British Union and Cable Channel to Launch Union TV

As trade unions emerge from media obscurity with a series of high-profile strikes, Britain’s largest union, Unite, and the cable television channel, Red TV, will begin to broadcast a weekly program for and about trade unions. The first episode of the show will be aired on May 3 and be repeated a number of times each week.

The weekly program will feature topics of interest to a British working class audience and video packages showing unions at work. The first episode will include segments about temporary workers, pension schemes and the strike at Grangemouth.

A Unite official said: “There are nearly seven million trade unionists in Britain, but their lives and experiences are rarely covered by the media. Our aim with this program is to provide a trade union perspective on all the major industrial and political issues and an uncensored view from working people on what is happening to them and their families today.”

ILWU Shuts Down Ports in 8-Hour May Day Protest on War in Iraq

Thousands of West Coast dockers shut down some 29 ports on May 1 (May Day) throughout an entire eight-hour shift in protest against the war in Iraq. The work stoppage kept some 10,000 containers from being loaded or unloaded from about 30 cargo ships from Seattle to San Diego. A statement by Bob McEllrath, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), said: “We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops and our economy are being destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of $3 trillion.”

There were May Day celebrations in countries around the world, even in war-torn Iraq, where the labor movement issued a statement calling for worldwide support for “our struggle for freedom from occupation — both military and economic.” The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said: "We demand a fundamental change in global governance, putting decent work at the core of a new globalization and making the global institutions respond to the real needs of people instead of following the erroneous policies of the past.”

May Day began as an American holiday in 1886, during labor’s struggle for the 8-hour workday. It commemorated the tragic defeat of a strike against the McCormick Harvester Works and the bloody Haymarket Square near Chicago. After that, May Day became a day of protest in many parts of the world, when workers “down tools” to reinforce their demand for a better life. In the U.S., May Day has been replaced by Labor Day by an act of Congress in 1882.

Unions Aim to Push Nestlé Out of Russia

Nestlé in Russia is involved in a bitter industrial dispute with its workers. The food giant is refusing to negotiate on the issue of increasing real wages. Russia’s labor federation is now threatening to strike, and says the “anti-worker” company shouldn’t be allowed to operate in Russia. Workers at the Swiss firm’s factory in the Ural city of Perm have come all the way to Moscow to protest at the refusal of Nestlé to negotiate.

The dispute at Perm is now big news in Russia. Despite public protests, the Swiss company is refusing to meet their employees’ demands. It is determined to set an example in the Russian provinces. According to the union, the base monthly pay is just 160 euros ($250) at the Perm factory, which produces chocolate bars, sweets and confectionery. The maximum bonus for this mostly female workforce is 350 euros ($540).

Nestlé has 10,000 employees working in its 13 factories in Russia, only four of which are unionized, including the one at Perm. Mikhail Shmakov, head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR) attacked the multinational corporation, saying an “anti-worker” company like Nestlé had no place in Russia. He argued that while the Swiss company had increased dividends to shareholders by 17.5 percent, it left the workers empty-handed. Shmakov announced that he planned to lodge a complaint with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and declared that, if necessary, FITUR will call a strike.

Chile to Reopen Copper Mines, Offering a Deal to Strikers

Chile’s Codesco, the world’s largest underground copper mine, will reopen on May 2, after the government made a proposal aimed at ending the 17-day strike by the company’s subcontractor workers. State-owned Codesco, the world’s leading copper producer, was hit by a series of strikes that began 17 days ago, with miners demanding a bigger share of the company’s windfall profits, as well as improved working conditions,

Arturo Martinez, head of CUT, Chile’s largest federation of trade unions, announced that the government had made a proposal to end the strike, but he gave no details. “I have received a proposal from the government which I am taking to give to the leaders of Codesco’s subcontractors,” Martinez told reporters after visiting the presidential palace in Santiago.

Government spokesman Francisco Vidal said the proposal centered on Codesco and the subcontractors fulfilling a series of agreements reached last year, among them a pledge by Codesco to absorb some subcontractors into its full-time ranks. The strike took center stage at a May Day rally, attended by tens of thousands of people in downtown Santiago, where union leaders vowed to continue their protest.

Bangladesh Garment Workers Fight for Overdue Back Wages

Several hundred garment workers blockaded the DIT road at Rampira near the Bangladesh capital, Dhaku, on May 1, demanding payment of back salaries, which amounted to two and three months’ wages plus overtime. Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on the road about an hour because of the blockade.

Police said that about 500 workers at Expo Worldwide had staged a sit-in and a road blockade until the management assured them yesterday morning that he would pay them their back wages. The blockade was lifted when the factory owner paid the workers what was due them in the presence of union leaders and the police.

Rina Akhter, a worker at the garment factory, said the management on three different dates last month had assured them of paying their salary arrears, but failed on all three occasions. Workers decided on the blockade as they grew increasingly angry at the owner’s disregard of his promises.

Mexican Bottle Makers Face Layoffs for Backing Independent Union

Beer bottle production workers in San Luis Potosi in northern Mexico have been threatened by their bosses with the closure of their factory if they don’t renounce their elected independent union officials in favor of a union tied to the bosses. The threat from Grupo Modelo comes not long after the firing of more than 250 workers for being involved with the activities of Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores de la Empresa (SUTEIVP), which won elections and union recognition in 2007 over the state-affiliated Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros de Compesinos (CROC).

Grupo Modelo manufactures a variety of beers, including the internationally famous Corona. The independent union is being treated like an illegal organization by both the government and the employers. Under Mexican law, a strike without legal permission leaves the strikers subject to firing, assaults by the police and kidnappings and disappearances by private gangs.

On May 6, you can read the first article in a 4-part series on “How Labor and the New Deal Changed the Face of the Nation.”

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