[Onthebarricades] Workers' protests, Canada, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/



*  CANADA:  GM car plant workers blockade factory in protest over closure

*  AUSTRALIA:  Postal workers protest work changes

*  NEW ZEALAND:  Telecom workers, food workers protest over pay

*  AUSTRALIA:  Rally by local government workers

*  AUSTRALIA:  Mining equipment workers protest

*  AUSTRALIA:  Union protests charity workers' sackings

*  CANADA:  Alberta politicians fear protests over attack on workers

*  AUSTRALIA:  Laboratory workers campaign to save workplace

*  CANADA:  Postal workers protest over mileage rates

*  AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL:  Trade unionists protest private equity firms

*  AUSTRALIA:  Public sector workers rally in New South Wales

*  NEW ZEALAND:  Bank workers protest in Wellington

*  AUSTRALIA:  More protests for abolition of building board

*  AUSTRALIA:  Firefighters march on offices of politician

*  AUSTRALIA:  Teachers protest at official's office


http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/255863/GM_Production_Halted_By_Union_Protest

GM Production Halted By Union Protest
Posted Jun 8, 2008 by  Bob Ewing in Business | 11 comments | 456 viewsNext 
in Business
Study: Most U.S. Corporations Pay No Income Tax

General Motors' Oshawa, Ontario, car and truck plants were shut down for 
several hours Saturday during a protest against plans to close a truck 
assembly line.
General Motors workers continued their protest yesterday by driving their 
vechiles around the company's plants.

The plants were shut down for several hours as the workers registered their 
anger with the company's plans to close the plants.

Union spokesman Keith Osborne said. Federal politicians, including Liberal 
Leader Stéphane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton, were present to provide 
their support,

Transport workers could be heard honking their horns in support of the 
workers.

According to Osborne, who is the Canadian Auto Workers' plant chair for GM's 
Oshawa complex, the vehicles travelled at about 10 km/hr in a protest aimed 
at pressuring the company to reverse its decision.

Meanwhile the union's blockade of the plant was in its fourth day; the 
blockade began last Wednesday, one day after GM announced plans to close 
four plants in North America.

The Oshawa truck-assembly line is slated to shut down next year, putting 
2,600 people out of work.

Two weeks prior to this announcement, members of the Canadian Auto Workers 
union ratified a three-year contract with General Motors, which they say 
contained a promise the plant would build a new hybrid truck that would give 
them work until at least 2011.

The union has vowed to maintain the blockade and states that the Oshawa 
plant shutdown violates that contract, in which members agreed to a wage 
freeze and several concessions to maintain the jobs.

Buzz Hargove, union president had met on Friday with GM brass at the 
company's headquarters in Detroit, but GM flatly refused a union demand to 
keep the truck plant open past 2009.

 http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/06/04/5767571-cp.html

GM workers fearing for their future
By Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OSHAWA, Ont. - Angry General Motors workers put up a defiant front Wednesday 
as they blockaded the company's corporate offices, a show of protest they 
hope will help reverse the embattled automaker's decision to mothball a 
truck plant that employs 2,600 people.
Behind all the placards, flags and shouts of anti-government rhetoric in 
this auto-manufacturing hotbed, however, loomed the grim reality of an 
uncertain future - one that Tuesday's sudden bad news has given few GM 
workers much of a chance to prepare for.
"We try to make light of it, keep a smile on our face, keep our spirits up, 
(but) I'm pretty sad," said Bob Cain, a 23-year veteran of GM who showed up 
at the protest in hopes of winning some form of concessions from the 
company.
Cain, 42, struggled to keep his composure as he spoke about his 
nine-year-old son Ashton and how he plans to provide for his future.
"I don't know," he said jokingly. "Get a paper route?"
More than 150 workers were at the blockade throughout the day Wednesday, 
promising to stand their ground until GM either changes its mind about 
closing the plant next year or agrees to compensate the affected employees, 
said union spokesman Chris Buckley.
Buckley, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union Local 222, later said 
GM had agreed to meet Friday in Detroit with senior union leaders. Until 
then, he said, the protest isn't going anywhere.
"I would have travelled to Detroit this afternoon to meet with them, but 
apparently they can only meet on Friday morning," he said.
"(Given) the severity of the situation, one would think they'd want to meet 
as soon as possible to put this issue behind us."
The protest could be just the first step in an ongoing fight against the 
automaker's plans, although GM plant workers were being told they should 
continue working, Buckley added.
"We are encouraging our members in the plants to continue to build cars and 
trucks. We are not asking our members to withdraw our services."
The protest began early Wednesday as a blockade of the GM building, but 
eventually some corporate employees were allowed to pass and enter the 
building. Shortly after the business day began, however, GM decided to send 
its corporate staff home.
General Motors spokesman Stew Low called the protest "understandable" and 
said the company wasn't looking for police assistance.
"This is a very tough thing for employees to go through and for the union to 
go through and us as well," Low said.
The company would be willing to meet with the union to explain its decision, 
which is a reflection of the changing market for more fuel-efficient 
vehicles, he added.
"We'd love nothing better than to be continuing to build pickup trucks in 
great volumes, but . . . consumers are moving away from big trucks to cars 
and smaller crossover vehicles and we're transforming to be a part of that," 
Low said.
Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton arrived in the afternoon to meet with 
protesters and said companies that receive public money, such as General 
Motors, should be held accountable for the treatment of their workers.
"Protests like this are a way of saying to companies that we expect 
companies to live up to their agreements," Hampton said. "We expect 
companies to respect workers."
The company shouldn't be allowed to take public money, then backpedal on a 
contract deal negotiated two weeks ago, he added.
The Ontario government plans to try to recoup part of a $175-million 
provincial loan earlier than planned if GM was found to be violating minimum 
job levels specified in their agreement.
Premier Dalton McGuinty wouldn't say Wednesday whether he thinks the protest 
should continue, but said he understands the plight of the workers and 
respects their right to earn a living.
"This is their livelihood," McGuinty said. "There aren't that many things 
that are more important than that. It's their ability to feed their families 
and build a bright future for themselves."
Tracy Ryder, 41, worked for GM for 20 years before she was laid off at 
Christmas, a move that has forced her to make tough decisions ever since.
All employees can do for now is put faith in their union, Ryder said.
"I've sold my house because of the uncertainty already, and then when I 
heard the news yesterday about the truck plant closing altogether, I 
thought, 'Well, I've made the right decision."'
Protesters said they plan to continue their demonstration through the night 
and possibly the next several days in order to stand up for their jobs and 
their industry.
It likely won't be enough, said one analyst.
The industry is changing so rapidly that there just isn't demand for the 
types of vehicles GM's truck line was producing, said Scotiabank economist 
Carlos Gomes.
"The shift from big vehicles has accelerated quite dramatically," Gomes 
said, citing a sales decline in trucks of 15 per cent in the first quarter 
of 2008 alone.
"These types of vehicles are not selling at the moment."
Tuesday's cuts are another blow to the battered manufacturing sector in 
Ontario and Quebec, which has been decimated by layoffs and closures in the 
lumber, auto assembly, textiles and auto parts sectors. A high Canadian 
dollar and a slump in the United States have squeezed exports in those 
industries and produced widespread streamlining at the so-called Big Three 
carmakers - GM, Ford and Chrysler.

http://economie.moldova.org/stiri/eng/125430/

Protesters blocking GM Canadian plant
A leader of General Motors employees who used a convoy of cars to block 
delivery trucks from a entering Canadian plant Saturday, says the action was 
about jobs.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said the automobile blockade of a truck 
assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, marked the most recent protest since 
General Motors announced the plant would be shut down.
The decision, which will put 2,600 people out of work, also prompted a 
blockade of the company's Canadian corporate headquarters Wednesday.
The plant's closure next year was part of the automaker's announcement that 
four North American plants would be shut down, the CBC said.
The Toronto Star reported that Canadian Auto Workers Local 222 President 
Chris Buckley, whose union is conducting the Oshawa protest, told his 
supporters Saturday the blockade was aimed at preserving jobs.
This is about all of us -- all our jobs, all our community, he said.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Publication date: 07 June 2008

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080616/CAW_blockade_080616/20080616?hub=Canada

Protests to continue despite end of blockade: CAW
Updated Mon. Jun. 16 2008 2:07 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Protesting workers ended a two-week blockade around the General Motors 
Canada headquarters on Monday, allowing 900 salaried employees to go back to 
their offices.
Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union disbanded from the Oshawa, Ont. 
property by 7 a.m. to comply with a legal injunction issued on Friday by 
Justice David Salmers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
His order allowed for 20 people at a time to continue to protest, but the 
union decided to vacate the property altogether. Many took part in a rolling 
protest in their vehicles that wound its way through Oshawa on Monday 
morning.
Keith Osborne, the chairman of the CAW Local 222, said union members made 
sure the property was clean of any garbage before they left.
"We cleaned up last night," he said. "We had people picking up cigarette 
butts. The place will look like we've never been there."
Nonetheless, union officials say they are far from quitting their fight to 
keep the Oshawa plant open.
Workers have been protesting GM's decision to cut the plant since June 4 
when the company announced high fuel costs are forcing them to cut 
productivity on their pick-up trucks and SUVs. They said the Oshawa plant 
would close by 2009, leaving 2,600 people without jobs.
The union argued GM made the decision to close the plant just two weeks 
after it had ratified an agreement with the CAW ensuring job security for 
Oshawa workers. The union says GM breached the contract by pulling out of a 
promise to continue production at the plant through 2011.
"There are a number of different (protest) options we're going to explore," 
said Local 222 president Chris Buckley on Monday.
"I will sit down with GM any time, any place but at the end of the day, GM 
needs to understand that this fight is far from over," he continued. "We 
need a product in that facility."
Buckley wouldn't say what kind of action workers were planning.
"Stay tuned," he said.
GM union members say they must continue their fight or else workers at other 
auto makers will suffer the same consequences.
"The CEO of Ford (was) calling our leader here Buzz Hargrove, saying 'if 
you're going to let GM breach their contract we're going to do the same 
thing,'" one worker told CTV Toronto on Monday.
Union officials have talked about holding information pickets at GM 
facilities across Ontario and maybe even Detroit.
Osborne told The Canadian Press that he would meet with union lawyers late 
Monday to discuss bringing the dispute to the Ontario Labour Relations 
Board.
When GM announced the truck plant closure, the company cited slow sales. 
Statistics Canada figures released Monday confirmed that claim, saying new 
vehicle sales fell for a third straight month in April, mainly due to lower 
sales in Nova Scotia and the four western provinces.
With a report by CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon and files from The Canadian 
Press

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23675412-2862,00.html

Posties protest work changes
May 10, 2008 02:20pm
POSTIES are rallying through Melbourne's western suburbs in protest against 
the closure of three delivery centres and the recruitment of outworkers.
Communication Workers' Union (CWU) organiser Joan Doyle said Australia Post 
was closing the Newport, West Footscray and Sunshine delivery centres to 
make way for a new centralised centre at West Sunshine in July.

As a result, 130 staff would be redeployed and part-time outworkers hired to 
work four-hour shifts on 15 per cent less pay per hour.

Ms Doyle said the shake-up would compromise the reliability of the mail 
service and the $66 a day pay packet for new posties was not enough to live 
off.

"It's a disgrace in this day and age," she said.

"... They're trying to introduce outworkers into our industry when we've 
never had them before.

"What it means is that people don't have the ability to organise, they have 
low pay rates, they don't know what their rights are and they don't have a 
workplace and work mates."

Ms Doyle said mail deliveries would inevitably be affected because new 
posties would no longer be responsible for sorting the mail they deliver.

And there would be a high turnover of staff.

She said hundreds of posties turned out to vent their anger at today's 
rally, driving in convoy from the Footscray Post Office to Williamstown.

Australia Post disputes the union's attendance figures and said the rally 
was a Union Solidarity protest.

"I would be surprised if any posties are there," spokeswoman Nadine Lyford 
said.

She said there would be no job losses when the mail centres merged and in 
most cases postal workers would keep their existing rounds.

"They're not upset. We've got three facilities that are relocating to a new 
custom-built, brand new facility.

"All these posties are keeping their jobs ... In the large majority of cases 
the same posties will actually be delivering to the same addresses."

Ms Lyford said Australia Post had yet to make a decision about employing 
outworkers.

But if it did, they would not get penalty rates because they would not work 
early morning shifts, she said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4526546a28.html

Telecom broadband workers to protest pay offer
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Telecom broadband technicians are protesting outside the company's main 
offices in Auckland and Christchurch today over a pay offer which they say 
does not cover the rate of inflation.
The technicians are employed by Australian company Downer EDI which is 
Telecom's largest contractor.
However, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) blamed 
Telecom for the offer based on its "refusal to properly resource its 
contractors".
Telecom spokesman Mark Watts said the company had no comment on the 
industrial issue which was, "between Downer and their workforce".
"It doesn't involve Telecom, it involves the workers and their employer 
which is Downer not Telecom," he said.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little disagreed, saying Telecom's dominant 
position allowed it to push down costs, harming workers.
"Telecom's been playing its contractors off against each other for years to 
the point where there now isn't money available to pay broadband workers a 
fair rate, which is particularly galling for them when their skills are in 
high demand internationally and they can get 50 per cent more just by 
crossing the ditch."
He said it was "extremely short-sighted, if not irresponsible" to 
under-invest in a skilled workforce when a massive rollout of fibre optic 
infrastructure was likely.
Downer EDI New Zealand general manager Sheridan Broadbent said she respected 
the workers' right to take action but was surprised they had decided to 
involve Telecom.
"The EPMU and its members have got a right to do what they need to do. I'm 
not comfortable they are trying to involve our customer because commercially 
it's embarrassing for us.
"These are our staff and we should be dealing with them directly. And from 
Telecom's point of view they don't want to get involved in discussing what 
we may or may not do with our own staff."
She said negotiations with the EPMU had reached "an impasse" and they were 
heading to mediation at the beginning of June.
It is not the first time unions have targeted the customer of a contractor 
in recent disputes.
Last month the EPMU spoke out against energy company Vector, blaming them 
for not providing sufficient funding to contractor Energex to pay their line 
workers.
A few days earlier Spotless Services workers, represented by the Service and 
Food Workers Union, ended a two-year dispute over pay, during which they 
protested outside hospitals and the home of a District Health Board 
chairman.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4500417a11.html

Auckland Foodstuffs workers protest low wages
NZPA | Monday, 28 April 2008

Auckland Foodstuffs workers, who say they can't feed their families on their 
wage, have begun a series of extended lunchtime strikes.
National Distribution Union distribution sector secretary Karl Andersen said 
workers added an extra half an hour on to their half-hour lunch break today 
and would continue doing so until negotiations with Foodstuffs were settled.
The ninety unionised distribution staff have said they could not afford to 
properly feed their families on their current pay rates, Mr Andersen said.
"How long will it take for companies like billion-dollar Foodstuffs to take 
responsibility for the wage-poverty they maintain and start paying their low 
paid workers and families a livable wage."
Mr Andersen said it was appalling the Reserve Bank was calling for wage 
restraint when one in five children remained in poverty, despite the recent 
economic boom.
The striking workers receive $14.59 an hour and are fighting for $17 an 
hour.
The company, which owns Pak'N Save and New World supermarkets, was offering 
up to $15.50 an hour but Mr Andersen said that was not good enough for New 
Zealand's second biggest company.
"Foodstuffs made its biggest profit ever last year," he said. Murray Jordan 
from Foodstuffs Auckland said he was surprised by the strike action.
"We're in early stages of what has so far been amicable negotiations with 
the union.
"We look forward to reaching a settlement in due course which is 
satisfactory to both parties."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4526501a6530.html

Telecom techs in pay protest
UPDATE: Telecom broadband technicians are protesting outside the company's 
main offices in Auckland and Christchurch today over a pay offer which they 
say does not cover the rate of inflation.
The technicians are employed by Australian company Downer EDI which is 
Telecom's largest contractor.
However, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) blamed 
Telecom for the offer based on its "refusal to properly resource its 
contractors''.
Telecom spokesman Mark Watts said the company had no comment on the 
industrial issue which was, "between Downer and their workforce''.
"It doesn't involve Telecom, it involves the workers and their employer 
which is Downer not Telecom,'' he said.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little disagreed, saying Telecom's dominant 
position allowed it to push down costs, harming workers.
"Telecom's been playing its contractors off against each other for years to 
the point where there now isn't money available to pay broadband workers a 
fair rate, which is particularly galling for them when their skills are in 
high demand internationally and they can get 50 percent more just by 
crossing the ditch.''
He said it was "extremely short-sighted, if not irresponsible'' to 
under-invest in a skilled workforce when a massive rollout of fibre optic 
infrastructure was likely.
Downer EDI New Zealand general manager Sheridan Broadbent said she respected 
the workers' right to take action but was surprised they had decided to 
involve Telecom.
"The EPMU and its members have got a right to do what they need to do. I'm 
not comfortable they are trying to involve our customer because commercially 
it's embarrassing for us.
"These are our staff and we should be dealing with them directly. And from 
Telecom's point of view they don't want to get involved in discussing what 
we may or may not do with our own staff.''
She said negotiations with the EPMU had reached "an impasse'' and they were 
heading to mediation at the beginning of June.
It is not the first time unions have targeted the customer of a contractor 
in recent disputes.
Last month the EPMU spoke out against energy company Vector, blaming them 
for not providing sufficient funding to contractor Energex to pay their line 
workers.
A few days earlier Spotless Services workers, represented by the Service and 
Food Workers Union, ended a two-year dispute over pay, during which they 
protested outside hospitals and the home of a District Health Board 
chairman.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/750/38796

WA public servants protest for pay rise

Barry Healy
10 May 2008

Western Australian public servants voted unanimously to continue their fight 
for a decent pay rise at a 1000-strong rally on the steps of Parliament 
House on May 8.
The rally heard from Civil Service Association officials that the government 
had either rejected all of the union's pay proposals or hedged their offers 
with conditions trade-offs.

"We think the government has just forgotten about the people who deliver the 
day-to-day service to the people", CSA state secretary Toni Walkington said.

The rally, which was preceded by a march through the streets of Perth, 
coincided with the handing down of the state budget.

Barry Healy

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/21/1957638.htm

Sandvik workers protest over enterprise bargaining
Posted Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:00am AEST
Map: Newcastle 2300
Dozens of employees of a Newcastle mining equipment company on the New South 
Wales central coast are manning a picketline on Industrial Drive as part of 
a dispute over enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The Sandvik workers have gone on strike for 24 hours, concerned over the 
company's wage offer and attempts to reduce conditions.
Australian Workers Union spokesman Kevin Maher says after months of 
negotiations, employees decided strike action was the only option.
"The thing that's equally galling is the company is a major supplier to the 
mining industry, going gang busters as they tell us, but are deciding to 
give an absolute minimum set of wage increases over the next couple of years 
to their employees," he said.
Sandvik has declined to comment.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/26/1962741.htm

Union protests charity workers' sacking
Posted Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:40pm AEST
Unions have accused the St Vincent de Paul Society of sacking two of its 
staff members because they used a staff meeting to complain about the 
behaviour of a manager.
The two workers have taken the charity to the New South Wales Industrial 
Relations Commission, which is arbitrating the dispute.
Michael Flinn, from the Australian Services Union, says the workers were 
sacked when staff members grouped together to raise their concerns with 
management.
"This was a group concern and it had to be dealt with as a group," he said.
"This is not about singling out individuals, this is about the right of 
people to have their problems dealt with as a group."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/06/03/edm-labour.html?ref=rss

Alberta legislature braces for protests over labour code changes
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | 10:20 AM
CBC News
Government officials are so concerned about the potential for strife over 
changes to Alberta's labour code that they have beefed up security at the 
legislature.
"We expect individuals to come and voice their displeasure with what we're 
doing," said Alberta Employment Minister Hector Goudreau Monday.
Goudreau said extra sheriffs have been brought in this week, but he would 
not provide any details.
"We're trying to minimize conflicts by just being more on the cautious 
side."
The changes announced to the labour code Monday are the first in 20 years. 
Among other things they will ban strikes by ambulance workers and prevent 
unions from subsidizing contract bids by unionized contractors competing 
with non-union firms.
The new legislation will also prevent union organizers from joining a 
non-union company to kick-start the process of unionizing the firm - a 
practice known as "salting."
'He's just trying to make us look like the bad guys in this case, when 
obviously it's the government that's wearing the black hat.'-Alberta 
Federation of Labour president, Gil McGowan
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gill McGowan said he's doubly 
incensed. First the government introduced the legislation, he said, then it 
suggested labour groups would resort to violence.
"He's just trying to make us look like the bad guys in this case when 
obviously it's the government that's wearing the black hat."
There is no need for politicians to fear for their safety, he said. But he 
also acknowledged workers will be upset by the legislation.
"From our perspective it's not only unconstitutional, it's illegal. And it's 
a slap in the face to all these hard-working Albertans."
McGowan said it's too early to say whether labour groups would plan mass 
demonstrations to fight the changes which, given the Tories' huge majority 
in the legislature, could be passed into law by the end of the week.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/13/2273370.htm

CSIRO staff to protest against lab closure
Posted Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:39am AEST
Map: Merbein 3505
Groups opposing the closure of the CSIRO research laboratory at Merbein, 
near Mildura, have met an adviser to federal Science Minister Kim Carr.
About 30 staff will lose their jobs when the 90-year-old facility's work is 
transferred to Adelaide within three years.
The adviser met staff and industry leaders yesterday, but the Government 
says the CSIRO is at arm's length from Government and it will not seek to 
have the decision reversed.
Staff are taking part in a Black Friday protest around the nation today, but 
the staff association's Everard Edwards says he is not hopeful.
"Well I think it would be hard for the decision to be reversed, but of 
course we always hold out hope that not only would the decision be reversed, 
but that the site may be built up to provide a centre for the future," he 
said.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=11978603-3dfc-4e1e-852a-3a4903e0798b

Canada Post couriers to protest against mileage rates
Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
ABBOTSFORD - Mail couriers with Canada Post plan a protest Friday over the 
vehicle-allowance rate they are paid.
"The raise in gas prices and the new carbon tax comes straight out of our 
own pockets, but yet we have not seen any increase in vehicle funding," said 
Canada Post courier David Morrison.
Canada Post couriers pay all their own vehicle expenses, including gas, 
maintenance and insurance, but the amount of money they are given "does not 
come even close to covering the costs," said Morrison.
"Canada Post has told us they have raised their gas surcharges for the 
public on all deliveries, to make up for the high gas prices, but yet we 
have not seen any of that," he said.
All Canada Post mail couriers are paid 50 cents per kilometre for the first 
5,000 kilometres and then they are given 39 cents for every kilometre after 
that, said Morrison.
"Canada Post has presented what we believed was a reasonable and just offer 
at the negotiating table," said Lillian Au, Canada Post's manager of media 
and community affairs for the Pacific region.
The protest is planned for 1 p.m. at the Canada Post outlet at Clearbrook 
Town Square in Abbotsford.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24033107-421,00.html?from=public_rss

Unionists to join global protests
July 17, 2008 12:12am
UNIONSISTS will join a global day of protest today against private equity 
firms they say exploit workers.
The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) says its members will 
take part in various actions across the nation as part of international Take 
Back the Economy demonstrations.
The LHMU will target Australian companies associated with private equity 
firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), such as Coles, Toys R Us, Nuvox 
Communications and the Seven Media Group.
LHMU assistant national secretary Tim Ferrari said his union supported 
demands outlined by the Service Employees International Union calling for 
private equity firms like KKR to be more accountable and responsible.
"The LHMU believes that good corporate practice will not only improve the 
conditions of millions of workers but also help strengthen economies and 
protect the environment.''

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318990.htm

Public sector workers take pay protest to Costa
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:21pm AEST
Map: Newcastle 2300
More than 50 public sector employees have rallied outside of the office of 
New South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa in protest at the State Government's 
latest pay offer.
Police association Hunter representative Kel Graham says the offer of a 2.5 
per cent rise per year fails to reflect the impact of inflation and rising 
cost of living.
Mr Graham says officers are today refusing to issue fines for minor 
infringements to convey their dissatisfaction with the offer to the 
Government.
"We're not going to wear it, so today to send a message home we're asking 
members to use their discretion and not write out tickets to hit the 
Government where it hurts, in the hip pocket," he said.
"[This should] identify with them that we are hurting and we want to 
maintain a decent standard of living."

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/4907046

Bank staff to stage protest ahead of strike
August 15, 2008, 10:40 am
NZPA © [Enlarge photo]
ANZ National Bank workers plan to picket outside the Courtenay Place branch 
in Wellington at lunch time today to draw attention to their cause ahead of 
planned strike action next week.
The bank workers' union Finsec is in dispute with the bank as it seeks what 
it believes will be "a better deal for New Zealanders".
Finsec's claims are part of an industry campaign launched in February which 
aims to create "better banks" and greater regulation in the finance sector.
"Bank staff have been attempting to negotiate fairer sales targets, better 
staffing levels and real wage increases that recognise the skills and value 
they bring to the bank," Finsec said.
ANZ staff have scheduled a strike for next Friday and in the lead-up are 
running a public campaign to garner public support.
ANZ National Bank spokeswoman Virginia Stacey-Clitherow told Fairfax Media 
the bank was the industry leader in terms of staff pay and conditions and 
salary payments for non-managerial staff at both ANZ and National Banks were 
independent of sales targets.
"We pay more than our main competitors for similar jobs, sometimes by as 
much as 15 percent."
However, ANZ National staff representative Cathie Lendrum said the bank 
could afford a better deal and was treating New Zealand like a "cash cow".
"ANZ National is returning as much profit as possible to Australia ahead of 
investing in the business locally."
Ms Campbell said this was demonstrated in the bank's decision, announced 
last month, to shift 238 back office jobs to India where the work would be 
done at a quarter of the cost.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/762/39359

Protesters call on PM to abolish ABCC

Jim McIlroy, Brisbane
10 August 2008

"Abolish the ABCC! Support rights of building workers!" was the message on 
protesters' placards outside PM Kevin Rudd's electorate office in 
Morningside on August 8.
The picket called for the abolition of the Howard-era Australian Building 
and Construction Commission (ABCC), a special industrial police force set up 
under the Howard government to attack building unions and their members. The 
federal Labor government has not disbanded it.

"A Victorian [building] union official, Noel Washington, faces six months' 
in jail for simply refusing to tell the ABCC who attended a union meeting 
held outside work hours. Yet, the Rudd government refuses to act!", Maggie 
May, spokesperson for WorkLife, the workers' rights coalition which 
organised the protest, said the previous day. WorkLife will screen the 
hard-hitting film exposing the ABCC, Constructing Fear, on August 28 [see 
the calendar on page 23].

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/local/4864004

Firefighters protest at Rees' office
August 7, 2008, 4:00 pm
AAP © [Enlarge photo]
NSW firefighters have marched on the electoral offices of Emergency Services 
Minister Nathan Rees, calling on him to intervene in their long-running 
dispute over wages and conditions.
About 150 firefighters descended on Mr Rees' western Sydney electorate 
office on Thursday. They say the NSW Fire Brigades is trying to water down 
employment conditions in return for higher wages.
Firefighters and the NSW Fire Brigade Employees' Union (FBEU) have been 
fighting the Iemma government's insistence on a 2.5 per cent cap on public 
sector wage increases.
Pay rises above the cap will only be given if there are productivity gains, 
the government says.
FBEU vice president Jim Casey said the fire brigade was trying to trade away 
leave and other entitlements during the arbitration process, or wanted 
roster changes which could see some stations closed.
The dispute is now being heard by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission 
(IRC).
"The last offer they made to us before we got into formal conciliation was 
essentially three-quarters of a per cent on top of the 2.5 per cent, and in 
return for that we were giving up, amongst other things, a week of annual 
leave," he said.
"It was clearly not an offer made in good faith. It's a spit in the face, 
and they want to take us through the courts.
"We're prepared to take our chances in terms of having a crack inside the 
IRC around the question about the quantum of our wages, but we're not 
prepared to negotiate around questions like rostering or leave."
Firefighters wanted Mr Rees to intervene and stop the "attacks" on their 
working conditions, Mr Casey said.
"We're calling on the minister to intervene to resolve the pay matter we've 
currently got before the courts ... and to stop these attacks," he said.
Firefighters are not the only public servants fighting the 2.5 per cent cap, 
with police and other workers angry at the Iemma government's handling of 
public sector wages.
This culminated in a statewide protest last month, when firefighters and 
other public servants walked off the job.
Mr Casey would not rule out similar action in the future, should 
firefighters and the government fail to reach an agreement in the IRC.
"If the government is going to treat public sector workers this way then 
public sector workers are going to be voting with their feet, and there will 
be some type of industrial disruption around that," he said.
"If they don't give us satisfaction now they've got two-and-a-half years of 
an extremely pissed off, well-mobilised and angry fire service."
Mr Rees said the NSW Fire Brigades had put a number of cost saving proposals 
to the union, but roster changes were not on the table.
"The NSW Fire Brigades commissioner has assured me there is no plan to 
change the ... roster used by most fulltime firefighters and no fire 
stations will be closed," said Mr Rees, who has been touted as a replacement 
for beleaguered Premier Morris Iemma .

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/4863754

Teachers protest outside Henderson's office
ABC - August 7, 2008, 3:46 pm
ABC © [Enlarge photo]
Around 150 teachers set up a picket opposite the Chief Minister's electoral 
office this morning demanding a better pay deal before Saturday's election.
The teachers waved placards and banners and blew whistles to show they are 
fed up with the Government's 12 per cent pay offer.
The Australian Education Union wants a 20 per cent pay rise over three 
years, and the Australian Education Union's Nadine Williams says the offer 
from the Government is not good enough.
"Promises at election time are worth very little because we've had promises 
since 2001 from the Labor Party, many of which have never been fulfilled and 
they include increasing the level of support for teachers, making education 
the number one priority. "
The union's Glenn Dixon says teachers are fed up with waiting.
"We need to be in a competitive market with the rest of Australia and 
unfortunately 12 per cent just doesn't get us there. We are already seeing a 
shortage of teachers now, especially specialist teachers."
Many teachers say they will not be voting Labor if a better deal is not 
offered, though the union says it is also waiting to hear what the offer the 
CLP would put on the table if elected.
Teachers have not ruled out more demonstrations tomorrow.
The Chief Minister says he is dissapointed by the union decided to strike 
during the election campaign.
"We've given the union an absolutle clear commmittment, its in the paper 
today but it's also a commitmtnet thats been given to them over the last two 
weeks, that if returned to government, we would continue to negotiate in 
good faith."