Australia Asia Worker Links (AAWL) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n non-government organisation active since 1979, established to forge international labour movement links in the Asia-Pacific region. Its office is in the Victorian Trades Hall Council

Victorian Trades Hall Council

The Victorian Trades Hall Council is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the State of Victoria, Australia...

 building in Melbourne, Australia.

AAWL supports workers' rights

Labor rights

Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...

 and human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

, Indigenous

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

 rights and women's rights

Women's rights

Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...

. AAWL promotes solidarity between unions

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

, and advocates for the improvement of pay rates, health & safety, social rights and living standards for workers in the Asia-Pacific region.

AAWL produces print and web-based publications aimed at union members and union activists. The fortnightly news service Mini News is sent to subscribers by email. The AAWL newsletter Asian Workers Organising is distributed in print form to members and union affiliates and is available from the AAWL website. AAWL has a weekly radio program called Asia Pacific Currents on Melbourne Radio 3CR. The program provides news updates and interviews on labour news in the region. The program is nationally and internationally syndicated and podcasts are available.

Materials developed by AAWL that have been widely used by labour movement activists in the Asia Pacific region include the workshop documents promoting organising for health & safety

Occupational safety and health

Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment...

 through the use of body mapping and the proposed Global Labour Movement Charter.

AAWL has conducted solidarity exchanges and study tours with many countries including Bangladesh, China, East Timor, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.

AAWL advocates for fairer treatment of workers throughout the Asia Pacific region and globally. AAWL activities to support workers' rights include campaigning to free labour activists who have been jailed for their union organising activities. Activists supported by AAWL have included Dita Sari and Muchtar Pakpahan from Indonesia, Tian Chua

Tian Chua

Chua Tian Chang, or better known as Tian Chua , is a Malaysian politician and is currently the Member of Parliament for the Batu constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is also information chief of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the largest opposition party in the Parliament of Malaysia...

 from Malaysia, Colombian unionist Liliany Obando, Iranian unionist Mansour Osanloo, Korean unionist Han Sang Kyun and Indian doctor Binayak Sen

Binayak Sen

Binayak Sen is an Indian pediatrician, public health specialist and activist. He is the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties .He has been accused of sedition by the Chhattisgarh Government...

.