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Aotearoa/New Zealand: Call for international solidarity with Burger King workers
By Joe Carolan
August 24, 2012 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Workers employed by the Burger King fast-food chain, organised by the Unite Union in Aotearoa/New Zealand, are suffering a sustained union-busting campaign, and are now fighting back.
Burger King workers are the lowest-paid fast food workers in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Most are on the minimum wage, even some who have worked there for 15 years. Managers on salary are forced to work extra hours, and sometimes work for less than the minimum wage per hour. Many workers in Burger King are migrant workers, mostly from the Indian subcontinent. They face a bonded labour system. They are terrified of speaking out about mistreatment in case the company revokes their visa sponsorship .
Now the company has tried to bust their union, and is seeking an injunction stopping them from speaking to the media and conducting teach-ins in the community. Unite has taken the company to the Employment Authority, detailing the company's illegal anti-union activities, in a battle that is now shaping up to be the McLibel case of the South Pacific.
Unite union appeals to workers in other countries to organise pickets outside Burger King outlets in all the great cities of the world in solidarity with our fight.
Our fight is for the low-paid precarious workers.
Venezuelan communist talks about struggle for socialism
GreenLeftTV -- Venezuelan revolutionary Carolus Wimmer speaking in Perth on August 16, 2012, part of a national tour organised by the Communist Party of Australia.
By Jim McIlroy
August 14, 2012 -- Green Left Weekly -- Carolus Wimmer, a longstanding member of the Latin American Parliament and international relations secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela, spoke at a Sydney forum on Latin America in revolt on August 11, part of a national speaking tour sponsored by the Communist Party of Australia. During his Australian tour, he also addressed meetings in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
At the Sydney forum, Wimmer took up the question, “What progress has been made toward socialism by the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela?” He said Latin America is still dominated by US imperialism, supported by Britain and Europe. He described the Bolivarian Revolution, which began in Venezuela in 1999, as “an anti-imperialist struggle, with the goal of anti-capitalism and socialism”.
He said:
Tariq Ali: Why Ecuador supports Wikileaks and Assange's rights
August 20, 2012 -- GreenLeftTV/Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- "Why is it that an Australian, facing prosecution from a European country, decides to appeal for asylum to a South American republic?" Tariq Ali asked and eloquently answered this important question when he spoke outside the embassy of Ecuador in London on August 19, 2012. Ali spoke just before Wikileaks founder Julian Assange addressed the press and supporters from the balcony of the embassy, where he has been granted political asylum by the progressive government of Ecuador.
Ricardo Patiño Aroca: Why Ecuador granted Julian Assange political asylum
Telesur English, August 16, 2012 – The
Palestinian People's Party's Shamikh Badra: 'Palestinians must unite to tackle occupation'
Shamikh Badra, youth leader of the Palestine People's Party, speaking at a forum in P
July 20, 2012 – Gre
Video: 'The Story of Change' -- Can shopping save the world? (with script)
'Green Left Report': Michael Karadjis on Greece, left writer Antony Loewenstein and more
July 11, 2012 -- GreenLeftTV -- The second episode of the Green Left Report features and discussion with Michael Karadjis on the political situation in Greece and the rise of far-left SYRIZA coalition; independent journalist, BDS campaigner and author of the new book Left Turn Antony Loewenstein; "commentator" Carlo Sands and much more.
The Green Left Report is a regular show produced by Australia-based GreenLeftTV and is supported by Green Left Weekly and Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
Hosts: Mel Barnes and Simon Butler. Crew: John Reynolds, Jill Hickson, Paul Benedek, Viv Miley, Frank Lesha, Andry Andry and Katrina Channels. Graphics: Daryl Davies. Music: John Gauci. Thanks to all our guests, the crew and the live audience.
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John Riddell: Toward the United Front -- the Fourth Congress of the Communist International (audio)
June 28, 2012 -- A talk presented by John Riddell to the US International Socialist Organization's Socialism 2012 gathering in Chicago, on June 28, 2012. The recording is also available at Wearemany.org, where it first appeared.
Click HERE for more articles on the history of the Communist International.