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ACTU branch of Reserve Bank launches 'wage claim'

Ian Macfarlane, the head of the Reserve Bank, must be really pleased with the work of his Australian Council of Trade Unions office. With unemployment falling to 5.6% and construction booming, the ACTU has submitted to the Australian Industrial

CANADA: University bans Palestine conference

BY AHMAD NIMER TORONTO — In a significant victory for the right to organise on Canadian campuses, protests by Palestinian solidarity activists forced the University of Toronto (UT) administration to allow a planned conference to go ahead. The

'Don't vilify our community'

BY DUROYAN FERTL SYDNEY — In response to continuous media and government vilification of Muslims in south-west Sydney, 50 people attended a meeting in Bankstown on November 26 organised by the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group entitled "Don't

ZIMBABWE: Workers' resistance 'on the rise'

BY NORM DIXON Thousands of workers across Zimbabwe joined anti-government protests on November 18, despite threats of police repression prior to the marches and the arrest of scores of trade unionists on the day. Police brutally beat hundreds of

Supporting student activism

In October, MICHAEL WHITBREAD won the position of 2004 president of Newcastle University Student Association (NUSA). The Activate ticket he was part of campaigned for free, accessible education, a commitment to progressive campaigns and student

Reject entire Nelson attack on higher education!

BY STUART MUNCKTON The November 28 Australian reported that federal education minister Brendan Nelson has watered down legislation attacking the higher education system in a bid to get it through the Senate. Labor, the Greens and the Democrats

Reporting from the other side in Aceh

BY PIP HINMAN William Nessen, a freelance journalist and photographer from the US, spent two months with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters in the northern-most tip of Sumatra from mid-May. Now returned from the daring journey, which convinced him

NSW government lies about rail

BY GEOFF PAYNE NEWCASTLE — There is mounting pressure on Premier Bob Carr's Labor government to retain rail services throughout NSW, as people organise to defend public transport. In the face of this, the government and its lackeys can only lie

Corruption leads to 'Clear-felling out of control'

BY KAMALA EMANUEL HOBART — The Tasmanian Labor government and Forestry Tasmania are facing a crisis of credibility. In October, former state forest auditor Bill Manning told a Senate inquiry about illegal practices, corruption, "bonuses" paid to

Write on: Letters to the editor

Iraq I In the United States, free speech is guaranteed under the Constitution, but that hasn't prevented the US Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from banning Arab broadcasting networks in Iraq that don't push a US line. In September, Al

Patrick dispute ends in compromise

BY SHANE BENTLEY A five-day dispute between Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) maintenance staff employed by Patrick Stevedores at Port Botany in Sydney and Fisherman's Island in Brisbane ended on the afternoon of November 21 after union members

Yaluritja Clarrie Isaacs passes away

BY FEDERICO FUENTES PERTH — The fight for Aboriginal rights, and for a better world, received a blow on November 26, with the passing away of Yaluritja Clarrie Isaacs. Clarrie, an Aboriginal activist, trade unionist, artist and fighter for