The World of Labor - December 6, 2008



	THE WORLD OF LABOR — December 6, 2008 By Harry Kelber Major Contractor Is Accused of Human Trafficking in Iraq Kellogg, Brown and Root (KGB), the largest non-union construction company in the United States, is accused of involvement in a human trafficking plan that allegedly forced Nepalese men to work against their will in Iraq, in a law suit filed in California on Dec. 3. The men, between the ages of 18 and 27, who had paid $3,000 to recruiting agents in Nepal, were told they would be working in hotels and restaurants in Amman, Jordan, but were instead sent to Iraq to work at a U.S. air base, the lawsuit states When the Nepalese men — about 70 of them — arrived in Jordan, the contractors seized their passports and drove them into Iraq in a convoy of civilian vehicles. On the way, a car containing 12 of the men was stopped by an insurgent group, members of the Ansar-al Sunna Army — and the 12 men were shot to death, according to the lawsuit. The families of the 12 men who were killed have brought the lawsuit. The case attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General’s office, after a number of news reports about KBR involvement in trafficking. The primary finding after a department investigation said that the U.S. government had no jurisdiction over the persons, offenses and circumstances that resulted in the Nepalese deaths. Wage Gap Widening Quickly in Germany The gap between Germany’s highest and lowest earners has grown considerably, according to data published Dec. 2 by the ILO. Among European countries, only Poland has shown a sharper divergence in wages. The study also showed increasing inequality in the United States, Canada and Australia since the mid-nineties. Between 2001 and 2007, real wages inched up only 0.51 percent a year in Germany, which posted one of the weakest showings. In China and Russia, by contrast, real wages posted an average annual increase of 13 percent and 14 percent, respectively. The future looks gloomier still for Germany’s wage-earners. The ILO expects global wages to rise 1.7 percent in 2008 and 1.1 percent in 2009. In the industrialized world, however, the ILO forecast is for a 0.8 percent increase this year and a contraction of 0.5 percent next year. The report suggests that wage cuts in the industrialized world will be “painful” and lead to increasing “social tensions.” Labor Union May Take Legal Action Against IBM Japan The unionized workers at IBM’s Japanese subsidiary may file a lawsuit against the company for allegedly coercing their workers into quitting their jobs. Their union may seek a provisional injunction to force the firm to stop such malpractices, members said at a press conference. IBM Japan, which is set to cut about 1,000 regular jobs, about 6.3 percent of its workforce, following dismal earnings for July-September, has produced a list of workers subject to the company’s restructuring plan. When workers on the list rejected retirement offers, management told them there was nothing for them to do or that the firm would fire them if they do not agree within 48 hours to retire. Ryoichi Miki, general secretary of the All Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers Union, a higher organization of the company’s labor union, said that such practices are illegal as the managers are apparently coercing the workers into leaving the firm. The same day, an IBM Japan spokesman denied the union’s allegation. A Rally of 33,000 South Koreans Protest New Labor Law About 33,000 South Koreans demonstrated Nov. 29 against a government move to revise an existing law aimed at protecting the rights of part-time and temporary workers. Under the law, which came into effect last year, employers are required to hire irregular workers as regular workers after two years of employment. But the ruling Grand National Party and the Ministry of Labor plan to extend that period to four years, causing opposition parties and labor unions to protest. At the demonstration, the Korean Federation of Labor, which organized the rally, said it will make a major effort to prevent the government from revising the law. South Korea has some 5.5 million part-time and temporary workers, about three times higher than the average of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Hungary Plans Extra Wage Payment to Public Sector Workers Hungary’s government plans to compensate public sector workers with 112 billion florints ($42.2 million) in additional wage payments next year to compensate for the elimination of an extra month’s salary, officials said Dec. 1. The government is under pressure from the trade unions since October, when it announced it would freeze public sector wages next year and scrap the so-called 13 month’s salary, which the sector’s nearly 700,000 workers normally get every year. Gabor Csizmar, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s office, announced that the extra compensation payment would be capped at 140,000 florints ($695), and would be paid out in monthly installments Thousands of Hungarian public sector workers marched on Parliament last Saturday to protest against planned pay and pension cuts in 2009. They said they would go on strike if their demands were not met. Unions are demanding at least a 4 percent annual wage increase for next year and the reinstatement of the 13th month pay for all public sector workers. Hungary agreed to tough spending cuts that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) required in exchange for a $25.1 billion financial rescue package. The government plans to cut the budget deficit to 2,6 percent next year from an expected 3.4 percent this year, as part of its loan deal with the IMF. Workers in Israel’s Income Tax Offices to Strike Income Tax Authority workers will strike at all income tax offices across the country, starting Dec. 8, as negotiations with lsrael’s Finance Ministry over the demand for additional pay and freedom to hire more workers have reached a dead end, the workers announced. “We have no other choice but to show the Finance Minister that we will fight for our future,” said Nachum Friedlov, chairman of the income division workers’ committee at the Israel Tax Authority. The workers are demanding financial compensation for additional work loads they have been tasked with since 2006, such as he implementation of compensation schemes for war damages and more recently, work on the negative income tax law. The average salary of tax authority workers is 25 percent higher by comparison with salaries in the rest of government services. Income tax workers earn NIS 12,000 ( $3,006) gross a month, while other government workers average NIS 9,000 ($2,260.). Check our web site: https://www.laboreducator.org

THE WORLD OF LABOR — December 6, 2008

By Harry Kelber

Major Contractor Is Accused of Human Trafficking in Iraq

Kellogg, Brown and Root (KGB), the largest non-union construction company in the United States, is accused of involvement in a human trafficking plan that allegedly forced Nepalese men to work against their will in Iraq, in a law suit filed in California on Dec. 3. The men, between the ages of 18 and 27, who had paid $3,000 to recruiting agents in Nepal, were told they would be working in hotels and restaurants in Amman, Jordan, but were instead sent to Iraq to work at a U.S. air base, the lawsuit states

When the Nepalese men — about 70 of them — arrived in Jordan, the contractors seized their passports and drove them into Iraq in a convoy of civilian vehicles. On the way, a car containing 12 of the men was stopped by an insurgent group, members of the Ansar-al Sunna Army — and the 12 men were shot to death, according to the lawsuit.

The families of the 12 men who were killed have brought the lawsuit. The case attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General’s office, after a number of news reports about KBR involvement in trafficking. The primary finding after a department investigation said that the U.S. government had no jurisdiction over the persons, offenses and circumstances that resulted in the Nepalese deaths.

Wage Gap Widening Quickly in Germany

The gap between Germany’s highest and lowest earners has grown considerably, according to data published Dec. 2 by the ILO. Among European countries, only Poland has shown a sharper divergence in wages. The study also showed increasing inequality in the United States, Canada and Australia since the mid-nineties.

Between 2001 and 2007, real wages inched up only 0.51 percent a year in Germany, which posted one of the weakest showings. In China and Russia, by contrast, real wages posted an average annual increase of 13 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

The future looks gloomier still for Germany’s wage-earners. The ILO expects global wages to rise 1.7 percent in 2008 and 1.1 percent in 2009. In the industrialized world, however, the ILO forecast is for a 0.8 percent increase this year and a contraction of 0.5 percent next year. The report suggests that wage cuts in the industrialized world will be “painful” and lead to increasing “social tensions.”

Labor Union May Take Legal Action Against IBM Japan

The unionized workers at IBM’s Japanese subsidiary may file a lawsuit against the company for allegedly coercing their workers into quitting their jobs. Their union may seek a provisional injunction to force the firm to stop such malpractices, members said at a press conference.

IBM Japan, which is set to cut about 1,000 regular jobs, about 6.3 percent of its workforce, following dismal earnings for July-September, has produced a list of workers subject to the company’s restructuring plan. When workers on the list rejected retirement offers, management told them there was nothing for them to do or that the firm would fire them if they do not agree within 48 hours to retire.

Ryoichi Miki, general secretary of the All Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers Union, a higher organization of the company’s labor union, said that such practices are illegal as the managers are apparently coercing the workers into leaving the firm. The same day, an IBM Japan spokesman denied the union’s allegation.

A Rally of 33,000 South Koreans Protest New Labor Law

About 33,000 South Koreans demonstrated Nov. 29 against a government move to revise an existing law aimed at protecting the rights of part-time and temporary workers. Under the law, which came into effect last year, employers are required to hire irregular workers as regular workers after two years of employment.

But the ruling Grand National Party and the Ministry of Labor plan to extend that period to four years, causing opposition parties and labor unions to protest. At the demonstration, the Korean Federation of Labor, which organized the rally, said it will make a major effort to prevent the government from revising the law.

South Korea has some 5.5 million part-time and temporary workers, about three times higher than the average of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Hungary Plans Extra Wage Payment to Public Sector Workers

Hungary’s government plans to compensate public sector workers with 112 billion florints ($42.2 million) in additional wage payments next year to compensate for the elimination of an extra month’s salary, officials said Dec. 1. The government is under pressure from the trade unions since October, when it announced it would freeze public sector wages next year and scrap the so-called 13 month’s salary, which the sector’s nearly 700,000 workers normally get every year. Gabor Csizmar, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s office, announced that the extra compensation payment would be capped at 140,000 florints ($695), and would be paid out in monthly installments

Thousands of Hungarian public sector workers marched on Parliament last Saturday to protest against planned pay and pension cuts in 2009. They said they would go on strike if their demands were not met. Unions are demanding at least a 4 percent annual wage increase for next year and the reinstatement of the 13th month pay for all public sector workers.

Hungary agreed to tough spending cuts that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) required in exchange for a $25.1 billion financial rescue package. The government plans to cut the budget deficit to 2,6 percent next year from an expected 3.4 percent this year, as part of its loan deal with the IMF.

Workers in Israel’s Income Tax Offices to Strike

Income Tax Authority workers will strike at all income tax offices across the country, starting Dec. 8, as negotiations with lsrael’s Finance Ministry over the demand for additional pay and freedom to hire more workers have reached a dead end, the workers announced. “We have no other choice but to show the Finance Minister that we will fight for our future,” said Nachum Friedlov, chairman of the income division workers’ committee at the Israel Tax Authority.

The workers are demanding financial compensation for additional work loads they have been tasked with since 2006, such as he implementation of compensation schemes for war damages and more recently, work on the negative income tax law.

The average salary of tax authority workers is 25 percent higher by comparison with salaries in the rest of government services. Income tax workers earn NIS 12,000 ( $3,006) gross a month, while other government workers average NIS 9,000 ($2,260.).

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