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Unions join employers in nationalist binge

Unions join employers in nationalist binge By James Vassilopoulos SYDNEY — Five thousand workers from the textile, footwear and clothing industries marched to John Howard's office on August 20 to demand no more cuts to tariffs. This

Arguments for socialism: Competition and cooperation

Competition and cooperation By Allen Myers Australia has to be competitive internationally, we are continually told whenever governments want to lower wages or cut social security spending. Within Australia, businesses have to be

Number of executions doubles

Number of executions doubles By Eva Cheng The number of people executed in China last year to at least 4367, according to Amnesty International. Most were killed with a single gun shot to the back of the head, after staged mass rallies and

Mentally ill dumped onto charities

Mentally ill dumped onto charities By James Vassilopoulos SYDNEY — Walk around any capital city, and you will see more homeless people today than five years ago. The homeless you see are more likely to be younger and to have a mental

Rock Against Racism

Rock Against Racism By Paul Howes SYDNEY — Four hundred rockers crowded into the Harbourside Brassiere on August 28 to protest against racism and to listen to 13 of Australia's best known bands. The bands performing at Rock Against Racism

Senate almost supports student occupiers

Senate almost supports student occupiers On August 27, Greens Senator Bob Brown moved a motion in support of the RMIT student occupation in the Senate. The motion called for "support as part of the continuing campaign to prevent the

Vic nurses win something, others battle on

By Jo Obronschka MELBOURNE — Victorian public sector nurses voted at a mass meeting on August 26 to accept an agreement which includes an 11% wage rise over three years and the creation of 250 extra nursing positions in Victorian hospitals.

The 'restructuring' of a community

By Bronwen Beechey As a labour researcher with the metalworkers' union, Peter Ewer went to the Latrobe Valley in 1988 to run shop stewards' training courses and "convince workers of the merits of award restructuring and the benefits of higher

Towards 300

"This special Green Left broadsheet has been produced as a response to the Gulf War. Coverage of the war by the mass media has highlighted the need for a real alternative source of news and analysis." Those words introduced Green Left Weekly to the

IRC decision bolsters NTEU campaign

By Jeremy Smith On August 20 the federal Industrial Relations Commission handed down an important decision on tenure and conditions for casual and contract staff working in tertiary education. Since 1995, the National Tertiary Education and

Speakers at anti-racism forum miss connections

By Nick Soudakoff CANBERRA — More than 200 people attended the Strategies Against Racism forum at the Workers Club in Canberra on August 23. The forum, coordinated by the Council for Civil Liberties of the ACT, the Ethnic Communities Council

Chinese dissidents denied rights

Chinese dissidents denied rights By Eva Cheng Jailed dissident Wang Dan is suffering from severe pain, which doctors suspect is caused by a brain tumour, but officials have turned down Wang's repeated requests for a test. Wang is in weak