A visiting International Monetary Fund official urged ministers in the Romanian capital of Bucharest to rebuff union demands for an increase to the minimum wage, the Morning Star said on October 20.
The monthly minimum wage in Romania is just 600 lei (less than $200). But IMF mission chief Jeffrey Franks, in Romania to review the right-wing government鈥檚 progress in implementing an austerity program in return for a major IMF loan, warned any increase in the minimum wage would discourage bosses from hiring new staff.
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PERTH 鈥 Jewish American author Anna Baltzer spoke to a packed audience of more than 100 people at a forum hosted by Friends of Palestine WA on October 21.
She began by explaining that there were differences between the words "Jewish" (relating to faith or kinship), "Israeli" (relating to citizenship in the state of Israel) and "Zionist" (a political ideology).
Most of her presentation documented the illegal occupation of Palestinian land sponsored by the state of Israel and the effects of that occupation.
Sydney鈥檚 inner-west played host to the inaugural Live Red Art event. The festival of radical art drew a crowd of more than 400 people to the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville on October 17.
Beware! Labour hire
Little Jonny Howard's anti-worker IR laws are alive and well and living in a state near you.
After asking if we could have a cleaner to look after the lunch sheds and toilets, I was sent an email while on RnR telling me I was no longer required, even though the Gorgon/Chevron gas project is still ramping up workers with my qualifications.
North West Labour Solutions, based in Albany, WA, has taken advantage of workers and their good faith by offering employment under the guise of what is essentially an AWA.
Venezuela鈥檚 representative in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Alfredo Missair, spoke on October 18 about Venezuela鈥檚 achievements in the field. He said that 14 million citizens (about half of the population) now have access to food at fair prices.
On the TV show Desperto Venezuela, broadcast by VTV, Missair stressed the country is on track to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals of halving the proportion of the population that is undernourished.
Serge Rodriguez is a Perth-based singer-song writer. Originally from Uruguay, Rodriguez formed the band Gypsy Earth last year. Below are the lyrics of one song, 鈥楯udas鈥. Visit for more information and to buy his music.
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Young man don鈥檛 you follow, don鈥檛 you head the call.
Wars resolve nothing, only destroy.
Look around you and see what it鈥檚 done to your world.
What it鈥檚 done to our children before they are born.
High and mighty men profess with their words.
They鈥檒l try to incite you to march off to war.
All societies need some form of law and order. Over many years of political organising, police who agreed with my right to protest and assisted when political or industrial rallies were being organised earned my respect.
But throughout Australia鈥檚 history, there are many examples of how laws in our society tend to protect the rights and property of the wealthy at the expense of the working class.
Well known are massacres against Aboriginals and miners at Eureka. Less well publicised has been police violence during industrial disputes, acting on the side of employers.
Despite all the rhetoric on climate change, both the NSW and federal governments consider it acceptable to allow seismic testing and drilling to explore for gas and potentially oil off Australia's east coast.
Despite the potential to develop entire new industries in clean, renewable energy, governments will not or cannot break their addiction to fossil fuels. They have literally placed the entire offshore Sydney Basin on the market for fossil fuel extraction; an area of 6000km虏, extending from Wollongong to Port Stephens.
US teenage pop star Justin Bieber released a book on October 12. First Step 2 Forever: My Story is supposed to be his autobiography.
The notion that a 16-year-old has been through enough turmoil to merit an autobiography is bewildering, but then, I suppose only something his ghost-writer had to worry about.
The book comes on the heels of Bieber releasing his own line of nail polish. Yes, nail polish. At least the marketing team behind 鈥淭he Bieb鈥 knows the target audience.
Sources in Victorian public housing say proposed changes to the system will increase rents for tenants and replace government-funded public housing with more expensive privatised housing.
Public housing in Victoria is being dismantled and privatised by stealth, without open and genuine public consultation.
On October 19, at exactly 3.30pm, the Lib-Lab politicians suddenly went from smirk to sombre as the Afghanistan 鈥渄ebate鈥 finally started 鈥 nine years too late. It was a farce.
Union pressure is building against Premier Mike Rann's ALP government of South Australia. Treasurer Kevin Foley and Rann have been targeted in a campaign by trade unions against the recent state budget.
A number of rallies have been called since the budget was handed down. The largest so far, on October 14, estimated at 10,000 by the Public Service Association (PSA).
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