Issue No 66 | 11 August 2000 | |
Letters to the EditorProud To Support s.11
As Chair of the International Committee of the United Trades & Labor Council of South Australia I am proud to support the S.11 protests against the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne later this year. The September 11 protest was initiated by community organizations as a follow up to what happened in Seattle, and Washington, when thousands of ordinary citizens involved themselves in protests against the negative effects of globalisation. The US labor unions played a crucial role in these protests. I support all protests being non-violent and constructive in nature. Despite the uncaring, traumatic, and often violent destruction of peoples' lives by the forces of globalised capital, as the free trade bandwagon has rolled it's way around the world over the last twenty five years, I believe all protests against such corporate tyranny should be conducted in accordance with the principles of peaceful protest and civil disobedience inspired by such leaders as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. As a supporter of social movement unionism I believe organising, recruitment, and retention strategies will come to nothing if the unions stand apart from the broadest possible coalition of social forces opposed to globalisation's anti-social effects. As an ACTU delegate to the 17th World Congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in Durban this year I do not oppose negotiating with the transnational corporations, and their agents, to try and get our message across, but I support doing so from within a broad coalition protesting against their actions. A clear commitment to a non-violent constructive series of protests will help secure the maximum participation from ordinary citizens in these important community actions.
Stephen Spence,
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Interview: Shifting Sands Michael Crosby Joint Director of the ACTU Organising Centre talks to Workers Online about the changing nature of union power, 'use it or lose it' coverage and how the ALP will have to deal with a transformed union movement. Unions: Mission Possible From Cambodia to Kyrghyzstan, from Malawi to Mozambique, this is one nurse who accepts certain missions where life is on the edge, and she loves it. Economics: A Progressive Alternative Andrew Scott outlines a policy approach for an ALP Government that aims to deliver social as well as economic progress. International: Unions Back International Seafarer Deal Shipping union representatives from 56 countries have decided to back a pioneering international collective bargaining agreement with ship employers. Politics: Apolitical Myth Over the last ten years one story about public interest in politics has found resonance, especially in the US. It suggests that people are no longer interested in political issues. Researchers from the Demos Foundation put this claim under the microscope. Satire: Elaine Nile retires citing victory in "War on Masturbation" There were emotional displays and many tributes paid today as Elaine Nile, Christian Democrat MP of 12 years standing, announced her retirement from the Parliament. Review: Pure Shit The 1970s Aussie drug classic, Pure Shit - a 70s Australian style Trainspotting - is being dusted off for a one-off showing at the Chauvel.
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