794

Cityrail management began a staff review process on April 29 for staff working on the Illawarra line. The breakneck speed of the process so far has raised concerns among Cityrail workers that this is just another exercise in cost-cutting that will run down the already stretched rail network.
Much has been made in the international media of right-wing multimillionaire Ricardo Martinelli’s victory in Panama’s May 3 presidential elections. Martinelli’s triumph has been trumpeted as a break in the recent trend of left-wing electoral victories in the Americas.
New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF)president Bob Lipscombe has announced an new position on performance pay on the federation’s website.
SYDNEY— Two thousand people rallied in Hyde Park on May 3 to mark May Day. The crowd included contingents from trade unions, left-wing organisations and progressive campaign groups.
SYDNEY — Anti-war protesters spoke out in the city on May 8 against the 450 extra soldiers being sent to Afghanistan as part of the Australian government’s commitment to the US-NATO war alliance.
On April 30, the US state department released its 2008 Country Reports on Terrorism.
The federal Labor government’s pre-election promise to abolish anti-worker Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) has once again been exposed as a lie.
The National Tertiary Education Union (Tasmania) sent its log of claims to the University of Tasmania’s management almost a year ago. Despite numerous meetings between the NTEU and management, little has been achieved.
SYDNEY — A network of trade union activists concerned about climate change has formed in Sydney.
Supporters of El Savador’s left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) stormed parliament on May 1 in protest against attempts to impose a right-wing deputy as Congress president.
More than 40 Australian academics have signed a statement calling for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions.
A huge mobilisation of up to a million workers took place in Caracas on May 1 — the international workers’ day.