Unions around the world are being asked to participate on Nov. 16 in the International Day of Action to register a strong protest against trade union repression and political killings in the Philippines. The event is aimed at condemning the intensified attacks being carried out by the government of Gloria Arroyo.

Since Arroyo became president in 2001, 64 trade union leaders and organizers have been murdered in extra-judicial executions. They are part of the more than 750 victims of political killings of unarmed legal activists perpetrated by the government. The Philippines is now considered second only to Colombia as the most dangerous place for unionists..

A total of 951 cases of human rights violations victimizing 77,028 workers have been documented by the independent Center for Trade Union and Human Rights. The violations include assaults on the picketline, illegal arrests and detentions, disappearances, abductions and various forms of harassment and intimidation

Dockers Enjoy Victory after Strike in Two Costa Rican Ports

Dock workers who struck two Costa Rican ports have won a substantial victory under an agreement negotiated with the government. The workers were protesting against the lack of consultation over restructuring plans and demanding that the terms of their collective bargaining agreement be respected.

The dockers began a work-to-rule protest on Sept. 25 in the ports of Limon and Moin. The authorities’ heavy-handed response was to send in 300 police and security personnel, who took over cargo-handling work from the union members. However, in a dramatic turnabout on Nov. 3, the union reached a ground-breaking agreement with the government.

The agreement meets all union demands, including commitments on wages and outstanding benefits. It establishes a special commission to deal with the modernization of the ports and investigate the labor conditions of dockers. It contains a pledge by the company operators not to harass or persecute workers or trade union leaders.

Muslim Teacher in Holland Wins Right to Refuse Hand-Shakes

A Muslim high school teacher shouldn’t be fired for refusing to shake hands with men, the Equal Opportunity Commission ruled on Nov. 7. The non-binding decision was the latest test of ill-defined rules of conduct for ethnic minorities in Dutch schools and in the public service.

While the commission said the teacher was within her rights, it made no explicit recommendation to the school to reinstate her. It also said there were other forms of greeting the teacher could use which still fulfilled the school’s commitment to teach students respect and prepare them for the job market.

The teacher was fired from the Vader Rijn College in Utrecht, a school where 80 percent of the students have Moroccan or Turkish backgrounds. She had argued that shaking hands was not an everyday greeting in the education sector and that her refusal to do so did not hurt her ability to teach.

Zimbabwe Doctors Strike for Lack of Medicine

Intern doctors at state-run Mpilo Central Hospital in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo are on strike over the lack of medicine and other basic equipment they need to treat patients. The interns left their posts a week ago and have not retuned to work as of Nov. 7.

A series of talks between the striking doctors and hospital authorities have failed to break the deadlock, according to doctors’ representative Irvin Saudi, but he said online: "Just this morning, we .had a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and they indicated that funds have been released for the purchase of medicines and other resources.”

Strikes by doctors and nurses have become routine in Zimbabwe as the public health sector ‹once the envy of many developing nations ‹crumbled after years of underfunding and mismanagement

Unions May Strike Paris Airport as 70 Lose Security Badges

Union leaders will meet Nov. 14 to discuss a possible strike over the withdrawal of security badges from more than 70 airport workers, mostly Muslims. Last week, officials at the Charles de Gaulle international airport said that 72 workers have been stripped of their security clearance since May 2005 for suspected links to Islamic extremists and other fundamentalist groups.

Unions have filed a complaint of discrimination and the French anti-discrimination agency HALDE is also investigating the matter. A spokesman for the CGT union said it would be pushing for a “total work stoppage” to protest against the conditions in which the badges were withdrawn.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that the withdrawal of the men’s security clearance was an “obligation of precaution.” On Nov. 15, a court is to rule on a plea brought by seven of the affected workers, who are requesting that the interior ministry produce the evidence against them.

South Korea’s Union Membership Drops to All-Time Low

Membership in South Korea’s labor unions dropped to an all-time low last year, reflecting workers’ disenchantment with large umbrella unions, a government report stated. The latest findings show that10.3 percent of employed workers were affiliated with unions as of late 2005. The number is the lowest since Seoul started collecting data on the subject in 1977. At that time, the rate stood at 25.4 percent.

“Criticism that large unions were not representing the rights of workers properly, and a slowdown in the economy, which is reducing the number of jobs in large manufacturing areas, seems to be having an impact,” said a source at the labor ministry. The growing wage gap between workers in big companies and small companies has also affected their solidarity.

Both the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the more progressive Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) have taken flak for upholding the interests of members working for big companies like Hyundai Motors, while underrepresenting workers in smaller firms. The FKTU has 3,589 companies within its fold and represents 770,572 members. The KCTU says it has 642,053 members in 1,205 companies.

Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "World of Labor" columns can be viewed at our Web site: www.laboreducator.org. Harry

Kelber's e-mail address is: hkelber@igc.org.