agriculture
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in retail and the food industry around the world.
A Declaration From the Poor Oppressed People of England
A declaration from the poor oppressed people of England, directed to all those that call themselves, or are called Lords of Manors, through this nation; That have begun to cut, or that through fear and covetousness, do intend to cut down the Woods and Trees that grow upon the Commons and Waste Land.
Printed in the Yeer, 1649.
The True Levellers Standard Advanced
A printable pamphlet version of The True Levellers Standard Advanced.
Presented in PDF format (80kb).
Gerard Winstanley: 17th Century Communist at Kingston (Christopher Hill, 1996)
A lecture delivered at Kingston University in 1996 by the great historian of the English Civil War on the subject of Gerard Winstanley; a founder of the Diggers, visionary, land squatter and early communist pamphleteer.
Council sell-off sparks unrest down the farm
Ten people, three cows, two pigs, several sheep and a carthorse occupied an empty 80-acre farm in the village of Chiselborough, Near Yeovil in Somerset on Friday.
They were protesting against the council auctioning off the publicy owned farm next month as part of spate of similar sell-offs.
Balham Hill's farm shop was scrubbed down during the occupation and started selling milk, meat and vegetables, and then as more animals arrived, they were put out to graze as the occupation continued.
One local said:
Mozambique: Wildcat sugar strike ends
A two day wildcat strike at the Sena company, Mozambique's largest sugar producer, ended on Friday, with promises by the company of a new wage scale with fewer levels in April.
Allafrica.com reported that the current wage scale has been in force since 2002, the year when the company's sugar mill, at Marromeu on the south bank of the Zambezi, reopened. No sugar had been produced there since 1986, when the apartheid-backed Renamo rebels destroyed the mill.
India: 1,057 workers arrested for picketing
A total of 1,057 members, including 399 women, of All India Kisan Sabha and All India Agriculture Workers Association were arrested on Saturday for picketing.
In Dindigul they picketed roads at 11 places, demanding issue of house pattas to the poor and downtrodden. They picketed roads in Nilakottai, Sempatti, Iayyalur, Eriyode, Dindigul, Natham, Gopalpatti, Oddanchatram, Sri Rampuram, Kodaikanal and Gujiliamparai.
India: Tea estate lockouts lead to starvation deaths
Assam and Darjeeling tea estate lockouts have led to malnutrition and starvation deaths in India this month.
Roopacherra tea estate in South Assam has been under lockout for nearly month after the executives abandoned it. Leading to the death of a three-year-old girl, Shivani Kalindi and two workers, Yogendra Kalindi, 22, and Manorama Dev, 60, according the workers' panchayat (council). Shivani had been taken to the garden hospital on Tuesday evening, but no doctor was available.
India: Tea estate lockouts lead to starvation deaths
Assam and Darjeeling tea estate lockouts have led to malnutrition and starvation deaths in India this month.
Roopacherra tea estate in South Assam has been under lockout for nearly month after the executives abandoned it. Leading to the death of a three-year-old girl, Shivani Kalindi and two workers, Yogendra Kalindi, 22, and Manorama Dev, 60, according the workers' panchayat (council). Shivani had been taken to the garden hospital on Tuesday evening, but no doctor was available.
Del Monte: A can of worms
Rob Ray reports on the devastation and horror surrounding America’s biggest fruit giant.
January 2006 was a big month for a smiling guy in a white suit. The plucky fellow has every reason to say "Yes" to trade legislation he himself has helped organise which will finally break his great enemy.
Bolivia - struggles continue under socialist Morales
Despite the election of Evo Morales from the Movement for Socialism as President of Bolivia, several strikes are in process and the persecution of the landless movement MST continues under the new regime.
This week has seen an ongoing strike by pilots at private LAB. The Pilot Association paralyzed work Thursday demanding the reinstatement of 15 fired workers, alongside the cessation of lawsuits against three others, and payment of $8 million instalments to retirement funds that were deducted by LAB.
