More than 5,000 workers at a mobile phone component factory in Shenzhen, Southern China, struck on Aug. 22 against their bosses’ attempt to increase their work hours without extra pay. Earlier in the month, 800 miners struck for at least six days in Hubei province against the privatized mine owner who undercut severance pay. These and other strikes reflect the widespread discontent among Chinese workers under the growing pro-capitalist changes in the nation’s economy.

People’s Daily, the official organ of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, acknowledged that labor disputes have “continuously” increased in recent years, in its Aug. 27 edition. It revealed that from 1986 to 2004, the nation’s arbitration network had handled 1.72 million labor disputes, involving 5.32 million workers. Those statistics do not fully reflect the actual level of labor unrest in China. Disputes not accepted for mediation and arbitration are not included in the official “labor disputes” statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

China’s labor unrest falls into three categories. There are the workers and pensioners of formerly state-owned firms resisting the wave of privatization that slashes many of their former benefits. A second group resents the sweatshop conditions imposed by foreign-funded and private companies. The third group comprises mainly casual construction workers involved in the numerous projects that have fueled the country’s construction boom. Wages in arrears is a very serious issue among this group.

French President in Showdown with Unions over Pension Reform

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to ask a small but powerful group of unionized workers to relinquish jealously-guarded pension privileges, his opening gambit in a series of controversial labor reforms. At issue are the “special regimes,” the generous pension agreements enjoyed by certain industries and notably by employees of the state-owned rail company SNCF and the energy giants, Electricité de France and Gaz de France.

The last time a government tried to deprive rail drivers of the right to retire at age 50 and some electricity workers at 55 was in 1995, triggering a three-week national transit strike that forced the government to retreat. These events help explain the reluctance of previous administrations to be bold on economic reform in general.

Sarkozy has a detailed reform plan that includes further relaxing the 35-hour workweek, giving employers more leeway to hire and fire young workers, as well as raising the retirement age. “There could be sport, and not just in the rugby stadiums, if the government persists in a fait accompli,” said Bernard Tribault, the leader of the left-wing CGT.

Major Sugar Strike in Guyana Affects Thousands

More than 10,000 employees of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) walked off the job Sept. 12, after wage negotiations reached a stalemate. The company had proposed a 6.5 percent wage increase, while the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union, which represents 14,000 sugar workers, is seeking a 12 percent pay raise, the nation’s current rate of inflation.

The company said it was still recovering from the 2005-2006 floods and that rainfalls had hampered land preparation. Paul Bhim, Guysucos’s finance director, told the media that a two-day strike would cost the company millions in exports to Europe or the sale of 3,000 tons of sugar.

Korean Construction Workers End 36-Day Strike with a Pay Raise

The 36-day strike of bar benders, a Korean construction craft, ended Sept. 13, with employers and workers agreeing to a daily wage of 860 Hong Kong dollars ($110.43) and an 8-hour workday. The strikers had originally demanded HK 980 ($125.84) a day.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-Chung said: “It proved that both sides came to an understanding and made concessions to solve the problem. This shows that employer-employee relations are still good in Hong Kong.”

10,000 Kenya Tea Workers Strike Plantations

More than 10,000 members of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union continued their work stoppage for the third day, demanding a wage increase. The strike has paralyzed operations in at least 18 tea estates owned by the Unilever Tea Kenya Limited.

At Kaptien estate, angry strikers destroyed a manager’s house, while at Tagabi estate, a truck loaded with empty bags was set afire. A closed-door meeting attended by district security members and district labor officer Henry Chenuyoit termed the strike illegal and called on striking workers to go back to work.

But Francis Atwoli, an officer of the Central Organization of Trade Unions, said the company was to blame for the strike, because it had backtracked on the 16 percent wage increase it had agreed to in negotiations with the union last year. Atwoli warned that if the tea company did not implement the wage increase by September 20, the union will seek legal redress in the Industrial Court.

Elderly in Lithuana Go on Hunger Strike over Pensions

A group of elderly protesters held a hunger strike in Vilnius Independence Square urging Parliament to approve new legislation that would give them access to their unpaid workers’ pensions. The Lithuanian Pensioners¹ Movement started the demonstration Sept. 10. Two elderly men and two elderly women stayed all day and night, drinking nothing but water and sleeping in a van for shelter. The next day at noon, about 20 more supporters from Kaunas joined them in a peaceful march around Parliament.

A 200 million lita ($80.4 million) budget proposal from the Social Security and Labor Ministry is now before Parliament and could resolve some aspects of the dispute over unpaid pensions. The government has agreed to pay part of the 2001-2002 workers’ pensions if the state budget is approved.

Lithuania is ranked third lowest in the EU-25 in terms of social security expenditure, according to the European pensions barometer report in 2006. The state social security basic pension is 266 litas ($107) per month. In January, the Lithuanian government pledged to increase pensions by 70 litas by Oct. 1.

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