Labor News Roundup

Ahoy, fellow workers & filthy bourgeoisie! Welcome to the eighteenth edition of GNN’s exclusive Labor News Roundup. Though labor-related news is neglected in both the mainstream and “alternative” news services, important labor stories are breaking all over the world every day. This roundup is but a small sampling. For more international labor news, check out Labor Notes, LibCom, and LabourStart.

Steel workers’ strike in Venezuela attacked by Chavez’ state: Steel workers in Venezuela have been attacked by the Chavez government following a series of strikes. The following is a translation from Internacionalismo: The Chávez government – with the support of the opposition and unions – has unleashed repression against the workers of the Steel Zone of Venezuela who are struggling for their most basic necessities. Here we see the real Señor Chávez and his “socialism of the 21st century”. After more than 13 months of discussion of their collective contract, the steel workers at Ternium-SIDOR have had enough. Indignant about the starvation wages they receive (near to the minimum salary, in one of the regions of Venezuela with the highest cost of living) and the deplorable working conditions that have led to the deaths of 18 workers and left dozens ill from industrial illness over less than a decade, they have carried out several strikes against the firm’s refusal to meet their demands about wages and working conditions. (LibCom.org, 04/02/08)

Also see:

• Venezuela: Against (B)oligarchy, Demagogy & Corruption
• An Anarchist Critique of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution
• Hugo Chavez, Populist Adventurer or Revolutionary Socialist?
• Macho Men and State Capitalism – Is Another World Possible?
• Revolución en Venezuela: ¿Para atrás? ¡Ni un paso para coger impulso!
• Venezuela 2008: An Anarchist Libertarian Proposal for the Current Situation
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chavism and Anarchism, But Were Afraid to Ask

Three day strike at Venezuelan steelmaker: Workers launched a 72-hour strike at Venezuela’s largest steelmaker, Ternium Sidor, late on Tuesday to protest stalled contract talks. “The strike is for 72 hours and it started last night,” said union leader Jose Rodriguez. Workers have repeatedly shut Sidor, 60 percent owned by Argentina’s Ternium, as part of demands for higher pay in what has been a 14-month dispute for a collective contract. The union on Monday called a 24-hour strike as part of the same dispute. This is the sixth time this year that the plant, located in the southwest state of Bolivar, has been shut down as part of demands for higher pay. The union says it will not accept a daily salary increase of less than 53 Bs.F (US$24), however, the company says its final offer is 44Bs.F (US$20.5) per day. An earlier protest by Sidor workers on March 14, in the midst of an 80 hour strike, was broken up violently by 120 functionaries of the Bolivar section of the National Guard and 60 state police. One union leader was wounded by gunfire and more than 50 people were arrested during the clashes. (LibCom.org, 03/27/08)

Vietnamese Nike plant workers strike

Nike plant remains closed following strike in Vietnam: “Following a 17,000 strong strike for higher pay, the Taiwanese-owned plant has locked out workers since Wednesday after violence broke out during the return to work. The strike began when workers walked out of the Ching Luh factory in the southern Long An province on April 1, demanding a wage increase of 22%. A return to work negotiated by trade union officials after two days saw the majority of workers return to the factory, although the terms agreed to by the union amount to an increase of only 10%. The chairwoman of the Long An province trade union said, “We persuaded them to come back to work tomorrow, but we are not sure if they will restart working or continue the strike”. Workers returned to the plant on Wednesday, and violence soon broke out following an argument between a former worker and a security guard. Police were called in, and a number of workers are reported to have been beaten. The negotiated 10% increase agreed between management and union officials has left many workers unsatisfied, and the plant remains closed amid fears of more violence. Groups of workers have distributed a leaflet outside the plant arguing for a continuation of the strike to achieve the full increase of 22%. Rapidly rising inflation in Vietnam has left many unable to cope with the soaring cost of living, and prices are estimated to have increased 19% since this time last year. These conditions sparked a series of nationwide strikes in 2007, eventually forcing the government to increase the minimum wage for foreign-owned companies by 13%.” (LibCom.org, 04/03/08)

Nike Plant in Vietnam Still Closed: The Associated Press reports: “More than 20,000 Vietnamese workers at a Taiwanese-owned factory that makes sneakers for Nike did not go back to work and the plant remained closed yesterday for fear that the strike would continue, officials and workers said. On Tuesday, the company agreed to increase monthly wages by 100,000 dong ($6) in a settlement between workers representatives and management at the Ching Luh plant. About 17,000 workers at the plant reported for work Wednesday, but a brawl breaking out following a spat between a former worker and a security guard at the plant, caused the factory to shut down. Many workers did not agree with the decision, insisting on an increase of 200,000 dong (US$12), said Nguyen Van Thua, an official with Long An provincial trade union. Some workers distributed leaflets in front of the plant yesterday, calling others to continue the strike, Thua said.” (Turkish Daily News / TruthOut.org, 04/04/08)

Vietnam: 20,000 workers on strike at factory that makes shoes for Nike: Vu Tien Hong reports from Hanoi: “More than 20,000 Vietnamese workers have walked off the job at a Taiwanese-owned plant that makes shoes for Nike Inc., demanding higher pay to keep pace with skyrocketing prices, officials said Tuesday. The workers at Ching Luh plant, in southern Long An province, went on strike Monday. They want a 20 percent bump to their $59 average monthly salaries along with better lunches at the company cafeteria, said Nguyen Van Thua, an official with the province’s trade union. The plant has been making sneakers since 2002 and employs about 21,000 workers, most of them young rural women. The company is paying the workers 14 percent more than minimum wage, but soaring inflation is eroding their earnings, Thua said.” (Google News / AP, 04/01/08)

Strike hits Nike Vietnam factory: The Beeb reports: “More than 20,000 workers at a factory in Vietnam that makes shoes for Nike have gone on strike demanding higher pay to cope with rising inflation. The average monthly salary at the Taiwanese-owned plant is about $59 (£30), 14% more than the minimum wage. The workers, who produce about 12% of the 75 million pairs of shoes made for Nike in Vietnam a year, want a 20% pay rise and better canteen lunches. Strikes in Vietnam are becoming more common as living costs have surged. Last November, workers at a South-Korean-owned Nike factory in Vietnam walked out in a similar pay dispute.” (BBC News, 04/01/08)

“...there has been no let up in the murders, attempted murders and death threats in Colombia and that the authorities appear to be no nearer to carrying out a full investigation into the crimes committed almost daily against the trade union movement.” — International Trade Union Confederation

Colombian Union Leader Builds Opposition to Free Trade Deal: Barb Kucera for Workday Minnesota reports on Edgar Paez, leader of the National Food Industry Workers Union of Colombia, who is campaigning across the United States this month against the proposed US-Colombia free trade deal. She says Mr. Paez feels fortunate to be able to campaign because 20 members of his union were assassinated for their labor activism while working for Coca-Cola, Nestle and other multinational corporations. (Workday Minnesota, 03/24/08)

“Colombia has a long and appalling record as the most dangerous place on earth for trade unionists, with dozens of killings taking place each year. Only a tiny fraction of these have been investigated properly. The government must fulfill its responsibility to protect trade unionists and end the culture of impunity which has reigned for so long.” — ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder

Protest Murder of Colombian Union Leader: “The murdered trade unionists come from all sectors, including teachers, bank, factory, and health workers. Ironically, several of the murders this year took place around the march “For the Dignity of Victims” held in Colombia earlier this year. On March 6, 2008, over 200,000 people participated in the “March Against State Terror” in Colombia. Between March 4, 2008 and March 11, 2008, hundreds of organizers and human rights activists were threatened. The organizer of the march and four other human rights spokespeople were killed, along with four trade union leaders for the Confederation of Colombian Workers. Colombia is the most dangerous place to live if you are a union leader, activist or member: 3,000 have been murdered since 1985, according to an annual survey of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Others place the numbers of dead far higher.” (Infoshop News, 04/06/08)

American Axle workers continue strike: WIVB reports: “The men and women who walked off their jobs at American Axle say they’ll strike as long as they have to. Last night, members of the UAW rallied outside the Cheektowaga plant. They’ve been on the picket line for more than a month now, protesting a company they say is shedding good paying jobs, and shifting good work elsewhere.” (WIVB, 03/30/08, Updated 04/05/08)

Bus drivers wildcat in Limerick: “A wildcat strike of bus workers brought transport to a standstill across the west of Ireland today (Friday 4th April). Twenty-five workers at the Bus Eirann bus company awaiting the implementation of a new pay deal took part in the stoppage as part of an ongoing dispute. The union, SIPTU, did not support the action, however, as it is still in negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission and urged the striking workers to go back to work. The action was taken by part-time drivers who are demanding higher wages. They currently earn €11.66/hour and receive no pension, sick pay or overtime rates. They are seeking parity with other Bus Eireann drivers who receive between €13.15 and €15.23/hour. With part-time staff often used to undercut destabilise the conditions of full-time workers, such parity could be crucial in building solidarity amongst Bus Eirann drivers. Workers said the strike was necessary and they were waiting for negotiations to come to a conclusion. Areas across the west of Ireland were affected including Co Clare, Portumna and Gort in south Galway, Borrisokane, Nenagh and Roscrea in Tipperary and Hospital and Doon in Limerick by the strike which is said to have lasted approximately an hour and fifteen minutes.” (LibCom.org, 04/04/08)

Harrisburg: Trucker Movement Expands to Citizens: Truckers and Citizens Unite Over High Fuel Prices! Meeting to be held: April 5, 2008, Saturday 2pm (eastern). Where: Gables Truck Stop (I-81 exit 77), Manada Hill Exit, Harrisburg, PA 17112. Everyone Who Is Effected By High Fuel Costs Is Urged To Participate (This Includes: Gas, Heating Oils & Diesel Fuels). Details Will Be Discussed On Next Course Of Action. This DOES affect each and every one of us. We are all digging deep in our pockets for gas, groceries, $$ to buy heating oil, etc. If enough people ban together and draw the attention from the right people we will be heard, this means we will make a difference. Remember, the prices all trickle down to the consumer. Even if you aren’t in the trucking industry you are feeling the crunch. Come on out and listen, I think you will learn something! LETS TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!!! STAND UP, SPEAK OUT OR GO BROKE!!! www.TheAmericanDriver.com (Infoshop News, 04/05/08)

Independent Truckers Organize Shut Down on April 1, 2008; IWW Statement on the April 1, 2008 Trucker Shutdown: “To truckers and media: Our members and organizers in the trucking industry have been hearing about the called for April 1, 2008 trucker shut down. The IWW is not organizing or calling for this shutdown, but supports all truckers taking action to improve their lives and protest the skyrocketing fuel, low pay, unpaid waits and all the other conditions that grow worse by the day. Truckers unite! Only through organizing a union across the transportation industry can we begin to change this. The IWW is committed to building a democratic, fighting union in the trucking industry whether you are an independent contractor driver or company driver, intermodal, LTL or over-the-road. Please contact us if you and your co-workers need support or are interested in making trucking a job worth keeping. Motor Transport Workers IU 530 contacts: Pat Tresca- Midwest (224) 381-4048, Billy Randal- New York (646) 645-6284. Related Links: Motor Transport Workers Industrial Union 530 / Transport Workers Solidarity Committtee. (IWW.org, 04/01/08)

Truckers Protest High Fuel Prices, Clog NJ Turnpike: WNBC.com reports: “Truckers angry about the high price of fuel staged a rolling protest on Tuesday, using their big rigs to slow traffic to a crawl on the New Jersey Turnpike. The protest was part of a loosely organized nationwide effort by independent truckers to draw attention to the high prices they face. On the Turnpike, southbound rigs ‘as far as the eye can see’ slowed to about 20 mph near Newark around lunchtime — jamming traffic on one of the nation’s most heavily traveled highways. State Police said several drivers were issued tickets as troopers broke up the slowdowns.” (WNBC.com, 04/01/08)

Truckers Disrupt Traffic to Protest Fuel Prices: Janet McGurty of Reuters reports: “US truckers caused minor traffic snags in parts of the country on Tuesday to protest soaring costs for diesel, according to members of a major trucking association and law enforcement officials. The mild disruptions from New Jersey to Chicago came in the midst of a week-long effort by independent truckers to get federal help easing the strain of high fuel prices through public protests or work stoppages.” (Reuters, 04/01/08)

Teacher’s Strike Shuts Down Classes in Puerto Rico: José A. Laguarta Ramírez reports for Labor Notes: “The strike was the first held in defiance of a 1998 territorial law that prohibits public-sector workers from striking. The strike followed 27 months of frustrating negotiations with the Puerto Rican Department of Education. The department failed to offer a collective bargaining counterproposal, skipped 160 of 300 meetings, and issued a series of agency memos unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of employment. The strike was the first held in defiance of the Puerto Rico Public Sector Labor Relations Act of 1998, also known as ‘Law 45,’ which prohibits public-sector workers from striking. It led to the union’s decertification as the exclusive representative of more than 40,000 teachers and other school employees.” (AlterNet, 04/01/08)

Illegal immigrants win unpaid wages in Stockholm: “The syndicalist SAC union in Sweden has been campaigning for fair wages for illegal immigrants in the last few months, resulting in thousands of pounds in unpaid wages being paid to migrant workers. The increasing organisation of illegal immigrants within the syndicalist union SAC have lead to more and more blockades to force the payment of unpaid wages, mainly from employment agencies in the restaurant, cleaning, hotel and building industry. Millions Kronor in unpaid wages have been have been won by the SAC. That these companies and their customers don’t want to attract attention to their exploitation of illegal immigrants, in most cases the mere threat of a union blockade has been enough to get the wages paid. Parallel to this defensive work, the SAC have started organising a list of workplaces where the employer is only allowed to employ members from the syndicalist register, working as a closed shop for illegal immigrant workers, setting wages, six-hour-workdays and democratically electing bosses on the workplaces. At the moment these workplaces are paying untaxed wages for illegal immigrants, exchange students and asylum seekers but the aim is to organise this amongst all forms of precarious labour.” (LibCom.org, 04/03/08)

UK teachers set for first national strike in 21 years: “Members of the National Union of Teachers are set to take part in the first national teachers strike in 21 years in response to the government’s failure to keep pay-rises in-line with the rate of inflation. After four years of below-inflation pay increases, up to 200,000 members of one of the biggest UK teaching unions, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), are set to strike on April 24th. The membership voted for a one-day walkout. 75% of those voting were in favour of a one-day walkout, with 25% against. Turnout for the vote was 32%. NUT’s last national strike was under Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1987. This latest call for industrial action is in response to the proposed 2.45% pay-rise, which, while above the 2% cap prime minister Gordon Brown called-for on public sector pay increases, falls below the current 4.1% rate of inflation. Teachers say the proposed 2.45% increase reflects a significant cut in the standard of living for both primary and secondary level teachers.” (LibCom.org, 04/01/08)

University strike in Egypt: Professors throughout Egypt took part in one of the biggest university strikes last Sunday to renew demands for better pay and working conditions. Simultaneous protests were held at 1pm outside university administrative buildings. Some 200 university professors attended the protest at Cairo University. According to Dr Mohamed Abul Ghar, a member of the University Autonomy Group (popularly known as the March 9 Movement, a group of Cairo University professors who came together in March 2003 to protest the US invasion of Iraq and who now press for university autonomy and academic freedom) there was a high strike turnout in three of Cairo University’s faculties. (LibCom.org, 03/24/08)

Child Workers in Egypt a Growing Problem: The Associated Press reports: “As Egypt struggles with rising food prices and inflation, the plight of poverty-stricken child workers like Ali and the lack of protections for them have gained new attention. More than 20 percent of Egypt’s 76 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. The government subsidizes some food and other staples but has struggled to keep up with demand for subsidized bread and other foods as world wheat and other food prices have skyrocketed. Hundreds of children are thought to work at the string of almost 200 small brick factories in the Arab Jbour area, about 30 miles south of Cairo, said Salah Waheeb, who works for a British charity that looks after animals at the factories, called Brooke Hospital for Animals.” (The New York Times / TruthOut.org, 04/04/08)

La-Z-Boy, Whirlpool Moving Hundreds Of Jobs To Mexico: According to Chattanoogan.com: “La-Z-Boy and Whirlpool are moving jobs to new plants in Mexico, bringing job losses to hundreds of workers in Dayton and Cleveland. La-Z-Boy employees in Dayton were told today that the cutting and sewing operation is being moved to Mexico. Kathy Liebmann, La-Z-Boy spokesperson, said the Dayton facility has over 2,000 employees, but she did not have a breakdown on those in cutting and sewing. Ms. Liebmann said La-Z-Boy is closing a plant at Tremonton, Utah, but will keep its other plants open, including the one at Dayton. She said the 400 production jobs at the Utah plant will be spread over the other five plants.” (Chattanoogan.com, 04/03/08)

Auto Parts Workers Battle Demand to Cut Wages in Half: Wendy Thompson of Labor Notes writes: “Holbrook Avenue is a busy thoroughfare stretching from I-75 to downtown Hamtramck, a small town enclosed on all sides by Detroit. Cars honk in support of striking members of UAW Local 235 as they pass five picket lines filled 24 hours a day on both sides of the street along the large American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) complex. There are five more lines going south on St. Aubin Street, and two to the north. Spirits are high, and strikers are dressed warmly to face the bitter tail of winter weather. More than 3,600 American Axle workers have been on strike since February 26 at this plant and four other plants in Detroit and Three Rivers, Michigan, and two Buffalo suburbs, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda, New York. The plants produce the axles and parts for every General Motors light truck and SUV built in North America. Their chokehold on auto production was quickly felt: 28 GM plants at press time have stopped their lines as a result of the strike.” (Labor Notes, April 2008 Issue)

GM May Shut First Car Plant Due to Strike: Alex Ortolani and Jeff Green, Bloomberg.com, write, “General Motors Corp., with light-truck output slowed by a strike at a supplier, may shut its first car assembly plant by April 4, a union chief said. The American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. walkout threatens to deprive GM’s Lordstown, Ohio, factory of a brake part, which would halt work on the Chevrolet Cobalt, said Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112. Such a shutdown would escalate the strike’s effect on GM, the world’s largest automaker. The 29-day walkout so far has affected light trucks for which GM has extra inventory, while the Cobalt car is selling relatively well, said analyst Rebecca Lindland of Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts.” (Bloomberg.com, 03/26/08)

Companies Use Scans to Track Employees: David B. Caruso for The Associated Press reports on new electronic scanners that are being used to track employees. Caruso says protests over these scanners are especially loud in New York City, “where officials are spending $410 million to install an automated attendance tracking system that may eventually be used by 160,000 city workers.” He writes: “Some workers are doing it at Dunkin’ Donuts, Hilton hotels, even at Marine Corps bases. Employees at a growing number of businesses around the nation are starting and ending their days by pressing a hand or finger to a scanner that logs the precise time of their arrival and departure – information that is automatically reflected in payroll records. Manufacturers say these biometric scanners improve efficiency and streamline payroll operations. Employers big and small buy them with the dual goals of curtailing fraud and automating outdated record keeping systems that rely on paper time sheets. The new systems, however, have raised complaints from some workers who see the efforts to track their movements as excessive or even creepy.” (Yahoo! News, 03/26/08)

Corporate America Trying to Make Union Activities Illegal: Jane Slaughter of Labor Notes report: “Is it illegal for an activist group or union to criticize a company’s business practices? Is it a ‘conspiracy’ if advocates call for boycotts, organize rallies, or press for resolutions from elected bodies? Smithfield Foods, the largest producer of pork products in the world, is hoping so, after a lawsuit it filed last October passed an initial court challenge. The suit aims to halt the United Food and Commercial Workers’ campaign to unionize 4,600 workers in its Tar Heel, North Carolina, slaughterhouse. The company is using a 1970 statute originally designed to battle gangsters’ extortion schemes — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).” (AlterNet, 03/26/08)

Union Effort Led to Firing, Worker Says: The Hartford Courant’s Monica Polanco reports: “AFSCME has filed a complaint against the Connecticut Bar Association, alleging that it fired an employee for union organizing. The complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, accuses the New Britain-based bar association of firing Michael Fryar, who served as the bar association’s program development coordinator. Fryar said he was fired on March 11 – the day after he met with representatives from Council 4. The union, which represents 35,000 employees across the state, asks that the bar association reinstate Fryar and stop what the union describes as ‘anti-union actions.’” (Hartford Courant, 03/25/08)

Labor’s New New Deal: Andy Stern writes for The Nation: “We are as far today from the New Deal as the New Deal was from the Civil War. It’s no accident that the New Deal followed by four years the presidency of Calvin Coolidge, who once famously declared, “The chief business of the American people is business.” The human cost of the Great Depression created a change in climate that became the philosophical underpinning of the New Deal: the business of the American people was the people themselves — all of the people — not just the tycoons who made the “Roaring Twenties” roar and then crash.” (AlterNet, 03/24/08)

UAW Lost 73,500 Members in 2007: David Shepardson of The Detroit News reports: “Membership in the United Auto Workers dropped sharply last year to a new post-World War II low, reflecting a dramatic retrenchment of the US auto industry and widespread buyouts at Detroit’s Big Three automakers and suppliers. The Detroit-based union’s membership declined by 13.7 percent to 464,910, a loss of 73,538 members compared with 2006, according to the union’s annual report filed Friday with the U.S. Department of Labor. The UAW has lost 237,000 members since the end of 2001 as Detroit automakers and suppliers have cut jobs and closed factories to become more competitive with lower-cost rivals.” (The Detroit News, 03/29/08)

Building connections with Iraqi workers: “Photojournalist and long-time trade unionist David Bacon has traveled twice to Iraq since 2003 to meet with Iraqi union leaders and recently published Hadi Never Died: Hadi Saleh and the Iraqi Trade Unions, documenting the life of a prominent Iraqi union leader who was brutally tortured and murdered in January 2005.” (Workday Minnesota, 03/18/08)

Basra Assualt Threatens Trade Unionists: “In a series of telephone calls from Basra over the past 48 hours, Iraqi trade union activists appeal for solidarity and describe how the so-called ‘Security Plan’ started midnight 24 March with intense shelling and fire from all kind of weapons. The attacking forces now besieging Basra stretched all the way to the city from Dhi Qar province. Two armoured divisions are deployed, in addition to thousands of policemen, backed by US and British planning and air cover. They have cut off electricity supplies, food and water on the city of1.5 million people. Hundreds have been killed or injured in a savage, premeditated and unprovoked attack, now spreading to much of Iraq as the people protest and show solidarity with Basra’s beleaguered people. They describe the attack as far worse than the invasion of 2003 and begun in the same barbaric manner that the criminal Saddam employed against Basra to crush the March 1991 people’s uprising. They remind us that the present puppet Iraqi government sentenced Saddam’s Defence Minister to death few months ago for similar crimes of waging war on civilians.” (Basra Oil Union / Infoshop News, 03/30/08)

Iraqi Oil Union: International Womens Day Celebration: “The Iraqi Federation of Oil Employee Union (IFOU) organised a celebration in honor of women’s and mothers’ day in Basra. This included a bazaar in support of the Iraqi women. All organizations and political parties were invited to participate. 700 people- mostly women – attended the celebrations. The activity coincides with the fifth anniversary of the criminal occupation of Iraq. It is a painful anniversary for Iraqis and all the honest and sincere people around world. We talked about the on going perpetual catastrophe on Iraq through that day. Though words and talks are not enough to rid ourselves from this criminal occupation, struggle, hard work, and solidarity are the only way to do so.” (Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, March 2008 / Infoshop News, 03/29/08)

Israel: Coffee Bean strike breakthrough labor deal: Sharon Wrobel reports: “A very sophisticated and thriving cafe culture has been developing in Israel, but workers’ rights in the restaurant sector have been largely unprotected. That is about to change. The labor agreement reached between Coffee Bean and the Histadrut is the first of its kind between the union and a restaurant. The Histadrut Labor Federation and the Coffee Bean chain of coffee shops on Tuesday signed a collective labor agreement, the first of its kind between the union and a restaurant. It ends a long work dispute between employees in Coffee Bean’s 14 establishments and management.” (The Jerusalem Post, 03/12/08)

Exploited Carwash Workers Face an Uphill Battle: Oread Daily writes: “Some of you will get all bent out of shape about the trade union aspect of this story, but such is life. I’d say its about time. Anyone who has ever had his or her car washed at a hands on carwash can’t help but come away figuring the workers there are getting screwed. I mean, you don’t have the evidence in hand, but you’re gut knows it. Well, out in LA its out in the open for all to see as a campaign to unionize car wash workers is getting underway.” (Infoshop News, 03/28/08)

Philippines: Support Toyota workers’ right to an independent union: Urgent Appeal n° 314 (6 March to 10 May 2008): “Toyota, the world’s leading car manufacturer since 2007, prides itself on being “the most admired” one too. The multinational attributes this distinction to its constant concern to satisfy its customers and to its environmental awareness evidenced mainly in the launch of the first hybrid car. The firm’s slogan is a confident: “Today, tomorrow, Toyota”. Yet “today”, as for the past seven years, Toyota is refusing to recognize an independent trade union’s freedom of association and right to collective bargaining in one of its factories in the Philippines, even though these are recognized by Philippine law. “Today” the Philippine army is directly involved in the labour conflict. What hope is there for “tomorrow”? The multinational recently announced that it was planning to upscale its activity substantially by 2012, mainly by expanding production in China, India and Russia. If in these three countries it reproduces the behaviour in the Philippines that we have been denouncing for years, admiration for the multinational is unlikely to last.” (Peuples Solidaires / Infoshop News, 03/22/08)

Picket Board Meeting: MTA Bus Activists: Pact in Slow Lane: GNN’s own Ari Paul reports for The Chief: “While buses and trucks honked their horns in support as they raced down Madison Ave. March 26, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus workers picketed demanding a contract outside the authority’s monthly Board of Directors meeting. Several dozen members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 marched outside MTA headquarters demanding pay parity with Bus Operators at New York City Transit. Many of them said that unlike their counterparts there, they do not receive paid sick days and haven’t had a pension increase since 1997.” (The Chief, 04/04/08)

Toronto: Register Now for the 2008 IWW Organizing Summit: Announcing the 2008 IWW Organizing Summit – Toronto, Ontario – April 18, 19, & 20. Registration is On Now! The second IWW Organizing Summit has arrived and is set to explode! As the IWW engages in more and more workplace battles, our vision for the future must keep pace with our daily struggles. Our resolve is deeper and our wits keener than ever. Make sure your branch sends a strong delegation and make sure you’re on it! The 2008 Organizing Summit is on the scene and features practical trainings and discussions to build our skills; strategic sessions and industry break-outs to enhance our analysis and plot out the struggle; and visionary all-Summit conversations to prepare us for the future. Download a registration form here. For more details contact – iwwtoronto [at] gmail.com. (IWW.org, 03/25/08)

Featured essay:

A Living Wage: From Linchpin Issue 3: “A full time job should keep you OUT of poverty, not IN it! Is that not the cure prescribed by politicians and much of the public for poverty: to merely have people who are homeless and on assistance get a job? Meg R. looks at the issue of a living wage. Although never a sufficient solution to end poverty, the attainment of a full time job used to provide some recourse for the reduction of the intensity of poverty experienced. However, this is no longer so as the ‘working poor’ are the fastest growing population experiencing poverty. In the last fifteen years, real wages have fallen significantly for middle and low income earners, especially for women, immigrants and youth. In 2005, 41% of Canadian low income children lived with families where at least one wage earner was employed full time (2007 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty). The downward pressure on wages contributing to increasing poverty has become a defining characteristic of the last three decades. It is representative of the global polarization of income and concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few elite… We must challenge the ideologies of the elite, businesses, and government officials. We must also hold them accountable for their cost cutting actions that rob people of decent standards of living.” (Linchpin, Issue 3)

LabourStart: Where trade unionists start their day on the net.

This roundup was compiled by GNN contributor and blogger Nathan Coe. Nathan is a guerrilla journalist and rebel insurgent residing in the mountains of Southwest Colorado, where he has infiltrated a facility of indoctrination, targeted for revolutionary subversion, under the guise of a senior college student working on his Major in Humanities. He can be contacted at free_world_alliance(at)yahoo.com or via his blog at ShiftShapers.gnn.tv.

For more of GNN’s exclusive roundups of under-reported news from around the world, check out The Rebel Communiqué, East Is East, and If You Knew…

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