The announcement by the Cuban Trade Union Confederation (CTC) on September 13 about plans to reduce the state sector workforce by half a million was greeted by jeering headlines from journalists outside the island.
Cuba is rarely of interest to the corporate press unless they believe there is some crisis to celebrate or that new measures can be interpreted as evidence of a shift from socialism to capitalism.
854
More than three million people took part in strikes and protests across France on September 23. They were demanding the withdrawal of laws that will dramatically reduce the right of workers to access pensions. The protests, which had been called by a coalition of seven of France鈥檚 union confederations, showed that the passage of the Pension Bill through France鈥檚 lower house of parliament had done nothing to weaken opposition to the attack on pensions.
The 2008 election of Barack Obama appeared to herald a new dawn for 12 million undocumented immigrants, many of them laboring in the US鈥檚 most exhausting and underpaid workplaces.
The president鈥檚 own aunt, 58-year-old Zeituni Onyango, was forced to live 鈥渨ithout papers鈥 in Boston when a judge rejected her original petition for asylum in 2004. So it seemed Obama would be sympathetic to the plight of immigrants at least.
However, mounting evidence indicates life is becoming increasingly miserable for the undocumented population in the US.
Protests against an attempt to stifle student participation in elections for representatives to faculty boards have triggered one of the most important student occupations seen in Central America in recent years.
The occupation, which began in August, has shut down Guatemala鈥檚 sole public university, the University of San Carlos (USC). It has become a direct challenge to the privatising agenda of successive governments and university administrations.
Campaigners for women鈥檚 reproductive rights are gearing up for a day of protest on October 9. A young woman and her partner from Cairns face charges under Queensland鈥檚 19th century criminal code for procuring an abortion. The trial date is set for October 12. A National Day of Action (NDA) will be marked by protests around the country, demanding that all charges against the couple be dropped.
The NDA is the initiative of three organisations: the Pro-Choice Action Collective in Brisbane, the Women鈥檚 Abortion Action Campaign in Sydney and Radical Women in Melbourne.
鈥淚 want to make films with a social purpose鈥, Newcastle-based film maker and activist Simon Cunich told 麻豆传媒 Weekly. 鈥淚 think every one has got a responsibility to persuade people and to inspire activism.鈥
Cunich, a member of Socialist Alliance, is completing a certificate in Screen and Media.
Newcastle is the largest exporter of coal in the world and Cunich said this 鈥渆nvironmental destruction鈥 has led to a hub of activism in opposition.
The statement below was released on September 24 by the International Action Centre,
* * *
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists in several states across the country.
The FBI began turning over six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis this morning, September 24, 2010, at 8am. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to about a dozen activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan.
The heading at the top of the Emily鈥檚 List website says: 鈥淲hen women support women, women win.鈥 But not all women will be winners from Emily鈥檚 List.
If you鈥檙e an ALP candidate, the list wants you to win. It offers publicity, financial support, and networking to get you elected. Since it was set up in 1996, the political network dedicated to advancing progressive female candidates has donated $600,000 to election campaigns.
A long running struggle to save a public park in the central Tokyo ward of Shibuya from private development by sporting goods company Nike intensified on September 15.
The Shibuya ward authorities sealed off the park and deployed police and private security guards to stop activists and homeless people who live in the park from re-entering. Activists had been occupying the park since March.
Situated in the centre of downtown Tokyo, Miyashita Park has long been an oasis of trees amid the high-rise buildings and expensive retail outlets of Shibuya.
The approaching October 12 trial of a young Cairns couple on abortion-related criminal charges shows the need for repeal of the anti-abortion laws. In response, the campaign to decriminalise abortion is gaining strength.
A July 9 book launch with author Caroline de Costa attracted 90 people. Jo Wainer, a long-time campaigner for abortion rights, was a special guest speaker at the event.
On September 19, tens of thousands of pro-democracy Red Shirts returned to the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok to remember the military coup that took place four years ago, as well as the murder of about 90 unarmed demonstrators in April and May.
Then, many of the protesters were gunned down by army snipers near Ratchaprasong.
Since the brutal killings by the military-backed Abhisit Vejjajiva junta, there has been a climate of fear. Hundreds of political prisoners have been locked up and there is evidence of extrajudicial killings of Red Shirt activists.
The call to put "a price on carbon" has gained wide support in Australia. It has also gained new currency in the context of a minority Labor government formed with support from the Greens and three independents.
Support for a price on carbon has come from across the political spectrum 鈥 from the Liberal Party's Malcolm Turnbull through to grassroots climate activists.
麻豆传媒 Weekly鈥檚 Simon Butler asked five Australian climate activists if they thought a carbon price was good policy and should be supported by climate action movement.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page