
Issue No 19		25 June 1999

Letters to the Editor

Why Are We Trying To Be Torn Apart?

The rally organised and supported by the Labor Council, the National Union of Students, the Anti GST Alliance and the Combined Pensioners today in Sydney was fantastic.

Unfortunately the cops arrested a few people after we refused their request to stay off George Street.

This didn't stop us marching to Howard's and the Democrats offices to show our disgust with the GST. One of the loudest chants was 'workers and students-NO GST!'.

Why is it that at this crucial stage, when workers, students, indigenous peoples, pensioners and environmentalists are at their most unified, with a common enemy wreaking havoc all over Australia, we have people in the Labor movement suggesting that this is the wrong path to tread.

I am a student and working member of the LHMU. There are countless examples of people in similar situations. My brother, a construction worker, is a member of the CFMEU and is a committed environmentalist.

As Jenny George said at the rally, the rich are getting richer but the poor are getting the picture. We're unifying, slowly.

Why divide such a powerful movement? Why attack free education as a 'middle class subsidy' when the strongest supporters of free education, the National Union of Students, are showing such strong support for the aims of the Labor movement, indeed most of them are involved in the Labor movement, as members?

Who is behind the newest example of the old 'divide and rule'.

Luke Whitington

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Issue 19 contents

Interview: Moore for the Battlers
NCOSS director Garry Moore gives the community sector's response to this week's State Budget

Unions: AWU's Bush Blitz
"This is AWU Country". That's the slogan for the Australian Workers Union as it launches its campaign to address the specific needs of workers throughout regional and rural Australia.

Indigenous: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
A United Nations committee slams Australia on indigenous native title rights.

International: Unions Post-War Stand
The world labour group demands KFOR track war-crimes authors and says social dimension central to Balkan reconstruction.

History: How Swede It Was
Swedish seafarers play an important role in South Australia's maritime history.

Review: If He Had Only Listened To Me ...
If Michael Thompson had listened to me the current debate raging in the nation�s opinion pages about his book may not have been as hysterical.

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