Yearly Archives: 2015

This week, S. Arutchelvan (Arul), the General Secretary of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) was arrested under the draconian Sedition Act for making comments about the trial of Anwar Ibrahim. Arul was released the next day. The PSM has been a strong advocate for workers in Malaysia especially around […]

Last year in May, the Soma coal mine hit the world’s headlines when 301 workers were massacred in an explosion due to the company’s drive to maximise profits and minimise health and safety costs. Later that year in December, the same company, the Soma Holding Company, announced the laying-off of […]

As reported previously, the military in Thailand is continuing to extend its rule over all aspects of Thai society. This week, another four anti coup activists were arrested, while at the same time the military was intimidating villagers who were opposed to an oil company conducting drilling on their lands. […]

As described before (see here and here) the continuation of dictatorships, dispossessions, and wars in the Arab regions of West Asia and North Africa have generated multiple rebellions. Currently, the strongest insurgency groups are aligned either with Al Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) groups. Both originate from the conservative […]

It has been a year since the murder of Reza Barati, an Iranian asylum seeker held in the detention centre of Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Many others were badly injured on that day, but the Australian government has made no real attempts to investigate this murder. Meanwhile, the […]

The right for workers to withdraw their labour and to strike is an essential element of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Without this right, workers’ ability to defend their rights, to demand a safe workplace, and to win a living wage is severely undermined. During this latest capitalist economic […]

Saturday 14 February 2015 marked the 11th anniversary of the death in custody of TJ Hickey in Redfern. He died as a direct result of the actions of the Redfern Police. No police have been charged over Hickey's death and his family are still waiting for justice. The family was determined to march through […]

A short but determined strike by over a hundred workers at the Tae Sung Philippines company has allowed workers to gain substantial increases in wages and conditions. Tae Sung Philippines manufactures parts for the auto and electronics industry. The significance of this strike is that the company is located in […]

As previously reported, the wars in West Asia have taken a terrible toll on workers and their organisations. One of the most positive developments has been the social and economic process that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria’s northern Kurdish regions of Rojava has been implementing. This movement has […]

As reported in a previous item, the tannery industry is another sector where workers and their communities are exposed to toxic chemicals. A recent investigative report has found that up to 15,000 workers, many underage, are exposed to chemicals such as chromium, chloride, sulfur, and manganese on a daily basis. […]