Asia-Pacific
We are Workers: South Korea’s Migrant ‘Machines’
In Seoul, South Korea, members and officers of the Migrants' Trade Union (MTU) enter day 22 of a sit-in protest at the Ministry of Labor to denounce local authorities' refusal to issue the union legal recognition just weeks after the Supreme Court affirmed unionization rights for all migrant workers. The following is a conversation with MTU President Udiya Rai, who discusses the MTU's current demands, the South Korean government's anti-migrant policies, the relationship between migrant workers and Korean labor, and more.
Left Voice
August 17, 2015
Australia: Almost 100 dock workers sacked by Hutchison Ports
On August 6, at half an hour before midnight, almost 100 dock workers received text messages on their mobile telephones asking them to check their emails. These members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) unsuspectingly logged on to their accounts only to find out that Hutchison Ports Australia had sacked them all by email.
Sean Robertson
August 13, 2015
Maritime Union of Australia elections: continuity and change
The Quadrennial Elections of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have just been finalised, with newly elected officials taking office on July 1. The election results in the union which covers the economically strategic areas of shipping, stevedoring and the offshore oil and gas industry were a real mixed bag. The Maritime Union and its predecessor unions have had a long association with Communism, an association which has left behind a contradictory legacy.
Sean Robertson
July 22, 2015