Welcome to the third 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 LaborStart.org.
Pre-meditated murder of Guatemalan banana workers’ leader: Marco Tulio Ramirez Portela, Secretary of Culture and Sports of the Guatemalan Banana Workers Union of Izabal, SITRABI, was brutally murdered by masked men equipped with high-calibre weapons in the early-morning hours of September 23rd. Guatemala has a long history of violent repression against trade unionists. (Confédération Syndicale Internationale, 9/26/07)
Promises and Poverty: Starbucks calls its coffee worker-friendly — but in Ethiopia, a day’s pay is a dollar: Starbucks promotes its coffee as being “grown in ways that were good for the environment — and for local people, too.” But what is the reality behind this claim? How are the farmers treated? What are they paid for their product? How do they live? Starbucks spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on ad campaigns to whitewast their company’s image and manufacture a false corporate conscience. It’s time again to remove the beast’s mask and reveal the reality behind the illusion. (The Sacramento Bee, 9/24/07)
Berkeley: Metro Lighting Workers Fight Against Anti-Union Retaliation: Union workers at Metro Lighting resumed picketing in a strike over the company’s unfair labor practices. One union member, who had also questioned the workers’ exposure to toxic chemicals, was recently fired for union activity. The other workers are striking due to repeated violations of federal and state labor laws by the company, and are demanding the return of all union co-workers. “Metro Lighting union workers are asking the community to come out and picket with them in solidarity this week and to let Metro Lighting know that Berkeley won’t tolerate a business that is unfair to labor! For more information, contact Gabe at 510-395-1324.” (Infoshop News, 11/25/07)
Egyptian Workers and Social Resistance: 386 industrial actions in 6 months: Despite what we are told, the labor movement is alive and well in North Africa and the Middle East. A new report documents 386 industrial actions in Egypt only six months. From January to July 2007, the report documents “100 Sit-ins, 109 Strikes, 33 demonstrations, and 126 illegal assemblies accompanied by a short-period work stoppages.” The Land Center for Human Rights documented 222 industrial actions during 2006, which 2007 has already well exceeded. While 75,000 lost their jobs, what’s more troubling is that the report detailed 26 cases of workers committing suicide, 129 cases of work-related injuries, and 84 deaths. (Infoshop News, 9/28/07)
Week-long strike at Egypt’s largest textile mill ends with meeting of workers’ demands: Labor representatives and government negotiators resolved a week-long labor strike that paralyzed Egypt’s largest textile factory early Saturday by “largely” agreeing to the workers’ demands. (See The Beeb or Al Ahram background info.) Workers’ representatives of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla el-Kubra, north of Cairo, met with government officials, who agreed to grant the workers an additional 90 days pay, and to negotiate over further pay increases. A statement from the strike coordination committee that appeared on labor-related blogs reads: “After the rise in Arab, local and international solidarity with the workers of Ghazl el-Mahalla, the workers were victorious in negotiations.” The workers, complaining of “poverty-level wages,” went on strike after the government paid them only 20 days in bonuses, when under profit-sharing agreements, the workers demanded 150. Now, under the new agreement, the workers will receive 70 days overtime pay, while the company’s general assembly determines additional payments so that the bonuses total at least 130 days. The strike lasted six days and consisted of thousands of workers, costing the plant millions of dollars a day, according to the factory managers. (The Arabist, 9/29/07)
Auto Workers Strike After Talks Fail: On Monday, the United Auto Workers launched a national strike against General Motors Corporation, the first nationwide strike during contract negotiations since 1976. (Houston Chronicle) But after two days, the UAW ended the strike, reaching a tentative agreement with GM. What the workers want most is job security. The union is setting up a trust which will manage retiree health care, which has been hailed by some as “a momentous step toward eliminating” the burden of providing benefits for its unionized workers. The union also agreed to wage reductions for some workers in exchange for “commitments” from GM to invest in U.S. plants. The company also conceeded bonuses and agreed to hire thousands of temporary workers, which will theoretically boost UAW membership. (MSNBC, 9/26/07) The Canadian Auto Workers plan to resist the GM deal.
This week’s Labor History Spotlight:
The decline of African-Americans in unions and manufacturing, 1979-2006: An article about the diminishing numbers of African-American workers in trade unions, which is dropping faster than the general decline in unionisation in the U.S. (LibCom.org)
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 activist residing in the mountains of Southwest Colorado, where he is a senior in college working on his Major in Humanities. He can be contacted at free_world_alliance@yahoo.com or via his blog at ShiftShapers.gnn.tv.