Russian Factories Put Stimulus Package to Work to Save Jobs

Of the 300 workers employed at a gear-cutting machine plant in the Saratov region, only 17 are working exclusively in the jobs they were hired to do. The other 273 are picking up debris and garbage that have piled up around the plant over the years, rearranging the furniture of the administration building and providing long-neglected maintenance services on the plant's grounds. And it’s not the plant that is paying these 273 workers; it’s the government, as part of a 44 billion ruble ($1.4 billion) employment stimulus program launched in January.

The creation of more than 1 million temporary jobs in public works across the country is one of the goals of the government’s four-pronged job stimulus program. Its three other components are: to provide 173,000 workers with retraining and education programs; help 56,000 unemployed workers to open small businesses, and offer relocation services to 15,000 unemployed workers who have secured jobs in other parts of the republic or other region.

The lion’s share of the regional anti-crisis employment programs are funded federally, with regions contributing about five percent of the total cost. The regional employment services have thus far received only about 40 percent of the total federal funds, but before they get the rest of the money, they must produce detailed reports of their activities and show their progress and how the labor market is developing.

Angola Public Works Ministry Guarantees over 200,000 Jobs

More than 200,000 people have been put to work in companies involved in national reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructures in Angola, a country in south central Africa, according to Joanas André, public works deputy minister. He said that the public works sector has the capacity to absorb the highest number of Angolans who are seeking jobs.

72,000 people were initially employed in 2005 to work on public works projects, but their number has grown to more than 200,00, who work on repairing roads, bridges, schools, public buildings and other facilities, as well as social infrastructures. The number of people employed on public works projects is expected to rise to 300,000 jobs by 2010.

Among the projects under construction are several airports and four soccer stadiums in the provinces of Cabinda, Banguela, Luanda and Hulla, which will host the Africa Nations Soccer Cup. More than 75,000 kilometers of roads have been repaired, and the Public Works Ministry expects to rehabilitate an additional 12,000 kilometers of highways by 2013.

Toxic Deaths Spark Workers’ Strike in Italy

Workers at one of Europe’s largest refineries in Italy have gone on strike after the latest in a series of fatal workplace accidents occurred. The victims are thought to have inhaled poisonous gases after becoming trapped in a de-sulfurization unit while carrying out repairs at the plant in the Sardinian port of Cagliari.

One angry worker blamed the deaths on ever increasing pressure to work faster and cut corners. “The plant should’ve been shut down for three or four months for this type of maintenance, but there are workers swarming around everywhere,” he said.

The issue of security at work has become a national concern. Italy reportedly has the worst record for workplace deaths in Europe, with latest figures suggesting that one person dies about every seven hours. Successive governments have introduced reforms, but trade unions say there are not enough inspectors to enforce the new safety regulations.

Resurgent Australian Unions in New Round of Workplace Demands

Unions will challenge the Rudd government to lift restrictions on collective bargaining and strikes while urging support for a national charter of union rights that would force companies to pay employees when they are conducting union activities. The sweeping workplace agenda will be considered next week at the national meeting of the Australian Confederation of Trade Unions (ACTU),

Unions will call for an end to all future free trade agreements, and demand that local and regional companies be given a 25 percent price advantage when bidding for government contracts under a revamped “Buy Australian” campaign. They also will push for the creation of a new financial institution, the National Infrastructure Development Corporation, which would act as a government-owned bank to leverage “deals that better protect the public interest.”

ACTU will support a charter of rights for union delegates, to be enshrined in law and included in workplace agreements. Under the charter, delegates would have the right to reasonable paid time off to participate in the operation of a union, including attendance at various meetings, as well as consultations with union members during normal working hours.

Striking Teachers Occupy Banks and Offices in Oaxaca. Mexico

Teachers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, who three years ago led a month-long uprising that drew world attention, started a new 48-hour strike by occupying banks, shopping centers and government offices. Besides a pay raise, the Oaxaca teachers are demanding the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, just as they and a coalition of grassroots groups did in 2006, during a conflict that ended only with a federal occupation of Oaxaca City.

An official with the state teachers union, Gabriel Lopez Chiapas, said his organization will offer students extra classes to make up for the time lost due to the strikes, but he also threatened to ratchet up protests if authorities don’t respond to the demands. They plan to block all the roads into Oaxaca City, Lopez said. At some locations, the protesters have erected tents to shield them from the sun.

Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s poorest states and is also the one with the largest Indian population. The teachers also want the release of “political prisoners,” including 11 Indians jailed since 1996 for alleged membership in the EPR guerrilla group.

Nile Cotton Ginning Workers End Strike with Significant Gains

Workers from the Nile Cotton Spinning Company have called off their strike after winning partial concessions from management. The company’s chairman of the board has agreed to pay workers their full wages, including incentive payments, for the month of May. April’s salaries will be paid from an emergency fund because of the company’s financial difficulties, the chairman said.

Workers in the company’s Minya factory will be allowed early retirement and will receive a lump sum of LE 5000 ($890), plus a month’s pay for each year worked. On May 24, workers demonstrated outside the People’s Assembly to protest the failure of Nile Cotton to pay them for two months, and condemned what they say are plans to close down the company and sell off its lands and assets. The company was privatized in 1997.

While workers had planned to stage a sit-in inside the People’s Assembly, police officers waited until journalists had left before forcibly evicting them from the site of the protest.

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