Minimum wage ‘half-baked’ attempt

Stephanie Sta Maria

 | May 2, 2012

An economist, however, says that East Malaysians would be grateful for the minimum wage but will be questioning the 'perceived inequality'.

PETALING JAYA: A political observer has branded the newly introduced mininum wage as a “half-baked” attempt to settle a long-standing dispute.
James Chin of Monash University noted that if it was a living wage that the government had in mind then the rate had to be nothing less than RM1,000.
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Hannah Yeoh our young MP in Selangor

Hannah Yeoh, Subang Jaya Assemblywoman

  Hannah Yeah, our young Subang Jaya Assembly woman in the Selangor cabinet, set to lead this nation, especially those in Selangor. Do listen to her and what she has to say about the leaders in the opposition and in the present government.

Please watch and listen: Hannah Yeoh: In Selangor, BN Are Hopeless As Government, They Are Hopeless As Opposition Too

The truth About Technology, What you don't know is hurting someone

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita: International Women's Day March

International Women's Day March

International Women's Day March

 Saras, the winner of the Yayori Award, trying her new T-shirt. Deva, PSWS founder members trying her gloves for clean government.

 Deva, Saras and Stella on the march.

 Saras proud to hold the banner and walk.

 The Penang women team ready to put their right or left foot out ... for the march of course!

 The AWAM team ... their logo and white hands - symbol for a clean government

 Ambiga with Irene Fernandez (on wheels)

 The lady with mask, umbrella on the anti-Lynas campaign.

 Yes ... yes ... listen to our voices ... how many times must we say this ha!!!!

 Stella and Saras holding banner for the march

 The women bring their babies for the march ... start 'em early

 Yes indeed who's next to be killed in custody?. The woman holding the poster (apologies for not capturing her face) is Teoh Beng Hock's (who was killed in mysterious circumstances, when he was being questioned during a MACC investigation) sister.

 All the MPs (members of Parliament) and DUNs (state Assembly members) on stage - good at what they know best - give speeches. YB Roziah the self elected campaign manager for all of them ...

 Thenmoli,organiser for PSWS with her hubby, Barak and daughter, Rosalind. Thenmoli training them for marches to come. Rosalind and Barak watch out.

 The faceless women of the march.

 The lovely, smiling gentlemen who supported the cause ... eh do you all know what you're marching for?

 Chitra from Pertubuhan Advokasi Masyarakat Terpinggir Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor(PAMT) assisting a woman who was exhausted after the 3Km march ... need water and first brigade ... anyone out there?

 The kids loved the balloons and they made sure they took a bundle ... his mum assisted him of course :-)

 This is the Amal group from PAS taking a break. They were the ones who provided security and guided the marchers through the 3 Km walk.

 Maria, Maria ... penat ke?

 This is the WCC group bitten by the rhythm of the durms ... they sang a poem composed by Prema Devaraj (3rd from left).

 Siva from Jerit didn't like this kid stealing her light ... note her thumbs down for the kid!!! Siva needs child care training don't you agree?

 These are PAS women from Kelanton ... taking a break ... long walk you know. They came by bus from Kelanton that morning.

 These are Johore PAS women ... amazing lot.

The motley crowd ... Sarah, SUARAM on left, the woman with the bandana is Jana ... the rest from Friens united huh!

The Bar Council lawyers keeping an eye if the police turned up.

Novartis vs India: the showdown approaches

By Simon Reid-Henry | 0

The Swiss-based pharmaceutical giant Novartis is taking the state of India to court in a case that has, after rumbling about in the lower courts for six years, wound up as a very public litmus test of the legal framework sustaining India’s generic drugs revolution.

With the case due before the Supreme Court on 28 March, the fate of millions who depend on affordable Indian medicines may soon hang in the balance.

At first glance, the case concerns the fact that Novartis has been denied a patent for one of its blockbuster anti-cancer drugs, Glivec, in what is one of the world’s fastest-growing drug markets.

Read more: New Internationalist

 

Global civil society rises up over FTAs

Civil society groups around the world have upped the ante in the global struggle to protect and promote access to medicine and focused their attention on the European Union-India free trade agreement (FTA) currently being negotiated between the two governments, reports Fauwaz Abdul Aziz of Third World Network.
 

Bolstered by the leaking of the negotiation texts of the EU-India FTA relating to the intellectual property (IP) provisions, thousands of activists have gone to the streets of capitals globally demanding that the EU desist from putting up further barriers against the supply of affordable generic medicines from India.

Read more: Aliran

Resurgence of Indian Labour: General strike a great success

 More than 100 million workers joined the strike
The biggest ever, the countrywide general strike on February 28, 2012, sponsored by eleven major Central Trade Unions (CTUs), namely, AITUC, CITU, INTUC, BMS, TUCC, UTUC, AICCTU, HMS, AIUTUC, LPF and SEWA and independent federations supported by more than 5,000 smaller unions across the country was a grand success. Key sectors of the Indian economy such as banking, insurance, telecom, transport, mining, postal and manufacturing was massively joined the strike.
The unprecedented unity shown by trade unions evoked massive response from the workers. As per initial estimates, more than 100 million workers all over the country – from Jammu & Kashmir in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south, from Assam in the east to Gujarat in the west participated in the strike opposing the anti worker and anti people policies of the government. This General Strike, the fourteenth after the advent of the neoliberal economic policies in our country is significant because of the unprecedented unity of all the central trade unions and the demands raised by them that reflected the concerns not only of the workers but also of all sections of the toiling people. Besides, joint campaigns at the state and lower levels were also conducted this time on a wider scale. The joint campaign undertaken by the central leadership of the trade unions inspired many independent and state level trade unions to join the strike.

Read More: http://workerscentre.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/resurgence-of-indian-labour-general-strike-a-great-success/