Anthony Main is the Secretary of UNITE, the fighting union for fast food and retail workers, based in Australia. Several weeks ago he spoke to labour movement activists based in Hong Kong. The transcript below was originally published on chinaworker.info.
With a decision imminent about Hong Kong’s minimum wage level, and thousands of young workers trapped [...]

Twelve workers have committed suicide so far this year at the factory that makes Apple iPads. Four others survived, gravely injured, and 20 were stopped from killing themselves by the company. All the dead were between 18 and 24 years old.
Foxconn - the city-sized factory in the Shenzhen free trade zone, southern China - employs [...]

May 1, or May Day, is an important day in the history of the labour movement. For more than 120 years it has been a focal point for internationalism and the fight for workers rights.
It was the first Congress of the Second International in 1889 that decided to organise worldwide demonstrations on May Day to [...]

Interview with a socialist blogger in China
In January the world’s largest internet company declared it had been targeted by organised hackers from China and was therefore prepared to quit the Chinese internet market. What is at the root of this conflict and how could it develop? Chinaworker.info spoke to socialist blogger Zhao Jiangang.

SBY government’s honeymoon spoiled
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) hoped for a bit of a honeymoon after being re-elected in the Indonesian presidential election in July 2009. Instead, his government has faced a series of scandals surrounding the Corruption Eradication Commission and the bailout of the PT Bank Century. SBY won with 60.8% of the vote, while [...]

Review of Jeyakumar Devaraj’s “Malaysia at the Crossroads, a Socialist Perspective” by Peter Taaffe
Jeyakumar Devaraj, member of the Central Committee of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and Member of Parliament for Sungai Siput, published a book on perspectives for Malaysia in August 2009. Peter Taaffe, General Secretary of the Socialist Party (CWI in England and Wales) [...]

On 13 January 2010, a 7.3 Richter scale earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The earthquake caused great destruction and 200,000 people are thought to be dead. Further, 3 million Haitians have been rendered homeless by the quake, which also damaged many public service buildings, such as hospitals and schools.

100 days and counting…Time for Rudd to act!
As part of an international day of action, the Tamil community and a range of progressive groups will be holding a protest at 5.30pm Monday January 18th outside the State Library in Melbourne. (Corner of Swanston and Latrobe Streets in the City)
The protests are demanding that the [...]

“Abolish functional constituencies – we want universal suffrage!”
The first day of 2010 saw Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement hit the ground running. On 1 January the crowds of demonstrators exceeded the organisers’ expectations, in a massive protest setting the tone for what could be an explosive political year in Hong Kong – and China. Instead of [...]

New website of the USP now online!
In late December the United Socialist Party (USP) in Sri Lanka launched its presidential election campaign by distributing their election manifesto in the North, East, and Central Provinces. This incorporated most major cities in these provinces including Jaffna.
As part of the campaign USP leader and presidential candidate Siritunga Jayasuriya [...]