Un nuevo horizonte político ya ha amanecido en Australia: una democracia multipolar. Durante décadas, el bipartidismo ha reinado en el parlamento australiano, y durante los años más recientes parecía que nunca llegaría al país el fenómeno del declive en el voto tradicional que derrotó a los partidos históricos de Europa, tan profundas eran las trincheras políticas, tan estables eran las pautas electorales.
Continue reading “La democracia multipolar amanezca en Australia”Australia Urged to Condemn Human Rights Horror in the Philippines
When Marklen Maojo Maga was playing basketball with some friends, plain-clothes security agents seized the thirty-nine year old union organiser and forced him into an unmarked van, accusing him of possessing firearms and hand-grenades. Maga has just dropped off his son to school, he protested; and why, his union asked, would he be carrying explosives while playing basketball? Continue reading “Australia Urged to Condemn Human Rights Horror in the Philippines”
An Exiled Nation: Saharawi advocates call on the world to support self-determination for Western Sahara
For forty years, the Saharawi people have been exiled from their lands, cast out into what is known as the “desert of deserts”, where they live in hope of one day embarking upon the long-awaited return to their promised land: their homeland of Western Sahara. Continue reading “An Exiled Nation: Saharawi advocates call on the world to support self-determination for Western Sahara”
Australian unions seek to “balance the power of the powerful” in historic election
On 18 May, Australians will cast their votes in an election that has workers’ rights at centre-stage. In what has been declared by the social-democratic opposition Labor Party as a “referendum on wages”, the proposed policies on workplace relations have not been more divergent in over a decade. Continue reading “Australian unions seek to “balance the power of the powerful” in historic election”
Galicia Mobilises for Wages, Pensions, and Rights on May Day (News Report)
Vigo, Spain.
Stagnant wages, precarious employment, insufficient pensions, and gender inequality, these are the daily realities which belie Spain’s much-touted economic recovery, and these are the problems against which trade unions rallied in yesterday’s International Workers’ Day demonstrations. Continue reading “Galicia Mobilises for Wages, Pensions, and Rights on May Day (News Report)”
Galicia Cries SOS for Public Health
In Galicia, the conservative regional government has embarked upon a healthcare reform path which critics – organised around the platform SOS Sanidade Publica – condemn as a strategy for “turning healthcare into just another commodity“. Continue reading “Galicia Cries SOS for Public Health”
La Sauceda: A Town Wiped off the Map by Fascism
It is July 1936, Spain, and a long-planned military conspiracy aims to dislodge from power a democratically elected government. Aircraft fly in mercenaries from abroad, troops are mobilised across the country, and a war begins. Continue reading “La Sauceda: A Town Wiped off the Map by Fascism”
The Power and the Passion of Marinaleda: A Vanguard Village
‘Marinaleda!?’ we call out to the few cars rolling down the country road to an Andalusian utopia. Most drivers unwillingly decline – headed elsewhere, they indicate; no room in the scoop, a tractor-driver laughs – but soon enough one stops to help out two lost pilgrims. Francisco is his name, and he tells us that our promised land, though beautiful, has both its disciples and its dissidents; those who would call its mayor, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, a prophet, and those who would call him a despot. Continue reading “The Power and the Passion of Marinaleda: A Vanguard Village”
A Bitter Drop: Conflict in the Bodegas of Jerez
Whether enjoyed as a glass of red after work or a copa of fino with friends, wine is a beautiful thing. But there is in every glass a drop of some grape-picker’s or bottler’s sweat running from their brow to your lips, and this salty note should be savoured as much as the wine itself, but some disagree on how much value it adds. Today, in Jerez de la Frontera, home of sherry wines, conflict ferments over bodega workers’ pay. Continue reading “A Bitter Drop: Conflict in the Bodegas of Jerez”
Lives and Times 