Bolivia: COB calls general strike for 16th of June
Jun 5 2008 21:17
The Bolivian press reports that the militant Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) with allied peasant organizations has called an indefinite general strike demanding nationalization under worker/peasant control of transnational corporations and large land holdings as well as increases in wages and pensions.
Jaime Solares, widely perceived as the leader of the 2003 and 2005 revolts that forced neo-liberal presidents from office, stated that President Evo Morales has set aside the workers agenda and had no answers. Union delegates voted to blockade national roadways during the strike. Union resolutions stated that the strike was to "snatch the source of the economic power of this oligarchical minority and large estate owners" referring to the separatist movements, described by the unions as fascist, in wealthy provinces