unions
Articles about unions and the nature and function of labor or trade unionism.
June 24th 2008: a strike that gave the workers little and didn't harm the bosses (II. KPK Bulletin)
A brief presentation of a strike led by trade unions in the Czech Republic in 2008.
Class struggle is a part of capitalism. If we compare class struggle to a real state of war, we commit, of course, a certain oversimplification. But it makes all the more evident that contention does not only mean open confrontations of armies on the front line: it also entails terrain recognition, mapping the enemy's weak and strong points, as well as those of one's own army.
Arrests of Korean trade unionists continue
Following a wave of strikes, the South Korean government has unleashed a massive attack against the Korean Metal Workers' Union targeting more than 75 of the union's key leaders for arrest or investigation.
With the recent arrest of Hyundai Motor Branch First Vice-President Kim Tae-gon on September 16 and the arraignment of Jung Gab-deuk, president of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), on September 18 on charges of obstructing business, members of the KMWU are bracing for more assaults. Leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have also been targets of arrest.
Bangladesh: carrot and stick - security forces fire on garment workers as government recalls unions
Garment workers continue their agitations... and the uncertain role of unions.
Wednesday 13 Aug - Dhaka; over 5,000 workers at Reedisha Knitex factory staged a demonstration inside during their lunch break at 1pm; they demanded a pay rise to compensate for the rampant inflation of food and other essentials such as rent and transportation. Their demands being ignored by management, they set about ransacking the factory.
Where is the struggle going?
May 2nd more than 600 followers of coordination 75 of the sans-papiers (75 is the number of the department of Paris) entered as a big group the Center of the Unions in order to occupy it. In this article, some of the delegates of this occupation give their views on struggle with and against the unions.
From the time of our arrival the gate of the big hall at bottom floor was quickly closed, so the occupation was limited to the courtyard, the stairs up until the forth floor and the hallways of the floors.
For the unity of all the sans-papiers collectives!
For 58 days, from the 2nd may, on the initiative of the coordination 75 around 800 children, men, and women have occupied the Center of the Unions at rue Charlot (metro République) in Paris.
Something new is coming into force in this historically important location in the workers struggle in France. The occupation is made in an autonomous way against every "advice" and recommendation of the big political organizations and against the unions, and it is holding out well.
A brief account of Unison's national conference, 2008
A critical account of the 2008 Unison national delegate conference by libcom group member John Stevens, analysing how the union's bureaucracy systematically attempts to remove control of the union from its rank and file and also looking at the response to the from the union's left-wing.
I recently attended Unison's national delegate conference in Bournemouth as a delegate from a London local government branch. It was an eye opening experience with respect to the machinations of political groupings within the union.
In particular some of the ways in which the new Labour-linked bureaucracy maintained control over the supposedly lay lead organisation became clear.
Vietnam: 330 illegal strikes in six months
A total of 330 strikes have been recorded so far this year and all of them were illegal because they were not led by the trade union and didn’t follow the law, reported the Vietnam National Confederation of Labour at a conference in Hanoi on June 16-17.
The confederation’s Vice Chairman, Mai Duc Chinh, said that under the current regulations, only grassroots trade unions have the right to organise strikes, but this regulation is unrealistic because there is no mechanism to protect trade union leaders and most employers don’t positively cooperate with trade unions.
Mexico: Corona bottle makers face redundancy for supporting independent union
Factory workers in San Luis Potosí in northern Mexico have been threatened by their bosses with the closure of their factory if they don't renounce their elected independent union in favour of the bosses' union.
The threat from Grupo Modelo in the Industrial Vidriera Potosí factory comes not long after the firing of over 250 workers for being involved with the activities of Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Empresa IVP (SUTEIVP).
Politics Without Parties - The future of trade unionism?
The following report is from the National Union of Journalists Annual Delegate Conference fringe meeting 'Politics without parties - the future of trade unionism'.
The meeting took place on Thursday 3rd of April 2008 in the Ulster Peoples College in Belfast and was addressed by Donnacha DeLong (NUJ National Executive Council New Media Rep) Jason Brannigan (Organise!) and Chekov Feeney (WSM).
Airport workers suspend hunger strike
Airport workers suspend hunger strike after union gives guarantees that their demands will be met.
The five day hunger strike by three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer was suspended at 5.30 this afternoon after the workers received a letter from the union solicitors guaranteeing that their demands would be met.
