job losses

Queens University pursuing compulsory redundancies

Queens University in Belfast is for the first time ever attempting to make staff compulsorily redundant. Following a meeting with UCU, these plans were dropped from the proposal to be tabled at a later date.

For the first time ever, Queens University is attempting to introduce compulsory redundancies for staff. Normally, voluntary means are used to resolve staffing issues, but Queens senior-management were attempting to rush-through the compulsory redundancy plan tomorrow at Standing Committee meeting.

23 day long occupation of major power-plant in northern Greece ends in police repression

After 23 days of blockading the input and output convayor belts of one of the major power-plants of Greece by the Union against Unemployment, demanding re-employment, environmental reform and withdrawal of charges against rebel workers, riot police evicted the Agios Dimitrios Power-Plant occupation. Serious clashes have ensued in efforts to release the arrested Union members.

In the morning of the 10th of May 2008, the residents of Agios Dimitris,a town near the north-Greek city of Kozani, where the National Electric Company (DEH) holds its majors units, employing the vast majority of the working population, having formed a local Union against Unemployment occupied the north gate of the Agios Dimitrios Power-Plant, interrupting the function of the feed-belts carrying l

Mexico: Corona bottle makers face redundancy for supporting independent union

Factory workers in San Luis Potosí in northern Mexico have been threatened by their bosses with the closure of their factory if they don't renounce their elected independent union in favour of the bosses' union.

The threat from Grupo Modelo in the Industrial Vidriera Potosí factory comes not long after the firing of over 250 workers for being involved with the activities of Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Empresa IVP (SUTEIVP).

10,000 jobs to go in Northern Ireland

Almost 10,000 jobs could be lost across Northern Ireland's government departments.

Nipsa said the axing of 450 jobs by the Housing Executive was just "the tip of the iceberg". Thousands of public sector posts could go due to an efficiency drive aiming to raise £790m. The government say no staff reduction target has been set.

Alitalia workers clash with police over job cuts

Italian riot police and several hundred Alitalia Airline maintenance employees have clashed in Rome as workers protested job losses threatened by the Airline's pending sale to Air France-KLM.

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.

Wapping print works to close

The Wapping print works which was notoriously used to break the print workers' organisation is to close, with two-thirds of staff set to lose their jobs.

Around 400 jobs are expected to go when Wapping closes, with jobs across the industry potentially threatened as the Murdoch press looks to aggressively expand into the contract print market.

Vallejo, California: Unions help city with lay-offs

The city of Vallejo in the San Francisco Bay Area may be the first city in California history to declare bankruptcy. However several unions are helping the city to cut jobs in an effort to ward off bankruptcy.

This cash-strapped city reached a tentative deal with its police and firefighters unions Thursday, just before city leaders convened to decide if the city would seek bankruptcy protection from a swell of economic uncertainty.

That question remains unresolved, however, as details of the deal will be made public today before the council revisits the issue Monday.

BBC announces 2,500 job cuts

The BBC has confirmed plans to eliminate 2,500 jobs in a bid to save $4 billion over the next five years, The Times of London reported Thursday.

Details are being given to staff at briefings across the country, with Director-General Mark Thompson explaining that he wanted to announce the layoffs quickly to avoid plunging the corporation into uncertainty.

Rolls Royce to close Merseyside plant

Rolls Royce workers in strike, Derby 2005

Workers at the Rolls Royce plant in Netherton today claimed the company had given them notice to close the factory with the loss of 220 jobs.

Rolls Royce announced a review of the site in August and an internal memo confirmed that they have suggested switching production from Netherton to a US plant in Mount Vernon, Ohio. They claim fluctuating work volumes, high costs and the US dollar’s poor exchange rate have put the Sefton site in jeopardy.

BBC faces strikes over 3,000 job cuts

A new wave of strike action is likely at the BBC as its director general Mark Thompson prepares to announce up to 3,000 job cuts.

Staff yesterday claimed morale was lower than at any point since John Birt's directorship as union leaders met the BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons.

Tube workers prepared to fight staff cuts

Passenger safety will be put at risk at Hampstead and Belsize Park Tube stations if London Underground proposals to cut staffing levels go ahead.

Trade unions have called a public meeting yesterday (Thursday) to fight the plans, which will see travellers unable to seek staff assistance at crucial times of the morning and night.

1831: Merthyr Tydfil uprising

In 1831, Merthyr Tydfil, iron workers struck against redundancies, rising prices and bailiffs, leading to several thousand workers involved in riots that led to bloody suppression by troops and mass arrests.

Two articles on the riots are included, by local historian Bob Saunders, and an excerpt from the Newgate Calendar:

THE MERTHYR RISING 1831
Bob Saunders
BACKGROUND

Edinburgh council workers to strike

Local government workers on the march in Nottingham

Council services across Edinburgh are set to grind to a halt after workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a one-day strike.

The industrial action is set to take place next Thursday, and union leaders said today it will affect services "right across the board". About 8000 Unison members have voted by more than two-to-one in favour of the walk-out in protest at cuts and possible redundancies.

Belgium: Strike action at Opel car factory

There have been a series of stoppages recently at the Opel factory, due to management restructuring.

The first strike at the General Motors-owned firm began on June 15th when the night shift walked of the job in protest at management's refusal to answer questions on the restructuring plan, the strike lasted until the 18th.

Union considers new offer in Deutsche Telekom strike

German union Ver.di are considering a revised offer from the company in the ongoing dispute with Deutsche Telekom.

The company plans a one-time payment for each worker in 2011 that may be more than 1,000 euros ($1,350), if financial and customer-service goals are met in 2010, Thomas Sattelberger, the board member in charge of personnel, told a press briefing in Bonn today. The total cost would be in the range of "two-digit'' million euros, he said.

Deutsche Telekom determined to go ahead with job cuts

Deutsche Telekom AG, whose plan to move 50,000 service workers in Germany to jobs with lower pay sparked the company's biggest strike in a decade, will stick to its schedule to complete the transfer by July 1.

Taken from Bloomberg.com

Disruption in first week of Deutsche Telekom strike

Labor union ver.di says that operations at Deutschen Telekom have been severely hampered after one week of strike.

Ado Wilhelm, who is organizing the strike on behalf of ver.di, told heise online that service had been detrimentally affected. The protest is a reaction to the group's plans to outsource some 50,000 employees in the new T- Service division. Today, the labor union says that 7000 people went on strike across Germany. The protests are to continue through the weekend.

Over 10,000 Deutsche Telekom workers walk off the job

More than 10,000 Deutsche Telekom employees refused to turn up for work last Friday to protest the company's plans to outsource 50,000 jobs.

The strikes have also spread to a team wiring up services for officials and the media at the G8 summit next month on the Baltic coast.

University of Manchester to axe 400 staff

Four hundred jobs are to go at the University of Manchester to clear a £30m debt, it has emerged.

The university admitted that it is looking to make voluntary redundancies to offset the debt, which was created by the merger between the Victoria Manchester University and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (Umist) in 2004.

There are no plans for compulsory job cuts.

Protests across the UK over NHS cuts

Health workers and their supporters have been holding local demonstrations across the country in protest over cuts in jobs and services.

The national day of action was organised by NHS Together, a combination of unions and local NHS staff groups. The protests aim to highlight that services are under increasing threat from budget deficits and privatisation.