91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳

News

• Colombian protesters besieged in consulate

  SYDNEY — When 16 solidarity activists, including a number of children, began their occupation of the Colombian consulate on the morning of August 8, they were protesting rampant violations of human rights in the South
• Dulwich Hill fights to keep its school open

  SYDNEY — Teachers and parents in Dulwich Hill, in Sydney's inner west, are rallying to defend their local high school, appealing for statewide industrial action if the NSW government decides to close the school. The two-month
• Geelong rallies against Bracks

  GEELONG — Five hundred people rallied on August 9 to protest against Labor Premier Steve Bracks, in town to open the Geelong Sheraton Hotel. Most of the crowd were workers at Target whose jobs are under threat. Unionists in the
• Campaigners demand repeal of anti-abortion laws

  BRISBANE — Hundreds of people took action around the country on August 8, in a national day of action to demand the repeal of anti-abortion laws. August 8 marked the anniversary of the introduction of Medicare payments for
• University breached agreement by sacking academic

  Sacked academic Ted Steele and the National Tertiary Education Union have won their federal court case against Wollongong University, in a decision the union believes is an important win for academic freedom. Steele and the NTEU
• Unions condemn royal commission

  MELBOURNE — One thousand shop stewards and delegates from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Electrical Trades Union, the Plumbers' Union and the Maritime Union
• Iraq sanctions protest

  SYDNEY — Fifty activists held a protest outside the US consulate on August 6 to demand an end to the 11 year-old economic sanctions against Iraq on the anniversary of their introduction. Passers-by heard how the sanctions have had a crippling
• Hundreds of jobs under threat at BHP

  WOLLONGONG — Determined to outsource maintenance work at its Port Kembla steelworks, BHP executives announced on August 7 that 436 jobs in the general and rail maintenance crews are to be axed and the contracts for them handed to
• Parties around the world greet conference

  Left parties and activists around the world have enthusiastically welcomed a further step in the international process of socialist renewal and regroupment. The Socialist Alliance's first national conference received 41 greetings of
• Activists support accused AMWU members

  MELBOURNE — A solidarity committee has been established by unionists and supporters, following criminal charges of riot, affray, aggravated burglary and criminal damage being laid against six members of the Australian
• Student activists map out anti-corporate protests

  MELBOURNE — Students have begun to organise for the biggest possible blockade of the Commonwealth Business Forum on October 3 to 5. On nearly all university and TAFE campuses, students have formed collectives to help build the
• Socialist Alliance opposes CLP's racism

  DARWIN — The Northern Territory Socialist Alliance branch has thrown itself into the August 18 NT elections, using the short election campaign to build opposition to the rampant racism of the Country Liberal Party government.
• Loose cannons

  Fascinating bore "In a boring way, he's fascinating" — comment on Prime Menzies John Howard by "one of his closest advisers", reported in the August 4-5 Australian Financial Review. Prefers being hostage to financiers "I would imagine that if
• Action updates

  Hiroshima A-bombing marked BRISBANE — A graphic description of the terrible effects of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 was the keynote talk of an August 6 rally held here to mark the 56th anniversary of that catastrophic event. The
• TriStar: a victory for all workers

  SYDNEY — The 350 workers employed by the Marrickville-based car components maker TriStar Steering and Suspension won victory on August 8 in their dispute over pay and the protection of their entitlements. Militant action forced
• Socialist Alliance votes for action

  In line with its perspective that the Socialist Alliance needs to give support to extra-parliamentary campaigns, the conference voted to support the protests being organised against the Commonwealth Business Forum in
• Victory for Metroshelf workers

  SYDNEY — Seventy-two workers at the Metroshelf factory in Revesby, in Sydney's west, have won their jobs back after a two-month struggle. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union had been pursuing an unfair dismissal claim
• 'A historic moment for the left'

  "An historic moment for the left in Australia" was the most common comment made by participants in the founding conference of the Socialist Alliance in Melbourne over the August 4-5 weekend. This is not the first attempt to unite
• Anti-CBF alliance launched

  MELBOURNE — "We need to fight in the factories and in the communities to build a new international movement that is strong enough to take on the bosses' system", Martin Mitterhauser, an anti-corporate activist just back from last
• Resistance in Action

  Students fight casualisation NEWCASTLE — Resistance is supporting a campaign to save the fine arts faculty at Newcastle University. Eighty students from the faculty attended a meeting to oppose the forced casualisation of teaching staff and
• Free speech attacked at Sydney University

  SYDNEY — As I rocked up to Sydney University for my usual 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly sales spot on August 9, three university security officers were attempting to close down the Socialist Worker club's literature stall in the library
• Thousands of tax workers under threat

  MELBOURNE — The Australian Tax Office is preparing to sack thousands of its workers, following a 9% cut in the department's funding announced in the May federal budget. The tax office has taken on several thousand new workers in