fuel

The management of the SRPP (Reunion petroleum products company) gave into the workers demands after less than 24 hours. Workers won a shift bonus, which is approximately equivalent to an 8% salary increase.

Protesters from the Achuar Indian communities in the northern Peru forest have won an agreement for an Argentine oil drilling firm to stop dumping toxic waste into the rainforest. The Native Federation of the Corrientes River brought jungle operations of Pluspetrol Norte to a standstill, demanding a clean-up of the harmful waste produced by 30 years of drilling in the area.

A decree has been issued to the 25,000 drivers, which will treat any further strike action as a crime with legal consequences. The President of the Inter-Union of Land Transport Professionals has said the strike will continue regardless.

The drivers are striking over plans to increase the cost of fuel, and observers have warned that the government decree will only worsen the conflict.

Unions say the hike has made it too expensive for most workers to travel to their jobs in the troubled southern African country. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, ZCTU, an umbrella grouping of trade organisations, is closely affiliated with the main opposition party.