and more and more cheering as the night wore on. Miss Eagle was beyond applause. Euphoria would best describe her condition - sprinkled with a tear of great relief.

Howard conceding defeat - we were beginning to wonder if he every would!

THE WEEK OF ROOSTING CHOOKS: Friday

The last day of the campaign to-day in what - one way or another - is an historic election. Miss Eagle wound up her small and anonymous role in the campaign with two and a half hours of leafletting in Rowville. To-morrow will be an early start as Booth Captain at Upper Ferntree Gully School for Your Rights At Work and a late finish at Kent Park School, Ferntree Gully for The Greens.

John Howard's career in government is coming to an end with the same cloud hanging over it as it began: RACISM.

There have been countless decisions by the Howard Government which have displayed a meanness to humanity beyond belief. But let's recall the inherent racism of Howard.

• Remember those dreadful political advertisements where Howard was shown with a map of Australia in black and white which purported that 70% of Australia would be in Aboriginal hands under Native Title. A false, racist beat-up.
• Remember his views on Asian immigration and that he had to swallow big and change his tune. Were his original views the views he held in his heart of hearts and he only changed for political expediency?
• Remember how Pauline Hanson was rebuffed so close to election day that the ballot papers could not reflect the fact that Howard had dis-endorsed her? And remember how many concessions were made to racist Hansonite views to ameliorate the near wipe-out of the National Party by One Nation.

The fact is that, under Howard, the Liberal Party is racist. Miss Eagle does not suggest that all Liberals or even Liberal Members of Parliament are racist. Miss Eagle believes that there is a dominant strand within the Liberal Party under Howard which means that racism is always bubbling away beneath the surface and influencing policies such as those on immigration, national security, citizenship, defence, foreign affairs and trade.

Howard and his team have long stood accused of dog-whistling. The term "dog-whistling" derives from the fact that dogs are able to hear high-pitched whistles and sounds that human beings cannot. Dog-whistling in its political context refers to being able to enunciate or signal views in a way that larges slices of the body politic don't detect the full meaning being enunciated or signalled but those who are on the right wavelength do.

So when Howard has slammed into "political correctness", the sub-text or dog-whistle message is that there are all those left-wing people out there who stop us saying what we want to say. What we want to say just happens to be slanderous, libellous, racist, discriminatory, hurtful, unkind and mean but we must have the political freedom to say it. All those politically correct lefties are wrong and are to be despised.

Similarly, Howard despises a black armband view of history. Woe betide the historians who have opened up Aboriginal history to scrutiny and outlined the massacres and other disasters that have befallen Aboriginal people since their contact with white settlers. This sort of activity is to be despised and those who challenge the black armband view are to be rewarded - even unto seats on the board of the ABC.

And now there is the written form of dog-whistling as practised in the seat of Lindsay whose retiring member of parliament, Jackie Kelly, has been such a great favourite of John Howard. Notice that Chijoff, whose husband was one of the ringleaders in this escapade, has not been nor will be dis-endorsed. Howard does not want a repeat of the Pauline Hanson episode, does he. Howard condemns it - and the rest of it is left with the NSW branch of the Liberal Party to deal with. Ethics are not high on the list of the Liberal Party in the seat of Lindsay - and, perhaps, in the NSW branch of the Liberal Party.

So Howard has finished as he had begun - a dog-whistling racist.

THE WEEK OF ROOSTING CHOOKS: Thursday

AUSTRALIA HAS LOST ITS MORAL COMPASS
by
Paul Keating

THE principal reason the public should take the opportunity to kill off the Howard Government has less to do with broken promises on interest rates — or even its draconian WorkChoices industrial laws — and everything to do with restoring a moral basis to our public life.
Without this, the nation has no standard to rely upon, no claim that can be believed, not even when the grave step of going to war is being considered. When truth is up for grabs, everything is up for grabs.

Cynicism and deceitfulness have been the defining characteristics of John Howard and his Government. They were brazen enough to oversee the corruption of a UN welfare program. And when they were found out, not one of them accepted ministerial responsibility. Not Downer, not Vaile and certainly not Howard. What they were doing was letting the cockies get their wheat sold through the AWB while turning a blind eye to the AWB's unscrupulous behaviour — illegally funding a regime Howard was arguing was so bad it had to be changed by force.
John Howard took us into the disastrous Gulf war on the back of two lies. One, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, capable of threatening the Middle East and Western Europe; the other, that Howard was judiciously weighing whether to commit Australian forces against an evolving situation. We now know he had committed our forces to the Americans all along.

If the Prime Minister cannot be believed, who in the system is to be believed?
When opposition leader in 1995, Howard told us he would restore trust in government, when at that time trust in government was not in question. He also told us he would make us more "relaxed and comfortable". Well, some relaxation and some comfort. These days, there are many parts of the world where Australians dare not go, something new for all of us.
But bad as all this is, how much worse was it for John Howard to begin the fracturing of his own community?

Think about his tacit endorsement of Hanson's racism during his first government, his WASP-divined jihad against refugees — those wretched individuals who had enough faith in us to try to reach us in old tubs, while his wicked detention policy was presided over by that other psalm singer, Philip Ruddock. This is the John Howard the press gallery in Canberra went out of its way to sell to the public during 1995. The new-made person on immigration, not the old suburban, picket-fence racist of the 1980s, no, the enlightened unifier who now accepted Australia's ethnic diversity; the opposition leader who was going to maintain Keating Labor's social policies on industrial relations, on superannuation at 15%, on reconciliation, on native title, and on the unique labour market programs for the unemployed.

These solemn commitments by Howard, which helped him win the 1996 election, bit the dust under that breathtaking blanket of hypocrisy he labelled "non-core promises". Even on Medicare, contrary to his commitment, he forced each of us into private health or carry the consequences.

During the 1996 election campaign, a number of people I regard well said to me, "Oh, I think Howard will be all right"; meaning, while not progressive, he would not be reactionary or socially divisive, or opportunistically amoral. Well, Howard wasn't "all right". He has turned out to be the most divisive prime minister in Australia's history. Not simply a conservative maintaining the status quo, but a militant reactionary bent on turning the clock back against social inclusion, co-operation in the workplace, the alignment of our foreign policies towards Asia, providing a truthful and honourable basis for our reconciliation, accepting the notion that all prime ministers since Menzies had — Holt, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke and me — that our ethnic diversity had made us better and stronger and that the nation's leitmotif was tolerance.
Howard has trodden those values into the ground. He also trod on the reasonable constitutional progression to an Australian republic, even when the proposal I championed had everything about it that the Liberal Party could accept: a president appointed by both houses of parliament (meaning by both major parties), while leaving the reserve powers with the new head of state.
The price of Howard conniving in its defeat will probably mean we will ultimately end up with an elected head of state, completely changing the representative nature of power, of the prime ministership and of the cabinet.

To compound Howard's transgressions, he has run dead on the continuing obligation of structural economic change, just as he did when he was treasurer in the 1970s. He and Costello have simply made hay while the sun has shone from the great structural reforms introduced by the Hawke and Keating governments. Those changes — open financial and product markets, and the new decentralised wages system of 1993 — were married up with $1 trillion in superannuation savings, to completely underwrite the country's prosperity and renew its economic base.

Howard's sole example of reform is his GST — the one he told us in 1996 he would not give us, a regressive tax on all spending regardless of income.

Nations get a chance to change course every now and then. When things become errant, a wise country adjusts its direction. It understands that it is being granted an appointment with history. On this coming Saturday, this country should take that opportunity by driving a stake through the dark heart of Howard's reactionary Government.
Paul Keating was prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996.

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at The Trad Pad, Miss Eagle collected her booth captain's gear last night from the Your Rights At Work Campaign. Is this the first time that an organisation who has no representative candidate standing for election is staffing booths at polling places and handing out how to vote cards?

No leafletting got done yesterday - it was rain, beautiful rain, all day and into the night. As I write the sun is not yet out. Forecasts are for showers this morning and a clearing shower later. I hope there are a couple of hours of sunshine to get that leafletting done.

~~~~~~~~~

In the Blue Mountains up behind Sydney, the hills are also alive with the sound of honking. Here they are at Lawson. On ya folks!

THE WEEK OF ROOSTING CHOOKS: Wednesday

Sydney Morning Herald 25/7/2006

Excitement mounts! Only three more sleeps and a long wait on Saturday until EARLY on Saturday night John Howard's chickens come home to roost and he concedes. There are many ways to speak of chickens coming home to roost. Many spiritual beliefs speak of Karma. Buddhism says that you may forget your actions, but your actions don't forget you. Miss Eagle counts the Prophets of the Eighth Century BC among her best friends. The longsuffering Hosea - he of the adulterous wife - said it best in the Jewish and Christian tradition, in Miss E's view.

For they sow the wind,

and they shall reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 8:7

Karma, unforgotten actions, and escalating wind apply to all of us - whether as individuals, families, groups, or nations. Miss Eagle believes that John Howard will reap the rewards of countless meannesses, innumerable cruelties, and injustices beyond counting.

But we also have to remember that if Australia does not hold John Howard and his cronies accountable on Saturday then Australia - Australians as a nation - risks reaping the whirlwind itself.

We can hold our governments accountable. When we fail to do so, we then face the judgment that should be visited on them as well. In other words, there are spiritual lessons to be learned in how we govern ourselves, how we respond as the body politic. There are no exemptions as Matthew points out in 5:45 when he speaks of the sun rising on the evil and on the good; and sending rain on the just and unjust.

So on Saturday we have the responsibility of collective accountability for ourselves and, above all, to hold our government and those who participate within the governance of this nation - the Opposition, the minor parties, the independents - accountable individually and collectively.

We are responsible for our actions - and those actions include holding those who act for us accountable responsible for theirs.

~~~~~~~~~

Miss Eagle's plans for to-day include - if our welcome rain eases off - more leafletting for the Greens in Rowville. Then to-night I will turn up with Katie and the Krew at the Your Rights At Work La Trobe headquarters in Boronia to pick up the gear for our booths on Saturday. Miss Eagle is booth captain at Upper Ferntree Gully School on Saturday and will be there from 6am to 10am.

From 2pm to close she will be at Kent Park school handing out how-to-votes for the Greens.

And how many election parties are on Saturday night! If my eyelids are open, I hope I can sit by the television blogging happily with a celebratory Bundy and Coke in between.

THE WEEK OF ROOSTING CHOOKS: Tuesday

This morning, The Hills were alive with the sound of honking: car horns honking, honking short, honking long, loud and long. There we were at the roundabout on the Belgrave-Hallam Road near the Pony Club at Lysterfield with our placard letters spelling out HOWARD HURTS FAMILIES. We did get a couple of objections/objectionables - but we were wowed with the marvellous support we received from everyone on their way to work between 6.30am and 7.30am.

And here we are:

To-morrow it's happening at Berwick. Miss E won't make this one - but if you are down that way and want to attend, please email Miss Eagle at misseagleatbluebottledotcom and she will give you all the details.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Thanksgivingtime!

THE WEEK OF ROOSTING CHOOKS: Monday

They're almost there, those roosting chooks. I can hear the sounds, the clucks and the crowing. John Howard's chickens are coming home to roost. We won't be able to do the counting until Saturday night - but the anticipation is mounting.

And its is full on.

Day 1 started with a 6.30am curtain call in the seat of La Trobe. Your Rights At Work has organised a week of events/community protests. This morning we were there in our orange shirts at the junction of Ferntree Gully Road, Burwood Highway and Commercial Road at Ferntree Gully. We carried large, large letters which spelt out:

HOWARD HURTS FAMILIES

Thank you to all those who honked and gave us the thumbs up in agreement with our placards.

To-morrow morning we will be over near the Pony Club at the the roundabout on the Belgrave-Hallam Road. Give us a wave, a cheer, a honk, a northward pointing thumb as we get rid of John Howard and bring his chickens home to roost.

Stirling efforts

My friend Jenny Stirling is standing for The Greens in the seat of Herbert which is based on Townsville in North Queensland. Here is her TV ad which is also on You Tube.

Vote 1 Stirling and The Greens

Miss Eagle urges voting Green in the Senate.

Miss Eagle is concerned about what the ALP will or won't do to amend the damage done by Work Choices.

It is likely that the Liberals will retain control of the Senate. It might be possible for the ALP to gain control but unlikely. Please do what you can to give The Greens the balance of power so that new industrial laws will have to be vigourously negotiated.

And The Greens have promised to up pensions by $30 p.w. should they be given the balance of power.

Workplace Relations and Aged Care

My friend Gina over at Patra's Place and Patra's Other Place has had trials and tribulations in recent times in relation to her employment. Gina is feisty - and a fighter. Now she has set up a new blog to document what has been happening. It is called Workplace Relations - what a farce!

Miss Eagle commends Gina for this well set up blog. Gina brings a personal take on some of the major issues at the forefront of the contemporary Australian workplace and highlights the often hidden practice of service delivery in aged care.

Miss E believes that Aged Care is, as a political issue, a major sleeper. The number of aged people is increasing - and so are their friends and relatives and the number of people employed in the Home and Community Care (HACC) program.

Gina is right! Let's get stirring. Please let her know your experience in the workplace - any workplace. If you work in a HACC program, please make getting in touch a priority. Major issues within Aged Care include:

1. Lack of a grass-roots consumer complaint system for those receiving Commonwealth packages or HACC services.
2. Lack of organisation among employees of private service providers - particularly those who are outsourced by local government.
3. Gender domination by women in delivering services to the aged. The dominance of women in service sector occupations can be equated with lack of employee organisation and inequities in pay scales.
4. Lack of a voice at the policy table for those who work at the coal-face of delivery of services to the aged in the home.
5. Governments are making major changes to policies affecting the delivery of services to the aged in the home with major input from doctors and nurses but not for personal care workers.
6. The role of guest workers in aged care services now and in the future.

Spotlight goes collective

We, members of Union Solidarity, knew Spotlight was being unfair and we went public to say so. Now the Workplace Authority has agreed with what we knew all along to be true. Spotlight has decided that John Howard's workplace laws are too complex and life would be easier if it negotiated a collective agreement with the Shop, Distributive, and Allied Employees Association. Miss Eagle chopped up her discount card in anger and protest last year and hasn't darkened the door of Spotlight in all that time. Will have to see what has changed in the last fourteen months!

Tony Abbott, WorkChoices and The Communion of Saints

There's little doubt about it - but PolMin's campaign against Howard's workplace relations laws is hitting home if Tony Abbott's rave to-day in The Oz is anything to go by. Abbott might be on message with Cardinal George Pell but he doesn't seem to be with Bishop Kevin Manning. Surprise, surprise!

And - since when did Tony Abbott have an aversion to pre-Vatican II intensity... with its invocations of authority, dogmatic pronouncements and references to the natural order even if it did manage to apply to PolMin. Abbot says he's nostalgic as anyone for the church triumphant but wonder about this application of pseudo-theological rigour to political rather than to religious faith.

Miss Eagle got the giggles at that last quote. Abbot doesn't seem to have an understanding of the ancient Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints. He should be referring to the Church Militant (those of us still on Planet Earth). Tony, it's not only trade unions who get militant - the church does too!

The Church Triumphant is all those in Heaven so I'm not sure whether all those nuns and brothers have managed to co-opt them to the PolMin campaign at this time - but I'm sure if there was a late Nov/early Dec election and a concerted appeal was made by PolMin to the Church Triumphant on 1 Nov celebrations (All Saints Day) then anything might be possible.

WorkChoice retreat

Wot’s in a name?-- she sez . . . An' then she sighs,

An' clasps 'er little 'ands, an' rolls 'er eyes.

"A rose," she sez, "be any other name

Would smell the same.

Oh, w'erefore art you Romeo, young sir?

Chuck yer ole pot, an' change yer moniker!"

The Play

This stanza from "The Sentimental Bloke" by C.J. Dennis came to mind when Casting a Short Shadow drew Miss Eagle's attention to the fact that the Howard Government has beat some form of retreat by backing away from the use of the term WorkChoices for its industrial relations laws.

Congratulations, fair minded Australians (as opposed to the unfair ones who support this), you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!

Remember, there is one agenda item that the Howard Government has not attempted to meet in spite of Liberal-voting doctors and that is the abolition of Medicare. Why? Because Australians time and again have demonstrated at the ballot box their support for this national medical insurance scheme. Now is the time to demonstrate that Australians want a fair go in the workplace.

Rudd and Gillard need support and strengthening in the face of concerted attempts by mining and big business to retain AWAs. We know how poll-driven the Howard Government is. But paying attention to the polls is not the sole prerogative of one side of politics. If a pollster phones, make your views on a fair go heard. At the ballot box later this year, cast your vote accordingly.

The policy is here...the campaign hots up

The IR policy has arrived - or most of it. Remember, there's still fine details to come in the transitional policies.

Everything you need to know, including a photo of Klever Kevvie from Queensland who's here to help, is available here.

The "Your Rights at Work" Campaign would like to hear what you think. So would Miss Eagle.

If you live anywhere near Upper Ferntree Gully and would like to assist Miss E leaflet the neighbourhood for the YRAW Campaign, please email her off the sidebar.

Your rights at work : Fill the 'G' to-day

Your rights at work

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On Saturday 11 November, Miss Eagle ventured forth to the Dandenong Show. Marie Cohen had co-opted her to help on the Your Rights at Work stall at the show. It was a wonderful day. The stall was a rip-roaring success: but then if it was not a success at Dandenong, unions would be in trouble everywhere!

The Dandenong Show was wonderful. ALthough Dandenong is a highly industrialised suburb one would have thought that a transplantation to country Australia had occurred. For more on this and more photos, check The Trad Pad. But here is the record of a wonderful day. Please take note, John Howard & co: this is the voice of ordinary working Australians. They don't want your type of industrial laws. They don't want the uneven, unlevel playing field you have constructed. Workers seek humane work places for themselves and their families. Above all they want to be able to provide for their families and spend time with their families. Comprehende?

WE'LL BE AT THE 'G'

ON NOVEMBER 30 TO ENSURE YOU DO

New from the industrial front

Amcor Flexibles
29 Bell St
Preston
[Between Chifley Dv and Albert St]

The AMCOR strike is entering a new phase tomorrow (Monday 14 August). To comply with a Federal Court order, the AMWU State Secretary will recommend a return to work at a mass meeting at 10am.

A letter given to the members states the intention of the meeting.
"The purpose of the meeting is to comply with section 1 (b) and (c) of the order"
These sections direct the union to "take all steps reasonably available under its rules" to ensure a return to work.

The Federal Court has threatened to jail AMWU officials and seize union assets if the union fails to comply with the order. Unions however are democratic institutions; the recommendation to return to work can either be accepted or rejected. The feeling to stay out until the issue of forced redundancies is resolved is strong. AMCOR workers need supporters before, during and after the meeting. More updates will come. You need to keep in contact with the website and the picket. Things could change very quickly in the new situation.

Please consider turning up and give your support if you haven't as yet. Spread the word. Messages of support: contact@unionsolidarity.org
Community picket roster: Paullie 0402 273 677
More info: Dave Kerin 0412 484 094 Joe Montero 0402 679 201, 9486 6306

Call for Community Assembly at Amcor

Under the Howard Govt's new industrial relations laws, unions, their officials and individual members can face draconian fines for picketing. This doesn't stop the men and women of Union Solidarity. Union Solidarity doesn't picket. It holds community assemblies. The call went out last night for urgent support for a community assembly at Amcor. It is set out below. Amcor is under a cloud because of an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into a suspected breach of the Trade Practices Act which also involves Richard Pratt's Visy Industries.

Amcor Workers on Strike Urgent Support Needed

Community Assembly - Amcor Packaging

Friday 4 August

7.00am onwards

29 Bell StPreston

(Between Albert St and Chifley Drive)

About 100 workers at Amcor Packaging in Preston voted tonight (Thurs 3 August) to continue a strike in support of union delegates and members victimized by management. AMWU delegates have been targeted for forced redundancies. The workers at the plant defied a commission order to return to work and possible fines under Howard's new IR laws.

These rank and file workers require our full support!!

more info: Dave Kerin 0412 484 094 Joe Montero 0402 679 201, 9486 6306

Spotlight Vigil - Bayswater, Melbourne

Dave Kerin, wise man of Union Solidarity

Spotlight, which proclaims itself to have Australia's largest fabric, craft & home interior superstores, has placed itself in the centre of industrial controversy in recent times by placing new employees on Australia Workplace Agreements (AWAs) which cut wages and conditions. This has led to protest after protest outside Spotlight stores across Australia. Today, the protest shifted to Spotlight's store in Canterbury Road, Bayswater in Melbourne's eastern suburbs organized by the Eastern Community Action Group.

Bob and Jenny came after hearing about the Vigil at the Knox City leafletting campaign.

Dave Leydon chaired proceedings

This story has a postscript. Please go here.

Success on the streets!

The Howard Government and its cronies tries to maintain that yesterday's rallies across the nation in cities and towns and regional centres were not a success. It never sees numbers on the streets of any significance.

250,000 walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge six years ago asking Howard to say Sorry didn't do a thing. Nor did 100,000 in marching in Sydney trying to head off Australian participation in the Iraq war do a thing.

Yesterday's brilliant rally of 150,000 in the heart of Melbourne, 7,000 at regional centre Wollongong just as two instances is regarded by those who have intimidated the Australian workforce as unsuccessful.


And it wasn't only those who got to the rally. A big thank you needs to go to those Rail, Bus and Tram Unionists in Melbourne who had to work to keep public transport going but gave their support by letting those attending the rally travel for free. Miss Eagle knows of one very busy suburban Melbourne railway station where the orders came from the Station Master to his staff. 'Onya mate. Howard does not talk about that!