Today on the WSWS

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

A selection of letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.

China’s worst flooding in a decade has already left nearly 3,900 people dead or missing. This week, China’s northeast was also hit resulting in the relocation of more than a quarter of a million residents.

These events simultaneously exposed the rot at the core of the new Philippine government, the empty bluster of the news-as-entertainment media, and the taut and tenuous nature of relations between the Philippines and China.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, backed by the Murdoch media, has vowed to proceed with her government’s privatisation program despite Labor’s electoral rout in last Saturday’s federal election.

The cabinet recently approved a plan to evict 66,000 families from shanties in Colombo to clear the way for private developers. Street vendors are also being targeted.

The Australian cited unnamed senior diplomatic analysts who said that “China’s foray into what has been traditionally regarded as ‘Australia’s sphere of interest’ had set alarm bells ringing in Canberra.”

General James Conway, commandant of the US Marine Corps, publicly challenged the July 2011 deadline set by President Obama for beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, saying it gave “sustenance” to the Taliban.

US federal agencies delayed action for weeks after becoming aware of a salmonella outbreak linked to Wright County Egg. The revelation comes as the egg recall has expanded to two new brand names and a total of 23 states.

The replacement by the CDU, which is currently rent by internal conflicts, of party heads in six states whose previous leaders recently lost power or resigned provides an indication of the future course of the party.

Thousands of older, unemployed workers turned out for a job fair in the Detroit suburbs Wednesday.

The WSWS speaks to recently laid off public school teachers at a job fair in Chicago.

In discussions with GM stamping plant workers in Indianapolis, a series of questions have arisen on how to take forward their fight and whether new organizations of struggle are needed to replace the UAW.

The strike by 1.3 million public service workers in South Africa represents a significant escalation of the international class struggle in response to the global recession and the austerity measures that governments have adopted worldwide.

Veteran utility worker Michael Parks was electrocuted and killed while repairing a power line August 24.

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

The death of three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan over the past week has brought into stark relief the virtual censorship of the war in the course of the still unresolved Australian federal election.

The August 20 announcement of a resumption of direct talks between Israel and Palestine solicited widespread disbelief internationally.

New Zealand unions staged rallies against new labour legislation last weekend, effectively appealing a return to close working relations with the conservative National Party government.

Voters spoke to the WSWS on election day in Australia expressing their alienation from the major parties and their concerns on a range of issues—from the Afghan war to the political coup within the Labor party and the deterioration of living standards.