Even though asbestos is not mined in Australia any more and its use has been banned since 2003, Australia still has the highest per capita rate of asbestos related disease in the world. The reason is that asbestos was used very extensively in both commercial and residential buildings. A coalition of trade unions and community groups have come together to ask for a national strategy to be developed so that the existing asbestos can be identified and disposed of safely. Campaigning against the use of asbestos is a worldwide issue.

As previously reported, progressive forces are still organising in Syria amid a seemingly stalemated civil war situation, and an economy in free fall.

It has been estimated that in 2012, Syria’s GDP declined by almost 30% while the official unemployment rate climbed to 35%. In addition, disputes between different forces within the opposition are increasing.

Dutch fascist Geert Wilders is descending on Melbourne on Tues 19 Feb. A protest will be happening to send a clear message that his anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant views are not welcome here.  However, it is not as yet clear where the meeting will be taking place. 

Teachers in Victoria, Australia are in a pay and conditions dispute with the State Government.  The Government is playing hardball and went to court to try and prevent the union from going out on strike.  They didn’t succeed.  If you’re in Victoria, please join striking teachers and support staff on the steps of Parliament House.

Victorian Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne on Thursday 14th of February at 12.30pm

On Wednesday of this week, major worker rallies were held in Indonesia in five major cities. These protests are a continuation of the unprecedented mobilisations that were witnessed in 2012. Workers are looking to consolidate the gains of last year and are seeking better health care provisions, establishment of a pension fund, more realistic indexing of wages and freedom in organising. More demonstrations are planned in the coming months. 

There are approximately 2.5 million workers employed in mines in the north western Indian state of Rajasthan, often working in unsafe conditions. A recent study found that 23% of these workers had the presence of silicosis disease along with associated tuberculosis (TB). After intense lobbying, the Rajasthan government has agreed to provide these workers with medical, monetary and social benefits, as well as pay compensation to widows of dead workers.

Migrant workers, who comprise a staggering 80% of Qatar’s population, continue to work in a highly repressive and exploitative system. A ban on trade unions, an employment system akin to bonded labour and appalling housing conditions are a feature of the ‘Qatar economic miracle’. Unfortunately the situation for workers in Qatar is not an isolated case as workers in most of the Gulf countries continue to work in oppressive conditions marked by injuries, beatings, imprisonment and death.

Joe’s Fashion, a garment factory in the Korangi Industrial Area of Karachi, earlier this year locked out its workforce of about a thousand employees. The owner then transferred all the machinery to a sister company located in an export processing zone guarded by private security. The same owner had recently closed another factory in a similar way, rendering 4,000 workers jobless. This technique is used to prevent workers from organising unions and seeking better pay and conditions. The National Trade Union Federation and the Pakistan Labour Federation are currently fighting these cases.

As reported in previous news, South Korean workers are taking ever more desperate measures to counter the pressures they are under. Unfortunately, four trade unionists killed themselves late last year out of hopelessness. One of these, Mr. Choe Gang-seo, the organising director of the KMWU Hanjin local union, took his own life due to the anxiety of facing the company's lawsuit for compensation from a previous protest. This week, the KCTU staged a rally in which they carried his coffin into the Yeongdo Shipyards in Busan to demand that the company withdraws its lawsuit against the union.

With the coming of the Chinese New Year this year on the 10th of February, industrial disputes increase as workers fight to receive their end of year bonuses. Last week, around a thousand workers employed by the Tokai Rubber Industries staged a protest to complain that their end of year bonuses had been cut by a third. Police intervened and clashes occurred. At least 10 workers were detained.