Jobs Must Be at Top of Agenda, World’s Labor Leaders Tell G20

Meetings of world trade union leaders with G20 host President Barack Obama and other heads of governments in Pittsburgh on the eve of the Summit have helped push employment to the top of the agenda for action by the world’s largest economies. The 50-strong international union delegation met the heads of government of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada Germany, Japan, Spain and the U.K. in the 24 hours leading up to the start of the Summit.

“The worst of the job crisis is yet to come, and we’ve put the case to the G20 leaders that the real measure of success for the Summit is how governments are going to maintain and create decent jobs as their urgent and top priority,” said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. “We’ve given them this message and expressed our other big concerns: financial regulation, reform of the global financial institutions, a global tax on financial transactions and an effective G20 Charter for Sustainable Growth that delivers social justice, workers’ rights and corporate governance.”

The G20 participants were told that the global economy is far too fragile to withdraw stimulus, “We need more action to support global demand and jobs, not less," said John Evans, general secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee of the OECD. He called for “more balanced growth for the future, with better income distribution.”

1,500 of India’s Top Tech Faculty on Hunger Strike

More than 1,500 teachers from India’s elite Indian Institutes of Technology (ITT) went on a hunger strike Sept. 24 after the federal government refused to agree to a pay hike, according to news reports. Professors from 14 institutes across the country were part of an unprecedented protest, the NDTV network reported. Despite the day-long protest, the professors taught classes.

The professors said that while a pay increase was important, their key demand was against a 40 percent cap by the Human Resources Development Ministry on promotions. The HRD Ministry controls education in India. They are also against a proposal by the ministry not to appoint fresh PhD-holders as teachers in the ITTs, even though the institutes are facing a severe faculty crunch.

The ITT’s are the best engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education in India and among the premier brands worldwide. The institutes were set up in the 1950s with help from the United Nations, Germany, the United States and the former Soviet Union.

ILO Probes Labor Rights Violations in the Philippines

A high-level team from the International Labor Organization (ILO) heard complaints and testimony about murders of trade union leaders and labor activists, as well as violations of workers’ rights in the country, straight from about 30 workers’ groups. The three-member ILO team held a forum and several hearings all day on Sept. 23 in Makati City’s largest auditorium. The proceedings were closed to the media. The team said it would hold a press briefing on Sept. 30 to reveal its findings.

The investigation was prompted by evidence that that the Philippine government had violated ILO Convention No. 87, which protects workers’ right to organize, and which the Philippine government ratified in the 1950s, KMU was one of the first groups to file complaints with the ILO in 2007 about the government’s violation of labor’s right to organize.

KMU Chair Elmer Labog, in a public statement, said they presented facts and testimony that would ‘”concretize a nationwide pattern of attacks against trade unions and their leaders. The ILO team also listened to relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings, victims of enforced disappearances and union harassments.0

South Korean President Warns Government Employee Labor Unions

The South Korean government warned the government employee labor unions that there would be “consequences” for joining the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country’s largest umbrella union, by saying: “If the government employee labor unions decide to engage in a political struggle, we will be unyielding.” However, the unions have defied the government and are saying “The government’s attempt to control our actions is anachronistic.”

The Ministers of Public Administration and Justice issued a joint statement on Sept. 23, saying: “We regret that the government employee labor unions have decided to join the KCTU, which is persisting to engage in a political struggle.” It also said: “It is inappropriate for a government employee’s labor union that are expected to maintain political neutrality to join the KCTU.” The statement ended with a threat. “If the unions engage in a political struggle in alliance with the KCTU, the government will have no choice but to deliver punishment according to related laws.”

In response, a KCTU statement said: ”The government attitude to incapacitate labor unions was an anachronism. Forming a union and deciding to be affiliated with an umbrella union are workers’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Thousands Protest at Threatened Closing of Belgian Opel Plant

Thousands of car workers and supporters, including hundreds from Germany, protested at an Opal factory in northern Belgium on Sept. 23, angered at plans by the new owner, Magna, to close the site down. The protest, called by European metalworkers’ unions, took place in front of the factory where some 2,600 workers risk losing their jobs.

Canadian auto parts maker Magna, which is buying the Opal plant from the struggling giant carmaker, General Motors, is poised to slash around 11,000 jobs across Europe, including 4,000 in Germany, according to a plan leaked to a prominent German newspaper on Sept. 22. Magna reportedly plans to close the Opal Antworp plant in Belgium, as well as cut jobs in Britain and Spain.

Magna and its Russian partners were Germany’s favored choice to save Opel, overwhelmed by heavy losses. But Belgium, Spain and Britain have raised concerns that they would be left at a disadvantage compared to Germany, which backed the Magna deal with 4.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in state aid.

Swedish Female Soldiers Demand Military-Issue Bras Without Faults

The Swedish military is being asked by its female soldiers to provide them with combat-tested bras, amid complaints that the sports bras they must buy for themselves unhook too easily. Unlike their male counterparts who are provided with military-issue underwear, Sweden’s 500 women conscripts are given money to buy bras, since there are no military versions.

“The women have to buy sports bras instead. But they are not tested for combat situations nor for fire safety, and they are not functional. They unhook too easily, said Pauline Rehbinder, a spokeswoman for the Council of Conscripts, a union-like organization.

There have been women in the Swedish military for more than 30 years, but bras have never been provided by the military, But things look like this will change. With 800 to 1,000 women expected to become conscripts next year, the military is developing a bra that is undergoing testing.

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