Asia Pacific Currents

With tensions rising in the Asia Pacific region, there are many organisations and groups that have campaigned for a long time against the hegemony of the USA military in the region. New Zealand has been one of the leading countries that have tried to create a less militarised region. We play a recording of the speech of Murray Horton, spokesperson for the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotear...

The escalating war of words between the USA President Trump and the North Korean Chairman Kim, is dangerously increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Given the destruction that the USA military caused in North Korea during the war in the early 1950’s, and its use of nuclear weapons on Japan in 1945, there is widespread fear among working class communities that another devastating war could br...

Workers from the Pacific Islands have been used, and exploited, by the Australian state and companies, since the late 1800's. This relationship has not changed in the 21st century with Pacific workers being exploited via new work programs that seek to take advantage of the widespread poverty present in many Pacific Islands. We talk to Nic Maclellan, a human rights activist and independent journali...

Philippines Airlines (PAL) tried to outsource its workforce in 2011 by terminating 2,600 workers. The workers, organised by the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) fought back and organised an indefinite picket line. We talk to Alnem Pretencio, spokeperson from PALEA, about how they had thought they had won their incredibly struggle in 2013, but PAL has used every trick at its dispos...

Since the overthrow of the dictator Soeharto in the late 1990's, Indonesia has been a formal democracy with a number of elections being successfully held. Nevertheless for working class communities, both in the rural and urban areas, gaining justice and having their human rights respected is not just about the law. We talk to Herlambang Wiratraman, Director at the Centre of Human Rights Law Studie...

This week sixteen human right activists were sentenced to up to 18 months in jail for taking part in protests during the 'yellow umbrella' protest movement in 2014.Thirteen activists were jailed for protesting in the Legislative Council against a proposed multi millior dollar development in the New Territories, while in a separate case, three leaders of the umbrella movement were jailed for partic...

President Rodrigo Duterte's 'War on Drugs' is now almost a year old. His death squads have murdered almost 10,000 people. We interview Ellecer 'Budit' Carlos, spokeperson for In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND), on the normalisation of extra judicial killings, the impunity of death squads, the vilification of human rights defenders, and the effects this has had on urban, work...

There are hundreds of thousands of rural health workers in India, called Anganwadi, that monitor and support the health and welfare of mothers and their children. While they are implementing government programs, they are not employed directly by the government, but are treated as volunteers and given an honorarium instead of wages. Tens of thousands of Anganwadi women have being on strike for over...

The garment sector in Bangladesh competes in the world via a brutal 'Race to the Bottom' where wages and OHS are depressed as much as possible. In conjunction with the widespread repression of labour activists and trade unionists, many workers are killed at work in cases of industrial homicides. Saydia Gulrukh, labour rights activists and researcher from Bangladesh, talks about the latest fatal bo...

In our globally interconnected world, companies are now structured at a global level where they integrate their production, storage, transport and retail arms over many different countries in a never ending quest for the highest profits. Workers have had difficulty in countering this strategy by companies and also organising at a global level. The Global Picket Line is a new concept that aims to o...

While the latest upsurge in violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was sparked by an armed attack by Palestinians, the level of unrest points to deeper issues. We interviewed Reem Yunis, Palestinian and socialist activist in Melbourne Australia, on how the recent events are part of the ongoing effects of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the struggle for liberation by Palestinians. Only...

In relation to labour issues, Cambodia is often seen through the context of the exploitation of workers in its garment sector. Cambodia also has an expanding tourism industry with increasing numbers of workers employed in these sector. We talk to Sar Mora, President of Cambodian Food and Service Workers' Federation (CFSWF), about the disputes workers are engaged in against Cambrew, a local beer pr...

Aboriginal people in Australia have a history of being exploited as workers since the first years of colonisation. This ranged from being made to work for only food and tobacco to having their wages kept by governments - now known as the Stolen Wages. Currently over 30,000 indigenous workers, mainly from remote communities, are being forced to work in a state sponsored programme called Community D...

Indonesian workers are still recovering from the mass murders and repression of the 1965-67 period which totally destroyed their organisations and wiped out a whole generation of labour activists. Bob Carnegie, Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Secretary of the Queensland Branch, recently went to Indonesia on a solidarity visit with another labour actvist, Jeff Rickertt. Bob describes how the Indo...

Updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Shivani Kaul, labour organiser with Bigul Mazdoor Dasta and legal advisor with the Automobile Industry Contract Workers group, on the situation with workers in the auto workers in the industrial belts of northern India. Shivani talks about the the campaign to free the imprisoned Maruti Suzuki workers and the dif...

Labour updates on the struggles and campaigns by workers in the Asia Pacific region. Special fundraising Radiothon program. Radiothon target AUS $1,500.00.To donate, click here. Asia Pacific Currents is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links.

Labour updates on the struggles and campaigns by workers in the Asia Pacific region. Extended interview with woman labour organiser on the issues and difficulties of organising women in the construction, entertainment and sex industries in Cambodia. She also talks about the ongoing campaign to ban asbestos in Cambodia. Asia Pacific Currents is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links.

Labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Berlin Guerro, from The Philippine Caucus for Peace, on the implications of the recent declaration of martial law in the southern island of Mindanao. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links.

Labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Sam Watson, Aboriginal activist and member of Socialist Alliance, on the 50th anniversary of the Constitutional Referendum on Aboriginal recognition and the present national Aboriginal convention at Uluru. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links.

Labour updates of workers' struggles from the Asia-Pacific region. Interview with Dr. Jeong-ok Kong, Spokesperson from SHARPS (Supporters of Health and Rights of People in Semiconductor Industry), about the prospects for workers health at Samsung electronics under the new President. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links

Labour updates of workers' struggles from the Asia-Pacific region. Interview with Hasan Barghouti, Director of the Democracy and Workers Rights Centre in Palestine, on the continuing hunger strike by over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links

Labour updates from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Catherine Scerri, spokesperson from the Network Against Killings in the Philippines, on the effects of President Duterte's murderous War on Drugs on poor working class communities in the Philippines. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links.

Labour updates of workers' struggles from the Asia Pacific region. Interview with Sonia Qadir, member of the Awami Workers Party and Feminist Collective, on how Blashemy and Anti Terrorism laws are used to stifle workers organising, especially its effects on women. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links. APC is produced in the Melbourne studios of 3CR Radio.

Labour updates of workers' struggles from the Asia-Pacific region. Recorded talk by Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, on the development and struggles of the working class in India. Talk was recorded at Marxism 2017 Conference in Melbourne. Asia Pacific Currents is a program of Australia Asia Worker Links

Labour updates from the Asia Pacific regionInterview with Joseph Daher, Syrian commentator and activist, on the latest chemical attack in Syria, the USA bombing of the air base, and the prospects for the popular revolution in Syria. Asia Pacific Currents is the program of Australia Asia Worker Links