WA Labor attacks CFMEU officials
PERTH — On November 17, the Western Australian Labor government announced that it would be initiating action to strip Joe McDonald, state assistant secretary of construction division of the Construction, Forestry,
Issue 563
News
BY MARCE CAMERON
BRISBANE — Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) activist Danny Dougherty was elected state secretary of the printing division of the union's Queensland branch on November 18.
Dougherty comfortably won the postal
BY SEAN SEYMOUR-JONES& TONY ILTIS
MELBOURNE — On November 22, 300 people rallied in Footscray Mall to protest against police racism and violence, and to call for an end to religious profiling and attacks on youth. The protesters marched through
BY ROBYN MARSHALL
BRISBANE — On November 13, Louise Matthiesson of the Wilderness Society addressed a public meeting in New Farm to highlight the lack of action by Premier Peter Beattie's Labor government on stopping land clearing.
In May, the
BY JIM MCILROY
BRISBANE — On November 17, maintenance workers who had been contracted to the Patrick stevedoring company set up a "community protest camp" opposite the wharf at Fishermen's Island, Port of Brisbane, to protest victimisation of
BY MARCUS PABIAN
MELBOURNE — Following a three-month campaign to resist job cuts, workers employed in the state Department of Education and Training (DET), frustrated by intransigence of Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government, went on strike on
BY GEOFF PAYNE
NEWCASTLE — On November 19, 50 opponents of the state Labor government's plan to cut rail services between Broadmeadow and Newcastle boarded the 8am train to Sydney to rally outside Parliament House.
Chanting slogans made up on
BY CHRIS LATHAM
PERTH — Despite heavy rain and a fierce campaign of misinformation by the state Labor government, 5000 teachers attended a rally on November 18 as part of their campaign for a new certified agreement.
The first full-day strike
BY SHANE BENTLEY
SYDNEY — On November 17, the notorious anti-union labour-hire company Skilled Engineering refused to hire Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) maintenance staff employed at Patrick Stevedores terminals at Port Botany, Sydney and
SYDNEY — Potest rally on November 19 against the NSW Labor government's attacks on TAFE, including up to 300% fee increases, underfunding and attacks on TAFE staff conditions.
Photo by Nick Everett From Green Left Weekly, November 26, 2003.
BY MARGARITA WINDISCH
MELBOURNE — One hundred and twenty socialists attended the Socialist Alliance's Victorian state conference, held on November 15 around the theme "Resisting the Empire".
Renowned Marxist historian Humphrey McQueen opened
MELBOURNE — Protesters at a lunchtime picket of the immigration department offices on November 15. The picket was organised by the Socialist Alliance to protest the towing out to sea of a boat with 14 Kurdish refugees that landed on Melville Island
BY LISA MACDONALD
A whirlwind speaking tour by Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) member of parliament Colin Fox left a trail of inspiration and optimism along the east coast of Australia last week.
Fox, one of six SSP activists elected to the
BY SHANE BENTLEY
SYDNEY — P&O Ports will cease stevedoring operations at White Bay on November 28. The company will then move its operations to Darling Harbour and share the facility with Patrick Stevedores. Lease costs paid to the NSW government
World
BY MARCUS GREVILLE& JULIAN COPPENS
LONDON — Australians Against the War (AATW) on November 20 held a successful demonstration outside the Australian High Commission to protest against the Australian government's participation in the US-led
MIAMI — The November 20 protests against the US-sponsored, neoliberal Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) climaxed with a large and peaceful march of more than 30,000 people opposed to corporate globalisation. However, riot police violently
BY MARCUS GREVILLE& JULIAN COPPENS
LONDON — In a tremendous display of opposition to US President George Bush's and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's invasion and occupation of Iraq, a vast crowd — estimates vary between 200,000 and 300,000
BY NORM DIXON
On November 11, the people of the Dominican Republic staged a 24-hour general strike in protest at the government's neoliberal policies. Ten people were killed by police, 60 wounded and more than 1000 detained.
Narciso Isa Conde,
BY EVA CHENG
South Korea's workers have launched a wave of industrial action in response to repressive labour laws which are aimed at helping local and foreign capitalists undermine workers' wages and conditions. Workers' resistance has been met
BY DOUG LORIMER
With disaffection with the US occupation of Iraq having driven voter support for US President George Bush to its lowest level since his election, the Bush administration has been forced to accelerate plans to formally hand Iraq's
BY DAVID BACON
SAN FRANCISCO — There is a free-trade agreement that gives an idea of what Latin America can expect from the US President George Bush's Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In a few weeks, the North American Free Trade Agreement
BY SUSAN AUSTIN
PARIS — The second European Social Forum, held in Paris from November 12-15, attracted around 50,000 people, mainly from the countries of the Europe Union. The ESF is modeled on the World Social Forum (WSF), held for the last
BY NORM DIXON
There was uproar in the Scottish Parliament on November 20 when "George Bush", who was in the public gallery, jumped up and shouted: "God bless my fellow war criminals in the Scottish Parliament. God bless my fellow mass murderers. If
BY EVA CHENG
A trade war is threatening to sweep across the Atlantic as the United States lost an appeal at the World Trade Organisation on November 10 against a July WTO dispute panel ruling that tariffs of up to 30% that US President George Bush
BY SONNY MELENCIO
MANILA — On November 6, my son, 23-year-old Marx Vergel Melencio (BJ to us), was shot in the chest and head by an unidentified man. A CT scan showed that a bullet hit his optic nerve.
Witnesses say the attack followed an
Culture
REVIEW BY SIMON BUTLER
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War IIBy William BlumZed Books 2003469 pages, $33.95 (pb)
What is the link between an elderly peasant in Vietnam debilitated by exposure to chemical weapons, a
REVIEW BY LOUIS PROYECT
FridaDirected by Julie TaymorWritten by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake and Gregory NavaWith Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas and Edward NortonBuena Vista DVD
Frida is a really stupid
Behind the Scenes at the WTO: the Real World of International Trade NegotiationsBy Fatoumata Jawara and Aileen KwaZed Books, 2003329 pages, US$19.95 (pb)
REVIEW BY EVA CHENG
Few people expected the Third World countries to force a collapse of a
Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. Includes the Green Left news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone (02) 9564 1277. Visit
Editorial
After having contributed several thousand troops to assist the criminal US-led invasion of Iraq and then rapidly scaling down the number of Australian Defence Force personnel in Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard's government now is considering