Unions – Page 3 – Prog Gold

Strikes in Saudi Arabia

Published on February 24, 2011

John Molyneux reports on a strike in the financial heart of Saudi Arabia:

I went last Thursday to my workplace, and I found out that there were over 3000 workers demanding their rights before they called a general strike in the construction site in Saudi Binladin Group. The workers were very angry, there workplace is one of the largest construction project in the country, which worth SR.100 billion. However, they live in a terrible conditions, one of the workers was telling me how he was living: “I live in a room 4m x 3m with 8 people, and for every 10 people there is only one toilet”. Another Egyptian worker was telling me about the working conditions and the restriction of religious freedom: “those are Zionists, they donâ€™t even allow me to pray on time!!”, and another worker was speaking about the water at the site, which is infected and full of filth and insects: “the managers wouldnâ€™t even wash their hands with it, but for us we have to drink it because it is the only drinking water at the site”. The others talked about the delayed salaries and the unpaid overtime: “can you believe that some of the workers here are paid only 700 riyals a month, and I am paid 1000 riyal, how would we survive??”.

Wisconsin, Libya and Beyond — Your Happening World (19)

Published on February 21, 2011

Wisconsin state representative Gordon Hintz on the Budget repair bill and the dirty tricks the Republicans have been using to undermine the democratic process.

As I’ve said before, the revolution is global and the support for the Wisconsin strikers from Egypt is not just symbolic:

MADISON, Wis. â€” Someone in Egypt has been paying attention to whatâ€™s happening in Madison and wanted to send a message of solidarity from across the globe â€” so they ordered a pizza.

It might seem like a small gesture, but itâ€™s overwhelming to the staff at Ianâ€™s on State Street â€” a campus staple mere blocks from the Capitol â€” where in the last few days, theyâ€™ve fielded calls from concerned citizens of 12 countries, and 38 out of 50 states looking to donate money to provide free pizza to the Wisconsinites who have congregated here.

At Unfogged, more suggestions for how to support the Wisconsin unionists:

If any commenters with some disposable income would like to donate something for the protesters, here are some helpful numbers:

To supply protesters with WATER contact (Capitol Center Foods at 608-255-2616). To supply protesters with FOOD contact (Burrito Drive at 608-260-8586, Silver Mine Subs at 608-286-1000, Ian’s Pizza at 608-257-9248, Pizza Di Roma at 608-268-0900, or Asian Kitchen at 608-255-0571

(Ian’s seems like it’s at capacity, so I suggest giving some of those other places a little love.)

(If anybody has a suggestion of how to support the pro-democracy forces in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain et all with a little monetary love, let me know.)

This is our revolution too. What’s happening in Libya and Egypt and Bahrain and Yemen and even Wisconsin is important to us too. Their struggle is our struggle.

Someone has been missing in action in the Middle East wave of democratisation…

Mass protest topples another “dictator” …. in Ealing!

Published on February 16, 2011

From Socialist Worker:

Headteacher Juliet Strang has been removed from Villiers High School after a student strike and mass protests.

It is a great victory. To the joyous relief of everyone, her reign ended with an announcement to the teachers by the chair of governors on Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of students protested twice outside the school against the sacking of the schoolâ€™s NUT union rep, Amerjit Virdee.

Amerjit has taught at the school for 28 years and is head of maths. Many see his sacking as an attack on the union.

A magnificent 4-hour strike by students on Tuesday of last week closed the school and was the key moment in the dispute.

Strangâ€™s response was incredible. She locked out whole years of students. The police backed her up, refusing them access to the school.

London, England. Commuters today were surprised that a strike in the London Underground actually made their daily trip to and from work more difficult. Worried local reporters, equally puzzled, demanded to know from union bosses why their strike was making their commute more difficult. The unions were put under more pressure when a local politician accused them of having ulterior motives for this strike. He was joined by a national politician also attacking the unions. Commentators from across the political spectrum remained equally puzzled by the idea that workers would actually use the one form of pressure they can bring to bear on their employers and that such action might actually inconvenience middle class people.

Surprisingly, the idea that the Tories are ideologically opposed to unions and have political motivations for their anti-union rhetoric was not brought up.

Unite wins court battle against BA

Published on May 21, 2010

British Airways strike ban is overturned by appeal court:

The appeal court overturned a high court injunction against the strikes won by BA on Monday, hours before the first five-day strike was due to take place. The appeal was allowed by the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, and Lady Justice Smith, who rejected the original ruling that Unite had breached the 1992 Trade Union Act by taking inadequate steps to inform members of the result of a strike ballot in February. It was rejected by the master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger.

It’s good news for the Unite union, as this ruling means employers locked in battle with the union cannot get a ballot to strike declared invalid just because the members weren’t told about eleven spoiled ballots. The news confirms Palau’s hunch the original judge kicked this upstairs, making his decision on purely procedural grounds but leaving the intepretation of the law to a more senior court.

Meanwhile, does it surprise anybody that BA was trying to fix up union organisers as long ago as 2007?