Stick Together

Analyzing the results of the Queensland election, reporting on the progress of the Right2Water campaign in Ireland and hearing from the LAB trade union in the Basque country about the recent repression by the Spanish Civil Guard. Interviews with Ted Sussex (Victorian Trades Hall Council), Dave Gibney (Right2Water, Mandate Trade Union), Gaizka Zuriarain (LAB).

Workers occupy their lunch-room in Melbourne, after their employer tries to lock them out; interview with delegate Arthur Ingles. Reflections on SYRIZA's victory in the Greek elections, with Peter Murphy. And Jack Barry reports on the latest developments in Argentina's workers control movement.

The Premier Campbell Newman's been coasting along on a wave of unpopularity since the Liberal National Party government took an axe to the public sector and revealed their privatisation ambitions.QLD unionists are in fighting form although still reeling from the 10s of thousands of jobs lost and countless public services closed or outsourced.On the show this week QLD Nurses Union secretary Beth Mohle, Together QLD secretary Alex Scott and ETU organiser and Not4Sale rabble rouser Stuart Traill.

The Abbott Government gave the Australian Public a Christmas presnt of a two pronged attack on Penalty rates when it announced the Fair Work Commission review of Awards and the Productivity Commission inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework. There was a side dish of a report from the Immigration Department discussing the possibility of a Short Term Mobility Visa. Talk with Ged Kearney (ACTU President) about Penalty Rates and to Chris Wright (Research Fellow at University of Sydney Business School) about skilled migration visa.

Stick Together producer, Denis Rogatyuk, is back from his trip with an exciting and fresh new topic - the Basque independence struggle, the question of political prisoners and the current negotiations between the Basque nationalists and the Spanish state. Interviews with Inakia Landa and Beatriz Morales (Etxerat), Teresa Toda (Sare) and Maite Ubiria (SORTU).

On the 16th of December a Hazara man called Gullistan was forcibly removed from Maribyrnong detention centre to be deported back to Afghanistan. We hear from Chris Breen from the Refugee Action Collective at the gates of Maribyrnong just minutes after Gullistan was taken away in a unmarked white van. We also hear from Robin Rothfield, national co-convenor of Labor for Refugees for a round-up of the current situation and about the role for organised labour and parliamentary Labor in fighting for justice for refugees.

The Victorian election saw the Napthine Liberal Government thrown out of office after only one term. The work of the United Fire Fighters Union and the Ambulance Employees Australia contributed significantly to this result.

Stick Together producer, Denis Rogatyuk, is back from his trip with an exciting and fresh new topic - the Basque independence struggle, the question of political prisoners and the current negotiations between the Basque nationalists and the Spanish state. Interviews with Inakia Landa and Beatriz Morales (Etxerat), Teresa Toda (Sare) and Maite Ubiria (SORTU).

This week on Stick Together we catch up with Martin Stewart, president of the Blind Workers Union of Victoria to check in on the vision-impaired workers sacked by Vision Australia from their warehouse last year. We find out about the impact of that decision on those workers and on the union and discuss what workplace justice looks like for workers in disability enterprises. That's coming up later on in the program. First up though, Kairsty Wilson from the Australian Employees with Disability legal service about the discriminatory use of wage assessment tools to determine how much beneath the award wage some people with disabilities will be paid.

Discussion about picketing of electorate office strategy and the connection between Government lack of representtion of electors in favour of Corporations. This is extended to a discussion about the Australian Chinese Free Trade Deal and the attack on local Aboriginal communities in the interest of the same corporations.