On December 19, Roche Poland (the pharmaceuticals company) dismissed an activist of the ZSP without any reason. The orders came directly from corporate headquarters and he was asked to leave immediately. The company refused to give any reason in writing or any other documents.
The dismissal came on the first day after a large article with the comrade appeared in the main newspaper. Although no real reason was given, it is largely felt that this decision was related to his work in the union.
The strikers claim that the redundancies are not valid and considered them a clear retaliation for the strike. They demand to be reinstated by ABB or outsourced by ADECCO - EUROCEN.
On Wednesday EULEN fired all the workers on strike since November 28.
EULEN has claimed that it fired the workers because of the loss of its contract with ABB, where it was replaced by ADECCO - EUROCEN.
Among those dismissed is the entire Strike Committee. Nine of it 12 members already had been dismissed on 31 December.
EULEN dismisses most of the Strike Committee members in an attempt to break the strike.
Today ABB has forbidden the Strike Committee to access to its premises, adducing contract breach with EULEN and hiring ADECCO – EUROCEN services to cover the tasks of the striking workers.
On its side, EULEN fired on December 31st to 9 of the 12 members in the Strike Committee, in an attempt to break the strike, a clear action of union repression. The workers also denounce that the rest of workers are being held hostage in the game of interests between EULEN, ABB and ADECCO thus trying to split the workers and aggravating the situation of uncertainty about their future.
Following complaints of FAU Berlin, the UN workers' organisation, the ILO reinforces the rights of minority unions.
In its report from November 2011, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) demands the German government to ensure that the Freie Arbeiterinnen und Arbeiter-Union (FAU) could represent the interests of their members, in accordance with Conventions 87 and 98. The Committee on Freedom of Organization of this UN organisation in particular defends the right of free speech for FAU Berlin, the right to access premises in any companies they have members in and the right to participate in workers' councils, if the number of members is representative on the company level.
December 16, 2011 Kazakhstan authorities shot down in the Zhanaozen (a West Kazakhstan city) the rally of striking oil workers. The strike of about 1,500 workers with the requirements of higher wages and better working conditions began in May, but was banned. Oilfield of Karazhanbas, where conflict broke out, is being developed by the company, which belongs to the Chinese concern China International Trust Investment Company and the Kazakh company "KazMunayGaz".*
This website wrote last year about the conflict that the CNT-AIT has with the company EULEN. It started after the constitution of the union section of CNT, specially in the workplace under the multinational ABB.SA. This two years long conflict is now reactivated and an indefinite strike started on November 28th 2011!
The CNT-AIT of Cordoba explains the background of the conflict: "In these two years there has been three causes of conflict with the company: the struggle for job security and against dismissals and reprisals, the struggle for the application of a fair collective agreement and the struggle for the compliance with the rules of risk prevention.
Since the firing of Icaro in March, the struggle has been continuing in the factory. A group of six workers went on strike but were fired. Other dismissals are being carried on as well; in November, the factory fired 40 people and threatened to close its doors. Now Icaro is being charged with defamation against the company, which is a criminal charge in Brazil. His trial will be on Wednesday, December 14 in Minas Gerais, Araxá.
The IWA received this information from the COB-AIT in May 2011:
“FF Mercantil, a company from Araxá-Minas Gerais, responsible for products of the Brazilian brand Finta and the Italian brand Lotto, keep their employees in a regime of extremely precarious work conditions and use different means to prevent them from organizing to resist their exploitation: the workers don't receive extra money for working in unhealthy conditions, they are exposed to excessive heat, they receive less than the minimum wage and many are the victims of humiliation, persecution and blackmail.
On the last 24th November a new general strike took place in Portugal, exactly one year after the last one. This was seventh general strike in Portugal in 37 years and the third convoked by the two main labor unions CGTP and UGT.
Since the last general strike the situation of workers in Portugal has aggravated. Following the International Monetary Fund/European Union bail-out in May, a series of austerity measures presented as the only way to reduce the state deficit and to “make the Portuguese economy more competitive” have been adopted. Workers have already been hit with increases in sales taxes, up to 25% increases in public transports fares and cuts in social and health services. Workers of the public sector will see their salary reduced by means of an extraordinary tax in 2011 and 2012. New harsh measures that constitute an historic attack on the rights of workers are being presented by the government, like reductions in compensations for firing workers, extension of the work day by 30 minutes without extra pay, extinction of some holidays, or the extension of the renewal period for short-term contracts. Unemployment has been rising in the last years reaching now 13% of workers according to official numbers that hardly reflect the real unemployment. The economy forecasts for Portugal predict the strongest recession on the euro zone in 2013 and a rise in unemployment due to the austerity measures.
The United States has been at the center of the international financial system ever since the Second World War. The dollar has served as the main international currency and the United States has as previous leading Empires derived immense benefits from being the supreme capitalist power. Now this Empire and capitalism is on shaky ground and the bank crisis has developed into a serious state debt crisis.
There is no doubt that financial crisis of 2008 originated from the US center. The history shows that if the center itself becomes endangered, then, preserving the system takes precedence over all other considerations. The IWA Secretariat wrote the in First of May statement 2010 “Organize and fight against the capitalist exploitation”:
