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At 6am when the wildcat strike was called, the entire 120-strong bus fleet at the Shaw Road depot was grounded. Drivers returned to work at 10.30am and normal services were resumed on all routes by lunchtime.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union declared the day as "a day for union business" for workers at all 29 ports on the west coast. This may be the beginning of a record setting anti-war action, since the vast majority of supplies and munitions for the American government's current wars are shipped from the 29 ports on the West Coast. All 29 were closed today.

Sixty-seven vessels including thirty-nine tankers stranded at the harbor's entrance. Government officials, port managers and union representatives are yet to tally the costs of the strike. A 17-day walkout last year in Marseille alone cost Manutention Generale Mediterraneenne, the port's biggest cargo- handler, €1.5 million ($2.4 million).

A boat carrying an arms shipment destined for Zimbabwe is anchored at the South African port of Durban. However the South African Transport Workers' Union has already announced that their members will not offload any of the cargo, nor will any of their truckers transport it.

29 part-time school bus drivers took part in the action, protesting increasing 'flexibility' in working practices. 2,000 children in Askeaton, Doon, Hospital, Kilfinnan, Newport and Pallaskenry were affected today as part-time school bus drivers carried out a strike at the Limerick bus depot for the second week running. The action also impacted on services in Tipperary and south Galway.

The five day hunger strike by three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer was suspended at 5.30 this afternoon after the workers received a letter from the union solicitors guaranteeing that their demands would be met.

Just hours after addressing a solidarity rally outside Transport House in Belfast hunger striker Gordon McNeill was rushed to City Hospital for treatment. An ambulance was called to the scene at Transport House due to a deterioration in his condition. Gordon is on his fourth day without food and his second day without water. Also on hunger strike are Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer.

Faced with the prospect of three days of strike action from 18:30 on Sunday, London Underground has abandoned plans that the union had described as a fundamental attack on Tube safety standards and casualisation of safety critical work.

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 strike ballot saw 1,673 members vote for action with 333 voting against. The ballot result opens the way for joint action with fellow Tube union TSSA, whose own members voted for action earlier this month. The unions are opposing management attacks on safety standards and the casualisation of safety-critical work (details in notes below).

The pension reform raises the retirement age for women to 65 and workers in hazardous industries will have to work an extra two years. Many accuse the conservative government of going back on pre-election promises not to cut pension rights.

Starting at 6.30, citywide buses and trams were completely shut down. Metro services were reported to be overcrowded beyond capacity.

No serious injuries were reported in the scuffles on Tuesday that took place as Alitalia negotiators met with unions to seek backing for the takeover. The deal, announced Sunday, requires the approval of parliament and all nine airline labor unions.

The government's reforms would mean the merging of pension funds and increasing the pension age for some workers. The government, however, has not made public any details on the size of savings that will accrue from the reforms. The trade unions have also argued that the current pension system could survive if bosses were made to pay their contributions.

Normally, passengers wishing to enter baggage in excess of a certain weight must make additional payments. Disgruntled workers bypassed this procedure by distributing the baggage among various passengers evenly, so that none of them had excess weight.

Agricultural workers strike & sit-in

The stoppages will start next Wednesday (12th), with the majority of the 12,000 employees of the service expected to observe it.

The one day strike will hit driving tests, regional centres controlling the flow of motorway traffic as well as the half yearly introduction of new number plates, and is in response to a series of below inflation pay offers and widening pay gaps between the predominantly female staffed DVLA and the predominantly male DfT and related agencies.

Air traffic controllers in Ireland have voted for 24-hour strikes this Thursday after several weeks of unofficial overtime ban. The strike, organised by the Balpa union, is likely to ground flights at all three airports.