Issue 132

News

Victorian teachers still waiting for award

Victorian teachers still waiting for award By Elisabeth Thomas MELBOURNE — At a branch delegates meeting on February 12, Victorian teachers voted for a campaign of industrial action in response to a delay in granting an interim federal

Sewage flows into Sydney Harbour

Sewage flows into Sydney Harbour By Amy Phillips SYDNEY — Up to 30% of Sydney's sewage will never make it to a treatment plant during rainy weather, according to recent reports. During severe storms, Sydney's ageing pipe system is forced

DSS heats staffing dispute

DSS heats staffing dispute BRISBANE — The Department of Social Service escalated a dispute with the Public Service Union on February 18, by taking the state PSU branch to the Industrial Relations Commission over alleged breaches of dispute

Industrial round-up

Adelaide By Melanie Sjoberg Nineteen waterside workers at Port Adelaide were sacked on March 17 after refusing to work "double header shifts" in protest over the sacking of 55 workers in Sydney. Daryl Grey, South Australian branch

Employers plan to break waterfront union

By Frank Enright "The company's intention to extend the further utilisation of supplementaries [casuals] at the expense of permanent employees is yet a further example of the confrontationist tactics and policies within the stevedoring industry

Cuba solidarity night

Cuba solidarity night By Bill Mason BRISBANE — The Cuban people are facing the economic crisis confronting the revolution, known as the "special period", with strength and innovation, Roberto Jorquera, Latin American solidarity activist,

145 jobs chopped at AQIS

By Steve Rogers CANBERRA — Quarantine and food quality issues have been cast aside in the latest round of cuts to the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. On February 14, management released a proposed structure to staff which chopped

Toxic exports: the international waste trade

By Tom Kelly In response to pollution scandals and toxic disasters, in the 1980s the rich industrialised countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) adopted relatively strict regulations governing the disposal

Loose cannons

All relative "There is no democracy in preselection , and we need to democratise our party ... we need a more broad-based selection committee who will look at people not because they are someone's relative but because they deserve it." — NSW

Plastic is poison

By Tom Kelly A worker using a wooden stick presses plastic bundles into a hopper, where it melts into a grey mass. The plastic is mixed with a colouring agent and tipped into a moulding machine, where it is formed into coat hangers. Nearby,

Court government to close schools

Court government to close schools By Stephen Robson PERTH — Despite the "I'm not Jeff Kennett and this is not Victoria" rhetoric during the 1993 state election campaign from Liberal leader Richard Court, his school closure program has all

Cops mistreat logging protesters

Cops mistreat logging protesters By Aneurin Coffey and Lachlan Anderson MELBOURNE — Police use of neck holds to remove protesters from an anti-logging picket on the February 11 has been condemned by medical experts as highly dangerous.

Coalition to save Adelaide Hills face

Coalition to save Adelaide Hills face By Ramona Shee ADELAIDE — "The hills face is not protected, but ordinary people think it is", Ben Carslake, secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) told Green Left

Uranium scare in SA

Uranium scare in SA By Anthony Thirlwall ADELAIDE — Western Mining Corporation on February 14 revealed a contamination alert at its huge uranium and copper mine, Olympic Dam, in the north-west of the state. The alert was sparked by

Analysis

Cognac for some, Claytons for others

Cognac for some, Claytons for others Porsche sales are up: evidence, surely, of the the much eulogised economic recovery. Good news too on profit margins: they are forecast to rise 20% this year. And by year's end unemployment is expected to ...

World

Trade and US foreign policy

PETER CAMEJO is chairperson of Earth Trade, a San Francisco-based import/export company specialising in environmentally sustainable development. He will be a featured guest speaker at the International Green Left Conference from March 31 to April 4

US airline workers debate ownership plan

By Malik Miah and Rich Lesnik By mid-year the largest airline in the country, United Airlines, could be "controlled" by its union employees. Leaders of the machinists' and pilots' unions say an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is the best

Wingti attempts to mislead NZ

By Frank Enright Speaking on Radio New Zealand's Morning Report program on February 15, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Paias Wingti turned truth on its head. "Paias Wingti claimed that there was no blockade of Bougainville, that PNG troops

Today Hanoi, tomorrow Havana?

Today Hanoi, tomorrow Havana? By Pip Hinman According to the February 17 San Francisco Chronicle, many US businesses are keen to open trade relations with Havana. The dollars-and-cents argument is gaining some momentum. In early

White workers join COSATU

White workers join COSATU More than 1000 white workers in the transport giant Transnet — some of them members of the right-wing Conservative Party — have joined the COSATU [Council of South African Unions] affiliate, the SA Railways and

Australian observers for Salvadoran elections

By Kate Shannon On February 25 a delegation of five women will depart Australia to observe the Salvadoran elections. "We have been invited by the FMLN to join with other international representatives to observe the March 20 elections", explained

Russia's democratic left starts to organise

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — "'The Union of Labour' — that is the name chosen by a trade union social and political movement formed in Krasnoyarsk region. The founders include the trade unions of workers in education and science, culture and

Bougainville to be discussed by UN body

By Frank Enright The war against the people of Bougainville has been accepted on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) for this year in Geneva. The Bougainville interim government representative to the UN, Mike

Ruling against Colombian president

Ruling against Colombian president BOGOTA — Colombian President Cesar Gaviria may have to stand trial for the unauthorised presence of US troops in Colombian territory. On February 9 Colombia's Council of State unanimously ruled that

Indigenous people organise in Guatemala

By Robyn Marshall Leoncio Sanic Simon is president of the Guatemalan peasant organisation People of Corn, or Achim Ixim. Achim Ixim was founded by Sanic and others in 1990 to help indigenous peasants who have been displaced from their homes by

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Issue 132

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World

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