SYDNEY — Four construction workers, Nigel Gould, Peter Carr, Peter Riikonen and Andrew Jones who were sacked from the Thiess Services soil remediation project in Rhodes in June, were granted a “confidential settlement” on August 10. The workers are all members of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU).
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Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, The End of Civilization Simon and Schuster, 2009566 pages, $26.99 (pb)
The following article is abridged from an eyewitness account of repression of protesters in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital city, on August 12. The protest was against the coup government, which overthrew the democratically elected government of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28. The article first appeared at www.hondurasresists.blogspot.com. It was based on a phone report filed by Alexy Lanza, who lives in Chicago and is a member of La Voz de los de Abajo, Casa Morazan and Producciones EN EL OJO — independent media.
Anyone with a basic sense of humanity can take heart from the fact that 2DayFM radio host Kyle Sandilands lost his lucrative $1 million contract to judge Australian Idol.
MELBOURNE — When the Portuguese left East Timor in 1975, ending 450 years of colonial rule, the country was annexed by Indonesia. The East Timorese wanted independence and a resistance movement grew, which operated from the rugged, mountainous interior of the country.
These things I see,
each day,
as I wander round this great, gaunt city.
I.
Mornings I hear her.
and the wail of those hungry tired children,
shadows beyond the frost cracked windows
of her battered Toyota.
When its rusted rear door
US President Barack Obama responded to growing criticisms of his government’s position on the coup regime in Honduras at an August 7 press conference. The Honduran military overthrew elected President Manuel Zelaya on June 28.
Best Australian Essays 2008Edited by David MarrBlack Inc, 2009$29.95
On August 6, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released labour force figures for July that showed unemployment remained steady at 5.8%. However, while the total number of people employed stayed stable, full-time jobs fell by 16,000 while part-time employment rose by 48,200.
On August 6, a general strike in Kanaky (the French colony of New Caledonia) was called off after an accord between the Federation of Unions of Kanak Workers and the Exploited (USTKE) and Air Caledonia was finally signed by the airline.
Two Geelong council workers who were sacked on July 24 for accepting free steak sandwiches from a Geelong club owner have been reinstated. The victory followed an escalation in the two-week-old dispute, when the Australian Services Union (ASU) members walked off the job on August 10.
A 200-strong public meeting that claimed to support the Palestine-Israel peace process was organised by right-wing union leader Paul Howes at the ALP conference in Sydney on July 30.
In June, several Melanesian community groups met in Madang, Papua New Guinea, to create a land defence group. The Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA) will coordinate efforts in the region to help traditional families maintain control over their own land.
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at the University of New South Wales will vote on the next steps in protracted enterprise bargaining negotiations with the university’s management.
Pemba Dorje Sherpa is the world record holder for the fastest climb of Mount Everest. He toured Australia from August 11 to 17 to raise awareness about the drastic impacts of climate change on the Himalayas.
Thirty thousand workers at state-owned Chinese steel works Tonghua Iron and Steel Group clashed with 1000 riot police and prevented the company's privatisation, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said on July 24.
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