Asia Pacific Currents

The mass protest movement of 2015 and 2016 in South Korea against corruption and abuse of power were able to bring down the President - Park Geun-hye. The working class, headed by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions were central in organising this movement.The KCTU paid a high price for their succeess with two of their leaders, Han Sang gyun and Lee Young joo both jailed. In addition, many workers had expectations that the new government headed by President Moon Jae-in was going to be more worker friendly than past Presidents. This unfortunately has not happened.We caught up with Ms Lee earlier in the week to discuss the state of the workers movement in South Korea under the new government of President Moon Jae-in. The interview was conducted through an interpreter and the voice that you hear translating Ms Lee’s answers is that of Mikyung Ryu, the KCTU International Director.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.While this week's activities are a celebration, the past and current struggles faced by the Indigenous people of Australia are not forgotten.This week we replay an interview by Lalitha Chelliah from Friday Breakfast show with Gunnai-Kurnai Gunditjmara woman and Greens MP Lidia Thorpe on the current fight to save close to 300 trees sacred to the Djap Wurrung peoples in Western Victoria under threat from a planned Highway upgrade projectAsia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The situation for refugees and asylum seekers in Australia is becoming progressively worse as the Government continues its crackdown.In the last few weeks, the desperate situation of the family of Priya and Nadesalingam has become national news. The family is hanging on to its hopes to remain in Australia with support from their town of Biloela and thousands of supporter around Australia while the government sends its armed border units to arrest and detain the family.We speak to Aran Mylvaganam, spokesman for theTamil Refugee Council on the circumstances surrounding the desperate situation of Priya's family and the continuing resistance to the Australian governments inhumanity. Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

While the Philippines is a country that is often talked about in terms of the damage that natural disasters cause to its infrastructure and population, it is also a country where the working class movement has a very proud and militant history. Unfortunately, it has declined in strenght in the last years which has put Filipino workers in a much more vulnerable position.We talk to Steph Rabusa, a member of Migrante Melbourne, about the state of the workers movement in the Philippines especially in light of the ever more repressive policies of President Duterte.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

This week is a special Radiothon program to keep 3CR Radio on air.You can donate in person, by phone, by mail or via the internet.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region.It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

Since late last year, Iran has witnessed a wave of strikes and demonstrations on a scale unprecedented since the revolutionary days of the late 1970s. While the Iranian government likes to portray these protests as imperialist plots from the USA and Israel to overthrow the Iranian government, the reality is that the causes of these protests are to be found in workers' anger at corruption, exploitation, repression and poverty. We speak to Bahman Yusufi, an Iranian independent labour activist, who gives some background to these protests and how workers are able to organise in an environment where independent unions are effectively repressed and non-existent. Next week is a special 3CR Radiothon program.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The elections two weeks ago in Malaysia saw the Barisan Nasional lose power after 61 years. One of the more surprising facets was the comeback of the 92 year old former Prime Minister, Mohamed Mahathir, who had come out in retirement to lead the opposition.During his reign as Prime Minister, between 1981 and 2004, Mahathir routinely cracked down on labour and human rights activists via the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) as well as running a government based on economic and political patronage.For our second part on our analysis on what these election results mean, we talk to Sonia Randhawa, a long time human rights activist and co- organiser of the Bersih (the coalition for clean and fair elections) movement.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The 26th of May each year in Australia is known as National Sorry Day. The day is to acknowledge and recognise members of the Stolen Generations. It has been marked since 1997, the day the recommendation from the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in the Australian Federal Parliament highlighting the decades of mistreatment of Aboriginal families by the state and its institutions. To talk about what this day means, its significance to Aboriginal people, and the current struggles by Aboriginal workers in Australia, we talked to Kara Keys, the Australian Confederation of Trade Unions Indigenous Officer. Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The recent elections in Malaysia have seen the Barisan Nasional lose power after 61 years. One of the more surprising facets was the comeback of the 92 year old former Prime Minister, Mohamed Mahathir, who had come out in retirement to lead the opposition.During his reign as Prime Minister, between 1981 and 2004, Mahathir routinely cracked down on labour and human rights activists via the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) as well as running a government based on economic and political patronage.We talk to Irene Xavier, a long time activist who herself was jailed under the ISA by Mahathir, on why Mahathir is now seen as a democratic reformer and was co-opted to lead the opposition.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation has a newly elected President – a woman who was formerly herself a beer promotions worker. Listeners might recall the major campaign run back in 2016, in defence of women in teh beer promotions industry in Cambodia – this is where women are required to encourage tourists in night clubs to keep drinking, and are compelled to drink themselves, putting them in very dangerous situations.The Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation represents workers across a very broad range of industries from beer promotions, to karaoke workers, to workers at Chevron. This newly elected president is Ou Tep Phallin, and she was in Australia in March this year as a guest of APHEDA and the International Food Workers Union.