Thai / English

30 Jan 12 Apple boycott brews over worker abuses -- Apple, the computer giant whose sleek products have become a mainstay of modern life, is dealing with a public relations disaster and the threat of calls for a boycott of iPhones and iPads. ( Laborstart )
30 Jan 12 Violence erupts in Yanam as workers go on the rampage -- In a major outbreak of industrial violence following the death of a trade union leader, a top official of a ceramic company in Yanam, a small enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, was killed by workers at his residence here on Friday. ( Laborstart )
30 Jan 12 Apple’s Profit Skyrockets, Workers Die at Its Factories -- Hours after Apple released its first quarter earnings, which showed a mind-blowing 44.7 percent profit, the New York Times published another in a series of articles illustrating some of the reasons behind Apple’s profit margin. Describing the conditions in which Chinese workers assemble iPhones, iPads and a panoply of Apple products, the report states: ( Laborstart )
27 Jan 12 Unions, employers reject wage cuts -- Employers and labor unions found some common ground during the first day of wage talks on Wednesday but it appears that neither side is willing to agree to Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’s suggestion that private sector workers’ salaries should be reduced. ( Laborstart )
27 Jan 12 Unions must change quickly to survive, says secret report by CEP/CAW -- Unions must overhaul themselves dramatically — and fast — or face a slow death, says a secret report by the two groups contemplating the biggest merger in Canadian labour history. ( Laborstart )
27 Jan 12 In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad -- The explosion ripped through Building A5 on a Friday evening last May, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws. ( Laborstart )
26 Jan 12 Workers strike for disabled manager -- About 900 workers at a footwear factory in Kampong Speu province returned to work yesterday after its managers agreed to reinstate a disabled administration chief who had been removed from his position and shifted to another place within the factory, union officials and employees said yesterday. ( Laborstart )
26 Jan 12 Kazakhstan: Opposition Activists Arrested -- (Berlin) – Kazakh national security agents in Almaty detained a leading opposition activist on January 23, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities say they are investigating at least two other opposition activists on criminal charges of “inciting social discord.” ( Laborstart )
26 Jan 12 Canadian Rio Tinto lockout nears one month -- On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto’s aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work. ( Laborstart )
25 Jan 12 More Lockouts as Companies Battle Unions -- America’s unionized workers, buffeted by layoffs and stagnating wages, face another phenomenon that is increasingly throwing them on the defensive: lockouts. ( Laborstart )
25 Jan 12 Fiat factories grind to halt in Italy strike action -- Italian auto giant Fiat's factories ground to a halt on Tuesday as a result of nationwide strike action launched by truck drivers against a new government tax that has increased fuel prices. ( Laborstart )
25 Jan 12 ARC staff strike for wage hike -- NAGERCOIL: Over 2,000 employees of the Arasu Rubber Corporation (ARC) in the district observed a one-day strike demanding wage hike on Monday. ( Laborstart )
24 Jan 12 Hollywood star Cillian Murphy joins list of celebs supporting Vita Cortex workers -- HOLLYWOOD start Cillian Murphy has joined the list of celebrities supporting the Vita Cortex workers. ( Laborstart )
23 Jan 12 Doctors vow to go on strike -- A countrywide strike of medical doctors is now looming after doctors vowed to lay down tools unless the government meets their demands.The demands include reinstating a total of 195 intern doctors of the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Dar es Salaam. ( Laborstart )
23 Jan 12 We suspended strike, mass protests to avoid massacre —Owei Lakemfa -- Against the popular belief, the Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Owei Lakemfa, in this exclusive interview with our Assistant Editor, Soji-Eze Fagbemi, revealed the main reasons behind the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and NLC’s suspension of the general strike and mass protests against the fuel subsidy removal, even when their demand for reversal to N65 per litre was not met. ( Laborstart )
23 Jan 12 RPT-Bulgarian coal miners call off strike -- SOFIA Jan 22 (Reuters) - Workers at Bulgaria's biggest coal mines on Sunday called off their strike over bonuses and better work conditions which lasted a week and forced the Balkan country to halt electricity exports to its neighbours to avoid power shortages. ( Laborstart )
23 Jan 12 One year on, the labor revolution is stalling -- On 30 January, only five days into the revolution, the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions was born, the first such federation to be established since the union movement was monopolized by the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation in 1957. Since then, some 300 independent unions have been established nationwide, with a reported membership of nearly two million workers. ( Laborstart )
21 Jan 12 The real reason Foxconn raised wages in Shenzhen -- Once again people are making a big deal about Foxconn raising wages, linking the increase announced in Taipei on Friday evening to growing criticism in the international media of the company’s work practices. ( Laborstart )
19 Jan 12 Bus drivers in Helsinki to hold a 24-hour strike on May 2 -- Bus drivers working for Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy and organized in the trade union JHL will be on strike on Wednesday May 2. The 24-hour strike begins and ends at midnight. ( Laborstart )
19 Jan 12 Slovenia public sector holds big strike over cuts Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/world/detail/126189/#ixzz1sRulo57o -- LJUBLJANA - Tens of thousands of teachers, doctors, police officers and other public workers went on strike on Wednesday in Slovenia over proposed pay cuts under austerity measures to rein in the euro-zone member's budget deficit. ( Laborstart )
18 Jan 12 Workers ‘win’ after Kandal factory strike -- Nearly 2,000 workers at a Kandal province garment factory had returned to work on Saturday and 6,000 more planned to return today after nearly three weeks of strikes, company and union representatives said yesterday. ( Laborstart )
18 Jan 12 LEAD: Services across Greece paralysed due to 48-hour strike -- Athens - Greek trade unions scaled up their industrial action and protests on Tuesday, as the country's international lenders returned to Athens to decide whether current reforms were enough to secure a crucial bailout. ( Laborstart )
18 Jan 12 Rights groups blast Nigeria union pressure -- LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Evidence in a Nigerian court case against labor unions suggests authorities are trying to silence labor activists, Human Rights Watch said. ( Laborstart )
17 Jan 12 Walmart Strikes Mark New Chapter In Labor's Fight With Mega-Retailer -- When a strike among Walmart store employees spread to twelves cities last week, a spokesman for the largest private-sector employer in the world made a curious clarification to news outlets, including The Huffington Post: This was not the first-ever employee walkout at a Walmart store, the company argued, citing a 2006 incident in Florida. ( Laborstart )
17 Jan 12 Strong Unions and Labor Laws Protect Foxconn Factory Workers in Brazil -- Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that makes more electronic components than any other, is well-known for its large factories in China and their many severe labor rights violations. In an attempt to expand the market reach of brands it produces for, Foxconn has opened some factories in Brazil in the past few years, including one producing Apple products. ( Laborstart )
16 Jan 12 Locked-out Canadian Steelworkers Build Global Unity as Mass Rally Nears, 31 March -- At a general membership meeting and news conference today in Québec, 780 union members of Syndicat des Métallos d’Alma were told that the lockout imposed on them – in its 11th week – by Rio Tinto’s Alcan aluminium subsidiary now has the undivided attention of key workers’ groups connected to the mining giant. ( Laborstart )
14 Jan 12 Bridgestone workers in Bahia on strike for more than a month -- Workers at the transnational company Bridgestone have now been on strike for more than a month in response to employer intransigence. ( Laborstart )
14 Jan 12 Subway: strike is lifted after workers, Metrovías reach agreement -- Subway workers announced that they were ending the strike they began 10 days ago after reaching an agreement with Metrovías. The subway service is expected to resume normally on Tuesday. ( Laborstart )
13 Jan 12 World union supports Egyptian dock strike -- Dockers in the Egyptian port of Sokhna set to strike from tomorrow are receiving support from the International Transport Workers' Federation, which represents 4.5 million workers in the transport industry worldwide. ( Laborstart )
12 Jan 12 Bulgarian coal miners stage one-hour warning strike -- Miners at Bulgaria’s largest coal mining company, state-owned Maritza East Mines, staged a one-hour warning strike yesterday, demanding wage increases, the miners’ trade unions said. ( Laborstart )
12 Jan 12 Nigerian oil union threatens to shut down crude output -- Nigerian oil workers threatened on Wednesday to shut down output in Africa's top crude producer, deepening a national strike over a more than doubling of petrol prices. ( Laborstart )
12 Jan 12 Worker’s self-immolation highlights need for improved labor standards -- The self-immolation Sunday of a Hyundai Motors union member named Shin has dealt another blow to already tense labor-management relations. After halting all operations at its Ulsan engine factory early yesterday afternoon, the union went into collective action tantamount to a strike, refusing overtime work in all project divisions at its Ulsan factory. Without an investigation into Shin’s actions and an adequate follow-up, the situation is likely to get worse. ( Laborstart )
11 Jan 12 Hospital doctors ready to strike for better pay -- About 50,000 doctors will go on strike in 600 hospitals across Germany at the end of the month, after a vote which was overwhelmingly in favour of a walk-out. ( Laborstart )
11 Jan 12 Security workers losing patience with union -- ST JOHN’S, Antigua – A former supervisor, speaking on behalf of former Complete Security workers, yesterday, described the Antigua Trades and Labour Union’s threat of legal action against their former employer as “a bluff.” ( Laborstart )
11 Jan 12 Workers Strike Paralyses Nigerian cities -- The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and civil society groups today shut down the country following the failure of the Federal Government to revert the pump price of petrol to N65 from the N141 it jacked it up to on New Year day. ( Laborstart )
10 Jan 12 Subway: City Gov't issues mandatory conciliation -- After several comings and goings, the City Government finally decided to issue a mandatory conciliation in the subway conflict after workers announced they had decided to extend the strike one more day. However, unionists said they would gather in assembly all night to analyze the measure. ( Laborstart )
07 Jan 12 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights -- 6 June 2012: 2011 was a difficult and often dangerous year for workers throughout the world, with those who dared stand up for their trade union rights facing dismissal, arrest, imprisonment and even death. That in essence is the picture that emerges from the annual survey of trade union rights violations published today by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). This year’s survey examines 143 countries. ( Laborstart )
06 Jan 12 Total unpaid overtime worked is equivalent to a million extra jobs -- The two billion hours of unpaid overtime worked last year would be enough to create over a million extra full-time jobs, the TUC says today (Thursday) as it announces the date for Work Your Proper Hours Day 2012. ( Laborstart )
06 Jan 12 Subsidy removal: NLC, TUC may declare indefinite strike Monday -- ABUJA – The two umbrella labour organisations in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) yesterday, threatened to launch indefinite strikes next week (Monday), if the federal government does not backtrack on a controversial measure that has doubled petrol prices. ( Laborstart )
06 Jan 12 China hikes minimum wages -- China is raising minimum wages in some key cities and provinces as local officials try to combat labour shortages and growing worker unrest. ( Bangkokpost )
05 Jan 12 KESC workers’ hunger strike continues -- Workers of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) continued their hunger strike for the second consecutive day on Tuesday against the contract system or the “outsourcing policy” of the power utility, which has rendered many employees jobless. ( Laborstart )
05 Jan 12 Senegalese public transport strike ends -- DAKAR — Senegalese bus and taxi drivers have ended a two-day strike that had left people stranded and resorting to horse-drawn carts to get to work, union officials said Wednesday. ( Laborstart )
05 Jan 12 Victory for workers in struggle to renationalise Egyptian factories -- The government appeal against the court ruling to renationalise the Shebin El-Kom Textiles Company and Tanta for Flax and Oil was rejected by the court on Wednesday. ( Laborstart )
04 Jan 12 Minimum wage: Akwa Ibom workers begin strike tomorrow -- WORKERS in Akwa Ibom State yesterday vowed not to return to work tomorrow, if the government fails to address some grey areas in its salary structure table. ( Laborstart )
04 Jan 12 Dutch cleaners take national strike action -- Cleaners in the Netherlands have launched a widespread campaign of industrial action. Their national campaign began on Monday evening with strikes at ten railway stations and will spread to a number of banks, schools and offices on Tuesday. ( Laborstart )
03 Jan 12 The Privatization of Public Services, State by State -- It seems there’s no public service or piece of property that private companies are not eyeing as potential revenue streams. While funding anti-government think tanks like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), companies like Corrections Corporation of America, Waste Management, Maximus, Intuit, Laidlaw, Northrup Grumman, Koch Companies, Macquarie Capital Advisers, Pinnacle West, and UnitedHealthcare are hoping to use government as their candy store. ( Laborstart )

¢èÒÇà¡èÒ