Manuel Rosales faces almost certain defeat in Venezuela’s elections but he has told his supporters: “It is true, we are winning.”
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Militant labour groups in the Philippines united to condemn the assassination on November 21 of Andrew Bok Inoza, the union president at the Alaska Milk factory in San Pedro, 30 kilometres south of Metro Manila, in the province of Laguna. Inoza was also the chairperson of the Laguna branch of the leftist Partido Manggagawa (PM, Workers Party).
Over the first three weeks of November, participants in a 35-strong Australian solidarity brigade to Venezuela have been arriving in Caracas.
Anyone who has visited this giant city of some 6 million people will know that one of the major social problems here is basura (rubbish). For years, the complaints of the population have mounted, along with the piles of garbage in the streets. Now, the Venezuelan government and the municipal council have launched a drive to tackle the problem.
The NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) and Homelessness NSW/ACT have criticised the Iemma state government for not doing enough for the homeless, following the governments November 14 release of a 10-year plan to tackle the problem.
Up to 20,000 people mobilised for a four-hour march through Caracas on November 20. The demonstration, led by campesinos (peasants), was in support of the reelection of revolutionary Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the December 3 election.
On November 15, 2000 members of the Electrical Trades Union packed Dallas Brooks Hall to discuss an initial response to the federal governments denial of a common law agreement between the ETU and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) that covered 10,000 workers and about 1000 employers.
John Parker, secretary of Victorias Gippsland Trades and Labour Council, condemned the findings of the federal governments panel of so-called experts on nuclear energy. Any attempt to build a nuclear power plant in Gippsland will be strongly resisted, he said on November 22.
One of the biggest lies that the corporate media has relentlessly pushed for many years is that the trade union movement is a special interest group. They argue this because only 23% of workers are members of trade unions today. However, studies show that the great majority of workers look to unions to defend their rights at work, would join unions if given the opportunity and if they didnt risk being penalised by their boss.
On November 17 the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) claimed that workers occupational health and safety rights have been cut by PM John Howards government. Changes to the federal OHS act mean that employers, both public- and private-sector, will no longer have to include unions in OHS consultations.
Government and business representatives attending a Work Choices seminar at the Hotel Grand Chancellor on November 21 were met by protesters who described the meeting as a discussion about exploiting workers, destroying unions and sacking people at will.
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