prices
1951: Barcelona general strike
A brief description of social conditions in post-Civil War Spain followed by an account of the Barcelona general strike of 1951. The events in Barcelona led to strikes across the country and signalled the potential for a return to working class combativity in Spain after over a decade of rule under the Franco regime.
The situation of the Spanish working class at the turn of 1950 was a desperate one. Franco's regime had ruled over the country for the last eleven years, and severe conditions fuelled by austerity measures imposed on workers after the end of the Civil War were becoming rapidly worse.
1970-71: Uprising in Poland
A short history of the 1970-71 uprising by workers in Poland which saw strikes and occupations at workplaces across the country. Although suffering savage repression, the uprising forced the government to back down over plans to increase prices of basic consumer goods.
On the morning of December 14 1970, thousands of workers from the Gdansk shipyards downed tools and began marching into the city. Their objective was the local regional office of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), the party that had ruled the People's Republic of Poland since 1952. The protestors were met by police units and fighting between the two sides lasted into the evening.
Sweeping down on the supermarkets
As supermarkets continue to hike their prices, it seems a response is being planned – and not before time. But will it work?
A new initiative from a few people in London, including Ian Bone and raw (one of the leading lights of the ex-Wombles and more recently of the London Anarchists network) which has both interesting and controversial elements to it is the Price Reduction campaign, which they intend to discuss in November and possibly l
70,000 Spanish truckers strike, blockade border with France
French and Spanish truckers blockaded roads on the border of south-western France on 9th June in protest at rising fuel prices.
In the latest show of distress with fuel prices, Spanish truckers on Monday began a blockade of their country's border with France, lining up their rigs and slowing them to a crawl to protest the cost of fuel. The strike blocked the highway in both directions in southwestern France.
Inflation provokes more strikes in Vietnam
An inflation rate of as high as 23% has provoked more walkouts in Vietnam's manufacturing industry.
Over 1,000 workers walked out of a Panasonic factory in Hanoi over the weekend demanding higher pay. This came in the wake of a strike by 5,000 at a shoe factory in Hai Phong City last month.
More shoe factory strikes in Vietnam
Two more shoe factories in Vietnam were on strike this month, as 4,000 workers walked out in Ho Chi Minh City while 3,000 struck at a Taiwanese owned factory in southern Long An province.
Rising food and consumer goods prices have led to a wave of strikes across Vietnam. The strike at Long An follows a strike and lockout of 17,000 workers in the same province last month.
Palestine: West Bank public sector workers strike
Palestinian public service workers walked off their jobs Tuesday at the beginning of a two-day protest against their government's efforts to force them to pay their utility bills.
The new measure reflects widespread economic hardship in the West Bank after seven years of conflict with Israel, including international economic sanctions and tough Israeli restrictions. Many Palestinians are unable to pay even routine bills and have run up huge amounts of debt.
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
1932: The Vichuga uprising
In April 1932 at Vichuga, Ivanovo Industrial Region (IPO), USSR, 16,000 textile workers struck at several factories and temporarily took control of the town until the uprising was crushed by both heavy repression and promises of reform from central Soviet command.
Part of a wave of unrest which hit the USSR in the IPO, Lower Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Ukraine and Belorussia, the strike was one of the most significant of the 1930s, winning reforms nationally as a result of the threat it posed to the Soviet authority.
Mali: Butchers strike against government price-fixing
Butchers in the capital of Mali, Bamoko, launched wildcat action after the government ordered prices to be lowered.
The wildcat action was linked to increases in the price of meat in the Bamako district over the last few months. Local butchers blamed the price increases on a lack of livestock that had been caused by a poor supply of animal feed. It is also linked to the loss of value of the CFA Franc, the currency used in many former french colonies.
