The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 193 29 August 2003  
E D I T O R I A L

Smells Like Community Spirit
Over the past view weeks Labor Council has been undertaking some focus groups to gauge community perceptions to unions. The result is a massive wake up call for those of us who want a union culture to survive into the 21st century.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The New Deal
US union leader Amy Dean expands on her agenda to give unions a real political voice

Unions: In the Line of Hire
Unions have lobbied and negotiated in a bid to stem casualisation and insecurity. Now, Jim Marr, writes they are seeking protection through a formal Test Case.

Culture: Too Cool for the Collective?
Young people are amongst the most vulnerable in the workforce. So why aren't they joining the union, asks Carly Knowles

International: The Domino Effect
An internal struggle in the biggest and strongest industrial union in Germany IG Metall has had a devastating wave effect across not just that country, but also the rest of Europe, writes Andrew Casey.

Industrial: A Spanner in the Works
Max Ogden looks at the vexed issue of Works Councils and the differing views within the union movement to them.

National Focus: Gathering of the Tribes
Achieving a fairer society and a better working life for employees from across Australia will be key themes at the ACTU's triennial Congress meeting later this month reports Noel Hester.

History: The Welcome Nazi Tourist
Rowan Cahill looks at the role Australia's conservatives played in supporting facism in the days before World War II.

Bad Boss: Domm, Domm Turn Around
Frank Sartor might have shot through but Robert Domm still calls the IR shots at Sydney City which pretty much explains why the council is this month�s Bad Boss nominee.

Poetry: Just Move On.
Visiting bard Maurie Fairfield brightens up our page with a ditty about little white lies.

Review: Reality Bites
The workers, united, may never be defeated but if recent episodes of Channel 10 drama The Secret Life Of Us are to be believed, this is not necessarily a good thing, writes Tara de Boehmler.

N E W S

 Iranians Expelled Over Teen Affair

 IR Promises Crash on Motorway

 Telstra Pigs Out on Indian

 Teachers Fight Casual Attitude

 Superstars in EBA Showdown

 Sink One with Billy

 Abbott Asked to Consider Honesty

 Printer�s Win Drink Stink

 WorkCover To Take Robbery Seriously

 Power Blackouts Expose Jobs Shortage

 Qantas Woes Set To Soar

 Sports Workers Walk

 Bigger Money Player Equals Job Cuts

 Indonesian Human Rights Appeal

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Fighting Words
Craig Emerson gave what could be the most spirited Labor spray in a decade to the NSW Labor Council this month. Here it is in all its venom.

Education
Out of Their Class
Phil Bradley argues that Australia's education system should not be up for negotiation in the global trade talks.

The Locker Room
The ABC of Sport
Phil Doyle argues that the only way to end the corporate madness that is sport, is to give it all back to the ABC.

Postcard
Locks, Stocks and Barrels
Union Aid Abroad's Peter Jennings updates on the situation in Burma, where the repression of democracy is going from bad to worse.

L E T T E R S
 A Nice Letter
 Tom�s History Of The World
 Tony Is A Tool
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



News

Indonesian Human Rights Appeal


An Indonesian Human Rights activist is urging Australians to pressure their Prime Minister out of giving military support to his country�s notorious special forces.

Rachland Nashidik is warning Australians that their pain over the Bali bombing is being exploited to rehabilitate internal security forces that have shown a profound disregard for democracy.

Kopassus has been implicated in military strongarm tactics, from the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre which claimed the lives of hundreds of Jakarta dock workers to massacres in East Timor.

The Kopassus Special Forces Commander will be welcomed to Canberra next month when Prime Minister John Howard is expected to confirm the resumption of military co-operation between Australia and Indonesia.

Nashidik said Canberra appeared to be being used as a stalking horse by the Bush Administration, prevented from co-operating with the Indonesian military by its own Senate in response to the recent murder of a US citizen in West Papua.

He is asking students, trade unionists, politicians and NGOs to pressure Howard out of supporting the Indonesian military.

Nashidik praises recent co-operation between Australian and Indonesian police forces and says upgrading that support would be more beneficial in the fight against terrorism.

"You must understand that we are still fighting for civil dominance (over the military) in Indonesia," he said. "Invariably, in my country, the military and forces like Kopussas become involved in internal security, that is the problem.

The "War on Terror" was a smokescreen for the Indonesian military, he said. If it wasn't, he argued, you wouldn't be able to buy Indonesian passports for $50, and the military would move to control the flow of small arms swamping the country.


------

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 193 contents



email workers to a friend printer-friendly version latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/193/news94_indonesian.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET