Monthly Archives: November 2014

After the protracted battle against NXP Semiconductors, the battle against casualisation and union busting has shifted to Wyeth Philippines, a food company that is part of the giant Nestle Corporation.  During the middle of this year, Wyeth Philippines retrenched 87 workers who had been active in the fight against contracting […]

As reported previously, since coming to power via a coup, the military junta in Thailand has established a climate of fear in an attempt to defeat opposition to its rule, see here, here and here. This week, five more students were detained by the military for protesting against the coup […]

This week, RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia co-hosted a forum with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Employer Association (BGMEA). The BGMEA has a track record of campaigning against workers right to organise independently at their workplaces and the implementation of internationally recognised Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards. A coalition of […]

In 2009, thousands of workers at the Ssangyong car factory in South Korea occupied their factory in a bid to save their jobs. In spite of their heroic efforts in holding out for 77 days, their struggle was defeated amid a full scale military assault of the factory. The sacked […]

As reported previously, the use of forced labour is widespread in the central Asian country of Uzbekistan. While concerted international campaigns have led the Uzbek government to decrease the number of children it gang presses for the cotton harvest, the outcome has been an increase in the number of adults […]

The Walmart Corporation is one of the biggest companies in the world employing over 2 million workers in 27 countries. It is also a viciously anti union company that keeps its workers un-organised so that it can pay the lowest possible wages to its workers. A global campaign by union […]

Another 5 unionists are in detention in Cambodia. The activists from garment union C.CAWDU were arrested for protesting the sacking of 2,000 unionised workers from the Juhui shoe factory, which supplies WalMart. Workers demonstrated to demand the reinstatement, and were attacked by 200 thugs. 10 activists were detained, and five […]

In May 2014, 301 workers were killed in the Eynez Mine in the Turkish town of Soma. The mine has been closed ever since, and workers have not been receiving their wages. On 28 October, dozens of Eynez Mine workers marched from Soma to Ankara to demand their unpaid wages.

Workers organisations will be crucial for building class-based resistance to violent religious extremism in Iraq. However the prohibition on public sector unions still remains. A new report by the US government-funded Solidarity Centre outlines the organising efforts of electrical and oil sector unions, despite government raids on union offices and […]

Australian labour movement veteran Bill Deller passed away on 17 October. Bill’s history in trade unionism commenced early on while in Western Australia working in the mining industry.  In the 1990’s he was leader of the State Public Sector Federation (CPSU SPSF), and then an organiser and life member of […]