Despite decades of anti-discrimination legislation and changes in company rhetoric, women, whether they live in New York or Shanghai, find their paycheck contains an average 16 percent or less than male workers, writes Sharan Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a foreword to a report on the status of women workers. That is the official figure, derived from applying a standard measure across sixty-three countries. However, trade unions in a number of countries report the real gap is even higher.

While globalization can sometimes appear to be narrowing the gender gap women’s pay, in fact, is not rising at all; instead, the increasingly competitive global labor market is responsible for driving down the wages of men, the report shows.

The ITUC is launching a two-year “Decent Work, Decent Life for Women World Campaign,” which will try to remedy several major women’s complaints: They still earn 12 percent to 60 percent less than what male workers earn; they account for at least 60 percent of the poor and working poor; they face higher unemployment rates than they did 10 years ago; are concentrated in low-paid, temporary or casual labor; lack maternity rights and face violence and sexual harassment, on and off the job.

Back to top

North Ireland’s Coastguard Staff Stages 24-Hour Work Stoppage

Agency staff coastguards from North Ireland have joined colleagues throughout the U.K. to stage their first ever strike. The Public and Commercial Services Union said that up to 700 employees at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are out on strike because their pay rates are “way behind” other emergency services. Four out of five workers voted for the walkout.

Coastguard John Hope said that negotiations had broken down with no settlement in sight. “The fact that we have taken strike action to demand fair pay doesn’t alleviate the providing a search and rescue service,” he said.

The strike is affecting emergency calls and operations at 19 U.K. search and rescue coordinating , but not staff who are send out on emergencies. Peter Cardy, chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: “I have made it very clear to them that I want to keep talking about a longer term pay settlement to this dispute,” Cardy said.

Back to top

Swedish Unions Worried About Drop in Membership

Nearly one in 10 members left the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) last year, and the trend has continued into 2008. Altogether, 129,413 members left LO in 2007, according to statistics published in the union’s newspaper. The union’s membership losses aren’t concentrated in any particular group; the members are spread evenly between the sexes and across different age groups, and there doesn’t seem to be a general explanation for the losses.

The largest drop is among those who are unemployed and studying, a group which currently doesn’t get much out of union membership, admits Begnt Hallberg, who manages a recruiting project for the confederation. The Hotel and Restaurant Union has been hit the hardest, losing a fifth of its members. Membership in the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union has also dropped precipitously, having lost 3,594 members this year.

Now demands are intensifying to create measures to stop the outflow of members. At the union’s upcoming congress, the governing board plans to present a proposal that will make recruitment of new members a high priority.

Back to top

16,000 Swaziland Textile Workers Strike for Better Wages

A strike by workers at 10 textile factories, which began March 3, would continue until all workers are handed a 12 percent pay increase, said Alex Fakudze, president of the Swaziland Manufacturing and Allied Workers Union, “Even if it means earning zero at the end of the month, we do not mind, because we want what is due to us,” he said, adding: “Some of our members earn less than 800 emalangeni ($100) a month.”

The strike has been authorized by the Conciliation. Mediation and Arbitration Commission after talks between management and the unions hit an impasse, Enterprise and Employment Minister Lufo Diamond says that while he sympathized with the aims of the workers, he feared that industrial action could ultimately prove counterproductive.

After sugarcane farming, the textile industry is the main employer in the southern African kingdom, one of the poorest countries on the continent. Many of the textile factories are owned by Taiwanese businessmen.

Back to top

Chinese ‘Barefoot Lawyers’ Defend Workers’ Rights in Court

Qi Yunhui didn’t even graduate from middle school, but on a recent afternoon, he addressed the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court with the confidence of a seasoned litigator. When he came to Shenzhen in 2002, the fast-talking native of China’s central province of Hube worked in a leather shoe factory. Now, he is part of o a new and growing breed of “citizens’ agents,” former workers offering cheap legal aid to fellow migrants involved in labor disputes.

In the past five years or so, these self-taught “barefoot” labor lawyers have proliferated, filling an important niche in a country where migrant workers are increasingly caught in a dilemma: they are encouraged by the leadership to know their rights, but lack efficient channels to protect them.

There are several thousand “citizens’ agents” throughout China. While most licensed lawyers demand retainers and charge high fees, “citizens’ agents” work for a modest contingency, which means it cost little for workers to initiate proceedings. In Shenzhen, Qi and others won so many cases that the local court in Bao’an, a district in Shenzhen where some five million migrants work, decided to ban “citizens’ agents” from representing workers.

Back to top

3,500 Colombian Nickel Miners Strike over Job Contracts

Members of the Colombian labor union, Sintracerromatoso, went on strike at the nickel mine operated by Cerro Matoso, a subsidiary of the multinational company, BMP Billiton, after negotiations failed to produce an agreement. The union is demanding improved contracts and is especially concerned about the temporary employment contracts used by the company.

The union insists that the employer sign open-ended employment contracts. It also rejects the company’s proposal to increase the length of the contract from two to four years. Historically, contracts have always been for two years.

Roger Herrera, the union president, says there are about 3,500 workers on strike. The company has only 1,000 directly employed workers; the other 2,500 are temporary workers. This means that the company can avoid recognizing the basic rights of its workers, Herrera says.

Back to top

Check our web site: http://www.laboreducator.org