ACTU calls for second stimulus package,
A SECOND Government-funded economic stimulus package aimed at saving jobs is needed urgently, trade unions say.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned on Monday that the economy would get worse before it gets better, adding the Government was planning "steely" economic management and compassion.
The Government's first stimulus package - worth $10.4 billion - included one-off payments to families, pensioners and carers to boost spending in the lead-up to Christmas.
A second package, targeted at jobs, is urgently needed, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says.
"We have got to really target with stimulus those jobs you can bring on stream from day one," president Sharan Burrow told Fairfax Radio.
One option was to bring forward an "emergency energy retrofit" to deal with climate change.
"That then flows out to produce demand, to manufacturing, to services and the like."
Infrastructure upgrades at schools and hospitals should also be undertaken.
Ms Burrow urged employers to consider all options before laying off workers.
Stand-down days, where workers are paid 80 per cent of their wage to reskill under Government-funded programs, should be considered "so that when the economy picks up those employees are there ready to work with enhanced skills."
Forcing workers to take unused leave was another option, Ms Burrow said.
The ACTU estimates about 200,000 existing workers will be out of work this year.
Polish justice minister resigns after jail suicide
POLAND'S justice minister has resigned after a third convict involved in a murky abduction and murder case dating back eight years hanged himself in his prison cell.
Robert Pazik was one of three men sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping the son of a wealthy businessman in 2001 and murdering him in 2003.
The other two kidnappers committed suicide in the same way while in custody, in 2006 and 2008, drawing accusations of gross incompetence by Poland's law enforcement authorities.
"I put myself at the disposal of the prime minister (Donald Tusk) and he accepted my resignation," Justice Minister Zbigniew Cwiakalski said.
Cwiakalski said he had personally done nothing wrong, stressing there had been fewer suicides in jail last year than in 2007.
"But in this situation I considered it appropriate (to step down)," said Cwiakalski, the first minister to resign since Tusk's centre-right government took power in November 2007.
The murder of 27-year-old Krzysztof Olewnik shook Poland in 2003, not least because his family had paid a ransom of 300,000 euros ($389,000) to his abductors to secure his release.
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The trial of his abductors revealed that police had allowed the men to escape with the money, triggering claims of collusion between the police and the criminals. Some Polish media at the time suggested the possible involvement of local politicians.
Three police officers were later found guilty of negligence in the case. A prosecutor still faces charges over his handling of it, Polish media said.
Barack Obama starts inauguration day with church service
PRESIDENT-elect Barack Obama has headed to church to begin the official program leading up to his historic inauguration.
Obama and his wife Michelle were driven the short distance from Blair House, the presidential guest house opposite the White House, to St John's Episcopal Church for a service expected to last about an hour.
The incoming First Couple were accompanied by vice president-elect Joseph Biden and his wife Jill, ahead of coffee in the White House with departing President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
