Public sector workers call 24-hour strike

PERTH — One thousand public sector workers protested outside Parliament House on November 8 as part of a ``fair and equal pay'' campaign. The Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association has pursued the campaign for eight months, but negotiations have been stalled since July, when the CPSU/CSA rejected an offer of a 22% increase on 1995 award wages with a 3% adjustment over two years.

An official motion for a 24-hour strike on November 9 was narrowly amended from the floor to November 15 and adopted.

`An antidote to war and racism'

MELBOURNE — Sixty Socialist Alliance supporters attended the final campaign rally at Trades Hall on November 8. The rally heard from all Melbourne based Socialist Alliance candidates on the range of the alliance's policies for the election.

Meeting participants heard discussion about refugee rights, women's liberation and the struggles against homophobia and racism as well as the struggle for workers' right to organise.

Final speaker at the rally was the Socialist Alliance candidate for Batman, Jackie Lynch.``Bipartisan support for the war and the repression of refugees means that racist lies about war and about refugees are coming thick and fast from some very thick people, Lynch said.

``We in the Socialist Alliance stand as an antidote to these lies, and an antidote to war and racism'', Lynch continued. ``We don't say `when', `if' or `perhaps' as the Greens and Democrats do. We stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan,'' Lynch concluded. ``Not with Bush or bin Laden.''

From Green Left Weekly, November 14, 2001.
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