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Issue No. 152 | 13 September 2002 |
The Legacy of 11/9
Interview: Still Flying International: President Gas Politics: Australia: A Rogue State? History: Levelling September Unions: Welfare Max Bad Boss: Welcome to Telstra! Health: Fat Albert: The Grim Reaper Poetry: A Man From the East And A Man From The West Review: The Sum Of All Fears
�Robbed Generation� Seeks Stolen Wages One Year On: Ansett Crash Still Hurts Cole Exposed By Immigration Scam Car Workers on Howard Hit List Mystery Windfall for Hilton Workers Track Grab Ignores Lessons of Glenbrook Bosses Say No Living Wage For NSW Childcarers Pastry Workers Tell Boss To Get Puffed Victorian Zookeepers Down Buckets Pride and Safety for Workers Out!
Legends The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review Awards Activists
The CFMEU Race Debate #2 Keeping it Clean Sue the Leaders?
Labor Council of NSW |
Letters to the Editor The CFMEU Race Debate #1
Dear comrades and friends, CFMEU: a racist union for racist workers? As reported by the ABC, five undocumented migrants from Korea were taken into custody after the Department of Immigration raided ceramics factory in Sydney. One of them escaped. This action was the result of tip off given to immigration officials by union officials from the CFMEU. As person of the left, I believe that the role of trade unions is to defend the workers interests and rights regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity and visa status. In this the CFMEU has not only failed abysmally to provide protection to these Korean workers, but also has become complicit with the war waged by the Australian government against refugees and undocumented immigrants. This once again is proof how the rhetoric of "refugees are welcome here" is so meaningless in a context where trade unions themselves are enforcing racist exclusion against undocumented immigrants. The distinction between the refugee and the undocumented is one defined by our enemies with the goal of dividing us. The minimal thing we can accept from the CFMEU now is not only an apology, but the immediate resignation of those trade union officials responsible for the tip off. We should demand a public statement by the CFMEU that this collaboration with Ruddock won't happen again. For those who stand for the defence of human dignity, the first thing we should do is to organise a loud protest against racism in the union movement in front of the CFMEU offices. In solidarity Dr Sergio Fiedler Social Inquiry Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Technology Sydney
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