Yearly Archives: 2013

AAWL is on summer vacation until 2014 The next AAWL general meeting will be ‘Women workers in Asia’ 6pm on Wednesday the 5 of February 2014, Trades Hall Lygon Street Carlton Trades Hall re-opens Monday 11 January Asia Pacific Currents, our radio program, starts again on Saturday 1 February Mini news […]

Another major accident was recorded this week in one of China’s coal mines. According to the latest news reports, 21 workers were killed when an explosion rocked the Yangjiagou coal mine in Hutubi County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. These deaths are only the most recent fatalities (see […]

This week’s announcement by car maker General Motor’s Australian subsidiary Holden to cease production in 2017 is another sign of the ongoing restructuring of this industry. GM also announced further cuts in South Korea. Car companies have used the crisis of the last few years to attack workers conditions all […]

The political crisis that has been developing over the last few weeks in Thailand is showing no sign of abating. The government’s decision to resign and call for fresh elections has only encouraged the fascist forces of the Yellow Shirts to call for the army to stage a coup. This […]

The popular uprisings that started in Tunisia in 2011 were echoed by similar movements in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. The demands of these protests were very clear, calling for less repression, less inequality and less injustice. Most have been met with repression by […]

As reported previously, workers in Korea are fighting on many fronts against union repression and for better wages and conditions. This year has seen many harsh disputes. The current fight against the privatisation of the railway system has already seen almost 7,000 workers suspended for taking action after only three […]

The well publicised Maruti Suzuki dispute of the last couple of years is only one of many struggles that Indian workers have undertaken in the ongoing industrialisation of India. The repression unleashed against the Maruti Suzuki workers can be seen by the fact that over 100 are still in jail. […]

While much commentary on the globalised world economy focuses on companies, what is often missed is that the companies, facilitated by governments, also use millions of migrant workers. Many migrant workers are forced into being ‘illegal’, making their exploitation easier. While the oil rich countries of West Asia are renowned […]

Comrade Nelson Mandela has left us. After a lifetime of struggle he has gone, leaving us to say our goodbyes, and thinking of the people who will miss him. His family, his friends, his comrades, and the many  millions of workers and left wing activists who learned politics and class […]

The major fires in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and the Rana Plaza collapse have highlighted the barbarity of the capitalist systems’ exploitation of workers in poorer countries. With the continued process of globalisation not only are factories and production shifted around the world but now workers as well. Thus, sweatshop conditions […]