The World of Labor - March 22, 2008



	THE WORLD OF LABOR — March122, 2008 By Harry Kelber Workers from India Are Trafficked to Work at Mississippi Shipyard The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called on the governments of the United States and India to take action on behalf of nearly a hundred Indian workers, who on March 10 protested the trafficking practices they suffered when they were recruited in India, only to be exploited at a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The workers are demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice open a criminal investigation against their traffickers, and that it act to ensure that future workers and their families do not face the same modern-day slavery. Reportedly, on the same day, a law suit was filed by 500 Indian dock workers against Signal International, a marine construction company, accusing it and American and Indian recruiters of subjecting these workers to forced labor, trafficking, fraud and civil rights violations. The workers took out loans of up to $20,000 for their recruitment fee, only to realize they would receive resident and work permits for only ten months, barely enough to repay the loan they took from their recruiter, and not allowing family members to follow. The workers lived in overcrowded and isolated labor camps, with 24 people stacked in small bunk houses. They were refused transportation and monitored around the clock by security guards. In addition to the ITUC, their struggle is being supported by the Low-Wage Immigrant Worker Coalition, the New Orleans Workersą Center for Racial Justice and the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Machinists Call Off Toyota Union Vote in Canada Organizers for the International Association of Machinists (IAM) called off their scheduled March 20 union election at the Toyota Motor Corp.’s assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, following Toyota’s complaint that the union incorrectly estimated the number of eligible voters. Under Canadian law, a union can quickly call for an election after receiving signed cards of support from 40 percent of a work force or bargaining unit. The statement by IAM organizer Ian Moreland said it became clear after Toyota submitted a list of 900 additional employee names that the union did not have enough signed cards. “We want to make sure that the ground for certification is ready, and right now it isn’t, so the campaign will continue until it is ready,” Moreland said. “The workers approached us for union representation, and we agreed to honor that request.” No Toyota plant has been unionized in North America since it began assembling cars at a General Motors plant already represented by the United Auto Workers in California in 1984. The Machinists called the postponement of the election a “temporary roadblock” and said it would continue with its organizing drive. Renault’ąs Romanian Workers to Strike over Wage Claims. Thousands of workers at Romania’s carmaker, Dacia, owned by France’s Renault, pressed their demand for a 50 percent pay rise, the union said. “Negotiations with the management have failed. Our strike, involving more than 80 percent of the 13,000 workers, will begin on March 24. Production will stop,” said Ion Iordache, a leader at the Dacia trade union. He said Dacia workers earn around 1,070 lei ($445) a month before taxes. They want their wages to be increased to $550 a month in 2008, insisting that their wages are too low considering the rise in productivity and profits they generate. The company produces the low-cost Logan car model. Average net salaries have risen significantly the past year, boosted mainly by bonuses in the health and education sectors. As a new European member, Romania is an attractive location for carmakers, offering cheap labor, relatively low taxes and prospects for fast growth in productivity. Egypt’s Doctors Take on Mubarak with Wave of Protests Egypt’s long-standing president, Hosni Mubarak, faces a new challenge to his authority from a wave of strikes and signs of middle-class discontent, including a campaign group led by a woman doctor, Mona Mina. She is a tiny, feisty woman, who is the driving force behind an organization called Doctors Without Rights. The signs that Dr. Mina and her colleagues are carrying say “Two hundred and thirty pounds a month is not enough to feed our families.” The average wage of a doctor, 230 Egyptian pounds, works out to less than $50 a month. Food costs are soaring across Egypt. The price of chicken has gone up by 40 percent in three months. Heating, electricity costs and transportation costs have more than doubled the past year. A union decision to strike was suspended after the government warned that strikes in vital, strategic facilities were illegal. Instead, the union called on doctors to stage a standing protest at its headquarters to avoid a violent confrontation with the police. A New Torch Relay at Olympics in China Will Stress Worker Rights With the start of the official Olympic Torch Relay for the Beijing Olympics only a few days away, Play Fair 2008, an international campaign seeking respect for workers’ rights in the production of Olympic-licensed products, on March 21 launched “Catch the Flame,” an electronic relay race to bring public attention to the need to stamp out abuses in workplaces making Olympic goods. “By joining this alternative torch relay, people around the world can send a clear message that for the Olympics to be really fair, working conditions for those who produce Olympic goods have to be equally fair,” said Esther de Haan, one of the coordinators of the Play Fair campaign.. “While discussions with the IOC last December were constructive and we remain hopeful that the world’s peak sporting body is prepared to take concrete action to put an end to the maltreatment of workers who make the products which bring important revenue to the Olympics, there has been little, if actual, progress, and this new initiative gives people the chance to join in the call for action,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary. French Ports Union Calls One-Day Strike to Protest Government Plan The CGT, a left-wing union, has called a one-day strike, set for March 26, to protest a French government plan that threatens to eliminate the jobs of dock workers. The union has stated that it opposes any attempt to transfer port operations currently administered by the government, to the private sector. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the government will sell container-handling operations to private companies and increase spending to renovate and enlarge ports. A new law on the ports will be proposed in Parliament in coming months, aimed at making the country’s harbors more competitive. France has seven main ports, the biggest being Marseille and Le Havre. The CGT is participating in talks with the port authority, employer groups and government officials on the proposed reconstructuring plan, with the union insisting on a guarantee that the jobs of the dock workers will be protected. Check our web site: http://www.laboreducator.org

THE WORLD OF LABOR — March122, 2008

By Harry Kelber

Workers from India Are Trafficked to Work at Mississippi Shipyard

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called on the governments of the United States and India to take action on behalf of nearly a hundred Indian workers, who on March 10 protested the trafficking practices they suffered when they were recruited in India, only to be exploited at a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The workers are demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice open a criminal investigation against their traffickers, and that it act to ensure that future workers and their families do not face the same modern-day slavery.

Reportedly, on the same day, a law suit was filed by 500 Indian dock workers against Signal International, a marine construction company, accusing it and American and Indian recruiters of subjecting these workers to forced labor, trafficking, fraud and civil rights violations. The workers took out loans of up to $20,000 for their recruitment fee, only to realize they would receive resident and work permits for only ten months, barely enough to repay the loan they took from their recruiter, and not allowing family members to follow.

The workers lived in overcrowded and isolated labor camps, with 24 people stacked in small bunk houses. They were refused transportation and monitored around the clock by security guards. In addition to the ITUC, their struggle is being supported by the Low-Wage Immigrant Worker Coalition, the New Orleans Workersą Center for Racial Justice and the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity.

Machinists Call Off Toyota Union Vote in Canada

Organizers for the International Association of Machinists (IAM) called off their scheduled March 20 union election at the Toyota Motor Corp.’s assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, following Toyota’s complaint that the union incorrectly estimated the number of eligible voters. Under Canadian law, a union can quickly call for an election after receiving signed cards of support from 40 percent of a work force or bargaining unit.

The statement by IAM organizer Ian Moreland said it became clear after Toyota submitted a list of 900 additional employee names that the union did not have enough signed cards. “We want to make sure that the ground for certification is ready, and right now it isn’t, so the campaign will continue until it is ready,” Moreland said. “The workers approached us for union representation, and we agreed to honor that request.”

No Toyota plant has been unionized in North America since it began assembling cars at a General Motors plant already represented by the United Auto Workers in California in 1984. The Machinists called the postponement of the election a “temporary roadblock” and said it would continue with its organizing drive.

Renault’ąs Romanian Workers to Strike over Wage Claims.

Thousands of workers at Romania’s carmaker, Dacia, owned by France’s Renault, pressed their demand for a 50 percent pay rise, the union said. “Negotiations with the management have failed. Our strike, involving more than 80 percent of the 13,000 workers, will begin on March 24. Production will stop,” said Ion Iordache, a leader at the Dacia trade union.

He said Dacia workers earn around 1,070 lei ($445) a month before taxes. They want their wages to be increased to $550 a month in 2008, insisting that their wages are too low considering the rise in productivity and profits they generate. The company produces the low-cost Logan car model.

Average net salaries have risen significantly the past year, boosted mainly by bonuses in the health and education sectors. As a new European member, Romania is an attractive location for carmakers, offering cheap labor, relatively low taxes and prospects for fast growth in productivity.

Egypt’s Doctors Take on Mubarak with Wave of Protests

Egypt’s long-standing president, Hosni Mubarak, faces a new challenge to his authority from a wave of strikes and signs of middle-class discontent, including a campaign group led by a woman doctor, Mona Mina. She is a tiny, feisty woman, who is the driving force behind an organization called Doctors Without Rights.

The signs that Dr. Mina and her colleagues are carrying say “Two hundred and thirty pounds a month is not enough to feed our families.” The average wage of a doctor, 230 Egyptian pounds, works out to less than $50 a month. Food costs are soaring across Egypt. The price of chicken has gone up by 40 percent in three months. Heating, electricity costs and transportation costs have more than doubled the past year.

A union decision to strike was suspended after the government warned that strikes in vital, strategic facilities were illegal. Instead, the union called on doctors to stage a standing protest at its headquarters to avoid a violent confrontation with the police.

A New Torch Relay at Olympics in China Will Stress Worker Rights

With the start of the official Olympic Torch Relay for the Beijing Olympics only a few days away, Play Fair 2008, an international campaign seeking respect for workers’ rights in the production of Olympic-licensed products, on March 21 launched “Catch the Flame,” an electronic relay race to bring public attention to the need to stamp out abuses in workplaces making Olympic goods.

“By joining this alternative torch relay, people around the world can send a clear message that for the Olympics to be really fair, working conditions for those who produce Olympic goods have to be equally fair,” said Esther de Haan, one of the coordinators of the Play Fair campaign..

“While discussions with the IOC last December were constructive and we remain hopeful that the world’s peak sporting body is prepared to take concrete action to put an end to the maltreatment of workers who make the products which bring important revenue to the Olympics, there has been little, if actual, progress, and this new initiative gives people the chance to join in the call for action,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary.

French Ports Union Calls One-Day Strike to Protest Government Plan

The CGT, a left-wing union, has called a one-day strike, set for March 26, to protest a French government plan that threatens to eliminate the jobs of dock workers. The union has stated that it opposes any attempt to transfer port operations currently administered by the government, to the private sector.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the government will sell container-handling operations to private companies and increase spending to renovate and enlarge ports. A new law on the ports will be proposed in Parliament in coming months, aimed at making the country’s harbors more competitive. France has seven main ports, the biggest being Marseille and Le Havre.

The CGT is participating in talks with the port authority, employer groups and government officials on the proposed reconstructuring plan, with the union insisting on a guarantee that the jobs of the dock workers will be protected.

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