Caltex workers strike for new agreement
BRISBANE — On April 23, around 80 maintenance workers employed by sub-contractors at the Caltex oil refinery on the mouth of the Brisbane river, voted to continue their strike.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), which covers the workplace, has been trying to finalise a new enterprise bargaining agreement since December. Under pressure from Caltex, the sub-contractors are refusing to offer the same pay and conditions as the other Australian refineries.
The workers first went on strike on March 6, but returned to work in mid-March, believing management would agree to their demands. After weeks of fruitless negotiations and industrial relations commission hearings, the AMWU told the commission it "could be of no further assistance at this time" and went out on strike again on April 9.
The striking workers held a rally and march to the offices of Transfield, one of the sub-contracting companies, on April 18.
Chernobyl: Never again
SYDNEY — About 100 people attended a candlelight procession across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on April 26, marking the anniversary of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine and protesting against the expansion of the nuclear industry in Australia — in particular the federal government's plan for a new nuclear reactor in southern Sydney.
Speakers included Corin Fairburn Bass, co-editor of the 1993 book Beyond Chernobyl — Women Respond. The march and rally was organised by the NSW Anti-Nuclear Forum, Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor (SPANNR), and Greenpeace.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, May 1, 2002.
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