WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD
ITALY
Wave of transport
strikes
Low pay along with threatened layoffs and privatization have
provoked a series of strikes and protests across Italy.
Unions at Alitalia, the state-owned airline, have taken the
lead in the protests. The Italian government cleared the way
for privatizing the airline in 2003, and management announced
plans to lay off 2,700 workers. That announcement spurred a
Jan. 19 one-day strike by airline workers. The walkout forced
Alitalia to cancel 364 flights. BBC News reported that the
check-in desks at Rome's Fiumicino airport were deserted.
Striking workers rallied at the Finance Ministry in Rome.
"We want the [layoff] plan withdrawn and discussions to start
again from scratch," union leader Stefano Pietrini said.
The strike comes less than three weeks after a Jan. 8 strike
by air traffic controllers shut down flights across the
country. Air traffic controllers have been without a union
contract for two years. They are demanding raises to keep up
with inflation.
Air transport workers are not the only Italian workers on
the picket lines. Bus, subway and train workers in Milan
launched wildcat strikes Jan. 12, picking up a campaign they
began before the holidays. Those strikes challenged the
$103-a-month raise that more moderate unions settled for
earlier. By Jan. 14, the Milan city government capitulated,
agreeing to higher raises for the city transit workers.
But labor unrest is far from over. Alitalia workers have
planned another strike for Feb. 9. Air traffic controllers have
called for more job actions on Feb. 20. Italy's labor union
confederations have also been considering a nationwide general
strike if the national government proceeds with plans to cut
back pension benefits.
CHAD
Telecom workers walk off the job
Telecommunication workers in the central African country of
Chad walked off the job Jan. 16 in an unlimited strike aimed at
ousting the general manager of the publicly owned Sotel-Chad.
The strike followed management's announcement that it would cut
back employee benefits.
A public resolution by the workers' union Synatel demanded
"the unconditional departure of the general manager, the
nomination of future leaders in line with the law, and the
immediate lifting of antisocial measures," the French News
Agency reported.
By Jan. 19, the strikers declared victory. A presidential
decree released Sotel CEO Myaro Beramgoto from duty.
NIGERIA
Protests against fuel tax grow
Thousands of Nigerian workers and their supporters took to
the streets of the capital city of Lagos Jan. 15 to protest a
government tax hike on fuel. The protest was part of a broader
campaign by the Nigerian Labor Congress to force President
Olusegun Obasanjo to repeal the tax.
"There is a need for Nigerians to let our rulers know that
tax is hurting most of us, especially the masses," NLC leader
Johnson Fati told the French News Agency.
Nigeria is a major world oil producer, and one of Africa's
most developed countries. But most of the oil industry is
heavily dependent on U.S. and European giants like Chevron and
Shell.
The Nigerian union federation is mobilizing its members for
a general strike to begin Jan. 21. On Jan. 19, the German Press
Agency quoted NLC President Adams Oshiomhole saying, "All
Nigerians should use the intervening period of Monday and
Tuesday to undertake large-scale shopping and withdraw as much
money from their bank accounts as possible, as every sector of
the economy will be shut until the government returns to the
path of sanity."
In June 2003, police killed 12 Nigerian workers during an
eight-day general strike against fuel price hikes. In those
strikes, oil workers did not shut down production. But this
time, the country's two main oil workers' unions have
threatened to join the strike and shut down oil exports,
according to AFX News.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Coal miners win better pay, benefits
Over 100 coal miners spent more than three days underground
in mid-January when they took over mines near Zenica, northwest
of Sarajevo, to win better pay and working conditions.
Thirty-five miners stayed in the mines after their shifts ended
on Jan. 13. Seventy more joined them the next day.
Miners' union leader Mujo Prasko told the Associated Press
Jan. 15 that the workers were demanding salaries of $320 a
month, better benefits including paid meals, and the
resignations of the Mine Union Board.
By Jan. 17, after spending 82 hours more than 1,000 feet
below the surface, the miners declared victory. Ahmed
Hadzipasic, prime minister of the Muslim-Croat half of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, announced on Jan. 16 that all the miners'
demands would be met.
Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the former autonomous regions
of Yugoslavia that was granted independence in 1994 after
purging the Serbian population. The nationalist government is
now protected by over 10,000 NATO troops.
--Andy McInerney
Reprinted from the Jan. 29, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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