As previously reported (and here), Andy Hall is a prominent migrant and labour rights activist based in Thailand and Burma. In February 2013 he was charged with defaming a Thai company. Defamation is a criminal charge in Thailand and Andy is facing ten million dollars in fines and 8 years […]
Monthly Archives: October 2014
29 posts
As previously reported, Thursday 23 October was a National Day of Action against Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and in support of the family of Julieka Dhu. Julieka Dhu was an Aboriginal woman who died in custody when she was detained for unpaid fines of only $1000. On the same day […]
Australian print workers have been in dispute with packaging printer Colorpak, over a two year wage freeze. The company has resorted to seeking outside contractors to make up for shortfalls in work but members of the AMWU’s New Zealand sister print union the EPMU voted not to do any extra […]
Mining unions around the world joined together in an International Day of Action against Rio Tinto, mining giant known for its anti-union practices. October 7 saw protests around the world held to raise awareness about the abusive and abhorrent working conditions for workers on Rio Tinto sites, which were co-ordinated […]
Following on from last week’s report of further charges under Lese Majeste, Sulak Sivaraksa, 82 year old Thai intellectual has been charged for comments he made about a Thai king who died more than 400 years ago. At the same time, the Thai military junta is seeking admission to the […]
Workers in Malaysia have voted for union representation at electronics manufacturer Infineon Technologies, despite strong pressure and union busting tactics by management. The company tried to argue that they weren’t producing electronics, in an effort to avoid unionisation, but eventually agreed to a secret ballot. Congratulations to all the workers […]
The Indonesian elections were held on July 9 electing a new president, and on 20 October, Joko Widodo was sworn in as Indonesia’s seventh president. Many have taken this opportunity to analyse the situation for the Left in Indonesia and to comment on the divide in the trade union movement. […]
Workers in Australia continue to be impacted by the conservative, anti-worker, anti-union policies of the Abbott government. While one of the most regressive budgets of all time is yet to be passed by the senate Tony Abbott is committed to spending millions of dollars on an anti-union royal commission. Rally […]
The Australian labour movement farewelled comrade Bill Deller this week. He passed away peacefully in the early hours of Friday 17 October. Bill’s history in trade unionism commenced early on while in WA working in the mining industry. In the 1990’s he was leader of the State Public Sector Federation […]
As reported last week, Kurdish forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been resisting both an offensive by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces to seize the strategic border town of Kobane, as well as a blockade imposed by Turkey. Against this background, a Kurdish newspaper seller, […]