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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines 6/22 |
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by Dan Chambers
Email: dschambers77 (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!)
Address: 218 W. Main St. Urbana, IL 61801 |
21 Jun 2002
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Headlines for this week's Labor Hour. |
Ten Million Spanish Workers Strike
On June 20th, ten million Spanish unionists began a general strike. The strike was enacted over concerns that Spanish worker protections would be removed in order to comply with neoliberal trade policies. Specifically, the unionists were concerned about losses in farm worker unemployment compensation, and unemployment compensation for people who had been fired but were in court over their dismissal. For his part, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has made no secret about his intentions to impose measures that would give investors preference in Spain. At the Seville Airport, for example, train and bus terminals remained closed due to worker involvement in the strike. Strikers timed the event to coincide with Aznar’s appearance before a European Union summit in Seville on Friday.
ICFTU Declares Colombia Most Dangerous Place
According to a report released last week by the International Confederation of Free Trade Union, Colombia is by far the most dangerous place for union leaders to live. Over 90% of all killings of unionists occurred in Colombia. 65% of those killed were not rebels, as the government claims, but workers in the public sector who were outspoken about privatization and deregulation issues. According to the report Unionists were most likely to be detained in Asia, with 200 union leaders imprisoned in South Korea alone. The report counted a total of 4,000 arrests and 10,000 firings of union activists worldwide during the year. In Europe, Belarus ''stands out quite simply as an unabridged encyclopedia of trade union rights violations.'' President Alexander Lukashenko defeated trade union leader Vladimir Goncharik in an election denounced internationally as neither free nor fair, trade union activity has become a ''virtual impossibility,'' the report said. Besides Colombia, union organizers were killed in Brazil, Bolivia and Guatemala in Latin America last year. Two of the worst areas for labor rights abuses in Central America were in banana plantations and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) which have become an increasingly important sector for the region's economies since the United States enacted the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) almost 20 years ago.
This report was compiled from information published by the Inter Press Service.
Mushroom Workers Fight Against Unfair Practices at PictSweet
On June 4th, the Agriculture Labor Relations Board charged the management at PictSweet with illegal union-busting activities, corroborating charges long made by the United Farm Workers. Workers are currently organizing. In June and in January the Board ruled that workers had the right to representation if they voted for it. The Board found that PictSweet had violated the law by firing outspoken union workers and interfering with worker’s decisions to organize. According to Jesus Torres, an organizer, Fidel Entrade was fired for sticking for a coworker and other protected practices. PictSweet is owned by United Foods Incorporated, based in Bells, Tennessee. Workers are encouraging concerned consumers to boycott PictSweet products, which are distributed to a number of restaurants including Pizza Hut. Management at PictSweet has accused the workers of trying to hurt the company through the boycott, initiated in September of 2000. So far, it has cost the company contracts with a number of companies, including Ralph's, Vons and Costco, and it continues to throw away tens of thousands of pounds of mushrooms every week rather than negotiate fairly for a contract with its workers.
48-Hour Strike In Colombia Over Union Leader’s Death
Colombia’s oil worker’s union, USO, is implemented a 2-day strike on Thursday over the death of one of its leaders, Cesar Blanco. Blanco was on his way home when he was killed in an unsolved crime. We don't want condolences from a government under whose rule the killing of union leaders has increased geometrically," said USO, "We demand punishment for the killers of our colleague, Cesar, and an end to crimes against those who fight for the people."
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