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BY TIM STEWART Since the election of the federal Liberal-National Coalition government in 1996, very few unions have been prepared to adopt an attitude of struggle at all costs. Instead of employing tactics aimed at winning gains against the bosses
BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — Mineworkers, their union and townspeople have condemned a decision by BHP to close two underground mines at Blackwater, 200km west of Rockhampton, and the resulting loss of 200 jobs. The closure of the Laleham and Kenmare
BY SEAN HEALY Bangladesh's 22.3 million landless farmers secured a major win on December 18 when the government agreed to an 11-point charter of demands which labourers' organisations have been fighting for since 1978. The agriculture ministry's
BY BEN COURTICE MELBOURNE — Members of the National Union of Workers at the Qenos refinery in Altona have reached the 100th day of a management lockout. The workers are holding out against management's attempt to impose large reductions in an
BY ANA KAILIS PERTH — Supporters of refugee rights here have formed a new Refugee Rights Action Network to demand the immediate release from detention of all asylum seekers and a complete overhaul of Australia's border policy. The January 16
BY KAMALA EMANUEL For a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to work, "first of all, [white people] have got to recognise, at the very beginning of the treaty, that this land belonged to Aboriginal people, and they stole it",
BY ISRAEL SHAMIR Among the colourful revellers of Allenby street, in crowded restaurants of merry-making Tel Aviv nights, a vision came to me, a vision of an angel in battle-dress, chalking up on a wall three words: Mene, Tekel, ufarsin. My
Improving on perfection "I believe the system is as safe as it could possibly be, but that doesn't mean that we can't make it safer." — NSW transport minister Carl Scully on the state's public transport system. Executioner "I am mindful of
 NORTHERN IRELAND: South Armagh — the militarised zone BY STUART ROSS “How many days of normality have you gained because the checkpoints on the border aren't there anymore, because honest people can go to a pub or a school or a
“It would not hurt you to go see someone in prison ... doing so might put you in touch with your own humanity.” Moments after hearing a local radio personality reveal unbridled contempt for prisoners, I wrote a letter, including the words
Adelaide: Sat Feb 3, noon. Women's Studies Resource Centre, 64 Pennington Tce, city. Ph Rebecca 8231 6982. Brisbane: Mon Feb 5, 6.30pm. TLC Bldg, 16 Peel St, Sth Brisbane. All women welcome. Ph 3831 2644. Darwin: Mon Jan 29, Feb 12, 19, 26,
BY ALLEN MYERS PHNOM PENH — With 92 votes in favour and none opposing, the National Assembly on January 2 approved a bill to establish a special court to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was responsible for the deaths of up to