Des Donley 1914 - 2011 Aboriginal Unionist

SMH 11 February 2011

Des Donley

Des Donley, a mixed-race Aboriginal taken from his mother in infancy and sent to foster families and "homes" in Queensland in the time of the disastrous "stolen generation" policy, spent much of his life hitting back. At 18, after enduring punishing working conditions - 16 hours a day, seven days a week for four years - he told an Ipswich dairy farmer what he could do with his job.

The moment was pivotal because the four years of wages kept in trust for him proved extraordinarily difficult to get. His fight for withheld wages was taken up on behalf of many and eventually the governments involved were obliged to pay out, however mean the payouts were.

...After breaking away at 18, he went to Brisbane and moved from job to job, scraping a living during the Depression. He was sacked a few times for asking for a pay rise or standing up for fellow workers. When he met a man who was both a trade unionist and a communist, he responded quickly. Never having had a family, he saw the Building Workers Industrial Union as one. Now a communist, he became a union delegate. "I was a battler and I became a battler for the battlers," he said. "If it wasn't for the unions, I would have finished up on the scrap heap, with no hope and no future. You could say, the trade union movement and the Communist Party helped me slip through the net."

... Last year, the Queensland government did give Donley a gratuity but bound him to a clause of confidentiality. Aboriginal activist Dennis O'Brien said Donley got $52,000.

Des Donley is survived by his sons Roger, Peter, Archie, Phillip and John, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Egypt: The Sound of Freedom - Sout Al Horeya

India: Binayak Sen targeted

An Indian court refused bail for a human rights activist sentenced to life in prison, despite an appeal from 40 Nobel laureates.

The group issued a statement a day earlier expressing dismay over the "unjust" sentence given to Binayak Sen, a 60-year-old doctor.

In December a court found Mr Sen and two others guilty of sedition and sentenced them to life in prison.

Amnesty International said the charges were politically motivated and the trial didn't meet international standards. Mr Sen has appealed against his conviction.

He worked in villages in the backward Chhattisgarh state, rallying tribal people to fight for their social and political rights, often angering authorities.

"Dr Sen is an exceptional, courageous and selfless colleague, dedicated to helping those in India who are least able to help themselves," the Nobel laureates said in their statement, posted on a website campaigning for Mr Sen's release.

Dr. Sen's wife Dr. Ilina Sen expressed her disappointment at the court verdict. She felt there were fair grounds for bail. “We shall file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court as soon as possible,” she said

"It appears that the court has relied on the prosecution's argument of culpability by association," said Ramesh Gopalakrishnan of Amnesty International, adding he was yet to read the 34-page judgment. "The prosecution's argument was based on thin evidence and did not establish the chain of events from Dr. Sen's association with Narayan Sanyal to any actual acts of violence," he said.

In a statement prior to his conviction, Dr. Sen said he was being persecuted for highlighting police atrocities in Chhattisgarh and for opposing the Salwa Judum, a controversial State-supported anti-Maoist campaign.

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Fisk: What now for Egypt?

Robert Fisk: As Mubarak clings on... What now for Egypt?

The people came to witness the end. Their leader had other ideas
Friday, 11 February 2011

To the horror of Egyptians and the world, President Hosni Mubarak – haggard and apparently disoriented – appeared on state television last night to refuse every demand of his opponents by staying in power for at least another five months. The Egyptian army, which had already initiated a virtual coup d'état, was nonplussed by the President's speech which had been widely advertised – by both his friends and his enemies – as a farewell address after 30 years of dictatorship. The vast crowds in Tahrir Square were almost insane with anger and resentment.

Mubarak tried – unbelievably – to placate his infuriated people with a promise to investigate the killings of his opponents in what he called "the unfortunate, tragic events", apparently unaware of the mass fury directed at his dictatorship for his three decades of corruption, brutality and repression.

The old man had originally appeared ready to give up, faced at last with the fury of millions of Egyptians and the power of history, sealed off from his ministers like a bacillus, only grudgingly permitted by his own army from saying goodbye to the people who hated him.

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Sydney rally in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising:

Saturday 12 February, Town Hall, 12pm

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=146478375411409

A WAKE UP CALL TO The HUMAN RIGHTS. "Speak up for your rights"
This Protest is for those who died to change Egypt into a democratic Country. It is also for those who got injured and those who are still fighting at the Liberation Square.
We are with you fighting for the basics of Human Rights. DEMOCRACY.
From Sydney - We Salute you.

Canada: Steel protest

10,000 demonstrators converged on Hamilton to denounce U.S. Steel's corporate greed and the Harper government's failure to protect Canadian workers and pensioners. Members of the United Steelworkers have been locked out by U.S. Steel since November 2010.
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10,000 manifestants se rassemblent à Hamilton pour dénoncer les attaques de U.S. Steel et la réticence du gouvernement Harper à defendre les travailleurs et les retraités canadiens.