Defying Global Slump, China Has a Labor Shortage

Just a year after laying off millions of factory workers, China is facing an increasingly acute labor shortage. As American workers struggle with near double-digit unemployment, unskilled factory workers in China’s industrial heartland are being offered signing bonuses. Factory wages have risen as much as 20 percent in recent months.

Some manufacturers, already weeks behind schedule because they can’t find enough workers, are closing down production lines and considering raising prices. Such increases would most likely drive up the prices that American consumers pay for all sorts of Chinese-made goods. Rising wages could also lead to greater inflation in China.

The immediate cause of the labor shortage is that millions of migrant workers, who traveled home for the long Lunar New Year earlier this month, are not returning to the coast. Thanks to a half-trillion-dollar government stimulus program, jobs are being created in the country’s interior. At the same time, China’s birth rate has been sliding steadily ever since the introduction of the “one child” policy in 1977.

The Chinese government has rapidly expanded post-secondary education. Universities and other institutions of higher learning enrolled 6.4 million new students last year, compared to 5.7 million in 2007 and 2.2 million in 2000. Letting wages rise benefits workers, said Jingo Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities and commodities at J.P. Morgan Chase. Letting currency rise benefits currency speculators, she added.

Greece Comes to a Standstill; Citizens Are Angry at E.U.

Hundred of thousands of workers, both public and private, stayed home from work to protest the government’s austerity program and express their anger at the European Union (E.U.) for its role in forcing their country to adopt its harsh measures. Greece was brought to a virtual standstill as a one-day general strike grounded all flights and halted buses, trains and ferries. Schools, government ministries and local authorities were also closed, with hospitals staffed only by emergency personnel.

This is the second general strike in two weeks in response to the socialist government’s efforts to bring the country’s enormous debts and budget deficit under control by drastic cuts in jobs and public services. Greece currently has a spiraling public debt of 12.7 percent, more than four times higher than Eurozone rules allow. Under EU. pressure, the government has pledged to cut the public deficit to 8.7 percent this year by freezing public sector salaries, raising the average retirement age from 65 to 67 and increasing taxes on petrol, alcohol and tobacco.

John Monks, head of the European Trades Union Congress and in Greece for the strike, said: ”Right across Europe, countries are in trouble. This is true of northern Europe as well as southern Europe. The E.U. could have a more sympathetic approach than what has been developed. No doubt there will be more strikes in other parts of Europe. People know that the debt increased in order to bail out the banks, but who are they making pay the price? The rich and bankers who are responsible or working people.” Monks commented.

Vale Agrees to Meet with Striking Ontario Steelworkers

Vale Inco has agreed to hold ”exploratory” talks with union leaders representing striking workers at the company’s Sudbury, Ontario, nickel operations, the first signs of movement in a strike that began last July. The two sides will meet this weekend with a mediator to “explore potential ways forward in the collective bargaining impasse between the parties,” said the United Steelworkers (USW), which represents the 3,100 workers in Sudbury and at a smaller operation in Port Colborne, Ontario.

Since mid-July, when the strike began, relations between Vale management and the union have been frosty, particularly since the company began partial mining operations last year, using contract workers and employees outside the striking bargaining unit.

Key areas of friction include pension issues and a worker bonus tied to the price of nickel. Seven months of impasse has produced nothing, other than a company restarting operations with replacement workers and a union membership seeking other jobs, or forfeiting their lifelong investments.

Algerian Teachers Vow More Strikes

Unions representing Algeria’s teachers rejected a proposed increase on Feb. 21 and called for a general strike, prompting student and parent fears that the school year will be lost entirely. The two teachers unions, CNAPEST and UNPEF, will begin a prolonged strike on Feb. 24 to protest what they are calling an unsatisfactory offer.

Union representatives said this wage offer falls short of their expectations, especially when compared to the staggering inflation in Algeria, as well as their Moroccan and Tunisian counterparts. Teachers themselves were divided on the pay offer, with some saying it would allow them to live decently, while others dismissed the offer as politically motivated and designed to weaken their protests.

Parents’ associations are concerned that repeated strikes will disrupt their children’s education. They are asking the prime minister to step in quickly to resolve the ongoing labor dispute.

Global Solidarity Day with Striking Turkish Workers

The current strike of TEKEL workers has been running for more than70 days, following a snap decision by the government to close their workplaces. The striking workers and their families, in protest against the decision, have left their homes, traveled to Ankara and have been living in tents, with the night temperature reaching –15 degrees.

TEKEL, the former state-owned tobacco company was recently privatized. Privatization, and the decision of the government to close all of the company’s warehouses, caused the loss of 12,000 jobs. Under Turkish law, workers who lose their jobs under privatization are supposed to be given alternative jobs with full benefits. However, the Turkish government refuses to follow these rules.

Representatives of ICEM, the global energy union, were in Ankara on Feb. 24 to show their continuous support for the TEKEL strikers. Earlier this week, the ICEM, which represents 20 million members from around the world, sent letters to the Turkish President, Prime Minister Labor Minister, asking them to find a solution to the TEKEL dispute as soon as possible.

Spring Will Bring Transport Strikes across Europe

The spring thaw may bring with it a European travel freeze as transport workers near and far gear up to strike in salary and benefit disputes. In the Czech Republic, workers, including those at Czech Railways, oppose a new law raising taxes on benefits already part of their work contracts. Lobos Pomajbik, president of the Transport Workers’ Union, announced a strike planned for March 1, between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m., when trains in the Czech Republic will come to a halt.

Strikes are expected to hit airlines as they try to cut labor costs by layoffs, pay reductions and a squeeze on benefits. British Airways cabin crew workers voted overwhelming for strike action on the same day that 4,000 Lufthansa pilots went on strike, leading to the cancellation of about 3,000 flights.

In France, the air controllers began a four-day strike on Feb. 23, disrupting air-traffic to the country’s two main airports. The controllers oppose plans to integrate European air traffic control and argue it will lead to job and social benefit cuts.

Learn about workers and their unions in other countries by reading our weekly “The World of Labor” here and at our web site:https://www.laborsvoiceforchange.org .