The World of Labor - September 4, 2010



	THE WORLD OF LABOR — September 4, 2010 By Harry Kelber U.S. Jobless Rate Rises to 9.6%; Net Loss of 57,000 Jobs The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the unemployment rate rose from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent in August, in its report issued September 3 on the Labor Day weekend. The private sector created only 67,000 jobs, far less than the 150,000 jobs a month needed to keep up with population growth, and nowhere near the hundreds of thousands of jobs a month to return to pre-recession levels. The number of people who are listed as officially unemployed rose to 15 million. More than 26 million workers are without jobs or full-time work. There were 6.2 million people in August who had been without a job for 27 weeks or more. Jobs increased in health care (28,000), mining (8,000) and construction (19,000). Manufacturing jobs declined by 27,000 in August. The disappointing unemployment report will intensify labor’s demand for a massive jobs program, financed by a new economic stimulus package. On Sept. 15, workers, students, community and religious groups in dozens of cities across the country will revive one of the key demands of the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom back on the national agenda. Many European Firms Violate U.S. Labor Standards, Report Says A report by Human Rights Watch, issued Sept. 3, says that many European companies that publicly embrace workers’ rights under global labor standards, nevertheless undermine workers’ rights in their U.S. operations. The 128 –page report details ways in which some European multinational firms have carried out aggressive campaigns to keep workers in the United States from organizing and bargaining, violating international standards and, often, U.S. labor laws. Companies cited include Germany-based Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Post’s DHL, UK-based Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets and G4S Wagenhut Security, France-based Sodexo food services and Saint-Gobain Industrial equipment, Norway-based Kongsberg Automotive, and the Dutch firm, Gamma Holding. “The behavior of these companies casts serious doubt on the value of voluntary commitments to human rights,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Companies need to be held accountable to their own stated commitments and to strong legal standards.” French Unions Take to Streets to Fight Pension Reforms French unions have called for a massive nationwide strike and street protest on Sept. 7 to oppose a pension reform bill. Before that, street protests have been called for Sept. 4 over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s security policy. Some 30 civil rights groups and leftwing organizations will begin the week’s anti-government protests with a rally in Paris to denounce Sarkozy’s latest measures on crime and security. Critics have called the move, which includes revocation of French nationality for immigrants convicted for attacks on police and the repatriation of thousands of Roma to Eastern Europe, a ploy to boost Sarkozy’s flagging popularity before elections Sept. 6/7. The government unveiled its planned overhaul of the pay-as-you-go pensions regime in mid-June. It indicated it would not budge from its core decision to raise the retirement to 62 from 60 by 2018. and make people work at least 41.5 years before they can retire on a full pension. Unions and opposing political parties consider the pension reforms an unjust burden to workers and that it would increase the inequality in French society. Illegal Chinese Workers in Israel Threatened with Deportation For hundreds of Chinese workers, a new life in the promised land of Israel has turned into a nightmare. Many of them borrowed thousands of dollars to pay for work visas that later turned out to be invalid. and now, threatened with deportation from Israel, they are afraid of returning to China, where they will also be threatened if they do not cough up the money they borrowed. Chinese workers arrived in Israel 20 years ago when the security situation between Israelis and Palestinians deteriorated and a new labor force was being sought. Many of the nearly 11,000 Chinese who work in Israel are underpaid, forced to work long hours and threatened with deportation if they complain.. Two years ago, Mr. Zu paid $31,000 for a five-year work visa, He starts his 14-hour workday at 4 am, lives in a caravan camp and earns less than the average Israeli salary. Mai and Chang who won’t give their full name, have already sent one child back to China, and now live in fear that their other son will be deported. The Israeli government says 5-year-old Ruohsuan is an illegal resident because, although he was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew, his parents are here without a visa, earmarking him for deportation. Top German Union Urges Industry to Advance Pay Raise Germany’s largest trade union called for engineering employers to bring forward an agreed pay raise by two months to allow their workers to share in the spoils of a rebound in Europe’s largest economy. Gerthold Huber, head of the IG Metall union, said its demand for a a 6 percent pay raise for some 85,000 steelworkers last week was “fair and adequate.“ The current wage agreement has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Huber wrote in the Handelsblatt newspaper. The wage deal reached in February between IG Metall and engineering employers comprised a one-off payment of 320 euros ($420) per worker for the period between May 2010 and April 2011, when a 2.7 percent raise is due to kick in. It also included a clause that the pay rise could be moved forward or back by two months, depending on the health of the economy. Each company was to make its own decision on this. The export-oriented engineering sector bore the brunt last year of the deepest Recession Germany has experienced since World War II, from which the industry has emerged strongly. The economy grew by 2.2 percent in the April to June period, its fastest rate since unification. The First No-Strike Year for Korean Autoworkers For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, workers in Korea’s five foremost automakers opted not to stage any walkout. This stirs hope that the militant trade union has become friendly toward management. Employees of Kia Motors, the nation’s second largest carmaker, have gone on strikes for the past 19 straight years since 1990, despite criticism that the labor-management conflicts cut down on the company’s competitiveness. Yet things are different this year. A majority of unionists voted to accept the offers of management on Sept. 2, which promised a 4.9 percent raise in base pay on top of performance bonuses. The vote completes thee first strikeless year for Korea in 24 years, since the four other industry players—Hyundai Motors, Renault, Samsung Motors, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology and Sangyong Motors have already reached deals with the union. A good incentive for not striking at Kia Motors was when the company pledged to offer each employee 120 shares of company stock so they can own part of the ompany. The strategy also worked for Kia’s sister company, Hyudai Motor, whose employees were each awarded 100 shares during the past four years. Keep informed about workers and their unions by reading our weekly, “The World of Labor," posted here on weekends and on our web site: https://www.laborsvoiceforchange.org .

THE WORLD OF LABOR — September 4, 2010

By Harry Kelber

U.S. Jobless Rate Rises to 9.6%; Net Loss of 57,000 Jobs

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the unemployment rate rose from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent in August, in its report issued September 3 on the Labor Day weekend. The private sector created only 67,000 jobs, far less than the 150,000 jobs a month needed to keep up with population growth, and nowhere near the hundreds of thousands of jobs a month to return to pre-recession levels.

The number of people who are listed as officially unemployed rose to 15 million. More than 26 million workers are without jobs or full-time work. There were 6.2 million people in August who had been without a job for 27 weeks or more. Jobs increased in health care (28,000), mining (8,000) and construction (19,000). Manufacturing jobs declined by 27,000 in August.

The disappointing unemployment report will intensify labor’s demand for a massive jobs program, financed by a new economic stimulus package. On Sept. 15, workers, students, community and religious groups in dozens of cities across the country will revive one of the key demands of the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom back on the national agenda.

Many European Firms Violate U.S. Labor Standards, Report Says

A report by Human Rights Watch, issued Sept. 3, says that many European companies that publicly embrace workers’ rights under global labor standards, nevertheless undermine workers’ rights in their U.S. operations. The 128 –page report details ways in which some European multinational firms have carried out aggressive campaigns to keep workers in the United States from organizing and bargaining, violating international standards and, often, U.S. labor laws.

Companies cited include Germany-based Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Post’s DHL, UK-based Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets and G4S Wagenhut Security, France-based Sodexo food services and Saint-Gobain Industrial equipment, Norway-based Kongsberg Automotive, and the Dutch firm, Gamma Holding.

“The behavior of these companies casts serious doubt on the value of voluntary commitments to human rights,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Companies need to be held accountable to their own stated commitments and to strong legal standards.”

French Unions Take to Streets to Fight Pension Reforms

French unions have called for a massive nationwide strike and street protest on Sept. 7 to oppose a pension reform bill. Before that, street protests have been called for Sept. 4 over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s security policy. Some 30 civil rights groups and leftwing organizations will begin the week’s anti-government protests with a rally in Paris to denounce Sarkozy’s latest measures on crime and security.

Critics have called the move, which includes revocation of French nationality for immigrants convicted for attacks on police and the repatriation of thousands of Roma to Eastern Europe, a ploy to boost Sarkozy’s flagging popularity before elections Sept. 6/7.

The government unveiled its planned overhaul of the pay-as-you-go pensions regime in mid-June. It indicated it would not budge from its core decision to raise the retirement to 62 from 60 by 2018. and make people work at least 41.5 years before they can retire on a full pension. Unions and opposing political parties consider the pension reforms an unjust burden to workers and that it would increase the inequality in French society.

Illegal Chinese Workers in Israel Threatened with Deportation

For hundreds of Chinese workers, a new life in the promised land of Israel has turned into a nightmare. Many of them borrowed thousands of dollars to pay for work visas that later turned out to be invalid. and now, threatened with deportation from Israel, they are afraid of returning to China, where they will also be threatened if they do not cough up the money they borrowed.

Chinese workers arrived in Israel 20 years ago when the security situation between Israelis and Palestinians deteriorated and a new labor force was being sought. Many of the nearly 11,000 Chinese who work in Israel are underpaid, forced to work long hours and threatened with deportation if they complain.. Two years ago, Mr. Zu paid $31,000 for a five-year work visa, He starts his 14-hour workday at 4 am, lives in a caravan camp and earns less than the average Israeli salary.

Mai and Chang who won’t give their full name, have already sent one child back to China, and now live in fear that their other son will be deported. The Israeli government says 5-year-old Ruohsuan is an illegal resident because, although he was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew, his parents are here without a visa, earmarking him for deportation.

Top German Union Urges Industry to Advance Pay Raise

Germany’s largest trade union called for engineering employers to bring forward an agreed pay raise by two months to allow their workers to share in the spoils of a rebound in Europe’s largest economy. Gerthold Huber, head of the IG Metall union, said its demand for a a 6 percent pay raise for some 85,000 steelworkers last week was “fair and adequate.“ The current wage agreement has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Huber wrote in the Handelsblatt newspaper.

The wage deal reached in February between IG Metall and engineering employers comprised a one-off payment of 320 euros ($420) per worker for the period between May 2010 and April 2011, when a 2.7 percent raise is due to kick in. It also included a clause that the pay rise could be moved forward or back by two months, depending on the health of the economy. Each company was to make its own decision on this.

The export-oriented engineering sector bore the brunt last year of the deepest Recession Germany has experienced since World War II, from which the industry has emerged strongly. The economy grew by 2.2 percent in the April to June period, its fastest rate since unification.

The First No-Strike Year for Korean Autoworkers

For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, workers in Korea’s five foremost automakers opted not to stage any walkout. This stirs hope that the militant trade union has become friendly toward management. Employees of Kia Motors, the nation’s second largest carmaker, have gone on strikes for the past 19 straight years since 1990, despite criticism that the labor-management conflicts cut down on the company’s competitiveness.

Yet things are different this year. A majority of unionists voted to accept the offers of management on Sept. 2, which promised a 4.9 percent raise in base pay on top of performance bonuses. The vote completes thee first strikeless year for Korea in 24 years, since the four other industry players—Hyundai Motors, Renault, Samsung Motors, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology and Sangyong Motors have already reached deals with the union.

A good incentive for not striking at Kia Motors was when the company pledged to offer each employee 120 shares of company stock so they can own part of the ompany. The strategy also worked for Kia’s sister company, Hyudai Motor, whose employees were each awarded 100 shares during the past four years.

Keep informed about workers and their unions by reading our weekly, “The World of Labor," posted here on weekends and on our web site: https://www.laborsvoiceforchange.org .