Yearly Archives: 2017

The third anniversary of the Soma mine disaster that killed 301 workers, was particularly sombre this year as it coincided with Mothers’ Day. The authorities banned a planned rally and commemoration by support organisations and deemed that only a commemoration at the cemetery was appropriate. While some compensation has been […]

The leader of the local trade union for the Coca Cola bottling company Amatil in Bawan, central Java, was recently dismissed in a blatant anti-union move. This followed the workers’ successful campaign, which began in late 2016, to unionise and register their own union. This case was very similar to […]

Unknown gunmen kidnapped seven anti-corruption activists, last week, in the middle of the night in central Baghdad. While kidnappings have now become common in Iraq, these were particularly targeted. All the men were involved in organising the anti-corruption demonstrations that have regularly taken place in Baghdad since mid-2015. Participants at […]

The election of Moon Jae-in as the new President of South Korea has brought new hope to Korean workers after the hard battles they fought in the last few years. In one of his pronouncements, Pres. Moon stated that he will make secure jobs one of his goals by ‘ushering in an […]

The Australian government is trying to use the controversial Adani Coal mine application to pass through new legislation that would weaken Aboriginal people’s control over their land. Ever since the Australian continent was colonised by the British Empire, First Nations people have always fought to recover their ancestral lands. The […]

At least 35 coal miners were killed this week when an explosion ripped through their mine. More miners are still believed to be trapped deeper inside the mine. There is confusion at how many miners might still be trapped or if there is any chance of them still being alive. […]

This week, on Monday 1 May, 6 workers were killed and more than 20 others injured when a crane that they were working on collapsed (see video). This industrial murder happened at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard on Geoje Island. Samsung is the world's third-largest shipbuilder and is a vicious […]

The hunger strike that more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners began last month continues amid protests in Palestine (see here and here) and solidarity actions all around the world. For May Day, the hunger strikers released a statement detailing the class character of the Palestinians protests issuing a call for solidarity […]

Workers all around the world marched again for workers’ rights on May Day (see here, here and here). In Sweden, May Day specifically targeted the issue of Islamophobia and how this is impacting negatively on women workers. In the Asia Pacific region, workers had to survive police repression in Turkey, […]

During 2016 workers in all industries once again continued to face pressure from the ongoing crisis of capitalism. Companies everywhere tried to increase profits by making workers work harder for less, and by spending less on health and safety. This relentless ‘Race to the Bottom’ was coupled with repression against […]