Australia Asia Worker Links

Earlier this month, Reza Shahabi, a member of the Tehran bus workers’ syndicate, was given a five day reprieve from his jail sentence in order to get proper medical care. Reza who has been imprisoned for his labour activities is in a bad state of health having suffered two strokes last December. In other labour news, the militant Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Workers’ Syndicate has announced that they will take over management of their workplaces if their salaries and other demands are not met. These sugar cane workers have a long and heroic history of struggle. Meanwhile the protest wave of the last two months is continuing albeit in a more hidden fashion due to government repression.

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.

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.

On Wednesday of this week, February 14, thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities in Bahrain to mark the 7^th anniversary of the start of the protest movement in Bahrain. These protests began as part of the Arab Spring where working class communities demanded less exploitation, corruption and poverty. While the original protests in Bahrain were severely repressed, the movement has not been defeated. The demands from the protestors are for the royal family to resign, end the repression, end the discrimination, and free political prisoners.

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

After almost two years of negotiations and a 180 day strike, maintenance workers at the Griffin Coal mine in the West Australian state of Australia signed an agreement to go back to work with the company. While the workers defeated attempts by the company to cut their wages by over 40%, they did agree to take a 20% cut. In addition, the company was able to achieve cuts to the manning levels at the company. This dispute is an example of the brutal industrial relation environment in Australia and the ongoing offensive by capital to break workers’ organisations and conditions.

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.

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.

On Friday January 26, Invasion Day demonstrations were held in all major urban centres in Australia. The biggest turnouts were in Melbourne and Brisbane were tens of thousands of people marched in support of Aboriginal people and against the ongoing injustice of colonialism and dispossession. Under the theme of ‘Abolish the Date’, the demonstrations highlighted the ongoing exploitation, repression and injustice that Australian indigenous people and communities still endure.