News

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.

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) is locked in dispute with rogue electrical contractor company John Goss, which is pushing a non-union agreement that locks in a four-year wage freeze for apprentices, offers only an 8% pay rise over four years to tradespeople, and tears up the 36-hour working week calendar.

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.

In 1972 the Australian Arbitration Commission finally made a ruling that confirmed equal work for equal pay, which required that women performing the same level of work be paid at the same level as men. Despite this legislation, women in Australia, like their counterparts around the world continue to find themselves in a subordinate position to men.

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 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.

Inspired by the January 31-February 3 national Climate Action Summit in Canberra, on February 21 WA activists formed the Coalition for a Safe Climate.

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.

Pacific Brands — manufacturer of Bonds, Yakka, King Gee and other clothing brands — has decided to close a number of smaller brands and restructure its business, with the slashing of 1850 jobs over the next 18 months across Australia.

The militant actions of the South African dock workers who refused to offload goods from Israeli ships during the Gaza massacre was an important boost for the international solidarity movement.

On February 13, more than 100 people rallied outside the Moorabool Street 7-Eleven in the heart of Geelong, Victoria.

Resistance members set up an ‘Israeli military checkpoint’ outside Flinders Street train station to call on the state government to not renew Connex’s contract to run Melbourne’s train system.