job losses
Archive of articles on job losses and working class struggles against them.
Chinese workers beat capitalist to death
Workers afraid of privatization beat investor to death.
Thousands of angry steel workers clashed with police during demonstrations against the takeover of their company.
Ssangyong occupation update: day six, July 25, 2009
Brief update: management failed to show up for the tripartite meeting today (Saturday, July 24, 2009), saying "Talks would be meaningless unless violent acts are halted." The hypocrisy is made clear by non-stop attack of helicopters dropping toxic liquid teargas on the strikers. In Pyeongtaek a solidarity rally took place today, with pitched street battle between demonstrators and riot cops. More details coming soon.
Photos of today's rally:
Ssangyong occupation update: day five, July 24, 2009
Today it became apparent that with the constant spraying of teargas tainted with thinner, strikers are suffering from their skin blistering and peeling off with an extreme burning sensation. With no water in the occupied factory to wash off the toxins, it is becoming a severe health problem. There was also a tripartite meeting between government, Ssangyong management, and the union. The company bosses refused to negotiate until the occupation ends, stating that they won't back down on the layoffs.
Today, 24 July 2009, is Day Five of the battle over the occupied Ssangyong Motors factory at Pyeongtaek in South Korea.
Ssangyong occupation update: day four, July 23, 2009
This report, from yesterday, is about the 3rd day of the police attack to evict the occupiers of the Ssangyong Motors factory at Pyeongtaek in South Korea. The cops and the strikebreaking gangsters ("kkang-pae") have resorted to using taser guns on individual strikers, in addition to using helicopters to spray a thinner-based teargas liquid directly onto the strikers on the roof of the occupied paint department.
(translated from the website of SSanyong Branch of Korean Metal Worker Union, http://sym.nodong.org/)
3rd day of cop assault on the factory
[Slogan spray painted on top of paint department building says: "Kill us all if you don't want negotiation"]
Wind turbine manufacturing workers occupy company offices
Workers from the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight who are set to lose their jobs are staging a sit-in protest at the firm's offices.
Danish company Vestas Windsystems is laying off 625 workers at the end of July, despite rising profits. It said the Newport factory was being closed due to reduced demand for wind turbines in northern Europe.
About 20 people inside the offices in Cowes have vowed to remain there until "somebody listens to us". They began their protest at about 1930 BST.
Korean police fail to break Ssangyong factory occupation
South Korean police were not able to carry through with a pledge to enter a Ssangyong Motor Co. factory, which has been occupied by fired workers for almost two months, as the carmaker tries to resume production at the plant.
About 800 fired employees were still in a paint shop, confronting more than 3,000 police as of 5:22p.m. in Seoul, Ssangyong spokesman Cha Ki Woong said by phone at the plant in Pyeongtaek, where the automaker is based.
French 'explosion-threat' workers win redundancy pay
A group of French workers facing layoffs obtained extra money after threatening to blow up industrial equipment at their plant, labor union representatives said on Friday. Meanwhile, workers at two other companies continue their threats to blow up their workplaces.
The workers, at JLG, a manufacturing company, were the third in France to make similar threats this month, after workers from Nortel, the telecommunications equipment maker, and New Fabris, a car parts maker.
Korean Sanggyong strike up against the wall
The Ssangyong Motors strike in Pyeongtaek, South Korea (near Seoul), is now in its eighth week, and the situation of the strikers is increasingly dire.
Loren Goldner
July 17
(The following article reports “just the facts”, based on communications from workers and other activists involved in the struggle.)
The Ssangyong Motors strike in Pyeongtaek, South Korea (near Seoul), is now in its eighth week, and the situation of the strikers is increasingly dire.
Record rise in UK unemployment total
UK unemployment rose by a record 281,000 to 2.38 million in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics has said. The jobless rate increased to 7.6%, the highest in more than 10 years.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 23,800 in June to 1.56 million, which was less than analysts had forecast. Unemployment among young people has been especially acute, as firms cut jobs to reduce costs in the downturn.
Royal Mail staff strike
More than 12,000 postal workers are on strike as of Friday in a row over jobs, pay and services.
The 24-hour strike will affect cities ranging from Edinburgh to Plymouth. The union has accused Royal Mail of cutting the pay of employees and reducing services.
Dave Ward, the union's deputy general secretary, said: "There are serious and growing problems in the postal sector which urgently need resolving.
