Category: Unions

Back to the Future – The Shape of Things to Come – The Queensland Labour Movement Under Conservative Governments – Then and Now!

BLHA Symposium: Call for Papers and Participants

BLHA is planning an October symposium which will deal with the Queensland labour movement’s activism, challenges and selected disputes under conservative governments.… Go to Article

Queensland job cuts — edge of darkness?

Everybody knows that Queensland Labor had a Party 
Everybody knows the fight was fixed  so
the poor stay poor, and  the rich stay rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the Bligh’s boat was leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father was a scab or their mother just died.… Go to Article

‘Bahrain is Burning’: nurses union calls for support

“In the month of March / in the year of the uprising / earth told us her blood secrets / In the month of March five girls at the door /of the primary school /Came past the violet / came past the rifle  / burst into flame / With the roses and thyme /they opened /the song of the soil / and entered the earth  / the ultimate embrace / March comes to the land / out of earth’s depth /out of the girls’ dance /The violets leaned over a little / so that the girls’ voices /could cross over / the birds /pointed their beaks /at that song and at my heart.… Go to Article

Brisbane Barrio: ’17 together on a picket line’

Brisbane Barrio
by Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk

Juan woke up
held Ana in his arms
and whispered to her
“cover my body with kisses
so I may face the day”

The children were still sleeping
when he closed the door
and made his way again
to the production line
assembling steel doors all day
on a concrete floor
he dreamed
he dreamed
surprised to be after
all these years
still so far from home

Hard words rang
across the factory floor
Juan heard the sound of hate
bitter words to injure
a shout that sent the signal
for the war to come
a trigger for intimidation
cruel and hard
a sorry tale of segregation
push and shove
when steel cut flesh
the union man said
“never in my life
have I seen a person
stoop so low”

On the tenth day of November
Nineteen ninety four
seventeen said “no”
to divide and rule
and later stood together
on a picket line
discovering how hard
it can be
to belong

And its flesh and steel
and storm and calm
its simple truth and complex lies
intransigence and fluid lines
unyielding strength
and compromise

Ready now
steady now
ready for a little fight

Rules are made and rules are broken
(oh yes they are)
things are said
other things stay unspoken
(my lips are shut)
the consequences are not
too hard to see
(you don’t need big glasses
or a telescope)
these days a worker
just has to be
ready now
steady now
ready for a little fight

copyright © Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk 1998… Go to Article

“Bahrain is burning and the world is silent!”

Bahraini refugees call for ”understanding” as they rally against mandatory detention in Sydney today

Bahraini Australian Youth Movement joins World Refugee Day Rally in Sydney

Three audio interviews with Bahraini refugees are attached and permissible for use

Refugee rights supporters gathering in Sydney today to mark World Refugee Day will be joined by the Bahraini Australian Youth Movement who are calling for more ‘’understanding’’ from the Australian people about the plight of refugees in this country.… Go to Article

Petition to free Ridha!

To the Honourable the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bob Carr and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Australia

The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia I (leave a comment) draws to the attention of the House to act urgently to prevent a grave injustice to the family of an Australian Citizen.… Go to Article

Socialist Alternative Meeting: The Civil Rights Movement in America

Today, despite America’s first Black president, there has been little change and there is now little hope for African Americans. They are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis, with unemployment among Blacks at almost 16 per cent, and with the highly publicised murder of Trayvon Martin it is apparent racism is alive and killing in the States.… Go to Article