British Workers Feel Recession as Jobless Total Leaps

Unemployment in Britain has reached its biggest rise since the early 1990s, while factory orders are falling at their fastest pace in almost three years. The number of people claiming jobless benefits jumped 32,500 in August from July, the biggest rise since 1992 and the seventh increase in a row, the Office of National Statistics reported.

On the wider Labor Party survey, joblessness increased from 81,000 to 1.72 million between May and July, the highest level since 1999. The data showed a 71,000 jump in the number of people who had left the workforce because they could not find a job. The unemployment rate rose by 0.2% to 5.5% in the three months to July. The one bright spot in the figures was that average earnings increased by 3.5%.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "With unemployment rising, people are looking to the government for a response, and economic measures will be far more welcome than yet another round of welfare reforms." With many economists predicting that unemployment will reach the two million mark in 2009, employers, who are feeling the pinch of declining orders, will strive to limit wage increases to reduce their labor costs. The government is expecting to reform the welfare system with a tougher policy on jobless benefits.

Asian Garment Workers Win 10-Day Strike with Concessions

Asian Garment Workers Win 10-Day Strike with Concessions

Garment workers from several Asian countries ended their 10-day strike at a Jordanian garment factory after winning concessions in a tripartite agreement between the company, MRAI Apparels, the Jordanian labor ministry and worker representatives. The factory workforce included 300 Bangladeshi, 500 Sri Lankans, 200 Indians and 100 Nepalese.

Under the agreement, the employer will deduct only 10 Jordanian dinars (U.S. $14.10 ) a month instead of 25 JD (U.S. $35.25 ) for meals, accommodation and health care for each worker. The factory management also accepted the workers' demand for paying them at a special rate for overtime on holidays,

Strikes are illegal under Jordanian law. Strikers are fined 2 JD a day for each day the strike continues. However, in this case, the authorities won't fine the strikers, according to Golam Mohammad, Bangladeshi ambassador to Jordan. Jordan employs around 25,000 foreign workers, mostly working in garment industries. The minimum monthly wage for garment workers is JD 110 (U.S. $150).

Telstra Fails in Strategy to Bypass Australian Unions

Telstra, the international communications giant, failed to bypass Australian unions when its employees in the wholesale and service divisions rejected its proposed collective agreement. Documents show that Telstra employees were promised pay increases of up to 22 percent if they signed non-union deals, but would have their wages frozen for 12 months if they refused.

Unions declared the ballot result to be a stunning rebuff to management's divide-and-rule strategy. "Telstra's workers have been treated very badly by the company's management and it is no wonder they have rejected this non-union job contract," said Chris Walton, ACTU assistant secretary: "Telstra employees have been denied their right to union r4epresentation and subjected to almost every trick in the book by management."

Walton said the small group of workers in the two business divisions displayed great courage in holding firm against enormous pressure from management to sign the non-union job contract. "The company's job contract would have turned new employees into second-class workers with reduced entitlements to paid overtime, no guarantee of annual pay rises and reduced redundancy," Walton said.

Argentine Maritime Unions Pledge Solidarity with Striking Workers

Argentine seafarers and fishers have promised to join a strike by workers in a fellow union, if their employers, a group of freezer fishing companies, attempt to replace their workers. The workers, represented by the maritime union Sindicato de Obreros Mariitimos Unidos (SOMU) indefinitely suspended tug services to Maersk and Hamburg Sud, which transports containers of fish for export from Mar del Plata. SOMU is demanding that the freezer fishing companies recognize their union.

The strike follows years of fruitless negotiations between the companies and SOMU over the union's request for recognition and collective bargaining. The military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 abolished SOMU's collective bargaining agreements. Fish companies have since continued to deny workers in the industry their rights in violation of International Labour Convention 154 on collective bargaining rights, ratified by Argentina in 1993.

Omar Suarez, SOMU's general secretary, said: "This suspension of towing services will continue until the union is recognized and negotiation procedure is in place to protect seafarers, fishers and dockers. We are not against the idea of companies making profits, but we are concerned that workers deserve a fair share."

Union Rat to Plague McDonald's in New Zealand

A giant union rat will be appearing outside McDonald's restaurants throughout Auckland over the coming weeks. The Unite union will be asking the public to support workers who will be striking to gain pay equity with other fast-food companies. "The Rat" will join workers at Otara McDonald's on Sept. 21 as they walk off the job in protest over pay negotiations that broke down this week when the company failed to meet the deadline for a revised offer.

Unite claims that the "golden arches" are letting the wages of their workers slip behind the industry. Crews are paid 52 cents an hour less than their major competitors; some managers earn only $1.50 more than the minimum wage, and experienced workers have spent years on the minimum wage. Workers consider it "slavery pay," enough to pay the rent but little else.

The union is also concerned about the lack of secure hours. McDonald's keeps every crew member on contract with no fixed hours. This gives employees no sense of job security and puts a big whip in the hands of the managers, who can cut their hours for any minor infraction.

Nepal Workers Protest Police Crackdown on Nighttime Venues

Hundreds of disco and nightclub workers protested in the nation's capital, Kathmandu, on Sept. 17 for the right to work all night long. Protesters blew whistles and screamed slogans, "Stop the crackdown on night workers," as they rallied at Themel at a tourist hub. Police watched the protesters but no one was arrested.

Police began raiding scores of disco bars and restaurants last week after the new home minister of the Maoist-led government ordered a crackdown on them, saying nighttime activities were compounding security problems in the capital. Since then, the bars and eateries have been forced to close down at midnight in Kathmandu, home to more than two million people.

"There are thousands of people who are dependent on night jobs to earn a living," a protester, Ramesh Basnet, told reporters. Closing the business is not the solution. The government should make proper laws to regulate nighttime business rather than completely shutting it down, he said. Sameer Gunung, president of the Night Entrepreneurs Association said the forceful closure of dance bars, nightclubs and discos has left some 80,000 people jobless.

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