Stick Together

Headlines:- MUA Carnival Cruise ships exploitation- HWU Strike Action- PSA NSW David Dungay Jr. Plaque Main section:Academic Nick Everett Excerpt from address about the Pilbara Strike at Perth Trades Hall in 2024 as part of a symposium held by the Perth Branch of the Australasian Society for the Study of Labour History.  ...The sheep's wool dragged and the squatters sworeAnd talked nice words till their tongues got soreAnd their bellies swelled with so much liesBut the blackfellers shooed them off like flies. The sheep got lost on the squatters' run.The shearing season was nearly done.Said the squatters eaten up with greed,"We'll pay good wages and give good feed." The blackfellers sheared the wool and thenGot their wages like working-men.The squatters' words were stiff and sore,"We won't pay wages like that no more."...Excerpt from the poem "Clancey and Doolery and Don Mcleod" by Dorothy Hewett

 On today's show we chat about Venezuela and Latin America, and the ongoing impact of US intervention in the region — including sanctions, political destabilisation, and military aggression from the United States.To unpack what’s really going on — beyond the headlines — I’m joined by two guests with deep experience and analysis.Federico Fuentes is the Editor of LINKS – International Journal of Socialist Renewal, a long-time Latin America solidarity activist, and a member of the Socialist Alliance. He lived in Venezuela for several years, working as a researcher and correspondent for Green Left from Caracas during the first decade of the Bolivarian Revolution under Hugo Chávez.He brings both on-the-ground experience and a long view of the political processes shaping Venezuela and the region today.Also joining us is Carlos Eduardo Morreo.Carlos is a Venezuelan academic and anti-colonial activist, based here in Naarm/Melbourne, and is part of the Green Institute. His work focuses on imperialism, colonialism and global power, and he’s been an important voice challenging mainstream narratives about Latin America and the Global South.Together, we’ll be discussing what US intervention really looks like in practice, why Venezuela continues to be targeted, and what genuine international solidarity means in 2026. As well as union news where we take a look at some of the big industrial stories bubling away as we begin 2026. 

Ballarat: In 1954, the location of monster meetings of miners and the Eureka Stockade.On December 3 2025, on a roundabout on Bakery Hill in Ballarat, now surrounded by new developments and multinational fast food chains, we hear some of the Eureka Australia Medal Award Speeches, as part of the 171st Anniversary of the Rebellion. These are lifetime awards presented by Reclaim the Radical Spirit & Ballarat Regional Trades & Labour Council (BTRLC), and stories from the medalwinners.Introductory words from:Dr Joe Toscano, MC and with Reclaim the Radical SpiritAngela McCarthy, Secretary of BRTLCMedalwinners:Dick Ryan, Seamens' Union of Australia - later the MUA;   'Don't ask what Unions can do you you, but what you can do for the Union'Eve Scarfe member of international peace brigades in Central America,   Medal was awarded in absentia - listen to her life story hereVasalia Govender, former HSR with Injured Workers Support Team,    On IWST, currently supporting 572 injured workers across Australia,Nancy Atkin, lifelong activist   With peoples' history: Vietnam War, 3CR Community Radio, Trade Union organising,Rev. Dr. Robert Stringer, retired Uniting Church Minister   Activist histories, his own journey into radical politics in the Pacific and campaigns. Head to www.3cr.org.au/eureka171 for more recordings from this day and to hear from other speakers, including Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter (Historian at Federation University Ballarat), Doug Stewart (longtime unionist BLF/CFMEU, liver transplant survivor) and medalwinner Ian Fullerton (CFMEU member, dedicated local community member & volunteer with the Soup Bus, Ballarat Trades Hall, and more).

On this weeks episode of Stick Together host James Brennan brings you some reflection on the year of union struggle, union news and a case from fair work. We speak with James Crafti who has just been to fair work over an unfair dismissal case. 

An interview with IWGB, Independent Workers of Great Britain, Organizer Rema talking about Pan-Africanism, Internationalism and the organization of gig economy workers. “Our revolution is not a public-speaking tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by manipulators trying to use them as catchwords, as codewords, as a foil for their own display. Our revolution is, and should continue to be, the collective effort of revolutionaries to transform reality, to improve the concrete situation of the masses of our country.”― Thomas Sankara