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Published 18 February 2018
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This week in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, six workers of LGB Rolon, a large manufacturer of automobile chains, were arrested for taking industrial action. All these workers are leading members of the newly formed union at this manufacturing plant. The workers’ demands focused mainly on getting wage rises and securing permanent work contracts for hundreds of temporary workers. The company is a vicious union buster that has managed to stifle all attempts by its workers to form independent unions for the last 60 years. The repression of auto workers in the state of Tamil Nadu is ferocious as the ongoing detention of the Pricol workers exemplifies.
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Published 18 February 2018
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Valentine’s Day was used by human rights activists and families in Sri Lanka to highlight once again the thousands of people who were disappeared during that country’s civil war. Over the last year especially, protests have become more intense as family members fear that as the years pass, the memory of the civil war, and of their family members will also be buried forever. Unfortunately the climate of impunity that existed during the long years of civil war has not lifted, thereby continuing to hamper any investigations into massacres and disappearances.
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Published 18 February 2018
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On January 27 of this year, the labour movement in the state of Victoria, Australia, unexpectedly lost a long time fighter for the working class. Simon Millar was only 51, but had three decades of experience of activism in the community and the labour movement fighting against inequality, exploitation, injustice and repression. Just before he died, Simon wrote an article on the long running Longford Esso/Exxon dispute that highlighted his deep understanding of the class struggle, and the need for workers to be united both at the national and international levels. Condolences to his family, friends and comrades.
In unity and solidarity
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Published 18 February 2018
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Earlier this month, after almost a year in jail, Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of the giant Samsung Corporation, was released when an Appeals Court cut his sentence. Lee had been jailed for his involvement in a corruption scandal that had also claimed disgraced former South Korean President, Park Geun-hye. Given Samsung’s size and influence in South Korea's economic and political sphere, many Koreans are unhappy about this release and are suspicious of the deals that have been made to secure his release. Meanwhile, Korean trade union leaders, Lee Young-Joo and Han, Sang-Gyun, remain in jail.
Organising is not a crime! Free all jailed labour activists!
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Published 18 February 2018
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For over 41years 3CR Community Radio in Melbourne, Australia has featured union, worker, indigenous, women’s, ethnic, environmental, music and other community programs that are not heard elsewhere. As a community radio station, 3CR Radio funding comes from its listeners. One of the ways you can keep the radio station on air is by becoming a member. Asia Pacific Currents is AAWL’s weekly radio program on 3CR Community Radio. Support labour struggles, become a member and subscribe to 3CR Radio.
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Published 4 February 2018
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On Saturday 20 January, a fire broke out in a plastics factory in the Bawana industrial area in the north of New Delhi, killing 17 workers. The fire quickly engulfed the building as the owner had illegally stored firecrackers in the building, with inadequate fire safety precautions. Survivors have since related how badly they were treated when working there, the lack of safety features and how the only exit was blocked. While Manoj Jain, the owner of the factory, was detained by the police, this horrific incident is unfortunately not an isolated one. The main victims of this brutal industrial system are women workers who are more likely to be employed in the informal sector and in more precarious working conditions.
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