strikes
Articles about workers' strikes, walkouts and industrial action.
The Indian Rico strike and the aftermath: when capital wants to "de-risk"
The report of a Rico auto worker of a strike in 2009, alongside another similar struggle and general questions about workers' organisation in India.
Aftermath of the Rico strike
The following report of a Rico worker is part of a longer article published and distributed in Hindi in FMS no.227. Apart from the Rico dispute the article documents a workers’ struggle in Gorakhpur and asks general questions about how to organise.
http://faridabadmajdoorsamachar.blogspot.com/2009/12/gorakhpur-and-gurgaon-some-questions.html
Shipping traffic halted by wildcat strike in Finland
More than half of Finland's was brought to a standstill on Tuesday 2 February by a wildcat strike by 1000 stevedores in seven ports.
The Swedish Wire reported:
"Seven ports have informed us that operations are at a standstill and workers have gone on an illegal strike," Juha Mutru, chief executive of the Finnish Port Operators Association, told AFP.
"Container traffic is more or less at a standstill, and more than half of Finland's freight traffic has ground to a halt," he said.
The Line You Have Reached... Disconnect It!
article by Lucius Cabins
The Line You Have Reached...DISCONNECT IT!
The 22 day nationwide strike by 700,000 telephone workers provided a window on the relative strength of capital and labor in the current era. In classic style, both management and unions are claiming victory, since neither side was able to push through its most aggressive bargaining goals.
Posties, tippex and ballots: the 1996 postal strikes
As Subversion #20 was produced, postal workers in Britain were in the middle of a long running dispute with the state. This article helped analyse the sell-out in preparation by the union. From Subversion #20 (1996)
When will Royal Mail be crushed like a snail
Under the foot of a postie on a crisp Autumn morn?
And is our dream of transcending the Unions entirely forlorn?
Video; Machinists Against the Machine - Bangladeshi garment workers' struggles
A 15 minute video; a workforce, 85% female, paid some of the lowest wages in the world; expressing some of the highest levels of class struggle in the world at present. Trade unions have very little influence or restraint on these struggles - they are self-organised by workers on the job. When strikes turn riotous, they often spread into the wider working class community.
Part 1 illustrates aspects of slum life, factory work and the massive 2006 workers' revolt.
Part 2 shows the extent of recent clashes in the garment sector...
Blue Shield & the Union: A Post-Mortem
Debra Wittley analyses the strike action at Blue Shield insurance from 1980-81 for Processed World.
Blue Shield and the Union: Post-Mortem II
Being a temporary office worker occasionally gives me interesting opportunities to learn about the inner workings of the corporate world. I recently finished a temporary assignment at Blue Shield of California where I had the opportunity to learn some very interesting things indeed.
Post-Mortem on the Blue Shield Strike
In Processed World #1 we published an article about the OPEIU-led strike at SF's Blue Shield offices. In that article we criticized the union's tactics as ineffective and pre-emptive of the Blue Shield workers' power over data banks and telecommunications hardware. We also challenged the union's analysis of the situation at Blue Shield and in the US today.
1889: The Glasgow dockers' go-slow
A brief history of the strike of Glasgow dockers in 1889 which was proving fruitless, until they returned to work and began a go-slow or "working ca'canny".
Turkey: Tekel workers take on the government and the unions
A detailed account an analysis of the struggle of thousands of Tekel workers in Turkey against mass closures, who have been on strike for weeks and have now occupied the headquarters of the country's main union confederation.
On December 14th 2009, thousands of workers of Tekel[1] enterprises from dozens of cities in Turkey left their homes and families in order to travel to Ankara. The workers of Tekel took this journey with the aim of struggling against the horrible conditions forced upon them by the capitalist order.
Office Workers on Strike: San Francisco 1981
A short account of an ongoing strike of Blue Shield clerical workers in San Francisco in 1981, by Lucius Cabins.
Since December 8, 1980, 1,100 office workers at Blue Shield Insurance Company have been on strike. They are represented by the Office and Professional Employees International--Local #3 (OPEIU), AFL-CIO.
