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News briefs #1
CFMEU retains right of entry
PERTH - Up to 300 building workers converged on the Holiday Inn Burswood construction site on June 28, following the sacking of six construction workers.
The sacked workers, all members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), were given one day's pay by construction company Doric, but were not provided with a reason for their dismissals. Workers told Green Left Weekly that the sackings occurred after they had raised concerns over safety and other issues. They also said that their foreman had resigned in disgust over the manner of the dismissal.
When CFMEU members walked off construction sites across Perth to join the picket line at the Burswood site, police were quick to respond with 50 officers and mounted police, directed by officers from the building industry task force.
CFMEU organisers were denied right of entry and police attempted to escort site deliveries through the picket. In response, the union has written to police minister Michelle Roberts to express concern over the use of cops as security guards for the company.
A week into the dispute, the state industrial commission mediated a return to work and the union agreed to lift the picket. Following a commission hearing on July 8, an out-of-court settlement was reached between Doric and the sacked workers. In a victory for the union, the CFMEU has retained right of entry onto the site.
Russell Pickering
'Join the anti-war campaign, not the military'
HOBART - The Australian war machine paid a recruiting visit to Hobart College on July 8. Activists from the socialist youth organisation Resistance responded by distributing a leaflet opposing the occupation of Iraq. They also attended the defence force recruitment meeting to ask some pointed questions.
The "defence" spokesperson refused to answer a query about Australia's role in justifying torture and what this means for soldiers' requirement to adhere to the Geneva Conventions, claiming the question was too "political".
Students are preparing an open meeting to plan an anti-war, anti-Howard rally a week before the federal election.
Duncan Meerding
Nyungah community challenge Gallop
The first round of the Swan Valley Nyungah community's case against Western Australian Labor Premier Geoff Gallop was heard in the Federal Court on July 6.
The challenge is over the Gallop government's removal of the Indigenous community from the Lockeridge camp, after legislation was rushed through parliament in June last year.
Allegations of sexual abuse were used by Gallop to justify removing the community from their land on June 13, 2003 - Reconciliation Day. The land had been granted to the Indigenous community in 1994 after a long battle to regain the right to live on their homeland.
A public inquiry is being conducted by a committee of the WA Legislative Council to examine the legislation and the actions of the Labor government.
Fred Fuentes
FoE celebrates 30th year
MELBOURNE - On July 8, 100 people gathered at the Gallery in Richmond to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of Friends of the Earth Australia. Cam Walker, FoE's national liaison officer, discussed the need to raise the public profile of the environmental movement's victories. For this reason, FoE has released a new book - 30 years of Creative Resistance - which highlights many of its campaigns over the years.
James Crafti
From Green Left Weekly, July 14, 2004.
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