Asia, Australia, and the Pacific

[Sabocat]

Post any worker actions in Asia here.

[Sabocat]

Asia

Citibank Korea employees vote to strike

Union members at the recently formed Citibank Korea Inc voted on October 1 for industrial action in support of pay increases. They also want a special bonus equivalent to 10 percent of the bank’s pre-tax profit and a pay rise for non-regular workers. They will strike next month if these demands are not met.

Workers also voted not to do any extra work resulting from the merger between the US banking giant’s Korean unit and KorAm Bank, previously South Korea’s seventh-largest lender. Workers throughout last year campaigned against the merger and for guaranteed job security and no-loss of benefits.

Police break-up strikes in China

News has emerged that about 10,000 Chinese workers at several Japanese companies in Dalian, a major industrial city and port on the northeast coast of China, were forced to end a series of strikes between late July and August after city authorities called in the police. Workers walked off the job for several days at each company, including Canon, Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Toto, to demand higher pay or better conditions in the companies’ dining halls and living quarters.

Chinese workers in Dubai strike for correct pay

About 80 Chinese construction workers in Dubai went on strike on September 29 and about 200 rallied outside the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs the following day. The workers claim that they were not paid the amount agreed by a Chinese recruiting agent for construction company Ahmad Al Shamsi. They were promised 1,800 dirham ($US500) per month but are being paid only 400 dirham. The Dubai-based company agreed to pay all outstanding money after a meeting with labour officials and the police.

Philippines teachers bypass union

Over 10,000 teachers in the Philippines have bypassed their union (the Alliance of Concerned Teachers) and paid 150 pesos ($US2.72) each to a legal group to secure pay owing to them by the government since 1989. The legal group will file claims before the Office of the Solicitor General.

After the passage of the Salary Standardisation Law (SSL) in 1989 the government stopped paying the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). However, employees at the Philippines Ports Authority challenged the legitimacy of SSL and on September 6 the Supreme Court ruled in their favour, stating that all government employees should be entitled to backdated COLA.

Filipino sailors stranded at sea

Four Filipino sailors have been stranded on a tugboat anchored two kilometres off the coast of Bahrain since March. They are unable to leave the vessel due to a legal dispute between its Dubai-based owner Filipino Richard V. Jorge and a charter company.

The ship’s cook suffered a heart attack onboard on June 3 and died the next day in hospital. The vessel’s air-conditioner has failed and the men are forced to sleep on deck. They are owed back pay from October last year and are relying on the Bahrain International Seafarers Society for humanitarian aid.

All four sailors have completed their contracts onboard the vessel M/V Audry but there is no sign of replacements or repatriation. The crew were allowed ashore to approach Philippines Embassy officials in May but officials waited until October 2 to submit a formal request to the Bahraini authorities to let the sailors dock the boat. There has been no reply as yet.

Blockade at Indonesian mine site

On September 28, over 500 people—community members and former mine workers—blockaded the PT Inco mine site in Sorowako, Indonesia in the face of intimidation by police and hired thugs. Police detained several people. The blockade follows demonstrations and a weeklong sit-in and hunger strike at the Inco regional office in Makassar.

The protestors are demanding a meeting with PT Inco to discuss a three decade-old dispute over land acquisition by the company while former employees want the company to fulfil labour obligations and severance pay. The mining company began operations in 1975 and has not compensated the local community for land acquisitions.

Indian childcare workers protest

Childcare workers (Anganwari) in Ludhiana, Punjab held a daylong sit-down protest outside the government-run Girls Senior Secondary School in Jawahar Nagar on October 3. It was organised by the Anganwari Workers Union and the Anganwari Maha Sangh. The Congress Punjab state government’s education minister H.D. Johar was launching a new scheme for pre-nursery education at the school. Workers fear that the new scheme will threaten jobs.

In a separate dispute, childcare workers protested at the Mahatma Gandhi statue outside the Visakhapatnam municipal corporation’s main office in Andhra Pradesh to demand regularisation of jobs and a reduction in working hours.

Teachers and principals fight for permanency

On October 3, teachers from 122 Morarji Desai residential schools in India’s southern state of Karnataka demonstrated in Gulbarga in front of the deputy commissioner of education’s office. They were demanding the state government honor promises made in April to give 685 teachers and principals permanency.

The teachers and principals were initially appointed on a temporary basis for four years but were terminated within a year. They were then reappointed to the same posts, again on a temporary basis. This pattern has continued over the past four years, making it impossible for them to attain the continuity of service needed to qualify for permanency.

The teachers’ unions have given the government until October 15 to meet their demands or they will begin an indefinite protest outside the Karnataka chief minister’s official residence in Bangalore—the state capital.

Motor workers demand profit-linked bonus

More than 6,000 workers at Tata Motors in Jamshedpur—an Indian industrial city named after the founder of the Tata business empire—held a one-day strike on October 1 to demand a profit-linked bonus scheme. It was the first strike at the plant in 40 years. Arun Singh, vice-president of the workers’ union, warned: “This is a token strike and if the management does not meet our demand we may extend it”.

Indian laboratory technicians protest

Health department laboratory technicians held a sit-down protest outside the Civil Surgeon’s office in Ludhiana, India on October 3. They want the government to rectify salary anomalies and provide a monthly 600-rupee risk allowance.

Other demands include introduction of a three-year degree and two-year diploma course in medical laboratory technology in medical colleges and a share of laboratory income, in line with a scheme for doctors and radiographers. They are also seeking permanency and annual promotions for contractual laboratory technicians.

Sri Lankan port workers protest assault

Security section employees, along with other workers from the Ports Authority, picketed No 4 gate at the Colombo Port on September 29. They were protesting the assault of a security guard by a naval officer. The assault occurred when the on-duty security guard attempted to carry out a check on a person accompanying the naval officer.

Bangladesh airline workers strike

About 5,500 staff and 150 pilots at Biman Bangladesh Air Lines, the country’s national flag carrier, struck on September 26 for 11 demands, including a 220 percent pay rise. More than 3,000 striking workers chanting slogans picketed the airline’s headquarters in Balaka, Dhaka.

The strikers called for the company to withdraw a “retirement” order served on Bangladesh Airlines Pilots Association president Captain Nasim and the removal of the flight operations director for negligence. Workers allege that Nasim was dismissed for discussing corrupt practices by some of Biman’s executives.

The strike grounded Biman domestic or international flights at all of the country’s seven airports and the baggage of about 1,000 passengers from overseas airlines at Zia International Airport was not unloaded. Services at airports, including telecommunication, electricity and water, were suspended during the 11-hour strike.

Australia and the Pacific

Teachers in dispute over new pay agreement

Teachers in New South Wales, Australia are threatening industrial action to demand a two-tiered salary increase of between 8 to 13 percent as part of a three-year agreement. The current agreement, which covers the state’s 50,000 public school teachers, is due to expire at the end of the year.

Under a union-proposed agreement, salaries for teachers with 10 years service or more would be set at $75,000 with teachers’ base salaries increased from $46,000 to $50,000 a year.

The NSW Teachers Federation is negotiating with the Department of Education but recently-appointed Labor Premier Morris Iemma has already indicated that the government will not offer any more than 3 percent per tier, claiming it faces a larger than expected budget deficit.

Australian refinery workers end safety strike

Striking maintenance workers at QNI’s Yabulu refinery, 25 kilometres northwest of Townsville in northern Queensland, returned to work on October 4 after management agreed to address a series of safety issues. These include improved emergency sirens, shaded areas at emergency marshalling points and more two-way radios. Management also agreed to update the evacuation procedure for the site and provide a new plan within a fortnight. The present procedure has not been changed in 30 years.

A new safety committee has also been formed and the company has agreed to provide training for safety officers and fire wardens. The QNI Yabulu refinery is part of BHP-Billiton Stainless Steels and processes nickel and cobalt.

Social Security agency attempts to intimidate workers

Management at Centrelink, the federal government’s social security agency, has banned employees using agency computers to access the Community and Public Sector Union’s (CPSU) website or to email union delegates. The union is currently in dispute with the agency over a new national work agreement and holding rolling stoppages during October.

A CPSU spokesperson claimed management had also threatened some union delegates and that some new staff were being forced to sign individual workplace agreements. Centrelink justified its CPSU email and website ban, claiming that the union was “inciting” staff to industrial action.

In a separate dispute, public sector emergency service workers in Victoria have voted to take industrial action over the state Labor government’s plans to merge their superannuation scheme with another. The dispute involves ambulance officers and fire department and police emergency staff. Bans have been placed on overtime and revenue collecting.

New Zealand social workers strike over work agreement

More than 2,000 Child, Youth and Family (CYF) workers, together with 500 staff from rest homes and aged care hospitals throughout New Zealand walked off the job on September 30 in support of a pay rise. They picketed and rallied at CYF centres in Invercargill, Kaitaia, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and other provincial centres.

Public Service Association (PSA) president Richard Wagstaff said workers rejected the pay rates offered by management as well as the structure of the present performance-based pay system. The current offer had been discussed for several weeks but the CYF department had failed to make a significant improvement. “The department may well consider it to be a generous offer but social workers have not been paid a rise since 2001 and support staff have not had one since 2003.”

A CYF official claimed that the strike was “unnecessary” because the department had initiated mediation with the PSA to have the strike notices withdrawn. The union said it was keen to return to negotiations but so far CYF has not proposed a date.

New Zealand university staff accept modified pay offer

Academics and general staff at the University of Waikato and Auckland ratified a new collective agreement late last month. Waikato University management improved its initial offer of a 3 percent salary increase from June 1, adding a further 1.5 percent from the beginning of October. The Auckland University offered a 4.5 percent increase and a payment of $300 for union members.

Hospital workers strike for pay rise

About 45 trades and stores workers at Bay of Plenty (BOP) public hospitals in New Zealand went on strike for two days on October 4. The workers, who are members of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, want a 5 percent pay rise but the BOP District Health Board has offered just 3 percent. A union spokesman said further industrial action could not be ruled out.

New Zealand timber workers strike indefinitely

Striking employees from New Zealand’s largest pulp and paper conglomerate Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) voted on September 30 to strike indefinitely in support of a 5 percent pay rise. About 30 strikers holding placards saying “CHH=CHEAP” and “5 percent in 05”, held a protest rally in Whangarie on October 3.

Workers also rallied at CHH sites in Marsden Point and Dargaville. Several other CHH plants have been hit by pay strikes. The company claims it can only afford 3 percent and wants each unit to negotiate separately.

Private aged-care workers to strike for pay increase

Nearly 600 staff from 20 rest homes and hospitals owned by Guardian Healthcare Group in New Zealand went on strike for 24 hours on October 6 in support of a pay rise. They are members of the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation. The latest strike follows a nationwide six-hour strike and protest rally in Auckland’s Aotea Square last week. Busloads of strikers had also picketed the company’s head quarters and various workplaces around the North and South Islands.

The union is seeking an hourly pay rate of $11 to $14 for caregivers and $17.60 to $23.50 for registered nurses. Guardian staff did not receive any flow-on from recent pay increases to public hospital nurses. The SFWU said care workers were among the lowest paid in the health sector and were now being asked to pay for their uniforms.

Fijian union officials face strike arrest

Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) union officials are being threatened with legal action by Labour Minister Kenneth Zinck if union members take industrial action after a 28-day strike notice expires at midnight on October 6.

Zinck issued the warning after FEA management failed to turn up for a meeting with the FEA Workers Association on October 5, fuelling speculation that there would be strike action. Zinck claims that the union had failed to report the dispute and that a strike would be illegal. FEA unions want a cost of living adjustment owed from last year and are demanding the company stop approaching employees to negotiate individual contracts.

PNG nurses return to work

More than 250 nurses at Nonga Base Hospital and government-run health centres in East New Britain (a province of Papua New Guinea) held a sit-in protest on September 29. They were protesting the national government’s refusal to honour a promise to improve employment conditions and adjust workers’ salaries after their positions were re-classified in 2000. The government said these issues would be addressed by August 1 after a national nurses strike in June.

The nurses ended the current strike on September 30, after the provincial administrator Aquila Tubal agreed to take up the issues with the departments of health and personnel management in Waigani.

Vanuatu unions accept minimum wage adjustment

Vanuatu unions have accepted a government offer to increase the minimum wage by 25 percent, from $US160 to $200 per month. This is the first minimum wage increase since 1995. The unions endorsed the agreement on October 4, despite their own survey revealing in 2000 that the minimum needed by an average family living in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila was $600 a month.

Police maintain ban on union march

Vanuatu National Workers Union secretary Ephraim Kalsakau has appealed to Prime Minister Ham Lini after police denied three permit applications for a street demonstration. Kalsakau met the prime minister on September 30 to discuss union concerns over the sacking of 26 union members by Air Vanuatu for participating in a five-hour strike on August 22.

Lini claimed that he would not block the demonstration if he could not resolve the dispute after talking with government officials and shareholders. He did not, however, make any suggestion that the sacked workers be reinstated.

Samoan doctors strike enters fourth week

Samoan government doctors are continuing strike action to demand a higher starting salary and in defiance of government strikebreaking. The doctors walked out on September 10 and are only attending emergency cases.

The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement on October 4 confirming that 20 New Zealand doctors would soon arrive in Apia, the country’s capital. Health Minister Mulitalo Siafausa Vue later contradicted this statement, claiming that the government was attempting to get United Nations volunteers to “help out” during the strike. The government has flatly refused to negotiate a new wage deal for doctors but has established a commission of inquiry. It is due to issue a report around mid-October.

Link (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/labo-o08.shtml)

[Sabocat]

Leading Indian daily calls for suppression of strikes and unions
By Keith Jones
7 October 2005


The New Indian Express, one of India’s leading English-language dailies, published an extraordinary editorial in its issue of Friday, September 30, calling for the outlawing of strikes and trade unions.

At the end of a lengthy denunciation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its allies in the Left Front for having sponsored a one-day general strike against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s right-wing economic policies, the New Indian Express declared: “...perhaps the time has come for the Congress to get its act together and actually implement some ‘neo-liberal’ policies. It could begin by banning trade unions and strikes and freeing India of this scourge forever.”

The September 29 general strike—which saw 60 million workers walk off the job—is testament to the continuing mass opposition of India’s workers and toilers to the economic “reform” agenda of Indian capital. Seventeen months ago, India’s previous ruling coalition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, was routed at the polls when ordinary Indians were given the opportunity to render verdict on its claims that a surge in foreign investment, profits, and share prices meant India is “shining.”

The Congress-led UPA, which survives in office only because it has the parliamentary support of the Left Front, professes alarm at the appalling state of public health care and education and concern for the plight of the poor. But it has pressed forward with implementing the very same big business agenda as did the Hindu-supremacist BJP—privatization, the gutting of all restrictions on layoffs and contracting-out, the slashing of state expenditure on agricultural price supports, the promotion of private-public partnerships, and massive new military expenditures.

Nevertheless, as the New Indian Express editorial attests, sections of Indian big business are impatient with the pace of “reform.” Fearing they will lose out in the ever-intensifying global struggle for markets, profits, investment, and resources, they want all working-class and popular opposition to the transformation of India into a cheap labor haven for international capital stamped out.

The Indian state has already moved significantly in this direction, with the courts issuing a series of judgments that threaten democratic rights, including the right to mount hartals or political strikes. In the summer of 2003, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the state government of Tamil Nadu was well within its rights when it fired 200,000 striking government employees and sought to replace them with scabs. The Court then further proclaimed that state employees, and potentially other workers, have no inherent constitutional right to strike.

The New Indian Express is a major daily that serves as the flagship of a Chennai-based publishing empire, the “New Indian Express Group of Companies.” Its influence and connections to India’s business establishment are, however, far greater than this indicates, for the New Indian Express and the New Indian Express Group are themselves closely connected to an even larger Mumbai-based company, Indian Express Newspapers. (The two Express groups were created in the late 1990s when the grandsons of Indian Express founder Ram Nath Goenka decided to divide up his empire.) Indian Express Newspapers publishes dailies with a combined readership of more than 5 million, including the highly influential Indian Express and Financial Express.

So close are the two companies that the Indian Express and New Indian Express share articles and editorials.

On September 30, both papers published as their lead editorial a diatribe against the Left Front titled “Radical hypocrisy: It’s time the Left ended this agony.” Except for the concluding paragraph, the two editorials are identical.

Whereas the New Indian Express calls for the “agony” to be ended by the Congress-led government outlawing strikes and unions, the editorial in the Indian Express concludes by saying that the Left Front would be “more honest” if it withdrew support for the UPA government.

In other words, the Mumbai Express editorial board and branch of the Goenka business empire felt that the Chennai board and branch had gone too far in giving free rein to the anti-democratic animus that animated the editorial and in revealing what powerful sections of the Indian bourgeoisie think. So they replaced the last sentences calling for the banning of unions and strikes—that is, for the establishment of dictatorial forms of rule—while otherwise printing the same editorial verbatim.

Such is the state of class relations in the “world’s largest democracy.”

Link (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/indi-o07.shtml)

[Sabocat]

Sixty million Indian workers strike against government economic policies
By Deepal Jayasekera
4 October 2005


More than 60 million workers from across India joined a one-day general strike Thursday, September 29, to oppose the neo-liberal economic “reform” plans of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government. These plans include privatisation of many state-owned businesses and changes to labour laws that would gut restrictions on layoffs, plant closures and the contracting-out of work. The strikers were also demanding central government legislation to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that government employees do not have a constitutional right to strike.

According to the Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions, which called the protest, the strike was complete in the eastern state of West Bengal, in the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam, and in the southern state of Kerala. There was also a “bandh-like situation”—a complete shutdown including general strike and the closure of government and private firms, shops and transport—in the states of Haryana (north-central India), Orissa and Jharkand (eastern India).

To the dismay of big business, air traffic and public banks’ operations were severely affected, with Indian Airlines and private carriers forced to cancel a significant number of flights. Some airports were kept operating only because of the deployment of air force personnel.

Employees attached to the state-owned Airport Authority of India, which administers the country’s airports joined the strike especially to oppose the government’s plans to allow private-sector participation in airport modernisation, including in expanding the airports of New Delhi and Mumbai.

The strike brought operations at public-sector banks, including foreign exchange, deposit-withdrawal, and clearing operations to a grinding halt throughout the country. In Mumbai, India’s financial centre, some Rs. 40 million worth of cheques are cleared daily, but due to the strike, no cheques were cleared. The strike was also near-total in the oil, insurance and telecommunication sectors. More than 70 percent of the country’s 600,000 coal mining workers joined the shutdown. Many industrial plants were also hit by the walkout, including in the industrial belt in Haryana, where in July there was a major confrontation between protesting Honda workers and police.

The strike was principally called by trade unions affiliated to the two main Stalinist Parties-the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M), and the Communist Party of India (CPI). These parties lead the Left Front parliamentary alliance, which is propping up the Congress-led UPA in parliament.

Commenting on the widespread participation of workers in the strike, M.K. Pandhe, the president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)—the trade union federation affiliated to the CPI (M)—said the strike was “a success and beyond our expectations.”

The Stalinists remain committed to sustaining the UPA in power for a five-year full-term. Indeed, the one-day strike was initiated by the Left Front and their affiliated unions with the aim of shoring up their anti-neo-liberal credentials, the better to continue their support for the government.

The Left Front and the unions were forced to call for a day of protest because of mounting discontent with the economic policies and pro-US orientation of the Congress-led government, which came to power in May 2004 on a wave of public anger with the neo-liberal policies implemented by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led regime.

Far from being aimed at consolidating the working class as an independent political force and placing it in the vanguard of the struggle to protect all sections of the oppressed from the rapacious socio-economic agenda of big business, the Stalinists mounted last week’s protest with the aim of tying the working class to a policy of pressuring the UPA into pursuing “pro-people” policies and giving neo-liberal reforms a “human face.”

This orientation was spelled out on the day of the strike, with Gurudas Dasgupta, the general secretary of the CPI-affiliated All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), promising that if the government doesn’t hear the protests, further appeals will be made.

“We have put the United Progressive Alliance Government on notice,” said Dasgupta. “If it does not reverse its policies and take into account the aspirations of the working class, there will be frequent and longer-duration strikes.”

Meanwhile, the CPI (M) suggested that the unions would be willing to work with the government in achieving greater labour-market “flexibility.” Declared the CPI (M) Polibureau, “The strike serves as a warning to the government not to embark upon changes in labour laws without first holding negotiations with trade unions” (emphasis added).

The capitalist press said little about the one-day general strike before last Thursday. But on Friday, there was a torrent of vituperous editorial comment. This reaction expresses the nervousness of the Indian ruling class at the growing working-class opposition towards the UPA government’s economic reform measures. It was also meant to send a strong message to the Congress-led UPA not to offer any concessions to secure the parliamentary backing of the Left Front.

Many of the editorials harped on the contradiction between the Left Front organising mass protests against the government and its support for the government remaining in office.

“The real question that needs to be posed to the Left parties,” said the Hindustan Times, “is this: if they are so angry with the government that they are willing to literally thrash it outside Parliament, what on earth are they doing in Parliament?”

In an editorial titled “Don’t strike work, look to China for inspiration,” the Times of India denounced the strike, while holding up China, which the CPI (M) continues to hails as a socialist country, as an example: “Unions are supposed to stand up for employees: Instead, by fighting to restrict investment they’re hurting their own constituency. And the unions’ Left sponsors should look to China, which attracted over 10 times the $3.4 billion FDI that India has received so far this year, for clues about what posture to adopt on economic policy.”

In its post-strike editorial, the Indian Express decried the Left Front’s influence over the government, although time and again the UPA has pressed through right-wing policies over the Left’s objections: “The nationwide strike by Left-backed trade unions hoped to achieve one thing alone-an ugly show of strength of the Left parties.... If the Left is trying to establish itself as an opposition party, should it not first withdraw support to the UPA rather than strike to show its deep and wide disagreement with the government?”

Although the CPI (M) and its allies called last week’s protest to contain the growing working class discontent and have repeatedly made clear their intention to sustain the UPA in power, the corporate media demands that they refrain from even such actions because they fear they could develop beyond the control of the Stalinist leaders and because they want class relations in India radically restructured to the detriment of the working class and toilers. In particular—as signalled by a recent series of reactionary Supreme Court rulings—India’s ruling class wants to see the country’s long tradition of political strikes, hartals and civil disobedience movements stamped out and the prerogatives of capital greatly expanded.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram tried to downplay the strike’s economic impact, but spokesmen for big business were outraged. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry President M.K. Sanghi said, “The strike has paralysed the economic and industrial activities all over the country in a substantial manner, the losses of which are difficult to be measured now.” Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Onkar. S. Kanwar said the strike had given a “rude shock” to India’s image as a global economic power: “At a time when India is getting increasingly integrated with the rest of the world, a strike by workers in major infrastructure and financial services will send negative signals overseas.”

Link (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/indi-o04.shtml)

[Hiero]

Fight of Boeing Australia Workers Goes International
22 September 2005

Australian and American unions have joined forces to uphold the rights of Boeing workers to collective bargaining.


The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and the US-based International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have forged an alliance.

AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten and two mechanical engineers from Boeing's Newcastle operations will fly to America today to meet with the IAM, whose 18,000 Boeing members are on strike for better conditions.

Mr Shorten said the delegation also hoped to meet with senior Boeing International executives to urge them to get Boeing Australia to come to the table on a collective agreement with the company's striking workers in Australia.

"With the support of our American friends, we hope to draw international attention to the plight of our Newcastle members, and put pressure on Boeing Australia to sit down with us and thrash out the issues," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten will be highlighting the injustice whereby Boeing workers in Australia have no right to bargain collectively whereas their American counterparts do.

"These workers should not have to go without pay for 113 days just to defend a basic right that should be guaranteed to every worker, no matter where they live," Mr Shorten said.

Mechanical aircraft engineers at the RAAF Williamtown base, near Newcastle, began a legally protected strike in June 2005, fighting for their collective bargaining rights. The company has refused to negotiate with these workers and their union, the Australian Workers Union' (AWU). Boeing has been flying in workers from other sites to do the jobs of the striking workers.

In the US, three weeks ago, 18,000 Boeing workers began their first strike in 10 years - over pay, pensions, job security and lower healthcare costs - shutting down production at the world's largest aircraft maker.

ACTU President, Sharan Burrow said, "US law recognises this right. Boeing's US executives should respect Australian workers with the same rights. The Boeing workers in NSW are at the forefront of the fight of workers in Australia to retain the right to bargain collectively with their employer."

"Under the industrial relations changes proposed by the Howard Government, workers like these, highly skilled people, will be denied even the most basic right to negotiate with their fellow workers. And this is with a company of the size and power of the world's biggest aircraft maker, that has recently announced even bigger profit margins" Ms Burrow said.

http://www.awu.net.au/national/news/1127347996_9870.html

The CPA (Newcastle) went down to meet the workers on strike, i was going to attend but i coudn't make it because of Uni. The comrades who went said it is going very good, and the workers are strong.

[Hiero]

Last Update: Friday, November 18, 2005. 10:33am (AEDT)
Ads to highlight striking Boeing workers' plight
The NSW Government and the Australian Workers Union (AWU) have launched a new advertising campaign highlighting the plight of striking Boeing workers in Newcastle.

About 25 maintenance employees, based at the Williamtown RAAF Base, have been on strike for more than four months in a push for a collective agreement.

Boeing will not consider their demands, saying the striking workers amount to just 7 per cent of its Williamtown work force.

AWU national secretary Bill Shorten says the ads, which will screen on Newcastle's commercial television stations, aim to bring people's attention to the strike.

"The ads are just the reflections of the people who have been on strike, asking Boeing and the Government to take an interest in the problem, but do more than just take an interest in the problem - talk to the workers about a collective agreement," he said.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Cessnock, John Clarence, has defended a council decision to make a $1,000 donation to the striking Boeing workers.

Councillor Clarence denies says the donation will help the workers and their families over Christmas and denies it is a political move.

"Well look, all I can say to you is this, if you were out of work and struggling to buy presents for your children for Christmas, struggling to provide a decent dinner for them and someone offered you money, would you say that was political? It's more humanitarian isn't it?" he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1509587.htm

Im trying to see if the ads are available online.

[pastradamus]

Strike disrupts normal life in Manipur

IMPHAL: Normal life was disrupted in Manipur as a result of the 24-hour general strike called from 6 a.m. on Saturday in protest against the plan to construct the multi crore Tipaimukh dam at the trijunction of Manipur, Assam and Mizoram.

All educational institutions were closed and passenger buses and trucks were off the road.

Saturday is a holiday for all government and semi government offices.

Prime Minister Manmohon Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi are arriving in Imphal on November 27 to lay the foundation stone of the Tipaimukh dam.

Twenty-six organisations have joined hands to form an Action Committee against the Tipaimukh Project (ACTIP) to oppose the dam. The ACTIP had said that the Government should back out of the project since it had not obtained the clearance from the Ministry of Forest and Environment. As the government had ignored its demand, the ACTIP called the general strike.

Power shortage


Talking to The Hindu , Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi said that most of the organisations do not even know where the dam will be constructed. Shortage of power is hampering the State's industrialisation and execution of other developmental works

[Janus]

Hyundai workers begin partial strike
By: AP News

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. began a promised partial strike Monday amid a dispute with management over bonuses, a union official said.

The walkout, which was approved last week by union representatives, began as scheduled Monday afternoon, said Jung Jun-yung, the head of the union's overseas cooperation department. Unionized workers plan to lay down tools Monday for a total of eight hours at three different factories.

Hyundai Motor confirmed the strike was under way, company spokesman Jake Jang said. Hyundai asked the Ulsan District Court to issue an order barring the walkout, Jang said, though added no decision had yet been reached.

Ulsan is an industrial city 260 miles southeast of Seoul where the world's sixth-largest automaker has its main factory.

Labor troubles are a near constant headache for Hyundai. The company's union has gone on strike every year but one since it was established in 1987.

Under the strike plan, workers will carry out normal shifts Tuesday, but expand the strike Wednesday to a total of 12 hours at each of the three factories. They will decide further action, if any, on Wednesday.

A total of 400 representatives voted unanimously Friday for the 44,000-strong member union to walk off the job.

Unionized workers have refused to work overtime since Dec. 28 after workers received a bonus equal to one month's salary, which they say is less than the agreed amount of a payment equal to 1.5 months.

The company says the latter total was based on an incentive to reach the company's 2006 production target and since that was not achieved because of strikes the payment was reduced.

"There would never have been a strike if the labor-management agreement had been realized," the union said on its Web site.

A week ago, Hyundai sued the union, seeking damages to help cover production losses caused by the refusal to do overtime.

Last year was Hyundai's worst ever in terms of strikes. A total of four walkouts cost Hyundai 118,293 vehicles in lost production costing 1.64 trillion won ($1.75 billion), according to the company.

Hyundai was also dogged by turmoil following the April arrest and jailing of Chairman Chung Mong-koo on embezzlement and breach of trust charges related to a slush fund scandal.

Chung, 68, was released from detention in late June on bail and returned to work after spending time in a hospital. He is currently on trial and was due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Hyundai shares rose 0.3 percent Monday to close at 64,100 won ($68).

[Janus]

SEOUL (AFP) - Thousands of protestors marched through Seoul Saturday, calling for lawmakers to reject a major free trade deal with the United States.

The biggest free trade deal for the US since the 1993 North America Free Trade Agreement has left many local workers and farmers fearing for their jobs and futures.

Carrying banners and flags, the protesters walked about a mile (1.5 kilometres) from a public park to a plaza outside the City Hall, where they sat down on the pavement and held a candlelit rally.

"We don't need US mad-cow beef. Give it to (US President George W.) Bush," chanted around 6,000 protesters.

They demanded that the South Korean government rip up the agreement and that President Roh Moo-Hyun steps down.

"We will have no future under the FTA," Lee Suk-Haeng, head of the hardline Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), said in a speech before the march started.

He said the KCTU, boasting of 800,000 members hired, would lead a nationwide campaign to press the National Assembly not to ratify the deal in September.

Thousands of riot police set up barricades with more than 100 police buses to keep the protesters away from an intersection leading to the US embassy and the office of the president, but there was no immediate report of any clashes.

South Korea's ban on US beef was one of the most contentious issues in the 10-month-old negotiations, which were wrapped up on Monday without the full reopening of the Asian country's beef market.

US officials have warned that Washington would not sign the agreement unless Seoul allowed full access to American beef imports.

South Korea was a major market for American beef -- worth an annual 850 million dollars -- before a 2003 import ban imposed over fears of mad cow disease.

Seoul last year agreed to accept US boneless beef but rejected three shipments after discovering tiny bone fragments.

South Korea has pushed for the pact despite strong opposition from workers and farmers who fear for the loss of their incomes and jobs if US goods gain unfettered access to the domestic market.

Agriculture -- in particular rice and beef -- and the auto industry were the main areas of contention.

South Korean workers and farmers protest trade deal with US (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070407/ts_afp/skoreausftatrade;_ylt=AlSi4dkxkNIVAnhPbHbN_ucBxg8F )

[Leo]

Strike at China Christmas Tree Factory

HONG KONG (AP) - Thousands of workers at a plastic Christmas tree factory in southern China clashed with police after a 10-day strike, news reports said Saturday.

Several hundred police arrived Friday at the factory in Shenzhen, a boomtown in Guangdong province, and tried to disperse the strikers, Hong Kong's Apple Daily reported.

The workers - most of them women - have been striking for the past 10 days to protest the factory's long working hours, the newspaper said.

They also complained that Baoji Artifacts, the company that owns the factory, was trying to lay off long-term employees without offering compensation, the South China Morning Post reported.

Workers said police beat at least one woman for refusing to obey police orders, and briefly detained about 100 strikers for questioning, the Post reported.

The strikers faced off with police outside the factory for about five hours and then dispersed because of heavy rain, the Apple Daily said.

The factory was once the world's largest manufacturer of plastic Christmas trees and employs over 10,000 workers, the two newspapers said.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1162785

[Bilan]

Workers at Ford Plants go on strike (Melbourne)

By Catherine Best, Simon Mossman and Kate Lahey

MORE than 1200 Ford workers in Victoria are to be stood down indefinitely without pay from tonight as a new industrial dispute threatens to cripple Australia's car industry.

More than 240 workers at Venture Industries, a former Ford unit that supplies the car manufacturer with plastic components, walked off the job today in a row over unpaid entitlements.

Union leaders say Venture employees are owed $25 million in entitlements, after the company announced it would close its Broadmeadows factory and move to a new site on the other side of Melbourne.

Tonight, Ford said 800 assembly line workers based at Broadmeadows and 450 engine workers at its Geelong plant would be stood down from close of business today until the supply of Venture products resumed.

"This is a temporary action only and their jobs at Ford are not at risk. Other Ford employees will continue working," Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said.

"We have indicated to both the union and Venture that we expect them to work to resolve this matter as soon as possible."

The 1250 workers affected by the dispute would be able to use their annual leave entitlements to cover any shortfalls from a loss of pay, Ms McAlary said.

The strike action would directly affect Ford's overall production, and could also have an impact on more than 200 other suppliers – most of them in Victoria – which provide components to the car manufacturer.

"Ford produces 350 cars a day. This means there will be no cars whatsoever being rolled out until the dispute is resolved."

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) Victorian secretary Steve Dargavel said most of Venture's 242-strong workforce would be sacked without redundancy entitlements to cut costs.

The company had purchased another business, Venture DMG, based in Melbourne's southeast, where equipment and resources would be relocated.

Mr Dargavel blamed the problems on multi-national corporations seeking to capitalise on the Australian manufacturing industry but ultimately leaving it in ruins.

"This is a problem created by industry and the failure of the market," Mr Dargavel said.

"It's an increasing tendency of companies to try and pull these stunts under corporations law where they'll liquidate one entity and set up another entity and claim that they have no obligations to employees.

"We're concerned that Venture is playing games ... and are trying to put pressure on the car producers to give them some arrangements that they might otherwise not have and our members are being used as cannon fodder."

Victorian Premier John Brumby urged the parties to quickly resolve the issue, adding the threat of stand downs across the industry was unwelcome.

"We hope it's resolved, I hope it's resolved today. If it's resolved today then there is no threat in terms of stand downs in any other industries."

Comment was tonight still being sought from Venture.

Link. (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22295138-2,00.html)

[BobKKKindle$]

Metal workers ongoing protests in Hong Kong


Hong Kong is generally known locally for its peaceful protests and demonstrations. Most civil and labour demonstrations adhere to the relatively restrictive practices of local laws governing demonstrations which call for advance police notice and set limits on demonstration venues and timing. [NOTE 1] Recently however there have been a lot more demonstrations and a lot more people willing to break the rules. This weekend saw some unexpected worker demonstrations disrupting the sacred heart of Hong Kong’s business district disturbing bankers and others in the area.

Metal working in the construction industry, is one of the rare trades where workers’ wages and working hours are negotiated between the trade union and the contractors and developers directly. More than two decades ago, workers, in order to avoid competition amongst themselves agreed to set a standard wage for their trade. The employers also wanted to ensure a stable supply of workers, and therefore, both the Hong Kong Construction Industry Bar-bending Workers’ Union (BWU), and the contractors and real estate developers agreed that on every 1 August, they would meet and negotiate the wages for the coming year. Currently BWU has 5,000 members and is an affiliate of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions.

Due to the Asian financial crisis after the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong to the British and the corresponding decline in construction projects, workers’ daily wages have dropped from HKD 1,300 to at the present rate of HKD 800. Workers have said that some contractors employ illegal or unlicensed workers and pay them at about HKD 500, making their situation worse. This year, the meeting for negotiation was postponed to November, which triggered a strike on 8 August among fears of continued stagnation or reductions.

The strike broke out in a construction site in To Kwa Wan (Kowloon) and both sides sent their representatives to further negotiate. Though HKD 800 per day does not sound too bad for Hong Kong workers the situation is not as clear as it seems – many workers report that they do not have full work and very often they are employed for half month and are left the idle and incomeless the other half of the One worker said, “how could I support my family? I can’t afford to buy diapers for my baby son. ” [NOTE 2]

A series of protests

After the initial strike on 8 August which was barely mentioned by the local news media, on 9 August, 200 workers staged a sit-in outside the Chief Executive’s official residence, demanding his direct intervention.

On 10 August, in the midst of Hong Kong’s first typhoon of 2007, when the typhoon signal 8 was hoisted and the city’s millions of workers were all rushing home, [NOTE 3] the metal workers were still on strike at the construction site, hoping for a response to their demands. When no answer came they marched to the nearest metro station (Yau Ma Tei) in order to travel to the government offices for further demonstration. They were stopped by the police inside the station - they then held a peaceful sit-in at the station for 3 hours before going back home. The same afternoon, three supporters of the workers, including two staff-members from ITUC affiliated and pro-democratic Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), were detained by police and taken to the police station, one of them in handcuffs. They were allowed to leave the police station a few hours later, but may face potential charges of “disturbing public order” and “refusing to show one’s identity card”.

The following day, on 11 August, around 500 workers marched from To Kwa Wan in Kowloon to Tsim Sha Tsui. They then crossed the harbour by Star Ferry and went to the Central Government Offices on Hong Kong Island where they asked to meet with the Labour Minister, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung. After several hours around 100 protestors walked over to nearby Queen’s Road Central, the heart of Hong Kong’s central business district, blocking traffic and attempting to stage a sit-in protest. "Raise our salary, cut working hours," the workers shouted.

On 12 August, after an un-announced meeting between BWU and employers. The employers’ side put forward an offer of a HKD 50-pay rise and a 15-minute break at work, while the workers’ demand was a-HKD 150 increase and 8-hour work day (currently, the work day is set at 8.5 but in practice is around 10 hours). The employers stated that they would only increase wages to HKD 950 in August 2008 but the offer of raising the workers’ daily wage by HKD 50 to HKD 850 would be backdated to 1 August, with an option for the rate to be re-negotiated in March 2008. Workers responded by stating that they would not accept any terms lower than their demand. Some workers later said they were disappointed by BWU, for not informing them about the meeting and not inviting their new workers’ representative, Man Wong, to the meeting. BWU representatives unilaterally stated that while there was no industry wide-agreement if individual contractors would pay workers HK$950, then the workers could start working and end the strike. Workers complained such a “solution” was in violation of the concept of collective bargaining and would affect the spirit of those still on strike.

On 13 August more than 500 workers gathered near the construction site in Kowloon while scores of police erected metal barricades to contain the workers and cordoned off two nearby streets. The demonstration had been given official permission to proceed but media reported that it continued after the expiration of the official time limit set for the protest. At about 2.30pm, Bertha Cheng Wai-yue, a Labour Department chief labour officer, met Lee Cheuk Yan, the General Secretary of the HKCTU and strikers' representatives for about two hours in a police car, but afterwards said only: "Not everything happens in our life lives up to our expectations. How many people can realise all their wishes?" Sources close to the Labour Minister said that he was busy persuading the business side to give workers a better offer and that is why the association agreed to increase the wages to HKD 950 from 1 August 2008.

Despite the ongoing lack of progress in talks, the strikers have vowed to stay united until a concrete pay rise is promised. One worker, Tsui Wing-shun, 50, was quoted as saying the protest was "self-driven" as the workers felt it was time to claim their share in the prospering economy. "Our wages were cut during the economic turmoil, but the employers are not willing to revise them with the situation improving….A pay rise had been rejected for 10 years and it has brought outrage among workers."

Despite a warning from the Police Commissioner that legal action may be taken, strikers refused to rule out a repeat of Saturday's protest which saw more than 700 metal workers blockade Queen's Road, Central.

A politically-motivated protest?

Although BWU is an affiliate of FTU, a conservative union with a strong pro-Beijing background, the workers’ demands have now been taken up by the HKCTU, along with a local labour group, the Neighbourhood & Worker’s Service Centre (NWSC) and Legislator Leung Kwok Hung (a.k.a. Long Hair). The management of BWU and some local pro-Beijing media have complained that HKCTU and others have “hijacked” “their” workers and made them take aggressive action such as the road-blockade on 11 August.

Originally the HKFTU had been representing the BWU but it later stated that it did not support the workers actions at the weekend. The FTU went further and blamed – albeit obliquely – the HKCTU. In a report by the South China Morning Post on 13 August, the BWU Chair, Luk Kwan-ngai, was quoted as saying; "There were some irresponsible unions who provoked the workers into taking extreme action. We were unable to stop them and I must apologise for that.”

However, the construction site workers' branch of the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) also stated that Saturday traffic blockade and other protests were not planned. The branch's deputy organising secretary, Shek Lam-sang, blamed a lack of organisation which resulted in the workers being left on the street for hours. "We were not the organisers. We were called in to help when workers' felt that their requests were not answered."

On Saturday, the workers elected a new leader, Man Wong, to represent them at the meeting with the employers on 13 August. Man has pledged to release news to his colleagues every hour to keep them informed; “Only when the workers are kept posted about the latest developments in the negotiations that they won't feel upset," he said.

HKCTU’s coordinator Tam Chun-yin argued that although HKCTU was not the parent union of BWU, they felt that it was necessary for them to show support to workers as they were making reasonable demands - despite the recovering economy in Hong Kong their wages had not yet reached their original wage levels of 1997. The metal workers usually get some of the highest wages in a construction site, as their work is tough - a 12 meter long metal bar weights 80 kg and they are required to work under the sun for long hours.

According to InMedia, an independent online forum, some of the FTU affiliated workers accusing HKCTU of interference were using the dispute to make a political comment in the light of the serious political divisions between the two unions. The reporter stated that while he was in the demonstration in Central on Saturday, some workers forcibly took the microphone away from HKCTU staff, while they were asking the workers to wait until Monday to see if the meeting between BWU and employers would be fruitful. The people who took the microphone started yelling HKCTU was useless and workers should just take action right away by rushing into the Government Offices building and blocking the road. The reporter was then told by other workers that those people who called for “immediate action” were sent by the FTU .[NOTE 4]

Two workers interviewed by the local media stated that they were dissatisfied with the progress of the negotiations and to strike, despite the BWU urging them to withdraw from action. One stated that "The union is not representing our interests…Those who manage the union are closely tied with the merchants' association which will definitely lead to a corrupted negotiation." He said many workers had either quit the union or refused to pay membership fees in the past few years. The second worker refused to comment on the political dispute between unions. He said the most important thing was the workers' interests. "We will support whoever is dedicated to fight for our interests." [NOTE 5]

Some academics have pointed out that increasingly workers have wanted to make the public aware of their situation and have begun to use more aggressive tactics to force the government to take action. In the recent months, similar incidents have taken place, following the same logic, such as a recent blockade of the airport by taxi-drivers’ over unfair practices, the demonstrations (and hunger strikes) over the demolition of the Star Ferry and the Queen’s Ferry Pier and the successful pressure on the government to remove a monopoly when small stall holders threatened a protest over the Ng Fung Hong company’s pork monopoly which had been tightening control over pork supply in Hong Kong, forcing prices up. The government later had to step in and allow other suppliers to compete – no mean achievement for a Hong Kong largely government by large monopolies.

[Knight of Cydonia]

Bus drivers in Jakarta strike for higher fares


Hundreds of public minivan drivers in Jakarta staged a strike Monday, demanding an official fare increase in the wake of fuel price rises, leaving many commuters and students stranded.

One striking driver, Cecep Wahyudin, told The Jakarta Post they wanted the administration officially to raise fares.

"It's frustrating having to quarrel with passengers just to get an extra Rp 500 over the current fare," he said.

"So, until the fare rises are made official ... we will continue the strike."

Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said the central and local governments would soon issue decrees on new transportation fares.

"If there are official decrees, any illegal decrees will no longer be valid," said Jusman, referring to decrees issued by public transportation owners to raise fares.

There are more than 400 public minivans serving the Tanah Abang-Kebayoran Lama route and 300 serving the Tanah Abang-Meruya route in Jakarta. Drivers are demanding fare increases for their routes of Rp 500 to Rp 1,000.

Cecep, who has been driving the Tanah Abang-Kebayoran Lama route for eight years, said 40 percent of passengers were willing to pay higher fares without being asked.

"Before the fuel price hike, I earned just Rp 30,000 to Rp 50,000 a day. Now, it is more like Rp 25,000," Cecep said.

Those public transportation drivers not taking part in Monday's strike were charging passengers an additional Rp 500 to Rp 2,000 despite no official announcement on the issue.

Air-conditioned buses traveling between Bekasi and Jakarta have increased fares from Rp 5,500 to Rp 6,500, while non-air-conditioned buses are charging Rp 5,000, up from Rp 4,000.

Public minivans in Bekasi have raised fares by Rp 500.

A teacher and Bekasi resident, Lina, said, "Even before the minivan driver asks, I don't mind paying him the extra charge. I realize we passengers are not the only ones affected by the fuel price hike; the drivers too are affected."

The secretary of the Jakarta chapter of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), TR Panjaitan, said before the fuel price increases were announced that if the government raised prices by 30 percent, transportation fares were likely to go up by 20 percent.

"This is just a rough estimate. We will set up a special team to determine the fares right after the government announces the new fuel prices," Panjaitan said.

He said fuel prices were just one of 156 factors in calculating fares.

"Fuel only accounts for 5 percent of the total fare," he said.

Meanwhile, many motorcycle taxi, or ojek, drivers were seen by the Post benefiting from Monday's transportation strike, looking for passengers along Jl. Palmerah Utara in West Jakarta, which is usually jammed with public minivans.

[Bilan]

Asia

Pakistan telco workers strike after police attack

Thousands of workers employed by state-monopoly phone company Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) walked out on July 16 after a brutal attack by Pakistan Rangers on a peaceful demonstration in Islamabad one day earlier. Rangers fired teargas at workers involved in a sit-down rally outside the PTLC headquarters causing 16 protestors to be hospitalised.


Pakistan Telecom Workers Ethad (PTWE) members had been holding two-hour protests at the PTCL offices for several weeks in opposition to the new United Pay Scales (UPS) system. They want the company to return to the original pay system.
Workers locked PTCL premises and shut-down call centres across the country during the national strike. PTCL is the only telecommunications provider in Pakistan.


Fearing disruption to government and armed forces communications, Asif Ali Zardar, co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, pushed PTCL to accept workers’ demands, including withdrawal of UPS, reinstatement of workers suspended for protesting, and the payment of wages lost during the strike.


Indian retirees protest over pensions

On July 16, around 300 State Transport Corporation retirees and their families protested in Chennai, Tamil Nadu over pensions. The retirees want the government to assume direct responsibility for the pension payments.


The Transport Corporations Retired Employees Welfare Association claims that some 30,000 retired employees have not been receiving their pensions for protracted periods and that there was a two year delay in accessing or utilising post-retirement benefit schemes. Many retirees had filed cases with the High Court but some had died waiting on the court’s decision.
The retirees also want dearness allowance increases to be included in pensions, immediate payment of commutation pension arrears, and free transport passes for the widows of transport corporation employees.


In a separate dispute, Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Employees’ Union members demonstrated in Tuticorin on July 14 for permanency of all corporation employees. Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation employees also demonstrated on the same day in Udhagamandalam for permanency and for salaries to be fixed on time-scale basis.


Bangladesh water transport workers end pay strike

Water transport workers in Bangladesh returned to work on July 12 after a 38-hour national strike for a pay rise to compensate for cost of living increases.


The strikers agreed to allow launches and other passenger carriers to run but not freight vessels, following a meeting with the Bangladesh Water Transport Workers Federation (BWTWF), the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and vessel owners. Most services were restored despite there being no definite pay offer.
The BWTWF accepted a proposal to form a committee with vessel owners, the BIWTA, the labour ministry and directorates of shipping and labour. The committee will formulate pay rise and other conditions until a new wage structure is implemented some time next year. The committee was expected to report within the next 15 days and its recommendations to be backdated to July 1.


Japanese fisherman strike over high fuel prices

On July 15, 200,000 Japanese fishing boats, almost the country’s entire fishing industry, remained idle when fisherman struck for one day over soaring fuel prices. Several thousand fishermen demonstrated in Tokyo. Fish markets were forced to sell frozen supplies but could not satisfy the demand and prices rose by 20 percent.


The strike was organised by the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations and 16 other fishing-industry bodies. A spokesman from the federation said that fuel prices had tripled over the last three years and called on the government for tax breaks and other financial support


Korean tire factory workers end strike

Some 4,000 unionised workers at Kumho Tires, South Korea’s second largest tire maker, returned to work on July 12, ending a four-day strike over wages and jobs. The strike was called off after the company withdrew plans to cut 431 jobs.
Workers wanted a basic monthly salary increase of 130,000 won ($US126) but the company threatened to cut jobs and close one of its factories if employees persisted with their claim. While the union has now agreed to increase productivity, the exact details of the agreement have not yet been made public.


Hong Kong food-processing workers strike

Around 200 employees at Hong Kong-based food processor Vitasoy International walked off the job on July 11 demanding a 6 percent wage rise and to protest the sacking of a colleague. Workers protested outside the company’s main plant.


The strikers, including drivers, sales personal and warehouse staff, are employed at the company’s headquarters in Tuen Mun. The Labour Department has now intervened into the dispute.
Along with its Hong Kong operation, Vitasoy has plants in mainland China, Australia and the United States.
Australia and the Pacific

Queensland power workers strike over pay

Around 3,500 power workers from Queensland government-owned Powerlink and Ergon Energy went on strike for 48 hours on July 16. The strike was joined by 1,000 workers from the state-owned south-east Queensland electricity distributor Energex the next day. Around 100 Energex employees—members of the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU)—rallied outside the company headquarters in central Brisbane.


The strikes are part of an ongoing campaign for an additional $1.50 per hour to bring them in line with electricity workers in the private sector. State government workers receive $29.05 an hour whilst their private sector counterparts are paid $31.80. The government is offering a 4.5 percent increase.


Power unions have threatened to step-up the campaign in the coming weeks but a union spokesman declined to specify what action will be taken. The ETU confirmed that unions would begin a $70,000 advertising campaign to highlight the pay dispute. Power workers have held rallies in major centres across the state and picketed Ergon Energy offices in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Brisbane in recent months.


Teachers rally outside minister’s office

Over 100 public school teachers and students rallied outside the electoral office of South Australia Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith’s office on July 17 to demand a new pay and conditions agreement.


Teachers want a 21 percent increase over three years, a reduction in class sizes and extra government funding to recruit and retain staff. The SA state Labor government is offering only 9.75 percent over three years which is well below the current inflation rate of 4.2 percent.


An Australian Education Union spokeswoman said that after six months of negotiations teachers were running out of patience. “Our children deserve quality learning and individual attention and that means smaller class sizes and better resources,” she said.


Technical teachers to strike in pay dispute

Around 14,000 public sector technical colleges (TAFEs) in Victoria are planning a 24-hour state-wide strike on August 20 for a 20 percent pay rise over four years. In line with restraints imposed by the Victorian state government TAFE directors are offering only a 3.25 percent annual increase for four years with productivity trade-offs for anything above that amount.


According to an Australian Education Union spokesperson, negotiations on productivity trade-offs have “persistently broken down”. TAFE teachers fear that flexibility arrangements will lead to more casual jobs. The dispute has dragged on for 11 months.


Union files harassment complaint against Auckland Airport

The Unite Union has filed a complaint with the New Zealand Employment Relations Authority (ERA) over the harassment of union members by senior management and supervisors at Auckland Airport. The move follows several weeks of industrial action by food court employees at the airport who want better pay and working conditions.


According to Unite, the company management has embarked on a campaign of bullying and intimidation of union members. It claims that while such behaviour is not new it has recently escalated. The actions include threats that workers who have taken strike action will be denied roster changes or preferred shifts. Unite says that workers are also being “actively encouraged” by management and supervisors to resign from the union.


Russian seafarers in NZ demand payment of wages

Aleksandr Ksenofontov, a Russian fishing vessel, is being detained in the New Zealand port of Lyttelton over a wages’ dispute. The 19 Russian and Ukrainian crew members are concerned that they will not be paid when their contract expires this month and have approached local maritime unions for assistance.


This is the second time in 18 months that the ship has been detained in New Zealand. In December 2006, the vessel was held in Dunedin port over unpaid bills. Ship’s documents revealed that wages paid did not resemble hours worked and had been slashed by using heavy Russian taxation laws and after large employer deductions. The lost wages were eventually recovered after legal action.


A Maritime Union spokesman in New Zealand said that any attempt to send the present crew home without full entitlements and pay would be “resisted both with legal action and direct action”. New Zealand immigration authorities are aware of the situation but so far have done nothing to stop the recurring cycle of events that see overseas seafarers sent home only to be replaced by another crew under the same conditions.

WSWS (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/labo-j19.shtml)