This message brought to you by the letters S – O – L – I – D – A – R – I – T and Y.
Dear Supporters
1. Union Solidarity: Extraordinary Meeting.
2. Union Solidarity Coordinator faces 6 months jail.1. Union Solidarity will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation facing Dave Kerin.
6pm Wednesday
May 7
Trades Hall (follow the signs to meeting room)
Lygon St
Carlton
(All welcome)2. Union Solidarity Coordinator faces 6 months jail.
Union Solidarity Coordinator Dave Kerin is now facing up to 6 months jail for supporting striking workers at Boeing.
The Australian Workplace Ombudsman has issued Dave with a “Notice to produce documents” in relation to the recent strike at Boeing. Dave is being asked to supply a government agency with all information and documents concerning Union Solidarity, the AMWU and rank & file members by May 8. Basically Dave is being asked to “rat”: he won’t.
Union Solidarity will not comply with laws and government agencies whose sole purpose is to prevent workers having the ability to strike and organise. In the last election the Australian people voted overwhelmingly to get rid of anti-union laws. Union Solidarity operates within the spirit of that intention!
We are asking you to indicate your public support for Dave Kerin and Union Solidarity.
Please go this link.
Indicate your public support for Dave Kerin and Union Solidarity. At a later date we will publish the names (but not phone numbers) to show the Workplace Ombudsman how much support Dave Kerin has within the movement.
Messages of support for Dave Kerin can be sent to:
defenddave[at]unionsolidarity[dot]org
Yours in Solidarity,
I have worked closely with Dave on a campaign in the past and may I say that Dave is a seriously cool dude. He is so hard working and dedicated to the cause of working people. And he keeps it real unlike most union officials I’ve ever met.
Absolutely rage and solidarity to Dave!
Thanks for telling us about this @ndy!
I’ve been collecting signatures in support of Dave at the school I’m currently at, lots of teachers feeling union’ish and prepared to support their comrades… Great to see!
Also interesting to hear about two separate rallies held today, one outside state parliament house regarding the abysmal backdown on solar panel subsidies, and the other down bridge rd criticising the state government’s clearway zoning stuff. The second one is probably not all that progressive, but militancy seems to be in the air!
All we can hope for now is that NSW unions are called out in order to smash Iemma, and we could be witnessing the dawn of a new period of activity in the australian working class.
Yeah. Interesting case. Dave’s a top bloke. The Ombudsman is smoking much bud, I think. Anyways, obviously, the Boeing thing has pissed ’em off, and they wanna crack the whip. Just as obviously, I think Union Solidarity has been in their sights for a while. (The notice itself is odd. Issued on April 24, and served on April 21? Weird.) The stated concern relates to Part 9 of the Act, on Industrial Action. Presumably, the Ombudsman is sniffing around for whatever material can be found so as better to analyse the relationship between the AMWU and Union Solidarity in order to discover… well… what, exactly? The Notice says Big Brother wants everything, informational and financial, concerning the relationship between the two. Such evidence will apparently go some way to determining whether the Act has been breached in this instance. On the other hand, if fulfilled, the request will function in order to allow the Gub’Mint to determine exactly Who’s Who in the Zoo, information which would presumably be considered valuable both now and in the future.
I think they’ve probably bitten off more than they can chew on this one, but I guess we’ll see.
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Notice to produce documents [PDF]
WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT 1996 – SECT 169
WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT 1996 – SECT 819
see youve still got the old energy pal try and stay out of trouble cheers mick