News

  • Maleny residents continue protest against Woolworths

    BRISBANE — Around 400 residents and supporters of the campaign against the controversial Woolworths supermarket development in the small Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Maleny marched on July 16. The project threatens dozens of platypus burrows.

  • AWAs for politicians?

    James Vassilopoulos, Melbourne A forklift driver in Footscray ran out of petrol on his way to work. When he turned up, the boss told him that he was sacked, mistakenly believing that the new industrial relations laws had already been introduced, so

  • University union faces 'full frontal attack'

    Sue Bull, Ballarat A long campaign by three unions at the University of Ballarat for an enterprise bargaining agreement is coming to a head. After 19 months of negotiations, a no-holds-barred fight is on for a union-based agreement; management is

  • Greens senator denied visa

    Kerry Smith The Nauru consulate-gGeneral informed Greens senator Kerry Nettle on July 20 that she would not be granted a visa to visit the remaining 32 asylum seekers in the Australian detention centre on the Pacific Island. The

  • Unions to protest Senate opening

    CANBERRA — Unions ACT will hold a protest rally against the federal Coalition government's proposed industrial laws at the opening of the new Senate at 10am on August 9. Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow will address the

  • 'Unity needed for union laws campaign'

    Lynda Hansen & Jim McIlroy, Brisbane "We need unity of all the elements of the campaign against Howard's anti-union laws: publicity, community alliances and industrial action", Sue Bolton, the Socialist Alliance's national trade union work

  • US Navy claims Hicks and Habib not abused

    Marlene Obeid, Sydney The US government claims that investigations by the US Navy's Criminal Investigative Service have found no evidence that two Australian citizens, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habid, were abused while held at the US military prison

  • Another DIMIA scandal

    Fiona Alcock, Sydney On July 20, two children — 12-year-old Ian Hwang and his six-year-old sister Janey — were released with their mother, Young Lee, from the Villawood immigration detention centre after the immigration department (DIMIA)

  • The ACTU to the rescue?

    Bernie Wunsch, Lismore On July 19, Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow made a whirlwind one-day protest tour of the regional NSW town of Lismore. As part of the campaign to oppose the federal Coalition government's changes to

  • Women unionists toast Howard defeat

    Sue Bull, Geelong As the campaign against PM John Howard's industrial relations legislation hots up, 88 women unionists in Geelong met over dinner to discuss the fight ahead. The July 21 dinner brought together women from all sections of the

  • Victory against Masterton Homes

    Liam Mitchell, Sydney A recent case of workers being forced to sign AWAs has ended with a victory after a two-and-a-half week campaign by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). When workers at Masterton Homes were told they

  • Gunns loses first battle

    Kerry Smith Environmentalists and other activists are celebrating following the Victorian Supreme Court's initial rejection of woodchipping giant Gunns Ltd's lawsuit against forest protection campaigners in Tasmania. Last December, Gunns sued 20