● Dopo il rifiuto di Hyundai di trasformare i lavoratori in subappalto che lavorano all’interno della fabbrica da oltre due anni in suoi dipendenti, come ingiunto da una sentenza della Corte Suprema del 12 novembre,
● dal 15 novembre scioperano, per rivendicare i loro diritti, oltre 400 lavoratori assunti in subappalto a tempo determinato presso la fabbrica automobilistica Hyundai di Ulsan.
o Uno di essi si è dato fuoco.
– Circa 8200 lavoratori, pari al 22% della forza lavoro utilizzata da Hyundai, sono lavoratori a contratto;
● Hyundai non vuole cedere per timore di dover modificare il contratto di tutti i suoi dipendenti, con un costo aggiuntivo di circa $230 mn.
– Chiusa una catena di montaggio occupata dagli scioperanti; la società ha denunciato 27 lavoratori perché le leggi coreane non consentono un’azione collettiva per ottenere un lavoro a tempo indeterminato;
o la polizia antisommossa chiamata dall’azienda ha arrestato 50 lavoratori, 20 i feriti.
– Il sindacato metalmeccanici coreano, Korea Metal Workers Union[e] (KMWU), che rappresenta tutti i dipendenti a tempo indeterminato di Hyundai, ha minacciato uno sciopero nazionale per dicembre, se Hyundai non accetta il negoziato;
o lo scorso dicembre Kmwu ha dato indicazioni ai suoi iscritti di accettare il congelamento dei salari in cambio di un’Una tantum. Tale accordo ha stabilito un precedente per il settore; alcuni mesi dopo hanno dovuto accettare lo stesso accordo i lavoratori di Kia.
– La scorsa settimana sfidando le minacce di licenziamento circa 7000 dei 20000 dipendenti di Foxconn della fabbrica di Foshan nei pressi di Guangzhou, hanno scioperato per il salario e contro i progetti di trasferire alcuni lavoratori nelle fabbriche dell’interno.
– Foxconn pagherebbe un salario base di $165,8/mese (1 100 yuan), meno di quanto promesso nel recente accordo di aumenti salariali.
o Foxconn, che impiega centinaia di migliaia di lavoratori nel S-E Cina, sta costruendo fabbriche nella Cina Occidentale, dove terreni e salari sono molto inferiori.
23 novembre, sciopero di 48 ore dei dipendenti di All India Radio e Doordarshan Kendra; chiedono la revoca della legge Prasar Bharati (1997) che minaccia la sicurezza de lavoro; non ancora regolamentate le condizioni di servizio, le assunzioni e altre procedure amministrative.
– Dall’11 novembre sono in sciopero i dipendenti della sanità delle aree rurali, chiamati “lavoratori a contratto della 104”: chiedono di divenire regolari dipendenti statali, l’abolizione dell’esternalizzazione, e gli stessi diritti degli altri dipendenti statali, oltre ad una indennità per coloro assegnati ai distretti di montagna.
– Il sindacato ha dichiarato che la protesta continuerà fino a che il governo non risolverà la questione.
– Diversi scioperanti sono stati arrestati dopo la manifestazione presso un’esattoria statale.
– 17 novembre, raduno di protesta su una serie di importanti rivendicazioni a Bangalore di almeno 8000 lavoratori dei cosiddetti “settori non organizzati”, autisti, lavoratori sanità e cura dell’infanzia, sigarai, tessile-abbigliamento, costruzioni.
o Chiedono tra l’altro un salario minimo mensile di $134,5 (6000 rupie) per i lavoratori distrettuali e di 10 00 rupie per i dipendenti di Bangalore;
o l’abolizione del lavoro in subappalto;
o assegnazione di alloggi a salariati e indigenti; aree libere per chi abita negli slum;
o buoni alimentari per tutti i lavoratori,
o attuazione puntuale della legislazione sul lavoro.
– Raduno dei lavoratori aderenti al sindacato dello Stato di Karnataka (Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers Association (KSAWA) a Mysore contro il ritardo del governo nell’attuazione delle richieste su età pensionabile e importi pensionistici dei lavoratori cura dell’infanzia e sanità; chiedono anche ferie, aumenti salariali annuali, e altri vantaggi riconosciuti ai dipendenti statali.
– Protesta di 1500 salariati della acciaieria Ram Swarup Louha Udyog di Kharagpur dopo la chiusura della fabbrica e la loro sospensione senza retribuzione; dopo l’annuncio di un incontro tripartito.(impresa, governo, lavoratori) i lavoratori hanno sospeso la protesta.
– Il 16 nov. protesta di circa 500 salariati di una fabbrica tessile, Zhen Yun Factory, per la riassunzione di 4 lavoratori licenziati dopo essere stati eletti delegati sindacali e migliori condizioni di lavoro.
– La direzione aziendale ha accettato le richieste di aumenti salariali per gli straordinari, l’assistenza sanitaria per i dipendenti, ma ha rifiutato la riassunzione dei delegati sindacali.
– Lavoratori e gruppi per i diritti umani (Migrant Care Indonesia) hanno manifestato contro l’inerzia del governo sui maltrattamenti di lavoratori indonesiani assunti come collaboratrici domestiche all’estero (Arabia Saudita, Malesia). Il governo non vuole mettere a rischio le rimesse degli emigrati indonesiani, che nel 2007 sono state di $6,6 MD.
Sciopero di 200 lavoratori del gruppo svedese Sandvik (utensili ed equipaggiamenti minerari, 44 000 addetti complessivi, in 130 paesi, vendite annuali per $10,4 MD) nel Nuovo Galles del Sud, contro la prevista chiusura di 5 fabbriche e il loro trasferimento.
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– A striking worker set himself on fire at the Hyundai Motor factory in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang last Saturday, in a dispute between temporary subcontract workers and the company. Over 400 workers have been on strike since November 15 to demand they be made regular employees.
– One assembly line occupied by the strikers has been closed and the company has sued 27 strike leaders, claiming that collective action for permanent employment is prohibited under Korean labor laws. Over 20 workers were injured and 50 arrested last week after Hyundai called in riot police using tear gas in an attempt to end the strike.
– The walkout follows a High Court ruling on November 12 directing the automaker to transform in-house subcontractors who have worked at the plant for more than two years into official Hyundai employees.
– Hyundai has rejected the ruling and plans to appeal the decision. Over 1,900 in-house subcontractors filed a suit on November 4 demanding they be recognised as Hyundai employees.
– Hyundai has about 8,200 contract workers―22 percent of its total workforce. The company claims that any concession will lead to the wholesale conversion of the workers’ status and cost the automaker nearly 260 billion won ($US230 million).
While the Korea Metal Workers Union[e] (KMWU), which covers Hyundai’s permanent employees, has threatened national action in December if the company does not negotiate by the end of this month, its members are still maintaining production at the plant. In December the KMWU told its Hyundai members to accept a wage freeze in return for a one-off lump-sum payment. The agreement set the industry standard and several months later Kia auto workers were forced to accept the same deal.
– An estimated 7,000 of 20,000 Foxconn employees defied company sacking threats and walked out of its Foshan factory near Guangzhou last week in protest over pay and company plans to redeploy some workers to inland factories. According to one worker, the Foxconn factory pays a basic wage of 1,100 yuan ($US165.8) a month, which he claimed was less than promises made by the giant electronics company when it raised wages recently.
Foxconn employs hundreds of thousands of workers in south-east China but is currently building plants in western China where land and wages are much lower.
– Staff at the All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra stopped work for 48 hours on November 23, demanding repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act (1997), which they claim has undermined job security.
– Strikers complained that service conditions, recruitment rules and other administrative procedures were yet to be regularised. News bulletins and other regular programs were disrupted during the strike. The National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees organised the strike.
– Rural medical service employees, known as “104 contract workers”, have been on strike since November 11 over their demand to be made regular government employees. 104 Contract Employees Union[e] members also want abolition of outsourcing, equal amenities with other state government workers and an agency allowance for those posted to the hill districts.
– Several 104 workers were arrested on Monday after demonstrating outside the state Collectorate in Visakhapatnam. Union[e] officials have said they will continue protesting until the government resolves workers’ grievances.
– In a separate incident, municipal sanitation workers from the All India Trade Union[e] Congress protested at the Collector’s office in Vizianagaram to demand outstanding wages.
– At least 8,000 workers from the so-called “unorganised sectors”, including auto drivers, childcare and health employees, beedi rollers, garment workers and building industry employees, rallied in Bangalore on November 17 over a series of outstanding demands. Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar met Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) officials at Freedom Park and received a memorandum from them.
o Their demands include a 6,000-rupee ($US134.5) minimum monthly pay for district workers and 10,000 rupees for Bangalore employees, the abolition of contract labour,
o housing allotments for workers and the poor, and free sites for slum-dwellers.
o They also want ration cards for all workers and strict implementation of labour laws.
– Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers Association (KSAWA) members rallied in Mysore, Karnataka on Monday against government delays in implementing the retirement age and pension demands of childcare and health workers and their assistants.
– In a memorandum submitted to the chief minister, the KSAWA members complained that they were not paid any government benefits, even after 35 years’ employment. Many of the workers were over 60 years of age but had no benefits.
– On November 20, 60 employees from EDA Security at the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) held a sit-down protest at the port’s administrative building over their arbitrary retrenchment and other issues. Bahujana Karmika Sangha members claimed that there were irregularities in salary deductions for the Provident Fund and that they were given no proof of payment.
– On November 21, 1,500 workers from the Ram Swarup Louha Udyog steel mill in Kharagpur protested on the NH-6 National Highway after authorities closed the plant and suspended workers without pay. An All India Trade Union[e] Congress official told the media that there had been no production at the plant for the last eight months and that the company was secretly moving machinery from the premises.
– Workers ended the protest after five hours when management announced they would participate in a tripartite meeting with the labour minister and workers.
– About 500 garment workers from the Zhen Yun Factory in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district protested on November 16 to demand reinstatement of four union[e] leaders and better working conditions. Yang Sophorn from the Free Trade Union[e] of Workers said the company fired the four workers after they were elected union[e] leaders. Following negotiations, Sophorn said management had agreed to most of the workers’ demands, including an increase in the overtime pay rate and health services for sick employees, but refused to reinstate the sacked union[e] delegates.
– Workers and human rights groups have demonstrated in Indonesia in protest against the government’s inaction over the mistreatment of Indonesian workers employed as maids in foreign countries.
– Migrant Care Indonesia organised a rally outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta this week over the torture of Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, a domestic worker. Sumiati, 23, was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia from injuries allegedly inflicted by her employers.
– Other demonstrations were held in Madang, East Java to demand the government investigate following reports that an Indonesian female migrant worker Kikim Komariah was found dead in a trash can in Saudi Arabia. She was allegedly tortured to death by her employer.
– In September, hundreds of angry Indonesian workers protested outside the Malaysian ambassador’s residence in Jakarta over the abuse of Indonesian maids by Malaysian employers. The protest followed reports that a 26-year-old maid was raped and scalded with an iron by her employers.
– Demonstrators want the government to provide stronger protection and legal assistance for Indonesians working abroad. In 2007, Indonesia received $US6.6 billion in remittances from Indonesian workers overseas, and the government is reluctant to do anything that might jeopardise this income.
– On November 24-25, about 200 employees of Sandvik, a toolmaker and mine equipment manufacturer, struck for 48 hours and picketed the company’s Newcastle factory sites at Tomago, Hexham and Broadmeadow to protest the company’s plan to cut redundancy provisions.
– Australian Manufacturing Workers Union[e] organiser Corey Wright said although members would return to work on Friday they planned overtime bans on the weekend and a 24-hour strike on Monday. Wright said the union[e] is discussing further action with members. The union[e] has made no call for the defence of all jobs.
In a recent media release, Sandvik revealed that it plans to rationalise its business during the next 12 months by closing its five sites in Newcastle and transferring operations to a new site under construction 20 kilometres away, near Raymond Terrace.
– The Swedish-based Sandvik Group currently has 44,000 employees with operations in 130 countries and annual sales of approximately $US10.4 billion.
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