Dick Nichols

  • Too many parties?

    Too many parties?SYDNEY — In the 1995 NSW election there were a record 27 parties standing for the Legislative Council, the upper house of parliament. This year, with 92 parties registered under state electoral laws, a new

  • MUA: Alan Jones says Coombs isn't so bad

    SYDNEY — Alan Jones, Sydney radio 2UE's right-wing breakfast "shock jock", re-entered old territory recently when he commented on the Maritime Union of Australia. Jones, who made daily attacks on the MUA during its dispute with

  • The government's jobs plan fraud

    Federal treasurer Peter Costello has announced that a 5% official unemployment rate is now feasible. Have Costello and industrial relations minister Peter Reith, the ministers who cut $1.5 billion from labour market programs and

  • NSW Coalition: coy or sneaky?

    NSW Coalition: coy or sneaky?SYDNEY — Since before Christmas, NSW Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski has been saying her industrial relations policy would not be released for "another couple of weeks". Nationals' leader George

  • MUA ex-official attacks 'character assassination'

    MUA ex-official attacks 'character assassination'BRISBANE — Jeff Langdon, former organiser with the Maritime Union of Australia's (MUA) south Queensland branch and well known for his work during the Patrick dispute, has

  • WA Rank-and-File maritime workers speak out

    The latest Western Australian Maritime Union of Australia Rank-and-File Bulletin (number 3) is a special issue mainly devoted to letters from seafarers and retired MUA members. The issue provides a sharp insight into the issues that

  • Opposition grows in MUA

    Opposition grows in MUAA mood of anger and revolt is sweeping the ranks of the Maritime Union of Australia. The impact of the MUA-Patrick deal (set to be extended to P&O Ports) and the loss of the industry roster for

  • Fighting privatisation: what have defeats taught us?

    [This is an edited version of an address to the ACT Politics in the Pub on the subject of "Privatisation in the ACT".] I'll be tackling the issue of privatisation as someone who, as secretary of the combined unions committee at

  • MUA ranks launch campaign to revive union

    MUA ranks launch campaign to revive unionPERTH — On November 25, Western Australian wharfies and seafarers determined to revive their union, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), met in Fibber McGees Irish pub in Leederville.

  • Italy's government of strange bedfellows

    In early October, when Italy's Olive Tree coalition government of Romano Prodi lost a confidence motion by one vote because the Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) withdrew its support (and split in the process), most observers

  • Patrick deal wobbles in Sydney

    SYDNEY — The implementation of the deal which ended the dispute between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia has hit serious snags here. MUA central NSW branch deputy secretary Jim Donovan has claimed in an

  • Communist Refoundation split over support for Prodi

    On October 9, the Italian government of Romano Prodi lost a vote of no confidence in the Italian lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. The fall of the Prodi government, which has been in office since the 1996 Italian general