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McDonald's workers excluded

BY GRANT COLEMAN PERTH — On December 12, the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU), Australian Hotels Association (AHA), and the Chamber and Commerce Industry (CCI) finalised a deal to increase WA hospitality pay rates to the

$27 million for Hewitt, violence for workers

BY GEORGINA DAVIES MELBOURNE — Australian tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt has reportedly signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Nike valued at a cool $27 million. The contract reportedly also includes a bonus clause that could double the figure if

Depleted uranium row rages

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of uranium enrichment. Enriched uranium contains a greater percentage of the uranium-235 isotope than natural uranium, whereas the DU by-product contains less uranium-235 (and more uranium-238).

Rorts fill universities' funding hole

BY VIV MILEY Universities are lowering academic standards in order to pass a greater number of full fee-paying domestic and international students, the preliminary results of a new study of academic freedom has revealed. The soon to be released

Blackwater threatened by mine closures

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — Mineworkers, their union and townspeople have condemned a decision by BHP to close two underground mines at Blackwater, 200km west of Rockhampton, and the resulting loss of 200 jobs. The closure of the Laleham and Kenmare

Unions 'need to get rid of dog eat dog mentality'

BY TIM STEWART Since the election of the federal Liberal-National Coalition government in 1996, very few unions have been prepared to adopt an attitude of struggle at all costs. Instead of employing tactics aimed at winning gains against the bosses

BANGLADESH: Farm labourers win 'great victory'

BY SEAN HEALY Bangladesh's 22.3 million landless farmers secured a major win on December 18 when the government agreed to an 11-point charter of demands which labourers' organisations have been fighting for since 1978. The agriculture ministry's
Sorry Walk Elders

The Aboriginal struggle for justice and land rights

One hundred years ago the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed, heralding in a supposedly new era of prosperity for the "lucky country" and its inhabitants. For Aborigines, however, 1901 marked year 113 of resistance to dispossession and racial oppression. One hundred years later, indigenous Australia continues this fight.