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Venezuelan opposition's bogus poll plot

Manuel Rosales faces almost certain defeat in Venezuela’s elections but he has told his supporters: “It is true, we are winning.”

Another labour leader assassinated

Militant labour groups in the Philippines united to condemn the assassination on November 21 of Andrew “Bok” Inoza, the union president at the Alaska Milk factory in San Pedro, 30 kilometres south of Metro Manila, in the province of Laguna. Inoza was also the chairperson of the Laguna branch of the leftist Partido Manggagawa (PM, Workers Party).

Gippsland says 'no' to nuclear power

John Parker, secretary of Victoria’s Gippsland Trades and Labour Council, condemned the findings of the federal government’s panel of so-called experts on nuclear energy. “Any attempt to build a nuclear power plant in Gippsland will be strongly resisted”, he said on November 22.

$250,000 Fighting Fund: The battle for the right to organise

One of the biggest lies that the corporate media has relentlessly pushed for many years is that the trade union movement is a “special interest group”. They argue this because only 23% of workers are members of trade unions today. However, studies show that the great majority of workers look to unions to defend their rights at work, would join unions if given the opportunity and if they didn’t risk being penalised by their boss.

Howard slashes workers' OHS rights

On November 17 the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) claimed that workers’ occupational health and safety rights have been cut by PM John Howard’s government. Changes to the federal OHS act mean that employers, both public- and private-sector, will no longer have to include unions in OHS consultations.

Work Choices seminar picketed

Government and business representatives attending a Work Choices seminar at the Hotel Grand Chancellor on November 21 were met by protesters who described the meeting as a discussion about “exploiting workers, destroying unions and sacking people at will”.

The way out of Iraq

Question: How do we bring our troops home? Answer: In the same planes and ships we took them in!

Comin' to America

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Directed by Larry Charles
With Sascha Baron Cohen and Kevin Davitian.

On the Box

Riot or Revolution: The Eureka Stockade 1854 — The Eureka stockade told through re-enacted monologues by the characters of Hotham, Huyghue and Carboni. ABC, Sunday, December 3, 5pm. Compass: The Other Zionists — A group of older Jewish women

Don't mention the war

10 Excellent Reasons not to Join the Military
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg (ed)
The New Press, 2006
157 pages, $24 (pb)

Far north Queensland prepares for IR rally

More than 2000 people are expected to rally in Cairns on November 30 against Work Choices, according to the Cairns Provincial Council of the Queensland Council of Unions. This would be the largest such demonstration yet in far-north Queensland.

Paris, Playboy and empowerment

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture
By Ariel Levy
Schwartz Publishing, 2005, $29.95