strikes
Articles about workers' strikes, walkouts and industrial action.
Striking South African soldiers sacked
Nearly 700 soldiers from the South African defence force have been sent letters of dismissal following last week's strike action.
Up to 3,000 military personal clashed with the police on the streets of Pretoria during demonstrations over pay and conditions. The action was condemned by both the defence minister and the secretary general of the ruling party, the ANC. The soldiers' union says the sackings are illegal and will inflame tensions.
Postal strike: update on Scotland
Postal workers have ended unofficial strike action in Dundee as staff elsewhere in Scotland stage the latest in a series of official stoppages.
About 125 workers at the Dundee East office walked out for 24 hours in protest at the sacking of a colleague. Delivery offices in Stirling, Anstruther, Irvine and Lochgelly are affected by the latest official action.
Sydney bus drivers defy union and take wildcat action
A six-hour strike by 130 bus drivers in western Sydney on Monday morning, carried out in defiance of their union, has produced furious denunciations in the media and from an industrial court judge. The drivers walked out at the Busways Blacktown depot at 3.30 a.m. against the imposition of new timetables that would impose shorter times for routes.
Drivers said that the timetables, due to commence in October, would be impossible to meet, forcing them to run late, which would not only inconvenience and anger passengers but cut short the drivers’ break periods. The workers said they would be under enormous pressure to drive over the speed limit.
Reduction of fire hazard: in the event of firefighter strike or war against Iraq - No War But The Class War
A public-service announcement from Her Majesty's No War But The Class War Office on how to respond to a strike of firefighters or the outbreak of war against Iraq.
A guide for employees, passengers and residents
Her Majesty’s No War But The Class War Office
NWBTCW/FP/7/A
The Fire-fighters - No War But The Class War
No War But The Class War leaflet produced at the beginning of the 2002-2003 firefighter's strike.
The fire-fighters are fighting for a 40% pay increase, from £21,00 to £30,000 per year. The ballot was 9 to 1 in favour of strike action, with an 84 % turnout. The Northern Ireland ballot was 97 % in favour of strike action. "This is the biggest national vote, in any union, for strike action since the trade union balloting laws were put in place" [FBU].
Cairo bus strike ends
Cairo bus strike ends after the government gave in to most demands.
Many of Cairo’s public busses have disappeared from the capital city’s street over the past two days. Drivers, ticket-takers and mechanics from 14 of the 19 bus garages in Cairo and Giza governorates are on strike demanding improved working conditions and awaiting tangible responses from the authorities.
Tanta Flax Company strike marks 80th day
Around 200 workers from the Tanta Flax and Oils Company staged a demonstration outside the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration in Cairo today, marking the 80th day of their strike, demanding the re-nationalization of their company. Hundreds of their colleagues back in the Nile Delta have also announced their intention to launch a hunger strike as of tomorrow.
Some 1,000 workers at the company had started their strike on 31 May, raising demands that include reinstating nine co-workers sacked under the pretext of "inciting labor unrest," the provision of workers' profit-sharing which has been overdue for three years, together with the incentive pay withheld since 2003.
More strikes at Royal Mail over job cuts
Workers at Royal Mail have started strikes following a disagreement over cuts to jobs and services. The strikes will run on selected days between 17 and 24 August and have already begun in Coventry, London, Leamington Spa, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent and will continue across the UK.
The union says Royal Mail is failing to invest in modernisation and is cutting jobs without agreement. Royal Mail says the union opposes necessary changes.
This phase of strikes comes before the the Communication Workers Union (CWU) aims to issue a national ballot in September on industrial action. It has argued that the reduction in jobs would compromise the quality of services provided.
Ssangyong motors strike in South Korea ends in defeat and heavy repression
Loren Goldner's analysis and overview of the defeated strike and occupation of the Ssangyong Motors plant against job cuts.
The Ssangyong Motor Company strike and plant occupation in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, ended after 77 days on Aug. 5. For the 976 workers who seized the small auto plant on May 22 and held it against repeated quasi-military assault, the settlement signed by Ssangyong court receivership manager Park Young-tae and local union president Han Sang-kyun represented a near-total defeat.
Reactions of the American proletariat during the 1929 crisis
With many commentators stating that the 2008 recession is the world's worst since the great Depression, Prol-position analyses the 1929 recession, its effect on workers in the US and how they responded.
In 1930-33, the situation of the American proletariat declined sharply. While not putting capitalist domination on the line, the proletariat was far from apathetic during that period. This text intends merely to summarize the various forms and phases of resistance by the American proletariat to its deteriorating conditions of reproduction.
