Summary and links to news stories of workers' struggles around East Asia during May 2013 and related resources. The most important stories appear on my Twitter feed as soon as I find them: http://twitter.com/spartacusnews.
Garment workers on strike attack their factory in Phnom Penh
This month there has been news from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
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 1: Strike against working on May Day at Aung Sein Garment Factory in Mandalay (link 1)
Burma/Myanmar 11: Protest in solidarity with sacked workers at San Kaung Polyethylene Factory in Hlinethaya Township, Yangon (link 1)
Burma/Myanmar 14: Protest by workers for wage increase and 8 hour day at Hote Sein laminated woven bag factory in Hlaingtharyar Township, Yangon (link 1)
Cambodia 1: Strike over firing of union representative at D and L Ultimate factory in Phnom Penh (link 1)
Cambodia 8: Strike in solidarity with sacked co-worker at M and V garment factory in Kampong Chhnang (link 1)
Cambodia 18: Protest by workers for release of colleagues at Ming Da Footwear factory in Kampot (link 1)
Cambodia 23: Strike over conditions at Can Sports Shoes factory in Kampong Chhnang (link 1)
Cambodia 24: Protest by garment workers for benefits Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment MFG Corp., in Samraong Tong, Kompong Speu (link 1) (link 2)
Cambodia 27: Strike over benefits at Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing in Kampong Speu (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10)
China 1: May Day protest in Hong Kong (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
China 6: Strike by dockworkers ends with 9.8% pay increase and improved conditions in Hong Kong (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)
China 23: Strike and protest against relocation of RuiDe Electronics factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong (link 1)
Indonesia 1: May Day protests around the country (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
Indonesia 2: Strike over wages at Freeport copper mine in West Papua (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7)
Indonesia 20: Strike by teachers over unpaid allowances in Merangin, Jambi (link 1)
Philippines 1: May Day protest around the Philippines (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9)
Philippines 22: Strike by pickers, drivers and fork-lift operators over contract status at CocaCola bottling plant in Laguna, defy court's TRO (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6)
Philippines 30: Strike against wage freeze and anti-strike ruling at Filipinas Palm Oil Industries, Inc in Makati (link 1)
Taiwan 1: May Day protest in Taipei (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)
Thailand 14: Strike by loaders for wage rise at Thiruvananthapuram airport in Bangkok (link 1)
Vietnam 21: Strike against plan to fire pregnant workers at Doojung Vietnam cosmetic accessories factory (link 1)
All reports ordered by country and date:
-Analysis
7: Strikes and worker protests in China�s service sector on the increase (link 1)
30: Who Speaks for China�s Workers? (link 1)
Burma/Myanmar
1: Strike against working on May Day at Aung Sein Garment Factory in Mandalay (link 1)
11: Protest in solidarity with sacked workers at San Kaung Polyethylene Factory in Hlinethaya Township, Yangon (link 1)
14: Protest by workers for wage increase and 8 hour day at Hote Sein laminated woven bag factory in Hlaingtharyar Township, Yangon (link 1)
20: Workers decry conditions, forced labour in Insein Prison (link 1)
29: Protest for release of Letpadaung mine protesters in Sagaing Division (link 1) (link 2)
31: March by miners against closure of mines from Yangon to Naypyidaw (link 1) (link 2)
Cambodia
1: May Day protest in Phnom Penh (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8)
1: Strike over firing of union representative at D and L Ultimate factory in Phnom Penh (link 1)
8: Strike in solidarity with sacked co-worker at M and V garment factory in Kampong Chhnang (link 1)
18: Protest by workers for release of colleagues at Ming Da Footwear factory in Kampot (link 1)
23: Protest against home eviction at International Airport in Phnom Penh (link 1)
23: Strike over conditions at Can Sports Shoes factory in Kampong Chhnang (link 1)
24: Protest by garment workers for benefits Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment MFG Corp., in Samraong Tong, Kompong Speu (link 1) (link 2)
27: Strike over benefits at Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing in Kampong Speu (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9) (link 10)
29: Protest over land sezure in Phnom Penh (link 1) (link 2)
China
1: Strike by taxi drivers against illegal taxis in Wenling, Zhejiang (link 1)
1: May Day protest in Hong Kong (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
4: Protest against proposed chemical plant in Kunming, Yunnan (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7)
6: Protest by workers of Delta Smooth factory over unpaid wages and benefits in Shenzen (link 1)
6: Strike by dockworkers ends with 9.8% pay increase and improved conditions in Hong Kong (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)
11: Protest by villagers against land grabs in Dongqiao Town, Quanzhou, Fijian (link 1)
13: Protest over migrant worker's death in Beijing (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8)
16: Protest against chemical plant in Kunming, Yunnan (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)
17: Protest over land seizure in Inner Mongolia (link 1)
23: Strike and protest against relocation of RuiDe Electronics factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong (link 1)
24: Protest against mine in Driru, Tibet Autonomous Region (link 1)
24: Protest against mining of sacred Tibet mountain in Driru, Tibet Autonomous Region (link 1) (link 2) (link 3)
29: Protest against petrochemical plant in Kunming, Yunnan (link 1) (link 2)
29: Protest against police brutality in Deyang, Sichuan (link 1)
Indonesia
1: May Day protests around the country (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
2: Strike over wages at Freeport copper mine in West Papua (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7)
7: Protest by workers against slavery at factory and complicity of authorities in Tangerang (link 1) (link 2) (link 3)
20: Strike by teachers over unpaid allowances in Merangin, Jambi (link 1)
30: Protest against death in police custody in Buol, Central Sulawesi (link 1)
31: Protest over safety at Freeport copper mine in West Papua (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
Japan
3: Protest against amending constitution in Tokyo (link 1) (link 2) (link 3)
Malaysia
3: Protest by union against human resources minister in Segamat (link 1) (link 2)
Philippines
1: May Day protest around the Philippines (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6) (link 7) (link 8) (link 9)
2: Protest by workers at nursing college in Davao (link 1)
22: Strike by pickers, drivers and fork-lift operators over contract status at CocaCola bottling plant in Laguna, defy court's TRO (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5) (link 6)
30: Strike against wage freeze and anti-strike ruling at Filipinas Palm Oil Industries, Inc in Makati (link 1)
South Korea
20: Protest against KEPCO nuclear power station transmission towers in Miryang (link 1)
Taiwan
1: May Day protest in Taipei (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4)
3: Protest against land seizure in Sansui County, Guizhou (link 1)
5: Protest by laid-off workers against demand by Council of Labour Affairs to repay subsidy in Taipei (link 1) (link 2) (link 3) (link 4) (link 5)
19: Protest against nuclear power in Taipei (link 1) (link 2)
21: Protest against harassment of Filipinos in Taipei (link 1)
23: Protest by Huagang residents against forced evictions in Taipei (link 1)
25: Protest by teachers against pension reform plan in Taipei (link 1)
26: First migrant workers union formed (link 1)
Thailand
14: Strike by loaders for wage rise at Thiruvananthapuram airport in Bangkok (link 1)
Vietnam
15: Protest against river dredging project in Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province (link 1)
21: Strike against plan to fire pregnant workers at Doojung Vietnam cosmetic accessories factory (link 1)
Comments
As always, thanks for posting
As always, thanks for posting this. I find it a very useful resource.
For Thailand, there was also a strike of migrant construction workers in Chiang Mai on 30 May over their employer's violation of their work contract (video, photos).
And this article from May might also be of interest.
Spartacus wrote: Cambodia
Spartacus
Thanks much for all these links about events at the Sabrina factory in Cambodia. We originally heard about the strike elsewhere, but used many of the details from the accounts here to compose a flier, several hundred of which we handed out in our area's Niketown yesterday. The best part was when the manager kept seeing potential customers walk into the store reading the fliers, which caused him to come out and threaten us -- which made the customers uncomfortable and we calmly taunted him, saying he was acting like a sweatshop "thug."
Soe, thanks for that, how did
Soe, thanks for that, how did you find out about that? I'm always on the look out for more sources as mostly I rely on Google News searches at the moment.
Hieronymous - that's awesome that you use this info for practical solidarity! I recommend checking my link though to see more recent posts about that strike as last I heard they fired over 300 strikers.
Quote: how did you find out
This strike was brought to my attention by a Burmese friend who posted the link on facebook. But since it's in Burmese, I don't think it'll come up on Google News searches. There are regular accounts in the Burmese news of strikes and protests among workers in Myanmar or Myanmar migrants abroad, which doesn't all get covered in English language reporting. For example, this article covers a protest of 45 migrant workers at a passport broker office on the Thai-Myanmar border on 10 June, where the migrants demanded to get their legal documentation so they can leave the poorly paid border area (background here). And this video covers a protest of 500 workers from a Yangon furniture factory on 11 June demanding the release of coworkers who were arrested for picketting without official government permission.