Issue 12 - Feb

Things they say

“Your statement that I have disgraced my judgeship is true. My actions have destroyed everything I worked to accomplish and I have only myself to blame”. Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella...

Waterford Crystal: ‘We’re occupying to save our jobs’

Six hundred workers are occupying the Waterford Crystal factory in Ireland after receivers tried to sack them and close the plant.The plant had already suffered cuts in jobs and...

More action needed to trump Telstra over pay

Telstra workers went out on a strike for the second time in two months on Monday February 9. Following on from a four-hour stoppage late last year, unions called...

NSW teachers victory could have gone further

NSW TEACHERS have won a pay increase and the reinstatement of a state-wide staffing plan as part of a new 3-year-award. An initial pay rise of 4.4 per cent will...

Will taking wage cuts save jobs?

As unemployment edges upwards, the myth that cutting wages can save jobs is being promoted once again. Accepting this would be a huge mistake that will hurt our living...

Afghanistan: could this be Obama’s Vietnam

Anyone expecting a less hawkish approach from Obama to the occupation of Afghanistan will be sadly disappointed.His very first military act—three days after his inauguration—was to authorise a strike...

Palestine: how can there be peace?

Despite Israel’s declaration of ceasefire, the number of dead in Gaza continues to rise. Bombings and incursions into the Strip are still claiming civilian lives. Israel’s blockade still restricts...

Convergence strengthens anti-Intervention campaign

Held at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the Canberra Convergence was set to coincide with the opening of Federal Parliament for 2009. The Convergence brought together Indigenous rights activists and...

New push for uranium mines on Aboriginal land

Conservative Indigenous ALP political figure Warren Mundine has taken a position on the board of the Australian Uranium Association (AUA), the industry’s peak lobby group. He is also co-convener...

NT health worker: ‘We demand back our rights’

Irene Fisher is a Jawoyn woman, whose people live mainly around Katherine in the “top end” of the Northern Territory. She works as chief executive of Sunrise Health, a...

Going down: world economy sinks further into recession

The global economic crisis is entering a new phase, as production declines and governments desperately try to stop a global recession turning into depression. China has seen a fall...

Obama’s gloss starting to wear off

Euphoric scenes marked the inauguration of Barack Obama—and the end of the Bush era. Millions who campaigned for an end to war and neo-liberal policy wept with joy as...

Is Rudd returning to social democracy?

“Seismic changes are underway”, writes Kevin Rudd in the latest issue of The Monthly. He declares that a “regime change” from the neo-liberal order to a renewed emphasis on...

Israel’s war destabilises Egyptian dictatorship

Sara Poya was in Egypt in late January, at the end of the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza. She spoke with Solidarity. Why was the Gaza war so significant in...

Worldwide outrage over Israeli war crimes in Gaza

The world has looked in horror at the carnage left after Israel’s attack on Gaza. The sheer scale of the massacre of more than 1400 people in less than...

Imperialism and revolution in the Middle East

The Israeli assault on Gaza has exposed deep divisions between Arab ruling classes, their Western allies and the people of the region, argues Simon Assaf In April 2008 Egypt’s interior...

History of our unions from high point to retreat

Review: Trade Unionism in Australia: A history from flood to ebb tide, By Tom Bramble , Cambridge University Press, $49.95According to the most recent ABS statistics taken before the...

Milk-a tribute to a fighting movement

Review: Milk, Directed by Gus Van Sant, In cinemas nowThe day after the election of Barack Obama, thousands took to the streets of California to protest Proposition 8, a...

Luhrmann’s Australia a nationalist myth

Review: Australia, Directed by Baz Luhrmann, In cinemas nowBaz Luhrmann’s new epic film, Australia, is set in a mythologised Northern Territory in the late 1930s. The film makes an attempt...

Planning Solidarity’s work for 2009

Solidarity held its annual decision making conference over the weekend of February 7 and 8. With the world economy facing its most serious economic crisis since the Second World...

Universities still living with Howard-era cuts

The Rudd government came to power promising an “education revolution”. And a dramatic about face in government policy is desperately needed in the university system, which faced 11 years...

Climate summit provides direction for the movement

Over five hundred people, representing 150 different groups active around climate change, took part in the climate action summit in Canberra from January 31 to February 3, culminating in...

Fiddling on climate while Victoria burns

The devastating Victorian bushfires should have been a harsh wake up call for Kevin Rudd. While Rudd comforted survivors and promised millions to rebuild the region, he has avoided...

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