Africa

[Sabocat]

Post and discuss any worker actions in Africa here.

[Sabocat]

South African unions call first of weekly one-day strikes

The first in a series of one-day strikes called by the South African Confederation of Trade Unions (COSATU) brought industries in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces to a halt on October 3.

The strike was in opposition to high unemployment and job losses. It is the first of a series of protests to be held each Monday in October with longer periods of strike action threatened in different sectors.

Some 35,000 workers marched through central Cape Town to the gates of parliament to protest job losses and poverty. COSATU said the turnout was 60 percent of their membership in the Eastern Cape. Two-thirds of the workers at the Ford Motor Company were on strike, and DaimlerChrysler in East London closed down for the day. Other car manufacturers, including General Motors and Volkswagen, were also affected, though not as severely.

Official unemployment stands at 26 percent, double the figure of 10 years ago. If those who no longer bother to seek work because of the lack of prospects are included, the figure is 41 percent. Some 55,000 jobs were lost in the clothing industry alone in the last two years through closures and liquidations.

The response to the one-day strike reflects growing anger amongst working people in South Africa at the ANC government’s free-market policies, despite the repeated efforts of COSATU to limit protest action. COSATU leaders employ demagogy designed to head off a serious political movement against the ANC, which they continue to loyally support in an alliance with the South African Communist Party.

COSATU’s demands have taken an increasingly chauvinist character, directed particularly against cheap imports from China. They are demanding that businesses support local industries, and that retailers purchase 75 percent of their stock locally.

Strikers fired and arrested in Djibouti

Eleven trade union leaders and around 165 strikers have been dismissed from their jobs and arrested at the international port of Djibouti, according to a press release by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

Following a four-day general strike from September 14, the police prevented 11 leaders from the Port Workers’ Union (UTP) from entering the port, and confiscated their access cards. The port management told them they had been dismissed for “impeding the freedom to work” during the general strike. In protest, the port workers called a second strike on September 24. Within two hours of their decision, 110 strikers had been arrested by the national police force (FNP) and taken to a detention centre.

By September 26, nearly 160 people had been arrested and were being detained. Six of the eleven union leaders were being interrogated in a police station. The ICFTU reported that the repression was still continuing on September 28.


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

[Sabocat]

Retail workers on strike in South Africa

Workers at Clicks pharmacy and cosmetics stores in South Africa have embarked on an indefinite strike, after negotiations over a pay increase stalled for five months. The strike began at the end of last week.

Clicks management has offered R225 (US$34.50) extra per month, which is an 8.8 percent increase. The workers’ union, South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), is calling for an increase of R300 (US$46), or 10 percent.

The union has admitted that most Clicks stores are still open, since management have hired contractors to fill the places of those on strike.

Strike rules agreed between SACCAWU and management through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration restrict the strikers’ ability to make their action effective. Even so, some Clicks stored had to close for short periods.

Other shops owned by the same parent company, New Clicks—such as The Body Shop, Discom and Musica—are not affected by the strike, nor are the professional pharmacy staff in Clicks stores.

Victims of privatisation demonstrate in Nigeria

Around 2,000 people protested outside a Nigerian steel plant in the southwestern Delta state, which had been bought in February 2005 by Ispat Industries of India.

The demonstrators were demanding payment of unpaid wages and benefits from the period before the plant was privatised. They carried placards making clear their anger that promises to pay their entitlements had been broken. Around a hundred police and troops were kept close by the demonstration.

Mauritian union leader victimised for sending an email

The president of the Mauritian Airline Pilots’ Professional Association (MALPA), Russlan Ramdowar, has been effectively suspended for writing a private email in his capacity as a union leader.

For several years, pilots based in Mauritius have complained of the undermining of their rights, working conditions and payments while training, as well as the lack of a policy on promotion.

Their anger exploded when a new method of calculating flying hours was introduced, allowing management to increase flying schedules to the extent of exceeding international norms and putting flight crews and passengers at risk. Fifty-five pilots have been fired since November 2004 for opposing the measures.

Ramdowar sent the email to the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) to ask whether the new method of calculating flying hours was legal. On August 31, the airline informed Ramdowar that he had been immediately “de-rostered” for sending the email. Ramdovar has countered that the email was intercepted illegally and in violation of his rights as a trade union leader. The case has been taken up by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

Link (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/wkrs-o14.shtml)

[pastradamus]

teachers strike In ghana

MEMBERS OF the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) have sounded their resolve to continue with their strike action until such a time that government has met their grievances.

The striking graduate teachers, led by their Greater Accra regional chairman, Mr. Eric Angel Carbonu, in a typical revolutionary style blatantly made it clear that the striking teachers are continuing with their action unabated.

"The struggle is a struggle of destiny," he chanted, with a simultaneous response of "the war has only just began" and "the struggle continues" from the over fifty members who besieged the Accra Fast Track High Court (FTC) yesterday to listen to the final ruling on an order being sought against them by the National Labour Commission (NLC).

The reaction of the striking teachers commenced shortly after the court presided over by Justice Richard Asamoah ordered all members of the striking graduate teachers, including the president, Kwami Alorvi, vice president, Christian Adu-Poku, and all regional chairpersons of NAGRAT to call off the strike action and return to the classroom.

According to the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of NAGRAT, members of the association nationwide would sever their relationship with the West Africa Examination Council, adding that the council should look for people to mark examination scripts of students.

Meanwhile, the striking teachers have emphasized that even if they should return to the classroom as the court had ordered, they would impart wrong knowledge into the students.

Mr. Carbonu further noted that the national executive of the association would meet and take their next line of action, as NAGRAT is prepared to stretch the court to its elastic limit.

"An Appeal is an option," he continued.

In its ruling, the court noted that the action embarked upon by NAGRAT was illegal as the order issued by the commission on October 5, 2006 directing the graduate teachers to call off their strike action was done in accordance with the labour law.

The court therefore noted that NAGRAT was in breach of the order, when members of the association refused to heed to the calls of the NLC, as the commission has powers of the High court.

Additionally, the court was of the view that even though NAGRAT may have good concerns in their affidavit, they must adopt lawful means to solve the impasse rather than resorting to "illegal means".

The NLC on October 11, 2006, filed a suit against members of NAGRAT seeking an order of the court to compel the striking graduate teachers to call off their action, which commenced on September 1, 2006 since their action was illegal.

According to the NLC, the leadership of the striking graduate teachers and the entire membership of NAGRAT failed to comply with Section 159 and 160 of Act 651 of the Labour Law.

The NLC argued that the action of NAGRAT failed to satisfy the mandatory serving of notice on the Commission in relation to their intended strike action as required by law.

The commission contended that NAGRAT failed to recognize its call to end their strike action to enable the Commission facilitate negotiations between the GES and the leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the respondent, when it met with the leadership of the respondent Association on September 27 this year.

Subsequent to meeting the leadership of the respondent Association, the NLC held that on October 5, it served a formal order dated October 4, 2006 on NAGRAT directing its membership to call off the "illegal strike to enable the Commission facilitate negotiations to resolve the concerns of teachers under the Ghana Education Service in accordance with the Labour Act, 2003".

It was further the view of the NLC that NAGRAT's failure to comply with its orders to end the strike contravenes the Labour Law.

Opposing, NAGRAT was of the view that the issues brought against them was misconceived and intended to cow them into ending the action that is intended to articulate their grievances.

According to NAGRAT, there existed no dispute between the GES and the membership of the graduate teachers to warrant them to contravene the labour law, adding that all differences had been resolved with the intervention of bodies such as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education.

NAGRAT therefore accused the GES of peddling falsehoods and not abiding by their side of the agreement reached during the negotiations as the GES had exceeded the deadline of the end of July 2006 for payment of salary arrears to be effected.

To the graduate teachers, it was the failure of the GES to fulfill their side of the agreement, which informed their strike action

[Janus]

General strike in Nigeria
Source: AFP

A general strike gripped Nigeria Wednesday, posing the first significant test for the new president and prompting speculation that oil markets might be upset by possible disruption to supplies from one of the world's top crude exporters.

In fact oil prices fell heavily after the US government said that its energy stockpiles had risen strongly last week, offsetting any concerns about the Nigerian strike.

The main Nigerian labour unions decided to go ahead with the strike after the government of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who was only sworn in late last month, refused to reverse a 15 percent hike in the price of petrol.

"The general strike and mass protest continue tomorrow (Thursday). As we have earlier announced, the strike will be indefinite until the federal government returns the price of petrol to 65 naira (0.51 dollars, 0.38 euros)," Abdulwaheed Omar, head of the blue-collar Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), told reporters.

He urged workers to set up compliance squads countrywide "to ensure all work places are shut down".

"The burden of fixing Nigeria and removing the landmines planted by former president Olusegun Obasanjo rests on President Yar'Adua. This responsibility cannot be shifted or repudiated merely on the excuse that the problems were inherited."

He was referring to a series of unpopular measures such as the fuel price increase introduced by Obasanjo in his last days in power.

"President Yar'Adua needs to appreciate that it is not a sign of weakness to listen to the people and act in accordance with their will," Omar added.

The federal government said Wednesday it was doing everything possible towards ensuring an early resolution of the strike action.

"The government wishes to warn however, that while it respects the right of any worker to embark on a strike action, that right should not be used as an excuse to instigate a breakdown of law and order," the government said in a statement.

In the commercial capital Lagos, streets that are normally jammed were virtually free of traffic, with the impact of the strike worsened by heavy rain.

Some workers complained they had tried to come into work but said they had been turned back by union officials at impromptu roadblocks.

In the administrative capital Abuja only a few senior government officials showed up for work.

Most government schools were closed across the country, as were banks. Many flights were suspended or disrupted, but markets, street food stalls and some supermarkets stayed open.

By Monday fears of the walkout, which unions had been threatening for two weeks, and which could further hamper oil exports from Nigeria -- Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's sixth largest exporter -- had sent crude prices to their highest levels in nine months.

But initially at least there were no signs of production, much of which is offshore and automated, being affected.

"There's still no sign of anything being paralysed for the time being," one oil industry source said.

"There are no reports yet of a halt in exports," Shell's spokesman Precious Okolobo said.

"Our employees are complying with the strike action. There are no reported disruptions in production yet," said Chevron's spokesman Femi Odumabo.

A spokeswoman for Total likewise said production was not affected.

Union officials said it was just a matter of time until exports were hit.

"Compliance .. will come up gradually till it reaches its peak. This is just the beginning," Elijah Okougho, secretary- general of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the blue-collar oil workers' union, told AFP

[Leo]

South Africa: ‘Massive’ strike spreads on 13th day

A nationwide public sector strike by hundreds of thousands of workers has shut down schools, courts and hospitals in a bitter dispute over pay that has seen the army deployed against pickets.

Today thousands of workers have joined one of the largest strikes in South African history. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) – which is a partner in the ANC government – has called for a one-day solidarity strike today from public and private sector workers as the ongoing pay dispute enters its 13th day.

Reports say that Durban, South Africa’s major port has ground to a halt as bus and taxi drivers joined the strike while mass marches are planned across the country, prompting the government to warn it will use the army to ‘prevent violence.’

Cosatu is demanding at least a 10% pay rise, while the government is offering 7.25%, revised from 6% before the strike action. With the rate of inflation at around 7% the pay ‘rise’ on offer is in fact a freeze after several years of falling real incomes.

On Friday 2,500 soldiers were deployed, firing rubber bullets at pickets. The government has so far sacked over 600 public health workers who are not allowed to strike under South African law, whilst it is withholding pay from the thousands of others talking action. Cosatu has said the strike will not end until such threats are withdrawn.

Source: Libcom http://libcom.org/news/south-africa-massiv...th-day-13062007 (http://libcom.org/news/south-africa-massive-strike-spreads-13th-day-13062007)

South African Unions call off massive strike

Unions have agreed to a government pay offer just 0.5% above inflation, describing it as "fantastic."

Nearly four weeks ago, with inflation running at around 7% and following several years of declining real wages, an indefinite strike began across the South African public sector involving hundreds of thousands of workers.

Unions were initially demanding a 12% rise, which was revised down to 10% before the 7.5% offer was accepted. The government increased its initial sub-inflation 6% offer. The COSATU union that lead the strike is a partner in the ANC government.

Post-apartheid South Africa has seen a continued to rise in inequality and there is widespread anger over wages, privatisation and living conditions, such as the implementation of water meters which automatically cut off people who fall behind on their bills.

Source: Libcom http://libcom.org/news/unions-call-massive...strike-28062007

[tolstoyevski]

you can get the latest news from here:

Daily South African Labour News (http://www.labourstart.org/southafrica/)

[blackstone]

Four-Union Mozambique Merger to Honour Labour Legacy of Joaquim Fanheiro

http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/240...oaquim-Fanheiro (http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2403-Four-Union-Mozambique-Merger-to-Honour-Labour-Legacy-of-Joaquim-Fanheiro)


ICEM affiliate in Mozambique, the National Union of Chemical, Rubber, Paper, and Print Workers (SINTIQUIGRA), has forged a four-union merger with transportation and textile workers’ unions, in an effort to strengthen the union movement of the country.

The merger is partly in honour of Joaquim Fanheiro, former leader of SINTIQUIGRA, who died unexpectedly in March 2007 while serving as general secretary of the Mozambique Workers’ Organisation (OTM), the nation’s leading national labour centre. The other merger partners are the Union of Textile and Footwear Workers’ (SINTIVEC), the National Union of Port and Railway Workers’ (SINPOCAF), and the Ports and Allied Dockworkers’ Union (SINPEOC).

A name for the union has not yet been determined, but a founding general assembly meeting will occur in November 2007 and will address that and other matters.

Union merger discussions in Mozambique began last spring between SINTIQUIGRA and SINTIVEC. They were expanded in the summer to include the transport and dockworkers’ unions. The combined membership of the four unions will be about 25,000.

Comrade Fanheiro was a long-time trade union activist and main leader of SINTIUIGRA. He was a strong workers’ advocate in 1970-era production councils in Mozambique, which were predecessors to the OTM. Later, he became the distinguished leader of the OTM and played a key role in negotiations with the government over issues such as the annual increases to the statutory minimum wage and the revisions to Mozambique’s labour code.

Trade unions in Mozambique of late have been burdened by downsizings and redundancies, as many large companies have splintered their businesses off to smaller companies, which have cut staff and attempt to slash social costs. The four-union merger is expected to make the labour movement and the OTM stronger and more efficient.

[Zurdito]

Egyptian textile workers occupy factory

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/7013184.stm

[blackstone]

Nigeria: Alao-Akala Begs Striking Oyo Workers
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710010411.html

Gbenga Oke
Lagos

Oyo State governor, Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala has appealed to the striking workers and Labour leaders in the state to strike a fair deal and embrace dialogue just as he called on them to resume back to work.

Speaking at a special broadcast marking the 47th Independence anniversary in Ibadan, Governor Akala said "This Administration has been flexible, considerate and accommodating enough and I expect workers to reciprocate this good gesture and call off the current strike because it is an ill wind that will blow no one any good" adding that " It should be noted that the labour leaders who ordered the workers to go on strike have sworn to a counter affidavit at the National Industrial Court that they did not order workers to go on strike".

Further, the Governor explained "The Labour leaders by that counter affidavit has betrayed and abandoned the workers to their fate by swearing on oath that Oyo State workers were not called to strike, the careers and jobs of the misguided workers have been put in jeopardy by their partisan labour leaders because it means that workers have been absenting themselves from work in clear disregard for the General Order, which states unambiguously that absenteeism from work without permission is punishable with summary dismissal".

Urging the workers to resume back to work, Akala argued that " I call on workers to go back to work immediately without fear of molestation and I assure those who are ready to resume work that adequate security will be provided for them".

Reassuring the citizens of the state that his administration will work tirelessly to protect property and lives in the state, he stressed " security of life and property will continue to be accorded its priority of place and as a matter of fact, more attention will be given to the protection of life and property of the people of the State as the State Government within the limits of its financial resources will continue to give logistic support to security Agencies in the State"

His words " let me assure the good people of Oyo State that this Administration will leave no stone unturned to evolve policies and programmes that will guarantee good and abundant life to all the citizens of the State and poverty will be eliminated in the State".

[blackstone]

Egypt: 15,000 workers strike and occupy giant factory - and win

Hossam al-Hamalawy, an Egyptian blogger, journalist, and labor activist currently at Berkeley's School of Journalism, is reporting on his blog that 15,000 workers at the Ghazl al-Mahallah textile factory in Egypt have gone on strike.

Ghazl al-Mahallah is the biggest textile factory in the Middle East, with over 27,000 workers comprising its total labor force. Workers have occupied the factory, including men, women, and their children, and the numbers are increasing during the daytime. Even retired workers in the area are showing up at the compound to join in solidarity. Details.

Most troubling, Hamalawy reports that the Egyptian Labor Minister, Aisha Abdel Hadi, and the General Federation for Textile Workers (a government union), have declared the strike illegal, basically opening up the way for police to bust it, probably violently. Details.

This is a hot and developing story, and to my knowledge, no Western news outlet has yet to cover it. I've just spoken to Hamalawy on the phone, and he tells me that his contacts at the strike are asking if labor organizations or media in the West have begun reporting on the story, as they need it desperately to empower themselves vis-a-vis the government, which may act soon to crack down on the strike, and the company. Details.

The workers are calling for: (details).

1) Impeachment of the company's board chairman
2) Impeachment of the Factory Union Commitee officials
3) Linking monthly incentives to a fixed percentage of the monthly salary
4) Increasing the food allowance to match rising food prices
5) Raising salaries to match inflation
6) Paying workers the 130-day as as part of their annual share of profits
7) Solving the transportation crisis
8) Paying a housing allowance to the workers

According to Hamalawy, attention, support, and coverage are urgently needed at this point. Hamalawy is able and willing to give interviews to any journalists or activists who wish to cover this story (he worked for the LA Times in the past, and recently gave an interview about Labor in Egypt to KPFA's Flashpoints program), and can also provide journalists with sources in Egypt.

[blackstone]

NUM mobilises members for national strike


The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is mobilising its members in preparation to embark on a national strike to highlight safety conditions, spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said on Thursday.

He noted that the one-day strike action was expected to take place at the end of October, or the beginning of next month, but that the date had not been set.

Seshoka added that he did not foresee any obstacles to the strike going ahead. The NUM has about 280 000 members nationwide, about 250 000 of whom are in the mining industry.

Seshoka described the over 200 deaths a year as "genocide", and said that, although government and industry players had made commitments, it was not sufficient, and the strike was a move to urge them to action.

http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=119447

[blackstone]

Sasol strike continues, fuel output unaffected

The strike at Sasol Mining's Secunda operation continued into its fourth day on Wednesday, confirmed spokesperson Johann van Rheede.

About one-third of the work-force, some 2 000 members of the United People's Trade Union, downed tools over pay last week. Details of their demands remained unclear.

Despite the reduced coal output, Van Rheede noted that synfuels production had still not been affected. He said that Sasol was currently engaged in talks with unions about the rules of the strike and the picketing that had been taking place.

He reiterated that the company was hoping to reach a resolution soon.

http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=119240

[blackstone]

Strike threatens Erongo electricity services

YESTERDAY'S strike and wage demands by the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) against Erongo RED (E-Red) could have detrimental effects on the region's electricity services and tariffs, as well as the very existence of E-Red, says company CEO Gerhard Coeln.

He was speaking to The Namibian while a large crowd of protesting E-Red employees were standing outside the company's headquarters in Walvis Bay, calling for him to come down and face them over the wages issue.

The majority of E-Red employees, who are MUN members, downed their tools at noon yesterday, threatening to stop all maintenance and back-up work in all the towns E-Red is operating in.

"If something electrical goes wrong now, we will not be prepared to work on it.

It will have to remain dysfunctional until we get treated better," an employee said.

But Coeln said contingency plans had been put in place to ensure continued delivery of essential services.

He told The Namibian that all qualified artisans were warned not to go on strike and to continue maintaining essential services and not allow the disruption of electricity supply.

He said disciplinary action would be taken against those who did not heed the warning.

Coeln said if no agreement could be reached soon, consumers might experience a delay in certain services.

Jonas Lumbu, MUN's Assistant General Secretary, confirmed that all work was stopped and will remain so unless E-Red met their demands.

The annual wage negotiations, which started in June, reached a deadlock because the union's demands of up to 9,5 per cent were not met.

E-Red's highest offer was 7 per cent, inclusive of electricity subsidies and travel allowances.

According to Lumbu, the union would only be happy with an agreement that exceeds 7 per cent.

Coeln said any increase above 7 per cent would be higher than the current inflation rate of 7,2 per cent, and would jeopardise E-Red's financial position and ultimately lead to higher electricity tariffs for consumers.

He said if MUN did get their way, electricity tariffs could rise by 1,4 per cent.

Lumbu said MUN was not there to negotiate electricity tariffs, but workers' wages.

According to Coeln, the ball is in MUN's court to come to an agreement and that E-Red was willing to negotiate.

Coeln said the situation was "very serious".

"If MUN's demands were met, and considering our current financial situation, it would force E-Red to go bankrupt, resulting in 188 people being without work," he said.

http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/October/na...07C47A1FB3.html (http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/October/national/07C47A1FB3.html)

[blackstone]

Senegal: 72-hour strike to make government fulfil its promises

Starting today, Senegalese teachers in primary and secondary public schools are on a 72-hour strike to make the government fulfil its promises on research and housing allowances.

The strike is organised by an 18-member trade union group which includes the following EI affiliates - the Syndicat National de l'Enseignement Elémentaire (SNEEL-CNTS), Syndicat Unique et Démocratique des Enseignants du Sénégal (SUDES), the Syndicat des Professeurs du Sénégal (SYPROS) and the Union Démocratique des Enseignants du Sénégal (UDEN).

The teachers are protesting against the fact that the government has not kept its promise to provide house allowance, despite signing an agreement in 2003 to that effect.

They are also demanding that the payment of research allowances be continued in the future. In 2006, the government set aside a "special budget" of 7 million FCFA (or 10.6 million euros) for the payment of research allowances ("indemnité de recherche documentaire" (IRD), in French), but it is not clear whether the continuation of this special budget will be guaranteed.

"We insist that the research allowance continues and is not a quid pro quo in exchange for longer working hours," commented Mamadou Diop, General Secretary of UDEN.

This is a third wave of industrial action taken by Senegalese teachers this year, after a series of three 72-hour strikes over a period of three weeks during April and a 72-hour strike from 30 May to 1 June.

EI urges the Senegalese government to listen to the demands of the teachers and not close the door to dialogue and negotiation. Teachers should be provided a decent wage and working conditions.

http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=6...country=senegal (http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=650&theme=statusofteachers&country=senegal)

[blackstone]

2,500 Ghazl Shebeen workers strike

Around 2,500 textile workers at Ghazl Shebeen el-Kom struck Saturday 11pm till Sunday 11am, protesting abusive administrative treatment by the new Indian investor. A meeting was held between the Factory Union Committee officials, the shareholders association, and the company management, resulting in the revoke of the newly imposed working hours regulations and penal codes.

http://arabist.net/arabawy/2007/10/28/2500...workers-strike/ (http://arabist.net/arabawy/2007/10/28/2500-ghazl-shebeen-workers-strike/)

[blackstone]

UPDATE 2-Barrick: Strike-hit Tanzania mine 65 pct operational
By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tanzania's Bulyanhulu gold mine, owned by Canada's Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), is about 65 percent operational despite a four-week strike, a spokesman for Barrick's Tanzanian arm said on Tuesday.

"When the strike took place, production went as low as 20 percent, but it progressively increased to 65 percent," Teweli K. Teweli, Barrick Tanzania's spokesman, told Reuters by phone from Dar es Salaam.

"Right now there is (gold) production."

Teweli would not elaborate further on how much gold was being produced.

The strike began on Oct. 25 when the firm said about 1,000 of its 1,971 workers had walked off the job in what the world's leading gold producer called an illegal action.

The workers, belonging to Tanzania Mines and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO), went on strike demanding that their grievances on pay, health and risk allowances be addressed.

Teweli said TAMICO had filed an injunction at a Dar es Salaam labour court on Friday to stop Barrick from hiring new workers.

The court decision, however, has been pushed back until Nov. 26 to give Barrick time to file a counter affidavit, which they did on Tuesday.

Teweli said 325 workers who had been fired for participating in the strike had been rehired after applying for their jobs, in addition to 766 workers who did not take part in the strike and 848 contractors who also were not part of the strike.

When the strike started, Barrick said it was illegal as TAMICO had called it without informing the management, and despite having reached a mediated agreement with the company on terms for labour discussions.

TAMICO in turn says that it followed all the procedures in calling the strike.

In late October, Barrick said some of the mine was still working, but almost no gold has been produced since the strike began.

Barrick has two other operational gold mines in Tanzania, and is developing a third as well as a nickel mine.

It acquired Bulyanhulu mine in 1999. The mine produced 330,000 ounces of gold last year at a total cash cost of $339 per ounce. It had proven and probable reserves of 11.2 million ounces at Bulyanhulu as of the end of last year.

At the end of 2006, the company had proven and probable gold reserves of 123 million ounces worldwide, according to information on its website.

Its shares were trading at 40.23/40.25 Canadian dollars ($40.92) at 1555 GMT, compared with Monday's close of 38.27 dollars, and a year-high of 43.93 dollars reached on Nov. 6.

Tanzania is Africa's third-biggest gold producer. The precious metal is one of its major foreign exchange earners, having fetched about $1.8 billion in the year ending in August, according to the central Bank of Tanzania.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews...022405620071120 (http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL2022405620071120)

[blackstone]

Nigeria: Police Use Violence to Breaks Up Unionising Subcontractors, 1 Worker Blinded

http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/249...-Worker-Blinded (http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/2492-Nigeria:-Police-Use-Violence-to-Breaks-Up-Unionising-Subcontractors-1-Worker-Blinded)

A dispute between Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (NLNG), seven of its contractors at the Nigerian Bonny Island Terminal and ICEM blue-collar oil workers’ union NUPENG, turned violent on 18 November, causing the union to call a nation-wide strike this week if two demands are not met.

The incident that sparked the strike call was a brutal attack by Nigeria’s Joint Military Task Force (JTF) on contract workers – many of them NUPENG members – on NLNG property, which blinded one worker in his right eye, and injured 28 other NLNG subcontractors. The JTF fired tear gas directly at the contract workers, attacking with batons.

The contract worker who was blinded is NUPENG member Ibifuro Pepple. NUPENG arranged for the victim to be fitted with an artificial eye, with surgery set for 11 December by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at a hospital in Lagos.

The contract workers protested because NLNG reneged on the signing of an agreement granting them union recognition through NUPENG. The agreement was in place after the Nigerian Ministry of Labour and Productivity certified recognition, but NLNG twice backed away from signing the accord, the second time on 18 November. Contract workers at the Bonny Island transfer terminal in Finima then began their protest. NLNG responded by calling in the JTF.

NLNG is owned jointly by the Nigerian government (49%), Shell (26.5%), Total (15%), and Eni’s Agip (10.4%).

NUPENG’s Central Working Committee, at a meeting on 27 November, issued a seven-day national strike notice, demanding prosecution of the JTF officers responsible for the violence and full recognition of NUPENG as representative for the contract workers of the NLNG’s suppliers. The ICEM supports those demands, and calls on the Nigerian government, as well as the multinationals involved, to give full priority to resolving this unionisation issue, and the other outstanding grievances brought by the workers and NUPENG.

NUPENG leaders and government officials will meet today, 3 December, to discuss the critical situation.

On November 26, NUPENG’s Eastern Zonal members at NLNG began the first sympathy strike against the energy company for its indiscriminate, 18 November, actions. Other strikes at NLNG’s five major worksites could occur as early as tomorrow, and other sympathy strikes could spread throughout Nigeria’s energy sector.

Following the 27 November NUPENG Central Committee meeting, leaders of PENGASSAN – ICEM’s white-collar affiliate in Nigeria – stood with their comrades in supporting the declared strike. Senior staff workers at NLNG, represented by PENGASSAN, are firm in their belief that contract workers deserve the right to union recognition with NUPENG.

[blackstone]

G4S Malawi security workers call for strike tomorrow

Union members called for a strike against security company G4S to begin Wednesday, January 30, but the company was able to obtain an injuction against the strike late Tuesday night. The workers and union complain that the company's wage proposal will only deepen their poverty.

Last July, G4S recognized the Textile and Securtiy Services Workers Union in Malawi, and by October, the union and the company started to negotiate an agreement for G4S’ 13,000 workers there.

G4S is the largest private sector employer in Africa , and the second largest private employer in the world. But the role they are playing in Africa is to maintain the poverty of their workforce, rather than to use their economic might to raise standards across the continent. Today, G4S employees in Malawi can barely afford to eat and rarely live in decent housing.

These security guards are at the bottom of the world's pay scale. With a daily wage that is much less than a cup of coffee in the US or Europe, their total pay, including allowances for housing, is about $30 a month. These guards typically work for 60 hours a week, and yet barely surpass the $1 per day per person established by the World Bank as the measure for "extreme poverty". (Once families are taken into account, the income per person falls far short of even extreme poverty.) Adding further insult, they work for 12 hours a day and are paid for only 10 under the G4S policy to reduce pay by half for overtime hours. Most of the workers can't afford to take any transportation and therefore many walk an hour and a half each way to work. Families can't afford school books for their kids and they can't afford to put basic foodstuff on the table. A "living wage" is not even within reach.

G4S has proposed a pay increase for 2008 of only 12%- an amount which is less than the increase in the cost of living in Malawi in 2007. In Blantyre, the city where many guards live and work, prices for the "Basic Needs Basket" increased by 23% (as announced in November by the Centre for Social Concern.) It is hard to believe, but G4S is proposing a cut in real wages for workers who are already barely scraping by.

In the past, wage increases for G4S workers in Malawi have been in the neighborhood of 20% in order to keep pace with the inflation generated by chronic currency devaluation. The workers perceive this year’s proposed increase to be much lower as punishment for their support for the union.

G4S Malawi is a profitable and successful enterprise, earning a designation as the G4S southern Africa "Business Unit of the Year" in 2006.

http://power-2-people.blogspot.com/2008/01/g4s-malawi-security-workers-call-for.html

[blackstone]

Egyptian Textile workers continue strike for 4th day (http://power-2-people.blogspot.com/2008/02/egyptian-textile-workers-continue.html)

Makarim Textile Co. workers continued their strike for the fourth day in protest against denying them a 15% of basic salary social allowance decreed by the government and a 7% salary increase.
The workers called again on President Mubarak to intervene after Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hadi failed to meet her promise when they ended their last strike.

Workers Mohsen Ali, Ibrahim Hassan and Awad el-Sayed said the workers would not end their strike unless they get all their rights, stressing that the company is making profits contrary to what the management claims.
The workers said Managing Director Ahmed el-Shafei threatened to fire them in a memo rather than solve their problems. "Go strike at home," he wrote.
They said that what was mentioned in the memo about the availability of production requirements was not true, as they have been short for three months, and they threatened to go on hunger strike if their problem is not solved quickly.
On another mote, fifty cleaning fees collectors demonstrated in Mahala before the governorate headquarters for the second time in a week in protest against Governor el-Shafei el-Dakrouri assigning the electricity company to collect the fees, assuring that his decision put them out of work.
They said they have been working on temporary contracts since 2006 after the electricity company failed to collect the fees, stressing that they have generated significant revenues, and requesting the governor to revise his decision or provide them with alternative jobs.

http://power-2-people.blogspot.com/2008/02/egyptian-textile-workers-continue.html

[blackstone]

Strikes Spread Across Zimbabwe

Teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants have been taking industrial action since last Wednesday calling for an immediate review of salaries and benefits.



In the capital Harare, the strike has been compounded by the ongoing strike by council workers who downed tools last Wednesday, demanding a rise in their salaries.
The Public Service Association (PSA - affiliated to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions) said its members were forced to take action after giving the government until the end of February to the review their wages. These local government workers are especially angry due to military and police personnel being awarded substantial salary raises and soft loans. Work at government offices have ground to a halt in the last week as staff were either taking 'go-slow' or full-blown strike action.
Meanwhile, teachers have gone on strike across all of Zimbabwe as the pro-government Zimbabwe Teachers Union (ZIMTA) joined the protests of the Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ). The strike by teachers has effectively paralysed operations in schools across the country. PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe said there was no going back on the strike unless the government capitulated to the union’s demand of a minimum of Z$1.7 billion salary for teachers, currently earning around Z$400 million.
Nurses and doctors have also joined the strike shutting down council hospitals and clinics across the whole country.

[blackstone]

Chinese and Zambia in Collision Course (http://power-2-people.blogspot.com/2008/03/chinese-and-zambia-in-collision-course.html)


A strike and subsequent sackings at Chambishi Copper Smelter (CCS) in Zambia have attracted widespread media focus on Chinese investments in extractives in Africa. The Chambisi Copper Smelter is at the heart of the African Economic and Trade Zone that was inaugurated by Chinese President Hu Jintao during his African tour in 2007. The smelter is a joint venture between China Nonferrous Metal Mining (CNMC) and Yunnan Copper Industry (YNCIG).The German company Norddeutsche operates in conjunction with the Chinese companies at Chambisi. Ord River Resources Limited, an Australian company, also has a stake in the venture.

China is about to invest another $300m into mining and manufacturing in the Copper Belt in top of the $900m previously invested, according to a recent announcement by the Zambian government. President of Mineworkers' Union of Zambia, Rayford Mbulu, says the Chinese have the worst safety record and pay the lowest wages. The average salary is 250,000 kwacha ($65) a month. In 2005 50 workers died in an explosion at a Chinese-owned copper mine nearby. In 2003 the smelter had to cease operation when 55 workers fell ill from poisoning.O

On March 2, More than 500 workers at CCS staged a work stoppage to press for improved wages and conditions. Reports stated that workers were earning as little as K291, 200 (US$78) per month and that Chinese management was allegedly not following Zambian labour laws. The following day workers rioted, injuring a Chinese manager and damaging property and Chinese managers were taken hostage. Later, Zambian workers set fire to a truck and a guardroom and damaged other property, which in turn caused Chinese management to fire 500 employees involved in the riots.

However, under intense scrutiny and tension, Chinese management reinstated the 500 workers. Yet, this action by management has not relieved tension but attracted widespread media focus on Chinese investments in extractives in Africa. The mines deputy Chief Executive says part of China's purpose in opening the mine was to help the local economy, but there is little sign of improvement in the township of Chambishi or in regards to the economic status of Zambians.