SYDNEY BOOK LAUNCH “WE BUILT THIS COUNTRY BUILDERS’ LABOURERS AND THEIR UNIONS 1787 TO THE FUTURE” by Humphrey McQueen The book should be compulsory reading for new and old union officers and organisers; it will certainly challenge them to decide whether they are workers’ representatives or ‘workplace relations practitioners’. Howard Guille, former secretary of the [...]
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Workers’ Control
“Ours to Master and to Own Workers’ Control from the Commune to the Present” edited by Immanuel Ness and Dario Azzellini (Haymarket Books, 2011) Review by Chris White This excellent series of essays is essential reading for anti-capitalist activists and all those who know that we do not need our bosses. Occupiers at night can [...]
ACTU Congress 2012
Save the date: ACTU Congress 2012: 15-17 May, Sydney 26 March, 2012 | Media Release Almost 1000 delegates representing workers from every industry and sector in Australia will attend the ACTU Congress at the Sydney Convention Centre from 15-17 May. This is the largest and most important gathering of Australian unions. Delegates will debate and [...]
The WorkChoices restoration
The Workchoices Restoration or “Unfinished Business”: The Qantas lockout and power at work under the Fair Work Act A shorter version is in Australian Options by Don Sutherland – November, 2011 The context for the Qantas and Nurses’ dispute Right now, about 40% of the Australian workforce is employed in “precarious” or “flexible” employment, and [...]
“Fair”? Work Act
WorkChoices and the Fair Work Act: Removing the Choice to Strike by Chris White (The following is from the Journal of Political Economy no 56 p68 www.jape.org. But this key Howard repression of strikes remains in 2012 in the Fair Work Act and hence I only add in the ALP government. Unions still campaign for [...]
Kerin: Enough
Dave Kerin from the new community group Enough has helped run a daily picket outside Telstra’s Collins St office in Melbourne for the past three weeks. The picket is a protest against Telstra’s decision to send hundreds of jobs offshore. Kerin is also an activist with the Socialist Alliance. A speech Kerin gave at a [...]
ABCC goes in name only
Coercive building industry law passes lower house By Susan Price The House of Representatives narrowly passed changes on February 16 to the undemocratic building industry laws that target building workers. The Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill, which will replace the Building Industry Improvement Act, was narrowly adopted by a [...]
Bans for the barrier reef
In light of the current alarm about dredging and dumping in the Reef, it is worth recalling how it was saved by union action which is now illegal under the Fair Work Act. This interesting extract from Humphrey McQueen’s new book reminds us how important trade unions have been in protecting Qld coastline and the [...]
News from LabourStart
- Australia: BHP's aim is to break the power of unions
- Turkey: Support for Arrested KESK Women
- Ireland: IMPACT calls on Government to deliver reforms on collective bargaining and employees' rights
- Australia: Unions wrap up ACTU Congress with renewed vigour to campaign for rights at work and fairer Australia
- Colombia: Urgent Action: Colombian union leaders in danger
- Europe: IndustriALL-European Trade Union Born Today with Merger of Three Federations
- Bangladesh: Workers suffering from low wages end days of strikes and riots sparked by disappearance of trade union leader
- Switzerland: Unions hold protest at International Olympic Committee to support Canadian Rio Tinto workers
- Global: Full coverage of IUF congress in Geneva
- Turkey: Turkish Government ’s anti-democratic attack on the right to strike
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