DIRECT ACTION ON THE JOB ?

THE union representing Australia Post workers is considering a proposal to deliver all mail over the Christmas period irrespective of whether the postage has been paid. The novel form of industrial action rests on a ballot this week of Australia Post workers. Ed Husic, the national president of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union, said consumers across Australia could potentially look forward to sending their Christmas mail for free if postal workers voted to take action. "Among the actions postal workers are voting on are periodic bans on checking that letters and cards are stamped," Mr Husic said. "Bans would mean that unstamped mail is not returned to the sender, but goes through free of charge." About 18,000 postal workers are this week voting on whether to take industrial action. "Our members know Christmas is a special time and we want to limit public inconvenience, while sending a message to management," Mr Husic said. That message, he said, was to "stop acting like Scrooge with our conditions and entitlements".

A Commemoration: The 1928 Waterfront Dispute in Port Melbourne Melbourne, VIC Sunday, 1 November 2009 11.00am – Gather at Beacon Vista between Station and Prince’s Pier Port Melbourne (Melways reference: 56K3). Walk to sites of waterfront and union history in Port Melbourne, ending at Port Melbourne Bowling Club for a family day BBQ.

http://www.mua.org.au/events/a-commemoration-the-1928-waterfront-dispute-in-por/#

NEWS Victory for the Dublin Dockers 22 Oct 2009 And a victory for international

solidarity http://www.mua.org.au/news/victory-for-the-dublin-dockers/#

more: http://www.mtldockers.com/index.html

ORGANISING Delegates from New Zealand, Timor Leste, PNG, Australia and the Pacific Islands will meet with International Transport Federation executive over three days in Sydney

http://www.mua.org.au/events/itf-oceania-conference/#

Strikes and occupations spread across Ireland By Jordan Shilton 7 September 2009 Ireland has seen a number of strikes and workplace occupations in recent months. Strikes have involved dockers at Dublin ports, medical workers in County Tipperary, employees of the state-run Health Services Executive (HSE) and workers at drinks company Coca Cola.

At the same time, workers at a DIY store near Cork have launched an occupation of the premises in defence of their jobs, as have workers from travel agent Thomas Cook in Dublin, who occupied the firm’s Grafton Street location in protest at its closure. The moves follow on from the occupation of Waterford Wedgwood by its employees earlier this year as the transnational implemented plans to close its Irish facilities at the cost of several hundred jobs.