general strikes
Unions Narrowly Avert General Strike In B.C., Canada - Wage Slave X
Article looking at the near-General Strike in 2004 in Canada. The strike was stopped at the last minute by the unions.
In the week from April 25 to May 2, 2004, what began as a legal strike by 43,000 hospital workers in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada nearly developed into an illegal 'general strike' by upwards of 200,000 workers against the provincial government (which funds the hospitals and the health-care system generally), and potentially involving perhaps another 100,000 to 150,000 unionized workers.
South Korean government arrests 450 workers as general strike seems imminent
Police apprehended more than 450 labor activists Saturday after a violent protest in Daejeon which left about 150 injured. Labour unrest is set to escalate this month as truck drivers plan to strike and a major labour umbrella group pledged to join.
Thousands of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions members rallied in the city to mark the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. They mourned a unionized trucker who committed suicide earlier this month in what colleagues said was a protest against the government's policies.
Belgian general strike diary, 1960 - Maurice Brinton
Maurice Brinton's vivid and captivating first hand account of the massive general strike in Belgium in 1960-61 against a new law "loi unique" to reduce workers' purchasing power.
THE BELGIAN GENERAL STRIKE: DIARY DECEMBER 28-31, 1960
THE BACKGROUND
New nationwide general strike hits France
Hundreds of thousands of French workers are expected to join the country's second nationwide strike in two months.
Workers are protesting against President Nicolas Sarkozy's economic policies. Unemployment has reached two million and is expected to rise further. Demonstrations are planned in about 200 towns and cities. Many schools are closed and public transport disrupted.
Organisers predict the protest will be bigger than one in January, when more than a million people took part.
Martinique general strike called off
Organisers of a crippling 38-day anti-inflation strike in the French island of Martinique lifted their protest Saturday with the signing of a protocol with the government.
"This protocol will mean the lifting of the strike call," said Michel Monrose, head of the February 5 Collective group which launched the protest.
But he added the Collective "reserves the right to re-launch the strike if the accords are not respected".
Guadeloupe general strike comes to an end
Union leaders on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe have agreed to end a 44-day-old general strike after most of their demands were met.
The announcement came after the LKP collective signed a deal with officials and business owners to raise workers' pay and lower the cost of basic goods. Negotiations are continuing in nearby Martinique over a similar stoppage.
Greek unions call 24 hour general strike
Greece's main labour body said Thursday it is calling a 24-hour general strike to protest more than 4,000 lay-offs that have swept the country in February.
Workers should not "pay the price of the financial crisis," the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) said in a statement.
GSEE - which did not specify the date for the strike - said February's figure followed significant job losses between November and January when nearly 8,000 people lost their jobs.
One dead in Guadeloupe strike
As Guadeloupe's general strike against rising prices spreads across the Caribbean, a union official is shot dead.
Local officials states that union representative Jacques Bino, aged in his 50s, was shot dead in a crossfire while driving his car near a roadblock manned by armed youths, who opened fire at police in the capital Pointe-a-Pitre.
Workers in Guadeloupe launched a general strike on 20 January in protest at the rising cost of living.
Revolt continues in French Caribbean
The leader of the general strike crippling Guadeloupe has accused the French government of preparing to kill protestors to bring an end to the stoppage on the French Caribbean island.
"Today, given the number of gendarmes who have arrived in Guadeloupe armed to the teeth, the French state has chosen its natural path: to kill Gaudeloupeans as usual," Elie Domota said on Saturday.
General strikes around the world
As French unions isolate a general strike by workers in Guadeloupe, workers in Chad have set next Monday for their general strike while the leader of the Spanish UGT hints at one (or stalls for time?) in Spain.
French unions isolate Guadeloupe general strike
