Workers Issues in Australia & the Pacific
Coronial inquest reveals deadly conditions in Australian trucking industry
By Tim Joy, May 7, 1999
A recent coronial inquest into a 1996 road crash between a truck and two other vehicles in South Australia has shed new light on the extremely dangerous work practices in Australia's interstate road t...
Australia:
Union defends BHP after serious explosion at Newcastle steelworks
By Terry Cook, April 30, 1999
On the night of April 20 hundreds of people in the suburbs surrounding BHP's steel plant in the Australian industrial city of Newcastle poured into the streets after a tremendous explosion at the fact...
12 months on
What was the "victory" on the Australian waterfront?
By Terry Cook, April 13, 1999
This week marks 12 months since Patrick Stevedoring, Australia's second largest stevedoring company, sacked its entire 1,427 strong workforce and replaced it with scab labour recruited by the National...
Mass arrests at Australian mine
Union rules out national strike
By our correspondent, February 27, 1999
Arrests are continuing on the picket line at the Gordonstone coal mine near Emerald, in central Queensland. Sixty more workers were detained on Tuesday bringing the total arrested to over 146 in two w...
Australian textile strike enters second month
By Chris Sinnema, January 30, 1999
A strike by 80 workers at the Australian Dyeing Company (ADC) in Clifton Hill, Victoria is about to enter its second month. Members of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union decided to strike at the ...
Striking Australian coal miners sacked
By Barry Jobson and Terry Cook, January 28, 1999
Coal Operations Australia sacked the entire 42-member workforce from its Chain Valley Bay underground coal mine near Newcastle, New South Wales last week. The miners, who have been on strike for nine ...
Australian waterfront workers face further job cuts
By Terry Cook, January 21, 1999
Australia's largest stevedoring company, P & O Ports, is demanding the elimination of 520 jobs from its 1,300-strong national workforce, together with sweeping changes in working conditions. According...
Australia:
Union betrayals cut wages
By Terry Cook, January 14, 1999
A report released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals that over the past four years the wages and conditions of trade union members in many key industries have fallen below ...
