Unions can ensure the wages of volunteer emergency services workers like firefighters are protected in the event of forced absences from work. BOYCOTT FOSTERS LARGER FOR SACKING VICTORIAN VOLUNTEER BUSH FIRE FIGHTERS

Firefighters sacked by Foster's Sunday, February 15, 2009 » 07:06am

Workers say brewing giant Foster's deliberately made 115 employees redundant in the aftermath of the Victorian bushfires to minimise publicity. Maintenance and trade staff working at the Abbotsford plant in inner Melbourne, including Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers Shane Cramer, Dave Dixon and another unnamed worker, were notified of their redundancies on Thursday.

Foster's publicly apologised for the timing of the announcement on Friday, saying it was 'a very unfortunate accident'.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/no-paycheck-for-volunteer-firefighter/2009/02/21

No paycheck for volunteer firefighter February 21, 2009 - 8:48AM

A Victorian aged care home did not pay a volunteer firefighter who battled the Black Saturday bushfires, a union claims. The Health Services Union (HSU) says the frontline firefighter was called to put in containment lines around fires in Gippsland as part of a Country Fire Authority strike team.

"then dump the bosses off yer back"

Tent City for Jobless over the New Years Period was opened at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Many temp workers who were laid off gathered. Produced by Video Press. Subtitled by Internationl division of Labor Net Japan. http://labornetjp.blogspot.com/2009/02/tent-city-for-joblessmovie-with-english.html

MORE: http://www.povnet.org/node/3076

Japanese tent city for unemployed January 9, 2009 - 11:30am Over the new year, a tent village was set up by a number of volunteer groups in a Tokyo park for the country’s growing number of unemployed workers. The organizers led a march to demand stable employment and housing.

The tent city filled up so quickly that the government was forced to open up shelters to house the unemployed workers....

Be a Home Defender "Some things are worth fighting for, and I think your family and your home are two of those things." -Baltimore ACORN Foreclosure Fighters Co-Chair Louis Beverly

The foreclosure crisis lies at the very heart of the broader economic collapse. The glut of foreclosed properties on the market forced housing prices into a tailspin, and banks loaded up with mortgage-backed securities and complex derivatives, unable to value or sell these assets, stopped lending to each other and the credit markets froze up, triggering the broader economic morass.

A broad and successful economic recovery is impossible without directly addressing the record foreclosure rate that lies at its heart. If we do not take any action, Credit Suisse predicts that there will be between 8 and 9 million foreclosures in the next four years, at a potential cost to the economy of $702 billion.

"We have only a few hours to flood the Iranian government with messages of protest from around the world.

Ali Nejati, Feridoun Nikoufard, Mohammed Heydari Mehr, Ghorban Alipour and Jalil Ahmadi are leaders of the trade union of workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Plantation and Industry Company in Shush, an affiliate of the IUF.

The 5,000 workers at Haft Tapeh have had to resort to repeated strike action over the past two years over failure to pay wages and in support of basic workplace rights. They have been ceaselessly harassed and victimized, with suspected militants subject to frequent arrests and public whippings.

On 20 December last year, the five leaders were charged with "acting against national security" as a result of their trade union activity. They face potentially lengthy prison sentences. We've received a report from the IUF that on Sunday, 22 February, there is going to be a court hearing in Iran at which the fate of five jailed trade union leaders may be decided.

Indymedia reports from the MUA state conference Restream the radio show here:

http://www.rtrfm.com.au/restream/6195

Alex Whisson and Ray Grenfell from Perth Indymedia Radical Radio interviewed international trade unionists attending the MUA state conference this week.

UK - Steve Todd, National Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. Steve spoke about the current wildcat strikes in the UK, the attempted infiltration by the BNP and the future for workers in the UK and abroad in the context of the economic crisis.

South Africa - Yongamela Manene, National Secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) Yongamela spoke about SATAWU's decisions to boycott all Israeli vessels entering South Africa, the similarities between apartheid South Africa and Palestine and the current political and economic situation in South Africa.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE51C2MU20090213?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Anthony Suau, a Time photographer based in the U.S., has won the World Press Photo of the Year 2008 award with a picture showing an armed officer of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department moving through a home in Cleveland, Ohio, following eviction as a result of mortgage foreclosure.

Jury chair MaryAnne Golon said: "The strength of the picture is in its opposites. It's a double entendre. It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in its classic sense is coming into people's houses because they can't pay their mortgages". The prize-winning entries of the World Press Photo Contest 2009, the world's largest annual press photography contest, were announced February 13, 2009. REUTERS/Anthony Suau/Time

more: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009020818/class-war-photography

February 18, 2009

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/18/as_obama_unveils_foreclosure_plan_activists

As Obama Unveils Foreclosure Plan, Activists Place Homeless in Vacant Homes

As President Obama is scheduled to announce his $50 billion foreclosure prevention plan today, we go to Minneapolis to speak with Cheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The group is taking matters into its own hands and finding housing for homeless people in foreclosed and vacant homes.

We also speak to Dwayne Cunningham, a homeless man who recently moved into a vacant home. Guests: Cheri Honkala, National Organizer with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. She grew up in Minneapolis and is based in Philadelphia. Dwayne Cunningham, Recently moved into a vacant home under the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign home-takeover program. Related Links http://www.economichumanrights.org/index.shtml

POOR PEOPLE'S ECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN Sabathani Community Center 310 East 38th St Room # 126 Minneapolis, MN 55409 Phone: (612) 821-2364 email: info@economichumanrights.org

http://www.cnt-f.org/spip.php?article954

GENERAL STRIKE IN THE FRENCH ANTILLES I

n the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique) a general strike has completely shut down economic activity on both islands since the 29th of January. The population of these islands are protesting against the cost of living in particular rising costs of essential foodstuffs and fuel. The following interview is aimed at explaining the current movement and the popular anger that launched it. The interviewee, Marcel, lives in Martinique and is a CNT activist. more: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Guadeloupe&alllanguages=1&languagename=English&langcode=en

〈=English France Makes New Wage Offer to Guadeloupe VOA News 19 February 2009

Francois Fillon told French radio Thursday mediators have worked out a plan that comes close to the $250 monthly pay increase strikers in Guadeloupe are demanding for low-wage workers. Rioters fired at police and stormed a city hall, overnight Wednesday to Thursday, in Guadeloupe's third straight night of violence.

Open letter from the Firefighters Union February 14th, 2009

We will be fighting more fires unless we tackle the problem’s source.

An Open Letter from Peter Marshall, national secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia.

http://www.ufua.asn.au/

DEAR Mr Rudd and Mr Brumby,

On behalf of more than 13,000 firefighters and support staff in Australia, I write this open letter to request a review of Australia’s fire risk and our readiness to meet future catastrophic events. The fires in Victoria have ripped through towns and suburbs, farms and forests, destroying lives and livelihoods. Ashen remains are the sorrowful legacy of the devastation they caused. Never before in Australian history have we been confronted with such destruction at the hands of fire.

Firefighters work in conditions that most of the public try to flee. We often put our lives on the line. We understand that our job is dangerous by its very nature. However, we are gravely concerned that current federal and state government policies seem destined to ensure a repeat of the recent tragic events. Consider the devastation in Victoria.