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Rau was abused, witnesses claim

Paul Oboohov German-born, Australian permanent resident Cornelia Rau was abused by jailers, and immigration detention officials knew about her mental condition, ABC TV's Four Corners revealed on April 4. Rau, a former Qantas flight attendant, was

VSU: an attack on democracy

Zoe Kenny On March 16, federal education minister Brendan Nelson introduced his anti-student union legislation, euphemistically referred to as "voluntary student unionism" (VSU), into federal parliament. VSU is a strategic part of Nelson's higher

OUR COMMON CAUSE: United action can stop anti-union laws

PM John Howard's top priority after winning control of the Senate is to attack Australian workers and their unions. He has introduced a wave of legislation that will, if passed, severely restrict workers' rights. This legislation will: Remove

Socialist Alliance organises against Howard in Victoria

Karl Miller, Melbourne More than 80 people turned up to the Victorian state conference of the Socialist Alliance, the theme of which was "Organising a community and trade union fight-back against Howard's new attacks". This included around

CSU staff target graduation ceremonies

SYDNEY — National Tertiary Education Union members at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) leafleted students and their families at graduation ceremonies on April 6-8 to highlight their campaign to force the university to return

Rally for reproductive rights

Carlene Wilson, Melbourne When the Coalition takes control of the Senate in July, abortion rights will be one thing likely to come under attack. The Campaign for Women's Reproductive Rights (CWRR) has been collecting signatures for a petition

UNITED STATES: Harvard divests from Sudan investor

The Harvard Corporation, the university's highest governing body, announced on April 4 that it would sell its shares in PetroChina, because the company is "too closely tied to genocide in Sudan". The decision was greeted with jubilation by black-clad

Geelong unionists discuss IR 'reforms'

GEELONG — On April 6, about 100 union delegates and members attended a cross-union meeting at Geelong Trades Hall to discuss the federal government's anti-union legislation. Leigh Hubbard, outgoing secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council

UNITED STATES: Sit-in demands better wages

Washington University's admissions office was taken over by chanting students armed with leaflets and petitions on April 5, as members of the Student-Worker Alliance began an indefinite sit-in to demand better wages for the university's lowest paid

ACTU resists Vic unions' call for nationwide action

Sue Bolton, Melbourne On March 23, a mass delegates' meeting called by the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) voted for a work stoppage and mass protest on June 30, the day before the federal Coalition government takes full control of the Senate.

VUT NTEU reschedules 48-hour strike

Jo Williams, Melbourne On April 6, members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) at meetings on two separate campuses of the Victoria University of Technology (VUT) decided to go ahead with a planned 48-hour strike, scheduled for April

Workers resisting in Iraq

Ewa Jasiewicz is a human-rights activist and journalist from London who lived in US-occupied Iraq from June 2003 to February 2004. For much of her time there, she lived in Basra, working closely with a crucial union for workers in the oil industry.