A strike by office workers affiliated with the Union of Salaried Employees (TU) began on Oct. 22 at seven Finland companies in the metal and technology industries. The companies affected included a major shipbuilder, steel manufacturers, a mining and smelting company and a metal fabrication plant.

Last-ditch efforts to avert the strike failed over differences on the level and form of pay increases. The gap between the union demand and the management offer for wage increases is 2.5 percentage points over a two-year period. The industry has offered pay hikes that would raise labor costs by 8.7 percent, while the labor side is calling for 10.6 percent.

Employers say the strike will have a rapid impact on the operation of the seven companies. National Conciliator Juhani Salonius said that the views of the two sides were too far apart for him to make a mediation proposal.

Workers’ Deaths Cast Shadow over Political Celebrations in Beijing

At least 54 workers died in two separate incidents at two unlicensed factories over the weekend, following the conclusion of China’s 17th Communist Party Congress in Beijing. The two incidents, both reported in the official media, are a stark reminder that all the political celebration and ceremony of the last week should not distract attention away from the serious hazards workers face every day.

Later, on Sunday evening, at least 37 people were killed when a fire swept through an unlicensed shoe factory in Putian, Fuijan province. Fifty-six workers were in the building when the blaze at the Feida workshop broke out, and the 19 survivors were all in a critical condition after being treated for smoke inhalation, the Xinhua news agency reported.

In order to avoid detection by labor officials, workers in the unlicensed factories are often locked up in the plant all day, working up to 15-hour shifts daily. And even when labor officials fine factory owners for operating illegally and disobeying health and safety regulations, the living and working conditions of the employees rarely improve.

Britain Stops Claims of Victims of Asbestos-Related Conditions

Thousands of British workers suffering from an asbestos-related condition will not be able to claim compensation, the Law Lords have ruled. The move only applies to sufferers of pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs, leaving other asbestos-related compensation cases unaffected.

The case centers on whether pleural plaques was an injury for which damages can be claimed. The Law Lord s ruled that pleural plaques, which can be a forerunner of asbestosis and mesothelioma was not a disease

Union leaders have attacked the decision, saying it will lead to “massive savings” for insurance companies. Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, said it was a “harsh” decision that will affect thousands of our members who have been exposed to asbestos in their work by denying them the right to sue their former employers for developing pleural plaques, he said.

Canadians Say Korean Trade Deal Could Kill 33,000 Jobs

Canada would suffer a net loss of up to 33,000 manufacturing jobs if it agrees to free trade with South Korea, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) said Oct. 23, as it stepped up its campaign against dropping trade barriers with the Asian manufacturing nation. That includes 4,000 automotive jobs the union estimates it would lose under the free trade agreement.

An influx of duty-free Korean imports would “displace jobs” in every region of the country, but mostly in Ontario, where 17,418 jobs would disappear, and Quebec, where 4,366 would be lost, according to a report written by CAW economist Jim Stanford. The minister of trade, Jim Prentice, said Oct. 25 that the trade deal has to have substantial benefit for Canada before it will be signed. “Right now, we don’t have a deal of any kind,” he said.

Senior CAW officials will take the Stanford report to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as part of its annual lobbying effort. Exploratory trade talks with Korea started in 2004 under the former Liberal government, but there were no complaints about the talks from CAW until the Conservatives took control of the government.

Senegal’s 72-Hour Strike to Make Government Fulfill Its Promises

Starting Oct. 26, Senegalese teachers in primary and secondary public schools are on a 72-hour strike to make the government fulfill its promises on research and housing allowances. The teachers are protesting the government’s failure to provide housing allowances, despite signing an agreement in 2003 to do so.

The teachers are also demanding that the payment of research allowances be continued in the future. In 2006, the government set aside a “special budget” amounting to more than $20 million, but it is not clear whether the continuation of this special budget will be guaranteed.

“We insist that the research allowance continues and is not a quid pro quo in exchange for longer hours,” commented Mamadou Diop, general secretary of UDEN. This is the third wave of industrial action taken by Senegalese teachers this year, after a series of three 72-hour strikes over a period of three weeks during April.

Union Protests at Opera Premiere in Netherlands

Union FNV Kiem will hold a protest at the premiere of the Lucia di Lammermoor opera at the Muziektheater on Nov. 1. For now, the protest will be visitor-friendly, but the union does not rule out future strikes.

FNV Kiem’s Caspar de Kiefte says he had an agreement with management on flexible working hours and overtime compensation, and now the management says that it wants more flexibility and that compensation should be cut. “To be honest, I don’t understand it anymore.”

The union says that many employees, including technicians, work outside office hours and during weekends. “The management wants them to work more often and longer for the same pay, and to lower overtime compensation.”

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