Join the wharfies' picket
Bravo to those who did the hard work behind the recent Asia-Pacific Solidarity Conference. It was great to see it full to capacity. The speakers on the morning I went, especially Mari Alkitiri, were an inspiration. It
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Wherever there have been dictatorships and resistance to them, the tactic of making people disappear has been used, not just to get rid of problematic individuals, but also as a way of terrorising the broader population,
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Fremantle wharfies' picket stays strong By Sean Martin-Iverson FREMANTLE—Protest action continues on the Fremantle docks despite a brutal paramilitary-style attack by police at 2.30am on April 16. The baton-wielding police outnumbered
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NEWCASTLE — Patrick Stevedores has closed down its Newcastle terminal saying it can't guarantee the safety of the workers. This follows several victories for the picket line here. The first victory came on April 13 when Patrick
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Strength in solidarity While the Howard government and Patrick Stevedores are doing their best to smash the Maritime Union of Australia in an exercise which threatens the rights and conditions of all workers, the wharfies are receiving widespread
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By Trevor Acfieldand Paul Glenning ROCKHAMPTON — "Super dams" being energetically promoted by the state government for central Queensland will be a massive subsidisation of the cotton, grain and coal industries. The government intends to spend up
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BRISBANE — Three thousand unionists met in City Hall on the April 16 and resolved to "mobilise against the unfair and unjust federal and state legislation and to prepare for an industrial campaign to ensure that trade unions can
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On the box Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access
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Immediate response to wharfies' sackings @photo caption = SYDNEY — On April 8, just hours after the sacking of 2000 MUA members, 5000 people gathered at Town Hall to protest then march to the Darling Harbour wharf where a picket line had already
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Their struggle is our struggle Every night for the last week, the TV news has featured footage of hundreds of burly men in overalls and work boots standing toe to toe with (mostly male) police and shouting abuse at bus loads of non-union labour
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Not there yet By Brandon Astor Jones "We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression ... everywhere." — Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). The words above were
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It has come! BLAAAAH! This verbal explosion occurred just as I was about to take in my day's surfeit of news. I was the speaker of that BLAAAAH, and my utterance was noted by many of those around me. These same people quickly turned
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Pickets Contact your local Trades and Labour Council or union if you want to be on the picket roster. Your local Democratic Socialist Party or Resistance branch also has relevant details. Demonstrations, meetings and forums Darwin: John Coombs
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NFF to reform higher educationToday, Ms Ima Mug, spokesperson for the Anti-vice Chancellors' Committee for Furthering Managerialism and Economic Bloody Mindedness, welcomed what she called the "magnificent offer by Mr Dullard
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Former Queensland Democrat state leader PETER SYKES looks at the implications for small parties of a double dissolution election. Sykes admits to leaving the Democrats and joining the Greens in what he describes as "painful circumstances" after
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BURNIE, Tasmania — On April 14, 300 people marched through the streets of Burnie in support of wharfies sacked by Patrick Stevedores. The 13 maritime workers in Bell Bay and the 17 in Burnie who were sacked have been offered
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Picket greets Howard ROCKHAMPTON — A hastily convened picket on April 15, attended by 40 trade unionists and environmentalists, told PM John Howard he is not welcome in central Queensland. Although armed only with conviction and placards, the
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On the picket line SYDNEY — Since April 8, hundreds of MUA supporters have turned back trucks, trains and efforts by the police to remove them from Patrick Stevedores' Port Botany terminal. 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly's TESSHA MEARING spoke to SIMON FREW,
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Since 1993, scientists worldwide have been trying to understand why frog populations are reported to be steeply declining in relatively unspoiled environments on several continents. And since 1995 scientists have been struggling
News
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The decision by Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris-Kneebone to speak out against the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine within the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has added to the growing community opposition to the mine.
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Election watch How the ruling class rules At first glance, it seemed almost a tautology. "Hypocrisy on waterfront" was the title on the Sydney Morning Herald's April 10 editorial. But really, "hypocrisy" and "Sydney Morning Herald editorial"
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MELBOURNE — A delegates' and activists' meeting of Victorian Trades Hall Council affiliates on April 16 voted unanimously for a statewide stop work and rally on May 6 in support of the MUA and sacked maritime workers. Six thousand
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Changes to funding, due to take effect at the end of April, threaten the viability of many centres providing before- and after-school care and a return to the era of "latch-key kids". In the May 1997 budget, the Howard government
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NEWCASTLE — An angry, 500-strong rally greeted PM John Howard when he arrived at a civic reception in Maitland Town Hall on April 17.
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Asia Pacific Women's Solidarity Network launchedSYDNEY — The Asia Pacific Women's Solidarity Network (APWSN) has held its first meeting to help progressive women in the region cement their links. The meeting was attended by women
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Loose cannons Expertise "He knows every scam in the book and has done most of them himself, so if anyone understands this economy, he does." — A Jakarta executive commenting on the Suharto crony and newly appointed minister of trade and
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The final report of the federal government's review of higher education was released on April 17. The review committee, chaired by Roderick West, was launched last year to recommend policy options for the next 20 years. The final
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Historic conference begins new era in left cooperationSYDNEY — More than 750 people participated in a historic event, the first Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference, held here April 10-13. The conference was characterised by an
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Solidarity with MUA! [The following statement was adopted by the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in Sydney at Easter.] This conference endorses and applauds the regional campaign of political solidarity with the Maritime Union of Australia
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Australian Taxation Office workers have rejected an attempt by management to push through a non-union agency agreement. Some 62% of general employees, (those in the lowest seven levels of the public service
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International solidarity with the wharfies News of actions in other countries in solidarity with the sacked waterside workers is beginning to come in. In addition to the actions being organised by participants at the Asia Pacific Solidarity
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Mass pickets over the last week and a half at East Swanson and Webb Docks have generated amazing solidarity among workers.
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The crackdown against student protest by the Suharto regime in Indonesia requires a loud and clear show of solidarity by students in Australia. Suharto sees the current campus upsurge in Indonesia, and the students' commitment to
Analysis
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When Patrick Stevedores, with the support of the Howard government, locked 2000 waterside workers out of their jobs at 11pm on April 7, the government and Patrick gave the impression they were on a winner. But the strong community and union support for the maritime union has shown that many workers understand that the future of trade unionism is at stake in this dispute.
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Editorial: Beware of soft cops Beware of soft cops The wharf dispute must be pretty serious: after a couple of decades indoors, be-suited ALP politicians have been appearing on (well, alongside) picket lines. Last week, Kim Beazley did a photo
World
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Suharto steps up repression in East TimorIndonesian military and security forces have intensified efforts to suppress the people of East Timor. Resistance sources estimate that up to 10,000 additional Indonesian soldiers have been
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Adam Hanieh RAMALLAH — On Sunday, March 29, I was sitting with some friends watching TV when a friend burst through the door inquiring whether we had heard about a bomb blast here. She had heard the news on BBC radio as she was travelling by taxi
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The recently concluded Irish peace deal has not been received enthusiastically — despite media claims to the contrary. The Loyal Orange Lodge has rejected it out of hand, and the main loyalist party, the Ulster Unionists, is
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Italian initiative for Australian stolen generations The municipality of Florence on April 6 approved a motion concerning Australian Aborigines who were forcibly separated from their families in past decades. The motion, proposed by the Italian
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Russian wages crash Two University of California at Berkeley sociologists have discovered that real wages in Russia have declined by 50% since the fall of communism. The study, due to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of
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Mexico City — The Mexican government is waging a major political offensive on several fronts against the Zapatista rebels of Chiapas. At the same time, the situation in the southern Mexican state is marked by a growing
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DOROTEA WILSON, a leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and a member of its National Directorate, is on a tour of Australia, speaking about the issues of land rights and autonomy. She is from the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and
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At least 51 Acehnese refugees have been murdered by Malaysian and Indonesian forces since March 25. News of the terrible atrocities, which have been ignored by the Australian mass media, was revealed by representatives of the Aceh
Culture
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Eisenstein: A Life in ConflictBy Ronald BerganLittle, Brown and Company, 1997 — 384 pp., $39.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon When the sailors on the battleship Potemkin mutiny and (under the red flag in the last reel) persuade their comrades on
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Blue-eyed Bonking Bill Chorus: I am the US President, I'm Blue-eyed Bonking Bill,And if Saddam don't get you, be sure my missiles will. Back in the 1970s, we needed a strong manTo fight a little war for us in far away Iran,So we said to our
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The Two Bums The bum on the road is an enemy of mankindThe other is driven around to his club, is feted, wined and dinedAnd they who curse the bum on the road as the essence of all that's badWill greet the other with a winning smile and extend the
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Hidden AgendasBy John PilgerVintage, 1998. 680 pp., $19.95 (pb) Review by Saffron Howden In an age of escalating social problems, few are even properly acknowledged. Hidden Agendas is a tribute to some of the strugglers against oppression,
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A short story by Craig Cormick A shell explodes overhead. Bright. Like a star. It startles Private O'Connor awake. His eyes snap open wide. Staring around quickly. He sees the snow and icy mud of the trench. Sees Private Duigan staring at him. Like