Asia
1,000 Vietnamese shrimp processing workers on strike
Nearly 1,000 workers have gone on strike to protest a wage cut at a Singaporean shrimp processing factory in Vietnam.
According to wire agency AFP, the workers at Amanda Foods are protesting against the company's decision to cut salaries to S$37.50 (600,000 dong) a month. Manual labourers in Vietnam typically earn around S$50 a month.
Celebrate May Day on the basis of internationalism, 2007
The text published here is Internasyonalismo's - an internationalist group in the Philippines - statement on the significance of May Day.
Celebrate May Day on the basis of internationalism
In the whole world, we can see various organizations, parties and states observing May Day, the international working class day this year. We can read and hear different statements and saw mobilizations from these organizations paying lip service to the gravedigger of capitalism.
Bureaucrats - Simon Leys
Despite the claims of the Maoist ruling elite of a complete break with feudal ways, Leys illustrates that the finely graded hierarchies of Maoist officialdom inherited and preserved the earlier bureaucratic structures of privilege.
Simon Leys is the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans; he has written extensively on the history, culture and politics of China.
From; Chinese Shadows, Simon Leys; Penguin Books, London, 1978.
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Bureaucrats
(Simon Leys)
Cambodia: Garment workers threaten strikes
Garment workers are trying to prevent large pay cuts. At the same time building workers have gone on strike in support of sacked colleagues.
The garment workers are threatening strikes in reaction to governement proposals to change the law that compels employers to pay double wages for night work. By cutting this premium by 70% the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, claims he will be able to create tens of thousands of new jobs. The industry is currently responsible for US$2.3bn worth of exports yearly, almost 80% of the total.
Vietnam: Wildcat strike at garment factory
Some 350 workers at a Taiwanese-owned garment company in central Vietnam struck work Monday demanding higher wages and lower workload.
Thanhniennews.com reported that the workers of Sportteam Corporation said they were paid VND490,000 (US$30) monthly but had to work up to 14 hours daily. They also had to work overtime and night shifts regularly without extra pay.
Vietnam regulates a minimum wage of VND710,000 ($44) for foreign invested sector.
Vietnemese minimum wage set to rise
Instead of being increased by 10% as of October 1 as scheduled, the monthly minimum wage is expected to increase by 20% as of early 2008.
Talking to the press on the sideline of a conference on vocational training and job creation held in Hanoi on May 11, Minister of Labour Nguyen Thi Hang said that the ministry was about to submit to the government a minimum wage reform scheme for 2008-2012.
Vietnam: Farm-workers' union members remain in jail
Five organisers from the independent United Workers-Farmers Organization, were arrested and remain in prison.
In Vietnam independent unions are illegal, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Tran Thi Le Hang, Doan Huy Chuong and his father Doan Van Dien were arrested in November last year, a month after the organisation was launched. Tran Quoc Hien was arrested in January this year after his election as a spokesman for the UWFO.
Narita Airport riots (video clip)
A video of the riots against the construction of Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan during the 1970s.
The video is hosted on YouTube and has English subtitles. The riots included students and farmers protesting against the airport's construction, and involved pitched battles against the police with molotov cocktails and explosives.
Precarious workers and the cyber-homeless - Mayday march in Japan
There are 2.3 million young casualised and part-time workers in Japan.
Takeshi Yamashita does not look like a homeless person. From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite. Yet the 26-year-old has been sleeping in a reclining seat in an Internet cafe every night for the past month since he lost his steady office job and his apartment.
Water, energy and crisis in Bangladesh
How water and electricity scarcity impacts on life and politics. Plus a brief look at the ongoing governmental crisis.
Quote:
The administration of most essential public utilities specially water and electricity is in serious jeopardy in the capital [Dhaka], causing untold suffering to the city dwellers.
The erratic power supply leads to disruption to smooth water supply to the city dwellers who are reeling from power and water crisis during the ongoing dry season.
