Subscribe to our RSS feed.
Follow Us on TwitterMELBOURNE: CATERPILLAR PROTEST 10Dec10 December 12, 2010
Report by Moammar Mashni - 12 December 2010
Palestinian activists were invited to the CATERPILLAR plant on Friday December 10 by the local Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) branch to show their support for the workers who had been made redundant.
CATERPILLAR has decide to close the Tullamarine manufacturing plant and take the jobs of these men to Mexico, where labour is cheap and labour laws do not protect working men and women as they do here in Australia.
The sacked workers were also made aware of CATERPILLAR’S poor corporate undertakings in the Middle East. CATERPILLAR supplies Israel armoured and fortified bulldozers and demolition equipment that are used to destroy Palestinian homes. Shocked by this, the former CATERPILLAR workers said they would take this message with them and share it with others in the future.
For its part, the AMWU reiterated its support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel in the hope that the international community will eventually hold Israel to account for its illegal and brutal occupation of the Palestinians that has caused many thousands to lose their lives, their homes and their land.
Australians for Palestine would like to thank all those who attended Friday’s rally, in particular the workers who were made redundant and now face a very sombre Christmas. The local AMWU branch is also to be congratulated for their ongoing support of workers’ rights and of the rights of Palestinians living under occupation.
LEAFLETS HANDED OUT DURING THE PROTEST
Thank You.
