A motion moved by Australian Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett calling on the government to support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people was voted down in the Senate on September 10. This comes at a time when the Northern Territory intervention by the Howard Government has started to put 聯boots on the ground聰 in the NT, with few results reported from the mainstream media and serious criticism from Aboriginal and human rights groups.
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聯I think all these unfair tribunals and all this unfairness have to be removed聰, Derek Belan, NSW state secretary of the National Union of Workers, told 91自拍论坛 Weekly in response to Labor聮s release of its Forward with Fairness Policy Implementation Plan in late August. 聯If Labor is elected, people are voting that they don聮t want this stuff. There is a mandate to remove it. People are aware what this stuff means and people want it removed and Labor has to listen.聰
Public Services International (PSI), an international union federation, is calling on its affiliates to send letters of protest to the Salvadoran government following the arrest of 8 members of the executive board of the Trade Union of Nursing Workers of El Salvador, SIGEESAL, members of the Salvadoran Trade Union Front (Frente Sindical Salvadoreno). The union leaders were arrested in the city of Ahuchapan and Santa Ana, early in the morning of September 4 by members of the National Police. There are also arrest warrants issued against other union leaders as well.
On September 10, almost all Esselte workers who had struck against an attempt to impose Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs 聴 individual contracts) went back to work with a union collective agreement. However, David Rojas, the site聮s union delegate, has been sacked and barred from the workplace.
Ros Kidd, author of a new report detailing the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from Queensland Aboriginal workers through unpaid wages over many decades, has called for part of the federal budget surplus to be used as compensation. The Hard Labour, Stolen Wages report was launched at the Irish Club on September 5.
Despite the media fanfare, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, held in Sydney on September 8 and 9, achieved next to nothing in combating global warming.
In the wake of a Federal Court judge finding that the Australian government wrongfully revoked the visa of Dr Mohamed Haneef, a community forum on 聯Anti-terror laws and your civil rights聰 was held in Brisbane on September 2.
As preparation for APEC, the NSW Labor government made a list of every one of its tried and tested methods for suppressing dissent. Then it went away and thought up a few more! It used every measure it felt it could get away with 聴 purchased a new water cannon, increased police powers, emptied jails 聴 in order to intimidate people into not joining the September 8 聯Stop Bush聰 protest.
On September 11, the Mudgee District Environment Group (MDEG) denounced the NSW Labor government聮s approval of the Moolarben coalmine, 40 kilometres north-east of Mudgee on the Goulburn River, as 聯a reckless act that shows no regard for our environment, viability of our rivers and water resources, cohesion of our rural communities or global warming聰.
Workers employed by the Bruck Textiles, Australia聮s largest maker of woven fabrics, at its main manufacturing plant in the Victorian town of Wangaratta have twice voted to reject management聮s non-union agreements that would significantly reduce their entitlements and have instead requested the company negotiate with their union, the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFUA).
On September 9, 300 people met in a community hall in the east Melbourne suburb of Scoresby to show their support for three Tamil community members who were arrested in May under the 聯anti-terror聰 laws.
Earlier this year, three workers on 457 鈥済uest worker鈥 visas died on the job in separate incidents. Both the construction union (CFMEU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) are calling for an independent judicial enquiry into the treatment of all of the 50,000 workers on these visas. In many cases, these workers are underpaid and given heavy manual labour, rather then the skilled work that is stipulated in their visa conditions. 91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Andrew Martin interviewed AMWU Queensland state secretary Andrew Dettmar, about the 457 issue.
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