Sparks #21
Issue of anarcho-syndicalist public transport workers' bulletin Sparks from January 1990. Importantly this was a special issue produced during the Melbourne tram lockout, where anarcho-syndicalist-influenced workers took over the tram system before bosses cut the power.
Permanent general workers’ assembly in Ilva after the lockout of their plant
Submitted by StrugglesInItaly on Nov 27 2012 09:58
The Italian judiciary system is continuing its prosecution of the management of Ilva, the largest steel corporation in Europe, which has its main factory in Taranto. On Monday November 26th the judges ordered seven arrests (4 of which were house arrests) of key managers within the corporation.
The charges range from corruption of a state official to extortion, environmental disaster and conspiracy. Fabio Riva, deputy chairman and son of the founder Emilio, is among the arrested, as is Luigi Capogrosso, the former manager of the factory in Taranto.
Incompetent scabs hand victory to locked out referees
Submitted by working class s... on Nov 3 2012 00:43
For the first seven weeks of the National Football League (NFL) season, bosses have locked out all 212 unionised referees.
The issues that have led to the dispute are the same as those that started the recent National Hockey League (NHL) players lock-out, namely, pay, and pensions.
As in most American sports, the contracts for all staff in the NFL are negotiated centrally every few years, and salaries are usually calculated based on a percentage of the overall income of the league.
The hidden victims of the NHL lock-out
Submitted by working class s... on Nov 1 2012 15:14
Following the failure to reach a consensus on a new collective bargaining agreement between NHL (National Hockey League) bosses and the players union, all 750 players registered with the NHL have been locked-out as of Sunday 16th September.
For the duration of the lock-out all players are free agents and can play for any team or in any league in the world - many of whom have already jumped ship and moved to leagues across Europe.
This is the third occasion that players have been locked-out in the last seventeen years. In 1995 the season was drastically shortened following a dispute, and a major trophy (Stanley Cup) was not awarded for the only time in its 100 year history.
In 2005 the season in its entirety was cancelled due to a dispute, and subsequent lock-out.
Korean bosses lock-out workers and blackmail them into no-strike agreement and a scab union
Submitted by working class s... on Aug 6 2012 16:14
On 30 July, the Mando Corporation - a South Korean auto-parts manufacturer - locked out all unionised workers. It is now blackmailing them into a no-strike agreement, and encouraging them to join a new trade union, that the bosses created immediately following the lock-out.
Fearing that a longstanding dispute over pay would lead to a strike, Mando brought in hundreds of privately hired security guards who prevented members of the KMWU (Korean Metal Workers Union) from entering the plant.
Since the lock-out, Mando have contacted all members of the KMWU – advising them that they can return to work, but only if they sign a pledge ‘not to go on strike’.
Strike and lockout at Chung Hong Electronics in Poland
Submitted by borzoj on Jul 18 2012 13:10
In the past few months, a struggle of dozens of workers has taken place at the Chinese Chung Hong Electronics factory, a supplier of LG in a Polish Special Economic Zone in Kobierzyce near Wroclaw. Workers entered the collective labor dispute with a series of demands: a wage increase, the restoration of the social fund, the reduction of the annual overtime limit, the restoration of free transport for workers etc.
As no agreement was reached between the employer and employees, workers carried out a strike referendum, and the strike was supported by a majority of workers. The employer refused all demands, and industrial action was organized according to the Polish labor law – despite of its weaknesses like a long procedure that in reality stifles workers' unrest.
On the Picket Line: The ConEd Lockout in New York
Submitted by Chilli Sauce on Jul 4 2012 18:55
An account of New York City electrical workers who've been on the picket since being locked-out earlier this week.
Having been in the States for six weeks now, I'm glad to report I've just come back from my first picket line. Coming into New York, I hooked-up with a long-time Wobbly friend who promised me not only a bar where each beer comes with a whole pizza, but the chance to attend the picket line of 8500 locked-out electrical workers. I was not going to pass up either.
Resistance is high; garment workers force shutdown in 350 factories
Submitted by Red Marriott on Jun 18 2012 17:12
The resurgence of unrest in the Bangladeshi garment sector continues with over 500,000 workers now locked out in Ashulia...
The main costs of living for garment workers are food and rent; both are rising much faster than wages. The overall inflation level is around 10%. So workers are demanding pay increases of up to 50% and are calling for rent controls to be implemented.
Locked out workers on Merseyside to demonstrate outside conference
Submitted by working class s... on Mar 15 2012 10:28
Locked out food workers on Merseyside are on their way to London to protest outside a major food industry conference.
Locked out workers staged a demonstration earlier in the week at the tranfood plant on Merseyside. The demonstration was arranged to coincide with a meeting between the bosses and trade unions.
Another factory on Merseyside ‘locks out’ its workers
Submitted by working class s... on Mar 13 2012 14:13
Bosses at the Tranfoods plant in Wirral, Merseyside have 'locked out' the workers during negotations over redundancy. The Unions claim that the bosses have reneged on a redundancy offer and are now only prepared to pay 'statutory redundancy'. The owners of Tranfoods, 'Tulip', have only owned the business 38 days and plan to move production to Cornwall. This is the second 'lock out' on Merseyside in less than a month.
Around 200 workers at Tranfoods in Wirral, Merseyside today held a demonstration outside the factory after being ‘locked out’ last week by the management.
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