German Union to Aid U.S. Telecom Workers in Bargaining

American and German labor leaders announced a transatlantic alliance on Nov. 18 aimed at persuading Germany’s giant Deutsche Telekom AG to allow collective bargaining at its subsidiary, T-Mobile USA. Under the agreement, which U.S. labor leaders called unprecedented, the German trade union Ver.di will represent T-Mobile USA workers and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in collective bargaining with Deutsche Telekom managers in Bonn.

CWA, which has been unable to establish representation at the Telekom subsidiary, the No. 4 U.S. mobile phone service, said it would also launch a new effort to organize workers and open a dialogue with the U.S. subsidiary’s managers. T-Mobile USA issued a statement saying it provides an employee-friendly work atmosphere, with competitive pay and benefits, and that its workers have periodically rejected overtures from CWA.

Ver.di represents 70 percent of the workers employed by Deutsche Telekom and its European subsidiaries. The union recently staged a 12-week strike against the telecommunications giant over issues of job security and working conditions. Under the agreement with CWA, Ver.di will use its seats on Deutsche Telekom’s board to press German managers to accept union representation at T-Mobile USA and then coordinate any bargaining that takes place.

Huge Anti-Sweatshop Victory for Honduran Workers and Students

Some 1,200 Honduran workers scored a major victory over Russell Athletics, a large apparel company, that fired them after they had decided to unionize. The company, which had fought off unions for years, shut down the factory. But soon, the workers will be back on their jobs at a new plant.

Russell’s decision to rehire the workers and make peace with the unionists is the result of a decade of steady coalition-building by student activists across Honduras. With the support of university administrators, they pressured Russell to adopt “codes of conduct”: for the factory used by other apparel companies.

In 2000, an independent monitoring group, Worker Rights Consortium, was created to inspect factories to enforce the labor codes. About 170 universities are members of the organization, which wrote a report accusing Russell Athletics of violating workers’ rights.

Vale Inco, a Giant Mining Company, Settles with Brazilian Workers

Vale Inco, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has reached agreements with 14 unions representing 40,000 workers at its operations in Brazil. The agreements come as a strike by some 3,500 workers continues at Vale operations, primarily in the Sudbury, Ontario area of Canada. The workers will get a 7 percent raise over two years.

John Fera, president of the United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury, says the Canadian strike would be over if Vale abandoned “mean-spirited demands for concessions.” The Canadian strike began on July 13 at Vale Inco facilities in Sudbury over proposed changes to a pension plan, a reduced nickel bonus and limits on transfer rights.

Vale is the Brazilian-based corporation that boasted $13.2 billion in profits last year and reported third-quarter earnings of $1,7 billion this year.

Taxi Drivers Strike in China Turns Violent

Hundreds of taxi drivers in southeastern China went on strike on Nov. 20 to protest the government’s plans to regulate the industry, with people throwing stones at cars, the state media reported. More than 200 cabs in Fujian Province’s Putian City had stopped work two days before, with protesters blocking passing taxis that were still doing business and demanding that the drivers join the strike.

The strike erupted over a disagreement between some taxi drivers and the government over the terms of a newly-released plan for the industry. The city has set up a team that includes police and transport officials, to put an end to the strike.

Taxi drivers have emerged as a vocal force in Chinese labor disputes over the past year, sometimes provoking violence over issues that have triggered their anger. In April, a massive taxi strike in a central Chinese city developed into a riot, with drivers beaten and cars smashed, In November of last year, China experienced two violent taxi work stoppages.

Strike Ends with Pay Raise at Construction Site on Solomon Islands

Construction workers on Solomon Islands ended their month-long strike after the contractor, China United (SIS) Corporation Ltd., agreed to a 6 percent pay increase, as well as increases in industry, housing and transport allowances, The company also agreed to give the union, Solomon Islands National Union of Workers, a total of $114,766.50, which will be distributed to the workers. The strike ended Nov. 20.

Union general secretary Tony Kagova said employer payments are back-dated to Jan. 5, as required by the Trade Dispute Panel. He said each worker will receive an average of $2,000 “This will cover the 62 current workers and 147 dismissed workers,” Kagova said.

The Solomon Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific, consists of nearly 1,000 islands. It is a constitutional monarchy under Queen Elizabeth II. It received its independence in 1976. It was an important battleground at Guadalcanal in World War II.

French Plastic Workers Will Conduct a ‘Day of Action’ on Nov. 19

The Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers will stage “a day of action” on Nov. 19 against France’s plastic manufacturers over a long-simmering wage dispute. Some 150,000 workers in plastics, employed by 3,700 big and small plastics companies, have not seen a wage increase since 2006.

Early in 2008, the employers’ federation abrogated a 2004 labor agreement that automatically gave livable wage increases that at least matched French inflation. In the more than three years since the last pay hike, three pay grids in French plastics have fallen below the nation’s minimum wage levels. Many companies in the plastic sector have profited handsomely from the three-year wage freeze.

Despite ongoing negotiations since May 2008, the employers’ group and the unions have been unable to reach acceptable wage standards or a threshold on maximum seniority pay. Until now, several union demonstrations have failed to budge the employers into serious wage negotiations.

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