THE PROLETARIAT #9 AUGUST 2011 Available online under this title at Scribd.com WHAT ARE WE DOING?

We here at the Proletariat are very conscious of claims made by us and we work tirelessly to bring you an interesting and informative glimpse into a world of dissent that the corporation would prefer we did not. A mix of sarcasm, insight, humor, curiosity and cynicism balanced with what we hope are intelligent perspectives combine to give you what we hope is the desired outcome: the collective conscience within our workplace. And we hate leaving LOOSE ENDS and we endeavour to be as precise as possible. We also would hate to be perceived as whinger and whenever we perceive a problem within our workplace it is all well and good to be critical but to able to provide alternatives is crucially important. LOOSE ENDS And one of those loose ends is a story that was in last months edition, specifically to do with providing a solution to the inevitability of accidents caused by motorbikes on footpaths. (The problem also exists with bicycles, electric and not). Now to some this might seem like a big ask, but if nationally, councils were to adopt under their building codes that there should be no blind walls on driveways on private or public property and that letterboxes should be on the boundary of the property. The benefits are twofold: not being backed over by a car coming out of its driveway because of improved line of sight, and an end to the frustration of having to deal with letterboxes that are poorly placed and pose a stretch or reach hazard. Fanciful notions or practical strategy? TO VOTE OR NOT TO VOTE? We live in a democracy, and in Australia in what is undoubtedly one of the worlds best functioning democracies, due mostly to compulsory voting after your 18th birthday. We see around the world societies that struggle to achieve anything close to what we have here. You would think then that to vote would be regarded as the glittering prize in our democracy. But to some this prize is held in poor regard, as was witnessed when one of our contributors asked a colleague if he had voted in the union

elections, the colleagues response was, Im not going to bother, they are all the same. This was a silly response from our colleague, more an indication of laziness in not reading what was provided, or listening to candidates talk, than of being disheartened with those standing for election. Let us be quite clear about what our choices were in the Union elections and what the early outcomes point to in a hope to discredit what our less politically astute colleague stated. The CWU in Victoria functions well. As a union member you pay people to represent you. If you are curious about what they do, be involved. Go to the union headquarters and see your union fees working for you. The union has social events such as BBQs or you can go to a more formal union meeting and observe the processes involved. Let us be unequivocal about this. You are the union. You are the sum of its parts. The corporation would prefer that the union did not exist. It would prefer that its attempt to continually lower wages and conditions went unchecked. The public face of the union that we are accustomed to is Joan Doyle. As the union secretary, Joan and staff work tirelessly to hold back an unethical and unrelenting corporation that is determined to rip you off. Though this newsletter is not allied to the union, we here at The Proletariat believe that the CWU in Victoria has, as early indications predict, had an effect on the federal union. The federal CWU cronies that allowed that odious EBA to pass, (which still has more than another two years to run) are now accountable to the Victorian branch of the Union due to the resoundingly large number of votes we have won. Which just goes to show, you can bring about change. They are all the same now seems somewhat absurd. WORDS FAIL ME Words come and they go, they move into positions of prominence and then fade away. A clich is a phrase or opinion that is over used and betrays a lack of origin. These phrases or opinions can be a word as well, and their overuse can be annoying, particularly when they come as a response to what you have said. The word absolutely is one of these. We are sure you can think of others. The way to diminish these overused words is to reveal their use. If you refer to someone as an absolutist they might look at you strangely, but if they use absolutely often then this may well embarrass them into dropping it from their everyday overuse. Compiled by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Edited by those wanting a clean green peaceful planet.