Issue 272

National stop-work meetings of Community and Public Sector Union members on April 23 decided on a week of two-hour rolling stoppages as a part of a campaign in defence of jobs and conditions proposed by the national management committee of the CPSU.

Footwear workers win demands By Bronwen Beechey MELBOURNE — Workers at the Michaelis Bayley footwear factory have ended an 18-day strike after reaching a settlement with management on April 24. The demands of the workers for a 10% pay

UTS council discusses occupation By Andy Gianniotis SYDNEY — The council of the University of Technology, Sydney, met on April 24 to decide who should pay the costs associated with the Easter occupation by students protesting against

Youth tent embassy set up in Sydney By Andy Gianniotis SYDNEY — A youth tent embassy was set up at the Domain behind Parliament House here between April 20 and 26 to increase awareness among young people about the Street Safety Bill and

By Therese Moore SYDNEY — Prime Minister John Howard (Australia's richest public housing tenant) will find himself the recipient of a symbolic demand for a $21,000 per week rent increase at noon on Sunday, May 11. The demand will be presented

By Anthony Benbow PERTH — WA Premier Richard Court and labour minister Graham Kierath claim to take their jobs seriously. After a hard week at the office ramming the "third wave" anti-union legislation through the lower house without debate,

Norm Haub, working-class fighter By Ray Ferguson BRISBANE — Many comrades and friends gathered at a service here on April 11 to say farewell to Norman Haub, who died two days earlier after a long illness. Norm was a battler all his life,

US bans new investments in Burma By Eva Cheng On April 22, US President Bill Clinton approved an order banning new US investments in Burma because of increased repression by the State Law and Order Restoration Council regime. But the decree

By Lisa Macdonald LONDON — On April 21, Londons four airports, five major railway stations and the A40 freeway into the city were closed after coded bomb threats were phoned in, apparently by the Irish Republican army (IRA). The bomb threats,

30,000 march for strawberry workers By Caroline Lund WATSONVILLE, California — A massive march here on April 13 launched the largest union organising drive taking place in the United States today. Energy and hope were in the air.

Plea to save Japanese bay The Japanese government has just closed off one of Japan's largest inter-tidal wetlands for a major reclamation project. The following is from a plea for international assistance from the Japan Wetlands Action Network.

While sold to Australian tourists as a touch of Paris by the beach, Kanaky was seized by France only in 1853. In 1998 a referendum will be held, presenting voters with the choice of independence or continued French rule as the "French Overseas

By Norm Dixon South Africa's trade union movement will hold mass rallies on May 12 in protest at the African National Congress-led government's failure to incorporate its "big issue" demands into the draft Basic Conditions of Employment Bill

Blackness Blackness there is only Blackness.I can see, hear, feel, sense nothing,there is nothing to sense. It changes to grey.Now there are shapes, signs of others,but I can't see them — senses are so dulled. Now if I try I can see light

By Peter McGregor This article was written as a reply to a feature article by Tony Stephens in the April 10 Sydney Morning Herald. The Herald declined to publish it. Peter McGregor is one of the curators of Viet Nam Voices and a lecturer at the

Left on line Free Roisin McAliskey! — Roisin is imprisoned in Holloway Prison, London, without formal charges and without bail. She awaiting a decision by the German government to seek her extradition. She is pregnant and has been

Chocolate Supa HighwaySpearhead Capitol Records Review by Sujatha Fernandes Chocolate Supa Highway may not live up to the funkiness of Spearhead's last album Home, and it may lack the confrontational political appeal of the Disposable Heroes of