Workers fined for striking
@9point non = PERTH — A Federal Court judge has imposed fines of $10,000, with $6750 suspended for six months, on 64 construction workers convicted of being involved in an illegal strike. Three workers facing the same charges received fines of $8400, with $5600 suspended.
On December 20, Justice John Gilmour ruled on the cases of 91 construction workers charged with "unlawful industrial action" following a February 2006 strike to win the reinstatement of their sacked health and safety representative. During the strike, workers had defied an Australian Industrial Relations Commission order to return to work. Twenty workers who had not defied the return-to-work order were fined $9000, with $6000 suspended.
At the time, the workers were employed by Leighton Kumagai on the Perth-to-Mandurah rail project. The Australian Building and Construction Commission, the industrial police unit established by the former PM John Howard government, had originally brought charges against 107 workers, and sought imposition of fines of $22,600 on each of them.
Eleven workers, who the ABCC later deemed to have not been involved in the strike, had the charges against them dropped, while four other workers had the charges downgraded.
In his ruling, Justice Gilmour argued that the fact that the fines would be paid by a fund established by unions was not a relevant consideration in determining the penalties to be imposed.
Chris Latham
Arrest warrants for Pine Gap Four
@9point non = NEWCASTLE — Warrants for the arrest of the "Pine Gap Four" — Bryan Law of Cairns, Jim Dowling and Adele Goldie of Brisbane and Donna Mulhearn of Sydney — have been issued in Darwin following their refusal to pay fines imposed on them by a Northern Territory court last August.
On December 9, 2005, the four — calling themselves "Christians Against ALL Terrorism" — broke into the US-Australian satellite spy base at Pine Gap to conduct a "citizen's inspection", with the aim of highlighting the base's role in the Iraq war.
Seriously embarrased by the ease of the four's entry into the top-secret facility, the federal government charged them under the 55-year-old, untested, Defence (Special Undertakings) Act. They were each found guilty of breaching the act and handed minor fines.
The government appealed the sentences, and the Pine Gap Four appealed their convictions, claiming they did not have a fair trial as their defence was declared inadmissible
on technicalities.
The two sets of appeals are due to be heard in the NT Court of Criminal Appeal on February 20-22. For more information, visit <http://pinegap6.livejournal.com>.
Niko Leka
Rally against Gaza siege
@9point non = MELBOURNE — A snap protest rally was called by Palestine solidarity activists on January 25 to demand an end to the Israeli siege against 1.5 million Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.
The rally was held outside the ABC's offices at South Bank. Rally participants also called an end to pro-Israeli media bias. The protesters called on all mainstream Australian media outlets to report more accurately on the intolerable conditions facing Gaza residents.
A further rally for Gaza and against the Israeli occupation of Palestine has been called by the Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network for February 2 at 5pm at the Victorian State Library. For more information, phone Katie on 0433 695 693, Assem on 0415 802 780 or Moammar on 0419 999 773.
Kim Bullimore