Salmat strike ends
SYDNEY â Ninety members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's printing division, employed at Salmat Laser Printing Services in Chester Hill, returned to work on June 5 after nine days on strike.The AMWU members, who make up more than two-thirds of the plant's work force, picketed the factory around the clock to protest against management attempts to introduce 12-hour shifts. Workers voted to return to work and continue negotiations after Salmat offered workers a 6% wage rise and the option of completing their week's working hours in shifts of either eight, 10 or 12 hours.
Canberra unions place bans
CANBERRA â The ACT Trades and Labor Council has said it will picket the gates of the Fijian and the Burmese embassies if the human rights situation in either country worsens or if it is requested to do so by trade unions in the two countries.The decision, taken at the TLC's June meeting, was prompted by union participation in local solidarity actions for Burma and Fiji. A proposal for an immediate picket outside the Fijian embassy was referred to the TLC executive.
Members First successful
HOBART â Members First, a new progressive ticket put together to contest the recent State Public Services Federation Tasmania elections, won around 35% of the vote.Running against a ticket dominated by the generally ALP-right-aligned incumbents, Members First's Sharyn von Bertouch won the position of vice-president on the executive, while Carolyn Francis and Christine Bentley were elected delegates to branch council.
Hobart March for Women 2000
HOBART â Activists are preparing for the Hobart end of the World March for Women 2000, a global campaign which will culminate in an October 17 presentation to the UN of millions of postcards calling for measures to eliminate poverty and violence against women.Reclaim the Night, the annual march against violence against women, normally held on the last Friday of October, will this year combine with the World March in a rally and march on October 13. The groups are also planning information stalls and a forum with Amnesty International. Their meetings will be held fortnightly at the Women's Health Centre from June 28.
WA 'bastardry' on native title
PERTH â Aboriginal Legal Service spokesperson Glenn Shaw has described as an act of bastardry a WA government decision to allow the processing of thousands of mining applications on certain pastoral leases.The government's decision relies on a Federal Court decision to disallow the Miriuwung-Gajerrong native title claim, a decision which will be appealed before the High Court.
East Timor headbangers rock Darwin
DARWIN â Darwin musicians combined their talents with Timorese bands at the Botanical Gardens on June 10 for A musical celebration of freedom in East Timor.Around 1500 people heard the popular indigenous acts Saltwater Band and Larrakia Band, as well as Drum Drum, Horse Trank and many others. The highlight of the night, organised by the Asia Pacific Support Collective, was the awesome Vi Almaa X from East Timor, who had the crowd screaming for more.