Chris is a labour law researcher, specialising in China and the right to strike. He spent 27 years in the SA union movement. Chris now lives in Canberra. More →
Unemployment
Unemployment: the coming crisis Professor John Quiggin Australian Research Council Federation Fellow School of Economics and School of Political Science and International Studies University of Queensland http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin At the ACTU Jobs Summit, 20 July 2009. Employment and output in the crisis Employment and unemployment move in line with cyclical fluctuations in economic activity. However, there [...]
Read more →Creative Unions
It is worth looking at this Creative Unions site that is an experiment in bringing together unionists to strengthen our collective knowledge and skills in communication strategies and design. http://www.creativeunions.org Creative Unions is a not-for-profit social venture in strengthening trade union communications and design. A large part of our jobs is running campaigns, communicating with [...]
Read more →West Papua
West Papua – Andy Alcock. The reason why the West Papuan just struggle is a forgotten war is that the Indonesian military (TNI) has virtually closed the place off from the outside world; just as it did in East Timor for most of the 24 years it occupied that country. Another reason is that the [...]
Read more →Factory in the Hands of Workers
Zanon belongs to the people: FASINPAT wins definitive expropriation by Marie Trigona Znet August, 14 2009 The workers at Argentina’s occupied ceramics factory FASINPAT won a major victory this week, the factory now definitively belongs to the people in legal terms. The provincial legislature voted in favor of expropriating the ceramics factory and handing it [...]
Read more →Gillard’s construction laws:CCU
FRAMING AN ACCURATE DEBATE ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LAWS CCU Senate submission august 2009 2.1 In order to have a meaningful public debate about the DPM’s Construction Bill it is important to be clear about the nature of the existing laws and the laws as they would be if the Bill were passed. 2.2 The [...]
Read more →Shipping reforms
Govt must urgently adopt shipping reforms 30 Jul 2009 The Maritime Union of Australia today urged the Federal Government to urgently adopt reforms to revitalise Australian shipping in circumstances where there are real and ongoing threats of further losses of Australian trading vessels from the coastal trade. “It’s become clear to the Maritime Union of [...]
Read more →Bushfires:UFUA
Bushfire Royal Commission evidence by Peter Marshall UFUA Witness statements and cross examination at the Victorian Bushfire Royal commission have revealed how a complex bureaucratic emergency management system failed on Black Saturday, February 6. Authorities were unable to give bushfire threatened residents adequate warnings, nor could they track the path of the fires that killed [...]
Read more →BALIBO
Balibo (M) Director : Robert Connolly (The Bank) Starring : Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Damon Gameau, Gyton Grantley, Mark Leonard Winter, Nathan Phillips, Bea Viegas review by Andy Alcock The film Balibo has taken Australia by storm. For several weeks from late July to mid August, it was the subject of lively discussion on many [...]
Read more →ALP Conference – Boyd
ALP National Conference – The Struggle for a Working People’s Agenda Brian Boyd VTHC Secretary Between 30/31 July and 1st August in Sydney, the Australian Labor Party conducted its first national Conference since the 2007 Federal election. As with the last such Conference (July/August 2007), there was a tense struggle to win useful industrial, social [...]
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