| 30 Mar 11 | Finnish Paper Sector Wage Accords Divert Between ICEM Affiliates -- Second-year salary adjustments for some 20,000 white- and blue-collar Finnish pulp and paper workers ran separate courses over the past 12 days, with ICEM affiliate Pro – representing 4,000 salaried professionals – issuing a strike notice on 23 March against one company. A two-week strike will begin on 6 April at all UPM operations if official government mediation beginning today fails. ( Laborstart ) |
| 30 Mar 11 | Judge blocks Wisconsin's anti-union law -- Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi, who issued an injunction two weeks ago blocking the law's implementation, issued an amended order on Tuesday barring Secretary of State Doug La Follette from doing anything that would result in the measure, known as Wisconsin Act 10, from taking effect. ( Laborstart ) |
| 30 Mar 11 | Egypt: Decree to Criminalise Strikes a Betrayal of the Revolution -- “Implementing this decree would be nothing less than a betrayal of the revolution. Millions of Egyptian workers continue to work for poverty wages, and depriving them of the right to strike, a fundamental right under international law, would remove an essential means for working people to achieve economic and social justice. By repressing legitimate union activity, it would also suffocate the development of a vibrant civil society, which Egypt desperately needs for building democracy,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow. ( Laborstart ) |
| 28 Mar 11 | Kumho Tire union refuses to return to work -- The labor union of strike-hit Kumho Tire Co. ordered its members Saturday not to return to work, raising worries that the country's No. 2 tiremaker's plant closure will last longer than expected. ( Laborstart ) |
| 28 Mar 11 | Honduran president threatens to fire striking teachers -- Teachers who fail to show up in classrooms Monday will be suspended without pay, according to the president’s decree, which was read on radio and television stations. If teachers don’t appear by April 4, they will be fired. ( Laborstart ) |
| 28 Mar 11 | Protest march against coalition cuts expected to attract 300,000 -- More than a quarter of a million protesters against public sector cuts are expected to flood central London today in the biggest political demonstration for nearly a decade. ( Laborstart ) |
| 25 Mar 11 | Further assistance needed for Canterbury workers -- The Government’s earthquake support package for Canterbury workers and employers needs to be extended and strengthened, according to the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU). The current subsidies, which run until 5 April, are for those workers whose workplaces are closed as a result of the earthquakes. ( Laborstart ) |
| 25 Mar 11 | Unions mobilize against Mexican Labour Law reforms -- MEXICO/GLOBAL: The 50,000 workers, students and human and labour rights activists who took part in the February Global Days of Action are gearing up for another round of mass mobilizations to fight proposed labour legislation that further strips Mexican workers of the most basic internationally recognized labour rights. ( Laborstart ) |
| 25 Mar 11 | Workers Including Migrant Workers Targeted in Bahrain -- In the midst of the political crisis in Bahrain, the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, BWI’s affiliate in Bahrain raised concerns of attacks on workers including migrant workers by “unidentified groups aiming to deviate the directionality of the just national movement.” ( Laborstart ) |
| 23 Mar 11 | Strike called off as security is pledged -- BAHRAIN'S largest trade union yesterday called off a nationwide strike following assurances that the safety of workers would not be compromised. ( Laborstart ) |
| 23 Mar 11 | ILO Governing Body addresses more equitable future in the Arab World -- GENEVA (ILO news) – Leaders from Arab countries met at the International Labour Organization's Governing Body here today in a session dedicated to discussing ways to ensure a more equitable future in the Arab world, with the respect of fundamental rights at work, employment and social protection as a basis for sustainable growth. ( Laborstart ) |
| 23 Mar 11 | Solidarity with Iranian Workers -- March 21 is the start of the New Year in Iran. IUF, Education International, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (the three international union federations with member organizations in Iran) and the ITUC together send a message of solidarity to all Iranian workers fighting for trade union rights and independent unions: ( Laborstart ) |
| 22 Mar 11 | Mexico: Defend trade union rights -- Five years ago an explosion at Grupo México’s Pasta de Conchos coal mine killed 65 miners. The bodies of 63 of the 65 miners remain buried (view Pasta de Conches memorial here) and the Mexican government has failed to investigate or prosecute those responsible. Instead the Mexican government has escalated its illegal and violent attacks on the Mexican Miners’ Union (SNTMMSRM), after it demanded justice and the recovery of the miners’ bodies. ( Laborstart ) |
| 22 Mar 11 | Pakistan: Reinstate sacked trade union leader at Syngenta -- Imran Ali was sacked on December 23, 2010 at a Pakistan agri-chemical plant just before submitting collective agreement proposals on behalf of workers. Imran Ali is General Secretary of the Syngenta Employees' Union Pakistan, and is President of the National Federation of Pakistani Chemical, Energy, and Mine (PCEM) Workers' Union. ( Laborstart ) |
| 22 Mar 11 | Turkey: Polyplex must reinstate sacked workers, negotiate with union -- Polyplex Europa in Turkey is a wholly-owned subsidairy of India company Polyplex Corp. that first sacked 6 workers late in 2010 for trade union activity and then later sacked 15 others for exhibiting union sympathies inside a polyester film plant. ( Laborstart ) |
| 21 Mar 11 | Trade union strike rocks Mizoram -- The seven leaders of National Trade Union of Mizoram (NTUM) who have been on fast demanding the early approval of Minimum Wage Board recommendation by the state government informed NNN that if the government fails to do so, a procession will be taken out in Aizawl on March 22. ( Laborstart ) |
| 21 Mar 11 | Bahrain Security Forces Step Up Arrests of Protesters -- MANAMA—Bahrain's security forces have arrested nearly 20 people, including doctors and youth activists, as the government ratchets up its efforts to silence the protest movement on the strategic Gulf island state. ( Laborstart ) |
| 21 Mar 11 | USA: Warning on US states' plan to severely restrict workers' rights -- States including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee have proposed bills severely limiting the collective bargaining rights of trade union members. A similar bill was passed in Wisconsin on Friday. ( Laborstart ) |
| 18 Mar 11 | Vietnam: Overturn Labor Activists’ Harsh Prison Sentences -- Vietnamese authorities should reverse the convictions of three young labor activists sentenced to long prison terms, Human Rights Watch said today. The three were arrested in February 2010 for distributing leaflets and helping to organize a strike of 10,000 workers at the My Phong shoe factory in Tra Vinh. The People's Court of Tra Vinh will consider their appeal on March 18, 2011. ( Laborstart ) |
| 18 Mar 11 | British woman convicted of enslaving African worker -- Saeeda Khan, 68, was forced to pay 49-year-old Mwanahamisi Mruke, who was trafficked from Tanzania in 2006, 25,000 pounds (40,000 dollars, 28,750 euros). ( Bangkokpost ) |
| 18 Mar 11 | Gabon oil union consults members on strike action -- LIBREVILLE, March 17 (Reuters) - Gabon's main energy sector trade union is consulting members on possible strike action over the sector's failure to implement minimum quotas for local labour, it said on Thursday. ( Laborstart ) |
| 18 Mar 11 | Warning on US states' plan to severely restrict workers' rights -- Amnesty International has urged several US states to abandon planned legislation that would drastically restrict workers' rights. ( Laborstart ) |
| 16 Mar 11 | Bahrain trade union calls for strike -- A strike has been announced by Bahrain's largest trade union in solidarity with protesters injured during clashes with riot police near the Bahrain Financial Harbour. ( Laborstart ) |
| 16 Mar 11 | More than 100,000 in Madison to support worker rights -- MADISON, Wis. - More than 100,000 people packed the area around Wisconsin’s Capitol Saturday to continue a month-long campaign against Governor Scott Walker’s attack on worker rights. ( Laborstart ) |
| 16 Mar 11 | Chinese legislator calls for restoration of the right to strike -- In a somewhat unexpected move, Guangzhou businessman and national legislator, Zeng Qinghong, has made a proposal to the National People’s Congress (NPC) to protect the right of Chinese workers to go on strike. ( Laborstart ) |
| 11 Mar 11 | Slovak doctors to stage strike -- Encouraged by the success of Czech doctors in pursuing a wage increase and reform of the healthcare sector, the Slovak Union of Specialists (SLÚŠ), supported by the Slovak Medical Chamber, Union of Doctors and Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives (SKSAPA), has announced a protest set for March 9. ( Laborstart ) |
| 11 Mar 11 | Hankook Tire Magyarorszag raises wages 8% -- Korean-owned Hankook Tire Magyarország is raising wages at its manufacturing base south of Budapest by 8% on average, well over the 4-6% recommendation by the National Interest Conciliation Council (OÉT), the company told MTI on Tuesday. ( Laborstart ) |
| 11 Mar 11 | ASEAN ‘unlikely to discuss worker rights’ -- Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei — three ASEAN countries that receive large numbers of migrant workers from their neighbors — will likely remain reluctant to discuss migrant worker issues at ASEAN ministers’ meetings, a senior Indonesian government official says. ( Laborstart ) |
| 10 Mar 11 | Ghana Teacher Union to Strike in Dispute Over Pay, Joy FM Says -- One of Ghana’s two main teachers’ unions called a strike after wage payments were disrupted by the introduction of a new pay structure, Joy FM said. ( Laborstart ) |
| 10 Mar 11 | BDZ strike will only hurt the company - Transport Minister -- In the case of an effective strike by the Bulgarian state railways company, BDZ extra coaches will be made available to cope with passenger demand, Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov told the Bulgarian news agency on March 9 2011. ( Laborstart ) |
| 10 Mar 11 | School bus drivers strike -- There were no placards, no marching, no chanting, no fanfare as disgruntled school bus drivers staged a strike at East Bus Station yesterday. ( Laborstart ) |
| 09 Mar 11 | Long road ahead for Asian women workers' struggle for equality -- While much achievement has been made in the past decades, women workers across Asia still struggle for more rights and equality. They need to find more ways to make their voices heard, such as engaging in politics, speakers at a seminar in Bangkok said in the run up to International Women's Day (March 8). "Women found their voices. Power must come from within," Jurgette Honculada of the Committee for Asian Women (CAW) said about the gains made in Asia. But obstacles in gaining rights remain, she emphasized, 'from companies, state and men in our lives'. "Politics is the name of the game. Women should not simply wait for the crumbs falling from the table of the master, but try to take their place at the table of decision making," Honculada said, stressing that if something is not written in a law 'it is here today, gone tomorrow'. ( Laborstart ) |
| 09 Mar 11 | Thousands strike at Vietnam Yamaha plant -- About 3,000 employees from the Yamaha Motor plant in Hanoi walked off the job on Monday, said the official, who refused to give his name. ( Laborstart ) |
| 09 Mar 11 | International Women’s Day: New Report Shows Second Wave of Global Crisis Hurting Women -- 7 March 2011: Women are facing higher unemployment, underemployment and reduced working hours as a second wave of the global economic crisis impacts female employment, reveals a new report issued by the ITUC today, International Women’s Day. ( Laborstart ) |
| 07 Mar 11 | Major victory for striking teachers -- Johannesburg - The Labour Court has instructed the Kwazulu Natal department of education to reimburse 38 000 teachers whose salaries were docked because they apparently went on strike, The Star newspaper reported on Saturday. ( Laborstart ) |
| 07 Mar 11 | German Rail Traffic Threatened by More Union Strikes, FAZ Says -- German rail traffic may see more disruption in the coming weeks because of strikes by the GDL train drivers’ union, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, without saying where it got the information. ( Laborstart ) |
| 07 Mar 11 | Railway trade unions seek Government guarantees to call off strike -- Bulgarian state railways BDZ may decide not to go on strike if trade unions are given guarantees of investments in the sector over the next four years from the country's Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov, a trade union representative said. ( Laborstart ) |
| 07 Mar 11 | B.C. inmates attempt to form first prison labour union in Canada -- Inmates at a B.C. prison are in the final stages of applying to create a labour union, saying the historic event would be a first in Canada. Their lawyer Natalie Dunbar says organizers at Mountain Institution in Agassiz are trying to sign up members for ConFederation, Canadian Prisoners' Labour Union, Local 001. ( Laborstart ) |
| 04 Mar 11 | CGIL TO HOLD GENERAL STRIKE ON MAY 6 -- AGI) Rome - The CGIL is to hold a general strike on May 6 as announced by the trade union's leader, Susanna Camusso. the strike will last four hours and involve the entire country. ( Laborstart ) |
| 04 Mar 11 | Public workers' strikes hit eastern states -- Limited strikes by German public workers continued on Thursday, this time teachers street crews and bureaucrats in the eastern states taking part. ( Laborstart ) |
| 04 Mar 11 | AFL-CIO leader: Wisconsin fight energizing unions -- WASHINGTON (AP) — In trying to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from state workers, Wisconsin's governor may have unintentionally given the American labor movement the lift it needed after years of decline. ( Laborstart ) |
| 02 Mar 11 | Texray workers want better pay -- WORKERS at the Texray textile firm last week downed tools and engaged in a strike demanding better pay. ( Laborstart ) |
| 02 Mar 11 | Appeal on right for policemen to strike -- THE Constitutional Court will hear an application today for leave to appeal against a decision of the labour appeal court on whether all police employees are part of essential services. ( Laborstart ) |
| 02 Mar 11 | Industry and unions face off over temp workers -- Business is booming at temporary employment agencies as German firms seek greater flexibility in hiring and firing. But critics complain that workers with equal qualifications deserve equal treatment - and pay. ( Laborstart ) |
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