The World of Labor (March 11, 2005)
The World of Labor (March 11, 2005)By Harry Kelber
UFCW Canada Applies for Certification at Wal-Mart in Windsor
A vote to certify a union at a Wal-Mart store in Windsor could happen as early as next week in the wake of an application filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board by UFCW Canada. The Windsor application follows a successful union membership drive by the store's employees.
Wal-Mart stores in Jonquière and St. Hyacinthe in Quebec are already certified with UFCW Canada. They are the only unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America.
In the midst of first-contract negotiations, Wal-Mart Canada announced on Feb. 9 that it planned to shut down the Jonquière store this May, claiming it is unprofitable, a decision it made only after the store was unionized.The union also expects a ruling from the British Columbia Labour Board on its application to be certified at a number of tire and lub departments in Wal Mart outlets in that province.
Argentine Subway Strikers Win Big Raise and Six-Hour Workday
A week-long strike by Argentine's subway workers against Metrovias, an American-owned transportation company, ended on Feb. 10, with the workers receiving a 44% wage increase and a six-hour workday. Since November,2004, the workers had been demanding pay raises of 53% and improvements in working conditions. Strikers blocked all subway stops throughout the city for 24 hours each day, involving their families in picket duty. The shutdown caused outbreaks of rage from the hundreds of thousands of citizens in Buenos Aires who rely on subway transportation. Prior to the strike, the subway workers averaged $100 a month. A Metrovias executive earned 86 times that amount, they said. A newspaper poll showed that 67.6% of 26,000 respondents opposed the strike, while 32.4% supported it.
Venezuela Union Leader Arrested For Plotting 2002 Coup
Carlos Ortega, the former president of the Venezuela Labor Federation (CTV) was arrested and charged with treason for his role in a failed attempt to overthrow the elected government of President Hugo Chavez. With funding supplied by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),Ortega called a series of strikes that paralyzed the country¹' oil industryand paved the way for the coup on April 11, 2002 that lasted only two days until Chavez was swept back into power by the military and a tidal wave of support from the working people and the poor. The AFL-CIO's American Center for International Labor Solidarity funneled more than $150,000 of NED money to Ortega to help the opposition campaign against Chavez. The Center also invited Ortega to Washington for meetings with representatives of the State Department where opposition leaders met to discuss how to oust the Venezuelan president.
South African Truckers in Talks with Employers
Nearly 30,000 drivers, led by South Africa's biggest transport union, are trying to resolve a wage dispute that has sparked violent clashes with police in central Johannesburg. The workers went on strike in late February, with the union demanding a 10% pay raise across the board. The employers offered a 6% general pay increase, with 7% for workers receiving the minimum wage. Johannesburg police on March 1 fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds ofprotesters who had attacked two truckers who had refused to join the strikers. Police said there were about 29 arrests and at least 15 people injured in the conflict, which brought traffic to a stand still in the heartof the country's commercial capital.
Bangladesh Union Wins Reinstatement of Fired Workers
Thirty-two Bangladeshi garment workers, dismissed last December for trying to organize, are to be reinstated, following negotiations between the company and their union, an affiliate of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation. After first denying violations of factory laws, Square Fashions, the employer, acknowledged workers' complaints and is now working with the union to resolve them.The two-month campaign to secure reinstatement of the dismissed union members was supported by most of the company's client buyers, some of whom withheld their orders while the problems persisted. A top union official said: "The global and local trade union partnership is one now being used throughout the industry as part of the trade union response to globalization."
Doctors in Italy Strike over Contract Dispute
Thousands of operations and hospital visits were canceled across Italy March 4 as doctors staged a one-day strike to protest a three-year delay in renewing their work contract. It was the fourth such stoppage in the health sector in the past 13 months. Unions warned they would extend the strike action if the government failed to meet their demands for improved working conditions. Labor contracts in the health sector expired at the end of 2001. The government is seeking to negotiate new terms, increasing the work week for doctors to 40 hours, from 38.
Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "World of Labor" columns, as well as our labor pamphlets and other materials, can be viewed at our Web site:, My e-mail address is: <hkelber@igc.org>.
UFCW Canada Applies for Certification at Wal-Mart in Windsor
A vote to certify a union at a Wal-Mart store in Windsor could happen as early as next week in the wake of an application filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board by UFCW Canada. The Windsor application follows a successful union membership drive by the store's employees.
Wal-Mart stores in Jonquière and St. Hyacinthe in Quebec are already certified with UFCW Canada. They are the only unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America.
In the midst of first-contract negotiations, Wal-Mart Canada announced on Feb. 9 that it planned to shut down the Jonquière store this May, claiming it is unprofitable, a decision it made only after the store was unionized.The union also expects a ruling from the British Columbia Labour Board on its application to be certified at a number of tire and lub departments in Wal Mart outlets in that province.
Argentine Subway Strikers Win Big Raise and Six-Hour Workday
A week-long strike by Argentine's subway workers against Metrovias, an American-owned transportation company, ended on Feb. 10, with the workers receiving a 44% wage increase and a six-hour workday. Since November,2004, the workers had been demanding pay raises of 53% and improvements in working conditions. Strikers blocked all subway stops throughout the city for 24 hours each day, involving their families in picket duty. The shutdown caused outbreaks of rage from the hundreds of thousands of citizens in Buenos Aires who rely on subway transportation. Prior to the strike, the subway workers averaged $100 a month. A Metrovias executive earned 86 times that amount, they said. A newspaper poll showed that 67.6% of 26,000 respondents opposed the strike, while 32.4% supported it.
Venezuela Union Leader Arrested For Plotting 2002 Coup
Carlos Ortega, the former president of the Venezuela Labor Federation (CTV) was arrested and charged with treason for his role in a failed attempt to overthrow the elected government of President Hugo Chavez. With funding supplied by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),Ortega called a series of strikes that paralyzed the country¹' oil industryand paved the way for the coup on April 11, 2002 that lasted only two days until Chavez was swept back into power by the military and a tidal wave of support from the working people and the poor. The AFL-CIO's American Center for International Labor Solidarity funneled more than $150,000 of NED money to Ortega to help the opposition campaign against Chavez. The Center also invited Ortega to Washington for meetings with representatives of the State Department where opposition leaders met to discuss how to oust the Venezuelan president.
South African Truckers in Talks with Employers
Nearly 30,000 drivers, led by South Africa's biggest transport union, are trying to resolve a wage dispute that has sparked violent clashes with police in central Johannesburg. The workers went on strike in late February, with the union demanding a 10% pay raise across the board. The employers offered a 6% general pay increase, with 7% for workers receiving the minimum wage. Johannesburg police on March 1 fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds ofprotesters who had attacked two truckers who had refused to join the strikers. Police said there were about 29 arrests and at least 15 people injured in the conflict, which brought traffic to a stand still in the heartof the country's commercial capital.
Bangladesh Union Wins Reinstatement of Fired Workers
Thirty-two Bangladeshi garment workers, dismissed last December for trying to organize, are to be reinstated, following negotiations between the company and their union, an affiliate of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation. After first denying violations of factory laws, Square Fashions, the employer, acknowledged workers' complaints and is now working with the union to resolve them.The two-month campaign to secure reinstatement of the dismissed union members was supported by most of the company's client buyers, some of whom withheld their orders while the problems persisted. A top union official said: "The global and local trade union partnership is one now being used throughout the industry as part of the trade union response to globalization."
Doctors in Italy Strike over Contract Dispute
Thousands of operations and hospital visits were canceled across Italy March 4 as doctors staged a one-day strike to protest a three-year delay in renewing their work contract. It was the fourth such stoppage in the health sector in the past 13 months. Unions warned they would extend the strike action if the government failed to meet their demands for improved working conditions. Labor contracts in the health sector expired at the end of 2001. The government is seeking to negotiate new terms, increasing the work week for doctors to 40 hours, from 38.
Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "World of Labor" columns, as well as our labor pamphlets and other materials, can be viewed at our Web site:
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