News

  • Who wins from work for the dole?

    CANBERRA — The Productivity Commission's recent research paper, "Productivity and the Structure of Employment", revealed that teenagers' percentage of the work force had fallen from 10.6% to 6.7%, while 20- to

  • Workers strike over sackings

    Workers strike over sackingsSYDNEY — On July 29, workers at Plastiflex Australia, a small Belgian-owned enterprise in Sydney's western suburbs, walked off the job to begin a 48-hour strike against management's refusal to

  • Union supporters to defy 'second wave'

    MELBOURNE — About 70 people filled Comrades Bar on July 28 to discuss opposing industrial relations minister Peter Reith's "second wave" anti-union legislation. At the monthly Politics in the Pub, organised by Green Left Weekly,

  • Building workers rally for Workcover

    SYDNEY — Ten thousand construction workers jammed the streets in a march from Sydney Town Hall to NSW Parliament House on July 28. Andrew Ferguson, state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU),

  • Defying the evidence on prisons

    SYDNEY — The NSW coroner's report into the death in custody of a young Aboriginal man, James Brindle, has highlighted the urgent need for alternatives to incarceration for minor offences. Yet politicians are strengthening their "law

  • Academics warn of further action

    Academics warn of further actionWOLLONGONG — A strike by Wollongong University academics took place on July 28 and 29. The strike was called by the National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) after a breakdown in

  • Cuba night in Brisbane

    BRISBANE — The Committee in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean's annual fiesta was held at the Ukrainian Hall on July 24. More than 100 supporters attended, and $600 was raised for a water tank project in El Salvador. Latin American

  • NOWSA: feminists debate the way forward

    MELBOURNE — More than 600 women gathered here for the Network of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) conference on July 16-20. NOWSA is the largest national gathering of student feminists in Australia. As such, it is an important forum for discussing how to rebuild the women's liberation movement.

    This year's conference included many constructive debates on topics such as abortion rights, prostitution and issues for working women.

  • Solidarity with Cuba

    Solidarity with Cuba SYDNEY — A very successful concert on July 8, organised by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Peter Davey and Kelly Livingstone, raised money for APHEDA's Cuban Children's Fund. The high energy

  • Action updates

    $5000 fine for protesting HOBART — Environmental activist Sara Bayne is refusing to pay a fine of more than $5000 for participating in a forest protest last year, even though this means she is likely to go to jail. Bayne was one of hundreds

  • Students shake Iranian regime

    For the last two weeks, in the largest demonstrations in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, students in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan and other major cities have demanded the resignation of the police chief and greater democratic

  • Fairwear campaign plans action

    MELBOURNE — Fairwear, which campaigns for clothing outworkers' rights, held an action-planning workshop on July 10. Annie Delaney, a Textile Clothing Footwear Union of Australia organiser, said the TCFUA National Outwork