Thursday, March 29, 2007
Seventy-eight social housing units built as part of the Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village in Melbourne are almost all empty, a year after the event.
Just four of the units have been refurbished and occupied.
Royal Park Protection Group member Julianne Bell said that "we regard it as a disgrace - when there are so many people on the waiting list and there are homeless people sleeping on the streets of Brunswick and Royal Park - that they haven't moved ahead to complete it."
Ms Bell said that as a member of the Commonwealth Games Community Liaison Committee, it was her understanding that the units were supposed to be ready for occoupation by May 2006.
Site developer Australand's general manager Robert Pradolin said that "we've got about 100 residents in the [private] houses and about four of the social houses occupied."
MrPradolin said that the government was still in the process of tendering for an operator to run the social housing, and there was little point in rushing to complete the fit outs "if they're going to be empty."
There are 35,000 Victorians on the waiting list for public housing.
(Source: Melbourne Times)
Just four of the units have been refurbished and occupied.
Royal Park Protection Group member Julianne Bell said that "we regard it as a disgrace - when there are so many people on the waiting list and there are homeless people sleeping on the streets of Brunswick and Royal Park - that they haven't moved ahead to complete it."
Ms Bell said that as a member of the Commonwealth Games Community Liaison Committee, it was her understanding that the units were supposed to be ready for occoupation by May 2006.
Site developer Australand's general manager Robert Pradolin said that "we've got about 100 residents in the [private] houses and about four of the social houses occupied."
MrPradolin said that the government was still in the process of tendering for an operator to run the social housing, and there was little point in rushing to complete the fit outs "if they're going to be empty."
There are 35,000 Victorians on the waiting list for public housing.
(Source: Melbourne Times)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Two New Zealand schoolgirls doing a science experiment have discovered that their ready-to-drink Ribena contained almost no trace of vitamin C, despite its claims that "the blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges."
Students Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo tested the blackcurrant cordial against rival brands to test their hypothesis that cheaper brands were less healthy.Instead, their tests found that the Ribena contained a tiny amount of vitamin C, while another brand's orange juice drink contained almost four times more.
"We thought we were doing it wrong. We thought we must have made a mistake," Anna told a New Zealand newspaper. The girls were both 14 and students at Pakuranga College in Auckland when they did the experiment in 2004.
The girls wrote to the manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). When they got no response, they phoned the company, but "they didn't even really answer our questions. They just said it's the blackcurrants that have it, then they hung up," Jenny said.
But then the girls' claims were picked up by a TV consumer affairs programme, Fair Go, which suggested they take their findings to the commerce commission, a government watchdog.GSK said the girls had tested the wrong product, and it was concentrated syrup which had four times the vitamin C of oranges.
But when the commerce commission investigated, it found that although blackcurrants have more vitamin C than oranges, the same was not true of Ribena. It also said ready-to-drink Ribena contained no detectable level of vitamin C.
GSK is in court in Auckland today facing 15 charges relating to misleading advertising, risking fines of up to NZ$3m. In Australia, GSK has admitted that its claims about Ribena may have 'misled' consumers.
The Australian competition and consumer commission said last week that claims on the nutrition information panel of Ribena's ready-to-drink cartons implied that the product had four times the vitamin C of orange juice drinks, when this was not correct.
The girls have since visited GSK to be thanked "for bringing it to our attention".
(Source: Guardian [UK])
Students Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo tested the blackcurrant cordial against rival brands to test their hypothesis that cheaper brands were less healthy.Instead, their tests found that the Ribena contained a tiny amount of vitamin C, while another brand's orange juice drink contained almost four times more.
"We thought we were doing it wrong. We thought we must have made a mistake," Anna told a New Zealand newspaper. The girls were both 14 and students at Pakuranga College in Auckland when they did the experiment in 2004.
The girls wrote to the manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). When they got no response, they phoned the company, but "they didn't even really answer our questions. They just said it's the blackcurrants that have it, then they hung up," Jenny said.
But then the girls' claims were picked up by a TV consumer affairs programme, Fair Go, which suggested they take their findings to the commerce commission, a government watchdog.GSK said the girls had tested the wrong product, and it was concentrated syrup which had four times the vitamin C of oranges.
But when the commerce commission investigated, it found that although blackcurrants have more vitamin C than oranges, the same was not true of Ribena. It also said ready-to-drink Ribena contained no detectable level of vitamin C.
GSK is in court in Auckland today facing 15 charges relating to misleading advertising, risking fines of up to NZ$3m. In Australia, GSK has admitted that its claims about Ribena may have 'misled' consumers.
The Australian competition and consumer commission said last week that claims on the nutrition information panel of Ribena's ready-to-drink cartons implied that the product had four times the vitamin C of orange juice drinks, when this was not correct.
The girls have since visited GSK to be thanked "for bringing it to our attention".
(Source: Guardian [UK])
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey has been accused of telling company directors to break the law by sacking their employees and then re-hiring them on individual contracts.
The director of car parts maker Tristar, Cheng Hong, told the NSW Industrial Relations Commission the newly appointed Workplace Relations Minister gave company representatives the advice at a crisis meeting in Canberra on January 29.
Mr Hong, who relied on notes taken at the meeting while giving evidence yesterday, said the group, which included Tristar chairman Andrew Gwinnett and Office of Workplace Services officers, also discussed asset stripping and the intense scrutiny surrounding the Ansett, One-Tel and HIH collapses.
(Source: The Australian)
The director of car parts maker Tristar, Cheng Hong, told the NSW Industrial Relations Commission the newly appointed Workplace Relations Minister gave company representatives the advice at a crisis meeting in Canberra on January 29.
Mr Hong, who relied on notes taken at the meeting while giving evidence yesterday, said the group, which included Tristar chairman Andrew Gwinnett and Office of Workplace Services officers, also discussed asset stripping and the intense scrutiny surrounding the Ansett, One-Tel and HIH collapses.
(Source: The Australian)
A US Marine told his squad "congratulations, we just got away with murder, gents" after killing an innocent Iraqi civilian, according to prosecutors.
The April 26, 2006, killing of disabled police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad has been the subject of eight months of military hearings at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Three defendants have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting court martial on murder charges. Five others have entered guilty pleas to lesser charges, receiving prison sentences from one to eight years. As part of their plea bargains, they've agreed to testify against the three remaining Marines.
According to testimony, the killing took place in the early morning darkness of April 26, when a "snatch party" of three Marines and a Navy medic set out to kill and make an example of a suspected insurgent named Saleh Gowad, who'd been captured and released many times.
Not finding him, they went next door and seized the sleeping Awad from his home, while the four remaining squad members waited nearby.
They men cuffed Awad's hands and marched him about a half-mile to a bomb crater, where they bound his feet and positioned him with a stolen shovel and an AK-47. Then they returned to an attack position and shot him.
On the way, according to testimony, the forward party took at least three steps to disguise its actions from aerial surveillance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs, steps that initially persuaded investigators the killing was justified. One Marine went forward and dug around in the crater. At the same time, the three other troops crouched with Awad behind a low wall in what Brahms described as a squad in a typical military posture.
They held that pose as the surveillance UAV passed over, creating an infrared tableau of four troops watching a bomber dig a hole along the road.
After the UAV passed, and they dodged being seen by a U.S. helicopter, the four rose from behind the wall to march Awad to the crater, according to the medic's testimony. While they were moving Awad the final 125 yards to his death, they heard the UAV return. Cpl. Trent Thomas quickly wrapped himself around Awad so that the two men would appear as a single person on the heat-reactive infrared sensors.
Then they put Awad in the hole where the Marine had posed with the shovel seconds before, backed off and signaled. Six of the eight troops opened fire - staging a firefight with a bomb-planting insurgent.
"Congratulations, we just got away with murder, gents," the squad leader told them.
(Source: wired.com)
The April 26, 2006, killing of disabled police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad has been the subject of eight months of military hearings at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Three defendants have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting court martial on murder charges. Five others have entered guilty pleas to lesser charges, receiving prison sentences from one to eight years. As part of their plea bargains, they've agreed to testify against the three remaining Marines.
According to testimony, the killing took place in the early morning darkness of April 26, when a "snatch party" of three Marines and a Navy medic set out to kill and make an example of a suspected insurgent named Saleh Gowad, who'd been captured and released many times.
Not finding him, they went next door and seized the sleeping Awad from his home, while the four remaining squad members waited nearby.
They men cuffed Awad's hands and marched him about a half-mile to a bomb crater, where they bound his feet and positioned him with a stolen shovel and an AK-47. Then they returned to an attack position and shot him.
On the way, according to testimony, the forward party took at least three steps to disguise its actions from aerial surveillance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs, steps that initially persuaded investigators the killing was justified. One Marine went forward and dug around in the crater. At the same time, the three other troops crouched with Awad behind a low wall in what Brahms described as a squad in a typical military posture.
They held that pose as the surveillance UAV passed over, creating an infrared tableau of four troops watching a bomber dig a hole along the road.
After the UAV passed, and they dodged being seen by a U.S. helicopter, the four rose from behind the wall to march Awad to the crater, according to the medic's testimony. While they were moving Awad the final 125 yards to his death, they heard the UAV return. Cpl. Trent Thomas quickly wrapped himself around Awad so that the two men would appear as a single person on the heat-reactive infrared sensors.
Then they put Awad in the hole where the Marine had posed with the shovel seconds before, backed off and signaled. Six of the eight troops opened fire - staging a firefight with a bomb-planting insurgent.
"Congratulations, we just got away with murder, gents," the squad leader told them.
(Source: wired.com)
Labor is almost certain to dump its "no new uranium mines" policy, with another federal shadow minister agreeing that the policy is outdated and will hurt the party's economic credibility.
The latest shadow minister to join the growing list of Labor politicians who favour ditching the policy at Labor's national conference next month - including Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and his deputy, Julia Gillard - is the party's resources spokesman Chris Evans.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who has been a strong opponent of more uranium mining, has also backed down, saying he will allow the development of uranium deposits in the state.
In a speech to the Labor Business Roundtable in Perth yesterday, Mr Evans said a refusal to abandon a "sentimental attachment to a failed and cynical policy" would undermine Labor.
(Source: The Age).
The latest shadow minister to join the growing list of Labor politicians who favour ditching the policy at Labor's national conference next month - including Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and his deputy, Julia Gillard - is the party's resources spokesman Chris Evans.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who has been a strong opponent of more uranium mining, has also backed down, saying he will allow the development of uranium deposits in the state.
In a speech to the Labor Business Roundtable in Perth yesterday, Mr Evans said a refusal to abandon a "sentimental attachment to a failed and cynical policy" would undermine Labor.
(Source: The Age).
Four leading US technology companies have been accused of helping China to subdue political strife in return for access to its internet market.
The accusation was levelled against Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Google at a Congressional hearing on the ethics of doing business in China.
US lawmakers accused them of giving into pressure from the Chinese government by censoring websites.
The four companies defended their co-operation with Beijing.
The House International Relations subcommittee's top Democrat, Tom Lantos, told representatives of the companies that they had accumulated great wealth and power, "but apparently very little social responsibility".
"Your abhorrent actions in China are a disgrace. I simply don't understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Last month Mr Lantos said there had been "a string of disturbing incidents" in which US-based companies had "caved in to Beijing for the sake of profits".
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has accused Yahoo of providing China with information that helped to identify and convict two internet writers.
Li Zhi was jailed for eight years in 2003, after posting comments that criticised official corruption. Writer Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2005 after criticising human rights abuses.
And Google came under fire last month after it announced it would block politically sensitive terms on its new China search site, in agreement with conditions set by Beijing.
China's rapidly expanding online market of some 111 million users, 64 million of whom have broadband, is exceeded only the US. It has become a powerful magnet for foreign investment and for a steady stream of IT professionals from around the world.
The Chinese government enforces strict laws on internet use, blocking content it considers a threat, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre and notable dissidents.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates last month told delegates at the World Economic Forum that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China.
(Source: BBC News online)
The accusation was levelled against Microsoft, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Google at a Congressional hearing on the ethics of doing business in China.
US lawmakers accused them of giving into pressure from the Chinese government by censoring websites.
The four companies defended their co-operation with Beijing.
The House International Relations subcommittee's top Democrat, Tom Lantos, told representatives of the companies that they had accumulated great wealth and power, "but apparently very little social responsibility".
"Your abhorrent actions in China are a disgrace. I simply don't understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Last month Mr Lantos said there had been "a string of disturbing incidents" in which US-based companies had "caved in to Beijing for the sake of profits".
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has accused Yahoo of providing China with information that helped to identify and convict two internet writers.
Li Zhi was jailed for eight years in 2003, after posting comments that criticised official corruption. Writer Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2005 after criticising human rights abuses.
And Google came under fire last month after it announced it would block politically sensitive terms on its new China search site, in agreement with conditions set by Beijing.
China's rapidly expanding online market of some 111 million users, 64 million of whom have broadband, is exceeded only the US. It has become a powerful magnet for foreign investment and for a steady stream of IT professionals from around the world.
The Chinese government enforces strict laws on internet use, blocking content it considers a threat, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre and notable dissidents.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates last month told delegates at the World Economic Forum that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China.
(Source: BBC News online)
The Iraqi cabinet has agreed on a new law which will allow British and American oil companies to extract Iraqi oil for up to 30 years.
The draft law, now before the Iraqi parliament, sets up "production sharing partnerships" with oil companies. While Iraq would retain legal ownership of its oil, companies like Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP that invest in the infrastructure and refineries would get a large share of the profits.
The law would create the most lucractive concession for foreign oil companies of any Middle Eastern country.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
The draft law, now before the Iraqi parliament, sets up "production sharing partnerships" with oil companies. While Iraq would retain legal ownership of its oil, companies like Exxon, Chevron, Shell and BP that invest in the infrastructure and refineries would get a large share of the profits.
The law would create the most lucractive concession for foreign oil companies of any Middle Eastern country.
(Source: The Guardian [UK])
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Quote of the Moment:
"We were surprised that two thirds of the interviewees demanded absolutely no asylum for Piresans, accused them of being spongers, and agreed they should be sent home immediately."
Research insitute Tarki, on a poll of Hungarians' attitudes to immigrants from the fictional country of Piresa.
"We were surprised that two thirds of the interviewees demanded absolutely no asylum for Piresans, accused them of being spongers, and agreed they should be sent home immediately."
Research insitute Tarki, on a poll of Hungarians' attitudes to immigrants from the fictional country of Piresa.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
The man who led the campaign against then-President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, has admitted that he was carrying on an extra-marital affair at the time.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted the affair during an interview with the founder of Christian group Focus on the Family.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on 'family values' issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce.
(Source: Yahoo! News)
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted the affair during an interview with the founder of Christian group Focus on the Family.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on 'family values' issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce.
(Source: Yahoo! News)
Monday, March 05, 2007
The Victorian government has agreed to pay $700,000 compensation to protestors who were injured by police during the protest against the World Economic Forum in 2000.
At the time the media almost entirely presented the protest as one where violent protestors victimised innocent police officers.
However the government has agreed to compensate 47 people for injuries which included fractured vertebrae, sternums and wrists.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Keiran Walsh said yesterday the compensation deal was not an admission by police that their tactics were too heavy-handed.
"We supported the actions of our members at the World Economic Forum," Mr Walsh said. "We believe in the circumstances they were confronted with, they acted appropriately."
(Source: Herald Sun)
At the time the media almost entirely presented the protest as one where violent protestors victimised innocent police officers.
However the government has agreed to compensate 47 people for injuries which included fractured vertebrae, sternums and wrists.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Keiran Walsh said yesterday the compensation deal was not an admission by police that their tactics were too heavy-handed.
"We supported the actions of our members at the World Economic Forum," Mr Walsh said. "We believe in the circumstances they were confronted with, they acted appropriately."
(Source: Herald Sun)
A Jewish man who was punched and racially abused by a group of footballers says that the Premier has broken a promise to meet with him.
On October 14 last year Menachem Vorchheimer was punched by an Ocean Grove footballer after he approached a bus carrying the players home from a trip to Caulfield Guineas race day.
Members of the club had taunted Mr Vorchheimer from the bus with racial abuse as they drove past him and two of his children in East St Kilda.
Driving the bus was an off-duty police officer. No one has been charged over the incident.
Mr Vorchheimer said that last November one of Steve Bracks' media advisors had promised a meeting with the Premier as soon as the election was over.
More than four months later, Mr Vorchheimer said he was still waiting for phone calls to be returned and a date to be set.
Mr Vorchheimer said he believed the police force was dominated by white males who felt little empathy for some victims.
He said he believed his case had been compromised from the outset because police did not understand the racially motivated crime.
Mr Vorchheimer said he would continue to push for charges to be laid against the Ocean Grove players and for "adequate measures'' to be taken against the off-duty Senior Constable who was driving the bus.
(Source: Geelong Advertiser)
On October 14 last year Menachem Vorchheimer was punched by an Ocean Grove footballer after he approached a bus carrying the players home from a trip to Caulfield Guineas race day.
Members of the club had taunted Mr Vorchheimer from the bus with racial abuse as they drove past him and two of his children in East St Kilda.
Driving the bus was an off-duty police officer. No one has been charged over the incident.
Mr Vorchheimer said that last November one of Steve Bracks' media advisors had promised a meeting with the Premier as soon as the election was over.
More than four months later, Mr Vorchheimer said he was still waiting for phone calls to be returned and a date to be set.
Mr Vorchheimer said he believed the police force was dominated by white males who felt little empathy for some victims.
He said he believed his case had been compromised from the outset because police did not understand the racially motivated crime.
Mr Vorchheimer said he would continue to push for charges to be laid against the Ocean Grove players and for "adequate measures'' to be taken against the off-duty Senior Constable who was driving the bus.
(Source: Geelong Advertiser)
Asian officer cadets were singled out to play the enemy in a classroom war lesson, reservists were called dogs and female recruits were harassed when they complained they were unable to carry loads of more than half their body weight, an internal army survey has revealed.
The descriptions of bastardisation at Duntroon, the Royal Military College in Canberra, came to light only when cadets were asked to assess their officer training course in an anonymous online evaluation.
In one instance, an instructor, of sergeant rank singled out two cadets of Chinese descent to play the role of the enemy Koreans in a theory lesson on the 1951 battle of Maryang San. A number of cadets complained about what they said was the sergeant's offensive behaviour. He told investigators he was "not aware that he had offended anybody" and he had thought his choice of the two Asian cadets to play the enemy was humorous.
The officer cadets - all reservists, some of whom had given up holidays, taken leave without pay or given up jobs to attend the course - said they were treated like "second-class citizens", with contempt, and were belittled by the instructors and staff who were all from the regular army.
Another instructor told a joke which, said a female officer cadet, was "structured like a fairytale which told of a man having to choose between a beautiful woman and an ugly witch. The punchline was words to the effect of 'just remember that, deep down, all women are witches'."
When women asked to go to the toilet "male platoon members and also the instructors would roll their eyes and sigh and look at their watches and make comments about how annoying it was". This prompted the cadet to drink as little as possible to avoid the comments, risking dehydration.
Two majors referred to them as dogs. One made a comment in earshot of the officer cadets that "it's a beautiful day for a walk with the hounds", and another told the cadets to "heel".
Officer cadets were told by an instructor: "You guys aren't officers; you guys aren't even officers' arseholes."
"Every day I am reminded of how glad I am not to be one of you," said another. One captain told the officer cadets: "You are all shit."
Military police were also called in to investigate two allegations of assault: one that a warrant officer threw a rock at an officer cadet who did not hear an order, and that the same officer hit an officer cadet on the back of his head for not clearing his weapon properly.
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
The descriptions of bastardisation at Duntroon, the Royal Military College in Canberra, came to light only when cadets were asked to assess their officer training course in an anonymous online evaluation.
In one instance, an instructor, of sergeant rank singled out two cadets of Chinese descent to play the role of the enemy Koreans in a theory lesson on the 1951 battle of Maryang San. A number of cadets complained about what they said was the sergeant's offensive behaviour. He told investigators he was "not aware that he had offended anybody" and he had thought his choice of the two Asian cadets to play the enemy was humorous.
The officer cadets - all reservists, some of whom had given up holidays, taken leave without pay or given up jobs to attend the course - said they were treated like "second-class citizens", with contempt, and were belittled by the instructors and staff who were all from the regular army.
Another instructor told a joke which, said a female officer cadet, was "structured like a fairytale which told of a man having to choose between a beautiful woman and an ugly witch. The punchline was words to the effect of 'just remember that, deep down, all women are witches'."
When women asked to go to the toilet "male platoon members and also the instructors would roll their eyes and sigh and look at their watches and make comments about how annoying it was". This prompted the cadet to drink as little as possible to avoid the comments, risking dehydration.
Two majors referred to them as dogs. One made a comment in earshot of the officer cadets that "it's a beautiful day for a walk with the hounds", and another told the cadets to "heel".
Officer cadets were told by an instructor: "You guys aren't officers; you guys aren't even officers' arseholes."
"Every day I am reminded of how glad I am not to be one of you," said another. One captain told the officer cadets: "You are all shit."
Military police were also called in to investigate two allegations of assault: one that a warrant officer threw a rock at an officer cadet who did not hear an order, and that the same officer hit an officer cadet on the back of his head for not clearing his weapon properly.
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
Australia has the worst labour laws of any developed country in the world, according to a new report.
The International Trade Union Confederation's submission to the World Trade Organisation stated that Australia was now the only developed country country where employers can refuse to negotiate with a union even when employees are union members and want their union to represent them.
Research cited in the report shows that real wages for women in the private sector actually fell by some 2% between March and August, while the reduction for men was around 1.2%, partly due to the higher concentration of women in lower-paid service and clerical jobs.
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder said that "other industrialised countries are focusing on investing in skills and productive capacity as well as improving national infrastructure rather than attempting to compete with low-wage, industrialising nations."
(Source: International Trade Union Confederation)
The International Trade Union Confederation's submission to the World Trade Organisation stated that Australia was now the only developed country country where employers can refuse to negotiate with a union even when employees are union members and want their union to represent them.
Research cited in the report shows that real wages for women in the private sector actually fell by some 2% between March and August, while the reduction for men was around 1.2%, partly due to the higher concentration of women in lower-paid service and clerical jobs.
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder said that "other industrialised countries are focusing on investing in skills and productive capacity as well as improving national infrastructure rather than attempting to compete with low-wage, industrialising nations."
(Source: International Trade Union Confederation)
