Yearly Archives: 2016

This week, in the western NSW town of Baryulgil, Australia, an Aboriginal man, Ffloyd Laurie, became the first confirmed case of the fatal asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Ffloyd was not a worker at the asbestos mine, but grew up in the adjacent town of Baryulgil where white asbestos was piled up […]

The attempted military coup in Turkey of mid-July allowed the government to crack down on any real and apparent opposition. Tens of thousands of workers were affected by a wave of suspensions and dismissals in the days after the coup attempt. Unfortunately this campaign of repression against workers has continued. […]

AAWL is screening The Battle of Algiers, one of the most influential films in the history of political cinema. The film focuses on the events of 1957, a key year in Algeria’s struggle for independence from France.  Comrade Lionel Bopage will be introducing the film with a discussion of the political dimensions […]

This week in an ominous announcement, the Chief of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) of Indonesia, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso¸ stated that their plans to procure more weapons and intelligence was only the start. Gen. Waseso commented that he not only supported the current murderous War on Drugs campaign in […]

This week, the Korea Workers Compensation and Welfare Service (KCOMWEL) handed down an historic decision when it accepted that two workers had died from a pulmonary condition due occupational exposure. The KCOMWEL agreed that payments should be provided to the families of Lee Gyeong-hui and Song Yu-gyeong, for their death […]

Just over two months ago, around 650 workers at Frito Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo in Lahore, were able to win recognition of their union as their representative for collective bargaining negotiations. This was a fantastic victory in light of Pepsi-Co’s fight against workers unionising in their plants in […]

For the annual tradition of pardoning some prisoners on the birthday of the King of Thailand, Pornthip Munkong, and Daranee Charncherngsilpakul, aka ‘Da Torpedo’, were both released from prison this August. The significance of this release is that both had been imprisoned for the ‘crime’ of Lese Majeste. While these […]

180 million Indian workers participated in a General Strike on Friday 2 September2016.  Workers raised demands of increases to the minimum wage, an end to privatisation and an end to trade union repression.  This marked the biggest industrial strike in the world, and is the most recent in a line […]

The Victorian Trades Hall Council has called a Rally in support of the 55 sacked maintenance workers at Carlton and United Breweries (CUB). Unions knew that SABMiller & AB InBev, the parent company of CUB, was intending to attack workers wages and conditions globally. In June a conference of the […]

Labour activists in Guangdong are being detained without trial following major crackdowns in December 2015.  One of these activists is Zeng Feiyang, director of the Panyu Workers Service Centre, who has been detained for about nine months now.  The Panyu Centre has come under government scrutiny because its effectiveness in […]