|
Comment on this article |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
Labor Hour Headlines, 6-16-01 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller and Omar Ricks
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
16 Jun 2001
|
Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign.
Includes: Comair Strike Ends, Protesters Shot in Sweden, Italian Firefighters Refuse Violence, Bush Heckled in Sweden, Global Unions Decry Back-tracking on Child Labor,Wal-Mart Fined for Violating ADA, Special Visa Domestic Workers Are Abused, New Human Rights Report Says,General Strike in S. Korea, Thousands Protest in Indonesia |
Comair Strike Ends
The strike at Comair had ended, concluding an 81-day job action the nation\'s second largest regional carrier. The agreement was reached after an all-night negotiating session with federal mediators. Union leadership immediately approved the agreement, which will be submitted to the union\'s 1350 members for a vote. Details of the contract were not immediately available, although a union spokesperson said the new agreement contains substantial improvements over a proposal that pilots overwhelmingly rejected in May. Comair is owned by Delta airlines.
https://www.alpa.org/internet/news/2001News/nr01062.htm
Protesters Shot in Sweden
A summer of resistance to corporate globalization in Europe has begun violently, with police shooting three protesters in Sweden. Police used live ammunition in the shootings in Goteborg, yesterday, leaving one person in critical condition, according to the Times of London. The London Independent Media Center reported that those three were among 27 admitted to the hospital. Eighteen of the hospitalized were protesters. Migration, corporate Europe and militarisation are among the issues raised by protesters. In a pattern which is becoming familiar, police threatened to pre-emptively deny people their civil liberties, surrounding the protesters\' sleeping and meeting space early in the morning. Protests by a crowd estimated at 20,000 forced European leaders to cancel their original dinner plans and instead eat in a building barricaded behind a chain link fence and railroad cars. British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the protests as an \"outrage\", saying, quote \"World trade is good for people\'s jobs and people\'s living standards. The protests are completely misguided.\" unquote. Day 3 of protests began earlier this morning.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001201791,00.html
Italian Firefighters Refuse Violence
Firefighters have again distinguished themselves as workers for justice. Firefighters in Genoa, Italy were reportedly asked to train the police how to use water cannons as the city prepares for a meeting of the G-8 industrialized nations in July. The Italian firefighters not only refused to train police how to use their equipment, but they declared that they will strike on July 20, during the G-8 summit, as a protest against the summit. In Seattle, during protests against the World Trade Organization in 1999, firefighter\'s unions also refused to use their fire hoses against protesters.
Bush Heckled in Sweden
An American President shouldn\'t tell Europeans how to run their countries. That may be the message intended for George Bush, when, on Friday, protesters booed and hissed at Bush\'s motorcade as he returned from dinner in Goteborg, Sweden. Bush was attending a meeting of the European Union. The Chicago Tribune reports that Swedish demonstrators made thumbs-down signs \"and other rude gestures,\" and they shouted and whistled at the unpopular president. The Times of London reports that thousands of people engaged in a mass-mooning of the president, baring their bottoms to protest his widespread use of the death penalty. Since Bush arrived in Europe, he has met with protests at every turn. The death penalty, his unwillingness to discuss global warming, and his abandonment of nuclear weapons treaties to put weapons in outer space have all contributed to negative opinions of Bush and the U.S. The Tribune noted that most Europeans appeared to be offended by Bush\'s arrogance toward the rest of the world.
Global Unions Decry Back-tracking on Child Labor
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on Friday declared that some members of the United Nations seem to prefer weakening international commitments to end child labor. The ICFTU suggested that Canada seems to be leading a small group of governments in a move to accept the exploitation of child labor. The declaration came during a meeting of non-governmental organizations preparing for the September global UN summit on children. They expressed concern that the proposals put before the meeting virtually ignored child labor. The ICFTU, a global federation of labor unions, believes that child labor must be eliminated worldwide, and that free education must be provided to all children.
Wal-Mart Fined for Violating ADA
A federal judge fined Wal-Mart $750,000 for breaking an agreement to improve treatment and training for its deaf employees. In the ruling, delivered on Wednesday, the judge also ordered Wal-Mart to produce a TV ad to be aired in Arizona for two weeks. The commercial must explain the Americans with Disabilities Act, state that Wal-Mart violated it, and refer people who may have been discriminated against to a federal human rights office. Wal-Mart will ask the judge to change his ruling. Wal-Mart agreed to a consent decree after two deaf men charged that the company refused to hire them because of their disability. Wal-Mart agreed provide accommodations for deaf employees and teach its staff about the Americans with Disabilities Act. The judge issued his fine after finding that Wal-Mart failed to achieve these goals.
Special Visa Domestic Workers Are Abused, New Human Rights Report Says
In a report released on Thursday, Human Rights Watch charged that the Immigration and Naturalization Service allows thousands of \"special visa\" workers to go without legal protection in the US. Mostly women, these workers are often lured by false promises of good working conditions in the households of their employers. Employers are typically wealthy international businesspeople, diplomats, or US citizens with dual citizenship. The report finds that the actual conditions of work resemble servitude or worse. Employers limit the workers\' freedom of movement and the freedom to associate. The average pay for the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch was $2.14/hour, and US law allows employers to make deduction from that amount to cover room and board. Many of the workers Human Rights Watched talked with had been physically or sexually abused. Workers who attempt to change jobs or sue can be deported because their visas are tied to their employers. Among other recommendations, the report urges the US government to monitor the conditions of these workers to ensure that they are being afforded legal protections.
General Strike in S. Korea
The Guardian newspaper reported that on Wednesday, a national strike in South Korea shut down the nation\'s two airlines. The militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions says fifty five thousand people participated in the strike on Wednesday, but the government says that fifteen thousand people participated. On Thursday, the strike expanded to the nation\'s hospitals where nurses are demanding reductions in work hours, according to the Korea Times newspaper. The airlines, chemical, and metal industries were most affected by the strikes. The government of President Kim Dae-jung declared the strike illegal and promised to arrest the strike leaders. Union leaders responded that they are fighting the president\'s economic reform program, imposed as a condition of the International Monetary Fund for a loan to help end the asian financial crisis. President Kim insists that the reforms are necessary to make South Korea a good investment choice for global corporations.
Thousands Protest in Indonesia
On Wednesday, thousands of workers across Indonesia protested a new set of labor laws that make it easier for employers to fire workers. The laws, announced at the beginning of June, also allow employers to cut workers comp and severance pay of laid-off workers. Associated Press sources n Jakarta say that about 3,000 workers threw rocks and chunks of wood at police and at the presidential palace and that police fired \"warning shots.\" In Surabaya, the second largest city, police set up roadblocks and fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse another 3,000 protesters, seven of whom were arrested and at least one of whom had to be hospitalized with stomach wounds. And in Bandung, 10,000 protesters threw rocks at the local legislature and burned and set fire to 29 vehicles, according to police sources. In the town of Lubuk Pakam, about 1,000 workers maintained a peaceful protest. The laws are part of President Abdelrahman Wahid\'s attempts to implement changes in accordance with the International Monetary Fund and attract investors to Indonesia. According to the World Socialist Web Site, other changes also sharply reduce working conditions and cut taxes and energy costs for companies.
|
