In brief

SOUTH AFRICA: Stop Telkom retrenchments

Workers employed by South Africa's Telkom are facing a new wave of retrenchments. The telecommunications giant plans to shed another 4181 workers in three years, despite its record 4.592 billion rand profit for the 2004 financial year - in a country with an unemployment rate of 42%. In 1999, Telkom employed 61,237 workers, now it employs 31,624. The Communication Workers Union, Solidarity and the South African Communication Union have made a joint pact to fight these retrenchments. To find out more, or help, visit .

HAITI: Paramilitaries take over police stations

Former members of the notorious Haitian Armed Forces have been openly forming armed "security" groups in several parts of Haiti. Forcibly taking over local police headquarters, the groups have set up bases in five cities and are demanding they be reconstituted as the armed forces. The Haitian Armed Forces were instrumental in the 1991 coup that overthrew democratically elected President Aristide. The paramilitary leaders want 10 years of back pay for all those who were dismissed in 1995, when Aristide returned to Haiti. In a strongly worded statement on September 10, the UN Security Council called on the groups to disarm, stressing that the security of the country should rest with the UN mission there. The September 6 Sun Sentinel had reported that local UN commanders were not asking the groups to disarm.

BRITAIN: Prisons overrun with racism

The report from a May inspection of London's Wandsworth Prison has revealed that black and ethnic prisoners "constantly complain about racism" from other prisoners and from prison staff. Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, said that conditions in the prison had deteriorated significantly since the last visit. Meanwhile, the family of Zahid Mubarek are waiting to see if prison guards will be charged in connection with his 2000 murder in a youth detention facility. The day before his scheduled release, Mubarek was beaten to death with a chair leg by his racist cell-mate. The Metropolitan Police are investigating claims that prison guards deliberately put racists in with Asian inmates in order to provoke violence. For more anti-racist news, visit .

BRAZIL: 800,000 'cry for the excluded'

On September 7, Brazil's Independence Day, 800,000 people protested in 180 cities and towns as part of annual 'cry for the excluded' marches. The coalition of social movements and organisations, including those linked to the Catholic church, argue that there is little reason to celebrate independence in a country where exclusion, socio-economic differences, misery and unemployment are rampant. The marches called for land redistribution, and better health and education, and opposed the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and the International Monetary Fund accords, Luiz Gonzaga da Silva, the coordinator of the 60,000-strong Aparecide do Norte march, said: "We have to make our demands clear and continue to pressure the government. It is not enough to show up only on the cry of the excluded day."

ITALY: Bank workers strike

More than 80% of Italian bank workers participated in a September 10 strike demanding a wage increase, with the percentage rising to more than 90% in some areas. The banking unions are calling for a 7.3% increase, while the peak banking industry group is offering just 5%. Workers plan further industrial action in October.

UNITED STATES: Gearing up for an AK-47 spree

As the decade-old ban on selling assault weapons expires on September 13, ArmaLite and Beritta have been taking heavy orders for the weapons. US President George Bush has said he will extend the ban "if someone puts the papers on my desk", but this has so far not happened. A Consumer Federation of America report, while conceding the legislation has not been effective enough, has suggested that lifting it will result in a dramatic increase in gun production, and "more aggressive policing". Meanwhile, Beritta is offering two free 15-round magazines with every previously illegal weapon, including AK-47s, Uzis and TEC-9s, sold. "People are excited. They've been waiting for this for a long time and we've been preparing", an Armalite representative told the Knight Ridder newspaper group.

UNITED STATES: Three more unions oppose war

In the first week of September, another three major unions - the 650,000-strong Communciations Workers of America, the 270,000-strong American Postal Workers Union and the 50,000-strong Mail Handlers of the Labourer International Union - passed strong resolutions opposing the US-led war on Iraq, and calling for an end to the occupation.

They join a growing movement, which includes all of the affiliates to the North American AFL-CIO trade union federation, of unions calling for US troops to withdraw. For more information, visit .

From Green Left Weekly, September 15, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.