Workers' struggles in East Asia (December 2013)

This month there has been news from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The three most significant actions by workers that I'm aware of is the several hundred thousand strong wildcat strike by garment factory workers in Cambodia for a doubling of the minimum wage which is still ongoing as I write this (despite attempts by the opposition party to divert it), the three week rail strike in South Korea against privatization (which ended with somewhat wishy washy promises from politicians and ongoing repression) and the first riot in Singapore for decades, involving migrant workers against the police.

For reports of workers struggles in Mandarin, as usual I urge you to check Jasmine Revolution and JTTP.cn with the help of a translator website if you need it.

The most important stories:

Burma/Myanmar 8: Strike for wage increase at Great Wall Shoe factory in Yangon (link 1)
Cambodia 3: Strike wins reinstatements, strike pay and other workers' demands at SL garment factory. In Phnom Penh (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)
Cambodia 13: Strike for overtime pay, seniority pay, allowances and long term contracts at Khmer Brewery, Dangkor district (link 1)
Cambodia 18: Strike over wages at 30 factories in Svay Rieng Special Economic Zone (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6)
Cambodia 25: Nationwide strikes and protests by garment workers for higher minimum wage (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10) (link 11) (link 12) (link 13) (link 14) (link 15) (link 16) (link 17) (link 18) (link 19) (link 20) (link 21) (link 22) (link 23) (link 24)
Indonesia 24: Strike to demand CEO to step down at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta Port (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)
South Korea 18: Strike by railway workers, solidarity strike by subway workers and boycott by truckers against privatisation at Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10) (link 11) (link 12) (link 13) (link 14) (link 15) (link 16) (link 17) (link 18) (link 19) (link 20) (link 21) (link 22) (link 23) (link 24) (link 25) (link 26) (link 27) (link 28) (link 29) (link 30) (link 31) (link 32) (link 33) (link 34) (link 35) (link 36) (link 37)

All reports ordered by country and date:

Burma/Myanmar

8: Strike for wage increase at Great Wall Shoe factory in Yangon (link 1)
12: Protest against land seizures in Thingangkuun township, Yangon (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7)
20: Protest by Taileng people against forced recruitment by Kachin Independence Army in Myitkyina, Kachin (link 1)

Cambodia

3: Strike wins reinstatements, strike pay and other workers' demands at SL garment factory. In Phnom Penh (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)
12: Protest by taxi drivers against tax collection in Poipet (link 1)
13: Strike for overtime pay, seniority pay, allowances and long term contracts at Khmer Brewery, Dangkor district (link 1)
18: Strike over wages at 30 factories in Svay Rieng Special Economic Zone (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6)
24: Protest by Boeung Kak residents against evictions and for compensation in Phnom Penh (link 1)
25: Nationwide strikes and protests by garment workers for higher minimum wage (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10) (link 11) (link 12) (link 13) (link 14) (link 15) (link 16) (link 17) (link 18) (link 19) (link 20) (link 21) (link 22) (link 23) (link 24)
31: Protest for faster delivery of land Titles in Kratie province (link 1)

China

5: Protest against waste incinerator in Xinlian, Meizhou , Guangdong (link 1)
10: Protest by Inner Mongolian herders over land seizure in Beijing (link 1) (link 2)
11: Protest and mass suicide attempt by evictees from Wuhan in Beijing (link 1)
12: Protest against electroplating plant in Dongyang, Zhejiang (link 1)
14: Protest by North Koreans to urge Beijing to stop repatriating North Korean defectors in Hong Kong (link 1)
18: Strike against takeover at Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co in Shanghai (link 1)

Indonesia

4: Protests by farmers and fishermen against WTO in Bali (link 1)
15: Riot by prisoners against guard violence in Palopo, South Sulawesi (link 1) (link 2)
24: Strike to demand CEO to step down at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta Port (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)

Japan

9: Protest against state secrets protection law in Tokyo (link 1) (link 2)
27: Protest against new US air base in Okinawa (link 1) (link 2) (link 3)

Malaysia

3: Protest by indigenous people against dam ends after compensation increase in Borneo (link 1) (link 2)
17: Protests by indigenous groups against rights violations in Sarawak (link 1) (link 2)
31: Protest over cost of living in Kuala Lumpur (link 1) (link 2)

Philippines

10: Protest against the World Trade Organization in Manila (link 1)
26: Protest by workers in solidarity with South Korean rail workers' strike in Manila. (link 1)

Singapore

9: Protest by migrant workers over bus accident in Little India (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10) (link 11) (link 12) (link 13) (link 14) (link 15) (link 16) (link 17) (link 18)

South Korea

18: Strike by railway workers, solidarity strike by subway workers and boycott by truckers against privatisation at Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10) (link 11) (link 12) (link 13) (link 14) (link 15) (link 16) (link 17) (link 18) (link 19) (link 20) (link 21) (link 22) (link 23) (link 24) (link 25) (link 26) (link 27) (link 28) (link 29) (link 30) (link 31) (link 32) (link 33) (link 34) (link 35) (link 36) (link 37)
26: Strike by Russian sailors over unpaid wages in Incheon (link 1)
27: Russian Sailors End Strike Over Wages in South Korea (link 1)

Taiwan

9: Protest by Vietnamese workers against exploitation by their government in Taipei (link 1)
22: Protest against service trade agreement in Taipei (link 1)
25: Protest by laid-off workers against government harassment in Taipei (link 1)