Workers' Liberty Australia
'the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class'
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Workers' Liberty Australia'the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class'
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by Riki Revolutskaya
Gay and lesbian media are nowhere to be seen in Australia right now. Satellite Media, owner of almost all the queer newspapers, has been placed in the hands of receivers, KPMG. They moved in on Friday 24 November and shut down papers such as "Capital Q" in Sydney, Melbourne "Star Observer" and "Brother/Sister" in Vic. and Qld. Sydney "Star Observer" is almost the only queer paper left standing, as it was independent from the Satellite group.
All staff were sacked on the spot. All their entitlements are in doubt, as money has been siphoned to the top of the company. No redundancy payments are offered. Superannuation has not been paid, there are wages, leave etc owing. Some staff are more than $5000 out of pocket. $26 million of shareholders funds from the float a year or two ago are all gone and creditors are owed another $10 million. Given the order in which creditors are treated, staff are unlikely to see much of their money. Perhaps the federal government's bail out fund for these situations will be called upon. Satellite was completely non-union, which the sacked staff are greatly regretting right now. One ex- worker described the owners as "Nazis" in their attitudes to staff and unions.
Frantic efforts to put together new queer papers are underway. There are two in preparation in Melbourne and various efforts elsewhere around the country. Sydney "Star Observer" is being distributed widely in Melbourne.
There are some obvious points to be made. The "gay community" uniting everyone on the basis of a classless common sexuality has always been a myth. The class distinction between ripped-off workers and thieving capitalists is made pretty plain in this fiasco.
The workers on these papers have put up with awful working conditions and pay because of their commitment to informing the community. Now they are left without a penny, while $36 million has disappeared into the ether. We need to organise as workers in gay businesses. We need unions in the nightclubs, cafes, newspapers, community organisations, etc to protect our rights. Gay capitalists can now be confident that they are securely integrated into the mainstream - of robber barons. Gay workers need to integrate into the mainstream of the labour movement.
In Melbourne, two groups that have a class perspective on the queer community are UNITE, set up by Trades Hall to cater for queer unionists, and QUEER, a group of queers opposing economic rationalism. Get involved, get active, get organised, and get unionised.
Contact:
UNITE U-N-I-T-E-owner@egroups.com Or ask for Ellen at Trades Hall 96623511
QUEER queers_united@egroups.com Or ring Queer RMIT 99253707
50 or more people held a lively rally and speak out on World AIDS day in at the GPO in Melbourne on 1 December. Organised by QUEER - Queers Eradicating Economic Rationalism - the rally heard speakers pointing out the role of profit-seeking by large drug companies in preventing effective treatment of the disease in the third world. Adrian, from QUEER said: "AIDS is a problem in Africa and developing countries for many reasons. They can be pretty much summarized in terms of access and cost - most countries can't afford to provide decent prevention measures, or medication and treatment for those already infected". "People with HIV/AIDS do not simply want drug companies to reduce the cost of medications and less expensive treatment - THEY NEED it to survive."
Graham Willett, author of "Living Out Loud", a new history of the Australian Gay and Lesbian movement pointed out the vital role of activism in winning the many gains that have been made over the last thirty years. He said, "it is organised groups, sometimes of only a few activists, that have provided the space for hundreds and thousands of people to be active and achieve these victories."
Allison Thorne, from Radical Women, outlined QUEER's demands:
MC Riki Revolutskaya summed up by calling on people to get active and join QUEER. "To effectively fight the scourge that the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we have to replace profit-seeking with human needs."