Greece: ‘War on the capitalist’

The Greek workers who struck and marched last week are our sisters and brothers in a crucial battle. At stake is who will pay for the crisis, and who will meet the bill for the bailout of the bankers. The Greek banners caught the spirit of revolt – “No to the capitalist parasites, wealth belongs to the workers”, and “The workers’ answer is war on the capitalists”.

Several read, “We are not Ireland, we will resist”. The Irish government, aided by compliant union leaders, is imposing a 20 percent wage cut in the public sector, tax increases and welfare cuts. Greek workers are determined to fight. They called their demonstrations a “river of fury”. One large banner carried by finance ministry workers proclaimed, “Workers will cancel the plans of the government and the European Union (EU) carried through with the collusion of the union leaders and the media.”

http://projectsheffield.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/workers-take-to-greek-streets-against-cutbacks/

$15 Billion Euro Olympics Bill

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The Return of the One Big Union? Syndicalism and the IWW in Australia and Sweden.

audio at: http://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/bib/PR0001754.htm

Recorded by Jack Roberts, at Victorian Trades Hall, Carlton Melbourne, Australia. Discussion with Dave Kerin and Gabriel Kuhn on syndicalism in Australia and Sweden.

It mainly focuses on the experiences of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) in Australia but also makes some comparison with the case of the SAC (Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden, an anarcho-syndicalist federation).

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Avatar’s secret history lesson on our doorstep ... The films names, plot and characters are almost direct references to the 1997 Bougainville crisis yet no one seems to have drawn the dots between science fiction and south Pacific fact. Until now. Many people will be familiar with the story of Avatar. The story opens one hundred and fifty years in the future. A human mining corporation, RDA, has come five light years from Earth to the ecologically pristine jungle wilderness of the planet Pandora to mine the mineral unobtanium. The richest deposits of unobtanium lie buried deep within the ground of Pandora and directly below the home of an alien race known as the Na’vi.

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A 4 hour day with no cut in pay will end the time thief Bosses rip off of the "surplus value" of our labour time we donate to them as profits every week...

Coaltion supremo Tony "Taliban" Abbott and the Prime Mincer KRudd who take turns running the meat grinder of us all that is wageslavery disagree with such an upsetting plan and want us all instead to work 40 plus hours with voluntary overtime on and on until 68-70 years of age ....

Shorter working week soon inevitable, forecasts NEW Economics Foundation 13 February 2010

A shorter working week is set to become the new norm, according to a report out this week from nef (the new economics foundation), the UK's leading independent think tank. Published today (Saturday, 13 February, 2010) the study, 21 hours, forecasts a major shift in the length of the formal working week as a consequence of dealing with key economic, social and environmental problems. And this can be seen as a positive opportunity, say the researchers, rather than a threat.

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ITF RALLY AGAINST RIO TINTO IN SUPPORT OF 560 SACKED ILWU MEMBERS ON TUESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2010 at 120 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE at 12.00pm

• Rio Tinto made a profit of 3.7 billion in 2009. • 560 sacked workers at Boron Mine (Mojave Valley, USA) on 29 January 2010. • Contract expired on 11 September 2009; negotiations for the new contract have broken down since. • Bus load security. • Replaced by scab labour.

All Unions, delegates, members and activists are encouraged to attend. Help support those who have supported us.

Authorised by Kevin Bracken, Victorian Branch Secretary, Maritime Union of Australia 46-54 Ireland Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, 3003 Ph 03 9329 5477 Email muavic@mua.org.au http://www.mua.org.au/branches/vic/

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not such a mickey mouse strike ?

Disneyland Hotel Workers Fast For Safer Work Posted By James Parks February 9, 2010

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7GXdfJ2nxE

Quick Solidarity Notes Choir performance at a transit station in Vancouver of a song by David Rovics, in front of Coke advertising , just before transit police arrive. Coke is an official sponsor of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver beginning Feb. 12.

Lyrics to Drink Of The Death Squads :

Coca-Cola came to Colombia Seeking lower wages

They got just what they came for

But as we turn the pages

We find the workers didn't like the sound

Of their children's hungry cries

So they said we'll join the union

And they began to organize

So Coke called up a terrorist group

Called the AUC

They said "we've got some problems At the factory"

So these thugs went to the plant

Killed two union men

Told the rest, "you leave the union

Or we'll be back again"

Now Coke did not complain

About this dirty deed

Why give workers higher wages

When Coke is all they really need

They phoned the AUC

Said "thanks, without you we'd go broke

And to show our appreciation

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Vorsprung durch Technik (German pronunciation: [ˈfoːɐ̯ʃpʁʊŋ dʊɐ̯ç ˈtɛçnɪk], 'Advancement through Technology' or "leap ahead" / 'head start through technology')

What might you find in Victorian Police Chief Simon Overlord, oops Simon Overland's 2010 I WANT ONE shopping list.... What do you buy for the authoritarian thug who has "everything" like cctv surveillance cameras & such, stop & search powers, judges, lock-up cells, batons, handcuffs, guns, capsicum gas... last year they got the Taser (electric shocker) this year ... some noise !

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is a crowd-control and hailing device developed by American Technology Corporation. According to the manufacturer's specifications, the equipment weighs 45 pounds (20 kg) and can emit sound in a 30° beam (only at high frequency, 2.5 kHz) from a device 83 centimetres (33 in) in diameter. At maximum level, it can emit a warning tone that is 146 dBSPL (1,000 W/m2) at 1 metre, a level that is capable of permanently damaging hearing, and higher than the normal human threshold of pain (120–140 dB).

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Mexico Solidarity Forum Presented by Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) 'A report from the Borderlands of Mexico and the US' Thursday March 4, 7PM Northcote Uniting Church 251High St. Northcote

Mexico-US Border “Something to hide?” a “new Future for everyone?

Award-winning radio documentary producer, LASNET co-founder, Colm McNaughton will talk and show photographs about his recent experiences in the borderlands of Mexico and the United States. Colm recently returned from a four month visit to Guatemala and Mexico where, among other things he was making two radio documentaries for the 360 program which is part of Radio National ABC.

drinks and finger food available Donation $5 In solidarity

Building Solidarity with Latin America... Building Bridges... Organising Globally... The power of Grassroots Organisations Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) www.latinlasnet.org

lasnet@latinlasnet.org

Supported by Australia - Latin America Solidarity Coalition

YES WE CA$H!- Welfare struggles and the precarity in Italy by Pemulwry on Feb 3 2010

An interview with a new campaign for a social wage in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, formed in the wake of Onda Anomala movement last year. The current phase of welfare struggles (in countries that have welfare to struggle over) is of defensive struggle against their erosion by neo-liberal re-imposition of work and privatisation.

However, Italy is potentially moving in another direction as the crisis has highlighted the problems of welfare with even liberal commentators advocating the extension of welfare benefits. Yes We Cash is a regional movement, pushing for the creation of a social wage in Emilia-Romagna (in North-West of the country.)

When did YWC start?

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1. Take out a Red Card. Joining the One Big Union is the first step.

a. study the IWW Constitution and consciously digest the IWW Preamble.

2. Once you've taken out your IWW union card, pay your dues.

a. One Big Union cannot function without your active solidarity and that begins with supporting the OBU with your dues. If you don't pay your dues, you've failed to make even a minimal contribution to your own liberation.

b. If everyone who had ever taken out a Red Card had continued to pay their dues, we'd have the Four Hour day by now. War, sexism, racism and wage-slavery would have come to their well deserved end.



3. Once you've paid your dues; agitate, educate and organise your fellow workers to the point where they see the necessity of getting together to support their One Big classwide Union.

a. Paying your dues is the minimum effort you can contribute toward making a social revolution.

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http://tramconductors.net/video.php

20th anniversary of tram lockout 1990-2010

Saturday January 30th from 6pm at pub corner of Sydney Rd and Brunswick Rd called Bridie O'Reilleys - was called Sarah Sands;

Brunswick tram depot workers commemorate the 20th anniversary of the occupation of the Brunswick Depot during the 1990 lockout by the Government.

Community radio station 3CR held a "TRAMATHON" to raise $ for the locked out trammies. 3CR also had a daily update on the dispute from the depots like Brunswick at midday. Please let anyone you know who was involved in supporting the workers in their dispute, if you are new but interested you would also be welcome.

Background, see: http://tramconductors.net/video.php

http://www.iww.org.au/node/902

Melbourne Tram Dispute and Lockout January - February 1990 Anarcho-Syndicalism in Practice A pamphlet by Jura Media Publications, Sydney 1997 Distributed by Jura Books PO Box N32, Petersham North, NSW 2049, Australia

http://www.takver.com/history/tram1990.htm

PDF www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/pdf/d0430.pdf

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record-breaking half a million Australians take extra time off work "sick" as Australia Day approaches. (The Age) 25th January http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events

...The Retailers Association said those who falsely claimed illness were "un-Australian bums". ...Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he was one Australian who'd never taken a sickie in his life, not even in his younger days. ...The four-day long weekend will turn into an epic five-day holiday for some workers, with 100,000 forecast to have a sickie on Wednesday. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/record-sickies-before-australia-day-20100125-mtxk.html

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ART ATTACK UNDER ATTACK

Although Michael Dickinson was aquitted in September 2007 of insulting the Turkish Prime Minister, in May 2009 the Public Prosecutor objected to the aquittal verdict and the Turkish Supreme Court agreed to open the case again.The next trial, when the judge will deliver his final verdict, is set for January 27 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dickinson

Ozfailure Daze - check out http://www.van-thanh-rudd.net/

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data-mining technology meant to root out disaffected insiders

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-9879433-42.html

Here's another reason to get off that antisocial kick and get with the networking.

The Air Force is developing a data-mining technology meant to root out disaffected insiders based on their e-mail activity--or lack thereof, according to an article in this month's International Journal of Security and Networks.

The technology, based on something called Probabilistic Latent Semantic Indexing (PDF), scours an organization's e-mail traffic and constructs a graph of social network interactions illustrating employee activity. If a worker suddenly stops socializing online, abruptly shifts alliances within the organization, or starts developing an unhealthy interest in "sensitive topics," the system detects it and alerts investigators.

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midday 1pm live on 3CR www.3cr.org.au the Tunnerminawait and Maulboyheener commemoration from Bowen lane outside RMIT today Jan 20th 2010

THE OTHER - REAL - CLANCY

by Mungo MacCallum (based on Clancy of the Overflow poem)

He was poisoning the water when he chanced upon a slaughter So he joined in patriotically to massacre and rape And he sees the vision splendid of the native problem ended And a land made safe for cattle from Tasmania to the cape

In my genocidal fancy visions come to me of Clancy With a Gin across his saddle and her children in pursuit As he leaves behind their crying he tots up the dead and dying As he calculates his bounty and gets ready for a root

With commendable persistence Clancy follows the resistance And you’ll find him in the rearguard with the priests and their Te Deums While the troopers do the shooting Clancy rides behind them looting

There’s tjuringas for collectors and some heads for the museums And when he meets Jacky Clancy sometimes offers baccy And many other presents to improve the shining hour When his cobbers call him silly he just smiles and boils his billy

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GurgaonWorkersNews - Newsletter 22 (January 2010) (full version: www.gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com)

Gurgaon in Haryana is presented as the shining India, a symbol of capitalist success promising a better life for everyone behind the gateway of development. At a first glance the office towers and shopping malls reflect this chimera and even the facades of the garment factories look like three star hotels. Behind the facade, behind the factory walls and in the side streets of the industrial areas thousands of workers keep the rat-race going, producing cars and scooters for the middle-classes which end up in the traffic jam on the new highway between Delhi and Gurgaon.

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