Solidarity 259, 3 October 2012

On Tuesday 2 October the workers at the Queensland Children's Hospital site in Brisbane returned to work victorious after being on a community protest since 6 August. Click here to hear Bob Carnegie speak about the victory The main contractor, Abigroup, has conceded the workers' two central demands. The existing non-union enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) will be cancelled and replaced by a union EBA. And the new EBA will contain a subcontractors' clause ensuring the rate for the job for every worker on the site whatever subcontractor employs them. The outstanding problem from the workers'...

Over a hundred and fifty activists lobbied the Labour Party conference on Sunday 30 September, under the banner of the NHS Liaison Network. As delegates went in, they heard vigorous chants: "Seize the banks/ Reclaim our wealth/ Spend it on/ The National Health". Inside the conference, constituency Labour Party delegates voted to put the NHS top of the four issues they can get onto the agenda. After the conference session, the compositing session for NHS motions - with fifteen motions roughly on the lines of the motion supported by the NHS Liaison Network, and one "spoiler" - took two and a...