Naarm/Melbourne

Maintenance workers at the Foster’s Abbotsford plant voted on March 3 to accept redundancy packages from the company.

Sacked shop steward and OH&S representative Joe Angelino has been re-employed, ending a two-week standoff between the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Energy Union and his employer, Caelli Constructions, at the construction site for the new children's hospital in Parkville.

On February 12, Foster’s Australia announced its decision to axe 115 maintenance jobs from its Abbotsford plant in Melbourne, where it makes a large proportion of its beer products, including Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught.

Supporters of Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution gathered at the Queensberry Hotel on February 21 to celebrate 10 years of the revolution and the “yes” vote in the February 15 referendum. The referendum removed the constitutional barrier to President Hugo Chavez seeking re-election.

At National Tertiary Education Union meetings on February 23 and 24, Victoria University staff voted to take rolling strike action across all VU campuses.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union has been blockading the site of the new children’s hospital construction project in Parkville. The blockade is a response to the sacking of Joe Angelino, a shop steward who is also a health and safety representative.

Plastics manufacturer Nylex has been placed in the hands of receivers. Nylex is a well-known name — the company produces the iconic Esky, water tanks, wheelie bins, hose and garden fittings, and interior trimmings for car manufacturers.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has accused the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) of bullying tactics and using its coercive powers to attack press freedom, in a statement released on February 27.

Green Left weekly’s Kylie Moon spoke to Matt Wright from Beyond Zero Emissions, a Melbourne-based climate change activist group, about BZE’s campaign strategy and current activities for 2009.

“One quarter of a million people are trapped between a concentration camp and a war zone”, said Nish Vivekananthan, a young Tamil speaking on the current situation in Sri Lanka, at a public meeting on February 19 in Footscray.

On February 3, 200 people rallied against the Victorian Labor government’s unsustainable water plans.

Watershed Victoria is an environmental organisation dedicated to the campaign against the proposed desalination plant at Wonthaggi in Victoria, and for a sustainable water policy. Watershed’s Chris Heislers spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Katherine Bradstreet.