From: aawl labour news news@aawl.org.au
 On 7 October six workers were killed at Keppel Subic Shipyard in the Philippines, when a 42 ton elevated ramp fell. Another six workers were badly injured but survived.
The Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) conducted a fact-finding mission at the site, and found irregularities in Keppel's health and safety practices.
Labour laws in the Philippines are minimal and hardly enforced at the best of times. In addition, the Economic Zones are under a special Authority that allows companies to avoid labour laws. At the time of the accident investigators and even the Mayor of Subic were initially denied entry by the company.
The Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines, the International Metal Workers Federation, The International Transport Federation, the Building and Wood Worker's International have all expressed their condolences to the families, friends and comrades, of the workers killed at Subic.
It is now up to us to fight for justice, We must stop companies from killing our fellow workers in their race for profit. Organise for safety: If you are a Health & Safety Rep you can attend the Melbourne OHS Reps conference Download leaflet | | | | | | |
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| |  The strike at the Freeport-McMoran mine in West Papua is intensifying. The company has started to hire outside strike breakers to replace the striking miners. In response, the workers set up community committees to tour around the mining complex to assess the number of strike breakers brought in. It was during one of these inspection that security forces shot at the protesters and killed Petrus Amayiseba.
In response, SPSI laid his dead body at the entrance of the local people's representative building in Timika until James R Moffett, the President and CEO of Freeport McMoran is held responsible for the incident. Download leaflet | | | | | | |
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| |  Last week we reported that the Maruti Suzuki workers had lost their dispute. However the company has continued victimising workers, so the struggle has escalated again and the Maruti Suzuki factory in Gurgaon, near Delhi, is occupied. Two other Suzuki factories in the area are on strike in solidarity with the workers in their demands for re-instatement of sacked workers and the lifting of punitive work conditions. Unionists from other companies are providing solidarity. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declared the strike illegal, and police are assembled at the factory. Read the International Metalworkers Federation report here. Watch a video of the occupation here.
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| |  On Saturday 8 October, we hit the streets for abortion rights. So did the Pro-Lifers. It was their annual March for the Babies. Abortions were finally decriminalized in Victoria in 2008, but the issue is still one that must be defended. The rally on 8 October showed us that we can not take our wins for granted – there were 40 pro-choice people against 2000 pro-lifers. And the anti-abortion Christian or continues to move to the right. Their placards and gestures were fascistic. One man in the crowd made heil Hitler salutes while another held a placard that read 100,000 babies killed every year, 100,000 new migrants. Workers of the world must unite and fight fascism, particularly now as the capitalist system spirals into crisis. The attacks from the right may increase. It's time to get organized against fascism.
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| |  Earlier this week, General Workers' Union (SJT-TL) Secretary General, Mr. Almério Vila Nova and the National Organizer, Mrs. Henita Casimira were arrested with 17 workers while preparing for a protest outside the Ministry of Justice.
The protest was being staged to protest the workers dismissal from the Turismo Hotel. The Justice Ministry had intervened in the running of the hotel by awarding the contract to another company. Timor-Leste's union believes that the motivation of the arrest is to protect the economic interests of Justice Minister Mrs. Lucia Lobato in the Turismo Hotel. The workers have now been released but are still facing charges. | | | | | | |
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| |  On Saturday, October 8, over five thousand activists from across South Korea gathered in Busan for the fifth "Bus of Hope" rally in support of workers at the Hanjin Heavy Industries shipbuilding who have been in a struggle against layoffs since November 2010. Two days of protest and cultural events took place.
On Saturday night activists attempted to march into the Hanjin Industries shipyard to meet and show solidarity with Kim Jin Seok, a female worker who has occupied a 35 metre crane since January. Police declared the street march illegal and blocked the protesters from advancing to the work site. Tear gas and water cannon were used on protesters, 59 people were arrested and many more injured. Download leaflet | | | | | | |
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| |  Qantas Airlines is trying to become a regional airline by shifting many of its operations to countries where workers are less organised so it can employ them on the lower wages and conditions. Current Qantas workers are fighting these moves with many unions now in dispute with the company. In a negative development, the Australian government is now threatening to intervene in the dispute in the companies' favour.
Meanwhile disputes at Philippine Airlines and other companies in the aviation industry continue.
At its Executive meeting, the Victorian Trades Hall Council passed a motion of solidarity with Philippine Airlines workers. | | | | | | |
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| |  WWI lasted four years, WWII lasted six, and the Vietnam war continued for eight years. As of this month, Australia has been at war in Afghanistan for ten years.
30,000 is estimated to be a conservative count of the Afghani civilians killed so far in this war, but nobody is really counting. There have been 2,680 US Coalition deaths, of which 29 were Australians. This year has been has been the deadliest year so far for in this decade long war and the situation is deteriorating for all parties. The Taliban seem stronger than ever, the puppet government of Hamid Karzai has never been so isolated. Australia must pull out of this state of constant war and divert its $87 million per day military budget towards issues such as repairing our social infrastructure.
More information at the Medical Association for the Prevention of War | | | | | | |
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| |  Occupy Wall Street has sparked a movement in New York and in the United States, giving voice to the people being ground down by capitalism. On Saturday 15 October major protests in opposition to corporations and capitalism are taking place across the world. The New York police are threatening to evict the demonstrators at Occupy Wall Street, because their stand is beginning to be noticed and they are showing that the time for resistance has arrived.
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Workers from the National Garment Workers Federation had set up a permanent protest site front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. The workers were 
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