The following media statement was released on November 25 by Tim Gooden, Secretary of Geelong Trades Hall Council.
鈥淭he decision of Adelaide magistrate David Whittle that Ark Tribe is innocent is a tremendous victory for Ark, his family and for working people across Australia鈥, Geelong Trades Hall Council Secretary, Tim Gooden said today.
Geelong Trades Hall congratulates Ark Tribe for his brave stand against unjust laws. The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (Ark鈥檚 union) has done a great job in the courts and ensuring Ark received all the legal help he needed.
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Workers with disabilities are speaking out against the Supported Wage System (SWS), which encourages employers to legally underpay workers with disabilities.
The federal government鈥檚 Job Access program markets SWS as a progressive innovation by burying it among more egalitarian policies such as funding workplace accessibility improvements.
The Job Access website said the SWS was 鈥渁 process that allows employers to pay less than the award wage by matching a person's productivity with a fair wage鈥.
Dear Melissa Parke, Federal ALP MP for Fremantle,
As blue collar workers, I and my partner have been involved with our unions over the past decade. In that time, I have seen our unions fight for safety, dignity and a better life for our family.
I welcome the "not guilty" verdict in the trial of Ark Tribe, but the fact that Mr Tribe was on trial at all is a disgrace. Laws that compel people answer questions in secret, do not guarantee people access to lawyers of their choice and involved other breaches of basic human rights should disgust you.
Unions NSW presented the "Better Services for a Better State" campaign in the Sutherland Shire at the Sutherland District Trade Union Club ("Tradies") on November 19. There was only a small crowd but there was fruitful discussion on the issues confronting the campaign.
In his opening presentation, Maritime Union of Australia Sydney branch secretary Paul McAleer explained how the battle to keep Sydney Ferries public had been won. McAleer said the MUA, and other unions representing workers on the ferries, had focused on building the broadest possible alliance against the sell-off.
If at first you don鈥檛 succeed, redefine success. This phrase has become the unofficial motto of this year鈥檚 United Nations climate conference in Cancun, Mexico.
A week out from Cancun, which runs over November 29 to December 10, there is little hope of meaningful progress. Yet key players have sought to throw a shroud of official optimism over the looming failure.
Few Western politicians want a repeat of last year鈥檚 Copenhagen climate conference. They consider it a public relations disaster.
The big 鈥済reenwash鈥 of gas as the new 鈥済reen energy鈥 isn鈥檛 going down well in inner-city Sydney.
On November 14, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed gas exploration would start within two months in the inner-city suburb of St Peters.
The article said said Macquarie Energy, which is owned by Apollo Gas, received state government permission for exploration in March. The community had been kept in the dark; even the Marrickville Council, which partly covers the area, knew nothing.
鈥淭he Group of 20 countries [which met in Seoul over November 11-13] were supposed to have stamped out the financial market abuses at the heart of the global crisis but little seems to have changed since their last summit, analysts say. 鈥淗opes for reform after the market chicanery that brought down a series of 鈥榯oo-big-to-fail鈥 banks and sparked the worst slump since the 1930s have faded with the return of the 鈥榞et rich quick鈥 mentality, according to analysts.
鈥淎 structural revolution in the Northern Territory is dismantling the whole infrastructure of self-determination鈥, Australian Workers Union national legal officer Zoe Angus said on November 15.
Along with Sean Marshall from the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU), Angus was reporting back on a recent trade union delegation to investigate working conditions for Aboriginal people living under the NT intervention. She spoke at a public meeting organised by the Stop the Intervention Collective, Sydney.
The contrast is striking. As Australia鈥檚 state and federal governments continue their bloody-minded corporatisation and privatisation of our few remaining public assets, the revolutionary government of Venezuela is bringing important industries and sectors into public ownership and control.
Carly Dawson is a volunteer with Peace Brigades International (PBI), a non-government organisation that 鈥減rotects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts鈥. The organisation was formed during the 1980s and its first mission was to help counter the war in Nicaragua that was waged by US-backed Contras against the left-wing Sandinista government
Dawson recently returned to Australia after 12 months volunteer work with PBI in Colombia. She spoke to 91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Aaron Roden.
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Burma鈥檚 November 7 elections 鈥 held under an undemocratic constitution in an atmosphere of repression and with the result crudely rigged 鈥 have been overshadowed by the release from house arrest of opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi on November 13.
Thousands of supporters lined the streets to her house and flocked to NLD offices to hear her speak.
Suu Kyi鈥檚 release has been compared to that of Nelson Mandela in 1990. However, unlike Mandela, Suu Kyi was not released from detention by a regime seeking negotiations.
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