GLW issue 786, published 2009-03-11.

Rally for women's rights!

Five hundred women marched in Sydney on March 7 to celebrate International Women's Day. Speakers demanded six months' paid maternity leave for all women; free, safe abortion on demand and free, quality child care. Other speakers urged women to fight

Foster's workers continue the battle

Maintenance workers at the Foster’s Abbotsford plant voted on March 3 to accept redundancy packages from the company.

Holland sacks workers over pay

Actions by construction giant John Holland have led to 40 workers being sacked from the Melbourne Westgate Reconstruction project because they did not accept an agreement that would mean they earned less than the standard industry rate.

Students 4 Palestine launched

Across university campuses, students are organising in support of Palestine. A big focus will be Palestine Solidarity Week, an international week of action beginning on March 30.

Further

Australian News

Pacific Brands workers rally

Two hundred workers and supporters protested outside the Pacific Brands factory in Wentworthville, Western Sydney on March 6 in response to the clothing company’s plans to slash 1850 jobs around the country.

ALP must support Palestine

Deputy PM Julia Gillard’s outspoken support for Israel’s attack on Gaza earlier this year prompted angry criticism from many, including from inside her own party.

Further Australian News

International News

Britain: A student rebellion catches on

One of the many upsetting aspects to being in your 40s is hearing people your own age grumbling about “young people” the way we were grumbled about ourselves.

Britain: Green-left challenge in union vote

On March 7, the second Campaign Against Climate Change UK Trade Union Conference was scheduled to be held in London, bringing together activists from left groups such as Socialist Resistance, the Green Party and Respect, as well as rank-and-file trade unionists and officials.

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Nationalise Pacific Brands — save jobs not profits!

“We have to cut down a lot of the clutter of anything, clutter of the work, focus product innovation, detail, all that is going on in the business but [we] just need to remove so much of the distraction to enable us to do that well”.

ALP, ACTU retreat on maternity leave

In the face of the Rudd government’s refusal to confirm whether federally-funded maternity leave will be included in the upcoming May budget, the Australian Council of Trade Unions has retreated from its previous stance calling for immediate implementation.

Further Comment and Analysis

Editorial

Proud to support Tamil self-determination

As an alternative newspaper, based in grassroots, progressive political movements, Green Left Weekly aims to be a thorn in the side of the corporate media here in Australia and globally.

Letters

Write On

Keynesianism and neoliberalism Graham Matthews' interview with Professor Bill Mitchell (GLW #785) presents a standard Keynesian view of the economic crisis. Essentially, it claims that the crisis is due to the bad policies of neoliberalism:

General

Green Left Weekly's $250,000 Fighting Fund: Can 'tough love' save capitalism?

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd likes to give the impression that he takes his mission very seriously.

Resistance!

Thousands of youth demand climate action in the US

Just blocks away from Washington DC’s Capitol Hill, a new conversation swept the streets from February 28 to March 2. Within the crowded sidewalks and cafes along H and 7th Streets, certain words were likely to catch your ear: environmental sustainability, green economy, direct action, colonisation, coal-fired power plants and capitalism.

Reclaim the media

Today, the world is littered with crises. From the economic meltdown to the threat to life posed by climate change, the world is in real trouble.

Cultural Dissent

Tennis plays into Israel's apartheid project

The decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ban Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er from playing in the US$2 million Dubai tennis tournament on February 16 — sent shockwaves around the world. However, in reporting this decision, many mainstream outlets have missed the point.

Exhibition to combat homophobia

IDAHO: the Exhibition
Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, Sydney
May 4-17
Contact Nick: idahosydney@yahoo.com.au or 0416 716 004

Further Cultural Dissent

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Lib-Lab budgets: Following the dodo on a race to extinction

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