Jennifer Thompson

  • Netherlands threatens Iranian asylum seekers

    A May 25 announcement by the Netherlands Justice Ministry of a plan to arbitrarily deport more than 4000 Iranian asylum seekers by declaring Iran a "safe" country has received an angry response from the Council of Iranian

  • Building workers to strike

    SYDNEY — Building workers will strike around Australia on May 29, against cuts by the Howard government affecting their wages and those of apprentices and trainees. In a major slug to building workers' pay, Liberal treasurer

  • Israel's bloody election countdown

    The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November started the race toward Israel's May 29 elections in earnest. As the elections drew closer, the lines between Labour — the so-called party of peace, which enjoys strong backing

  • Peres thwarted by Lebanese resistance

    According to Noam Chomsky's April 23 article, "Israel, Lebanon, and the 'Peace Process'", the day after Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres took office, the New York Times reported "approvingly" that Israeli war planes attacked

  • Solidarity with maritime union

    SYDNEY — The Maritime Union of Australia's (MUA) Action Conference on May 17 attracted around 1500 participants, mainly maritime union delegates and workers, from around Australia. The striking Vickery workers sent a

  • Vickery miners defy IRC

    Workers at CRA-owned Novacoal's Vickery mine are still on strike after the federal Industrial Relations Commission arbitrated on April 24 in favour of management, allowing the introduction of 12-hour shifts for a six-month

  • How government's IR bill will hit workers

    The Coalition government's Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Bill, soon to go to parliament, will contain all of the threats of the election campaign and more beside. Liberal industrial relations minister Peter Reith's

  • Stop the theft of Telstra!

    There was irony in the federal government's fanfare about honouring election promises when it introduced, on May 2, its bill to privatise a third of Telstra: this is the campaign promise most Australians would prefer it

  • Aboriginal groups and union discuss mining

    The peak groups representing Aboriginal people affected by the proposed Century mine and the expansion of the Weipa bauxite operation in far north Queensland have begun consultation with the major trade union representing

  • Vickery workers stand strong

    Workers in the CRA-owned Novacoal's Vickery mine have been on strike since August over the company's attempt to try to force the introduction of 12-hour shifts into an already dangerous industry. Novacoal has been pressing

  • Weipa strike resumes

    Award workers at CRA-owned Comalco's Weipa bauxite mine and kaolin plant went on strike again on March 27 over the company's insistence that they individually sign an enterprise agreement. Unionists won the right in February

  • Turkish left unites

    Turkish left unitesIn the Turkish capital of Ankara on June 16, 1000 delegates gathered for the first congress of the Unified Socialist Party (BSP). The BSP unites more than 10 groups — the majority of