energy
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in the energy sector around the world.
Wildcat strike in Hartlepool
Hundreds of workers walked out in the morning of 12 October at an offshore construction yard in a dispute over union recognition.
The Peterlee mail reported that workers want Unite to be given official recognition at the Heerema site in Greenland Road, in Hartlepool, but talks are believed to have stalled in the last few weeks.
That led to tradesmen calling a wildcat strike this morning with an estimated 200 workers standing outside the gates of the site.
Workers safer in green energy sector
A recent commentary - ‘Expansion of Renewable Energy Industries and Implications for Occupational Health’ - on the human costs of various methods of energy production says ‘green energies’ are less likely to result in death at work than fossil fuels.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (login required), Sumner & Layde note that considerations over the implementation of various energy types rarely take into account workplace safety.
Unofficial refinery walkouts 'over foreign workers' spread
An assessment of the spread of the refinery wildcat strikes - purportedly over the hiring of foreign workers - and the media coverage of them.
The wave of unofficial walkouts following the use of the Italian construction contractor, IREM with its own workforce at Total's Lindsey oil refinery have received a great deal of media coverage.
Long lost wildcat strikes in the UK, 1960s - 1990s
Interesting article with snippets of analysis and often personal anecdotes about a number of unofficial strikes in the UK since the 1960s.
An introduction…
The Ecological Challenge: Three Revolutions are Necessary
With a planetary ecological crisis on hand, it can no longer be denied that socialism will be incompatible with mass production and mass consumption. Indeed, even without returning to Malthusian catastrophe theories, we are forced to admit that the planet’s resources are not inexhaustible. These resources could provide for humanity’s needs, but only if they are used in a reasonable and rational way, i.e., in a manner directly opposed to capitalist logic, which in itself is a source of imbalance.
The Ecological Challenge: Three Revolutions are Necessary
by Alternative Libertaire
France: Areva strikers issued with summonses
31 striking workers have been issued with summonses for 'restricting the freedom to work'
80 of the 89 workers at the Montrouge site have been on strike since January 10th over plans to close the factory down. Workers have also occupied and blockaded the buildings in protest. There has been no explanation of why the 31 employees targetted were chosen.
France: More workers join strikes
Hundreds of thousands of health workers, civil servants, printers postal workers and air traffic controllers yesterday joined transport and energy strikes over pensions and pay.
Thousands joined street protests in Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Lyon and other cities.
The 24 hour strike left many schools closed, hospitals providing a reduced service and newsagents without newspapers.
The BBC reported that the French capital's two airports and Marseille airport in the south suffered delays and cancellations.
France: Transport and energy strikes begin
Workers fighting to defend their pension rights have launched a second strike.
This time the strike is reconductible, meaning that although it is not an unlimited strike it is renewable on a daily basis. The strike warning given by the unions was for a strike beginning from 8pm on Tuesday.
France: Rail, gas and electricity workers prepare to strike
Workers have decided to build on last month's one-day strike and have called for strike action on Wednesday.
Although EDF (Électricité de France) and GDF (Gaz de France) workers have only given official notice of a one-day strike, during the last strikes wildcats and general assemblies meant that the strike largely held the following day.
Peru: National mining strike to start on Monday
Peru's biggest federation of mining unions said workers will go on strike nationwide starting on Monday despite efforts by the government to avert the walkout, officials said on Sunday.
It would be the second nationwide strike this year in Peru, the world's third-largest producer of copper and zinc, and fifth-largest producer of gold. A strike in May, which was halted after five days, pushed up global metals prices.
"Mine workers will go on strike tomorrow (Monday)," said Julio Ortiz, a director of the federation.
