Yearly Archives: 2015

Philippines Airlines sacked almost 3,000 workers four years ago, in an attempt to contract out and casualise its workforce. These workers, organised by their union – PALEA, fought back against the company. The dispute lasted over two years and involved co-ordinated actions with airline workers around the world. In late […]

As in many other countries of the world, the public transport system of the southern Australian city of Melbourne is privatised. The company that runs the tram and train system, MTR Corporation, is a global company which also runs public transport systems in four other countries. Negotiations for a new […]

On the first day of September, tens of thousands of workers took to the streets of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta demanding better labour laws and a new minimum wage for 2016. This demonstration was jointly co-ordinated by the three main union Federations in Indonesia. With the ongoing scourge of […]

Israel’s use of administrative detention as a tool of repression has been well documented. Nevertheless, hundreds of Palestinians continue to suffer. One of the few ways that Palestinian prisoners have to fight back is by going on hunger strikes. Kayed Fawzi Abu Rish has been on hunger strike for over […]

As reported in previous stories (see here and here) the anti-war movement in Japan has been growing in strength in its opposition to the Shinzo Abe government’s military expansion. Last week, a massive demonstration of over 100,000 people converged outside the Japanese parliament calling for nuclear disarmament and the respecting […]

As reported previously, maritime workers in the ports of the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane are involved in a bitter dispute against the global giant Hutchison. The dispute centres on restructuring and job losses. The workers are in discussion at the industrial court – Fair Work Australia, but the […]

As reported recently on the mass protests in Iraq, last week it was the turn of those in Lebanon to demonstrate en masse. While these protests started off as a reaction to uncollected garbage, they soon became a generalised protest against the government and politicians. The demonstrators were then met […]

As reported last week, the political coalition that has governed Malaysia for decades has been encountering greater opposition as corruption and inequality have become entrenched. This weekend saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in Malaysia for the 4th Bersih (Clean) rally. Though the government had declared […]

The issue of employers in Australia using loopholes in the working visa system to ruthlessly take advantage of vulnerable workers is becoming more widespread (see here and here). This week an investigation into the employment practices of the global giant 7/11 revealed how managers use the fact that workers are […]

As reported last year, Andy Hall is a British migrant and labour rights activist who works in both Burma and Thailand. In 2013, Andy wrote a report detailing the abuses of migrant and child workers at the Thai fruit cannery, Natural Fruit Company. Almost immediately the company charged Andy with defamation. […]