Ian Jamieson

  • Rally to save Freo's South Beach

    FREMANTLE — The battle to save the popular South Beach is gathering pace, with a public rally being organised on the beach on October 26, at 11am, called by residents and beach users. The rally aims to stop powerful property

  • MUA election: huge win for rank and file

    FREMANTLE &#151 In a massive jolt for incumbent officials, rank-and-file activists in the Maritime Union of Australia have won a number of positions in the union's national quadrennial elections, including the WA state secretary

  • P&O and MUA force acceptance of unpopular EBA

    FREMANTLE — After nine months of national and local negotiations, wharfies employed at P&O Ports are being forced by maritime union officials to accept an enterprise bargaining agreement for the next two-and-a-half years,

  • Some WA anti-union laws replaced

    PERTH — Unions in Western Australia have welcomed a package of industrial law reforms introduced by the Labor state government. Unions WA secretary Stephanie Mayman described Labor's bill as an important step forward but it "does

  • Socialist Alliance 'a good alternative'

    PERTH — Well used to causing controversy in the union movement, militant seafarer Chris Cain is unfazed by criticism of his recent decision to join the Socialist Alliance. "I've been looking around for somewhere to help

  • Council workers debate trade offs

    PERTH — Frustration is building among council workers and staff in Fremantle and the adjoining municipality of Cockburn over delays in enterprise bargaining. Anger at stop-work meetings over promised pay increases in Fremantle

  • Rally over petrol prices

    PERTH — Rising fuel costs have sparked a number of protests here, culminating in a 1500-strong rally outside Parliament House on September 7. With petrol and diesel prices reaching the $1 or more per litre mark, anger at the

  • New activist centre in Fremantle

    FREMANTLE — A new Resistance Centre has opened its doors in this Western Australian port city. The office is the culmination of many months of concerted effort by members of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance. Although

  • Revolt over council amalgamation

    Tasmania's minority Liberal government is continuing to receive stunning blows as a result of its attempt to "reform" local government in Tasmania. In a series of Australian Electoral Commission-run polls organised by seven

  • Tasmanian rural hospitals under threat

    ROSEBERY — Under the whip of a declining health budget, rural and regional hospitals in Tasmania are facing closure or a severe curtailing of services. The latest casualty is a 70-year-old hospital in St Marys on the east

  • Government attacks local councils

    Tasmanian local governments face an uncertain future as the Liberal state government pushes ahead with a program of forced amalgamation. As part of his "Directions Statement", a mid-term attempt to address the malaise in the

  • 500 jobs go in paper industry

    ROSEBERY, Tasmania — Amid the backslapping from pundits that Tasmania's economy has turned the corner, giant paper-maker Amcor is to retrench 300 employees. The retrenchments are part of a national package to sack 500 from its