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Latest News
International News
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APEC must address sex slavery, people trafficking and worker exploitation in Asia Pacific
Stronger international efforts to prevent the exploitation of workers and to halt human trafficking and sex slavery in the Asia Pacific should be a priority for next week’s APEC meeting in Sydney, unions said today.
30 August 2007 [full story]
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ASU meets with Chinese union delegation
A Chinese union delegation in Australia on a study tour has met with the ASU to discuss a range of industrial and social issues. The four officials who met with National Secretary Paul Slape are from Qinghuangdao City of the Hebei Province which is a two hour drive north east of Beijing. Apart from industry, Qinghuangdao in summer is a well known coastal resort.
22 May 2006 [full story]
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Australian to head new global trade union
ACTU President Sharan Burrow has been elected to head a new global trade union body as its first president. Ms Burrow is currently in Vienna attending the Founding Congress of the new international trade union body: Unions International - the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
07 November 2006 [full story]
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Burma Cyclone Relief Appeal
‘This is a humanitarian disaster on an unimaginable scale and we are asking all Australians to donate through Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA to the disaster relief work already underway by Norwegian People’s Aid and grassroots organisations on the ground,’ said Sharan Burrow of the ACTU.
13 May 2008 [full story]
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Campaigning for fairness at work in New Zealand
On August 16 2010 the New Zealand Government introduced two new Bills to Parliament to drastically change employment law in New Zealand. If passed the changes will take away workers' rights, remove protections, cut pay, reduce holidays and diminish access to sick leave.
02 September 2010 [full story]
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Centenary celebrations for the PSI – creating firmer international ties for workers
The global union Public Services International (PSI), of which the ASU is an affiliate, was formed in 1907 after a number of European trade unions met to improve support between unions for the betterment of workers across the continent. Those original municipal, power, gas and water unions were subsequently joined by over 600 unions from all parts of the world.
04 September 2007 [full story]
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Day of action in support of Iranian unionists
Mansour Osanloo of the Tehran and Suburbs Workers’ Bus Company, Sherkate Vahed, was abducted on Tuesday 10 July, severely beaten and taken to an unknown destination. There is strong reason to believe the authorities were involved. ACTU is calling on affiliates to join the ITF and ITUC, and other unionists around the world to add our voices in support and show solidarity with Iranian workers to demand Mansour Osanloo’s safety and immediate release.
06 August 2007 [full story]
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Digest of International News items
For International News items dated earlier than 2006, please see the General News category at: http://www.asu.asn.au/media/general/. Some International News items relate specifically to one of our industries and therefore may appear in the relevant industry news category.
01 January 2006 [full story]
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European Commission turns blind eye to failing public-private partnerships, says new report
A new report by the Public Service International Research Unit cautions the European Commission against enthusiastically endorsing public-private partnerships, contending that PPPs, as they are known, do not supplement public spending – they absorb it. The European Commission outlines high hopes for developing public-private partnerships in its EU 2020 strategy.
09 April 2010 [full story]
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How Australia can help create an independent Western Sahara
Western Sahara is often compared to East Timor in that they are both former colonies which, upon the exit of their colonial overlords in the 1970s, were annexed by neighbouring powers against the democratic will of the people. Western Sahara may be further away than East Timor but there are many connections to Australia that make the Western Sahara independence cause one of great relevance to us. And a cause Australia has much to contribute to politically.
08 May 2008 [full story]
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ILO projects global economic turbulence could generate five million more unemployed in 2008
GENEVA (ILO News) – Economic turbulence largely due to credit market turmoil and rising oil prices could spur an increase in global unemployment by an estimated 5 million persons in 2008, the International Labour Office (ILO) said recently in its annual Global Employment Trends report (GET)
29 January 2008 [full story]
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International Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights - 101 trade unionists murdered in 2009
The ITUC’s Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings – an increase of 30% over the previous year. The Survey, released earlier this month, also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers’ rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
23 June 2010 [full story]
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International survey of workers' rights violations
2008 was another difficult and often dangerous year for trade unionists around the world, according to this year's ITUC Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, which details abuses of fundamental workers' rights in 143 countries.
11 June 2009 [full story]
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International union report reveals suppression of workers’ rights across the globe including in Australia
The international union body, the ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) this month released its “Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations”. Highlighted is the plight of unionists across the globe suffering human rights violations and a range of breaches of union rights by governments. The report makes special mention of the role of the Australian government and “the new laws depriving the country’s workforce of the most fundamental protections”.
20 June 2006 [full story]
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International unions say it's right to campaign against privatisation
The ICFTU, the international trade union confederation, has published a report on how unions can fight back against the policies of the IMF and World Bank. They have documented case studies of resistance in all parts of the world. The report makes clear that resistance to liberalisation and privatisation is possible, can be successful and that unions all over the world fight the same neo-liberal ideology.
18 April 2006 [full story]
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Korean local government union facing severe attacks
The ASU's sibling union in Korea for local government workers is facing serious interference from the Korean Government. Union offices across the country are being forcibly closed, collective bargaining is not allowed and members are being pressured to resign from the KGEU, amongst other union-busting tactics.
02 July 2007 [full story]
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New leader of Public Services International (PSI) elected
Peter Waldorff has been elected general secretary of Public Services International (PSI), the 20 million-strong global representative body for public service trade unions. The 52-year-old Dane will take up the position on 1 January 2008, after working with outgoing general secretary Hans Engelberts on a smooth transition.
09 October 2007 [full story]
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October 7 World Day for Decent Work – Get the World to Work
The International Trade Union Confederation has issued a call to action headed “Get the World to Work” to encourage participation in the worldwide mobilisation to tackle the global economic and employment crisis and ensure fundamental reform of the world economy. Trade unions in every region are gearing up for activities on World Day for Decent Work (7 October).
07 October 2009 [full story]
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October 7 is World Day for Decent Work
Global economic turmoil has made the right to decent work and full employment more essential than ever, Australian unions say.
07 October 2008 [full story]
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Only strong public services can meet tough global challenges
Only strong public services can meet the big challenges now facing the world – like global warming, inequality, HIV-AIDS, and achieving the UN’s millennium development goals - according to the leader of Public Services International (PSI), the 20 million-strong international public service trade union federation of which the ASU is an affiliate.
21 August 2007 [full story]
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Quality public services at the heart of the fight against global warming
All nations should sign up to a legally-binding UN agreement on climate change and place quality public services at the heart of the fight against global warming according to Public Services International (PSI), the 20 million-strong global trade union federation of which the ASU is an affiliate.
25 September 2007 [full story]
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Turkish court sentences trade unionist Seher Tümer to seven years in prison
Lawyers have filed an appeal seeking to overturn the conviction of trade union activist Seher Tümer. Late in the day of 18 March, the Ankara High Criminal Court in Turkey declared Tümer guilty of belonging to an illegal Kurdish organization, and “making propaganda” through participation in public demonstrations, and sentenced her to more than seven years in prison. Tümer has already spent close to one year in prison. Her lawyers maintain there is no evidence to back these charges.
26 March 2010 [full story]
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Water in public hands helps end poverty
As a key water industry union, the ASU campaigns to keep water in public hands. We recognise that crucial social infrastructure cannot be trusted in the hands of organisations whose first interest is profit. If this is the case in Australia, it is even truer in the third world. As part of the global events of July 7, 2007, the ASU is promoting the publication of “Water as a public service” a Public Services International (PSI) report revealing the devastating effects of privatising water.
06 July 2007 [full story]
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Western Sahara Human Rights Defender wins 2008 RFK Human Rights Award
Aminatou Haidar is the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate. Ms Haidar is being recognised for her courageous campaign for self-determination of Western Sahara from its occupation by Morocco and against forced disappearances and abuses of prisoners of conscience. Regularly referred to as the “Sahrawi Gandhi,” Ms Haidar is one of Western Sahara’s most prominent human rights defenders.
17 September 2008 [full story]
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Western Sahara journalist asks Australia to support the UN
Malainin Lakhal, Secretary General of the Saharawi Writers’ and Journalists’ Union, is in Australia for a two month speaking tour. Malainin is seeking support for a long-promised United Nations’ referendum of self-determination for Western Sahara, North Africa¹s last colony. He will also tell about Morocco’s illegal and brutal occupation of Western Sahara for the past 30 years, since Malainin was a small boy.
06 June 2007 [full story]
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What have we traded away?
AFTINET is holding a lunchtime seminar for activists, academics, journalists, community organisations, unions and interested members of the public to explore the impacts of the Australia/US Free Trade Agreement two years since the deal was ratified.
21 June 2007 [full story]
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Workers in the public services say there is an alternative
Workers in local government, energy-electricity, water, railways & public transport and state and federal government services, are forming alliances and campaigning globally against the privatisation of public services. We have seen in recent years how the World Trade Organisation (WTO) through trade agreements like the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has tried to encourage the contracting out of services. The new campaign to get a General Agreement on Public Services (GAPS) is all about ensuring that quality public services are the goal.
02 March 2006 [full story]
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World Water Day 2008 - Sanitation is the key to health
This year’s 22 March World Water Day is renamed the World Sanitation Day in recognition of the International Year of Sanitation 2008. Modern sanitation (removal and treatment of sewage) is arguably the most important ever advance in public health - an important component in reducing waterborne diseases, essential for safe, reliable water supply. Water is of fundamental importance to everyone on this planet, yet sanitation is the lost cousin of the water sector.
22 March 2008 [full story]
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World’s unions urge G20 to focus on jobs for economic recovery
Brussels, 15 April 2010: As forecasts warn of a continuing rise in unemployment on top of the additional 34 million people worldwide who have become unemployed due to the economic crisis, trade union leaders from the G20 countries will urge for more action on jobs when they meet with G20 Labour and Employment Ministers on 19 April in Washington DC.
15 April 2010 [full story]
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Zimbabwe democracy leader and former trade union leader speaks out
Zimbabwe democracy leader and former trade union leader, President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, will be speaking in Melbourne on Monday to speak about the horrific conditions in his country.
24 August 2007 [full story]
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A small glimpse on the big screen of the life of the Saharawis
The power of film to put us in the shoes of people whose lives are so different from our own has always been an effective way of raising support for worthy yet little known causes. Two films portraying the experiences of both the children and women of Western Sahara will be screening at ACMI in Melbourne next month. They give us the opportunity to understand what the dispossessed Saharawis are suffering.
23 September 2008 [full story]
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APHEDA seeks ASU members' support
The civil conflict in East Timor has caused people from many areas of the capital, Dili, to flee their homes. People remember the trauma of the occupation and also the terrible destruction wrought by the pro-Indonesian militia in the wake of the independence referendum in 1999. Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA maintains a presence in East Timor and is appealing for donations to assist with the displaced population and damage caused by this recent unrest.
13 June 2006 [full story]
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ASU calls for release of Iranian public transport workers from prison
Over 1000 trade unionists have been imprisoned in Iran for supporting their organisation. The ASU, along with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and other unions around the world, is protesting the actions of the Iranian Government against its own citizens, and encouraging ASU members to show solidarity.
14 February 2006 [full story]
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ASU supports ITF campaign on HIV/AIDS
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), as a part of Global Unions has produced a news bulletin on the issues of HIV/AIDS for workers in the transport industry. The ASU, an affiliate of the ITF, is supporting this important campaign.
14 July 2006 [full story]
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ASU to participate in Global Day of Action in solidarity with Iranian and Colombian unionists on 6 March
As part of the ASU commitment to ITF International Railway Safety Day, we will be joining with International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and ACTU affiliates in supporting two critical issues this week. Trade unions internationally are calling for a global day of action on March 6 to highlight the situation of detained union leaders in Iran, to demand their release and to highlight human rights abuses against the people of Colombia. Australian unionists, including ASU members, will be participating in a series of events around the country.
04 March 2008 [full story]
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Australian superphosphate not so super
As the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice starts a tour of North Africa and Incitec Pivot holds an extraordinary General Meeting in Melbourne, the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA), would like to draw attention to Western Sahara, the unresolved issue that affects the North African region.
05 September 2008 [full story]
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Call for solidarity with Pakistan
Pakistan is experiencing the worst flooding in 80 years, and 14 million people have already been affected. The rain is still falling. The number of people that have already been affected exceeds the combined total for the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and this year’s earthquake in Haiti.
16 August 2010 [full story]
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Countdown to change in Iran
In another three weeks, on 6 March, trade unions around the world are holding an international day of action in solidarity with the workers of Iran.
15 February 2008 [full story]
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Federal Govt wants to give away our ability to look after the public interest
The Australian Federal Government is currently involved in negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which will undermine the rights of our federal, state and local governments to provide for a range of “domestic regulations”. Such regulations are often designed to protect labour (rights), the environment, public health, municipal planning and consumer rights, ie. in the public interest. The new regime would entitle commercial corporations to demand that duly elected Australian governments show the necessity of any such regulations!
04 July 2006 [full story]
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Global Day of Action for Justice for Iranian Workers – Friday 26 June 2009
Trade unions internationally are calling for a global day of action on 26 June to highlight the situation of detained union leaders, political activists and journalists in Iran, to demand their release and to highlight human rights abuses against the people of Iran.
25 June 2009 [full story]
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Help raise funds for justice in Western Sahara
February 27 is the Western Sahara National Day and to celebrate the day, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA and the Australian Western Sahara Association are hosting an event at the Clare Café Bar Bistro in Carlton (Victoria). The event is being supported by the ASU, which is a long time supporter of the Western Sahara freedom movement.
08 February 2010 [full story]
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International community calls on Iran to free jailed union leader Mansour Osanloo
The ASU, like other transport unions and concerned citizens in Australia and throughout the world, joined in to support the International Transport Federation’s (ITF) Day of Action to seek the release from prison of Iranian trade union official Mansour Osanloo.
10 August 2007 [full story]
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Jailed trade unionist needs urgent medical treatment
The ASU is a supporter of trade union rights around the world. We have particularly supported Mansour Osanloo and endorse LabourStart's call to action.
10 September 2009 [full story]
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Jose Ramos-Horta to speak in support of Western Sahara self-determination
The President of Timor Leste and co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta will headline a discussion on the status of “Africa's last colony”, Western Sahara, in Melbourne on Thursday, July 23.
22 July 2009 [full story]
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Osanloo sentence ‘appals world opinion’
Commenting on news that Iranian trade union leader Mansour Osanloo has been sentenced to five years imprisonment ITF General Secretary David Cockroft said: “We have just heard that an injured, victimised trade unionist has been condemned to jail on charges that would be laughable if they weren’t so serious.”
31 October 2007 [full story]
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Our food bowls flourish while Saharawis remain dispossessed
The exploitation of the rich phosphate reserves in Western Sahara by the illegally occupying Moroccans is just another example of the systematic impoverishment of the long suffering Saharawis. As a major beneficiary of the phosphate trade, it is incumbent on Australia to push harder for a just solution in Western Sahara.
28 March 2008 [full story]
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Putting people into APEC
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) meeting of the leaders of 21 countries is to be held in Sydney in September 2007, and will be the most significant meeting Australia has ever hosted.
18 July 2007 [full story]
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Seeking messages of solidarity a crime?
Iranian trade unionist Mahmoud Salehi was due to be freed from prison on 23 March. But the authorities now accuse him of "communicating with those outside prison for the purposes of issuing messages of solidarity". As a result, he has not yet been released and has gone on hunger strike. Amnesty International and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) are waging a global campaign to demand his freedom. The ASU is an active supporter of the oppressed Iranian trade unionists.
28 March 2008 [full story]
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Sonnet standing up for workers Down Under
UNISON deputy general secretary Keith Sonnet is in Australia this week to learn first-hand of the unions' fight against that country's repressive industrial relations legislation.
01 August 2007 [full story]
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Trade union rights are women’s rights - support Seher Tümer
This year, in connection with March 8, International Women’s Day, Public Services International (PSI) is working to draw global attention to the case of Seher Tümer, branch secretary of our Turkish affiliate SES (trade union of public employees in health and social services).
01 March 2010 [full story]
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WTO and GATS update
The latest news on World Trade Organisation (WTO) activities and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) show once again that the ASU must monitor these areas to ensure our workers are protected in the future. In this update we circulate news indicating that essential services, an area in which many ASU members work, may compulsorily be added to GATS, thus undermining individual countries’ abilities to regulate them.
05 May 2006 [full story]
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