- The Guardian
- Issue #2189
The United Workers Union says the announcement that G8 Education will close approximately 40 childcare centres across Australia is deeply concerning for workers, families and communities.
United Workers Union Director of Early Childhood Education, Carolyn Smith, said the union was focused on supporting affected members through the uncertainty ahead.
“These are dedicated, hardworking people who have shown up every day to care for children and families. We are still waiting to understand which centres will be impacted, and we will be working closely with our members every step of the way as that becomes clear.”
“Our message to workers right now is simple: we are here, we are watching this closely, and we will make sure your rights and entitlements are protected.”
Smith said the union was particularly alarmed by the potential impact on regional and rural communities.
“G8 has a significant number of centres outside major cities, and we are concerned about what these closures could mean for local communities. Childcare access in regional areas is already stretched, and we will be monitoring the situation carefully.
“Where closures are occurring in areas that are already childcare deserts, we are calling on the federal government to take notice and act to ensure families are not left without options.”
The United Workers Union is calling on the federal government to urgently intervene to ensure affected workers receive their full entitlements and that no family is left without access to childcare.
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: that threat to global peace, the USA. Over 700 delegates from 36 countries denounced US aggression against Cuba and vowed resistance at the 100 Years With Fidel summit in Havana last weekend.
The meeting came a day after hundreds of thousands, including Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and former president Raul Castro, now 94, joined Cuba’s iconic mass May Day demonstration along the capital city’s sea wall.
Electricity and oil workers formed special blocs on the demo, which celebrated their tireless efforts to keep the country powered despite US attempts to cut off energy imports.
On the same day, US President Donald Trump imposed new unilateral sanctions on the blockaded island – and threatened Washington would “take over” Cuba “almost immediately,” saying he could spare an aircraft carrier for the task as soon as the Iran war was settled.
Trump has previously said Cuba will be “next” after he has dealt with Iran, though the unprovoked US-Israeli attack on the latter country has descended into a protracted stand-off with no obvious resolution in sight.
The final declaration of the Havana summit accused the United States of “flagrantly and systematically violating international law” in “its eagerness to preserve its declining hegemony.” US aggression, it added, was “the primary threat to global peace and security.”
It called for an international protest campaign targeting US embassies to demand an end to its attacks on Cuba, and for co-operation among progressive media around the world to challenge anti-Cuba propaganda.
The new raft of sanctions issued by the White House target Cuban energy and mining infrastructure, specifying that companies in third countries which have dealings with them will face consequences – an illegal and extraterritorial move.
The US already enforces its unlawful 60-year-plus blockade of Cuba by imposing harsh financial penalties on third-country organisations which do not comply, severely restricting Cuba’s ability to trade with the rest of the world and creating artificial shortages of essential medicines and technologies.
As of this year, Trump has threatened further sanctions against anyone supplying oil to Cuba, cutting off most deliveries, and bullied several Latin American countries into expelling Cuban doctors on medical missions, further starving Cuba of revenue.
