With underground mining accidents costing 200 lives a year, more than half of South Africa’s miners took part in a one-day strike Dec. 5 over lack of roper safety standards. It was the first national mining strike since the country¹s liberation in 1994.

Thousands of miners gathered in central Johannesburg to hear their leaders demand the prosecution of those suspected of negligence in mine fatalities, as well as improved pay and better training for safety inspectors. Marchers carried printed placards declaring “Safety is a human right” and “Organize or die.”

Frans Baleni, secretary general of the miners’ union, told demonstrators: “We are not here for a wage increase but to raise the fact that we are dying underground.” He demanded prosecution of negligent mine bosses. Miners earn an average of £250 ($507) a month.

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Teachers from 7,000 Czech Schools in One-Day Strike

Some 124,000 employees from 7,000 kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools took part in a Dec. 4 strike, according to Frantisek Dobsik, chairman of the Cze ch School Workers Union. The unions announced the strike after they failed in the negotiations about adding three billion crowns ($168.000) to the Education Ministry’s budget for 2008. Of the 3 billion crowns, the unions want 2.5 billion to go to teachers’ wages and 0.5 billion t o school equipment and further education of teachers.

The teachers’ pay is t o rise by 1.5 percent next year, which is well below the projected inflation of 4.4 to 5.8 percent that would substantially decrease their real wages. The Chamber of Deputies will probably raise the Education Ministry’s budget by about one billion crown, but unions say it is not enough.

The average monthly wage of Czech teachers was 23,027 cown ($1,287) in the first half of 2007, Church-sponsored schools did not join the strike. Teachers who joined the national work stoppage on Dec. 4 will not get paid for the day, but thus far they have been allowed to return to their jobs.

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Toyota and Nissan Are Building Plants in Russia

Despite high labor costs and the growing strength of the Russian union at the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, Toyota and Nissan are building plants in the same region, which has become known as Russia’s Detroit and is booming with the car business. Toyota, which is far ahead of Nissan in building its auto factory in Russia, is hiring experienced assembly line workers from Ford, according to the Russian union.

The strike at Ford highlights the tightening labor market in Russia, a problem that would have seemed inconceivable a few y ears ago in the depth of the post-Soviet collapse. Plants are compelled to pay ever higher wages, After two raises at Ford each of about 15 to 20 percent, the union is now demanding an increase of about 40 percent in base pay. The average wage at the Ford plant was 21,500 rubles a month, or about $880.

Also, improbable in a country with few successful grass-roots organizations, the union founded at the Ford plant two years ago has taken root in other foreign car plants, driving up wages. “They say we produce cars to European standards, so we want to be paid to European standards,” says Vladimir V. Lesik, an organizer in the Inter-Region Union of Automotive Workers, an affiliate of the International Metal Federation..

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Australian PM Hails ‘Hero’ Who Won Billions for Sick Workers

Australia’s new Prime Miniater, Kevin Rudd , Dec. 5 hailed as a hero a man who won billions of dollars in compensation for workers from a multinational company. He was speaking at a state funeral for Bernie Banton, 61, who died from an asbestos-related disease he contracted while working for building products company James Hardie,

Banton’s dogged campaign ultimately led to the establishment of a 4 billion dollar compensation fund for victims of Hardie’s asbestos products, which were widely used in the Australia housing and construction industry before the dangers of the material were fully appreciated.

Thousands of workers and homeowners contracted diseases, such as asbestosis, in which asbestos fibers scar the lining of the lungs and cause slow and painful death. Banton himself died from the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma last week.

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Egyptian Real Estate Tax Collectors Stage Sit-In Before Cabinet

Thousands of real estate tax collectors in Cairo and other governorates resumed their strike Dec. 5 to demand equality with their colleagues at the Ministry of Finance’s Tax Authority. In Cairo, around 10,000 employees from 22 governates gathered in front of the Prime Minister’s headquarters, criticizing the government’s policies and its disregard of their demands.

Violent clashes broke out between the employees and the police, who placed a security cordon around the building and assaulted the protesters.. Sit-ins as well as work stoppages occurred in several cities, with strikers demanding the dismissal of the Tax Authority president, Ismail, Abdel Rasoul.

Hussein Megawit, president of the pro-government union, said that despite their legality, the sit-ins were unjustified, for negotiations with the Ministry of Finance are taking place and the crisis will be solved. Meanwhile, strikers have formed a nine-member committee to meet with the PM’s representative on behalf of the workers.

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Dutch Unilever Workers End Strike after Job-Cut Deal

Ending a month-long strike at the Unilever factory, Dutch unions agreed on Dec. 4 on a compensation package for workers who lost their jobs. The strike was called on Oct. 11 after the giant food products company announced plans to close three factories in he Netherlands and eliminate 474 jobs by the end of 2008.

“We have reached a good agreement,” said Frans van de Veen, an official of the CNV union. “People who will lose their jobs will be compensated in a decent way.” Unilever also agreed on a collective con tract for around 3,000 workers, who will receive a 3 percent pay raise in 2007 and a 3.5 percent raise next year

Unilever announced global plans in August to cut about a tenth of its 180,000 employees and sell slow-growing businesses, aiming to speed up its recovery and fight surging labor costs. Unilever, which makes Lipton teas and Skippy peanut butter, is the third largest consumer products company in the world, ranking only behind Nestlé and Kraft.

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Histadrut Sues over Employees’ Right to Sit While Working

Israel’s Histadrut labor federation on Dec. 4 filed a NIS 20 million ($ 4.8 million) law suit against 61 large businesses for allegedly forcing their employees to work on their feet instead of allowing them to sit down, as required by law. The suit, which was filed in the Tel Aviv regional labor court, lists clothing stores, hotels and cafes, as well as appliance shops and toy stores.

The recently-passed law, of which the labor group is accusing the stores of violating, states that employers are not allowed to make their employees stand up if they can perform the job sitting down. Shir-Li Schweitzer, a hotel worker, said she was fired because she insisted on her right to sit down. She said that management made her stand up for eight to nine hours a day in high-heeled shoes. She added that she and other employees working on the lobby floor were told not to sit down even when the lobby was empty.

“This ill has spread to all areas of commerce,” the federation’s lawyers wrote in the claim. “These tactics are offensive to workers and they rely on taking advantage of their weaknesses.” They charged that employees’ health and dignity were compromised when they ere denied the right to sit down, even when their is no loss in job performance.

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