Unions in Australia have welcomed the news that the Federal Government introduced a bill into Parliament last week to create an independent Agency on asbestos. The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency will co-ordinate, monitor and report on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan to get rid of asbestos, as well as run public awareness campaigns.  This development is the result of many years of campaigning by unions and community groups against the use of asbestos, a known carcinogen, which still kills thousands of people in Australia and the world.

In May of 2012, aviation workers took actions against new legislation that banned strikes in essential services like aviation. The Turkish government retaliated by sacking 305 workers. The effort to reinstate these workers became an international campaign. Later in the year, following a Global Day of Action for airline workers, the Turkish government withdrew the ban on strikes. Nevertheless, the 305 workers still have not got their job back. Hava Is, the union representing them, is continuing with the campaign for their reinstatement. Last week, a delegation from the global union federation, IUF, went to the Hava Is picket line to show their support.

The uprising in Syria is now two years old. The conflict has been brutal and has inflicted massive damage on the civilian population. Working class resistance was active in the early days with many strikes and demonstrations. This has now been weakened by the intensification of the conflict and the involvement of various reactionary and imperialist forces. Nevertheless, workers organisations are still active on many fronts. The missing piece is international action by workers around the world in support of their brothers and sisters.

At a conference this month, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) sounded the alarm about the growth of new airlines registered in ‘flag of convenience’ countries where regulations are weak or non-existent. This development is part of a constant push by airline companies to cut costs and increase profits. Airline companies have turned air transport workers into ‘...the primary shock absorbers for managing the effects of deregulation, liberalisation, the periodic business cycles and external shocks in the industry, often with devastating social consequences’. An internationally co-ordinated campaign by airline workers will be the only way to defeat this ‘race to the bottom’.

For the past 18 months, members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association have been on the front line of the global battle against outsourcing. On 27 September 2011, over 2,000 ground staff were evicted from Manila International Airport. Workers were protesting against a management outsourcing scheme that would have stripped their wages by half, and destroyed their conditions.  There has been a continuous protest camp and regular protests since that time, with over 700 workers still continuing the struggle.  

A local Sri Lankan garment union, FTZ-GSEU recently organised a demonstration to safeguard workers jobs and entitlements.  In support of this, the global union federation IndustriALL put out a statement against the global ‘race to the bottom’ employed by garment companies. The Federation called on garment workers internationally to come together, speak with one voice and to fight for their rights as a united class organised internationally.

In the last few weeks there has been a spate of industrial action by migrant workers in Malaysia over pay and conditions. Like in the rest of the world, migrant workers in Malaysia can be used as cheaper labour due to their weak bargaining power and insecure residence status. The catalyst for this latest wave of strikes was the announcement by the Malaysian government of an increase to the minimum wage, but this would only apply to local workers. Strikes by migrant workers broke out in many locations across a range of industries.

The factory fire at the Tazreen garment factory was one of two major disasters that affected garment workers last year. For the last few months, trade unions and family members have been campaigning to get compensation for the dead and injured. While the campaign for compensation is very important, only the development of active and independent trade unions will ensure that such disasters will not happen again in the future.

Following on from the historic strike in India a few weeks ago where around 100 million workers participated, workers in many other countries are also fighting back against the continuing capitalist crisis. While workers in countries like Egypt and Tunisia have been at the forefront of uprisings in the last couple of years, we are now seeing workers in countries like Iraq and Lebanon also coming out in mobilisations. In Europe, Greek workers are now being subjected to draconian anti strike laws, while workers in Portugal and Spain have recently staged massive nationwide protests.  

In an effort to increase the impact of such protests, and to overcome national boundaries and divisions, a new European day of protest is being organised for the 13 and 14 of March, see here and here, while a World Social Forum meeting will occur in Tunisia from the 26 to the 30 of March to discuss how to organise internationally more effectively.