Timeline Labor
Return to home
1504 Apr 1,
English guilds went under state control.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1573-1812 The Spanish-imposed "mita" system in
Bolivia and Peru forced a seventh of adult men from indigenous
communities to work in silver and mercury mines.
(Econ., 5/2/20, p.60)
1648 Oct 18, The "shoemakers of
Boston"--the first labor organization in what would become the
United States--was authorized by the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Mass.
Bay Company).
(HN, 10/18/98)
1787 Feb 18, Austrian emperor
Josef II banned children under 8 from labor.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1811 Mar 11, Ned Ludd led a
group of workers in a wild protest against mechanization. Members of
the organized bands of craftsmen who rioted against automation in
19th century England were known as Luddites and also "Ludds." The
movement, reputedly named after Ned Ludd, began near Nottingham as
craftsman destroyed textile machinery that was eliminating their
jobs. By the following year, Luddites were active in Yorkshire,
Derbyshire, Lancashire and Leicestershire. Although the Luddites
opposed violence towards people (a position which allowed for a
modicum of public support), government crackdowns included mass
shootings, hangings and deportation to the colonies. It took 14,000
British soldiers to quell the rebellion. The movement effectively
died in 1813 apart from a brief resurgence of Luddite sentiment in
1816 following the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
(HN, 3/11/01)(HNQ, 5/14/01)(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A1)
1819 Aug 16, English police
charged unemployed demonstrators at St. Peter's Field in the
Manchester Massacre.
(MC, 8/16/02)
1821 English economist David
Ricardo noted that the influence of machinery is frequently
detrimental to the interest of the working class.
(Econ, 6/25/16, SR p.3)
1830 May 1, Mother (Mary
Harris) Jones, reformer and labor organizer, was born. [see 1837]
(HN, 5/1/01)
1834 Jan 29, President Jackson
ordered the 1st use of US troops to suppress a labor dispute.
Jackson ordered the War Department to put down a "riotous assembly"
near Willamsport, Maryland, among Irish laborers constructing the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
(HNQ, 1/23/99)(MC, 1/29/02)
1834 Britain’s Parliament
passed the Poor Law Amendment Act. It ensured that the poor were
housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. The law was inspired by the
thinking of Thomas Malthus blamed the plight of the poor on their
own flaws.
(www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/lesson08.htm)(Econ, 10/20/12,
p.54)(Econ, 7/27/13, p.63)
1834 William Bentinck, India's
governor-general, wrote to his superiors in London that Indian
cloth-makers were suffering severe hardship due to the efficiency of
the English textile industry.
(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A1)
1835 Jun 18, William Cobbett
(b.1763), English journalist, pamphleteer, and farmer, died in
Surrey, England. “A full belly to the laborer is, in my opinion, the
foundation of public morals and the only source of real public
peace.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cobbett)(http://tinyurl.com/k3qx4o9)
1838 A migration from India
began as recruiters based in Calcutta began trawling impoverished
villages for workers willing to sign up for at least five years of
labor on plantations growing sugar and other crops in Trinidad,
British Guiana, Suriname and elsewhere. The traffic was shut down on
March 12, 1917, after more than half a million people had come to
the Caribbean.
(Econ, 3/11/17, p.34)
1839 Mar 9, Prussian government
limited the work week for children to 51 hours.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1842 Mar 3, 1st US child labor
law regulating working hours was passed in Massachusetts.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1844 The British co-operative
movement started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern
English town of Rochdale. It was nominally owned by its customers
rather than its employees.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_co-operative_movement)(Econ,
11/9/13, p.72)
1845 Friedrich Engels
(1820-1895), German social scientist, authored in German “The
Condition of the Working Class in England.” It was not published in
English until 1892.
(www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/)
1850 Jan 27, Samuel Gompers,
first President of American Federation of Labor, was born.
(HN, 1/27/99)
1852 Mar 29, Ohio made it
illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than 10 hours a
day.
(MC, 3/29/02)
1860 Feb 22, Shoe-making
workers of Lynn, Mass, struck successfully for higher wages. The
strike in Lynn and Natick, Massachusetts, spread throughout New
England and involved 20,000 workers. The strike was for higher wages
and included women. The workers won their major demands.
(HNQ, 8/3/98)(MC, 2/22/02)
1860 Mar 6, While campaigning
for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln made a speech defending the
right to strike.
(HN, 3/6/99)
1861 Dec 3, In his first annual
message Pres. Lincoln argued that "labor is prior to, and
independent of capital. Capital is the fruit of labor, and could
never have existed if labor had not first existed..."
(WSJ, 2/10/95,
p.A8)(http://caps.fool.com/blogs/quotes-by-lincoln/548670)
1865 Mar 20, Michigan
authorized workers' cooperatives.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1867 The book “Progress of the
Working Class: 1832-1867” by J.M. Ludlow and Lloyd Jones was
published in London.
(https://archive.org/details/progressworking00jonegoog)
1867 Karl Marx (1818-1883),
London-based German philosopher, sociologist, economic historian,
journalist, and revolutionary socialist, authored “Das Kapital,
Kritik der politischen Okonomie” (Capital: Critique of Political
Economy). It is a critical analysis of capitalism as political
economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of
production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of
production.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Kapital)
1872 Mar 22, Illinois became
1st state to require sexual equality in employment.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1873 Mar 3, William Green,
President of the American Federation of Labor (1924-52), was born.
(HN, 3/3/99)(SC, 3/3/02)
1874 Jan 13, Battle between
jobless and police in NYC left 100s injured.
(MC, 1/13/02)
1874 Jul 4, Social Democratic
Workmen's Party of North America was formed.
(Maggio, 98)
1876 The Workingmen’s Party of
the United States (WPUS) was founded in Philadelphia, Pa. In 1878 it
reformed as the Socialist Labor Party.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingmen%27s_Party_of_the_United_States)
1877 Feb 12, US railroad
builders struck against a wage reduction.
(MC, 2/12/02)
1877 Jul 14, The Great Railroad
Strike of 1877 began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and ended some
45 days later after it was put down by local and state militias.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877)
1877 Jul 17, Riots and violence
erupted in several major American cities stemming from strikes
against railroads in protest of wage cuts. Strikes started against
the Baltimore & Ohio, and quickly spread west, with riots
erupting in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago and St. Louis. Nine were
killed when Federal troops were sent into Martinsburg, West
Virginia. On July 21, 26 were killed and the Union Depot and machine
shops were burned down.
(HNQ, 12/11/98)
1877 Jul 21, In West Virginia
26 railroad strikers were killed and the Union Depot and machine
shops were burned down.
(HNQ, 12/11/98)
1877 Jul 21-1877 Jul 22, Pres.
Rutherford Hayes sent federal troops and Marines to Baltimore to
restore order against striking railroad workers. President Hayes
then sent federal troops from city to city. They suppressed strike
after strike until the strike ended in September, approximately 45
days after it had started.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877)
1880 Feb 12, John L. Lewis,
American labor leader, was born.
(HN, 2/12/01)
1880 Apr 10, Frances Perkins,
Labor secretary, first woman cabinet member in an American
Administration, was born.
(HN, 4/10/98)
1880-1890 Germany set up a vocational training
system.
(Econ, 4/14/12, p.30)
1881 Nov 15, The American
Federation of Labor was founded. [see Nov 17]
(HN, 11/15/98)
1881 Nov 17, Under Samuel
Gompers (d.1924), the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Union
of the United States was formed--a precursor to the American
Federation of Labor. Gompers emigrated from England to New York with
his family as a boy. He grew up working in a sweatshop and amid
discussion about labor reform. Gompers led the AFL for 40 years,
sometimes using strikes and boycotts to demand workers' rights. He
successfully changed the unionism of the 19th century in the United
States, uniting different labor groups and keeping away from
political influence to guide American laborers. [see Nov 15]
(HNPD, 11/17/98)
1882 Aug 3, US Congress passed
the 1st Immigration Act. It banned Chinese immigration for ten
years. The Chinese Exclusion Act barred laborers from China and
halted a massive immigration of Cantonese peasants.
(HN, 8/3/98)(SFEC, 9/20/98, Z1 p.4)(SC, 8/3/02)
1882 Sep 1, The first Labor Day
was observed in New York City by the Carpenters and Joiners Union.
[see Sep 5]
(HN, 9/1/00)
1882 Sep 5, The first Labor Day
observance—a picnic and parade—was held in New York City. Matthew
Maguire, a machinist and secretary of the New York City Central
Labor Union, probably first suggested the celebration in 1882 to
recognize the contributions of workers to America. Parades like the
one in Buffalo, New York, around 1900, soon became an important part
of Labor Day festivities. Matthew Maguire, a machinist and secretary
of the New York City Central Labor Union, probably first suggested
the celebration in 1882 to recognize the contributions of workers to
America. Local and regional Labor Day observances spread across the
nation until, on June 28, 1894, the U.S. Congress passed an act
making the first Monday in September a legal holiday. [see Sep 1]
(AP, 9/5/97)(HNPD, 9/5/98)(HNQ, 9/7/98)
1885 Sep 2, In Rock Springs,
Wyoming Territory, 28 Chinese laborers were killed and hundreds more
chased out of town by striking coal miners.
(HN, 9/2/98)
1886 May 4,
At Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an 8-hour
workday turned into a riot when a bomb exploded. Seven policemen
were killed and some 60 others injured. Only one policeman was
killed in the strike. 3 labor leaders were executed Nov 10, 1887,
for the bombing. The Haymarket affair is generally considered to
have been an important influence on the origin of international May
Day observances for workers.
(AP, 5/4/97)(WSJ, 2/6/98,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot)
1886 May 5, A bomb exploded on
the fourth day of a workers' strike in Chicago, Ill.
(HN, 5/5/99)
1886 Dec 8, The American
Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded at a convention of union
leaders in Columbus, Ohio, by some 25 labor groups representing
about 150,000 members. The first president of the American
Federation of Labor was Samuel Gompers, who had reorganized the
Cigarmakers Union and participated in the founding of the Federation
of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881.
(AP, 12/8/97)(HNPD, 9/7/99)
1887 William Cooper Proctor
(1862-1934), a pioneering Episcopalian, introduced profit sharing
and eventually share ownership for workers of Proctor & Gamble,
a consumer goods firm. William Procter and James Gamble had
cofounded the company in 1837.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooper_Procter)(Econ, 6/8/19,
p.64)
1888 Apr 16, Drentse and Friese
peat cutters went on strike.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1889 Apr 15, Asa Philip
Randolph, American labor leader and Civil Rights advocate, was born.
(HN, 4/15/98)
1890 Jan 25, The United Mine
Workers of America was founded.
(AP, 1/25/98)
1891 Apr 7, Nebraska introduced
an 8 hour work day.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1891 Sep 3, Cotton pickers
organized a union & strike in Texas.
(MC, 9/3/01)
1891 Nov 28, The National
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (now IBEW) was founded in St.
Louis, home of Local 1.
(DT net, 11/28/97)
1892 Jan 8, Coal mine explosion
killed 100 in McAlister, Okla.
(HN, 1/8/99)
1892 Henry Clay Frick, partner
of Andrew Carnegie, engineered a bloody clash with the labor union
at the Pittsburgh Homestead Mill. 9-10 workers and 3 Pinkerton
guards were killed and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Workers union was crushed. The strike had arisen over Carnegie's
efforts to automate steel production.
(SFEC,1/20/97, p.D1)(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)(WSJ,
3/29/04, p.A8)
1893 In the United States 1,567
railway workers were killed and another 18,877 injured this year.
(Econ, 8/26/17, p.67)
1893-1894 During the economic crisis of 1893-94,
groups of jobless men organized into so-called "armies" with their
leaders referred to as "generals."
(HNQ, 8/24/99)
1894 Mar 17, US and China
signed a treaty preventing Chinese laborers from entering US.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1894 Mar 25 Jacob S. Coxey
began leading an "army" of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to
Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government.
Coxey advocated, as a way to provide jobs and increase the amount of
money in circulation, a public works program of road construction
and local improvements to be financed by the issuance of $500
million in legal tender notes. Coxey's Army of unemployed disbanded
when Coxey and two other leaders were arrested for trespassing on
the White House lawn in 1894.
(AP, 3/23/97)(HNQ, 8/24/99)
1894 Apr 5, 11 strikers were
killed in riot at Connellsville, Penn.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1894 Apr 29, The Commonweal of
Christ, called Coxey's Army, arrived in Wash, DC, 500 strong to
protest unemployment; Coxey was arrested for trespassing at Capitol.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1894 May 11, Workers at the
Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois went on strike. The American
Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, subsequently began a boycott of
Pullman that blocked freight traffic in and out of Chicago. Pullman
had cut wages due to the recession but left high rents in his
company town. Mail cars were coupled to Pullman cars and Pres.
Cleveland ordered federal troops onto the trains to insure the
delivery of mail. Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld opposed
Cleveland’s plans. 34 union workers were killed when federal troops
intervened.
(AP, 5/11/97)(SFC, 12/3/98, p.A3)(SFC, 10/4/02,
p.A17)
1894 Jun 26, The American
Railway Union with 125,000 workers, led by Eugene Debs, called a
general strike in sympathy with Pullman workers that blocked freight
traffic in and out of Chicago. [see May 11]
(AP, 6/26/97)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1894 Jun 28, Labor Day was
established as a holiday for federal employees on the first Monday
of September. The U.S. Congress passed an act making the first
Monday in September a legal holiday.
(AP, 9/5/97)(HNPD, 9/5/98)
1894 Jul 2, The US Government
obtained an injunction against striking Pullman Workers.
(SC, 7/2/02)
1894 Jul 20, 2000 federal
troops were recalled from Chicago with the end of the Pullman
strike.
(MC, 7/20/02)
1894 Aug 16, George Meany, the
first president of the AFL-CIO, was born in New York City.
(AP, 8/16/97)
1894 Sep 1, By an act of
Congress, Labor Day was declared a national holiday.
(WSJ, 9/25/95, p.A-1)(HN, 9/1/99)
1894 Sep 4, Some 12,000 tailors
in New York City went on strike to protest the existence of
sweatshops.
(AP, 9/4/97)
1894 New Zealand passed the
world's first minimum wage law.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1897 Sep 11, A strike by some
75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia
ended after 10 weeks. Concessions included an eight-hour work day,
semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of company stores (which were
famous for over charging workers). The day before, about 20 miners
were killed when sheriff's deputies opened fire on them in
Pennsylvania.
(AP, 9/11/97)(MC, 9/11/01)
1897 The American Federation of
Labor backed literacy requirements for immigrants.
(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A8)
1898 Sep 13, 20,000 Paris
construction workers went on strike.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1899 Acting UMWA Pres. John
Mitchell (1870-1919) was elected as head of the United Mine Workers
of America.
(AH, 2/03,
p.43)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mitchell_%28United_Mine_Workers%29)
1899 The Western Federation of
mine workers demanded that only union workers be hired, but mine
owners refused. In Wardner, Idaho, the Bunker Hill Co. mine was
dynamited. Pres. McKinley sent in troops who gathered up thousands
of miners and confined them in “bullpens.”
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1900 Feb, In London, England,
129 socialists and union members gathered to secure parliamentary
representation for the labor movement. Automatic donations to Labour
by union members dates back to this founding event.
(Econ, 7/13/13, p.50)
1900 In Britain employees of
the Taff Vale Railway Co. in South Wales greased the tracks and cut
telegraph wires during a bitter strike. In 1901 the House of Lords
ruled that their union could be sued for damaging the company. The
shock to the union movement inspired the Labour Party and a 1906
Trade Disputes Act.
(Econ, 5/22/10, p.60)
1901 Jul 15, Over 74,000
Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.
(HN, 7/15/98)
1901 Jul 28, Alfred Renton
Bryant Bridges (d.1990), aka Harry Bridges, American labor leader
who headed the West Coast Longshoremen’s Union, was born in
Australia.
(SFC, 7/27/01, p.A21)(HN, 7/28/98)
1901 Jan, In San Francisco 163
men convened at Pioneer Hall and launched what would become the
California Labor Federation.
{SF, USA, Labor}
(SFC, 1/26/01, p.A7)
1901 Nov, Eugene Schmitz, a
handsome bandleader, was elected mayor. Schmitz and Abe Ruef, a
lawyer, had formed the Union Labor Party and after a while began
running a political machine that took payoffs for everything
connected with the city.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A8)(SFC, 7/4/15, p.C2)
1902 May 12, Over 125,000
miners in northeastern Pennsylvania called a strike and kept the
mines closed all summer. An additional 18,000 bituminous workers
struck in sympathy. Owners refused arbitration and Pres. Roosevelt
intervened. [see Oct 3]
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)(AH, 2/03, p.44)
1902 Oct 3,
President Theodore Roosevelt met with miners and coal field
operators in an attempt to settle the anthracite coal strike, then
in its fifth month. The country relied on coal to power commerce and
industry and anthracite or "hard coal" was essential for domestic
heating. Pennsylvania miners had left the anthracite fields
demanding wage increases, union recognition, and an eight-hour
workday. As winter approached, public anxiety about fuel shortages
and the rising cost of all coal pushed Roosevelt to take
unprecedented action. The meeting failed to resolve differences. A
presidential commission awarded the workers a 10% wage increase and
a shorter work week. [see May 12] J.P. Morgan came up with a
compromise proposal that provided for arbitration and the miners
returned to work on Oct 23.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_strike_of_1902)(SFC, 10/4/02,
p.A17)(AH, 2/03, p.48)
1902 President Theodore
Roosevelt said he would intervene in a coal strike: “I knew that
this action would form an evil precedent, and that it was one which
I should take most reluctantly.” The strike settled without
intervention.
(HNQ, 12/23/02)
1904 Jan 25, Two-hundred (179)
coal miners were entombed in an explosion in Cheswick, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 1/25/99)(MC, 1/25/02)
1905 Jan 24, In Vilnius a mass
worker strike began and lasted to Jan 29.
(LHC, 1/24/03)
1905 Jul 7, The International
Workers of the World founded their labor organization in Chicago.
The IWW was formed by William Haywood of the Western Federation of
Miners, Daniel De Leon of the Socialist Labor Party and Eugene
V. Debs of the Socialist Party. Members of the Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) were also known as Wobblies. The Wobblies
were formed partly in response to the American Federation of Labor’s
opposition to the unionization of unskilled labor. As an
organization that advocated sabotage, they were suppressed and
prosecuted by the federal government from 1917-18 and were driven
underground by the “Red Scare” that started in the United States in
1919. Ideological disputes with the newly formed U.S.
Communist Party dissipated their remaining energies so that they
ceased to be a force of any significance past the mid-1920s. In 1969
Melvyn Dublfsky authored its definitive history “We Shall Overcome.”
(HNQ, 10/16/00)(SSFC, 1/7/01, p.A24)(HN, 7/7/01)
1905 Dec 30, Governor Frank
Steunenberg of Idaho was killed by an assassin's bomb. The former
gov. of Idaho, was blown up by a booby-trapped gate in front of his
home in Caldwell, Idaho. Three Western Federation of Miners leaders
in Colorado, Charles Moyer, George Pettibone and William Haywood,
were “legally kidnapped” to Idaho and put on trial for the murder.
The event and surrounding circumstances were described by J. Anthony
Lukas in his 1997 book: “Big Trouble.”
(SFEC, 10/5/97, BR p.1,6)(HN, 12/30/98)
1906 Feb 15, British Labour
Party organized.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1906 Mar 10, A coal dust
explosion killed 1,060 at Courrieres, France.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1906 Dec 3, The U.S. Supreme
Court ordered Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leaders
extradited to Idaho for trial in the Steunenberg murder case.
(HN, 12/3/98)
1906 In Britain a Trade
Disputes Act was passed. It aimed to protect striking workers from
retaliation through the courts [see 1900].
(Econ, 5/22/10, p.60)
1907 May 6, San Francisco
streetcar workers of the Carmen’s Union went on strike after owner
Patrick Calhoun refused to accept a $3 per 8-hour day wage. Calhoun
hired James Farley to break the union.
(SFC, 9/13/02, p.D9)
1907 May 7, In San Francisco a
gunfight erupted during the electrical workers strike in what came
to be known as “Bloody Tuesday.” City union street car workers
fought with scabs and 4 people were killed and 20 seriously injured.
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.B3)(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.W3)
1907 Sep 1, Walter Reuther,
labor leader, was born. He merged the American Federation of Labor
with the Congress of International Organizations
(HN, 9/1/99)
1907 Dec 6, Worst mining
disaster in American history took place in West Virginia's Marion
County. An explosion at a mine owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in
Monongah killed 361 coal miners.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1907 Dec 19, A gas explosion
killed 239 workers in a coal mine in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
(AP, 12/19/97)(MC, 12/19/01)
1908 Feb 3, The US Supreme
Court, in Loewe v. Lawlor, ruled the United Hatters Union had
violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by organizing a nationwide
boycott of Danbury Hatters of Connecticut.
(AP, 2/3/08)
1908 Mar, In SF streetcar
riders returned after Patrick Calhoun replaced the car-men with
non-union drivers. The strike failed and the Carmen’s Union was
disbanded.
(SFC, 9/13/02, p.D9)
1908 May 30, 1st US federal
workmen's compensation law was approved.
(MC, 5/30/02)
1908 Nov 28, 154 men died in a
coal mine explosion at Marianna, Pa.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1909 Feb 28, The earliest
Women’s Day observance, organized by the Socialist Party of America,
was held in NYC. Some 15,000 women marched demanding shorter hours,
better pay and voting rights.
(http://tinyurl.com/qc3544w)
1909 Apr, The Texas Sugar Land
prison facility began operations. It was basically a plantation
owned by Imperial Sugar which leased inmate workers from the state.
The prison shut down in 2011 saving the state about $12.4 million in
annual costs.
(SFC, 9/1/11,
p.A11)(http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=39004)
1909 May 17, White firemen on
Georgia RR struck to protest the hiring of blacks.
(MC, 5/17/02)
1910 Jan 3, British miners
struck for an 8 hour working day.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1910 Oct 1, Trade unionists,
aggrieved by the anti-union stance of the Los Angeles Times, bombed
the Times building at 1st and Broadway killing 21 nonunion pressman
and linotype operators. A new Los Angeles Times building was
completed in 1935. In 2008 Howard Blum authored “American Lightning:
Terror, Mystery, The Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the
Century.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times_bombing)(WSJ,
9/16/08, p.A23)(Econ, 3/23/13, p.35)
1909 Nov 24, Some 15,000
shirtwaist workers walked out of the factories in NYC, with more
joining the strike the following day. The strike lasted until
February 1910 and ended in a "Protocal of peace" which allowed the
strikers to go back to work and met the demands of the workers,
which included better pay, shorter hours, and equal treatment of
workers who were in the union and workers who were not.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_shirtwaist_strike_of_1909)
1910 Dec 21, Explosion in coal
mine in Hulton, England killed 344 mine workers.
(MC, 12/21/01)
1910 In Chicago a spontaneous
strike by a handful of women workers led to a citywide strike of
45,000 garment workers. That strike was a bitter one and pitted the
strikers against not only their employers and the local authorities,
but also their own union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgamated_Clothing_Workers_of_America)
1911 Mar 8, International
Women's Day was established when American working women demonstrated
for their rights as workers and women.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A32)
1911 Mar 25, The Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire killed 146-147 immigrant workers. 13 girls
survived the fire that broke out on the top three floors of the
10-story New York’s Asch Building as the workday was ending. No one
knows what caused the fire, but it spread quickly, fueled by the
fabric scraps and sewing machine oil used in the manufacture women’s
blouses. The three avenues of escape were almost immediately clogged
with panicked workers, mostly young immigrant women. Then, to the
horror of spectators seven stories below, the desperate women began
to jump to their deaths. Appalled by the tragedy, the New York State
legislature formed a commission whose findings led to the creation
of new fire and building codes that were soon adopted in cities
throughout America.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(AP, 3/23/97)(HNPD, 3/25/00)(SFC,
4/27/98, p.A8)(SFC, 2/24/99, p.C4)(MC, 3/25/02)
1912 Feb 26, Coal miners struck
in England. They settled on 03/01.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1913 Feb 12, A New York
commission reported that there was widespread violation of child
labor laws.
(HN, 2/12/97)
1912 Jun 4, Massachusetts
passed the 1st US minimum wage law.
(MC, 6/4/02)
1912 Aug 24, US passed an
anti-gag law giving federal employees the right to petition
government.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1913 Feb 14, Jimmy Hoffa
(d.1975), Teamsters leader who disappeared, was born.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1913 May 8, California
lawmakers passed Assembly bill 2039, an anti-tipping measure with
penalties for both giving and receiving tips.
(SSFC, 5/5/13, p.46)
1913 Jun 2, The 1st strike
settlement mediated by US Dep't of Labor for the RR clerks.
(SC, 6/2/02)
1913 Jul 14, Jimmy Hoffa,
missing labor leader, was born.
(MC, 7/14/02)
1913 Sep 11, James Farley (39),
known across the US as the most successful leader of strikebreakers,
died in Plattsburg, NY.
(SSFC, 8/4/13, DB
p.42)(http://tinyurl.com/mscghsd)
1914 Jan 10, In Utah John
Morrison, a Salt Lake City grocer and father of six, was shot dead
along with his son (17) after two men entered his shop. Labor leader
Joe Hill (1879-1915) was soon treated for a fresh gunshot wound and
was later tried and convicted for murder.
(Econ, 8/6/11, p.73)
1914 Apr 20, Soldiers killed 33
during mine strike in Ludlow, Colo. In the Ludlow Massacre 2 women
and 11 children perished in a mining camp torched by Colorado
militiamen called in by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to settle a strike.
(SFEC, 5/31/98, BR p.3)(MC, 4/20/02)
1914 Apr 28, At Eccles,
WV, 181 died in coal mine collapse.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1915 Nov 19, Joe Hill (b.1879),
labor leader and songwriter, was executed for murder. Joe Hill
(Joseph Hillstrom) was executed after being convicted of killing two
men in a holdup in Salt Lake City in 1914. He claimed the charges
against him were trumped up and won worldwide support, including
that of President Woodrow Wilson. Nevertheless, Hill was tried,
convicted and executed by firing squad. Hill, born Joel Haggelund in
Sweden in 1879, went to the United States in 1902 and soon joined
the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World (the Wobblies). In
2011 William Adler authored “The Man Who Never Died: The Life,
Times, and Legacy of Joe Hill.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill)(SSFC,
1/7/01, p.A21)(Econ, 8/6/11, p.73)
1916 Jul 22, In San Francisco
some 50,000 people marched in a Preparedness Day parade sponsored by
business leaders and opposed by labor. A bomb went off on Market St.
at Steuart during the parade. 10 people were killed including Arthur
Nelson. The bomb was set by a professed anarchist. Labor leader Tom
Mooney was convicted, but it turned out that the evidence was
fabricated. In 1918 Mooney’s death sentence was commuted to life in
prison by Gov. William Stephens. In 1930 Gov. Clement Young denied a
pardon for Mooney. Lasbor activist Warren K. Billings was also
convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Mooney was pardoned in
1939 by Democratic Governor Culbert Olson. Billings served 22 years
in prison before being pardoned by Gov. Olson.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mooney)(AP,
7/22/97)(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.W5)(SFC, 9/22/01, p.A3)(OAH, 2/05,
p.A10)(SFC, 7/8/05, p.F6)(SSFC, 4/27/08, DB p.58)(SSFC, 12/18/11, DB
p.42)(SFC, 5/17/14, p.C3)
1916 Sep 1, The Keating-Owen
Act banned child labor from interstate commerce.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1916 Sep 7, The U.S. Congress
passed the Workman’s Compensation Act.
(HN, 9/7/00)
1917 Mar 12, The British
government shut down migration from India, after more than half a
million people had come as laborers to the Caribbean.
(Econ, 3/11/17, p.34)
1917 Apr 10, A munitions
factory explosion at Eddystone, PA., killed 133 workers.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1917 Jun 15, The US Espionage
Act was passed. It was used to ban Marxist magazines from the mails
and was soon followed by the Sedition Act. Eugene Debs was sent to
prison for opposing the war under the Espionage Act.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917)(WSJ, 10/29/98,
p.A20)
1917 Aug 1, Frank Little, IWW
organizer, was lynched in Butte, MT.
(MC, 8/1/02)
1917 Aug 11, In San Francisco
some 1,300 United Railroads employees went on strike and crippled
the city’s transit system.
(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.W5)
1917 Aug 16, In San Francisco
six United Railroads substitute platform men were arrested after
they drove in an out of a parade of striking carmen. The men were
recruited from Los Angeles. Two other machines carrying seven men
each escaped. Loaded revolvers were found in the side pockets and
under the chauffeur’s coat along with black jacks and clubs.
(SSFC, 8/13/17, DB p.50)
1917 Aug 22, San Francisco
Mayor James Rolph tole Jesse W. Lilienthal, president of the street
car company, that that service must be resumed as street fighting
between strikers and United Railroads substitutes left 18
people injured.
(SSFC, 3/20/17, DB p.54)
1917 Aug 31, San Francisco
police went on duty with nightsticks after more than a score of
Unite Railroad cars had been stoned and five people injured on
Mission and Valencia Streets by strike sympathizers returning home
from work.
(SSFC, 3/27/17, DB p.65)
1917 Sep 17, Some 20,000 iron
workers went on strike in SF, Oakland and Alameda in the biggest
strike ever on the Pacific Coast. Marines were sent to guard the
Union Iron Works and 32 men were arrested as workers demonstrated
against the United Railroads by stoning cars and beating substitute
carmen.
(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.W5)(SSFC, 9/17/17 DB p.54)
1918 Jun 3, The US Supreme
Court ruled child labor laws unconstitutional.
(MC, 6/3/02)
1919 Feb 6, The 1st day of
5-day Seattle general strike, the first general strike in America,
took effect. During this period Washington was a center for the
Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the "Wobblies." Their
agitation led to the Centralia massacre and the Everett massacre.
(WSJ, 12/3/99, p.A14)(MC, 2/6/02)
1919 Mar 11, A general strike
in Germany was crushed.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1919 Jun 18, In California some
8,000 telephone girls went on strike demanding $4 a day for
operators with two years experience.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, DB p.38)
1919 California state work
legislation restricted women and minors under 18 from working over
48 hours a week. Work with dangerous machinery was prohibited to
those under 16.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 5/10/17, p.D3)
1919 In San Francisco the
Bullard family business began making hardhats modeled on the metal
helmets used by soldiers during World War I.
(SSFC, 10/6/19, p.D1)
1919 The French Confederation
of Christian Workers (Confédération française des travailleurs
chrétiens, CFTC) was founded. In 1964 it split to form the CFDT and
CFTC.
(http://tinyurl.com/ycqnkfpe)
1920 May 19, In Matewan, West
Virginia, a gunbattle between coal company-hired detectives and
local townspeople leaving 10 men dead, including mayor Cabell
Testerman, 2 miners and 7 detectives.
(AH, 4/07,
p.62)(www.matewan.com/History/battle.htm)
1919 Aug 31, John Reed formed
the Communist Labor Party in Chicago, with the motto, "Workers of
the world unite!"
(HN, 8/31/98)(YN, 8/31/99)(MC, 8/31/01)
1919 Nov 22, A Labor conference
committee in the U.S. urged an eight hour work day and a 48-hour
week.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1920 Nov, In West Virginia
Democratic Gov. John Cornwell invoked martial law and called for
help from Washington to quell violence between mine owners and
striking coal miners.
(AH, 4/07, p.63)
1921 Mar 31, Great Britain
declared a state of emergency because of the thousands of coal
miners on strike.
(HN, 3/31/98)
1921 Apr 15, The Black Friday
Labour Party strike of mine workers failed.
(MC, 4/15/02)
1921 Aug 1, Sid Hatfield,
police chief of Matewan, WV, and Ed Chambers were murdered on
the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse by Baldwin-Felts
detectives. Hatfield and 22 miners had been recently been acquitted
of the May 19, 1920 shootings in Matewan, WV, but he was indicted
for conspiracy for continuing mine violence. Hatfield had been a
long-time supporter of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).
This soon led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, a labor uprising also
know as the Red Neck War.
(http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj66/newsinger.htm)(AH,
4/07, p.63)
1921 Sep 2, At the Battle of
Blair Mountain in West Virginia an army of 10 to 15 thousand miners
and their families faced a private army of some 2,000 men and 2,100
state and federal troops. The fledgling US Air Force dropped a few
bombs as a demonstration meant to overawe the labor organizers and
in the event. The death toll for the battle was estimated from fewer
than 20 to more than 50. This was the largest confrontation between
workers and the state in US history.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain)(Econ,
5/26/07, p.32)(AH, 4/07, p.67)(Econ 7/1/17, SR p.6)
1921 Dec 21, Supreme Court
ruled labor injunctions and picketing unconstitutional.
(MC, 12/21/01)
1922 May 18, Dutch 2nd Chamber
agreed to a 48 hour work week over the previous 45 hours.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1922 Aug 8, An Italian general
strike was broken by fascist terror.
(MC, 8/8/02)
1923 Apr 7, The Workers Party
of America in NYC became an official communist party.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1923 May 28, US unemployment
was nearly ended.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1923 Aug 13, US Steel Corp.
initiated an 8-hour work day.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1924 Mar 8, Coal mine explosion
killed 171 at Castle Gate, Utah.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1924 Apr 26, House Joint
Resolution No. 184, The child labor amendment to prohibit the labor
of persons under 18 years of age, was adopted by the US House of
Representatives, with a vote of 297 yeas, 69 nays, 2 "present" and
64 not voting. It was then adopted by the Senate on June 2, 1924,
with a vote of 61 yeas, 23 nays and 12 not voting. With that, the
proposed constitutional amendment was submitted to the state
legislatures for ratification pursuant to Article V of the
Constitution. It was never ratified and in 2007 was still
technically pending.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_amendment)
1925 Jul 31, An Unemployment
Insurance Act was passed in England.
(MC, 7/31/02)
1925 Aug 25, Asa Philip
Randolph (36) began to organize the Pullman Sleeping Car Porters’
Union.
(PCh, 1992, p.768)(HN, 8/25/98)(SFC, 12/3/98,
p.A3)
1925 The All-China Federation
of Trade Unions was founded. In 1927 it was crushed by the
nationalist government and then rose with the ascension of the
Communist Party in 1949. It was crushed again in the Cultural
Revolution and then revived following Mao’s death.
(Econ, 8/2/08, p.66)
1926 Jan 12, U.S. coal talks
broke down, leaving both sides bitter as the strike dragged on into
its fifth month.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1926 Apr 3, Italy established
corps of force in order to break powerful unions.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 May 3, There was a British
general strike and 3 million workers supported the miners.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1927 Mar 31, Cesar Chavez
(d.1993), California union leader of agricultural workers (United
Farm Workers), was born in Yuma, Az.
(SFEC,10/19/97, p.C3)(SFC, 3/29/00, p.A3)(MC,
3/31/02)
1927 Nov 21, Police turned
machine guns on striking Colorado mine workers, killing five and
wounding 20.
(HN, 11/21/98)
1928 Apr, In California Mexican
workers formed "The Imperial Valley Workers Union" to try to
challenge the wage abuses they had been experiences. In May the
union sent out letters to all the growers respectfully asking for 15
cents a crate for picking cantaloupes or 75 cents an hour for the
labor. In October of 1933 and June 1934 there were many strikes that
resulted in violent reactions by the police and growers.
(http://aztlan.sdsu.edu/chicanohistory/chapter07/c07s01.html)
1928 May 19, "Firedamp"
exploded in a Mather, Pennsylvania, coal mine killing 195 of 273
miners.
(DTnet, 5/19/97)
1928 John Spedan Lewis, son of
the John Lewis, formed a partnership with the employees of the
department store founded by his father. The business was founded in
1864 when John Lewis set up a draper's shop in Oxford Street,
London.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis_Partnership)
1932 Jan, Wisconsin became the
first state to provide unemployment benefits.
(Econ, 2/26/11,
p.31)(http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/publications/ui/ucb3006.pdf)
1932 Feb 27, Explosion in coal
mine in Boissevain, Virginia, left 38 dead.
(MC, 2/27/02)
1932 Mar 7, Riots at Ford
factory in Dearborn, Michigan, killed 4.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1932 Apr 5, A Dutch textile
strike was broken by trade unions.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1932 Aug 27-28, In England
200,000 textile workers went on strike.
(MC, 8/27/01)
1933 May 2, In Germany, Adolf
Hitler banned trade unions.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1933 Jun 6, The US Employment
Service was created.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1933 Jun 16, The US Congress
passed the National Recovery Act. A $.25-per-hour standard wage was
set as part of the Act. However, in 1935 the US Supreme Court
declared the National Recovery Act unconstitutional, and the minimum
wage was abolished. In July a code of the NRA instituted a 35 hour
week for blue-collar workers and a 40-hour week for office
employees. Minimum wages were also instituted, ranging from 12 ½
cents an hour for needlework employees in Puerto Rico to 70 cents an
hour for wrecking and salvage workers in NYC. Pres. Franklin D.
Roosevelt had employers sign a “President’s Reemployment Agreement”
covering 16.3 million employees. The employers who signed on agreed
to limit work weeks to 40 hours, to pay a minimum wage of $12-$15
per week (at least 30 cents/hour) and to not hire children under 16.
(www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1663.html)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage)
(http://tinyurl.com/8mxty)(http://tinyurl.com/9t4rn)
1933 Aug 5, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt established the National Labor Board to enforce the
right of collective bargaining. It was later replaced with the
National Labor Relations Board.
(AP, 8/5/08)(SSFC, 1/18/09, p.D6)
1933 Nov 13, The 1st modern
sit-down strike began with Hormel meat packers in Austin, Minn.
(MC, 11/13/01)
1933 Pres. Roosevelt signed a
law that granted workers the right to choose which labor union they
wanted to join.
(SFC, 9/27/02, p.D11)
1934 Mar 15, Henry Ford
restored the $5 a day wage.
(HN, 3/15/98)
1934 May 9, The San Francisco
waterfront strike began. The Int’l. Longshoremen’s Association
(ILA), headed by Australian immigrant Harry Bridges, shut down
seaports in Washington, Oregon and California for 3 months. Union
workers went on strike for a 6 hour day and a hiring hall to replace
the company operated Blue Book Union on the waterfront. Strike
breakers were housed in ships to avoid getting beat up by the dock
workers. In 1996 David F. Selvin published "A Terrible Anger: The
1934 Waterfront and General Strikes in San Francisco." [see Jul 5]
(SFEC, 12/15/96, BR p.5)(SFEM, 3/2/97, p.21)(SFC,
8/4/97, p.E5)(SFEC, 5/2/99, Z1 p.4)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1934 Jul 5, During the West
Coast maritime strike Mayor Angelo J. Rossi, a former florist,
unleashed the city’s violently anti-union police department on the
workers. 33 people were shot with 2 men killed in what came to be
called "Bloody Thursday." Police fired into a crowd of strikers at
Steuart and Mission streets and killed Howard S. Sperry and Nickolas
Bordoise. Another 109 strikers were wounded. Police had tried to
escort scabs to the docks. Civil liberties attorneys Ernest Besig
(d.1998 at 94), and Chester Williams were called in from New York.
They founded a local American Civil Liberties Union and sued SF and
Oakland for failure to protect striker’s First Amendment rights.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W31)(SFC, 11/21/98, p.C2)(SFC,
9/27/02, p.D11)(SSFC, 7/3/11, DB p.38)
1934 Jul 9, In SF a parade of
15,000 was held on Market Street for the 2 men killed on Jul 5. The
funeral was followed by a general strike. SF Mayor Angelo J. Rossi
and Gov. Frank Merriman blamed the strike on Communists.
(SFEM, 1/18/98, p.6)(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W31)(SFEC,
5/2/99, Z1 p.4)
1934 Jul 16, The nation’s 1st
general strike was called in San Francisco in response to violence
and disregard of worker’s rights in the waterfront strike. Some
140,000 workers walked off their jobs. It collapsed after 4 days.
Seven men were killed and thousands were injured. The general strike
ended after 4 days and went into arbitration. In the fall
arbitrators gave the union a hiring hall, a 6-hour day and a small
wage increase. [see May 9, Jul 5]
(SFEC, 12/15/96, BR p.5)(SFEC, 5/2/99, Z1
p.4)(SFC, 9/27/02, p.D11)(PCh, 1992, p.826)
1934 Jul 18, Cotton-mill
workers in the US south went on strike. The UTW locals in the
northern part of Alabama launched a strike in Huntsville, Alabama,
then spread to Florence, Anniston, Gadsden, and Birmingham. While
the strike was popular, it was also ineffective: many employers
welcomed it as a means of cutting their expenses, since they had
warehouses full of unsold goods. A documentary called the "Uprising
of ‘34" was made in 1995 and scheduled for PBS on 6/27/95.
(WSJ, 6/13/95,
p.A-1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_workers_strike_%281934%29)
1935 Mar 3, Dutch Revolutionary
Socialist Worker's party (RSAP) was formed.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1935 Apr 8, The Works Progress
Administration (WPA) was approved by Congress. President Franklin
Roosevelt proposed the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during
the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of
Americans were unemployed. The WPA created low-paying federal jobs
to provide immediate relief. The WPA put 8.5 million jobless to work
on projects as diverse as constructing highways, bridges and public
buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project.
(AP, 4/8/97)(HN, 4/8/98)(HNPD, 4/8/99)
1935 May 7, US Commissioner
Ernest E. Williams listened as witnesses charged Walter Lord, head
of Drive-Away Travel Service of Detroit, with violating the National
Recovery Administration automobile code. At least 10 young men were
left stranded in San Francisco after driving in cars from Detroit
with no pay. Drivers figured they had worked 138 hours, which at the
NRA rate of 37.5 cents and hour, would have meant $51.75 in wages
for each driver.
(SSFC, 5/2/10, DB p.46)
1935 Jul 5, President Roosevelt
signed the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), which provided
for a National Labor Relations Board and authorized labor to
organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. The National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was created by a statute as an
independent federal agency that conducts secret-ballot elections to
determine whether employees desire union representation. This
inaugurated the "pink decade" of Soviet espionage and penetration of
America's labor movement by Communists.
(WSJ, 5/12/97, p.A15)(AP, 7/5/97)(SFC, 11/27/99,
p.C4)(SSFC, 1/11/04, p.M6)
1936 Feb 12, In France more
than 4.5 million workers came out on strike; 1 million took to the
streets, shutting the country down.
(www.greenleft.org.au/node/33582)
1936 Jun 30, A 40 hour work
week law was approved for US federal workers.
(MC, 6/30/02)
1936 Leon Blum introduced the
2-week paid holiday for all French workers. In the early 1980s this
was extended to 5 weeks.
(Econ, 7/17/10, p.59)
1937 Jan 22, In San Francisco
riots between longshoremen factions surged through the financial
district. 33 men were sent to jail and 4 to the hospital. This was
the first major disturbance in the 85-day-old maritime strike.
(SSFC, 1/22/12, DB p.42)
1937 Feb 11, In Flint, Mich., a
sit-down strike against General Motors ended after 44 days, with the
company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.
The UAW was victorious in a strike against GM. GM recognized the
union and agreed to a contract.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(AP, 2/11/97)
1937 Mar 1, US Steel raises
workers' wages to $5 a day.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1937 May 30, The
Memorial Day Massacre took place. Ten union demonstrators were
killed and 84 wounded when police opened fire in front of the South
Chicago Republic Steel plant. Earlier in 1937 the Steel Workers'
Organizing Committee had secured recognition by U.S. Steel as the
workers' bargaining agency and had won a number of concessions.
"Little Steel," under the leader ship of Republic's Tom Girdler
firmly opposed the union demands, leading to the deadly
demonstration. A newsreel film of the Republic Steel strike riots
was made.
(AP, 5/30/97)(SFC,11/21/97, p.C17)(HNQ, 5/25/98)
1937 Apr 12, The US Supreme
Court ruled that the 1935 National Labor Relations Act is
unconstitutional.
(SSFC, 1/18/09, p.D6)
1937 Jun 5, Henry Ford
initiated a 32 hour work week.
(MC, 6/5/02)
1937 Jul 8, In San Francisco a
3-month hotel strike continued as union members demonstrated in
front of the Hotel Manx on Powell St. Owner Harvey M. Toy protested
with a telegram to Mayor Rossi.
(SSFC, 7/8/12, p.42)
1938 Jun 25, Pres. Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed the US Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. It allowed
workers with disabilities to be paid less if they were less
productive.
(https://tinyurl.com/vjzcmog)Econ., 5/9/20, p.74)
1938 Sep 5, In San Francisco
some 85,000 unionists, led by ILWU head Harry Bridges, marched to
celebrate Labor Day.
(SSFC, 9/1/13, DB p.42)
1938 Oct 24, The Fair Labor
Standards Act became law, establishing the 40-hour work week and
overtime rules. The Act forbade child labor in factories. [see Oct
24, 1940]
(HN, 10/24/00)(MC, 10/24/01)
1938 Oct, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $0.25 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1938 In Sweden the Saltsjobaden
Accord was signed between unions and employers ushering in a
consensus system of labor relations.
(Economist, 10/13/12, SR p.20)
1939 Jan 7, US worker's union
leader Tom Mooney, jailed since 1916, was freed.
(MC, 1/7/02)
1939 Feb 27, The US Supreme
Court outlawed sit-down strikes.
(AP, 2/27/98)(HN, 2/27/98)
1939 Oct, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $0.30 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1940 Oct 24, The 40-hour work
week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
(AP, 10/24/97)
1940 Lead-based paint for the
San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge was priced at about $30,000 this
year. Fifteen workers were paid $10.50 for a seven-hour day to
scrape and paint the 1937 bridge.
(SSFC, 1/25/15, DB p.42)
1941 Feb 3, The US Supreme
Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, ruling that
Congress can fix minimum wages and maximum hours for US workers.
(AH, 2/06, p.14)
1942 Jul 31, At midnight the
record studios fell silent in a struggle with James Caesar Petrillo
(d.1984), head of the American Federation of Musicians. Petrillo
insisted that the record industry pay a ¼ to ¾ cent royalty to the
musicians union. Decca signed an agreement in Aug, 1943, and
Columbia and Victor surrendered Nov 11, 1944.
(WSJ, 7/31/02, p.D10)
1942 Aug 4, The "Bracero
Program," began running under the auspices of the US Dept. of Labor.
It sent Mexican workers to the US to help the labor shortage created
by World War II. From 1942-1949 10% of their wages was deposited
with the National Bank of Rural Credit, Banrural (Banco Nacional de
Credito Agricola, a predecessor of Banrural). The program ended in
1964. Workers in 1999 demanded to know the status of the fund.
Mexican banking officials in 1999 reported no evidence of the funds.
In 2001 a suit for $500 million was filed for deposits and interest
from 1942-1949.
(SFC, 8/6/99, p.A16)(SFC, 10/6/99, p.A16)(SSFC,
7/15/01, p.A4)(SFC, 1/16/04, p.A19)
1943 Dec 2, A US federal judge
ordered officials at the Boilermakers' Union to issue temporary work
permits for 160 Negro employees at Marin ship. The SF Bay Area
employees had been discharged when they refused to join a "Jim Crow"
auxiliary, which gave them no voice in the union.
(SSFC, 12/2/18, DB p.46)
1943 Brazil adopted a rigid
labor law transplanted from Benito Mussolini’s Italy.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
1944 Pres. Roosevelt ordered
the Army to seize the executive offices of Montgomery Ward and Co.
after Sewell Avery, chairman of Montgomery Ward, refused to comply
with a National War labor Board directive to extend a 1942 labor
contract. Avery was bodily removed along with other senior managers.
The US government took control of operations until the end of the
war.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.A12)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1945 Jan 2, The California
Supreme Court ruled that demands by the Boilermakers' union of
Marinship for blacks to join auxiliaries without full union
privileges was "discriminatory and unequal." The case of James vs.
Marinship was led by Joseph James, a welder and leader of the San
Francisco Committee Against Segregation and Discrimination.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.B4)
1945 Oct, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $0.40 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1946 Jan 25, The United Mine
Workers rejoined the American Federation of Labor.
(AP, 1/25/98)
1946 Feb 20, The US Employment
Act of 1946 was signed into law. It laid the responsibility of
economic stability of inflation and unemployment onto the federal
government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Act_of_1946)
1946 Apr 1, A U.S. mine
worker strike idled 400,000 miners.
(HN, 4/1/98)
1946 Dec 7, The president of
the United Mine Workers, John L. Lewis, ordered all striking miners
back to work.
(HN, 12/7/98)
1947 Mar 25, A coal mine
explosion in Centralia, Ill., claimed 111 lives.
(AP, 3/25/97)
1947 May 13, The US Senate
approved the Taft-Hartley Act limiting the power of unions. [see Jun
4]
(MC, 5/13/02)
1947 Jun 4, The House of
Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Labor Management
Relations Act also known as the Taft-Hartley Act. It provided for an
80-day injunction against strikes that endangered public health and
safety. Pres. [see Jun 20]
(WUD, 1994 p.1447)(AP, 6/4/97)(SFC, 11/27/99,
p.C4)
1947 Jun 20, President Truman
vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act, but had his veto overridden by
Congress. The act declared the closed shop illegal and permitted the
union shop only following a majority employee vote. [see Jun 4]
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFC, 9/26/96, p.C2)(AP,
6/20/97)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1947 Dec 12, The United Mine
Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1948 Apr 14, Walter P. Reuther,
Pres (United Auto Workers), was shot at his home. [see Apr 20]
(MC, 4/14/02)
1948 Apr 20, United Auto
Workers president Walter P. Reuther was shot and wounded at his home
in Detroit. [see Apr 14]
(AP, 4/20/98)
1948 General Motors agreed to
annual cost-of-living pay increases.
(Econ, 6/6/09, p.61)
1948 Two Milwaukee lawyers
founded Manpower after they failed to find extra administrative help
for an urgent legal brief. By 2009 the company had over 4,000
offices in 82 countries.
(Econ, 1/6/07, p.57)(Econ, 12/12/09, p.74)
1949 Dec 7, The A.F.L. and the
C.I.O. organized a non-Communist international trade union.
(HN, 12/7/98)
1950 Aug 25, President Truman
ordered the Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert
a strike. The railroads were returned to their owners 2 years later.
(AP, 8/25/97)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1950 Jan, The US Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $0.75 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1950 General Motors agreed to
free health-care coverage for life along with generous pensions.
Chrysler and Ford were forced to offer similar benefits.
(Econ, 6/6/09, p.61)
1951 Mar 23, Wages in France
increased 11%.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1951 German corporations began
operating under a principle of co-determination between workers and
management. It applied to companies with more than 2000 workers.
(Econ, 1/29/05, p.63)(Econ, 7/16/05, p.16)
1952 Mar 1, In SF Municipal
Railway workers received a wage increase of 9.4 cents effective July
1. This raised their hourly rate to $1.73.
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.G8)
1952 Apr 8, President Truman,
to avert a strike, ordered the Army to seize the nation’s steel
mills after companies rejected Wage Stabilization Board
recommendations. Truman’s attempt to take over the US steel industry
was later denied by the Supreme Court and the mills were shut down
by strikers for 8 weeks [see Jun 2].
(TMC, 1994, p.1952)(AP, 4/8/97)(HN, 4/8/98)(SFEC,
11/14/99, p.B10)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1952 Apr 12, A telephone strike
was settled in Michigan but continued in Northern California for a
5th day.
(SFC, 4/12/02, p.G6)
1952 Jul 24, President Truman
announced a settlement in a 53-day steel strike.
(AP, 7/24/02)
1952 Jun 2, The US Supreme
Court ruled in favor of steelworkers, who then began a 53-day
walkout demanding wage and benefit increases.
(SFC, 4/9/09, p.B2)
1952 Sep 6, The 9th US Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld a conviction against Harry Bridges as a
Communist who lied to obtain US citizenship.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.E3)
1952 Nov 25, George Meany was
appointed chairman of AFL.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1953 Feb 6, US controls on
wages and some consumer goods were lifted.
(MC, 2/6/02)
1953 Apr 8, A Federal Grand
Jury in SF indicted Hugh Bryson, pres. of the National Union of
Marine Cooks and Stewards, on charges that he falsely claimed that
he was not a communist in a Taft-Hartley affidavit.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.E6)
1953 Aug 13, 4-5 million French
went on strike against economizations.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1953 The California Legislature
rewrote a 1919 wage law to require overtime pay for women and minors
who work extra days or hours.
(SFC, 5/10/17, p.D3)
1954 Jan 9, Former Hawaii Gov.
Ingram Steinbeck said this is no time to admit the territory of
Hawaii to the Union, because left wing labor unions had an economic
stranglehold on the islands.
(SFC, 1/9/04, p.E2)
1954 Jan 16, Mexico closed its
borders to all farm laborers heading for the US following a
breakdown in negotiations with the US over renewal of an annual
agreement on labor flow.
(SFC, 1/16/04, p.E5)
1954 US labor union membership
reached an all time high of 35% of the work force.
(WSJ, 1/7/04, p.B1)
1955 Feb 3, AFL grocery clerks
struck against the 400-members of the Retail Grocers Association and
began picketing 2 stores in SF. Negotiations had broken down over
union demands for $3 per week wage increase. An employer’s lockout
soon closed at least 100 stores.
(SFC, 2/4/05, p.F9)
1955 Feb 9, US federations of
trade unions agreed to merge into the AFL-CIO: The American
Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
(AH, 2/05, p.17)(SFC, 2/4/05, p.F9)
1955 Apr 30, West German unions
protested for 40-hour work week and more wages.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1955 Jul 1, Singapore’s
government started the Central Provident Fund, a compulsory
comprehensive social security savings plan. It required
contributions from both employees and employers.
(Econ, 4/3/10, SR
p.6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Provident_Fund)
1955 Aug 12, Pres Eisenhower
raised the minimum wage from $0.75 to $1 an hour.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1955 Dec 5, The American
Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
merged to form the AFL-CIO under its first president, George Meany.
[see Feb 9]
(AP, 12/5/97)
1956 Mar 20, Union workers
ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse Electric Corp.
(AP, 3/20/97)
1956 Mar, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $1.00 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1956 Jul 10, 650,000 US steel
workers went on strike.
(MC, 7/10/02)
1957 Dec 6, AFL-CIO members
voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union
had been expelled because of racketeering by its executives,
including union president Dave Beck and vice president James R.
Hoffa. The criminal activity was disclosed during a special Senate
committee investigation of racketeering and organized crime in
labor-management relations. The Teamsters were readmitted in Oct,
1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.
(HNQ, 1/8/99)(AP, 12/6/07)
1957 The International Labor
Organization (ILO) developed and ratified Indigenous and Tribal
Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107), an international instrument
dedicated to improving the living conditions of Indigenous peoples
worldwide. In 1989 it was revised and renamed Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Convention 169 recognizes
Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination within a
nation-state.
(http://tinyurl.com/gsrhxrq)(Econ, 2/6/15, p.32)
1959 May 1, West Germany
introduced a 5 day work week.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1959 A 116-day strike opened
the doors to foreign imports as 519,000 US workers demanded better
benefits.
(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)
1959 Wisconsin became the 1st
US state to enact a comprehensive collective bargaining law.
(SFC, 2/17/11, p.A8)
1960 Jan 22, The John burg coal
mine caved in and 417 die.
(MC, 1/22/02)
1960 May 19, Belgian parliament
required a rest day for self employed.
(MC, 5/19/02)
1961 Mar 9, A mine cave-in in
Japan killed 72.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1961 Jul 7, James R. Hoffa was
elected president of Teamsters.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1961 Sep, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $1.15 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1961 Oct 30, West Germany
signed a guest-worker treaty with Turkey.
(http://tinyurl.com/yakh2moo)(Econ, 9/2/17, p.43)
1962 Mar 31, Cesar Chavez
(d.1993) founded the United Farm Workers Union on his birthday.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A14)
1962 May 25, US unions AFL-CIO
started campaign for a 35-hour work week.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1962 Dec 8, A 114-day newspaper
strike began in NYC.
(MC, 12/8/01)
1962 Pres. Kennedy signed an
Executive Order maintaining the right of federal employees to join
unions and negotiate on many issues.
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1963 Mar 1, 200,000 French mine
workers went on strike.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1963
Apr 1, Workers of the International
Typographical Union ended their strike that had closed nine New York
City newspapers. The strike ended 114 days after began on December
8, 1962.
(OTD)
1963 Jun 9, A US Equal Pay Act
was enacted.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1963 Jun 10, JFK signed an
equal pay for equal work law for men & women.
(MC, 6/10/02)
1963 Sep, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $1.25 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1963 Studebaker halted
production of its cars. Some 4,000 employees lost their company
pensions as the firm permanently closed its plant in South Bend,
Ind. This led to the passage of the Employment Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) in 1974.
{Indiana, USA, Cars, Labor}
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFC, 2/14/02,
p.B1)(Econ, 7/11/15, p.28)
1964 Mar 1, In San Francisco
demonstrations began at the Sheraton-Palace Hotel over racial hiring
practices.
(SFC, 3/1/14, p.A1)
1964 Mar 3, In San Francisco
two days after protests at the Palace Hotel, demonstrators gathered
to protest the hiring practices of the Cadillac salesroom on Van
Ness. Student activist, Terence Hallinan, was arrested in a 2-day of
protest against racial discrimination in hiring at the Sheraton
Palace Hotel.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, BR, p.6)(SFEM, 11/17/96, p.27)
1964 Mar 4, Jimmy Hoffa was
convicted of jury tampering.
(SC, 3/4/02)
1964 Jul 26, Teamsters
president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and
conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.
(AP, 7/26/97)
1964 The French Democratic
Confederation of Labor (Confederation Francaise Democratique du
Travail, CFDT) was founded when a majority of the members of the
Christian trade union Confédération Française des Travailleurs
Chrétiens (CFTC) decided they preferred to be part of a secular
union. The minority kept the name CFTC.
(http://tinyurl.com/y94wu78d)
1964 In Guyana a pre-election
conflict broke out between the largely Afro-Guyanese People’s
National Congress and the largely Indo-Guyanese people’s Progressive
Party. Riots erupted after mostly black laborers were brought
in to replace striking Indian plantation workers. 176 people were
killed.
(SFC, 3/19/01, p.A8)(Econ, 9/2/17, p.52)
1965 Sep 8, An AFL-CIO
affiliated Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a union
of mostly Filipino workers, voted to go on strike in Delano, Ca.
Larry Itliong (1913-1977) led the strike. They were joined after
eleven days by Cesar Chavez and the National Farm Workers Assoc. In
1967 John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003) authored "Delano," an account of
the California grape strike.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Itliong)(SFEC, 10/19/97,
p.C3)(SFC, 1/1/04, p.A23)
1965 US Steel workers
negotiated the right to retire on a full pension after 30 years of
service, regardless of age.
(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)
1966 Jan 1, A 12 day transit
worker strike shut down NYC subway and buses. The strike became a
major rallying point behind the Taylor Law, which severely curtailed
the ability of public employees in the state to strike and took
effect on Sep 1, 1967.
(SSFC, 10/20/13, p.E2)
1966 Jan 12, A 12 day NYC
transit strike ended.
(MC, 1/12/02)
1966 Jul 8, A US airline strike
began and lasted until Aug 19th.
(MC, 7/8/02)
1966 The Brooklyn Navy Yard
closed down. 12,000 jobs were lost overnight.
(Econ 7/15/17, p.26)
1967 Jan 19, In New Zealand 19
people were killed in an explosion at the Strongman mine.
(www.teara.govt.nz/en/coal-and-coal-mining/7)
1967 Feb 1, The US Federal
Hourly Minimum Wage was set at $1.40 an hour.
(www.dol.gov/ESA/minwage/chart.htm)
1967 Mar 6, Jimmy Hoffa entered
Lewisburg Federal Prison. [see Mar 7]
(MC, 3/6/02)
1967 Mar 7, Convicted Teamster
boss Jimmy Hoffa began an eight-year prison term in Pennsylvania for
defrauding the union and jury tampering. The sentence was commuted
by President Nixon Dec 23, 1971.
(HN, 3/7/98)(MC, 3/7/02)
1967 Sep 1, New York state’s
Taylor Law went into effect. It severely curtailed the ability of
public employees in the state to strike.
(SSFC, 10/20/13, p.E2)
1967 Dec 15, The US Age
Discrimination Employment Act became public law.
(www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/documents/ycr/adea67.htm)
1968 Feb, The US federal hourly
minimum wage was set at $1.60 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1968 Apr 18, Some 178,000
employees of US Bell Telephone System went on strike.
(www.project1968.com/in-the-news-april-14-apri.html)
1968 Aug 9, The 267-day Detroit
newspaper strike ended.
(www.loc.gov/rr/news/chronological/exception_report.html)
1968 Walter Galenson
(1914-1999), American labor economist, published "The C.I.O.
Challenge to the A.F.L." with Harvard Univ. Press.
(SFC, 1/8/00,
p.A19)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Galenson)
1969 Jun 11, John L. Lewis
(b.1880), American labor organizer, died. He was the driving force
behind the 1935 formation of the Congress of Industrial
Organizations (CIO).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Lewis)
1969 Philadelphia initiated a
program of “career academies,” which combined academic and technical
curriculums and gave students work experience.
(Econ, 6/19/10, p.34)
1969 The first case of karoshi,
a Japanese term for death from overwork, was reported with the death
from a stroke of a male worker (29) in the shipping department of
Japan's largest newspaper company. In 1987, as public concern
increased, the Japanese Ministry of Labour began to publish
statistics on karoshi.
(Econ, 1/5/08,
p.69)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar%C5%8Dshi)
1970 Jan 5, Joseph A.
Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the
United Mine Workers, was found murdered with his wife and daughter
at their Clarksville, Pa., home. Nine people were later charged in
the killing including UMW Pres. W.A. Boyle.
(AP, 1/5/98)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1970 Mar 18, The U.S. Postal
Service was paralyzed by the first postal strike. A walkout of
letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan set off a strike that
involved 210,000 of the nation’s 750,000 postal employees. Pres.
Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military
units to NYC post offices.
(HN, 3/18/98)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1970 May 9, Walter P. Reuther
(b.1907), US worker's union leader, president (CIO), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reuther)
1970 Aug 3, A 4-day NFL strike
ended.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1970 Oct 3, Baseball umpires
called their 1st strike.
(MC, 10/3/01)
1970 Mexico overhauled its
labor code.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.37)
1971 Apr 28, The US
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established
within the Dept. of Labor under the Occupational Safety and Health
Act, which was passed on Dec 29, 1970. It was formed to protect
workers from on-the-job injuries and illnesses.
(www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/100.html#100.1)
1971 An Arizona law under Gov.
Jack Williams (1909-1998) outlawed secondary boycotts and
harvest-time strikes, tools used by the growing UFW.
(SFEM, 4/13/97,
p.12)(http://rulers.org/indexw2.html)
1972 Jan 9, British coal miners
begin a national strike, the first for half a century. The strike
ended on 28 February 1972, when the miners returned to work.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_(1972))
1972 In Zimbabwe 418 people
were killed in an underground explosion at a mine.
(AP, 7/30/02)
1973 Crystal Lee Sutton
(1940-2009) was fired for her pro-union activities at a J.P. Stevens
textile plant in North Carolina. The 1979 film “Norma Rae” was based
on her story. In 1974 the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile workers
Union won the right to represent 3,000 employees at seven Roanoke
Rapids plants in North Carolina.
(SFC, 9/15/09, p.C4)
1974 Jan 1 In Britain a 3-day
work week went into effect following a power shortage caused by
striking miners. 885,000 people registered as unemployed.
(Econ, 4/3/10,
p.59)(http://tinyurl.com/y76xjwe)(Econ., 5/2/20, p.12)
1974 Apr 11, United Mine
Workers president W. A. “Tony” Boyle was found guilty of
first-degree murder, for ordering the assassination of union
reformer Joseph A. “Jock” Yablonski in 1969. Yablonski, his wife and
daughter were murdered on December 30, 1969. Boyle had defeated
Yablonski in the UMW election earlier in the year-an election marred
by intimidation and vote fraud. In 1972 the election was set aside
by a federal court after Boyle had been convicted of illegal use of
UMW funds in the federal elections of 1968. In a new election held
in December, 1972, Boyle was defeated by rank and file reformist
Arnold Miller. Soon after the election Boyle was put on trial for
murdering the Yablonskis and was sentenced to three consecutive life
terms in prison.
(HNQ, 11/8/99)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1974 May 1, The US Federal
Hourly Minimum Wage was set at $2.00 an hour.
(www.dol.gov/ESA/minwage/chart.htm)
1975 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $2.10 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1975 May 3,
Gov. Jerry Brown of California began a round of private meetings to
resolve the issues between the UFW, agribusiness, and the Teamsters
Union.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.22)
1975 Jun 5, Gov. Jerry Brown of
California announced the new Agricultural Labor Relations Act. It
was a temporary truce in the struggle between the state’s farm
workers (UFW) led by Cesar Chavez and farmers. Chavez officially
ended the table grape, lettuce and wine boycott on Jan 31, 1978.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.22)(SFC, 1/31/03, p.E4)
1975 Jul 30, Former Teamsters
union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the
Machus Red fox Restaurant in suburban Detroit. Although presumed
dead, his remains have never been found. He was scheduled to meet
with Mafia captain Tony Jack Giacalone (d.2001 at 82) and New Jersey
Teamster boss Anthony Provenzano. In 2004 Charles Brandt authored “I
Heard You Paint Houses,” in which he says Teamster official Frank
Sheeran (d.2003) claimed to have shot Hoffa. Hoffa was declared
legally dead in 1982.
(HFA, '96, p.34)(AP, 7/30/97)(SFC, 2/26/01,
p.A24)(SFC, 5/29/04, p.A2)
1975 India banned debt bondage
with a stipulated fine of 2000 rupees ($37), but the law was rarely
prosecuted.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.42)
1976 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $2.30 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1976 May 8, San Francisco city
craft workers agreed to end their 38-day strike. City supervisors
agreed to take Propositions E and K off the June ballot.
(SFC, 5/4/01, WBb p.3)
1976 The California Legislature
extended a 1953 wage law requiring overtime pay for women and minors
who work extra days or hours to all workers.
(SFC, 5/10/17, p.D3)
1976 A typical American CEO
earned 36 times as much as the average worker. By 2008 average CEO
pay increased to 369 times that of the average worker.
(SFC, 4/29/08, p.E2)
1976 In Poland Jacek Kuron
(1934-2004) led a mobilization of the Committee to Assist Workers
(KOR) to support striking workers. In 1977 it was reorganized into
the Committee for Social Self-defense (KOR).
(http://tinyurl.com/z9u3yhd)(SFC, 6/19/04, p.B6)
1977 The US Congress gave the
Federal Reserve a dual mandate of stable prices and full employment.
(Econ, 12/21/13, p.113)
1978 Jan 31, Cesar Chavez
officially ended the United Farm Workers’ boycott of table grapes,
lettuce and wine.
(SFC, 1/31/03, p.E4)
1978 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $2.65 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1978 Mar 6, Pres. Carter
invoked the Taft-Hartley Act for an 80-day cooling off period in a
coal strike. Miners had struck 3 months earlier after coal companies
demanded wage and benefit cuts and refused to be forced back to
work. They ended the strike after 110 days when most company demands
were dropped.
(SFC, 10/4/02,
p.A17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bituminous_Coal_Strike_of_1977-1978)
1978 Jul 4, Memphis fire
fighters halted 3-day strike under a court order.
(Maggio)
1978 Aug 9, A California
statewide Teamsters warehouse workers strike began.
(SFC, 8/15/03, p.E9)
1978 Sep 26, British unions,
fed up with wage restraints, launched their “winter of discontent,”
to the humiliation of James Callaghan’s government.
(http://web.onetel.net.uk/~davewalton/archive/local/winterofdiscontent.html)(SSFC,
3/27/05, p.A21)(Econ, 9/15/07, p.69)
1978 Pres. Carter invoked the
Taft-Hartley Act for an 80-day cooling off period in a coal strike.
Miners had struck 3 months earlier after coal companies demanded
wage and benefit cuts and refused to be forced back to work. They
ended the strike after 110 days when most company demands were
dropped.
(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1978 Robert Oakeshott
(1933-2011), British social reformer, authored “The Case for
Worker’s Co-ops.”
(www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8630990/Robert-Oakeshott.html)
1979 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $2.90 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1979 Feb, Farm workers in
California began a mass walkout in the UFW supported great lettuce
strike.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.34)
1979 Mar 8, Cesar Chavez led
some 5,000 striking farmworkers on a march through the streets of
Salinas, Ca.
(SFC, 2/05/04, p.E8)
1979 May 16, Asa Philip
Randolph (b.1889), black labor leader and civil rights pioneer, died
in NYC. Randolph brought the word of trade unionism to millions of
African American households.
(www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/randolph.cfm)
1979 Jul 31, Cesar Chavez began
a 12-day march from SF to Salinas to dramatize the 6-month strike of
the United Farm Workers.
(SFC, 7/30/04, p.F2)
1979 Aug 27, California’s West
Coast Farms agreed to a 3-year pattern contract with the United Farm
Workers raising the minimum hourly wage.
(SFC, 8/27/04, p.F2)
1979-1995 Lane Kirkland served as president of the
AFL-CIO. In 2005 Arch Puddington authored “Lane Kirkland: Champion
of American Labor.”
(WSJ, 3/8/05, p.D7)
1980 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $3.10 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1980 Feb 4, In Alameda, Ca., 3
former waitresses testified in Superior Court that they were
blackballed by a union hiring hall after refusing to have sex with
labor leader Ray Lane.
(SFC, 2/4/05, p.F9)
1980 Jul 17, Over 6,000 union
hotel employees went on strike and were locked out of SF hotels in a
contract dispute, the 1st in 40 years.
(SFC, 7/15/05, p.F3)
1980 Apr 11, The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations specifically
prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.
(AP, 4/11/97)
1980 Aug 14, Some 17,000 Polish
workers, led by Lech Walesa, began a 17-day strike at the Lenin
Shipyards in Gdansk. This resulted in the creation of the Solidarity
labor movement.
(TMC, 1994, p.1980)(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A12)(AP,
8/14/00)(MC, 8/14/02)
1980 Aug 31, Poland's
Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in
Gdansk that ended a 17-day strike. Solidarity, founded by Lech
Walesa during anticommunist strikes at the Gdansk shipyards, won
recognition as the first free trade union of the Soviet
bloc.
(TMC, 1994, p.1980)(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A12)(SFC,
7/11/97, p.A10)(AP, 8/31/97)
1980 The average CEO of a
company on the FTSE All Share index earned 25 times more than the
average employee. In 2016 this rose to 130 times more than the
average employee.
(Econ 6/3/17, p.22)
1980-1988 Labor union independence in Iran was
destroyed during its war with Iraq.
(Econ, 4/20/13, p.53)
1981 Jan, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $3.35 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1981 Apr 22, Almost 1 million
West German metal workers went on strike.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1981 Jun 12, Major league
baseball players began a 49-day strike over the issue of free-agent
compensation. The season did not resume until August tenth.
(AP, 6/12/01)
1981 Jul 31, A seven-week-old
Major League Baseball strike was resolved. Play resumed on August 9
with the All-Star game.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Major_League_Baseball_strike)
1981 Aug 3, U.S. air traffic
controllers (PATCO) went on strike, despite a warning from President
Reagan they would be fired. Most of the 13,000 controllers defied
Reagan’s order to return to work within 48 hours and were fired.
(AP, 8/3/02)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1981 Aug 5, Pres. Reagan began
firing 11,500 air traffic controllers who had gone out on strike 2
days earlier.
(AP, 8/5/97)(WSJ, 9/3/96, p.A1)(MC, 8/5/02)
1981 Oct 22, The US
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by
the federal government for its strike the previous August.
(AP, 10/22/99)
1982 Nov 16, The US National
Football League ended a 57-day strike, the longest in the history of
professional sports.
(AP, 11/1697)(HN, 11/16/98)
1983 Aug 7, Some 675,000
employees struck ATT Corp.
(MC, 8/7/02)
1983 French Pres. Francois
Mitterand lowered the retirement age from 65 to 60.
(Econ, 9/11/10, p.31)
1984-1985 Britain’s PM Thatcher’s clashes with
miner’s union leader Arthur Scargill, during the miner’s strike over
this period, established a turning point in British industrial
relations.
(Econ, 7/2/11, p.49)
1985 Mar 3, Britain’s National
Union of Mine Workers (NUM), led by Arthur Scargill, voted to end a
51 week strike that proved to be the longest and most violent
walkout in British history.
(SC, 3/3/02)(AP, 3/3/05)(Econ, 4/13/13, p.27)
1985 Jun 27, The 1st hotel
strike in NYC took place.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1986 Jan 6, Impala Platinum
fired 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1986 Alexander Kisser authored
"Out of Work," an overview of unemployment.
(WSJ, 12/3/03, p.B1)
1986 Japan passed
equal-employment-opportunity legislation removing most legal
barriers to women in the workplace. Discrimination remained rampant.
(Econ, 11/20/10, SR p.8)
1987 Feb 2, Largest steel
strike in American history, in progress since August, ended.
(HN, 2/2/99)
1987 Mar 25, The US Supreme
Court ruled employers may sometimes favor women and members of
minority groups over men and whites in hiring and promoting in order
to achieve better balance in the work force.
(AP, 3/25/97)
1987 Jul 21, Defying a
threatened veto by President Reagan, the Senate approved a trade
bill containing a provision requiring companies to give 60 days'
notice to employees of impending plant closings and large-scale
layoffs. Reagan vetoed the bill, but ended up allowing a separate
plant-closing notice measure to become law.
(AP, 7/21/97)
1987 Aug 10, Iorwith Wilbur
Abel (b.1908), CEO of the United Steel Workers of America (1965-77),
died. I.W. Abel had also served as vice-president of the AFL-CIO.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iorwith_Wilbur_Abel)
1987 Oct 24, The Teamsters
union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO by a vote of the labor
federation's executive council in Miami Beach, Fla. The union had
been expelled from the AFL-CIO in December, 1957, because of
racketeering by its executives, including union president Dave Beck
and vice president James R. Hoffa. However, the Teamsters
disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.
(AP, 10/24/97)(HNQ, 1/8/99)(AP, 10/24/07)
1987 Oct 24, NBC technicians
accepted a pact and ended a 118 day strike.
(http://tinyurl.com/eq22r)
1988 Mar 4, The Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported that the nation's civilian unemployment rate had
dropped the previous month to 5.7 percent.
(AP, 3/4/98)
1988 May 10, In Poland an
eight-day strike by workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk ended
without an agreement.
(AP, 5/10/98)
1988 Jun 28, The US federal
government sued the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to force
reforms on the nation's largest labor union. The two sides reached a
settlement in March, 1989.
(AP, 6/28/98)
1988 Jul 9, Teamsters President
Jackie Presser died in Lakewood, Ohio, at age 61.
(AP, 7/9/98)
1988 Jul 15, The leadership of
the Teamsters Union chose William J. McCarthy to fill out the
remaining term of the late Jackie Presser as president, narrowly
rejecting Secretary-Treasurer Weldon Mathis, Presser's hand-picked
successor.
(AP, 7/15/98)
1988 Aug 7, The Writers Guild
of America ended their 6 months strike.
(http://tinyurl.com/zlxht)
1989 Mar 3, Machinists struck
Eastern Airlines and pilots honored the picket lines.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1989 Mar 4, Eastern Airlines
machinists went on strike and were joined by pilots and flight
attendants.
(AP, 3/4/99)
1989 Mar 5, Machinists striking
Eastern Airlines withdrew an immediate threat to picket the nation's
railroads, after a federal judge issued an order temporarily
prohibiting rail workers from honoring the Eastern picket lines.
(AP, 3/5/99)
1989 Jul 27, Workers at the
Nissan Motor Corp. assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn., voted against
representation by the United Auto Workers.
(AP, 7/27/99)
1989 Aug 18, The US Labor
Department reported that the Consumer Price Index rose only 0.2
percent in July 1989, easing fears of a recession.
(AP, 8/18/99)
1989 Nov 23, Pilots Union gave
up on a sympathy strike against Eastern Airlines.
(MC, 11/23/01)
1990 Mar 2, More than 6,000
drivers went on strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. The company,
later declaring an impasse in negotiations, fired the strikers.
(AP, 3/2/00)
1990 Mar 30, Harry Bridges
(b.1901), Australian-born SF labor activist, died.
(SFC, 7/27/01, p.A19)
1990 Apr 12, Greyhound Bus
hired new drivers to replace strikers.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1990 Apr, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $3.80 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1991 Apr 17, Congress voted to
put a quick end to a day-old nationwide strike by 235,000 rail
workers. President Bush signed the legislation early the next day.
(AP, 4/17/01)
1991 Apr, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $4.25 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1991 Nov 13, The U.S. House of
Representatives approved a Senate-passed bill guaranteeing many
workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies.
(AP, 11/13/01)
1992 Feb 1, Ron Carey was sworn
in as the first Teamsters president elected by the union's
rank-and-file.
(AP, 2/1/02)
1992 Feb 3, Maximum NY State
unemployment benefits were raised to $300 per week.
(MC, 2/3/02)
1992 Jul 2, The Labor
Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate the previous
month had risen to an eight-year high of 7.8 percent, compared to
7.5 percent in May.
(AP, 7/2/97)
1992 Jul 31, In Italy the scala
mobile wage index, which maintained a rigid link between Italian
wages and prices, was scrapped after a long struggle.
(www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/ITALY/SLIDINGSCALEMECHANISM-IT.htm)(Econ,
6/13/09, SR p.9)
1992 Aug 3, Millions of South
African blacks joined a nationwide strike against white-led rule.
(AP, 8/3/97)
1992 Aug 12, The North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was announced in Washington, D.C. after
14 months of negotiations between the United States, Mexico and
Canada. It created the world's wealthiest trading bloc. [see Jan 1,
1994]
(AP, 8/12/97)(HN, 8/12/02)
1992 Aug 31, A dynamite
explosion in Philippines mine killed 500 people.
(MC, 8/31/01)
1992 Sep 4, The US government
reported the nation's unemployment rate had edged down to 7.6
percent in August 1992, but also said adult joblessness had worsened
slightly and the economy had lost thousands of crucial manufacturing
jobs.
(AP, 9/4/97)
1992 Sep 5, A strike that had
idled nearly 43,000 General Motors Corp. workers ended as members of
a United Auto Workers local in Lords town, Ohio, approved a new
agreement.
(AP, 9/5/97)
1992 Australia’s Keating
government passed a law requiring workers to set aside big chunks of
their income into a superannuation account for retirement. This
began to create a huge national retirement pool.
(WSJ, 12/6/05, p.A1)(Econ, 5/28/11, SR p.6)
1993 Apr 23, Labor leader Cesar
Chavez died in San Luis, Ariz., at age 66. He founded the United
Farm Workers Union on his birthday Mar 31, 1962.
(AP, 4/23/98)(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A14)
1993 Sep 3, The US Labor
Department reported the nation's unemployment rate edged down to a
two-year low of 6.7 percent the previous month.
(AP, 9/3/98)
1994 Jan 1, The North American
Free Trade Agreement went into effect. Under the system a complaint
is referred to a panel of experts who debate it and render a
decision. The losing nation must then change its practices or offer
compensation to the injured nations. Members who refuse to comply
can be subjected to trade retaliation, such as tariffs to their
exports. It was run out of Geneva by Renato "Rocky" Ruggiero. GATT
gave poorer countries 10 years to strengthen their drug-patent laws
and a similar period for the US to lift its textile quotas. The
World Trade Organization (WTO), founded as the successor to the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a relatively weak
regulator of int’l. trade, was a product of the Uruguay Round of
negotiations (1986-1994). In 2000 John R. MacArthur authored "The
Selling of "Free Trade:" NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of
American Democracy." In 2004 David Bacon authored "The Children
NAFTA: Labor Wars on the US/Mexico Border.
(SFC, 10/17/96, A9)(WSJ, 12/3/96, p.A1)(WSJ,
12/13/96, p.A1)(AP, 1/1/98) (SFC, 11/24/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 7/2/00, BR
p.3)(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.M2)
1994 Sep 2, The government
reported the nation's unemployment rate for August was unchanged
from July, at 6.1 percent.
(AP, 9/2/99)
1994 Jeff Taylor founded
Monster.com, an online job-search site.
(Econ, 3/27/04, p.66)
1995 Mar 26, The National Labor
Relations Board, in an extraordinary Sunday session, voted 3-2 to
seek an injunction against baseball owners as a
seven-and-a-half-month-old strike by players continued.
(AP, 3/26/00)
1995 May 10, One-hundred-four
miners were killed in an elevator accident in Orkney, South Africa.
(AP, 5/10/00)
1995 Oct 25, John J. Sweeney
was elected AFL-CIO president. He soon pledged to his 13 million
members “We will not be a rubber stamp of the Democrats.”
(AP, 10/25/00)(Econ, 5/14/05, p.32)
1995 Stephen P. Yokich
succeeded Owen Bibber as UAW president.
(SFC, 8/19/02, p.B6)
1995 Germany introduced a
35-hour work week.
(WSJ, 4/29/04, p.A14)
1996 Feb 14, In Michigan the
newspapers unions in Detroit offered to return to work (on strike
since July 1995). The newspapers accepted the offer 5 days later but
vowed to retain some 1200 replacement workers. A 1997 ruling ordered
as many as 1,100 former strikers reinstated.
(SFC, 6/21/97, p.A4)
1996 Mar 21, General Motors
and the United Auto Workers reached a settlement in a 17-day
brake-factory strike that idled more than 177,000 employees and
brought the world's top automaker to a near standstill.
(AP, 3/21/97)
1996 May 16, French unions
scheduled a series of strikes to protest Prime Minister Jape’s plans
to eliminate thousands of civil service jobs.
(WSJ, 5/16/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 23, The House
approved, by a vote of 281-144, election-year legislation to raise
the minimum wage by 90 cents an hour.
(AP, 5/23/97)
1996 May 29, The United Farm
Workers signed a contract with a major lettuce producer. A minimum
of 6.62/hr will be paid rising to 7.23/hr in 5 years.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.C1)
1996 May 29, A 15-year-old
Honduran girl spoke of sweatshop conditions under South Korean
owners in the production of clothing for the Kathie Lee Gifford line
for Wal-Mart. The National Labor Committee accused marketers such as
Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, and K-Mart of selling clothes made by underage
Honduran workers.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A5)
1996 Jun 9, The latest US
unemployment rate was 5.6%.
(SFC, 6/9/96, Par, p.9)
1996 Jun, Finland’s latest
unemployment rate was 16.7%.
{Finland, Labor}
(SFC, 6/9/96, Par, p.9)
1996 Jul 5, The government
reported the nation's unemployment rate fell to a six-year low to
5.3% in June 1996; nervous investors, fearing higher interest rates,
gave the stock market its worst beating in four months, sending the
Dow industrials down 114 points.
(SFC, 7/6/96, p.A1)(AP, 7/5/97)
1996 Aug 29-30, Dancers from
the North Beach Lusty Lady Club voted on union representation with
the Service Employees International Union, Local 790. The vote
passed 57 to 15. The contract was ratified Apr 10, 1997.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A15)(SFC, 8/31/96, p.A17)(SFC,
4/11/97, p.A19)
1996 Oct, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage was set at $4.75 an hour.
(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1996 Dec 5, Isidro Gil, a union
leader at a Crepe, Colombia, Coca-Cola bottling plant, was killed at
work. It was later alleged that the plant manager hired right-wing
paramilitary to help wipe out union activity. In 2002 the labor
union filed suit against Coca-Cola in Miami.
(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A11)
1997 Feb 19, Detroit's daily
newspapers accepted a back-to-work offer from employees who'd been
on strike for 19 months, but the strikers charged the conditions for
return amounted to a lockout.
(AP, 2/19/98)
1997 Apr 21, Some 12,500
workers for Goodyear Tire went on strike.
(WSJ, 4/21/97, p.A1)
1997 May 7, Chrysler Corp. and
United Auto Workers agreed to a new contract, ending a damaging
28-day engine-plant strike.
(AP, 5/7/98)
1997 Jul 22, In Michigan some
2,800 UAW workers went on strike at a GM plant in Warren.
(SFC, 7/23/97, p.A3)
1997 Jul 27, United Auto
Workers approved a deal to end a six-day strike at a General Motors
parts plant that forced four assembly plant shutdowns and threatened
GM's entire North American production.
(SFC, 7/28/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/27/98)
1997 Aug 3, UPS went out on
strike.
(SFC, 8/4/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 4, US Teamsters under
Ron Carey (1935-2008) went on a 15-day strike against United Parcel
Service after talks broke down with nation's largest package
delivery service.
(AP, 8/4/98)(SFC, 12/13/08, p.B5)
1997 Aug 8, The Teamsters and
United Parcel Service completed a second day of federally mediated
talks, with neither side reporting progress toward ending a strike.
(AP, 8/8/98)
1997 Aug 12, Steel workers in
West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania ended a 10-month strike at
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. with a new contract. It was the
longest strike by a major steel company.
(SFC, 8/13/97, p.A3)(AP, 8/12/98)
1997 Aug 20, United Parcel
Service drivers put away picket signs, put on brown shirts and
shorts, and called on customers again as the delivery giant began to
sluggishly recover from its costly strike.
(AP, 8/20/07)
1997 Aug 22, A federal official
threw out the contentious Teamsters election because of alleged
campaign fund-raising abuses, forcing union President Ron Carey into
another race against James P. Hoffa.
(SFC, 8/23/97, p.A1)(AP, 8/22/98)
1997 Sep 1, The 2nd phase of
the minimum wage raise to $5.15 per hour went into effect
(SFC, 9/1/97,
p.A3)(http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/blminwage.htm)
1997 Dec 4, In Canada postal
workers ended their strike under threat of heavy fines with a 5.15%
wage increase over 3 years.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.B5)
1997 Dec 4, In Indonesia some
2,000 Dole farmworkers on Mindanao went on strike protesting low
wages.
(SFC, 2/16/98, p.A10)
1998 Jan 1, Mongolia switched
from a 46 hour to 40 hour work week.
(MC, 1/1/02)
1998 Feb 13, The United Auto
Workers reached a tentative contract agreement with Caterpillar
Inc.; union members rejected the agreement, which was revised and
later ratified, ending a bitter dispute that lasted more than six
years.
(AP, 2/13/99)
1998 Mar 22, A deeply divided
United Auto Workers union approved a new contract with Caterpillar
Inc., ending a 6 1/2-year contract battle.
(AP, 3/22/99)
1998 Apr 4, In the Ukraine a
gas explosion at the Skochinsky coal mine outside Donetsk killed 63
men.
(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.A20)(AP, 4/4/08)
1998 May 13, Thousands of
yellow cab drivers went on a one day strike in NYC.
(SFC, 5/14/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 19, Workers for Saturn
Corp., a division of GM in Tennessee, authorized union leaders to
call their first-ever strike.
(SFEC, 7/20/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 28, General Motors and
the UAW agreed tentatively to settle an almost two-month strike at
two parts plants in Flint.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A1)(AP, 7/28/99)
1998 Jul 29, GM workers began
returning to their jobs after ratifying a strike settlement.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.A3)
1998 Aug 7, Pres. Clinton
signed the US federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). It reformed
federal employment, training, adult education, and vocational
rehabilitation programs by creating an integrated "one-stop" system
of workforce investment and education services for adults,
dislocated workers, and youth. It superseded the Job Training
Partnership Act.
(www.twc.state.tx.us/boards/wia/txwia.html)
1998 Aug 9, A strike by 73,000
telephone workers of NYC-based Bell Atlantic began.
(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A2)
1998 Aug 14, It was reported
that the average compensation for the 100 top Prudential Insurance
executives doubled from 1994 to 1997 to about $820,000.
(WSJ, 8/14/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 15, Some 34,000 union
workers went on strike against US West.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A7)
1998 Aug 28, Over 6,000 pilots
of Northwest Airlines went on strike.
(SFC, 8/28/98, p.A3)
1998 Aug 29, Northwest Airlines
pilots went on strike after their union rejected a last-minute
company offer.
(AP, 8/29/99)
1998 Aug 30, In Denver the
largest union of US West, the regional telephone service, ended a
15-day strike with a tentative agreement on a three-year contract.
(SFC, 8/31/98, p.A4)(AP, 8/30/99)
1998 Sep 1, Pilots for Air
Canada went on strike for the first time in the association’s 61
year history.
(SFC, 9/2/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 2, Pilots for Air
Canada began a strike, the first in the carrier's history. [see Sep
1]
(AP, 9/2/99)
1998 Sep 12, Leaders of
striking pilots at Northwest Airlines ratified a new contract,
ending a walkout that began August 28.
(AP, 9/12/03)
1998 Nov 21, Rail workers in
southern France extended their strike for the 12th day. A
Europe-wide rail strike was planned for Nov 27.
(SFEC, 11/22/98, p.A26)
1998 Dec 5, James P. Hoffa
claimed the Teamsters presidency after challenger Tom Dedham
conceded defeat in the union's presidential election.
(SFEC, 12/6/98, p.A9)(AP, 12/5/99)
1998 In Australia’s waterfront
war Chris Corrigan, head of the cargo-handling Patrick Corp., took
on the “wharfies” and smashed their union’s control of the docks.
(Econ, 10/30/04, p.70)
1998-2002 China’s closure of state-owned
enterprises and “collectives” resulted in job losses for some 24
million workers, representing about 10% of the work force.
(Econ, 9/11/04, p.37)
1999 Feb 13, A federal judge
held American Airlines' pilots' union and two top board members in
contempt and promised sizable fines against them, saying the union
did not do enough to encourage pilots to return to work after a
court order. A federal judge fined the American Airlines pilot's
union at least $10 million for ignoring his back-to-work order.
(AP, 2/13/00)(SFEC, 2/14/99, p.A2)
1999 Apr 1, Britain’s pay rate
for workers aged 22 or over was set at ₤3.60 per hour. Workers
18-21 had a lower rate set at ₤3.00. In 2006 the minimum wage rose
to ₤5.35 an hour.
(Econ, 10/7/06, p.65)
1999 Apr 2, The US Labor
Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate fell to a
29-year low of 4.2 percent in March 1999.
(AP, 4/2/00)
1999 Apr 5, At Newport News,
Va., members of local 8888 of the United Steelworkers went on
strike. The shipyard offered a $2.49 per hour raise over 3 years as
opposed to the union demand for $3.95.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.D1)
1999 Apr 19, In Canada a
Toronto transit strike forced 800,000 commuters to seek alternate
transportation.
(WSJ, 4/20/99, A1)
1999 Aug 31, Detroit’s teachers
went on strike, wiping out the first day of class for 172-thousand
students in one of the largest teachers’ strikes in years. The
walkout lasted nine days.
(AP, 8/31/00)
1999 Sep 6, Detroit's teachers
reached a tentative agreement and won smaller classes and raises of
up to 4%. The union represented 9,200 teachers and some
172,000 students were affected. The teachers ratified the contract
two days later.
(AP, 9/6/00)(SFC, 9/7/99, p.A5)
1999 Nov 21, In South Korea
thousands of workers gathered in Seoul and demanded a reduction of
the workweek from 44 to 40 hours. They also protested government
plans to privatize state-run power, gas and financial firms.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A13)
1999 Dec 5, AFL-CIO chief John
Sweeney welcomed the collapse of World Trade Organization talks in
Seattle and the failure to agree on a new round of negotiations,
telling CBS’ “Face the Nation,” “No deal is better than a bad deal.”
(AP, 12/5/00)
1999-2011 In the US almost 6 million manufacturing
jobs were lost during this period mainly due to Chinese competition.
(Econ, 4/2/15, p.10)
2000 Feb 1, In France the new
35-hour work week took legal effect. Workers that included truckers
struck across the country for a number of demands that included
higher pay. The truckers were exempted from the reduced work week.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.B2)
2000 Feb 9, In Renton, Wa.,
some 17,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers began a 40-day
strike, one of the biggest white-collar strikes in US history.
(SFC, 2/10/00, p.A9)(AP, 2/9/01)
2000 Feb, Female workers at
Boeing filed a class-action suit for discrimination in pay and
promotions.
(ST, 5/14/04, p.A5)
2000 Mar 17, Boeing Co. agreed
to settle a 38-day strike by its engineers. It was the largest
white-collar walkout in US history.
(SFC, 3/18/00, p.A2)
2000 May 1, May Day marches and
protests took place around the world. In Berlin violence erupted as
some 10,000 anarchists marched against “capitalism and imperialism”
after some 1200 neo-Nazis rallied. In London some 2,000
demonstrators caused havoc in London. Tens of thousands gathered in
Madrid and some 15,000 demonstrated in both Russia and Istanbul.
Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Sao Paulo, Brazil and some
20,000 marched in Quito, Ecuador.
(SFC, 5/2/00, p.A10)
2000 May 16, In China some
5,000 retired or laid-off workers in Liaoyang clashed with police
following protests over non-payment of pensions and wages.
(SFC, 5/17/00, p.A18)
2000 May 23, In France the
15-day strike by armored truck security guards ended after they
agreed to a risk premium of $138 per month.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.C4)
2000 Aug 6,
Workers at Verizon, the nation’s largest local telephone company,
went on an 18-day strike over working conditions and union
representation.
(AP, 8/6/01)
2000 Aug 26, United Airlines
signed a tentative accord with its 10,000 pilots following 20 months
of negotiations.
(SFEC, 8/27/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 11, The Nobel Prize in
economics went to Daniel McFadden (63) of UC Berkeley for developing
ways of analyzing consumer decisions and to James Heckman of Univ.
of Chicago for developing techniques to strip out hidden biases in
studies of the labor force. Heckman won for work on teasing out
cause and effect from messy, real-world data.
(SFC, 10/12/00, p.A1)(Econ., 5/16/20, p.21)
2000 In China coal mine
fatalities were estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 per year
with an average of 13 miners killed per day. Miners earned about $50
per month.
(SFC, 12/25/00, p.B6)(NW, 10/28/02, p.44R)
2001 May 1, May Day protests
rallies took place around the world as people demonstrated against
global trade and for workers’ rights.
(WSJ, 5/2/01, p.A1)
2001 May 20, In China 20 miners
were feared dead in a gypsum mine in the Guangxi region and another
38-39 were trapped in a coal mine in Sichuan. The miners in Sichuan
were working a prison-run mine.
(SFC, 5/21/01, p.A10)(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A11)
2001 Jul 19, In Argentina
workers staged a nationwide strike due to government spending cuts.
(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A17)
2001 Sep 7, The US jobless rate
for August was reported with a rise of .4%. The DJIA fell 235 to
9,605. The Nasdaq ended at 1,687.
(SFC, 9/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 7, In New Jersey
nearly 230 teachers were ordered freed from jail after their union
agreed to end the 9-day strike and go into mediation.
(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A4)
2002 Feb 2, New Orleans voters
approved a $1 per hour increase in the minimum wage above the $5.15
federal standard in a referendum that went to court for resolution.
(SSFC, 2/17/02, p.A9)
2002 Mar 8, The US Labor Dept.
reported an addition of 66,000 jobs in February, the 1st increase in
8 months.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 8, K-Mart announced
the closure of 284 stores and layoffs of 22,000.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.B1)
2002 Apr 8, In Mexico Pres. Fox
and the Manuela and Export Industry Council signed an agreement to
improve working conditions for female factory workers.
(SFC, 4/9/02, p.A9)
2002 May 3, The US Labor Dept.
reported the April jobless rate at 6%, up .3%.
(SFC, 5/4/02, p.A1)
2002 May 10, It was reported
that IBM would lay off as many as 8,000 workers over the next
quarter, 2.5% of its world-wide work force.
(WSJ, 5/10/02, p.A3)
2002 May 15, German
Metalworkers in Baden-Wuerttemberg won a higher than expected wage
increase that included 4% in June and 3.1% in 2003. A 10-day strike
was expected to end.
(WSJ, 5/16/02, p.A1)
2002 May 30, In Greece civil
servants staged a 1-day national strike to protest government
welfare and tax reforms.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.C11)
2002 Jun 10, The US Supreme
Court ruled that employers can reject applicants for jobs that would
endanger their health.
(SFC, 6/11/02, p.A4)
2002 Aug 16, Stephen P. Yokich
(66), former United Auto Workers president died in Detroit.
(SFC, 8/19/02, p.B6)(AP, 8/16/03)
2002 Sep 26, Gap Inc, 6 other
US firms and 23 local manufacturers settled a class-action lawsuit
over alleged sweatshop abuses on Saipan. The deal created a $20
million fund for back wages and a monitoring system.
(SFC, 9/27/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 1, West Coast
dockworkers and shipping lines reached a tentative agreement on key
issues.
(SFC, 11/2/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 23, West Coast dock
workers and shipping lines reached a tentative 6-year contract.
(SSFC, 11/24/02, p.A23)
2002 Dec 28, US federal
unemployment benefits ended for nearly 800,000.
(SFC, 12/28/02, p.A5)
2003 Jan 6, California Gov.
Davis promised to create 500,000 new jobs over the next 4 years.
(AP, 1/7/03)
2003 Jan 9, The Bush
administration said federal airport security screeners will not be
allowed to unionize so as not to complicate the war on terrorism.
(WSJ, 1/10/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan 10, The US Labor Dept.
reported that 101,000 jobs were lost in December with 8.6 million
(6%) officially unemployed.
(SFC, 1/11/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Venezuela’s
government fired 828 more employees from Petroleos de Venezuela
(PDVSA), the state oil monopoly, for participating in a two-month
strike to oust Pres. Chavez. PDVSA lost many of its most experienced
and best-qualified employees. Altogether Chavez fired some 18,000
employees of PDVSA this year and many of them soon found work
Colombia.
(AP, 4/4/03)(Econ, 8/12/06, p.56)(Econ, 7/19/14,
p.31)
2003 May 2, The US jobless rate
was reported at 6%, an 8-year high.
(SFC, 5/3/03, p.B1)
2003 Jul 3, The US jobless rate
was reported to have surged to a nine-year high in June as employers
cut 30,000 workers from their payrolls.
(AP, 7/3/03)
2003 Aug 18, In Venezuela 9
workers died as 8 tried to rescue a comrade who was felled by toxic
industrial gases at an animal feed plant outside Caracas.
(WSJ, 8/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 9, Chicago sanitation
workers accepted a 28% wage increase over 5 years and ended a 9-day
strike.
(SFC, 10/10/03, p.A6)
2003 Oct 12, Some 70,000
employees of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons grocery stores began a
strike in southern California, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and
Ohio. Health care costs were a main issue. Workers approved an
agreement for southern California on Feb 29, 2004.
(SFC, 10/14/03, p.B2)(SFC, 11/5/03, p.B1)(SFC,
3/1/04, p.A5)
2003 Oct 14, In LA, Ca., some
2,000 train and bus mechanics went on strike and halted the
mass-transit system.
(SFC, 10/15/03, p.A9)
2003 Oct 28, Japan's Sony Corp.
said it would cut 20,000 workers and reduce costs by $3 billion over
the next 4 years.
(SFC, 10/29/03, p.B3)
2003 Nov 7, The US Labor Dept.
Reported an increase of 126,000 jobs outside the farm sector for
October.
(SFC, 11/8/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 11, Striking Kroger
workers in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio ratified a new contract.
The strike began Oct 13.
(SFC, 12/12/03, p.B4)
2003 Dec 15, California's
longest strike by nurses ended after workers at Doctors Medical
Center in San Pablo and Pinole approved a new contract with Tenet
Healthcare Corp. ending a 13-month walkout.
(SFC, 12/17/03, p.A23)
2003 In 2005 estimates of
Chinese labor unrest for 2003 noted some 60,000 protests with a 17%
annual increase over the past decade.
(WSJ, 4/18/05, p.A16)
2004 Feb 23, The wage minimum
in SF rose to $8.50 from $6.75, based on voter approval in 2003.
(SFC, 2/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 24, A group of large
employers proposed "scorecards" for doctors in an effort help
employees choose doctors based on quality care.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 26, The WSJ quoted
Bill Dreher, retailing analyst for Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as
follows: "From the perspective of investors, Costco's benefits are
overly generous. Public companies need to care for shareholders
first. Costco runs its business like it is a private company."
(WSJ, 3/26/04, p.B1)
2004 Apr 10, A coal mine
explosion trapped five miners underground in a northeastern Chinese
city where more than 150 miners have been killed in the past year.
(AP, 4/10/04)
2004 Apr 10, In Siberia an
apparent methane blast ripped through a coal mine, killing 22 miners
and trapping at least 25.
(AP, 4/10/04)
2004 Apr 20, The US Labor Dept.
established new rules on overtime pay. It expanded the range for
lower income workers and put a ceiling on overtime for higher income
workers.
(WSJ, 4/21/04, p.D1)
2004 May 10, Gov. Baldacci of
Maine signed legislation increasing the minimum wage. The current
$6.25 and hour rate would be increased 25 cents in each of two
phases.
(USAT, 5/11/04, p.10A)
2004 Apr 30, In the SF Bay Area
the National Labor Relations Board ruled that cab drivers for an
East Bay syndicate to taxi companies are employees, not independent
contractors, and therefore entitled to unionize. The companies
refused to negotiate.
(SFC, 7/28/04, p.B5)
2004 Jul, In Germany Hartz IV
was voted into law. It became effective in January 2005. It limited
unemployment pay to the 1st year out of work, after which a much
lower social security benefit kicked in. The Hartz laws originated
in 2002 when Chancellor Schroder asked Peter Hartz, personnel chief
at Volkswagen, to propose reforms in Germany’s labor market. The
package became known as Schroder’s Agenda 2010.
(Econ, 9/4/04, p.62)(Econ, 2/11/06, Survey
p.9)(Econ 7/8/17, p.19)
2004 Aug 23, New US rules on
overtime pay went into effect. Under the new FairPay rules, workers
earning less than $23,660 per year, or $455 per week, were
guaranteed overtime protection.
(SFC, 8/24/04,
p.C1)(www.dol.gov/esa/WHD/regs/compliance/fairpay/)
2004 Sep 8, In Turkey rescue
workers started to evacuate dozens of workers trapped inside a
copper mine engulfed in fire. Eight miners were rescued so far.
Between 25 and 30 miners were trapped inside the mine in the town of
Kure in Catamount province, some 185 miles north of the capital,
Ankara.
(AP, 9/8/04)
2004 Sep 23, California’s
Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved restrictions
on hand-weeding in most commercial crops.
(SFC, 9/24/04, p.B7)
2004 Oct 5, Supermarket
janitors in California won a $22.4 million settlement against 3
grocery chains and a cleaning contractor in a class-action suit over
failure to pay for overtime.
(SFC, 10/6/04, p.B3)
2004 Oct 26, Mayor Newsom
joined the picket line to support the 4,000 locked-out workers in
the SF hotel strike.
(SFC, 10/27/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 1, Casino workers in
Atlantic City tentatively accepted a new 5-year contract.
(SFC, 11/3/04, p.C1)
2004 Nov 11, Delta Air Line
pilots accepted over $1 billion in annual pay cuts and agreed to
forgo raises through 2009.
(SFC, 11/12/04, p.C2)
2004 Mike Rose of UCLA authored
“The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker.”
(SSFC, 8/22/04, p.M1)
2005 Mar 18, Wal-Mart agreed to
pay a record $11 million to settle a civil immigration case for
using illegal immigrants to clean floors at stores in 21 states.
(SFC, 3/19/05, p.C1)
2005 Mar 23, In South Africa
some 21,000 Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. mineworkers went on strike
after mediation efforts with the union over pay and working
conditions failed.
(AP, 3/24/05)
2005 Apr 22, The US Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corp. agreed to take over the underfunded pension
plans of United Airlines and assume some $6.6 billion in
liabilities.
(SFC, 4/23/05, p.C1)
2005 May 10, A federal
bankruptcy judge freed United Airlines from responsibility for
pensions covering 120,000 employees.
(SFC, 5/11/05, p.A1)
2005 May 11, Teachers across
California honored the 23rd annual Day of the Teacher by protesting
deep cuts to education and changes to their retirement system.
(SFC, 5/12/05, p.B1)
2005 Jun 9, In the Netherlands
thousands of civil servants went on strike to protest declining
social benefits and low wages.
(WSJ, 6/10/05, p.A6)
2005 Jul 19, Computer and
printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will cut 14,500 jobs and
overhaul its retirement program in a restructuring plan designed to
save $1.9 billion annually.
(AP, 7/19/05)
2005 Jul 22, In Irving, Texas,
Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers,
said it plans to cut about 6,000 jobs and sell or close up to 20
manufacturing plants.
(AP, 7/22/05)
2005 Jul 25, The Brotherhood of
Teamsters and the Service Employees Int’l. Union broke from the
AFL-CIO as 1,000 delegates gathered in Chicago for the federation’s
50th annual convention. They formed a coalition called Change to Win
with 5 other unions with a mission to emphasize organizing rather
than supporting like-minded politicians.
(SFC, 7/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Sep 7, In India the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was notified. It guaranteed
all rural households 100 days of employment a year.
(Econ, 3/20/10,
p.50)(www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/255264)
2005 Dec 20, In NYC subways and
buses ground to a halt morning as transit workers walked off the job
at the height of the holiday shopping and tourist season, forcing
millions of riders to find new ways to get around.
(AP, 12/20/05)
2006 Jan, A Toyota engineer
died of ischemic heart disease one day before leaving for an auto
show in the US. In 2008 a Japanese labor bureau ruled that the man
died from working too many hours (karoshi), a phenomena recognized
by the Health Ministry since 1987.
(SFC, 7/10/08, p.C3)
2007 May 1, Britain's largest
ever trade union, representing about two million public and private
sector workers, was launched following the merger of two workers'
bodies. The Unite union officially formed following a recent vote
for merger by members of Amicus and the Transport and General
Workers Union, founded in 1922.
(AP,
5/1/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_and_General_Workers%27_Union)
2007 Jul 30, The Mexican Miners
and Metalworkers Union (SNTMMRM) struck Grupo Mexico to demand wage
increases and improved safety conditions. Striking workers occupied
the Cananea copper mine in the northern state of Sonora and
continued into 2010.
(Econ, 4/24/10,
p.59)(www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1819816120100218)
2007 Aug 29, A new report said
CEOs of American companies made an average of $10.8 million last
year, more than 364 times the average pay of American workers. The
14th annual study was a joint report from the Institute for Policy
Studies and United for a Fair Economy.
(SFC, 8/30/07, p.C3)
2007 Oct 27, Despite
significant dissent among some of its workers, United Auto Workers
members narrowly passed a four-year contract agreement with Chrysler
LLC.
(AP, 10/27/08)
2007 Nov 3, United Auto Workers
agreed to a tentative contract with Ford Motor Co.
(AP, 11/3/08)
2007 Dec, The European Council
adopted a set of Council Conclusions on flexicurity, by which the
common principles of Danish flexicurity will guide EU member states
when implementing reforms in order to meet the aims of the Lisbon
Strategy of Growth and Jobs.
(http://denmark.dk/en/society/welfare/flexicurity/)
2007 Philip Dine authored
“State of the Unions.”
(Econ, 3/14/09, p.66)
2008 Jan 1, China’s new Labor
Contract Law (LCL) went into effect. The legislation aimed at
strengthening the contractual rights of workers.
(Econ, 6/5/10,
p.48)(www.pacificbridge.com/publication.asp?id=110)
2008 Jan, Belgium began sending
out inspectors to daily check on 150 randomly selected sick and not
so sick civil servants. Some government departments were averaging
35 days of sick leave per year.
(WSJ, 1/9/08, p.A1)
2008 Feb 13, In Colombia a
delegation of visiting US union leaders expressed alarm at what its
members called a steady erosion of labor rights in the world's
deadliest country for organized labor.
(AP, 2/14/08)
2008 Apr 26, In Canada transit
workers in Toronto went on strike after rejecting a tentative
contract deal, shutting down bus, streetcar and subway service in
Canada's most populous city.
(Reuters, 4/26/08)
2008 May 22, Tens of thousands
of French workers took to the streets as unions mounted a one-day
show of force against President Nicolas Sarkozy's government over
pension reforms.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 May 31, In Vietnam some
1000 workers walked off the assembly line of a Panasonic plant as
inflation reached a 13-year high of 25.2%. Some 300 strikes took
place in the first quarter as compared to 103 in the frist quarter
of 2007.
(WSJ, 6/3/08, p.A12)
2008 Jun 4, In Canada angry
autoworkers blockaded the entrance to General Motors of Canada
headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario, one day after GM said it would shut
its Oshawa truck plant as well as 2 plants in the US and one in
Mexico.
(Reuters, 6/4/08)
2008 Jun 11, In Thailand
thousands of truckers went on a half-day strike demanding government
help against rising fuel prices, the latest in a series of protests
that have swept across Asia and Europe.
(Reuters, 6/11/08)
2008 Jun 16, The Canadian Auto
Workers union ended its blockade of General Motors of Canada's
headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario, allowing about 900 employees to
return to work after nearly 13 days of protest, but it vowed to
fight on.
(AP, 6/16/08)
2008 Aug 6, Thousands protested
in South Africa as workers disrupted gold mining and other major
industries in a national strike over price hikes rattling the
continent's economic powerhouse.
(AP, 8/6/08)
2008 Aug 11, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger sued state Controller John Chiang for refusing to
follow the governor’s order to slash pay for thousands of state
workers during the budget impasse.
(SFC, 8/12/08, p.B1)
2008 Aug 15, In Canada
employees at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet won an arbitrator-imposed
contract, becoming the giant retailer's only location in North
America with a collective agreement in place.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug, Utah began a trial
4-day work week for about 17,000 of the state's 24,000
executive-branch employees. Closing state offices on Fridays was
supposed to cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. The
program led to an increase in volunteer activities. In Sep, 2011,
the 4-day week program ended after less money was saved than hoped.
Residents has also complained about not having access to services on
Fridays.
(AP, 7/11/09)(http://tinyurl.com/3ks2a9b)
2008 Oct 20, The UN said the
financial crises will add at least 20 million people to the world’s
jobless, raising the total to 210 million.
(WSJ, 10/21/08, p.A1)
2008 Oct 29, In northern China
a gas explosion in a mine shaft at a coal mine trapped 29 miners at
the Yaotou mine in central Shaanxi province. 23 bodies were
recovered over the next 2 days and 6 remained missing.
(AP, 10/30/08)(AP, 10/31/08)
2008 Nov 1, Members of the
Machinists Union, representing some 27,000 workers in Washington,
Oregon, and Kansas, ratified a new contract with the Boeing Co.
ending an 8-week strike.
(SSFC, 11/2/08, p.A4)
2008 Nov 7, The US Labor
Department said the nation's employers cut 240,000 jobs in October,
hurtling the US unemployment rate to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent.
(AP, 11/7/08)
2008 Nov 11, Swedish truck and
bus maker Volvo AB said it will lay off nearly 1,000 staff at its
powertrain unit in Sweden and the United States as the global
financial crisis continues to weigh on the demand for heavy
vehicles.
(AP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 12, Germany's biggest
industrial union secured a 4.2 percent pay rise over 18 months for
the nation's manufacturing workers in a deal that averted an all-out
strike.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 13, The US government
said the number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment
benefits has jumped to a seven-year high.
(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 17, Citigroup Inc.
said it is cutting approximately 53,000 more jobs in the coming
quarters as the banking giant struggles to steady itself after
suffering massive losses from deteriorating debt.
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 19, Germany chemical
company BASF SE said it is temporarily closing 80 plants worldwide
due to slumping demand and cutting production at 100 more, including
facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Some 20,000 workers are affected.
(AP, 11/19/08)
2008 Nov 29, In southern China
about 300 taxi drivers went on strike in Chaozhou, smashing cars and
demanding a crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the latest protest
against illegal taxi competition in China.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Dec 4, AT&T Inc.
joined the recession's parade of layoffs by announcing plans to cut
12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 5, The US labor Dept.
said employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34
years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic
proof the country is careening deeper into recession.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 8, Dow Chemical Co.
said it will slash 5,000 full-time jobs, about 11 percent of its
total work force, close 20 plants and sell several businesses to
rein in costs amid the economic recession.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 9, Sony said it is
slashing 8,000 jobs, or 4 percent of its global work force, aiming
to cut costs by $1.1 billion a year as an economic downturn and a
stronger yen batter profits at the Japanese electronics maker.
(AP, 12/9/08)
2008 Dec 24, US government data
showed that the number of domestic workers filing new claims for
jobless benefits jumped by 30,000 to a 26-year peak last week, as
the country's year-long recession continued to chill the labor
market.
(AP, 12/24/08)
2009 Jan 9, The US Labor
Dept. reported that unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in
December, the highest level in 16 years, as nervous employers
slashed 524,000 jobs. The labor market is expected to remain weak as
mass layoffs continue.
(AP, 1/9/09)
2009 Jan 16, Circuit City, a
bankrupt electronics retailer based in Richmond, Va., said it failed
to find a buyer and will liquidate its 567 US stores resulting in
the loss of some 30,000 jobs.
(SFC, 1/17/09, p.C1)
2009 Jan 21, Intel said it will
close several older factories displacing some 5-6 thousand workers
in reaction to a sharp drop in demand for its computer chips.
(WSJ, 1/22/08, p.B1)
2009 Jan 26, Caterpillar Inc
announced it would cut nearly 20,000 jobs and warned of a tough year
ahead as a downturn that began in the United States metastasized
into a full-blown global recession, gutting orders for earth-moving
equipment. At least 1,500 of the lost jobs were in greater Peoria,
Ill.
(Reuters, 1/26/09)(Econ, 2/21/09, p.37)
2009 Jan 26, Home Depot Inc.
announced plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs while closing four dozen
stores under its smaller home improvement brands as the recession
continues to batter the nation's housing market. Its shares climbed
more than 5 percent in morning trading.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 26, Pfizer Inc. said
it is buying rival drug maker Wyeth in a $68 billion deal that will
increase its revenue by 50%. At the same time Pfizer announced cost
cuts that include slashing more than 8,000 jobs as it prepares for
an expected revenue crash when its cholesterol drug Lipitor loses
patent protection in November 2011.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 29, President Barack
Obama signed an equal pay bill into law, declaring that it's a
family issue, not just a women's issue.
(AP, 1/29/09)
2009 Jan 29, In France hundreds
of thousands of workers staged a nationwide strike to try to force
President Nicolas Sarkozy and business leaders to do more to protect
jobs and wages during the economic crisis.
(Reuters, 1/29/09)
2009 Jan 30, President Barack
Obama signed a series of executive orders that he said should "level
the playing field" for labor unions in struggles with management.
(AP, 1/30/09)
2009 Jan 30, US Senator Claire
McCaskill (D., Mo.) introduced legislation that would limit the
salary, bonuses and stock options of executives of financial
companies getting federal bailout aid to no more than what the US
president earns: $400,000 a year, excluding benefits.
(WSJ, 1/31/09, p.B1)
2009 Jan 30, In Britain wildcat
strikes against foreign workers spread through oil refineries and
other energy facilities, fuelled by fears of rising job cuts due to
the global slowdown.
(AP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 2, Hundreds more
British power plant workers went on strike in a widening labor
campaign over the use of overseas workers to build an oil refinery
in Immingham. Workers were upset over the decision by Italian
construction company IREM SpA to use Italian and Portuguese workers
for a 200 million-pound ($280 million) project at a Total refinery.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 2, A Chinese official
said an estimated 26 million desperately poor rural Chinese are
jobless after pinning their hopes on factory jobs that dried up due
to the global economic slowdown, noting that widespread unemployment
could threaten the country's social stability.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 4, President Barack
Obama imposed $500,000 caps on senior executive pay for the most
distressed financial institutions receiving federal bailout money,
saying Americans are upset with "executives being rewarded for
failure."
(AP, 2/4/09)
2009 Feb 5, British workers
voted to end a week-long unofficial strike over the use of foreign
labor at a French-owned oil refinery that sparked sympathy protests
across Britain.
(AP, 2/5/09)
2009 Feb 9, Nissan said it is
slashing 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, to
cope with what Japan's third-largest automaker expects will be its
first annual loss in nine years.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Feb 10, General Motors
Corp. said it will cut 10,000 salaried jobs, citing the need to
restructure itself with a government deadline looming and amid some
of the worst sales in the auto industry's history.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 10, Nigerian union
officials said a 2-day-old strike by freight and forwarding agents
to protest high charges was worsening cargo congestion in Lagos, the
country's main seaport.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 19, France bowed to
demands for wage increases in Guadeloupe in the hope of ending a
month-long strike that has plunged the French Caribbean island into
rioting.
(AP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 22, In northern China
a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine outside Taiyuan, capital
of the main coal-producing province of Shanxi, killing at least 77
miners and trapping dozens in the deadliest Chinese coal mine
accident in more than a year.
(AFP, 2/22/09)(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 25, A 24-hour strike
by Greek civil servants disrupted services across the country,
forcing public hospitals to accept only emergency cases and airlines
to cancel at least 68 flights.
(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 27, San Francisco
handed out pink slips to 262 city employees, with most cuts coming
from the Recreation and park Dept., the Human Services Agency, and
the Dept. of Public Works.
(SFC, 2/28/09, p.B1)
2009 Feb 27, Unions in
Guadeloupe scored a victory in getting a deal to raise some workers'
salaries, but said they will not end a general strike now concluding
its sixth week.
(AP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 6, The US Labor
Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate bolted to
8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as
cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening
recession.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 12, China announced
plans to assist millions of unemployed migrant workers with
increases in grain subsidies and rural infrastructure projects.
(AP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 24, Striking French
workers for US manufacturer 3M held their boss hostage amid labor
talks at a plant south of Paris, as anger over layoffs and cutbacks
mounted around the country. Manager Luc Rousselet was released after
being held for 2 days.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 31, Angry French
workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar factory briefly detained
four of their bosses at the US manufacturer's plant in the Alps to
protest job cuts.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Apr 2, Greek public
services closed down and transport was disrupted across the country
as thousands of workers went on strike to protest government
spending cuts.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 8, In France workers
at a British-owned adhesives factory held three British executives
and a local manager captive over plans to close the site down.
Scapa, which announced in February it would close its plant in
Bellegarde, said it was forced to cut back after the market for car
industry adhesives collapsed by 50 percent in 2008. The managers
were released after being held overnight.
(AP, 4/8/09)(SFC, 4/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 14, In southern China
hundreds of workers at a textile factory blocked roads, in a second
day of protests over unpaid wages.
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 15, A blockade by
French fishermen angry at EU quotas cut ferry links with Britain for
a second day as a union official threatened to block the Channel
Tunnel in support of the movement.
(AFP, 4/15/09)
2009 Apr 16, French fishermen
allowed traffic to resume to three English Channel ports after
receiving a government promise of euro4 million ($5.27 million) in
aid, but they vowed to keep up their fight against European fishing
quotas.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 16, Hotel service in
Monaco was limited and casino roulette wheels were expected to stop
spinning as employees in the wealthy Mediterranean principality went
on strike to protest job cuts.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 20, In southeast
France workers at a French subsidiary of the American company Molex
detained two bosses to protest plans to close the plant.
(AP, 4/21/09)
2009 Apr 24, The Canadian Auto
Workers union and Chrysler Canada reached a tentative concession
deal that would cut about C$19 ($15.70) an hour from labor costs in
a bid to keep the struggling automaker from bankruptcy.
(Reuters, 4/24/09)
2009 Apr 26, A deal between
Chrysler and the UAW was revealed that would give the union a 55%
stake in the company in return for concessions. Under the plan Fiat
SpA would eventually own 35% and the US government together with
secured lenders would own up to 10%.
(WSJ, 4/28/09, p.A8B)
2009 Apr 27, General Motors
Corp. said it will cut 21,000 US factory jobs by next year, phase
out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take more
than half its stock in exchange for half of GM's government debt as
part of a major restructuring that would leave current shareholders
holding just 1 percent of the company.
(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 May 1, May Day protesters
clashed with riot police in Germany, Turkey and Greece, while
thousands angry at the government's responses to the global
financial crisis took to the streets in France. Riot police battled
700 stone-throwing left-wing militants in Berlin for more than five
hours in May Day clashes that stretched into early pre-dawn hours.
(Reuters, 5/1/09)(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 20, In Britain
hundreds of protesters blocked roads near an oil refinery, as other
sites were hit by a second day of wildcat strikes in a dispute over
hiring foreign workers.
(AP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 25, Dairy farmers
created traffic chaos in Berlin, blocked milk processing plants in
France and protested at EU headquarters in Brussels, seeking more
aid to cope with a sharp drop in milk prices.
(AP, 5/25/09)
2009 May 29, Puerto Rico fired
nearly 8,000 government workers, the start of a wave of layoffs
aimed at closing a budget deficit as the island struggles through
its third year of recession.
(AP, 5/29/09)
2009 May 30, In southwest China
25 miners were killed and 20 trapped by a gas explosion at the
Tonghua Coal Mine in Anwen town, Chongqing municipality.
(AFP, 5/30/09)
2009 Jun 1, General Motors
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of the Obama
administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size
and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government. GM
assets were valued at $82.2 billion with liabilities at $172
billion. The US government planned to receive 60.8% of GM stock,
Canada’s government 11.7%, the UAW’s trust 17.5% and bondholders
10%. GM said it will permanently close nine more plants and idle
three others to trim production and labor costs under bankruptcy
protection. GM was expected to lose 14 factories, 29,000 workers and
2,400 dealers.
(AP, 6/1/09)(Econ, 6/6/09, p.9,60, 62)
2009 Jun 2, In South Africa
police said at least 61 prospectors have been found dead in an
abandoned gold mine belonging to Harmony Gold mining company, which
had ceased working its Eland shaft. Illegal miners, often called
"gold pirates," are hired through organized crime rackets that
produce about $250 million in gold a year.
(AP, 6/2/09)
2009 Jun 10, Millions of
Londoners faced a grim commute, taking boats, buses and bicycles or
walking in the rain as a strike by subway workers crippled the
city's subway system.
(AP, 6/10/09)
2009 Jun 11, The London subway
workers’ strike continued for the second day in a row shutting down
much of the city's Underground network. The strike ended as
Transport for London agreed with workers to restart talks.
(AP, 6/11/09)(SFC, 6/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 11, North Korea
demanded a 3,000 percent hike in rent from South Korea for the site
of a joint industrial park at the center of a dispute roiling their
relations. It also sought a more than fourfold increase in wages for
North Korean workers employed by South Korean companies at the park.
More than 100 South Korean companies have factories in the park,
employing some 40,000 North Koreans. They are paid about $70 a month
on average.
(AP, 6/11/09)
2009 Jun 16, In Indonesia 16
miners were rescued after a massive explosion of methane gas
collapsed a coal mine owned by local residents in West Sumatra
province. 5 of the rescued miners died in hospital and the death
toll rose to 31 the next day after rescuers unearthed more bodies.
One more miner was believed to be buried.
(AFP, 6/16/09)(AP, 6/17/09)
2009 Jun 22, In Toronto,
Canada, garbage collectors, daycare workers and other municipal
employees went on strike in a contract dispute that could lead to a
prolonged shutdown of important services.
(AP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jun 23, In Britain wildcat
strikes spread to oil refineries and power plants across the
country. Thousands of workers demonstrated outside the Lindsey
terminal in Lincolnshire, where almost 650 contract workers were
sacked by French oil giant Total last week.
(AFP, 6/23/09)
2009 Jun 29, In Bangladesh
textile workers set fire to a factory in a third day of
demonstrations for payment of wages, as the global economic crisis
hits the South Asian country's main export industry.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jul 2, The US Labor dept.
reported that employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in
June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5
percent, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be
bumpy.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 21, French factory
workers angry over layoffs and cost cuts locked up their bosses at a
Michelin tire plant and a US-owned cigarette-paper mill. The
managers were released the next morning after regional officials
offered to mediate.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 24, A US federal
minimum wage increase took effect. Some economists said it could
prolong the recession by forcing small businesses to lay off the
same workers that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to
help. The increase to $7.25 meant 70 cents more an hour for the
lowest-paid workers in the 30 states that have lower minimums or no
minimum wage.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Via Rail, Canada's
national passenger rail service, said it was shutting down service
after mediated talks with the Teamsters union failed to resolve a
contract dispute, and locomotive engineers walked off the job.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In China some
30,000 steelworkers in Tonghua clashed with police in a protest over
plans to merge their mill with another company. Angry employees of
Tonghua Iron and Steel Group attacked Jianlong Steel general manager
Chen Guojun during the protest and beat him to death.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Canada union
officials in Toronto said they had reached a tentative deal to
settle a civic workers strike that had halted garbage collection and
many other city services for more than a month.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Thousands of South
African council workers went on strike to press for wage hikes,
crippling public services in Africa's biggest economy and piling
political pressure on new President Jacob Zuma.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Aug 3, In South Korea
thousands of riot police strengthened their siege of a troubled
South Korean auto firm, spraying liquid tear gas from a helicopter,
after talks to end a prolonged occupation by strikers collapsed.
(AFP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 4, Haiti’s lawmakers
voted to more than double the minimum wage after long hours of
debate and clashes between police and protesters, who complained
they can't feed and shelter their families on the current pay of
about $1.75 a day.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 5, In South Korea
helicopter-borne police commandos fought militant strikers at the
Ssangyong Motor Co.’s Pyeongtaek factory, seizing all but one key
building.
(SFC, 8/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 6, In South Korea
unionists who occupied a car plant in protest at mass layoffs agreed
to end a 77-day sit-in which halted production and sparked violent
clashes with police.
(AFP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 10, In central
Slovakia 19 workers were trapped underground after a fire and
explosion hit the Hanlova coal mine.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 16, In San Francisco
BART management and union leaders reached a tentative contract
agreement less that 6 hours before a planned strike to shut down the
regional rail system.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 16, Chinese
authorities in central Henan province called off the takeover of
Linzhou Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., a state-owned steel plant, after
workers protested and trapped an official in the factory office for
four days, the second time in a month that the country's
steelworkers have rallied to successfully avoid privatization.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 26, In South Africa
soldiers, demanding higher wages, tried to scale the fence at the
Union Buildings where President Jacob Zuma has his office. Police
used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the
soldiers, who marched despite a court order barring their protest.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 8, In central China's
Henan province an explosion at an illegal coal mine killed 35 miners
and left another 44 men trapped.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 14, In Germany
Siegfried Wolf, the co-chief executive of Magna International Inc.,
said as many as 10,500 Opel jobs in Europe could be cut, including
nearly half of them in Germany. Opel employs some 49,000 workers in
Europe and has plants in Germany, Spain, Britain, Poland and
Germany.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 14, Finance Minister
Diana Dragutinovic said Serbia will have to lay off about one-fifth
of its government employees, 14,000 people, to meet conditions set
by the International Monetary Fund to receive more financial aid. A
trade union representing state employees has already announced
strikes if the layoffs are carried out.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Oct 8, Britain's postal
workers agreed to launch a nationwide strike after months of rolling
regional strikes over pay and job security. The Communication
Workers Union said that 76% of more than 80,000 union members voted
in favor of the action. The union was required to give seven days
notice before any strike.
(AP, 10/8/09)
2009 Oct 14, In Puerto Rico
labor unions called for an island-wide strike and a march near the
capital to protest government layoffs in Puerto Rico, where more
than 20,000 public employees have been dismissed as the island
struggles to pull out of a three-year recession.
(AP, 10/15/09)
2009 Oct 22, British Royal Mail
workers began a two-day strike in a bitter row over pay, conditions
and modernization, causing widespread disruption to mail services.
(AFP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 30, In Canada a
section of the mine about 500 meters (1,600 feet) below the surface
flooded at the Bachelor Lake gold mine of Metanor Resources Inc. in
northwestern Quebec. The bodies of all three missing miners were
recovered after 3 days.
(Reuters, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 3, In Philadelphia,
Pa., transit workers went on strike after rejecting a proposed
contract that included an 11.5% wage increase over 5 years.
(SFC, 11/4/09, p.A6)
2009 Nov 3, New Jersey-based
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest health products company,
said it will cut over 7,000 jobs due to lagging demand amid the
global recession.
(SFC, 11/4/09, p.D2)
2009 Nov 3, Nokia Siemens
Networks, a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Siemens
AG of Germany, said it will lay off up to 5,700 workers globally as
part of a move to cut annual costs by euro500 million ($740
million).
(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 5, In Germany
thousands of Opel workers, fearing widespread layoffs, walked off
the job to protest General Motors Co.'s decision to abandon the
unit's sale to new owners.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 6, The US Labor Dept.
said the unemployment rate has surpassed 10% for the first time
since 1983, and that it was expected to go higher. President Barack
Obama was set to sign a $24 billion economic stimulus bill providing
tax incentives to prospective homebuyers and extending unemployment
benefits to the longtime jobless.
(AP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 6, British Airways
revealed a quadrupling of net losses in its first half, and axed an
extra 1,200 jobs in an "essential" cost-reduction program.
(AP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 9, Pennsylvania Gov.
Ed Rendell said the Philadelphia transit strike has ended and that
system would be up and running for the morning commute.
(SFC, 11/9/09, p.A8)
2009 Nov 21, In northern China
a gas explosion tore through the state-run Xinxing coal mine in
Heilongjiang province, killing at least 92 people and 16 missing as
rescuers worked hastily to save them.
(AP, 11/21/09)(AP, 11/22/09)
2009 Nov 25, A new report said
Wal-Mart Stores Inc's demand for rock-bottom prices from suppliers
in China means some of these companies are forcing their employees
to work in sweatshop-like conditions.
(Reuters, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov 28, In Canada
locomotive engineers of the country’s largest railroad walked off
the job after talks broke down. Canadian National Railway said it
was using management and non-union staff to provide "the best
possible service under the circumstances."
(Reuters, 11/28/09)
2009 Dec 2, Court documents
filed in Boston said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $40
million to 87,500 Massachusetts employees who claimed the retailer
denied them rest and meals breaks, manipulated time cards and
refused to pay overtime.
(AP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 2, Canadian National
Railway said it had reached an agreement with striking locomotive
engineers to end their walkout, as the government prepared to step
in with back-to-work legislation.
(AP, 12/3/09)
2009 Dec 2, In France the
Pompidou Center modern art museum and the Musee d'Orsay, with its
famed paintings by the Impressionists, closed after workers angry
about a government cost-cutting measure voted to strike. Workers at
the Louvre also voted to strike, but by mid-morning parts of the
sprawling complex had been opened to visitors. The Rodin Museum, the
Arc de Triomphe and the Palais de Versailles were also affected.
(AP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 3, Mexico City police
freed 107 people who were forced to work under slave-like conditions
in a clandestine factory making shopping bags and clothing clasps.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 8, President Barack
Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals,
saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this
recession" until more Americans are back at work.
(AP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 8, Swedish telecom
giant Ericsson said it would cut 946 jobs in Sweden in an effort to
downsize its production staff as it strives to improve efficiency.
(AFP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 10, In Turkey an
explosion caused the collapse of an underground chamber of a coal
mine, killing 19 workers in western Bursa province.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 28, Chinese state
media reported that a coal mine explosion has killed 12 people in
northern China, while five other miners were killed and six trapped
in an accident in the southwest of the country.
(AP, 12/28/09)
2009 Fiverr was founded by Shai
Wininger and Micha Kaufman as a global online marketplace offering
tasks and services beginning at a cost of $5 per job performed. The
Fiverr website was launched in February, 2010.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiverr)
2009 A lawyer for the US Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission won a suit against Texas-based
Henry's Turkey Service in Iowa for lost pay, abuse and
discrimination involving 32 workers with mental disabilities. The
$240 million verdict was the largest ever for the EEOC, but it was
subsequently reduced to $50,000 per person. The case was made into a
documentary "The Men of Atalissa" (2014).
{Iowa. Texas, USA, Labor}
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Men_of_Atalissa)(Econ., 5/9/20,
p.74)
2010 Jan 5, A fire in a coal
mine in central China killed at least 25 workers. Search efforts
continued for at least three others trapped underground at the
Lisheng coal mine in Xiangtan city in Hunan province.
(AP, 1/6/10)
2010 Jan 7, In Algeria a
stand-off with police began in the industrial town of Rouiba after
the 5,000 employees of the state-owned National Company of
Industrial Vehicles (SNVI) started an indefinite strike action to
demand higher wages and better terms.
(AP, 1/7/10)
2010 Jan 4, In northern China
21 workers were killed by a gas leak at the Hebei Puyang Iron and
Steel Co. Company officials initially said 16 workers were poisoned
and seven died while nine were sent to a hospital. On Jan 7 senior
executives "confessed" that they had covered up the death toll.
(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 8, In southeastern
China a fire in coal mine trapped and killed 12 workers in Xinyu
city, Jiangxi province.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 13, Zimbabwe civil
servants, who earn only 150 US dollars a month, rejected the
government's "paltry" offer to raise salaries by a maximum of 14%.
(AP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 15, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez announced a 25% increase in the minimum wage
to try to blunt the effects of soaring inflation, and playing down
criticism of his government's handling of an energy crisis and other
domestic problems.
(AP, 1/16/10)
2010 Jan 20, In Belgium the
world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, shut down
production in its home country, in an escalation of a standoff over
job cuts with its Belgian workers which is causing beer shortages in
shops.
(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Jan 20, In Greece dozens
of prostitutes, most using headscarves or hoods to hide their faces,
demonstrated in central Athens, demanding working licenses for
brothels across Greece.
(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Feb 10, In Greece a strike
by civil servants shut schools and grounded flights across the
country, as unions challenged cutbacks aimed at ending a government
debt crisis that has shaken the entire European Union.
(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 22, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy met with Total Chairman Thierry Desmarest for talks
about a labor strike that has shuttered over half of France's oil
refining capacity. Workers at all six of Total SA's French
refineries and at six of its 31 fuel depots have been on strike for
five days over the uncertain future of a plant in Dunkirk, in
northern France. Workers at France's fourth-largest refinery,
British-owned chemicals company INEOS, met to vote on whether they
too would join the widening strike.
(AP, 2/22/10)
2010 Feb 22, German airline
Lufthansa went to court in a bid to halt a strike by some 4,000
pilots that disrupted more than one third of its flights. Later in
the day Lufthansa pilots agreed to suspend for two weeks a strike
that grounded about 900 flights, just as rival British Airways'
cabin crew voted to join the fray to protest harsh cost cuts.
(AP, 2/22/10)(Reuters, 2/22/10)
2010 Feb 23, In Turkey 13
workers were killed after a methane gas explosion caused a coal mine
collapse near Dursunbey, in northwest Balikesir province.
(AP, 2/24/10)(SFC, 2/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 26, In France a strike
by air traffic controllers disrupted flight for a 4th day and some
Air France pilots walked off the job to protest cost cutting
measures.
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 1, The US Department
of Transportation furloughed nearly 2,000 employees without pay as
the government began to feel the impact of Republican Sen. Jim
Bunning's one-man blockage of legislation that would keep a host of
federal programs operating. Bunning's home state of Kentucky has no
projects affected by his action.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/3439731)
2010 Mar 1, Chinese rescuers
worked to save 31 coal miners trapped underground by a flood at the
Luotoushan, or Camel Head Mountain, coal mine in Wuhai city in
northern Inner Mongolia. One miner was reported killed. On May 2
state news agency Xinhua reported that emergency workers have
recovered 28 bodies from the mine in China's Inner Mongolia region
that flooded in early-March. 3 people were still missing.
(AP, 3/1/10)(AP, 3/2/10)(AFP, 5/2/10)
2010 Mar 2, In Rhode Island the
Central Falls Teachers’ Union pledged to support reforms. The school
board had voted last week to fire 93 teachers and staff from the
high school after the end of the school year. On May 16 the school
district announced that it had reached an agreement with the union
to return all staffers.
(SFC, 3/4/10, p.A8)(SFC, 5/17/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 10, In Algeria almost
200 striking doctors, dentists and pharmacists demonstrated near the
presidential palace to press their pay demands. The health
professionals have been on strike since the end of December.
(AFP, 3/10/10)
2010 Mar 18, Pres. Obama signed
a $17.6 billion job-creation measure a day after it was passed by
Congress.
(SFC, 3/18/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 20, British Airways
canceled more than 1,000 flights after its cabin crew launched a
three-day strike, wreaking havoc on the plans of tens of thousands
of passengers just before the busy spring holiday season. .
(AP, 3/20/10)
2010 Mar 22, British Airways
cabin crew held a 3rd day of strike action, prolonging travel misery
for thousands. A business group warned the action threatens
Britain's global reputation.
(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 27, British Airways
cabin crew launched a four-day strike, the second wave of action in
a week as part of a bitter, long-running dispute over pay and
conditions.
(AFP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 28, British Airways
cabin crew entered the second day of a four-day strike, bringing
further travel disruption with no end in sight for a dispute that
has become increasingly political.
(AFP, 3/28/10)
2010 Mar 28, In northern China
at least 153 miners were trapped underground after water gushed into
the state-owned the Wangjialing coal mine. 115 Chinese miners were
pulled out alive on April 5 after being trapped for over a week in
the flooded mine. Some had eaten sawdust and strapped themselves to
the shafts' walls with their belts to avoid drowning while they
slept. As of April 11 the death toll stood at 33 with 5 miners still
missing.
(AP, 3/28/10)(AP, 3/29/10)(AP, 4/5/10)(AP,
4/11/10)
2010 Mar 31, In central China a
gas explosion at a mine killed 12 workers and trapped 32 underground
at the privately owned Guomin Mining Co. coal pit in Yichuan County,
Luoyang City.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Mar 31, In Spain flight
attendant Adriana Ricardo said attendants owed up to nine months'
wages by a grounded Spanish airline have posed nude for a calendar
to draw attention to their plight. Air Comet, run by the embattled
chairman of Spain's main employers' association CEOE, Gerardo
Ferran, filed for administration in December after a British court
impounded nine of its aircraft at the request of German bank HSH
Nordbank.
(Reuters, 3/31/10)
2010 Apr 2, The US economy
posted its largest job gain in three years in March, while the
unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight
month.
(AP, 4/2/10)
2010 Apr 5, In West Virginia a
huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal
miners at Massey Energy Co.'s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine, about
30 miles south of Charleston. It was the worst US mining disaster
since 1984. Four missing miners were found dead on April 10. In 2009
the US Mine Safety and health Administration (MHSA) had cited the
mine 515 times, often for problems with its ventilation and escape
route plans. On Feb 22, 2012, mine superintendent Gary May (43) was
charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government. May
became the 2nd employee of Massey to face prosecution in the case.
Massey CEO Don Blankenship was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2015
and one year in prison. In 2020 a documentary play, "Coal Country"
by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, opened in Manhattan.
(AP, 4/6/10)(AP, 4/10/10)(Econ, 4/10/10,
p.32)(SFC, 2/23/12, p.A9)(Econ., 3/7/20, p.76)
2010 Apr 28, Bangladesh Labor
and Manpower Minister Mosharraf Hossain said Bangladesh will raise
the minimum wage for millions of garment workers, as workers staged
another mass protest that blocked the country's main highway.
(AFP, 4/28/10)
2010 May 1, Tens of thousands
of workers marched in cities from Hong Kong to Istanbul to mark
international worker's day, demanding more jobs, better work
conditions and higher wages.
(AP, 5/1/10)
2010 May 8, In western Siberia
2 explosions tore through the Raspadskaya mine just before midnight,
killing at least 66 workers and injuring 41 others. A further 24
people remained trapped in the mine, Russia's largest underground
coal mine, including rescue workers.
(AP, 5/9/10)(AP, 5/10/10)(AP, 5/11/10)(AP,
5/12/10)(AP, 5/13/10)
2010 May 13, In Zimbabwe
thousands of mine workers went on strike for better pay after
negotiations with employers collapsed.
(AP, 5/13/10)
2010 May 17, In South Africa a
strike by rail workers left two million commuters stranded just 24
days from the kick-off of the World Cup.
(AP, 5/17/10)
2010 May 17, In northern Turkey
rescue teams strived to reach workers trapped hundreds of meters
underground after a powerful methane gas explosion in the Karadon
state-run coal mine near the northern Black Sea port of Zonguldak.
On May 20 rescuers found the bodies of 28 miners. 2 miners remained
missing.
(AFP, 5/17/10)
2010 May 21, In China some 1900
workers at a Honda auto parts factory in Guangdong province went on
strike demanding higher pay. Monthly pay at the facility in Foshan
city was about $117 per month. Similar companies paid between $292
and $365 a month. Honda announced a settlement on June 4.
(www.china.org.cn/business/2010-05/28/content_20133668.htm)(SSFC,
5/30/10, p.A4)(AP, 6/4/10)
2010 May 22, Spanish railway
workers called for a one-day stoppage on May 28 in protest at
proposed changes in working conditions.
(Reuters, 5/22/10)
2010 May 27, South Africa's
state-owned logistics group Transnet said it had signed a wage deal
with a transport union, ending a three-week rail and ports strike.
(Reuters, 5/27/10)
2010 May 27, In France
thousands of workers staged strikes across the country to protest
government plans to raise the retirement age past 60, one of the
lowest in Europe.
(SFC, 5/28/10, p.A2)
2010 May 29, In China 17 miners
were killed by a dynamite explosion at the Shuguang Coal Mine in
Chenzhou city, Hunan province.
(AP, 5/30/10)
2010 May 30, British Airways
cabin crew started a fresh five-day strike with little sign of a
breakthrough in the long-running dispute between their union and the
airline.
(AFP, 5/30/10)
2010 May 31, The US Congress
allowed emergency health care assistance for unemployed workers to
expire, and seemed unwilling to renew it despite pleas from Pres.
Barack Obama.
(AP, 6/12/10)
2010 Jun 2, Foxconn, a
subsidiary of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, announced
a 30% pay increase for its workers in China.
(Econ, 6/5/10, p.48)
2010 Jun 4, Workers for Bank of
America Corp, one of the nation's largest employers, sued the
company for allegedly failing to pay overtime and other wages.
(Reuters, 6/5/10)
2010 Jun 7, US Sec. of Labor
Hilda Solis visited Fremont, Ca., and announced a $19 million
federal grant to help thousands of workers who lost their jobs when
the NUMMI car plant closed in April.
(SFC, 6/8/10, p.D1)
2010 Jun 16, In Colombia a gas
explosion at the San Fernando coal mine in Antioquia province,
left at least 34 people dead, with dozens of miners still trapped.
(AP, 6/17/10)(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 16, The French
government unveiled plans to raise the retirement age to 62 in a
sweeping overhaul of the pensions system that labor unions have
vowed to fight to the end.
(AFP, 6/16/10)
2010 Jun 21, In central China
at least 47 miners were killed when an explosion ripped through a
coal mine in Pingdingshan city, Henan province.
(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 24, In France workers
around the country went on strike to protest Pres. Sarkozy’s plans
to raise the retirement age by 2 years to 62. Unions stage nearly
200 marches in several cities over a broad reform of the
money-losing pension system.
(SFC, 6/25/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 8, In western Panama
striking banana plantation workers and police clashed, leaving one
man dead and 100 people hurt. A 2nd man was killed by police on July
10.
(AP, 7/8/10)(Reuters, 7/10/10)
2010 Jul 17, In China 28 miners
were killed when an electrical cable caught fire inside a coal shaft
in northern Shaanxi province. There were no survivors. 8 coal miners
died when a blaze engulfed a mine in central Henan province.
(AP, 7/18/10)
2010 Jul 18, In China 16
workers were inside the shaft when water gushed into the mine in
Jinta, a county in Gansu province, and 3 men were safely lifted out.
13 men remained trapped.
(AP, 7/18/10)
2010 Jul 22, Pres. Obama signed
into law a restoration of benefits for people who have been out of
work for 6 months or more.
(SFC, 7/23/10, p.A7)
2010 Jul 27, Bangladesh raised
the minimum wage for its millions of garment workers by 80 percent,
following months of violent protests over pay and conditions.
(AFP, 7/27/10)
2010 Jul 31, In northern China
an explosion ripped through a workers' dormitory area in Linfen
city, Shanxi province, and killed at least 15 people at the Liugou
mine, a coal mine notorious for mining disasters.
(AP, 7/31/10)
2010 Aug 1, In Greece an 8-day
truck drivers' strike was called off as protesters agreed to enter
talks with the government. The strike wreaked havoc, stranding
thousands of tourists, destroying lucrative fruit exports and drying
up fuel supplies nationwide.
(Econ, 8/7/10, p.53)(http://tinyurl.com/2wrybtk)
2010 Aug 2, In China
lethal gas leaked into a coal mine at the Sanyuandong Coal Mine in
Dengfeng city, Henan province. No survivors were found among the 16
miners trapped by the lethal gas leak.
(AP, 8/3/10)(AP, 8/5/10)
2010 Aug 3, In China gas
exploded at a coal mine in the southern province of Guizhou, killing
10 people and trapping 7.
(AP, 8/3/10)
2010 Aug 5, In northern Chile
the collapse of a small mine left 33 miners trapped, though they
could have taken refuge in an underground shelter with oxygen and
food. On Aug 9 Pres. Pinera pleaded for int’l. help to rescue the
miners. Rescue efforts reached the miners on Aug 22, it could take
months to carve a tunnel big enough for them to get out. On Feb 2,
2011, a congressional commission found gold and copper mine owners
Alejandro Bohn and Marcelo Kemeny responsible for the accident that
left the miners trapped for 69 days.
(Reuters, 8/6/10)(SFC, 8/9/10, p.A2)(SFC, 3/3/11,
p.A2)
2010 Aug 6, US Companies showed
a lack of confidence about hiring for a third straight month in
July, making it likely the economy will grow more slowly the rest of
the year. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent.
(AP, 8/6/10)
2010 Aug 7, A gas leak in a
China coal mine killed at least one worker and trapped five more,
just hours after a fire in a gold mine killed 16.
(AP, 8/7/10)
2010 Aug 10, President Barack
Obama signed a $26 billion bill would protect some 300,000 teachers,
police and others from election-year layoffs.
(AP, 8/10/10)
2010 Aug 17, Lebanon's
Parliament passed a law that for the first time grants the country's
Palestinian refugees the right to work in any profession.
(AP, 8/17/10)
2010 Aug 18, In South Africa
teachers left their classrooms and trials were postponed after court
workers walked out when hundreds of thousands of civil servants went
on strike for higher wages across the country.
(AP, 8/18/10)
2010 Aug 20, South African
unions representing more than 1 million striking civil servants
began talks with the government to end a stoppage that could damage
Africa's largest economy if it drags on into next month.
(AP, 8/20/10)
2010 Aug 22, In Chile an
intense rescue effort finally reached 33 miners trapped since Aug 5.
After weeks of missteps, new cave-ins and other false starts, it
could take months to carve a tunnel big enough for them to get out.
(AP, 8/23/10)
2010 Aug 26, In South Africa
thousands of civil servants took to the streets across the country
in a peaceful demonstration for higher wages. Police management
tried to bar officers from joining the nationwide strike entering
its second week.
(AP, 8/26/10)
2010 Aug 31, South Africa’s
public service ministry said it was increasing its salary hike offer
from 7 to 7.5 percent and housing allowance from 700 rand ($96) to
800 rand ($110). Workers were demanding an 8.6 percent raise and
1,000 rand ($137) for housing.
(AP, 8/31/10)
2010 Sep 6, A South African
labor leader said civil servants are suspending a 20-day nationwide
strike for higher wages to give union members time to consider the
government's offer.
(AP, 9/6/10)
2010 Sep 7, Strikes hobbled
public transit in London and across France, forcing tourists and
commuters to alter their plans as they bore the brunt of a wave of
discontent over government cost-cutting measures, a wave expected to
soon prompt walkouts elsewhere on the continent. Some 1.2-2.7
million people in France took to the streets for the one-day strike.
(AP, 9/7/10)(Econ, 9/11/10, p.31)
2010 Sep 9, Spain gave final
approval to labor market reforms designed to shake up a listless
economy and help slash a bloated deficit that has prompted
European-wide worries of another Greek-style debt crisis.
(AP, 9/9/10)
2010 Sep 10, In Spain 50 coal
miners 1,640 feet (500 meters) underground entered the ninth day of
a strike over unpaid wages and government aid.
(AP, 9/10/10)
2010 Sep 13, British trade
unions voted overwhelmingly to back rare coordinated strikes as they
were urged to "stand up and fight" government austerity cuts at
their congress.
(AFP, 9/13/10)
2010 Sep 13, The Cuban Workers
Federation said Cuba will lay off more than 500,000 state employees
by March and expand private employment to give them work in the
biggest shift to the private sector since the 1960s.
(Reuters, 9/13/10)
2010 Sep 13, Staff at Israel's
Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv went on strike,
grounding all flights and leaving arriving passengers without their
luggage.
(AP, 9/13/10)
2010 Sep 17, In Zimbabwe about
300 civil servants marched through Harare demanding higher pay and
benefits from money the state earned through recent diamond
auctions.
(AFP, 9/17/10)
2010 Sep 20, In New Jersey a
woman from Togo was been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being
convicted of running a human smuggling operation and forcing women
to work at New Jersey hair braiding salons. Akouavi Afolabi ran a
scheme to bring at least 20 girls and women ages 10 to 19 from West
Africa to the US on fraudulent visas. Victims were made to work at
the salons for no pay. Afolabi was also ordered to pay restitution
totaling $3.9 million. Her ex-husband and son had already pleaded
guilty. Her son received a 55-month prison term. Her ex-husband was
sentenced to 24 years.
(AP, 9/21/10)
2010 Sep 23, French trade
unions staged their second 24-hour strike in a month against
President Nicolas Sarkozy's unpopular pension reform, seeking to
force him to scrap plans to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60.
(Reuters, 9/23/10)
2010 Sep 27, In Jamaica
hundreds of medical technicians, nurse's aides and other support
staff at major public hospitals went on strike to demand pay raises
and allowances they say haven't been paid by the government.
(AP, 9/27/10)
2010 Sep 29, Anti-austerity
protests erupted across Europe. Greek doctors and railway employees
walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man
even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the
country's enormous bank bailouts.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Oct 1, In Britain most
provisions of the 2010 Equality Act took effect, including a measure
to stop pay secrecy clauses being used to hide unfair differences
between men and women's pay. But 10 percent of the legislation,-
which was passed by Parliament in April, will be left out, while the
government reviews certain sections of it.
(AFP, 10/1/10)
2010 Oct 4, Millions of
commuters in London endured a grim journey to work after staff on
the Underground network walked out for the second time in a month,
sparking calls for tougher strike laws.
(AFP, 10/4/10)
2010 Oct 8, The US Labor Dept.
said a wave of government layoffs in September outpaced weak hiring
in the private sector, pushing down the nation's payrolls by a net
total of 95,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent last
month.
(AP, 10/8/10)
2010 Oct 13, Bangladesh said it
would deploy the army at the country's main seaport to keep cargo
moving after days of strikes by dock workers hit crucial garment
shipments.
(AFP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 15, In Ecuador a
tunnel collapsed in a gold mine in the south, trapping four miners
490 feet (150 meters) underground. Authorities said rescue efforts
were under way. The bodies of 2 miners were found the next day as
rescue efforts continued for 2 others.
(AP, 10/15/10)(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 15, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy sent in riot police to reopen fuel depots blocked by
strikes, as the pipeline to Paris airports was cut in an escalating
battle over pension reform.
(AFP, 10/15/10)
2010 Oct 16, In central China
rescuers battled dangerous levels of gas, tons of coal dust and the
risk of falling rocks as they worked to free 11 miners trapped by an
explosion at a mine. 26 miners were confirmed killed at the
state-run Pingyu Coal & Electric Co. Ltd mine.
(AP, 10/16/10)(AP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 16, In France diesel
and jet fuel supplies were running low in parts of the country as
workers took to the streets for another nationwide protest against
President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62.
(AP, 10/16/10)
2010 Oct 17, Zambian police
said managers at a Chinese-run coal mine who shot at workers
protesting poor working conditions will be charged with attempted
murder. 12 workers at Collum Coal Mine in the southern town of
Sinazongwe were injured a day earlier when mainly Chinese managers
fired randomly at the protesting workers.
(AFP, 10/17/10)
2010 Oct 18, French truck
drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, rail strikes
intensified and petrol stations ran out of fuel as protests gathered
pace ahead of a Senate vote on an unpopular pension overhaul.
(Reuters, 10/18/10)
2010 Oct 19, In France masked
youths clashed with police and set fires in cities across the
country as protests against a proposed hike in the retirement age
took an increasingly radical turn. Hundreds of flights were
canceled, long lines formed at gas stations and train service in
many regions was cut in half.
(AP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 20, In France workers
opposed to a higher retirement age blocked roads to airports around
the country, leaving passengers in Paris dragging suitcases on foot
along an emergency breakdown lane. Pres. Sarkozy sent in police to
clear access to barricaded fuel depots and restore supply as trade
unions kept up their resistance to an unpopular pension reform due
for a final vote this week.
(Reuters, 10/20/10)(AP, 10/20/10)
2010 Oct 21, In France
protesters blockaded Marseille's airport, Lady Gaga canceled
concerts in Paris and rioting youths attacked police in Lyon ahead
of a tense Senate vote on raising the retirement age to 62.
(AP, 10/21/10)
2010 Oct 22, French riot police
forced a strategic refinery to reopen, aiming to halt growing fuel
shortages. The French Senate voted 177-153 to back the contested
retirement reform.
(AP, 10/22/10)(SFC, 10/23/10, p.A4)
2010 Oct 23, French unions took
their battle against extending retirement from 60 to 62 to the
courts, challenging orders to return to work the day after the
Senate backed the fiercely-contested reform.
(AFP, 10/23/10)
2010 Oct 24, A quarter of
French petrol stations were short on fuel as refinery strikes over
pension reform continued to drain supply, and one official said
several holiday spots were likely to be particularly hard-hit.
(Reuters, 10/24/10)
2010 Oct 25, President Nicolas
Sarkozy's government warned that strikes against pension reform have
cost up to three billion euros and threaten to derail France's still
fragile economy recovery. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said
the strikes are costing the economy up to euro400 million ($562
million) each day.
(AFP, 10/25/10)(AP, 10/25/10)
2010 Oct 27, The French
Parliament passed Pres. Sarkozy’s pension bill raising the minimum
retirement age to 62 from 60, and the full-pension age to 67 from
65. Most French oil refineries were set to start outbound deliveries
of fuel as work stoppages ended at two plants, further easing a
strike movement that has led to pump shortages across France.
(Reuters, 10/27/10)(SFC, 10/28/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 28, In France further
strikes disrupted rail and air transport, but the broader protest
over plans to raise the retirement age appeared to be waning a day
after parliament adopted pension reform legislation.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 29, French unions said
they have decided to end strikes at all oil refineries and several
major ports.
(SFC, 10/30/10, p.A4)
2010 Oct 30, In eastern Rwanda
11 miners died in an accident at a tin mine in the Rwamagana
district.
(AFP, 10/31/10)
2010 Nov 6, BBC reporters
planned further strikes after a two-day walkout over pension changes
successfully disrupted the broadcaster's TV and radio programs.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 6, Tens of thousands
of French protesters took to the streets once more for what might
prove to be the last in their recent series of marches against
President Nicolas Sarkozy's pension reform.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 8, In Chile two mine
workers, 24 and 40 years old, were killed at the Los Reyes mine on
their first day on the job. The National Geology and Mining Service
said the mine was illegal and unregistered.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 9, France's
constitutional watchdog ruled that the bill raising the minimum
retirement age to 62 is perfectly legal, marking a political victory
for Pres. Sarkozy.
(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 10, Nigerian trade
unions called off a strike protesting the minimum wage across the
oil-rich nation, one day into the planned 3-day action. They said
Pres. Goodluck Jonathan made promises to raise the wage. The current
minimum monthly wage was 7,500 naira, or $50.
(AP, 11/10/10)
2010 Nov 19, In New Zealand an
explosion ripped through the country’s largest coal mine with about
30 people underground. Five workers, dazed and slightly injured,
stumbled to the surface, while 29 were missing. Fears over poisonous
and combustible gases were preventing rescuers from entering the
mine.
(AP, 11/19/10)(AP, 11/20/10)
2010 Nov 21, In China water
flooded a small coal mine, trapping 28 people as they did safety
work to expand the mine's capacity. 13 workers escaped and rescue
work was continuing for the 28 missing at the Batian mine in the
southwestern province of Sichuan. 29 miners were rescued on Nov 22.
(AP, 11/21/10)(Econ, 11/27/10, p.51)
2010 Nov 24, In New Zealand a
second explosion occurred in the Pike River mine, almost exactly
five days after the first blast there. All 29 workers missing
underground were believed to have died after a second explosion.
(SFC, 11/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 24, Portuguese labor
unions mounted a general strike, pressing the government to scrap
austerity measures intended to ward off a debt crisis spreading
through the euro zone.
(Reuters, 11/24/10)
2010 Nov 28, In New Zealand a
4th explosion in 9 days ripped through the mine where 29 miners
perished. Officials said the coal was on fire, a development that
could significantly delay recovery of the bodies. Efforts to
retrieve the miners were abandoned on Jan 13.
(AP, 11/28/10)(AP, 1/13/11)
2010 Nov 29, President Barack
Obama announced a two-year pay freeze for federal employees, a move
White House officials say is the first of many difficult decisions
that must be made to reduce the nation's mounting deficit.
(AP, 11/29/10)
2010 Dec 1, Extended
unemployment benefits for nearly 2 million Americans began to run
out, cutting off a steady stream of income and guaranteeing a dismal
holiday season for people already struggling with bills they cannot
pay.
(AP, 12/1/10)
2010 Dec 4, Spain placed
striking air traffic controllers under military authority and
threatened them with jail terms in an unprecedented emergency order
to get planes back in the skies and clear chaotic airports clogged
with irate travelers.
(AP, 12/4/10)
2010 Dec 7, Pres. Obama reached
a deal with GOP leaders to extend all tax cuts in return for an
extension of unemployment benefits.
(SFC, 12/8/10, p.A1)
2010 Dec 7, In California 52
Filipino hospital workers sued their employer, Delano Regional
Medical Center, alleging they were the sole ethnic group targeted by
a rule requiring them to speak only English.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 7, In central China an
explosion at a coal mine killed 26 miners who were working despite
an order to halt production, while a mine tunnel collapse elsewhere
left four dead in the latest accidents to strike the country's
mining industry.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, Bolivia enacted a
law lowering the country’s retirement age to 58. The current
retirement age was 65 for men and 60 for women.
(SFC, 12/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Dec 15, In southwest China
local authorities told state press that Zeng Lingquan, the operator
of an unlicensed shelter for disabled people, sold at least 70
mentally ill workers into slavery in recent years. Lingquan was
arrested on Dec 13.
(AFP, 12/15/10)
2010 Dec 17, A Nigerian court
sentenced 15 Muslim herdsmen to 10 years each over sectarian
violence in the country's central region that left hundreds dead
this year. Nigerian tanker drivers suspended petrol deliveries to
Lagos and other areas to protest the firing of 2,500 members,
sparking long queues at filling stations.
(AFP, 12/17/10)
2010 Dec 18, In Spain tens of
thousands of workers staged strikes in 40 cities to protest state
plans to up the retirement age to slash public deficit.
(AFP, 12/18/10)
2010 Dec 26, London’s
Underground drivers went on a 24-hour strike in a dispute over
holiday pay. Members of the Aslef trade union voted to walk out
after transport chiefs refused their demand for triple pay and a day
off for working on December 26, the day after Christmas being a
national holiday in Britain.
(AP, 12/26/10)
2010 David Riddle (1942-2012)
co-authored authored, “The Color of Law: Ernie Goodman, Detroit, and
the Struggle for Labor and Civil Rights,” a meticulously researched
biography of the legendary Detroit labor lawyer. Mr. Riddle wrote
the book with friends, Steve Babson and David Elsila.
(http://tinyurl.com/9v465zw)
2011 Jan 19, Italy’s the
national statistics office said one in five young Italians, or more
than 2 million people, are not studying nor working, the highest
percentage of "idle" youths in the European Union.
(Reuters, 1/19/11)
2011 Jan 26, In northern
Colombia an explosion at coal mine killed at least five workers and
trapped 16 more.
(AP, 1/26/11)
2011 Jan 27, In the Philippines
a temporary elevator at a building construction site in Manila
plunged 25 floors, killing 10 workers.
(AP, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan 28, Spain's Cabinet
approved a plan to raise the retirement age by two years to 67 for
most workers, a key structural reform aimed at reassuring markets
that are uneasy over the country's finances.
(AP, 1/28/11)
2011 Feb 1, New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo proposed laying off nearly 10,000 state workers and
cutting billions from education and Medicaid as he laid out his
first budget designed to close a $10 billion deficit.
(Reuters, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 2, Spain’s PM Zapatero
signed a solemn “social pact” with unions and employers, covering
pensions, collective bargaining and more.
(Econ, 2/5/11, p.62)
2011 Feb 5, In Romania five
miners died in an explosion at a coal mine in the Jiu Valley mining
region.
(AP, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 8, In Pakistan strike
action forced ailing state carrier Pakistan International Airlines
(PIA) to cancel flights to Britain and Turkey, affecting some 1,500
passengers.
(AFP, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 16, Egypt’s ruling
military council issued its 2nd statement in 3 days calling for an
immediate halt to all labor unrest. Airport employees protested for
better pay, but did not disrupt flights. Textile workers struck to
demand a corruption investigation and residents of a Suez Canal city
pressed for closing a chemical factory they say is dumping toxic
waste into a lake.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 17, In Wisconsin 14
Democratic lawmakers disappeared as the state Senate was about to
begin debating a measure by Gov. Scott Walker that would eliminate
collective bargaining for most state public employees. Protesters
filled the Capitol for a 3rd day.
(SFC, 2/18/11, p.A6)
2011 Feb 17, At least 1,500
Egyptian workers from the Suez Canal Authority protested for better
pay in three cities straddling the strategic waterway.
(AP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 22, Democratic members
of the Indiana House of Representatives left Indianapolis to deny
Republicans a quorum hoping to kill legislation that included a bill
allowing workers in private-sector unions the right to opt out of
their dues or fees.
(SFC, 2/24/11, p.A7)
2011 Feb 24, Wisconsin state
troopers were dispatched to try to find at least one of the 14
Senate Democrats who have been on the run for eight days to delay a
vote on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to strip collective
bargaining rights from nearly all public employees.
(AP, 2/24/11)
2011 Feb 26, In Wisconsin a
crowd estimated at more than 70,000 people waved American flags,
sang the national anthem and called for the defeat of a state plan
to curb public sector unions that has galvanized opposition from the
American labor movement.
(Reuters, 2/27/11)
2011 Feb 28, In Venezuela union
leader Ruben Gonzalez was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on charges
related to a 2009 strike he led that temporarily paralyzed the
state-run iron mining company, CVG Ferrominera Orinoco CA, better
known as Ferrominera. On March 3 Gonzalez was granted parole but
would be required to appear before authorities every 15 days.
(AP, 3/3/11)(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 2, Leading human
rights activists condemned Venezuelan authorities for sentencing
union leader Ruben Gonzalez to prison for launching a strike, saying
more than 100 other unionists also face charges after participating
in protests.
(AP, 3/3/11)
2011 Mar 3, South Africa's
highest court ordered a top Johannesburg-based mining company to
compensate the family of a dead mineworker, overturning a law which
prohibited mineworkers with lung diseases from claiming
compensation.
(AP, 3/3/11)
2011 Mar 4, In Belgium unions
disrupted public transport in parts of the country and blocked
industrial sites to demand better pay rises.
(AP, 3/4/11)
2011 Mar 10, The Wisconsin
Assembly stripped a bill of its spending language and passed
legislation with only Republicans present taking away the collective
bargaining rights of the state’s government workers.
(SFC, 3/11/11, p.A6)
2011 Mar 10, British public
sector workers were informed that their pensions would become less
generous.
(Econ, 3/12/11, p.66)
2011 Mar 11, In China a gas
explosion from a coal mine in the southwest killed 19 miners in
Guizhou province's Liupanshui city.
(AP, 3/12/11)
2011 Mar 11, Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker signed a bill taking away the collective bargaining
rights of the state’s government workers.
(SFC, 3/12/11, p.A9)
2011 Mar 20, In Pakistan at
least 6 miners were killed and 43 others trapped underground when
explosions triggered a collapse in a coal mine in Baluchistan
province.
(AP, 3/20/11)
2011 Mar 21, In Kentucky 2
workers were killed in an explosion at the Carbide Industries
chemical plant in Louisville.
(SFC, 3/23/11, p.A4)
2011 Mar 28, Michigan Gov. Rick
Snyder signed legislation that will lead the state to pay fewer
weeks of unemployment benefits next year than any other state.
(SFC, 3/29/11, p.A6)
2011 Mar 29, Wisconsin Circuit
Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that there should be no further
implementation of a law taking away nearly all collective bargaining
rights for public workers.
(SFC, 3/30/11, p.A5)
2011 Mar 30, The Ohio
Legislature pass a bill severely limiting union rights for 350,000
public workers. Gov. John Kasich was expected to sign it this week.
(SFC, 3/31/11, p.A8)
2011 Mar, Maine’s Gov. Paul
LePage, called for the removal an 11-panel mural, depicting the
history of the state’s labor movement, from the headquarters of the
State Dept. of Labor. In April a group of artists filed a lawsuit
challenging his decision as a violation of the first amendment.
LePage narrowly won a 3-way race last November.
(Econ, 4/9/11, p.34)
2011 Apr 14, Spanish telecoms
giant Telefonica said it plans to cut its workforce in Spain by
about 20 percent, or some 6,000 people, over the next three years as
a cost-cutting measure.
(AFP, 4/14/11)
2011 Apr 16, Spain’s labor
minister warned in a published interview that the number of
unemployed could reach a record of more than five million. Spain
already had the highest jobless rate among developed countries.
(AFP, 4/16/11)
2011 Apr 18, In Botswana nearly
90,000 public sector workers went on strike demanding a 16% pay
raise after a 3-year wage freeze. The government proceeded to fire
1,400 striking health care workers including some 50 doctors. After
8 weeks public workers settled for three percent after the
government insisted it could not afford a larger increase.
(Econ, 6/11/11, p.55)(AFP, 7/7/11)(AFP, 6/27/12)
2011 Apr 22, In China truck
drivers protested for a third day over rising fuel costs and fees,
disrupting the flow of goods in Shanghai, China's busiest port city.
(AP, 4/22/11)
2011 May 1, Hundreds of
thousands of Cubans marched through Havana and other cities to mark
May Day.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 1, In Turkey activists
flooded Istanbul‘s Taksim Square and marked international workers'
day around the world with marches demanding more jobs, better
working conditions and higher wages.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 6, Nearly 800 Air
India pilots demanding more pay ended their 10-day-old strike, which
cost the state-run airline around 12 million rupees ($2.7 million) a
day.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 6, Commuters in Italy
scrambled to find the few buses and subway trains running during a
one-day general strike that also affected air and rail travel,
banks, public offices and schools.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 20, In China 2 workers
were initially killed and 16 injured in the explosion at the plant
of a Foxconn subsidiary in Chengdu. A seriously injured worker died
two days later. The iPad 2 was being made in the building hit by the
blast.
(AFP, 5/22/11)
2011 May 30, In Sri Lanka
police attacked workers protesting over proposed pension reforms in
Katunayake, near the capital Colombo. The government had proposed
taking over the provident fund savings of workers in the private
sector and then paying them a smaller state pension in retirement. A
man (22) was critically wounded at the protest and died on June 1.
(AFP, 6/1/11)
2011 Jun 3, In Canada picket
lines went at Canada Post mail processing plant in Winnipeg as part
of a limited rotating strike around the country.
(Reuters, 6/3/11)
2011 Jun 13, In San Francisco
an independent arbitrator ruled that municipal transport operators
must work under a contract they overwhelmingly rejected last week.
(SFC, 6/14/11, p.A1)
2011 Jun 14, Canada Post locked
out all its employees, saying more than a week of rotating strikes
by unionized letter carriers and other postal workers had cost it
too much money.
(Reuters, 6/15/11)(Econ, 7/2/11, p.30)
2011 Jun 16, The Int’l. Labor
Organization (ILO) adopted a new treaty, the Convention Concerning
Decent Work for Domestic Workers. It remained for individual
government to ratify.
(Econ, 6/25/11, p.73)
2011 Jun 18, In Greece several
thousand pro-Communist union members marched through Athens to
protests the government’s austerity measures.
(SSFC, 6/19/11, p.A5)
2011 Jun 20, The US Supreme
Court denied a sex discrimination suit on behalf of over 1 million
Wal-Mart employees saying they failed to pinpoint any company policy
that denied them equal pay of promotions.
(SFC, 6/21/11, p.A1)
2011 Jun 24, Connecticut Gov.
Dannel Malloy began issuing layoff notices to as many as 7,500 state
employees after a state union voted down a labor concessions
package.
(SFC, 6/25/11, p.A5)
2011 Jun 27, In South Korea
unionized workers at Standard Chartered bank went on strike over the
issue of performance related pay. Korean bank staff were typically
paid and promoted according to age and time.
(Econ, 7/30/11, p.68)
2011 Jun 30, British teachers
and public service workers swapped classrooms and offices for picket
lines as hundreds of thousands walked off the job to protest pension
cuts.
(AP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jun, A petition campaign
against a Jordanian garment maker was begun by US labor activists
after a Bangladeshi worker told police that her Sri Lankan manager,
Anil Santha, had raped her three times since March. This that
prompted several US retailers to stop placing orders with the
Classic Fashion factory.
(AP, 9/9/11)
2011 Jul 1, Connecticut Gov.
Dannel Malloy’s signed Public Act No. 11-52 (“An Act Mandating
Employers Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees”), making Connecticut
the first and only state in the nation to require
employers, with 50 or more employees, to provide paid sick leave to
their employees effective Jan. 1, 2012.
(Reuters, 7/11/11)(https://tinyurl.com/yd62nklb)
2011 Jul 4, In South Africa
more than 110,000 engineers and metalworkers launched a strike to
demand a 13 percent wage increase.
(AFP, 7/5/11)
2011 Jul 11, In South Africa
some 70,000 workers at oil refineries and related industries joined
a week-old strike, raising fears of potential fuel shortages.
(AFP, 7/11/11)
2011 Jul 13, In Guinea-Bissau
health workers began a five-day strike to press demands pay bonuses
and better working conditions in the west African country.
(AFP, 7/13/11)
2011 Jul 14, In France
thousands of angry travelers were still stranded in airports and in
Algiers as a strike by Air Algerie cabin crew, who want a 106% pay
rise, went into its 4th day. Air Algerie staff ended their four-day
strike after mediation by the office of PM Ahmed Ouyahia.
(AFP, 7/14/11)
2011 Jul 15, BBC journalists
began a 24-hour strike in a row over job losses, disrupting some of
the British broadcaster's flagship programs.
(AFP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 22, In Chile mine
workers at Escondida, the world's most productive copper mine,
went on strike. The main issue was a monthly production bonus. BHP
owned a 57% share. Other major investors include Rio Tinto,
Mitsubishi Corp. and International Finance Corp.
(AP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jul 29, In eastern Ukraine
a pre-dawn methane explosion at the notoriously dangerous
Suhodilska-Eastern mine in the Luhansk region killed 18 workers.
Hours later an elevator used to transport miners and equipment into
and out of the Bazhanova mine in the eastern Donetsk region
collapsed, killing 7 workers. 12 miners all told remained missing.
(AP, 7/29/11)(AP, 7/30/11)
2011 Aug 1, BBC journalists
began a second 24-hour strike in a row over job losses, threatening
disruption to some of the broadcaster's flagship programs.
(AFP, 8/1/11)
2011 Aug 1, South African coal
miners ended their weeklong strike after signing a pay rise
agreement ranging from 7.5 to 10.5 percent.
(AFP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 2, China's eastern
city of Hangzhou offered its taxi drivers a subsidy of one yuan
($0.16) per trip in a bid to end a two-day strike in the tourism
hub.
(AFP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 7, Some 45,000 Verizon
Communications Inc. workers from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.,
went on strike after negotiations fizzled over a new labor contract
for more than a fifth of the company's work force. The company's
revenue rose 2.8% to $27.5 billion in the second quarter. Workers
returned to work on Aug 22, despite not reaching an overall
settlement.
(AP, 8/7/11)(SSFC, 8/21/11, p.A10)
2011 Aug 8, In South Africa
drivers operating feeder buses to high-speed train service went on
strike, only six days after a new link between Johannesburg and the
capital Pretoria opened. Drivers were demanding a wage increase from
4,600 rand ($660, 467 euros) to 5,000 rand a month. Train drivers
earned about 21,000 rand per month.
(AFP, 8/8/11)
2011 Aug 22, Bosses at
Australia's BlueScope steel were attacked for pocketing "obscene"
bonuses worth Aus$3.0 million (US$3.1 million), after they sacked
1,000 workers and abandoned their export business.
(AFP, 8/22/11)
2011 Aug 26, In Mexico 4 miners
were killed in an explosion that caved in part of a coal mine in the
northern Mexico border state of Coahuila.
(AP, 8/25/11)
2011 Aug 29, South African
municipal workers called off a 16-day nationwide strike without
reaching an agreement with employers.
(AFP, 8/29/11)
2011 Sep 5, President Barack
Obama used a boisterous Labor Day rally in Detroit to put
congressional Republicans on the spot, challenging them to place the
country's interests above all else and vote to create jobs and put
the economy back on a path toward growth.
(AP, 9/5/11)
2011 Sep 6, The UN's labor
agency said more than two dozen global clothing brands pledged to
investigate a spate of mass faintings among Cambodian garment
workers.
(AFP, 9/6/11)
2011 Sep 8, President Barack
Obama unveiled a larger-than-expected $450 billion plan to boost
jobs and put cash in the pockets of dispirited Americans, urging
Republican skeptics to embrace an approach heavy on the tax cuts
they traditionally love.
(AP, 9/8/11)
2011 Sep 8, In Washington state
hundreds of longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview, overpowered
and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain
that is the center of a labor dispute. The blockade appeared to defy
a federal restraining order issued last week against the union after
it was accused of assaults and death threats.
(AP, 9/8/11)
2011 Sep 13, The Census Bureau
released its annual report. It said that the ranks of America's poor
swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as
long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out
of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the
biggest in more than two decades.
(AP, 9/13/11)
2011 Sep 20, GM and the UAW
unveiled a modest 4-year pay agreement. The deal included a $5,000
lump sum payment to production line workers and $4,000 more over the
next 4 years plus a slightly higher share of profits. It also
allowed the hiring of new “tier-two” employees.
(Econ, 9/24/11, p.75)
2011 Sep 22, In northern and
central California some 23,000 nurses associated with Sutter Health
and Kaiser Permanente went on a one-day strike.
(SFC, 9/23/11, p.C4)
2011 Sep 23, A Botswana
official said labor unions have asked a court to force the
government to reinstate nearly 2,600 public services workers fired
during the country's first national strike in April.
(AFP, 9/23/11)
2011 Sep 26, A new British law,
the Prisoners' Earnings Act, went into effect. Inmates earning more
than £20 ($31, €23) a week after deductions will see 40% deducted
from what remains.
(AFP, 9/26/11)
2011 Sep 27, In Australia
thousands of international air travelers faced delays as Customs and
Border Protection officers walked off the job at airports across the
country after workers rejected a 9 percent pay rise over three
years.
(AP, 9/27/11)
2011 Sep 28, In Greece a
24-hour public transport strike left Athens without buses, metros,
taxis and trams. Customs and tax office workers were also on strike,
while about 350 pensioners demonstrated outside the Finance Ministry
against pension cuts and tax increases.
(AP, 9/28/11)
2011 Oct 4, In China a coal
mine explosion killed at least 13 workers in Guizhou province.
(SFC, 10/5/11, p.A2)
2011 Oct 7, India's largest car
maker Maruti Suzuki said a fresh strike by workers halted production
at a north India plant, just days after the end of a bitter
month-long dispute.
(AFP, 10/7/11)
2011 Oct 9, Algerian police
arrested roughly 25 unemployed people as they prepared to rally
against joblessness near the presidential compound.
(AFP, 10/9/11)
2011 Oct 10, India's largest
car maker Maruti Suzuki called for authorities to evict 1,500
striking workers who have seized control of one of its plants, amid
allegations of sabotage and violence. The workers began staging a
sit-in strike at its Manesar factory in northern Haryana state on
Oct 7.
(AFP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 10, Indonesian police
shot and killed one protester and wounded another as they clashed
with striking workers at a mine run by US company Freeport McMoran.
The clash erupted when police tried to stop more than 1,000 workers,
who began their strike on September 15, from entering a facility at
the Grasberg mining complex.
(AFP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 10, Kuwaiti exports
and imports were disrupted as over 3,000 customs officers went on
strike demanding better pay and threatening to halt oil exports.
(AFP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 10, In Israel nearly
300 residents at hospitals failed to turn up to work and hundreds
more were poised to resign later the same day in a dispute over pay
and conditions.
(AFP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 11, Myanmar’s
government signed legislation allowing the establishment of trade
unions.
(Econ, 10/8/11,
p.51)(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968)
2011 Oct 21, Hertz said it is
firing 25 Somali Muslim drivers at Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport who have refused to agree to clock out for daily breaks
during which they normally pray. 9 of 34 drivers have signed the
agreement and returned to their jobs.
(AP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 21, In India the
latest in a series of strikes at top car maker Maruti Suzuki came to
an end, at a cost of $400 million in lost production and major
damage to the group's reputation.
(AFP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 21, In Indonesia
gunmen shot dead three people at a strike-hit gold and copper mine
in the eastern Papua region, raising the number of killings this
month to eight at the troubled Grasberg mine, operated by Freeport
McMoRan. The strikers, mostly indigenous Melanesians, say they are
the lowest paid Freeport workers in the world, earning between $1.50
and $3.50 an hour.
(AFP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct 29, Australian flag
carrier Qantas grounded its entire fleet indefinitely in a bitter
industrial dispute. Months of strikes by baggage handlers, engineers
and pilots have been costing Qantas Aus$15 million (£9.9 million)
per week, with the total financial impact so far hitting Aus$68
million.
(AFP, 10/29/11)
2011 Oct 31, An Australian
court ended the strikes and employee lockout that had abruptly
grounded Qantas Airways and stranded tens of thousands of passengers
worldwide. The government referred the dispute to Fair Work
Australia, which ordered both sides into 21 days of talks.
(AP, 10/31/11)(Econ, 11/5/11, p.75)
2011 Nov 2, The Philippines,
one of the world's largest labor exporters, announced a ban on the
deployment of workers to 41 countries, including war-torn
Afghanistan and booming India, where Filipino officials say there
are inadequate protections against labor abuse. Nearly 10 percent of
the Philippine population of 94 million work abroad.
(AP, 11/2/11)
2011 Nov 3, Human Rights Watch
said Chinese mining companies in Zambia ignore labor protections,
demanding up to 18 hours of labor a day and flouting health and
safety rules.
(AFP, 11/3/11)
2011 Nov 7, Israel was hit by a
brief general strike that affected hospitals, banks, ports and the
country's main international airport, but which ended after just
four hours. Its scope was limited to four hours following an
all-night session by the National Labour Court which met after the
collapse of talks between the powerful Histadrut trades union and
the finance ministry. The Histadrut has accused the government of
massively increasing its use of contract workers and is demanding it
offer hundreds of thousands of them coverage under the civil
service's collective bargaining agreement.
(AFP, 11/7/11)
2011 Nov 25, Britain’s Deputy
PM Nick Clegg unveiled a £1 billion youth contract to create
hundreds of thousands of work and training placements for jobless
youngsters.
(AFP, 11/25/11)
2011 Dec 4, Pilots at Lebanese
national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) ended a five-day strike
in protest at the dismissal of a cancer-stricken colleague which
grounded dozens of flights at Beirut airport.
(AFP, 12/4/11)
2011 Dec 13, In Guinea-Bissau a
transport strike paralyzed much of the country, forcing residents to
trek into work by foot, as taxi drivers stayed off the roads to
protest police extortion.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 15, Australia’s
independent Remuneration Tribunal recommended pay hikes for most
politicians and public servants. PM Julia Gillard was recommended
for a bumper 31 percent rise to take her salary past that of US
President Barack Obama.
(AFP, 12/15/11)
2011 Dec 26, In London
thousands of shoppers seeking post-Christmas bargains were delayed,
but not deterred, by a subway strike that shut down parts of the
network.
(AP, 12/26/11)
2011 Dec 28, In Yemen labor
strikes spread through the country as workers demanded reforms and
dismissal of managers over alleged corruption linked to the outgoing
president. A civilian was shot dead in a shootout between the
Republican Guard and gunmen loyal to dissident tribal chief Sadiq
al-Ahmar.
(AP, 12/28/11)(AFP, 12/28/11)
2011 Dec 30, In Britain
administrator Deloitte said around 1,600 jobs are to go at shoe
retailer Barratts Priceless after attempts to find a buyer for the
concessions business failed. The Bradford-based Barratts collapsed
into administration earlier this month.
(Reuters, 12/30/11)
2012 Jan 1, The minimum wage in
San Francisco rose 32 cents to $10.24 an hour.
(SSFC, 1/1/12, p.A1)
2012 Jan 2, In Senegal
thousands of Dakar residents found themselves stranded as bus and
taxi drivers took part in a two-day strike over high fuel prices,
leaving some to turn to horse-drawn carts to get around. A
paramilitary officer was killed, five injured and another left
missing in the Casamance region village of Affiniam.
(AFP, 1/2/12)(AP, 1/4/12)
2012 Jan 3, Brazil’s labor
ministry said some 294 employers submit workers to slave-like
conditions.
(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Jan 4, In the Central
African Republic taxi and bus drivers in Bangui held a one-day
strike. The government promised to look into grievances about its
decision to raise fuel prices.
(AFP, 1/4/12)
2012 Jan 4, Senegalese bus and
taxi drivers ended a two-day strike that had left people stranded
and resorting to horse-drawn carts to get to work. Drivers in
Senegal were protesting against the high price of fuel, the cost of
insurance, police harassment and a lack of social protection from
their employers.
(AFP, 1/4/12)
2012 Jan 9, Malawi's courts
ground to a halt as some 2,000 judicial workers began an indefinite
strike over work conditions and higher pay.
(AFP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 9, Nigerian police and
protesters clashed and three people were shot dead as tens of
thousands demonstrated nationwide over fuel price hikes and a
general strike shut down the country.
(AFP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 12, In Nigeria a
national strike entered its fourth day with oil workers threatening
to halt production.
(AFP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 14, Nigeria's
government and union leaders ended talks without a deal to end a
week-old strike that has shut down the country.
(AFP, 1/14/12)
2012 Jan 16, Nigerian unions
ended a week-old nationwide strike after President Goodluck Jonathan
agreed to lower petrol prices, while security forces shot into the
air and fired tear gas to disperse protesters. An unidentified
gunmen shot dead three Chadian builders and stole their mobile
phones in the northeastern city of Damaturu. 2 people were killed
when gunmen invaded their homes in Borno state.
(AFP, 1/16/12)(AFP, 1/17/12)(AP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 24, Senegal's public
transport workers launched a fresh strike to protest high fuel
prices and police harassment, leaving many stranded on their way to
work.
(AFP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 31, NUPENG, a Nigerian
oil workers' union, launched a strike over a dispute with Shell,
sparking fears of petrol shortages. The National Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers, the smaller of Nigeria's two oil industry
unions, represents blue-collar workers, including tanker drivers.
(AFP, 1/31/12)
2012 Feb 1, Indiana Gov. Mitch
Daniels signed legislation making Indiana the 23rd right-to-work
state.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A7)
2012 Feb 2, In South Africa
Impala Platinum, the world's number two producer, fired 13,000
miners who went on an illegal strike. Over the past month, the
Johannesburg-based company has sacked a total of about 17,200
workers at its mine in the northwestern town of Rustenburg, more
than half of the 30,000 people employed in the town.
(AFP, 2/2/12)
2012 Feb 3, The US Labor Dept.
said the United States created jobs at the fastest pace in nine
months in January and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to
a near three-year low, giving a boost to President Barack Obama.
(Reuters, 2/3/12)
2012 Feb 3, In southwestern
China an explosion at a coal mine killed 11 miners and injured six
at the Diaoyutai mine outside Yibin city in Sichuan province.
(AP, 2/3/12)
2012 Feb 8, Half a million
Israeli public and private sector workers went on general strike,
shutting down government offices, banks and airport traffic over the
rights of contract workers.
(AFP, 2/8/12)
2012 Feb 9, In Israel half a
million public and private sector workers were on general strike for
a 2nd day. Media reported signs of an emerging agreement between
unions and government.
(AFP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 10, In Brazil police
and firefighters in Rio went on strike, a week before glittering
Carnival celebrations that typically draw 800,000 tourists were due
to start. Union officials expected anywhere from 50% to 70% of
58,000 officers to join the strike. Union members were not content
with legislative approval of a 39% raise to be staggered over this
year and the next, along with a promise of more in 2014.
(AP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 10, In Israel a
general strike in Israel entered its third day after negotiations
between unions and government broke down.
(AFP, 2/10/12)
2012 Feb 12, Israeli unions
announced they were ending a general strike on its fifth day, after
reaching an agreement with treasury officials that will boost
salaries and benefits for contract workers.
(AFP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 12, In South Africa
the Impala Platinum worker’s union said the world's number two
producer has agreed to take back 17,200 workers who were fired for
going on strike.
(AFP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 13, General Electric
Co. said it plans to hire 5,000 US military veterans over the next
five years and to invest $580 million to expand its aviation
footprint in the US this year.
(Reuters, 2/13/12)
2012 Feb 15, In Australia some
3,500 workers from mining giant BHP Billiton's Queensland coal mines
began a seven-day strike in what unions said was one of the nation's
largest industrial stoppages in a decade.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 15, Official data
showed that Britain's unemployment rate hit a 16-month peak in the
three months to December, while the number of people claiming
jobless benefits struck the highest total in two years.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 19, In Spain hundreds
of thousands of protesters marched in 57 cities in a show of anger
over new labor reforms that make it easier for companies to fire
workers and pull out of collective bargaining agreements.
(SFC, 2/20/12, p.A2)
2012 Feb 19, South African
police said at least 350 people have been arrested after deadly
violence during an illegal strike at the world's largest platinum
mine run by Impala Platinum. At least 2 miners were killed since
violence began on Feb 16. A 3rd death was reported on Feb 24.
(AFP, 2/19/12)(AFP, 2/20/12)(AFP, 2/24/12)
2012 Feb 20, In northeastern
China an explosion at a steel plant killed 13 people and injured
another 17, in Liaoning province's Anshan city.
(AFP, 2/21/12)
2012 Mar 6, In Sao Paulo,
Brazil, truck drivers hauling fuel continued to strike for a 2nd
day. They were protesting new regulations restricting hours they can
use on some city roadways.
(SFC, 3/7/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 6, South Africa's
powerful Cosatu labor federation vowed to rally more than 100,000
protesters against new toll roads around Johannesburg that have
angered workers and businesses.
(AFP, 3/6/12)
2012 Mar 7, In South Africa
tens of thousands of protesters marched through 32 towns and cities
in a protest by the powerful Cosatu labor body, the latest sign of
tensions within the ANC-led government.
(AFP, 3/7/12)
2012 Mar 8, Kenya sacked 25,000
nurses taking part in a strike, creating a potentially devastating
shortage. The nurses went on strike on March 1 to protest the
government's failure to implement a salary increase agreed last
year.
(AFP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 9, In Kenya hundreds
of nurses marched through the capital in a demand for better pay,
even after the government sacked all 25,000 taking part in the
strike.
(AFP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 10, Myanmar state
media reported that a new law has gone into effect giving workers
the right to form unions and stage strikes.
(SSFC, 3/11/12, p.A4)
2012 Mar 11, In Spain hundreds
of thousands of people across the country took part in
demonstrations called by trade unions to protest the government’s
tough new labor reforms.
(SFC, 3/12/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 12, India's
cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines cancelled nearly a fifth of its
flights, including at least one international route, after its staff
staged a strike over unpaid wages.
(AFP, 3/12/12)
2012 Mar 14, Britain’s Office
for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement that the number of
unemployed people climbed by 28,000 over the period, the smallest
increase for almost one year as the unemployment rate hit the
highest level for almost 17 years.
(AFP, 3/14/12)
2012 Mar 14, In Kenya tens of
thousands of nurses agreed to end a two-week strike after talks with
PM Raila Odinga, who revoked their mass dismissal during the
standoff. It was agreed that all the issues raised by the health
workers would be addressed exhaustively.
(AFP, 3/14/12)
2012 Mar 16, Myanmar signed an
agreement with the International Labor Organization to end forced
labor by 2015. The main problem involved adults and youngsters
pressed into working for the army.
(AFP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 22, In China 17 miners
were trapped in a northeast colliery following a gas blast that left
five dead in Liaoning province. Last week, 13 people died after a
capsule plunged into a pit at an iron ore mine in eastern China
after a steel rope holding it broke.
(AFP, 3/23/12)
2012 Mar 28, Hong Kong's court
of appeal overturned a Sep 30, 2011, landmark ruling that opened the
door for thousands of foreign maids to claim residency saying the
High Court could not override the government's authority to decide
who can live in the city and who cannot.
(AFP, 3/28/12)
2012 Apr 2, The Eurozone
reported that unemployment now totaled 17.1 million, its highest
level since the Euro was introduced in 1999.
(SFC, 4/3/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 4, Yahoo announced
that it will layoff 2,000 people, 14% of its work force, as part of
a restructuring plan.
(SFC, 4/5/12, p.A1)
2012 Apr 4, In Guinea workers
at the Friguia plant, owned by world's biggest aluminium producer,
went on strike after a lengthy pay dispute. Rusal has managed the
bauxite mine, aluminium refinery and railway network since 2002 and
privatized it in 2006. On Aug 24 Guinean unions asked the government
to cancel Rusal's contract, a demand the company said had "no legal
grounds", vowing to use all legal means to protect its ownership
rights.
(AFP, 8/26/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Peru 9 miners
were trapped after a horizontal mining shaft collapsed not very deep
under the surface. The miners were behind debris about six meters
(20 feet) wide that collapsed when they set off an explosion to
dislodge copper ore. On April 11 the miners walked free through a
newly built tunnel.
(AP, 4/7/12)(AFP, 4/11/12)
2012 Apr 9, Japan’s Nikkei
business daily reported that Sony will cut 10,000 jobs worldwide
this year as it attempts to carry out sweeping reforms aimed at
reviving the iconic but loss-making Japanese electronics giant.
(AFP, 4/9/12)
2012 Apr 30, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez signed a labor law, known as LOTTT, that included a virtual
ban on dismissals, a shorter working week and improved holiday and
maternity benefits.
(Econ, 1/25/14, p.28)(http://tinyurl.com/pp7suqv)
2012 May 1, May Day moved
beyond its roots as an international workers' holiday to a day of
international protest, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage
increases and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed
austerity measures. Thousands of Indonesian workers held Asia's
biggest May Day rally, demanding better pay and protection of job
security, watched warily by a heavy police and army presence.
(AP, 5/1/12)(AFP, 5/1/12)
2012 May 1, Malaysia said it
will introduce a minimum wage for the first time in a move to
bolster incomes amid rising living costs and speculation of a snap
general election. Private sector workers in peninsular Malaysia will
receive a minimum salary of 900 ringgit ($297) a month while workers
in the states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island will get 800
ringgit.
(AFP, 5/1/12)
2012 May 10, Thousands of
off-duty police officers took to the streets in London in a rare
display of collective anger against government austerity measures,
joining a mass protest by public sector workers including
immigration officials, healthcare workers and prison officers.
(Reuters, 5/10/12)
2012 May 17, Members of
France's new Socialist-led government promised to take a pay cut, a
gesture of shared sacrifice by leaders who must now both reduce the
country's massive debts and tackle spiraling unemployment.
(AP, 5/17/12)
2012 May 23, In Brazil subway
workers went on strike in Sao Paulo, but ended it five hours later
after halting a system used daily by more than 4 million people.
(AP, 5/2/12)
2012 May 23, In Canada
locomotive engineers and conductors at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd
went on strike after failing to reach a contract agreement, shutting
down freight operations on Canada's second-biggest railroad.
(Reuters, 5/23/12)
2012 May 27, In Jordan Vivian
Salameh (45) a Christian woman, said she is suing her Gulf Arab
employer for arbitrary dismissal after she refused a new dress code
forcing her to cover her head. She had worked at Jordan's Industrial
Development Bank for 25 years when it was acquired in 2010 by the
Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, an offshoot of the Dubai Islamic Bank.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 Jun 11, British workers
from Coryton oil refinery marched on a fuel terminal in the
southeast of the country and disrupted the supply of fuel heading to
petrol stations to protest against the plant's closure. Coryton is
currently being wound down as crude supplies run out, and 900 jobs
were threatened.
(Reuters, 6/11/12)(Reuters, 6/14/12)
2012 Jun 12, In India police
raided factories in New Delhi and rounded 26 up children working in
3 textile factories and a metal processing plant. An estimated
50,000 children were believed working in New Delhi factories despite
laws against child labor.
(SFC, 6/13/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 16, In Italy tens of
thousands of workers demonstrated in Rome to protest pension cuts,
tax hikes and labor reforms imposed by the government.
(SSFC, 6/17/12, p.A4)
2012 Jun 22, Swaziland teachers
went on strike demanding a 4.5 percent salary increase.
(AFP, 7/29/12)
2012 Jun 24, In Norway a
pension dispute led to an industry-wide strike by the nation’s
energy workers. The government intervened on July 10 after the oil
industry threatened to halt all output. Energy professionals in
Norway averaged $180,300 per year.
(SFC, 7/11/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 4, In China a coal
mine in Hunan province flooded trapping 16 miners. Rescue workers
pulled 8 miners out of the coal mine in Leiyang city on July 8, but
another 8 remained unaccounted for.
(AFP, 7/5/12)(AFP, 7/8/12)
2012 Jul 8, In China a gas
blast at a coal mine in the central province of Hunan killed seven
people, the latest in a string of accidents in the country's
dangerous mining industry.
(AFP, 7/8/12)
2012 Jul 9, Canadian nuclear
engineers at the Candu Energy subsidiary of the SNC-Lavalin Group
Inc went on strike in a contract dispute and no talks to end the
walkout are scheduled. About 700 engineers joined 144 others who
have been on strike for five weeks.
(Reuters, 7/9/12)
2012 Jul 9, Some 40,000
Algerian police auxiliaries, who once helped in the fight against
armed Islamist groups, tried to march on the capital to demand pay
rises and other benefits but were blocked by police.
(AFP, 7/10/12)
2012 Jul 10, Spanish coal
miners angered by huge cuts in subsidies converged on Madrid for
protest rallies after walking nearly three weeks under a blazing sun
from the pits where they eke out a living.
(AP, 7/10/12)
2012 Jul 11, Spanish riot
police fired rubber bullets at coal miners protesting in the streets
of Madrid over subsidy cuts they fear will jeopardize their meager
livelihood.
(AP, 7/11/12)
2012 Jul 12, Struggling French
carmaker PSA Peugeot-Citroen, facing diving sales in crisis-hit
southern Europe, announced a drastic cost-cutting plan to slash
8,000 jobs in France and close a major factory north of Paris.
(AP, 7/12/12)
2012 Jul 14, In northern Egypt
some 23,000 textile workers went on strike in Mahalla al-Kobra,
demanding higher wages.
(AP, 7/15/12)
2012 Jul 19, India's top
carmaker Maruti Suzuki suspended production at a plant near New
Delhi after a manager was burnt to death and scores of others
injured in a riot by angry workers. At least 88 workers were
arrested and faced possible charges from murder to rioting and
arson. In 2017 thirteen factory workers were sentenced to life
imprisonment for taking part in the violence. Four other workers
were sentenced to five years in prison.
(AFP, 7/19/12)(AP, 3/19/17)
2012 Jul 30, A Canadian
government-appointed arbitrator chose to enforce Air Canada's final
offer over one proposed by the union representing its 3,000 pilots,
ending a long and bitter contract dispute but angering the pilots.
(Reuters, 7/30/12)
2012 Aug 4, In southern Zambia
coal miners killed a Chinese mine manager and injured his colleague
in a riot over wages at the Collum Coal mine in Sinazongwe known for
tensions with the Chinese investor.
(AFP, 8/5/12)
2012 Aug 12, In South Africa
violent clashes broke out at the mine run by Lonmin, the world's
third largest platinum producer, in a battle for dominance between
the leading National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the smaller
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). 8 people
were killed in the clashes. The next day two police officers,
responding to the clashes, were hacked to death. In 2015 South
African prosecutors charged 17 miners with murder over the killing
of 10 people during a violent wildcat strike at Lonmin's Marikana
mine.
(AFP, 8/14/12)(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2012 Aug 13, Google said it
will cut some 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility Holdings unit,
which it bought just months ago for some $12.5 billion.
(SFC, 8/14/12, p.D1)
2012 Aug 16, India's top
carmaker Maruti Suzuki said that more than 500 workers had been
sacked after riots on July 18 at a plant near New Delhi left one
manager dead. Production was set to partially re-start on August 21
with 200 anti-riot police on rolling shifts inside the factory.
(AFP, 8/16/12)
2012 Aug 16, South African
police fired on strikers at the Lonmin platinum mine leaving 34
dead. This was the deadliest police action since the end of
white-minority rule in 1994.
(AFP, 8/17/12)
2012 Aug 19, In South Africa
Platinum producer Lonmin ordered employees at its mine where police
killed 34 people to return to work or risk dismissal but workers
vowed to stay on strike.
(AFP, 8/19/12)
2012 Aug 20, In South Africa
only 27% of workers answered an ultimatum to return for morning
shifts at the platinum mine where police shot and killed 34-44
striking workers last week. Lonmin PLC said they were enough for it
to resume operations.
(AP, 8/20/12)(AFP, 8/23/12)
2012 Aug 21, In South Africa
Platinum giant Lonmin eased off its threat to fire miners who failed
to return to work, as the government pleaded for time to mourn the
44 people killed during a wildcat strike. The company said about
one-third of Lonmin's 28,000 employees at the Marikana platinum mine
reported for work today.
(AFP, 8/21/12)
2012 Aug 22, In India up to one
million public sector bank employees started a two-day nationwide
strike, protesting against reforms they fear could lead to mergers
and job losses.
(AFP, 8/22/12)
2012 Aug 25, South Africa’s
platinum giant Lonmin said nearly 60 percent of workers reported for
duty at one of its two sets of shafts as it sought an accord to end
a labor dispute that has claimed 44 lives.
(AFP, 8/25/12)
2012 Aug 27, In South Africa
strikers threatened retaliation against non-strikers at the
London-listed Lonmin mine where most of the 28,000-workforce did not
show up for shift 11 days after the country's worst police violence
since apartheid.
(AFP, 8/27/12)
2012 Aug 30, In South Africa
about 270 miners were charged with the murders of 34 striking
colleagues who were shot by South African police officers. The
decision to charge the miners came under an arcane Roman-Dutch
common purpose law used under the apartheid regime. It suggested
Pres. Jacob Zuma's government wants to shift blame for the killings
from police to the striking miners.
(AFP, 8/30/12)
2012 Aug 31, In Germany
Lufthansa flight attendants walked off the job for eight hours at
Frankfurt airport, causing the cancellation of more than 220
flights. Their union warned of more stoppages unless the airline
gives in to its demands.
(AP, 8/31/12)
2012 Sep 3, South African
police and security guards fired rubber bullets and tear gas at
sacked gold miners who were attacking colleagues to block them from
working. Police said four people were wounded at the Gold Fields
mine that used to be partially owned by the president's nephew.
Lonmin warned that a nearly four week strike at its mine was
threatening 40,000 jobs, as the government moved to calm jitters in
the sector.
(AFP, 9/3/12)
2012 Sep 6, In South Africa
managers of the Lonmin platinum mine, where police killed 34
striking workers, signed a peace deal with main labor unions but a
breakaway union and the strikers themselves rejected it.
(AP, 9/6/12)
2012 Sep 7, Egypt's national
air carrier said it will resume international flights after the
airline's flight attendants suspended a 12-hour strike pending
negotiations to meet their grievances.
(AP, 9/8/12)
2012 Sep 7, Lufthansa canceled
hundreds of flights after flight attendants walked off the job at
airports around the country in an escalating battle with Germany's
largest airline. Signs emerged that the two sides may be prepared to
return to the negotiating table.
(AP, 9/7/12)
2012 Sep 7, In Nigeria more
than 60 workers from Air Nigeria protested at Lagos' Murtala
Muhammed International Airport's domestic wings, demanding
four-months-worth of unpaid salaries from the company. The airline's
owner, business tycoon Jimoh Ibrahim, fired nearly all of the
company's 800 employees for "disloyalty" earlier this month.
(AP, 9/7/12)
2012 Sep 10, In South Africa
labor unrest spread in with a wildcat strike by 15,000 workers
stopping operations at a gold mine while few workers reported for
duty in the fourth week of a stoppage at the Lonmin PLC platinum
mine.
(AP, 9/10/12)
2012 Sep 11, Netherlands-based
Royal Philips Electronics NV, the largest maker of lights, said it
plans to cut another 2,200 jobs by 2014 to save €300 million ($383
million) a year.
(AP, 9/11/12)
2012 Sep 11, In South Africa
firebrand politician Julius Malema called for a national strike in
all of the nation's mines, encouraging a step-up of a strike that
has already halted production at several platinum and gold mines.
(AP, 9/11/12)
2012 Sep 12, South Africa’s
labor unrest grew. Police said 1,000 strikers were blocking access
to the main shaft at Anglo American Platinum, stopping some
operations at the world's largest platinum mine.
(AP, 9/12/12)
2012 Sep 14, A Wisconsin judge
struck down nearly all of the 2011 state law championed by Gov.
Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for
most public workers.
(AP, 9/15/12)
2012 Sep 14, South African
police fired stun grenades to disperse striking miners, acting hours
after President Jacob Zuma's government vowed to halt illegal
protests and disarm strikers it fears are threatening the country's
biggest industry.
(AP, 9/14/12)
2012 Sep 15, South African
police fired rubber bullets and tear gas sending men, women and
children scattering as they herded them into their shacks in a
crackdown on striking miners at the at Lonmin PLC platinum mine.
(AP, 9/15/12)
2012 Sep 25, South Africa's
labor unrest spread from its mines to the transport sector. The
country's transport union said more than 20,000 road freight
employees were on strike demanding a pay increase.
(AP, 9/25/12)
2012 Sep 26, Mexicans took to
the streets to protest a new law aimed at modernizing rules in the
workplace and making the country’s powerful, corrupt unions more
accountable.
(SFC, 9/27/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 26, South Africa’s
AngloGold Ashanti said that it has halted all its operations in the
country in response to persistent strikes. It provided 32 percent of
the multinational's gold production.
(AP, 9/26/12)(Economist, 9/29/12, p.53)
2012 Oct 2, In South Africa
thousands of striking truck drivers protested amid heavy police
presence in central Johannesburg as labor unrest continued across
the country, leading to fears of renewed violence.
(AP, 10/2/12)
2012 Oct 3, A 24-hour strike by
Belgian rail workers paralyzed train traffic throughout Belgium and
the international high-speed service to London and Paris.
(AP, 10/3/12)
2012 Oct 3, In Indonesia more
than 2 million factory workers went on a one-day strike across the
country demanding better benefits and protesting the hiring of
contract workers.
(AP, 10/3/12)
2012 Oct 4, Transport strikes
in Portugal brought misery for thousands of commuters. Trade unions
vowed to step up their fight against the government's latest batch
of austerity measures.
(AP, 10/4/12)
2012 Oct 4, In South Africa a
mineworker killed as police fired rubber bullets trying to disperse
striking miners near an Anglo American Platinum mine in Rustenburg.
(AP, 10/5/12)
2012 Oct 5, Better than
expected US jobs figures that included a surprise fall in the
unemployment rate to its lowest level since January 2009.
(AP, 10/5/12)
2012 Oct 5, In South Africa
Anglo American Platinum fired 12,000 striking miners for staging an
unlawful strike that is one of several that are slowly paralyzing
South Africa's crucial mining sector.
(AP, 10/5/12)
2012 Oct 5, In China some 3-4
thousand workers at the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou reportedly went
on strike over increased quality control standards. Foxconn, maker
of Apple’s iPhones, said the next day that production continued
without interruption.
(SSFC, 10/7/12, p.A5)
2012 Oct 11, In South Africa
striking miners killed one man by setting him on fire while another
was shot and seriously wounded in rekindled labor unrest that saw
police firing tear gas and rubber bullets near an Anglo American
Platinum (Amplats) mine.
(AP, 10/11/12)
2012 Oct 12, Shares of Workday,
a human resources software company in Pleasanton, Ca., rose $20.69
to close at $48.69 in its first day of trading on the NYSE.
(SSFC, 10/14/12, p.D1)
2012 Oct 12, In South Africa a
strike by some 20,000 truckers ended in a three-year wage deal that
gives them a 10 percent pay raise in the first year.
(AP, 10/12/12)
2012 Oct 27, South African
police fired rubber bullets at striking miners at the Anglo American
Platinum mine in Rustenburg as the company announced it had agreed
to reinstate 12,000 South African workers dismissed earlier this
month for staging illegal strikes. Some of the miners had vowed not
to return to work until their wage demands were met.
(AP, 10/27/12)
2012 Nov 2, In South Africa
AngloGold Ashanti said it has suspended operations at two mines
after hundreds of workers staged a sit-in over pay.
(AP, 11/2/12)
2012 Nov 6, In South Africa
Gold Fields said that thousands of employees returned to work at the
company's KDC East mine ending a 23-day strike. The National Union
of Mineworkers that the 12,000 miners fired from platinum mining
company Anglo American Platinum in Rustenburg for staging illegal
strikes since September had still not returned to work, and
negotiations were underway.
(AP, 11/6/12)
2012 Nov 14, Workers across the
European Union sought to present a united front against rampant
unemployment and government spending cuts with a string of strikes
and demonstrations across the region. In Belgium a 24-hour rail
stoppage and scattered strikes through the south of the nation
disrupted daily life. A Spanish strike shut down most schools and
while hospitals operated with a skeleton staff. In Portugal the
second general strike in eight months left commuters stranded as
trains ground to a virtual halt.
(AP, 11/14/12)
2012 Nov 14, In South Africa
television images showed protesters overturn a police truck and set
fires in the streets in a town in the Western Cape. Workers have
been protesting their wages, saying they want a minimum wage of $17
a day. Currently, workers make about half that amount a day.
(AP, 11/14/12)
2012 Nov 20, Argentine
President Cristina Fernandez faced a nationwide strike, led by union
bosses who once were her most steadfast supporters.
(AP, 11/20/12)
2012 Nov 26, An Italian court
ordered the seizure of the Ilva steel plant in Taranto, claiming
pollutants from the plant, the largest in Europe, have driven up
cancer in the area. Workers the next day stormed the locked gates.
20,000 jobs were at stake.
(SFC, 11/28/12, p.A2)
2012 Nov 27, A labor strike by
500 clerical workers began at the twin California ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach. Their industrial action and clout was
significantly strengthened because some 10,000 members of the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union supported them, refusing
to cross the clerical workers' picket lines. Operations at 10 or 14
terminals were idled.
(Reuters, 12/2/12)(SFC, 12/4/12, p.A11)
2012 Dec 11, Michigan enacted a
ban on mandatory union membership, dealing a stunning blow to
organized labor in the state that is home to US automakers and the
symbol of industrial labor in the United States. Gov. Rick Santorum
signed the “right to work” legislation immediately after it passsed
the legislature.
(AP, 12/11/12)(Econ, 12/15/12, p.32)
2012 Dec 14, Guinean
authorities and trade unions agreed to give civil servants a pay
raise of 50 percent over the next year. The raises would be applied
in three phases of 10, 15 and 25 percent before the end of 2013.
(AP, 12/17/12)
2012 Dec 21, In Sierra Leone
the OCTEA diamond mining company said that the company is increasing
the year-end salary bonus for workers from 20% to 30%. Officials
said a deadly strike at the Koidu diamond mine is now over. Two
people were killed in violence there, where workers went on strike
over bonuses and work conditions.
(AP, 12/21/12)
2013 Jan 1, Ten states kicked
off the new year with a minimum wage rise of between 10 and 35
cents. The rises went into effect in Arizona, Colorado, Florida,
Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and
Washington.
(Reuters, 1/1/13)
2013 Jan 24, In Greece strikers
protesting pay cuts refused to return to work, leaving Athens'
subway system closed for an eighth day, despite a court decision
declaring their protest illegal.
(AP, 1/24/13)
2013 Jan 25, Greek riot police
stormed the Athens subway train depot before dawn to enforce a
government emergency order forcing striking staff back to work in an
escalating standoff over new austerity measures.
(AP, 1/25/13)
2013 Jan 31, Greek doctors,
port workers and public transport staff in the country's capital
walked off the job in strikes against deeply unpopular austerity
measures that have seen incomes slashed as the country struggles to
emerge from a deep financial crisis. Farmers in central Greece
parked their tractors along the country's main highway for a second
day, under the watchful eye of riot police, threatening to shut the
road to protest spending cuts and high fuel taxes.
(AP, 1/31/13)
2013 Feb 4, South Africa’s
Minister Mildred Oliphant said in a prepared speech that a new daily
wage for manual laborers on the nation's farms would be 105 rand
(about $12) up from 69 rand ($7.80).
(AP, 2/4/13)
2013 Feb 5, In Ireland an
official report, that ran to almost 1,000 pages, said that more than
a quarter of the women and girls subjected to harsh discipline and
unpaid work at 10 laundries, run by Catholic nuns, were sent there
by the Irish state.
(AP, 2/6/13)
2013 Feb 7, In Colombia over
5,000 workers at the Cerrejon coal mine went on strike. Negotiations
began on Feb 26.
(Econ, 3/2/13, p.38)
2013 Feb 12, French workers
fired flares and paint bombs and riot police answered with tear gas
in a standoff over layoffs at a plant for US tire maker Goodyear,
amid tensions over a slump in Europe's car industry. Another
demonstration targeted the headquarters of carmaker PSA Peugeot
Citroen, which is laying off thousands of people.
(AP, 2/12/13)
2013 Feb 18, In South Africa 9
miners and 4 guards were injured when a machete-wielding mob
attacked union stewards and security guards opened fire with rubber
bullets amid ongoing labor rivalry at an Anglo American Platinum
mine. Some miners accuse the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM),
which is allied with the governing ANC, of becoming elitist, cozying
up to business and putting those interests before that of mine
workers.
(AP, 2/18/13)
2013 Feb 19, In Egypt hundreds
of protesters in Port Said pressured government employees to leave
work early as they enforced the third day of a general strike.
(AP, 2/19/13)
2013 Feb 19, In Malawi public
workers on strike demanding a 67 percent pay hike threatened to
close the country's airports. The government said it doesn't have
the money to meet the demands.
(AP, 2/19/13)
2013 Feb 20, In Greece a
24-hour protest by unions representing private and public sector
workers disrupted flights, halted ferries and crippled public
services, in a renewed confrontation between labor groups and the
conservative-led government over policies aimed at curbing Greece's
overspending.
(AP, 2/20/13)
2013 Feb 21, The Malawi
government agreed to raise public workers' salaries by 60%, ending a
two-week old strike.
(AP, 2/22/13)
2013 Feb 22, BP tanker drivers
have begun a 3-day strike at Petroineos's Grangemouth refinery in
Scotland over a plan to transfer some of them to another employer,
which would affect their pensions and pay.
(AP, 2/22/13)
2013 Feb 24, In Egypt thousands
of brick workers blocked railroad tracks from a southern city to
Cairo for a second day to protest rising industrial oil prices,
causing the cancellation of some services. Residents of Port Said
pressed their general strike which entered its second week.
(AP, 2/24/13)
2013 Feb 25, In Colombia
thousands of coffee workers began blocking roads in 10 provinces
over falling incomes from leaf rust and falling coffee prices.
(Econ, 3/2/13, p.38)
2013 Mar 6, British travel firm
Thomas Cook said it would cut 2,500 UK jobs and close 195 stores in
Britain as the euro crisis, high fuel costs and unrest in key
destinations like Egypt and Greece take their toll on the holiday
business.
(Reuters, 3/6/13)
2013 Mar 7, Coalfield Resources
said Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire, Britain's largest coal mine,
will close permanently with the loss of at least 550 jobs due to a
fire that has burned ferociously for two weeks.
(AP, 3/7/13)
2013 Mar 14, In Algeria some
10,000 people — an enormous number for the lightly populated region
—demonstrated for jobs in the southern oil city of Ouargla.
Thousands more protested later in the southern oil town, Laghouat.
PM Abdelmalek Sellal acknowledged on March 16 that the
demonstrators' demands are legitimate and the government hurriedly
announced a string of measures to address the perceived geographical
bias in oil jobs.
(AP, 3/30/13)
2013 Mar, The average wage in
America was reported to be $22 per hour.
(Econ, 3/9/13, p.76)
2013 Apr 4, In Chile a series
of fast-spreading port strikes in Chile blocked exports of copper,
fruit and wood pulp and kept thousands of workers idle. The stoppage
began in the northern port of Angamos more than two weeks ago, when
workers began demanding a 30-minute lunch break and a place to set
up a cafeteria.
(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Chile the
Ultraport company managing the Angamos port agreed to compensate
workers with a bonus following negotiations mediated by Chile's work
minister.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 5, Mexico’s President
Enrique Pena Nieto visited Hong Kong, and said "I am convinced that
Mexican products should take advantage of the dynamism of China's
markets." A report by a chief economist for Bank of America Merrill
Lynch this week estimated that Mexico's labor costs are now 19.6
percent lower than China's.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 7, Egyptian train
drivers and conductors announced they were on strike to press
demands for better pay. A 10% raise was rejected by the train
drivers and conductors as too little.
(AP, 4/7/13)
2013 Apr 10, Togolese trade
unions started a three-day protest. The unions are under the
umbrella of the "Togolese Workers Synergy" or " Synergie des
Travailleurs Togolais.
(AP, 4/11/13)
2013 Apr 11, The Dutch Cabinet
brokered a deal with unions that scraps planned salary freezes for
government and healthcare workers.
(AP, 4/12/13)
2013 Apr 15, The British
government approved a 1.9% rise in the minimum wage, giving the
country's lowest-paid employees a bigger increase than most other
workers but one that is still less than inflation.
(AP, 4/15/13)
2013 Apr 16, A majority of
Irish public sector workers rejected a new pay deal and warned the
government against unilaterally cutting wages, giving it a headache
as it seeks to exit an EU-IMF bailout later this year.
(AP, 4/16/13)
2013 Apr 17, In Greece 3
strawberry plantation foremen allegedly shot and injured 29
Bangladeshi laborers protesting late pay. Greek officials the next
day promised "swift and exemplary" punishment for the suspects.
(AP, 4/18/13)
2013 Apr, North Korea relaxed
state control of salaries. The change in policy was reportedly
intended to boost production by giving companies latitude to provide
workers with financial incentives.
(AP, 5/27/13)
2013 May 3, An unexpectedly
strong US jobs report pushed stock markets higher as investors
welcomed signs that the world's largest economy is not slowing down
as quickly as some had feared.
(AP, 5/3/13)
2013 May 10, Hundreds of
fast-food employees in Detroit walked off the job, temporarily
shuttering a handful of outlets as part of a growing US worker
movement that is demanding higher wages for flipping burgers and
operating fryers.
(Reuters, 5/10/13)
2013 May 10, In Nigeria workers
barricaded the front of ThisDay newspapers in Lagos, hoping to force
publisher Nduka Obaigbena into paying them as much as four months'
worth of back salaries due to them. The crisis hit a man politically
connected to the nation's ruling elite.
(AP, 5/10/13)
2013 May 13, Bangladesh's
government agreed to allow the country's garment workers to form
trade unions without prior permission from factory owners. The
search for the dead ended at the site of the worst disaster in the
history of the global garment industry with the death toll at 1,127.
(AP, 5/13/13)
2013 May 13, Greek civil
servants' unions called a 24-hour strike for May 14 in reaction to
the government's decision to use emergency powers to prevent
protesting teachers from disrupting the May 17-31 exams for school
leavers and university candidates.
(AP, 5/13/13)
2013 May 14, Croatia Airlines
pilots and flight attendants went on strike over planned salary cuts
and layoffs that are part of efforts to restructure the loss-making
state carrier ahead of the country's EU entry.
(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 14, In Germany a union
representing workers at Amazon said members are striking in a push
for higher wages from the online retailer.
(AP, 5/14/13)
2013 May 15, Two million
Argentines will get wage hikes of 24% under a deal President
Cristina Fernandez brokered with six allied labor unions. Economists
say inflation has been running about 25% a year, more than twice the
official inflation rate of 10%.
(AP, 5/16/13)
2013 May 17, In France PSA
Peugeot Citroen said that it has signed an agreement with the CGT
union to end a strike at a factory north of Paris, which started
January 16. Workers said they will still fight a plan to close the
plant.
(AP, 5/17/13)
2013 May 18, In Egypt baggage
handlers in Cairo went on strike after a baggage handler who works
for EgyptAir died when a conveyer belt used to unload luggage fell
on his head. The strike did not disrupt flights.
(AP, 5/18/13)
2013 May 18, A union of Italian
metal workers led thousands of people in a march through the heart
of Rome to press the new government for measures to spur job
creation.
(AP, 5/18/13)
2013 May 20, United Arab
Emirates-based construction company Arabtec said it's working to
resolve a rare strike by laborers seeking higher wages. Arabtec said
an undisclosed number of workers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have stayed
in camps for a second day.
(AP, 5/20/13)
2013 May 28, Volkswagen said it
has agreed with the IG Metall union on increases of 3.4% from Sept.
1 and 2.2% from July 1 of next year through February 2015. The
agreement covers 102,000 workers in six west German auto plants.
(AP, 5/28/13)
2013 May 28, The Greek
government says small protests are blocking streets in central
Athens at a rate of twice a day, and called on unions to help draw
up new guidelines to keep traffic running.
(AP, 5/28/13)
2013 May 30, In Portugal a
24-hour strike by Lisbon subway staff snarled rush-hour traffic,
heralding a new spate of planned strikes against the bailed-out
country's austerity policies.
(AP, 5/30/13)
2013 May 31, Eurostat, the EU's
statistics office, said that the unemployment rate rose to 12.2% in
April from the previous record of 12.1% the month before.
Unemployment across the 17 EU countries appeared to be on course to
hit 20 million this year.
(AP, 5/31/13)
2013 Jun 7, A US jobs report
suggested the Federal Reserve is likely to keep its stimulus program
going for now. The Labor Department said the world's largest economy
added 175,000 jobs, slightly better than the expected 165,000
increase. However, the previous months' jobs gains were revised
down.
(AP, 6/7/13)
2013 Jun 12, A strike by French
air traffic controllers forced cancellations of more than 60% of
flights and disrupted travel elsewhere in Europe.
(AP, 6/12/13)
2013 Jun 13, Egyptian pilots
working for the national carrier staged a 10-hour sit-in protest,
delaying 22 flights in an effort to press their demands for
management changes and bonus payments.
(AP, 6/13/13)
2013 Jun 13, French rail
workers walked off the job to protest a reorganization of the
national rail and train companies. Up to 70% of train journeys in
France were canceled. The action began the previous evening and was
set to end the morning of June 14.
(AP, 6/13/13)
2013 Jun 16, In Bangladesh
several hundred garment workers were sickened at their factory
outside Dhaka apparently after drinking contaminated water. Earlier
this month contaminated water sickened 450 workers at another
factory in the same area.
(SFC, 6/17/13, p.A2)
2013 Jun 20, The corporate
office of 7-Eleven told its 5,600 franchise owners of the chain's
convenience stores that it was requiring an internal review of
personnel files after federal authorities seized 14 stores in New
York and Virginia this week that employed undocumented workers in a
"modern-day plantation system."
(abcNEWS, 6/20/13)
2013 Jun 25, In France the
Eiffel Tower Paris was shut down due to a labor dispute over
salaries, profit sharing and other issues. It reopened after workers
returned on June 27.
(SFC, 6/26/13, p.A2)(AP, 6/27/13)
2013 Jul 1, SF Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART) workers went on strike leaving many commuters
stranded.
(SFC, 7/3/13, p.A1)
2013 Jul 3, Brazilian truckers
demanding cheaper fuel, better highways and lower tolls torched toll
booths and crippled traffic in several regions, continuing their
protests into a third day.
(AP, 7/3/13)
2013 Jul 4, In San Francisco
representatives from BART and two unions agreed to a 30-day
extention of the current contract and said transit workers will go
back to work on July 5.
(SFC, 7/5/13, p.A1)
2013 Jul 8, Greece's
international debt inspectors reached a tentative agreement with the
cash-strapped country on reforms needed to keep releasing vital
bailout loans, although they warned it still faced an "uncertain"
economic outlook and needed to sack thousands of state sector
workers. Municipal workers went on strike to protest government
plans to reduce the number of civil servants.
(AP, 7/8/13)
2013 Jul 10, Washington DC
passed a bill requiring large retailers to pay their workers a
minimum of $12.50 per hour.
(Econ, 7/20/13, p.29)
2013 Jul 10, A group of major
North American retailers announced the signing of the Bangladesh
Worker Safety Initiative. GAP, Walmart and 15 others signed the
accord to improve conditions for workers in the Bangladesh garment
industry.
(SFC, 7/11/13, p.C1)
2013 Jul 10, A South Korean
court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. of Japan to
pay $89,800 to each of four South Korean plaintiffs for forced
labor during the colonial from 1910 to 1945.
(SFC, 7/31/13, p.A2)
2013 Jul 11, In Brazil tens of
thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads and snarled traffic
in dozens of cities in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the
momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month.
(Reuters, 7/11/13)
2013 Jul 15, Bangladesh
approved a labor law to boost worker rights, including the freedom
to form trade unions, after a factory building collapse in April
killed 1,132 garment workers and sparked debate over labor safety
and rights.
(Reuters, 7/15/13)
2013 Jul 16, Tens of thousands
of Greek workers walked off the job and rallied in front of
parliament in a noisy protest against government plans to fire
public sector employees to satisfy foreign lenders.
(Reuters, 7/16/13)
2013 Jul 28, In South Africa a
49-year-old worker was shot dead near Lonmin's Marikana mine,
stirring worries of new labor tension in the troubled platinum
mining belt that has been racked by a violent union dispute over the
last year.
(Reuters, 7/30/13)
2013 Jul 30, A South Korean
court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan should pay
compensation to five South Koreans for forced labor during the
colonial period that ended with World War II.
(SFC, 7/31/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 11, A San Francisco
Superior Court judge, at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown, ordered a
60-day cooling-off period to avert a BART strike.
(SFC, 8/12/13, p.A1)
2013 Aug 14, In Chile workers
began a surprise strike at Escondida, the world's largest copper
mine, over pay and working conditions.
(AP, 8/14/13)
2013 Aug 26, In South Africa
tens of thousands of construction workers downed tools, adding to
strike chaos that has crippled output and disrupted air traffic
while fanning fears of new violence.
(AFP, 8/26/13)
2013 Aug 27, South Africa's
petrol station and car dealership workers announced a strike for
higher wages next week, signaling further labor disruption to a
struggling economy that also faces looming stoppages in its gold
mines.
(Reuters, 8/27/13)
2013 Aug 29, US fast-food
workers walked off their jobs in over 50 cities demanding a minimum
wage of $15 and hour.
(SSFC, 9/1/13, p.D6)
2013 Sep 2, In South Africa
industrial action paralysed construction and automotive sectors, but
tens of thousands of petrol attendants delayed a strike.
(AFP, 9/2/13)
2013 Sep 3, In northern Bosnia
some 140 miners barricaded themselves 250 meters below ground at a
mine and threatened to go on hunger strike in a row over recruitment
and pay.
(Reuters, 9/3/13)
2013 Sep 4, In South Africa two
of the seven gold mine producers touched by a pay strike said they
have struck a wage settlement with unions as the work stoppage
entered day two.
(AFP, 9/4/13)
2013 Sep 4, In Thailand tens of
thousands of rubber farmers, protesting against a sharp drop in
prices, escalated protests across southern Thailand, cutting off
access to large swathes of the region by blocking roads leading to
tourist and commercial hubs.
(Reuters, 9/4/13)
2013 Sep 5, In southern
Thailand rubber farmers clashed with police and threatened to shut
down city halls in 14 southern provinces after the government
rejected their demands for price rises.
(Reuters, 9/5/13)
2013 Sep 6, Some South African
gold miners ended their strike for higher wages and were heading
back to work after just three days, bolstering confidence the strike
could be formally called off today.
(Reuters, 9/6/13)
2013 Sep 6, Thailand's
government said it had reached a deal with most rubber farmers in
the country's south demanding greater state support for rubber
prices, signaling a breakthrough in a two-week long protest.
(Reuters, 9/6/13)
2013 Sep 9, In South Africa a
strike by petrol station attendants got off to a slow start despite
their union calling for them to join a wave of stoppages over wages
sweeping the country.
(AFP, 9/9/13)
2013 Sep 10, French trade union
strikes against pension reforms won only limited support, with most
trains running in a sign President Francois Hollande's modest
proposals were unlikely to stir broad opposition.
(Reuters, 9/10/13)
2013 Sep 13, South African
construction workers ended a three week strike after reaching a 12
percent wage hike deal with employers.
(AFP, 9/13/13)
2013 Sep 14, In Poland
some 100,000 union members marched through Warsaw to protest the
government’s labor and wage policies.
{Poland, Labor}
(SSFC, 9/15/13, p.A4)
2013 Sep 15, Romanian gold
miners, who staged a five-day protest underground against plans to
halt development of the site, ended their sit-in after PM Victor
Ponta went into the pit to meet them. Ponta promised them a
parliamentary commission to assess the proposed mine (before a vote
in parliament.
(Reuters, 9/15/13)
2013 Sep 18, Greek workers shut
schools and forced hospitals to operate with only emergency staff at
the start of a 48-hour strike against the latest plans to fire
thousands of public sector employees.
(Reuters, 9/18/13)
2013 Sep 23, In Bangladesh more
than 100 garment factories were forced to shut as thousands of
workers protested to demand a $100 a month minimum wage. About 50
people were injured in clashes.
(Reuters, 9/23/13)
2013 Sep 24, Greek public
sector workers went on strike for the second time in a week,
shutting schools and leaving hospitals with skeleton staff, as
inspectors from Greece's foreign lenders checked whether the country
was meeting its bailout targets.
(Reuters, 9/24/13)
2013 Sep 26, Nepal recalled its
ambassador to Qatar after she compared the Middle Eastern emirate to
an "open jail" for thousands of Nepali migrants who face abuse from
employers there.
(AFP, 9/26/13)
2013 Sep 27, The Swiss
government urged voters to reject a Nov 24 proposal to limit monthly
executive pay to no more than what the company's lowest-paid staff
earn in a year, saying it could hurt the attractiveness of
Switzerland as a business destination.
(Reuters, 9/27/13)
2013 Sep 27, Cuba announced 18
new categories of independent employment under Pres. Raul Castro’s
economic reforms. These included real estate agents and raised the
total to 199.
(SSFC, 9/29/13, p.A19)
2013 Sep 30, Britain staff in
hundreds of post offices started industrial action in a bitter row
with the government over jobs, pay and closures.
(AFP, 9/30/13)
2013 Sep 30, In South Africa
some 2,000 striking miners from Anglo American Platinum rallied to
protest planned job cuts at the world's top producer of the precious
metal.
(Reuters, 9/30/13)
2013 Oct 21, San Francisco Bay
Area BART workers ended their strike with a tentative agreement
between the transit agency and its two largest unions. Trains began
running Oct 22. Workers scored a 15.4% pay raises over four years as
well as other benefits.
(SFC, 10/22/12, p.A1)(SFC, 10/22/12, p.A9)
2013 Oct 25, Ethiopia banned
domestic workers from moving overseas for employment, following an
"exodus" of workers leaving the country through illegal placement
agencies.
(AFP, 10/25/13)
2013 Oct 31, In Indonesia tens
of thousands of workers went on strike across the country as its
citizens seek a greater share of the spoils from stellar growth.
(AFP, 10/31/13)
2013 Oct 31, In Portugal Lisbon
subway workers walked off the job for the fifth time this year to
protest government austerity measures being enacted in return for
Portugal's 2011 bailout.
(AP, 10/31/13)
2013 Nov 1, In Indonesia tens
of thousands of workers went on strike across the country for a
second straight day, calling for huge salary hikes as Southeast
Asia's top economy enjoys a prolonged boom.
(AFP, 11/1/13)
2013 Nov 4, Saudi authorities
began a clampdown on illegal immigrants after the end of an amnesty
that gave overstayers and workers a grace period to leave or
legalize their status.
(AFP, 11/4/13)
2013 Nov 4, In Spain a rubbish
strike began in Madrid and continued for 12 days. It ended after
private maintenance companies cancelled plans to lay off a fifth of
the Spanish capital's street cleaners.
(http://tinyurl.com/mkyut77)(Econ, 11/16/13,
p.58)
2013 Nov 5, Saudi media said
authorities have rounded up over four thousand of illegal foreign
workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown ultimately aimed at
creating more jobs for locals.
(Reuters, 11/5/13)(SFC, 11/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Nov 6, Britain’s BAE
Systems said it will axe 1,775 shipbuilding jobs and close a
historic yard as a government austerity drive hits demand.
(AFP, 11/6/13)
2013 Nov 6, A Saudi-owned
newspaper reported that authorities have detained more than 16,000
migrant workers in the first 48 hours of a security sweep targeting
foreigners working illegally in the kingdom.
(AP, 11/6/13)
2013 Nov 8, In Portugal a
24-hour strike by government workers disrupted public services as
labor groups continue their battle against pay and pension cuts and
the loss of entitlements.
(AP, 11/8/13)
2013 Nov 9, About 2,000 South
African mineworkers staged an underground sit-in at Northam
Platinum's Dechaba mine, saying they will not leave until a fired
union leader is reinstated. The strikers were safely brought to the
surface on Sunday night, Nov 10.
(Reuters, 11/10/13)(AFP, 11/11/13)
2013 Nov 11, Struggling
low-cost British airline Flybe said it plans to axe another 500 jobs
as it pursues a round of cost-cutting measures.
(AFP, 11/11/13)
2013 Nov 11, In Spain cartons,
plastic bottles and other litter piled up in the streets of Madrid
as an open-ended strike by street-sweepers against layoffs and pay
cuts entered the seventh day.
(AFP, 11/11/13)
2013 Nov 12, In Bangladesh riot
police fired tear gas to battle thousands of stone-throwing garment
workers who rampaged through two industrial towns during a protest
over wages that closed at least 200 factories and left dozens of
people injured.
(AP, 11/12/13)
2013 Nov 12, In Cambodia a
woman was shot dead and several people injured as riot police used
live rounds, rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with protesting
garment workers.
(AFP, 11/12/13)
2013 Nov 13, In Bangladesh
violent protests shuttered some 250 garment factories near the
capital Dhaka, as thousands of workers demanded higher wages.
(Reuters, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 13, In Saudi Arabia
Ethiopia’s ambassador in Riyadh said some 23,000 Ethiopians have
handed themselves in since Saudi authorities clamped down on illegal
foreign workers 10 days ago.
(AFP, 11/13/13)
2013 Nov 14, Bangladeshi
garment factory owners said they had agreed to a proposed 77 percent
rise in the minimum wage, but police used teargas and rubber bullets
to break up new protests by stone-throwing workers calling for a
bigger increase.
(Reuters, 11/14/13)
2013 Nov 20, About 4,000
Bulgarian workers rallied against low wages and a lack of jobs, in a
possible sign that opposition to the Socialist-led cabinet may be
spreading beyond daily protests staged mostly by students.
(Reuters, 11/20/13)
2013 Nov 28, British energy
provider Npower, a subsidiary of German giant RWE, announced plans
to cut about 1,460 jobs in Britain and outsource customer service
operations to India.
(AFP, 11/28/13)
2013 Nov 30, In South Africa
dozens of Indonesian fishermen, who spent months stranded in Cape
Town's harbor, sleeping in cramped and suffocating quarters, were
taken ashore to a repatriation center after being stuck at sea on
Taiwanese vessels for years without pay.
(AFP, 12/1/13)
2013 Nov 30, Sudanese media
said more than 11,000 Sudanese workers have returned voluntarily
from Saudi Arabia after an amnesty for foreign employees to legalise
their status.
(AFP, 11/31/13)
2013 Nov, The US Postal Service
unveiled plans to open 84 post offices in Staples stores around the
country, but they would not be staffed by USPS union members.
(SFC, 12/3/13, p.D5)
2013 Dec 1, In Mexico Some
40,000 teachers, union members and anarchist activists took to
Mexico City's streets in a demonstration on the first anniversary of
President Enrique Pena Nieto's inauguration.
(AFP, 12/1/13)
2013 Dec 4, Tunisia's southern
Tozeur region ground to a halt, as the latest in a growing number of
strikes around the country was called to protest a lack of
development.
(AFP, 12/4/13)
2013 Dec 5, Illinois Gov. Pat
Quinn sign landmark legislation to reform the state’s underfunded
pension system. The reforms cut benefits for most employees and
retirees. Unions immediately threatened a lawsuit.
(SFC, 12/6/13, p.A10)
2013 Dec 22, In South Korea
hundreds of riot police stormed into a labor umbrella group's head
office in a bid to arrest union leaders. They detained about 130
strikers and confederation members. Workers with the state-run Korea
Railroad had walked off the job in protest against a decision to set
up a unit to run a high-speed bullet train, which they say will lead
to privatization and layoffs.
(Reuters, 12/23/13)
2013 Dec 28, In the US the most
recent extension of unemployment insurance expired leaving some 1.3
million Americans suddenly cut off from federally funded benefits.
(Econ, 1/4/14, p.19)
2013 Robin Nagle authored
“Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks With the
Sanitation Workers of New York City.”
(SSFC, 4/7/13, p.F5)
2013 The US Labor Dept.,
celebrating its 100 year anniversary, embarked on its “Books that
Shaped Work in America” project. The reading list began with 92
books, but additions continued.
(SFC, 12/14/13, p.D1)(http://www.dol.gov/)
2014 Jan 2, Cambodian soldiers
forcefully quelled a demonstration by garment workers striking for
better pay. Workers at more than 500 garment factories were on
strike demanding an increase in the minimum wage to $160 per month,
double the current rate.
(SFC, 1/3/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 6, In France two
Goodyear managers were trapped in a conference room with angry
workers demanding more money in exchange for the inevitable loss of
their jobs in Amiens. The managers were released after police
intervened on Jan 7.
(AP, 1/6/14)(AP, 1/7/14)
2014 Jan 7, In Cambodia tens of
thousands of garment workers returned to work, ending a two-week pay
dispute after authorities used deadly force to quell a strike and
thwart a protest by their political allies seeking a re-run of a
July election. An estimated 65-70% returned to work.
(Reuters, 1/7/14)
2014 Jan 17, Austria's
government agreed to raise the wages of its 200,000 civil servants
by 1.9 percent this year after big protests against the new
government.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 23, In South Africa
tens of thousands of platinum miners went on strike, demanding
higher wages. Striking workers at the top three platinum producers
agreed to take part in government-brokered talks aimed at ending the
dispute and limiting economic damage.
(AP, 1/23/14)(AFP, 1/23/14)
2014 Jan 25, Chilean port
workers negotiated a settlement with management and ended a more
than three-week-old strike that had slowed copper, fruit and other
shipments from the world's top copper producer.
(Reuters, 1/25/14)
2014 Jan 28, In China an Indian
oil tanker being repaired at a shipyard at Haizhou Shipyard in the
port city of Zhousha exploded and caught fire, killing 7 Chinese
workers.
(AP, 1/28/14)
2014 Feb 2, In Spain several
thousand people marched from a Coca-Cola bottling plant in a
southwestern suburb to downtown Madrid to protest the company's plan
to close four plants in Spain and lay off 1,253 workers.
(AP, 2/2/14)
2014 Feb 4, In South Africa a
fire broke out about 1.7 km beneath the surface at the Doornkop
mine, triggered by 2.4 earthquake. Emergency workers raced to rescue
nine miners missing deep underground in the burning gold mine west
of Johannesburg. Eight of the miners were found dead the next day.
(AFP, 2/5/14)(AFP, 2/6/14)(SFC, 2/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 5, Millions of
commuters in London faced delays and disruption after Tube staff
went on strike over plans to close London Underground ticket
offices.
(AFP, 2/5/14)
2014 Feb 6, Human Rights Watch
said Bangladeshi garment factory owners use beatings, the threat of
murder and sexual intimidation to stop workers from forming trade
unions.
(AP, 2/6/14)
2014 Feb 6, Millions of
commuters faced a second day of travel chaos due to a 48-hour strike
by London Underground workers angry over ticket office closures and
job cuts.
(Reuters, 2/6/14)
2014 Feb 7, In South Africa
striking miners clashed with police after using rocks and burning
tires to block a road leading to Anglo American Platinum's Union
mine near Northam town. One protester was killed.
(AP, 2/8/14)
2014 Feb 11, Barclays PLC faced
widespread criticism after the scandal-plagued bank announced plans
to slash up to 12,000 jobs this year while also setting aside more
money to pay bonuses.
(AP, 2/11/14)
2014 Feb 12, Pres. Obama signed
an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal
contractors.
(SFC, 2/13/14, p.A9)
2014 Feb 19, Egypt’s interim
Pres. Adly Mansour ordered a pay raise for police after some of them
joined factory workers, doctors and pharmacists increasingly on
strike over the last month.
(SFC, 2/20/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 19, South Africa's top
three platinum companies issued a take-it-or-leave-it wage ultimatum
to striking miners, hoping to break a month-long stoppage that has
crippled production. Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and
Lonmin said they would not raise an already rejected wage offer and
warned of impending job losses.
(AFP, 2/19/14)
2014 Feb 20, Rights groups
criticized an agreement between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia aimed at
giving Indonesian maids more protection in the kingdom, with one
saying "justice is still far away" for them.
(AFP, 2/20/14)
2014 Feb 21, In Germany a
strike by security staff at Frankfurt airport caused nearly 50
flight cancellations and delayed thousands of passengers, bringing
chaos to Europe's third largest hub.
(Reuters, 2/21/14)
2014 Feb 25, Croatia's trade
unions, representing both public and private sector employees,
staged a nationwide two-hour strike, firing a warning shot against
the government's plan to make labor rules more flexible.
(Reuters, 2/25/14)
2014 Feb 26, Greek dock workers
across the country walked off the job in a 24-hour strike to protest
plans to sell a stake in the Piraeus Port Authority, the country's
largest port.
(AP, 2/26/14)
2014 Mar 2, South Africa's
biggest trade union, the 340,000-strong National Union of
Metalworkers (NUMSA), said it was laying the ground for a new
"working class" political party. The United Front Movement for
Socialism would group together left-leaning organizations to fight
for better education, healthcare and municipal services for South
Africa's poor.
(AFP, 3/2/14)
2014 Mar 12, In Greece
thousands of striking public sector workers marched through Athens
to protest against planned job cuts demanded by foreign lenders as
unemployment in the country holds near record highs.
(Reuters, 3/12/14)
2014 Mar 17, Toyota said it has
shut down production at its two auto-assembly plants in India,
locking out 6,400 workers amid testy wage negotiations and
allegations of threats against management.
(AP, 3/17/14)
2014 Mar 19, Greek civil
servants, including hospital and teaching staff, started a two-day
strike against austerity measures imposed under the debt-mired
country's international bailout commitments.
(AP, 3/19/14)
2014 Mar 20, New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio signed his first bill into law as mayor,
amending the Earned Sick Time Act ("ESTA"), which requires the
City's private employers with five or more employees to provide paid
sick time to their employees, effective April 1.
(https://tinyurl.com/ycvg4bh5)
(Econ, 3/14/20, p.51)
2014 Mar 21, Cuba state media
hundreds of thousands of medical workers will be getting a raise. At
the high end, doctors with two specialties will see their salary go
from the equivalent of $26 a month to $67. An entry-level nurse will
make $25, up from $13.
(AP, 3/21/14)
2014 Mar 23, Israeli diplomats
launched an unprecedented strike, forcing the complete closure of
embassies around the world as they escalated a dispute over pay.
(Reuters, 3/23/14)
2014 Mar 24, South Africa's
platinum producers said a two-month strike was causing "irreparable"
damage to the sector, which has to date lost nearly a billion
dollars in revenue.
(AFP, 3/25/14)
2014 Mar 27, Germany's main
airports were hit by a strike as public sector workers raised
pressure on the government in pay talks.
(Reuters, 3/27/14)
2014 Mar 31, Germany's
Lufthansa said it will cancel some 3,800 flights because of a
three-day strike by the pilots' union later this week (April 2-4),
hitting more than 425,000 passengers.
(AP, 3/31/14)
2014 Mar 31, In Germany workers
at Amazon’s logistics center in Leipzig staged the short-term
warning strike to try to get management to return to the negotiating
table over wages.
(AP, 3/31/14)
2014 Apr 2, Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a national minimum wage,
guaranteeing workers at least 8.50 euros per hour ($11.75) starting
next year.
(AP, 4/2/14)
2014 Apr 2, Lufthansa canceled
almost 900 domestic and intercontinental flights after the pilots'
union started a three-day strike in a wage dispute with Germany's
largest airline.
(AP, 4/2/14)
2014 Apr 2, In Libya employees
at state-owned Jumhuriya, one of Libya's biggest banks, began a
two-day strike demanding greater protection after a colleague was
shot dead at work a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/2/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Cambodia 118
employees passed out at work at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile
factories in Phnom Penh.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 4, In Belgium
protesters, called by trade unions from across Europe, clashed with
police in Brussels at a demonstration against high unemployment,
throwing stones and smashing windows as they marched from the city
center to the European Union district.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 5, In China workers in
Guangdong province walked out of factories owned by Yue Yuen, a
Taiwanese maker of branded shoes. The walkout grew to involve tens
of thousands of workers.
(Econ, 4/26/14, p.41)
2014 Apr 8, Intel announced
plan s to close its operations in Costa Rica. Hours later Bank of
America said it would layoff 1,400 workers in Costa Rica part of a
global restructuring program.
(Econ, 4/19/14, p.33)
2014 Apr 10, In Argentina a
nationwide strike shut down air, train and bus traffic, losing
businesses, ports and emptying classrooms.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 15, In southern China
thousands of workers at a giant Yue Yuen Industrial shoe factory
shrugged off an offer for improved social benefits, prolonging one
of the largest strikes in China in recent years amid signs of
increased labor activism as the economy slows.
(Reuters, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 17, A strike at the
Chinese factories Yu Yuen Industrial, the world's biggest athletic
shoe maker, snowballed to about 30,000 workers in Dongguan, making
it one of the largest-ever work stoppages at a private business in
China.
(AP, 4/17/14)
2014 Apr 24, A US court filing
indicated that four major Silicon Valley companies (Adobe, Apple,
Google and Intel) have settled a suit over charges that they
conspired not to hire one another’s workers.
(SFC, 4/25/14, p.C5)
2014 Apr 26, In China labor
activists said most of the thousands of striking workers in Dongguan
have returned to work enabling Adidas to resume production. Some
10,000 remained on strike at the Taiwanese owned Yue Yuen Industrial
Holdings Ltd.
(SSFC, 4/27/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 28, Detroit reached a
5-year collective bargaining deal with some 3,500 of 10,000 city
workers as it grappled with an $18 billion debt.
(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A5)
2014 May 1, In Cambodia May Day
demonstrators denounced low wages and called for better treatment of
workers during rallies that turned violent.
(AP, 5/1/14)
2014 May 7, The UN continued to
urge Qatar to abolish the sponsorship system tying migrant workers
to employers raising concerns about exploitation of workers in
construction and domestic households. Several of 84 states speaking
in the session linked Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup with the need
to reform its laws.
(AP, 5/7/14)
2014 May 12, In South Africa 2
Lonmin workers were killed as they reported for work at their
strike-hit platinum mine, threatening the firm's plans to end the
walkout this week.
(Reuters, 5/12/14)
2014 May 13, In Brazil bus
drivers demanding higher pay began a 48-hour strike in Rio de
Janeiro, forcing hundreds of thousands of passengers to seek
alternative ways to get to work.
(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 14, In Lebanon
thousands of teachers, civil servants and children rallied outside
parliament in the biggest of a year of pay protests as the assembly
debated a much-delayed bill on public sector salaries.
(Reuters, 5/14/14)
2014 May 19, Germany lowered
the pension age for some workers from 65 to 63.
(www.thelocal.de/20140520/coalition-agrees-to-lower-retirement-age)
2014 May 21, In Brazil civil
police in 14 states went on a 24-hour strike demanding higher pay. A
strike by Sao Paulo bus drivers demanding higher pay began losing
steam as it entered a second day.
(AP, 5/21/14)
2014 May 28, In Puerto Rico
dozens of employees with the Port Authority went on strike to
protest fiscal measures aimed at reducing government spending. The
protests come as Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla pushed to reduce
spending as the island entered its eighth year in recession and
battled a $73 billion public debt.
(AP, 5/28/14)
2014 May 30, Jamaica's
government said it is launching a $5 million welfare-to-work program
that is expected to benefit some 2,000 people. The program will be
implemented in the next two years. The island of 2.9 million people
suffered a 16 percent unemployment rate with nearly 17 percent of
the population below the poverty line.
(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 Jun 2, In San Francisco
some 700 of the city’s transit workers staged a sickout over a
proposed labor agreement. Only 200 of 600 scheduled buses and rail
cars were on duty.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC,
6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 2, In Washington state
the Seattle City Council voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an
hour, the highest municipal minimum in the country.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A12)
2014 Jun 3, In San Francisco
half of the city’s 538 Muni transit workers called in sick on the
2nd day of public transit disruptions due to an impasse in contract
negotiations. Scheduled buses and rail cars on duty climbed to 300
out of 600.
(SFC, 6/4/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC,
6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 4, San Francisco’s
transit system limped through a 3rd day of an operator sickout as
290 drivers called in sick. City officials moved to snuff out the
protest by filing legal charges against the operator’s union, which
denied responsibility. Scheduled buses and rail cars on duty climbed
to 440 out of 600.
(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 5, In San Francisco
163 transit drivers called in sick reducing the 4th day sickout of
daily runs to 266 out of 1200. The average absentee rate ranged from
94-112.
(SFC, 6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 5, In Brazil some
overland commuter train operators went on strike calling for better
wages in Sao Paulo, a week before the city hosts the World Cup
opener.
(AP, 6/5/14)
2014 Jun 6, Brazil's biggest
city confronted a second straight day of commuting chaos, as
striking subway workers and a protest over housing conditions
tangled the streets of Sao Paulo less than a week before it hosts
the opening match of the World Cup.
(Reuters, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 7, In Brazil the 3rd
day of a strike by subway workers snarling Sao Paulo threatened to
disrupt the World Cup with the kickoff in the city just five days
away.
(AFP, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 9, Brazilian police
and striking subway workers clashed early today in a central Sao
Paulo commuter station, with union officials threatening to maintain
the work stoppage through the World Cup opening match here this
week. Union members voted to temporarily suspend the strike they
began last week, but also decided they would take a new vote on Jun
11 to determine whether to resume the work stoppage June 12.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)
2014 Jun 11, Taxi drivers
staged protests in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris.
Cabbies and train workers walked off the job, leaving traffic
snarled, as they protested changes to the travel industry that they
say could endanger passengers and give untested upstarts an unfair
advantage.
(AP, 6/11/14)
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil bus
drivers in northeastern city of Natal went on strike for higher
wages a day before the city’s first World Cup match between Mexico
and Cameroon.
(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 12, French trade
unions said they will extend for another day a strike that has
caused the worst disruption to the country's rail network in years,
following an inconclusive meeting with the transport minister.
(Reuters, 6/12/14)
2014 Jun 12, In South Africa
the world's biggest platinum producers said they had reached "in
principle undertakings" with union leaders which could end a
crippling strike.
(AFP, 6/12/14)
2014 Jun 14, Pres. Obama
intervened in a commuter rail strike in Philadelphia, granting Gov.
Tom corbett’s request to create an emergency board to mediate a
contract dispute.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 14, A Cambodian
official said Cambodian workers were leaving Thailand in growing
numbers, with the total who have returned to their homeland this
month topping 160,000. Rights groups say Thai authorities are
coercing the Cambodians to go home and abusing them.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A6)(AP, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 15, In India an angry
mob of workers wielding iron rods and stones beat the CEO of a West
Bengal jute factory to death in a dispute over increasing their
working hours.
(AP, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 17, French riot police
clashed with striking train workers, who hurled bottles and blocked
traffic in anger over a bill to reform the state-run railway system.
(AP, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 19, Growing numbers of
French railway employees returned to work after lawmakers voted to
approve the broad outline of a railway reform that has triggered a
nine-day strike.
(Reuters, 6/19/14)
2014 Jun 23, South Africa's
AMCU union declared a five-month platinum strike "officially over"
as thousands of miners roared their approval when leader Joseph
Mathunjwa asked if they wanted to end the longest work stoppage in
the country's history. A South African labor court declared unlawful
a planned gold mining strike by the country's radical union AMCU,
which has staged a crippling work stoppage at platinum mines.
(Reuters, 6/23/14)(AFP, 6/23/14)
2014 Jun 24, In South Africa
the world's three biggest platinum firms signed a wage deal with the
AMCU union, but said that fallout from a five-month strike made job
cuts and restructuring inevitable, setting the scene for more labor
turmoil in the sector.
(Reuters, 6/24/14)
2014 Jun 25, In South Africa
tens of thousands of platinum miners returned to work after wage
deals ended the longest and most damaging strike in the country's
history.
(Reuters, 6/25/14)
2014 Jun 26, Ikea’s US division
said it is raising the minimum wage for thousands of its retail
workers, pegging it to the cost of living in each location effective
on Jan 1 to an average $10.76 per hour, up from $9.17.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.C2)
2014 Jun 26, Some 40,000 public
servants hired by Hamas went on strike in Gaza in a pay dispute that
could test the resilience of the new Palestinian government.
(Reuters, 6/26/14)
2014 Jun 30, In Belgium a
24-hour strike disrupted train service and caused the cancellation
of high-speed Thalys services between Brussels and Paris, Amsterdam
and other European cities.
(AP, 6/30/14)
2014 Jul 1, In South Africa
nearly a quarter of a million members of the National Union of
Metalworkers downed tools, beginning an indefinite strike that
threatens to bring the engineering sector to a halt.
(AFP, 7/1/14)
2014 Jul 2, Bolivia's Congress
passed legislation to allow children as young age 10 to work as long
as it does not interfere with their education and is done
independently to help the child's family make ends meet. VP Alvaro
Garcia signed it into law on July 17, as Pres. Morales was
traveling.
(AP, 7/4/14)(SFC, 7/18/14, p.A5)
2014 Jul 2, In Puerto Rico
thousands of government workers launched a 24-hour strike across the
US territory to protest a fiscal emergency law that targets bonuses
and benefits, among other things.
(AP, 7/2/14)
2014 Jul 3, Greeks were warned
to expect brief power cuts as workers at the Public Power
Corporation go on strike to protest government plans to sell part of
the company.
(AP, 7/3/14)
2014 Jul 3, South African
police fired rubber bullets to disperse workers who blocked the
entrance to the construction site of state power utility Eskom's
Medupi power station on the third day of a wage strike.
(Reuters, 7/3/14)
2014 Jul 7, In southern
California drivers in a long-running labor dispute with three
trucking companies at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began
what they said would be an indefinite strike.
(AP, 7/7/14)
2014 Jul 9, Greece's public
sector workers began a 24-hour strike, shutting down public services
and leaving state-run hospitals accepting only emergency cases to
protest austerity policies imposed in return for the country's
bailout. Public transport was not affected.
(AP, 7/9/14)
2014 Jul 14, The British
government faced a call to impose legal caps on executive salaries
after a study found top pay in Britain has reached 180 times average
wages.
(AFP, 7/14/14)
2014 Jul 15, Croatia published
a "name and shame" list of more than 5,000 organizations which have
withheld more than one monthly salary from their employees this
year, in an effort to stamp out widespread cheating of staff.
(Reuters, 7/16/14)
2014 Jul 16, Master Builders
South Africa said a major strike by engineering and metal workers,
which has already hit the vital auto manufacturing sector, is now
disrupting building construction.
(AFP, 7/16/14)
2014 Jul 17, In Myanmar more
than 700 workers protested in front of the South Korean Embassy to
demand officials help them after a Korean-owned factory closed
without paying their wages.
(AP, 7/17/14)
2014 Jul 21, In Michigan
pension cuts were approved by Detroit workers and retirees after 60
days of voting. Support for the pension changes triggered a $816
million bailout from the state, foundations and the Detroit
Institute of Arts, but a judge was still required to agree.
(SFC, 7/23/14, p.A8)
2014 Jul 25, Subsidies for
sporting stadiums across the US were reported to be increasingly
financed by savingss from worker pension cuts.
(SFC, 7/25/14, p.A14)
2014 Jul 26, US fast food
workers from across the country voted to escalate their efforts for
$15-an-hour pay and union membership by using nonviolent civil
disobedience.
(AP, 7/26/14)
2014 Jul 28, Britain’s Passport
Office staff launched a 24-hour strike over staffing shortages and
pay just weeks after extra workers were drafted in to tackle a
backlog of tens of thousands of applications.
(AFP, 7/28/14)
2014 Jul 31, Pres. Obama signed
an executive order to require federal contractors to give their
workers more rights in labor disputes.
(SFC, 8/1/14, p.A8)
2014 Jul 31, The Wisconsin
Supreme Court upheld Act 10, the 2011 law that effectively ended
collective bargaining for most public workers.
(AP, 7/31/14)
2014 Aug 26, Malaysian police
arrested 42 men after a riot by up to 1,000 mostly Nepalese workers
sparked fires and destroyed parts of an electronics export factory.
(Reuters, 8/27/14)
2014 Aug 29, Malaysia Airlines
said it will cut 6,000 workers as part of a $1.9 billion overhaul to
revive its damaged brand after being hit by double passenger jet
disasters.
(AP, 8/29/14)
2014 Sep 4, US police
handcuffed dozens of protesters around the country as they blocked
traffic in their efforts to get fast food companies to pay employees
at least $15 and hour.
(SFC, 9/5/14, p.A6)
2014 Sep 4, Bangladesh said it
has resumed sending workers to Iraq after a 3-month ban, despite
reports of hundreds of Bangladeshi construction laborers being
dragged into the country's bloody sectarian conflict.
(AFP, 9/4/14)
2014 Sep 6, In Germany the GdL
union for train drivers began a three-hour national strike to put
pressure on German railway company Deutsche Bahn in their ongoing
wage negotiations.
(AP, 9/6/14)
2014 Sep 16, In France a pilots
strike at Air France entered its second day, with the two sides
appearing no closer to resolving a dispute over cost cuts that has
forced the airline to cancel 60 percent of flights.
(Reuters, 9/16/14)
2014 Sep 18, In Switzerland
some 200 companies pledged to create new work and training
opportunities for Europe's young jobseekers, of which one out of
four is unemployed.
(AP, 9/18/14)
2014 Sep 20, French air pilots
voted to extend their walkout until at least Sep 26 to protest
Air-France-KLM’s new strategy to shift much of its European
operation to Transavia, a low-cost subsidiary.
(SSFC, 9/21/14, p.A3)
2014 Sep 24, In Poland some 200
coal miners blocked railway tracks on the border with Russia to
protest imports of cheap Russian coal, saying it threatens their
jobs.
(AP, 9/24/14)
2014 Sep 24, Nurses in Portugal
began a 48-hour strike over pay, working hours and what they say is
an acute shortage of staff in the public health service.
(AP, 9/24/14)
2014 Sep 28, Air France's
leading pilots union announced an end to a 14-day strike that
grounded roughly half of the airline's flights, stranded passengers
worldwide and led to stern shows of frustration by the French prime
minister. The union was ending the walkout so that service could
resume and negotiations continue peaceably.
(AP, 9/28/14)
2014 Oct 7, In Germany train
drivers' union GDL called for a nine-hour nationwide strike starting
this evening. Pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit announced a two-day
strike at Lufthansa's freight arm starting at 2100 ET on Oct 8.
(Reuters, 10/7/14)
2014 Oct 7, In Romania
thousands of workers and health workers protested against low
salaries and endemic underfunding of the health system which have
led to thousands of doctors and nurses seeking work abroad.
(AP, 10/7/14)
2014 Oct 9, Italy’s Senate
voted to approve PM Matteo Renzi’s “Jobs Act.” It was meant to
increase permanent workers with temporary tax breaks while also
making it easier to fire full-time workers.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Renzi)(Econ, 4/22/17, p.45)
2014 Oct 16, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi announced a series of labor reforms aimed at
transforming Asia's third-largest economy into an international
manufacturing hub.
(AP, 10/16/14)
2014 Oct 18, In Germany
millions of passengers were left stranded after train drivers began
a 50-hour strike that halted two thirds of long-distance trains in a
dispute over pay and negotiation rights.
(Reuters, 10/18/14)
2014 Oct 20, Lufthansa pilots
launched a strike, deepening Germany's travel chaos after train
drivers stopped work at the weekend just as school holidays began in
much of the country.
(AFP, 10/20/14)
2014 Oct 21, The Portuguese
government's plan to privatize debt-heavy public transport companies
met tough opposition from trade unions as Lisbon subway workers
walked off the job for the 12th time this year.
(AP, 10/21/14)
2014 Oct 24, In Italy striking
workers took to the streets in cities across the country to protest
against cuts to public services and labor reforms proposed by PM
Matteo Renzi.
(Reuters, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 24, South African
police fired rubber bullets to disperse workers at a mine operated
by London-listed DiamondCorp and said members of the hardline AMCU
union were involved in the protest.
(Reuters, 10/24/14)
2014 Oct 25, In Italy
demonstrators from across the country filled the streets of Rome to
protest against labor market reforms which the government of PM
Matteo Renzi has made a cornerstone of its policy.
(Reuters, 10/25/14)
2014 Oct 27, In Germany workers
at Amazon.com were on strike again as a union pushed its demands in
a long-running wage dispute with the American online retailer.
(AP, 10/27/14)
2014 Nov 4, Arkansas approved
an increse in the minimum wage from $6.25 and hour to $8.50 an hour.
(SFC, 11/5/14, p.A10)
2014 Nov 4, Nebraska approved
an increse in the minimum wage from $7.25 and hour to $9.00 an hour.
(SFC, 11/5/14, p.A10)
2014 Nov 4, Britain’s
Rolls-Royce, the maker of aircraft engines, said that it plans to
shed 2,600 jobs, mainly at its aerospace division, over the next 18
months to cut costs.
(AFP, 11/4/14)
2014 Nov 6, In Belgium some
100,000 workers demonstrated in Brussels to protest government
free-market reforms and austerity measures. Police fired tear gas
and the water cannon to break up incidents.
(AP, 11/6/14)
2014 Nov 12, Cambodia agreed to
raise the minimum wage in its important clothing industry by 28
percent to $128 a month, falling short of labor unions' $140
proposal.
(AP, 11/12/14)
2014 Nov 24, Belgium’s trade
unions opened a month of intermittent strike action by paralyzing
the port of Antwerp and slowing train traffic through much of the
country.
(AP, 11/24/14)
2014 Nov 24, Thousands of
British nurses, midwives and hospital cleaners went on a four-hour
strike calling for a pay rise, weeks after walking out for the first
time in 32 years.
(AFP, 11/24/14)
2014 Dec 8, Belgian workers
striking against government austerity plans badly snarled rail and
air service to and from the capital city of Brussels.
(AP, 12/8/14)
2014 Dec 12, Striking Italian
union workers marched through more than 50 Italian cities to protest
government economic reforms that they say erode their rights.
(AP, 12/12/14)
2014 Dec 15, Belgium ground to
a halt in its biggest strike in years as trade unions grounded
flights, cut international rail links and shut sea ports to protest
the new government's austerity plans.
(AFP, 12/15/14)
2014 Dec 25, In Sierra Leone
nurses at a public hospital went on strike to demand hazard pay for
treating Ebola patients.
(AFP, 12/25/14)
2014 Dec 26, Spain's PM Mariano
Rajoy announced minimal increases to the minimum wage and for
government-funded pensions and predicted the nation's economy will
"take off" in 2015.
(AP, 12/26/14)
2014 Dec 29, Lebanon’s Labor
Ministry said they received a proposal from the National Federation
of Labor Unions to form a syndicate of migrant workers, mostly from
Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, who have fallen victim to
unpaid wages, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse.
(AP, 1/2/15)
2014 Dec 31, Hamas civil
servants went on strike after the Palestinian government said it
would rehire thousands of Gaza staff who were laid off when the
Islamist movement seized power in 2007.
(AFP, 12/31/14)
2014 Nikil Saval authored
“Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace.”
(Econ, 5/3/14, p.75)
2015 Jan 7, In India around
half a million coal workers vowed to continue their strike after
inconclusive talks with the government, possibly jeopardizing power
supplies.
(AP, 1/7/15)
2015 Jan 21, In Kosovo over 400
employees went on strike inside the Trepca mine demanding the
government takes over the administration of the Yugoslav-era giant
complex to stop it from liquidation. A day earlier Kosovo's assembly
amended a law on public enterprises which enabled it to delayed
resolving the issue for another 18 months.
(AP, 1/21/15)
2015 Jan 29, In Germany dozens
of flights were canceled at Duesseldorf and Cologne-Bonn airports
after private security workers walked off the job in a dispute over
wages.
(AP, 1/29/15)
2015 Jan, Germany introduce a
new minimum wage set at 62% of the average wage in east German
states.
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.61)
2015 Feb 1, Some 3,800
steelworkers began a strike at oil refineries from California to
Kentucky after negotiations with Shell Oil Co. broke down. Shell was
negotiating a national contract for other oil companies.
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.A9)
2015 Feb 5, An India official
said police over the last ten days have rescued hundreds of
children working in hazardous industries in in Hyderabad despite
laws that ban child labor.
(AP, 2/5/15)
2015 Feb 6, Munich-based
industrial machinery maker Siemens AG said it will cut 7,800
administrative jobs worldwide as part of an effort to streamline the
sprawling company and its many businesses.
(AP, 2/6/15)
2015 Feb 7, Workers at
refineries in Indiana and Ohio went on strike against two BP plants
in an extension of strikes that began Feb 1.
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.A9)
2015 Feb 15, In Canada over
3,000 Teamster members went on strike at Canadian Pacific Railway
after contract talks failed to reach an agreement. The strike ended
on Feb 16 as both sides agreed to resume discussions.
(SFC, 2/14/15, p.A2)(SFC, 2/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Feb 17, Seaports in the US
West Coast, all but shut over the weekend because of a contract
dispute, were reopening as the nation's top labor official tried to
solve a stalemate between dockworkers and their employers that
already has disrupted billions of dollars in international trade.
(AP, 2/17/15)
2015 Feb 19, In the SF Bay Area
dockworkers shut down the Port of Oakland as they took a day off for
a monthly union meeting, historicall held at night. This intensified
the bitter contract dispute at 29 West Coast ports.
(SFC, 2/20/15, p.A1)
2015 Feb 19, In Myanmar about
4,000 workers were striking at clothing factories outside Yangon,
demanding that their overtime pay of 17 cents an hour be doubled.
Workers vowed to camp outside their factories unless employers meet
their demand, claiming they cannot live on pay amounting to 80,000
kyats ($80) a month as the cost of living rises.
(AP, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 19, In Slovakia
thousands of court officials went on a one-day warning strike,
complaining of low pay and underfunding of the legal system.
(AP, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 20, In Brazil some
5,200 workers at an assembly line at one of three General Motors
plants ground to a halt as workers went on strike to protest the
planned layoffs of nearly 800 employees.
(AP, 2/19/15)
2015 Feb 20, Dockworkers and
shipping companies reached a tentative agreement that would set
cargo ships sailing again up and down the West Coast out of 29 ports
from San Diego to Seattle.
(SFC, 1/21/15, p.A1)
2015 Feb 25, The US-based TJX
Cos., owners of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other chains said it would
hike worker hourly pay to at least $9 beginning in June.
(SFC, 2/26/15, p.C3)
2015 Feb 27, In the SF Bay Area
Compass Transportation shuttle bus drivers, who carry employees for
Apple, Yahoo, e-Bay, Zynga and Genentech, voted 104-38 to join the
Teamsters Union. 16 of the drivers did not cast ballots.
(SFC, 2/28/15, p.D1)
2015 Feb, A US jury awarded
Sony Sulekha and four others $14 million in damages against Signal
Int’l. Shipyard in Mississippi. He and some 500 other Indians had
paid at least $10,000 in 2005 to work for Signal expecting jobs and
a green card. Instead they labored in inhumane conditions with
highly restricted work permits. This was the largest human
trafficking ever brought in America.
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.61)
2015 Mar 10, In Egypt a suicide
bomber and roadside explosives targeting police and military in the
northeastern Sinai Peninsula killed 2 and wounded 46. In a city
south of Cairo, 2 suspected militants died when a bomb they were
carrying on a motorbike exploded.
(AP, 3/10/15)
2015 Mar 17, Britain announced
a three percent rise in the minimum wage, the largest real terms
increase since 2008.
(AFP, 3/17/15)
2015 Mar 19, In France
employees at Radio France went on strike to protest a cut in public
subsidy and an attempt to control Radio /France’s deficit.
(Econ., 4/11/15, p.50)
2015 Mar 19, Lufthansa,
Germany's largest airline, had to cancel 84 of 153 of its long-haul
flights, affecting 18,000 passengers as a strike by pilots was
extended to long-haul flights.
(AP, 3/19/15)
2015 Mar 27, South Africa's
state power company Eskom said more than 1,000 workers building a
much-needed new power plant had been sacked for staging an illegal
strike two days earlier, as the country grapples with rolling
electricity cuts.
(AFP, 3/27/15)
2015 Apr 1, In Vietnam
thousands of workers at a major footwear factory were on strike for
a sixth day over a social insurance law in a rare challenge to
government policy. The strike at the Taiwanese-owned Pou Yuen
factory in southern Ho Chi Minh City began March 26.
(AP, 4/1/15)
2015 Apr 2, In Portugal a rail
strike began. The Federation of Transport and Communications Unions
says rail company Comboios de Portugal is not paying the full amount
due to workers for vacation pay and for working on public holidays.
(AP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 2, In Vietnam workers
at a major footwear factory for Nike and Adidas ended a weeklong
strike after the government agreed to their demands on retirement
payouts.
(AP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 13, Human Rights Watch
slammed the alleged abuse of Palestinian children working on Israeli
settlement farms in the occupied West Bank in a 74-page report.
(AFP, 4/13/15)
2015 Apr 27, In southern
California truck drivers walked off the job in a dispute over their
wages and employee status, months after another West Coast labor
conflict cost major delays in billions of dollars of trade.
(AP, 4/27/15)
2015 May 1, San Francisco
raised wages for thousands of workers from $11.05 per hour to $12.25
per hour.
(SFC, 5/1/15, p.A1)
2015 May 1, Venezuela’s
President Nicolas Maduro raised the minimum wage 30% for the second
time this year to help workers being battered by the world's highest
inflation. Two-thirds of the increase will come this month and the
rest on July 1. Pensions for retirees were also included in the
raise.
(AP, 5/2/15)
2015 May 5, It was reported
that Indonesia will stop sending new domestic workers to 21 Middle
Eastern countries, after the recent execution of two Indonesian
women in Saudi Arabia angered Jakarta.
(AFP, 5/5/15)
2015 May 7, The leader of
Germany's GDL train drivers' union said its seven-day strike would
continue and rejected the latest offer by rail operator Deutsche
Bahn for mediation in a dispute over pay and negotiating rights.
(Reuters, 5/7/15)
2015 May 7, Germany's Siemens
says it will cut another 4,500 jobs to streamline its business and
improve profitability.
(AP, 5/7/15)
2015 May 13, In southern China
more than 10,000 workers at a state-owned machinery manufacturer
protested low wages and company plans to lay off thousands of staff
after posting losses for three years. Workers started taking to the
streets of Deyang on May 11 with banners protesting against corrupt
and incompetent managers.
(AP, 5/13/15)
2015 May 15, It was reported
that an annual study by the AFL-CIO showed CEOs making 373 times
what the average American worker earned. The disparity was down from
525 in 2010.
(SFC, 5/15/15, p.C2)
2015 May 19, In Portugal the
Metropolitano de Lisboa shut down for 24 hours as staff kept up
their fight to stop the government granting private companies
concessions to operate services.
(AP, 5/19/15)
2015 May 21, German railways
operator Deutsche Bahn announced an end to a drivers strike that had
paralyzed train travel in Europe's biggest economy, after the
feuding sides agreed to mediation.
(AFP, 5/21/15)
2015 May 21, Qatar insisted it
was "committed" to improving conditions for its huge number of
migrant laborers following an Amnesty report accusing Doha of
failing to deliver on promised reforms.
(AFP, 5/21/15)
2015 May 28, In France
thousands of doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel
demonstrated in central Paris to protest planned working-hours
changes they say will result in more burnout and worse patient care.
(AP, 5/28/15)
2015 Jun 9, Afghan officials
said a teachers strike demanding higher pay has shut down at least
27 schools in Kabul.
(AP, 6/9/15)
2015 Jun 9, In Argentina
transportation unions began a national strike to demand the
government lower their income tax rates to offset inflation they say
is eroding their earnings. Private economists have estimated
inflation at around 35 percent.
(AP, 6/9/15)
2015 Jun 13, Los Angeles Mayor
Eric Garcetti signed into law an ordinance to gradually raise the
minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.
(SSFC, 6/14/15, p.A8)
2015 Jun 23, Ikea's US division
said it is raising the minimum wage for the second year in a row as
the Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture chain looks to improve its
relations with workers and reduce worker turnover. Starting January
1 Ikea's average minimum hourly wage will increase to $11.87, which
is $4.62 above the current federal wage.
(AP, 6/24/15)
2015 Jun 23, Eurostar said it
has canceled all passenger trains for the rest of the day through
the tunnel that links France and England, after striking ferry
workers swarmed the train line setting tires alight.
(AP, 6/23/15)
2015 Jun 29, In France
employees of a ferry service recently sold by Eurotunnel renewed a
blockade of the northern port of Calais after a court rejected their
bid to extend the service's charter contract with Eurotunnel.
(Reuters, 6/29/15)
2015 Jun 30, Striking ferry
workers invaded the railroad tracks leading to the Eurotunnel
linking France and England, and train service across the Channel was
suspended until further notice.
(AP, 6/30/15)
2015 Jul 7, Nigeria’s President
Muhammadu Buhari approved a bailout of more than $2 billion for
states to resolve a crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of
workers unpaid for months. Eighteen of Nigeria’s 35 states had
unpaid workers.
(AP, 7/7/15)
2015 Jul 9, In England a
24-hour strike by staff and drivers brought London’s underground
rail network to a halt and left millions struggling to get to work.
(Reuters, 7/9/15)
2015 Jul 12, In Myanmar several
hundred workers rallied for a higher minimum wage despite a warning
by factory owners that the demand might put them out of business.
The daily minimum wage stood at 3,000 kyat ($2.65).
(AP, 7/12/15)
2015 Jul 15, In Italy a Milan
court convicted 11 former Pirelli managers, including two former
CEOs, on charges of manslaughter and gave them prison sentences for
the deaths of about 20 workers who developed tumors or lung disease
after being exposed to asbestos.
(AP, 7/15/15)
2015 Jul 16, Britain’s
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority confirmed that it has
given lawmakers a 10 percent pay increase, a headache for PM David
Cameron who has pledged that public sector workers should only get a
1 percent raise.
(AP, 7/16/15)
2015 Jul 22, In Japan an
outside director of Mitsubishi Materials said that the company hopes
to apologize to former British, Dutch and Australian World War II
POWs, and also reach an amicable agreement with Chinese forced
laborers, following a landmark apology to American POWs earlier this
week.
(AP, 7/22/15)
2015 Jul 22, Philippine
authorities said that 155 foreigners, mostly Chinese, face
deportation after being arrested for working in the country
illegally.
(AP, 7/22/15)
2015 Jul 23, Brazil's
government said the jobless rate in Latin America's largest country
rose for the sixth straight month in June.
(AP, 7/23/15)
2015 Jul 23, In Poland hundreds
of police, firefighters and other uniformed workers picketed the
main government building to demand higher pay and modernization of
their sectors. The Interior Ministry said pay rises are planned for
January.
(AP, 7/23/15)
2015 Jul 24, Mining groups
Anglo American and Lonmin announced plans to cut their headcounts by
a combined 12,000 staff owing to falling metals prices in a weak
global economy. Lonmin, the world's third largest platinum producer,
said it would cut 6,000 jobs in South Africa.
(AFP, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 24, In Chile mining
contractor Nelson Quichillao was shot dead after clashing with
police during protests by workers employed by service contractors at
the state-run copper giant Codelco.
(AP, 7/24/15)
2015 Jul 29, Japan’s PM Shinzo
Abe outlined the largest increase in the country’s minimum wage
since 2002 from ¥780 (about $6.30 an hour) to ¥798,( 6.45/hr).
(Econ, 8/15/15, p.66)
2015 Jul 30, The Bosnian-Croat
regional parliament adopted a new labor law that aims to create a
more business-friendly environment with the intention of creating
jobs, amid the protests of thousands of workers. The former labor
law was inherited from the communist regime and offered wide
protection to workers but was not business-friendly. It was partly
the reason for the 40 percent unemployment rate.
{Bosnia, Labor}
(AP, 7/30/15)
2015 Jul 30, Royal Dutch Shell
announced deep cuts to jobs and investment on as the global energy
giant prepares for a prolonged period of low oil prices.
(AP, 7/30/15)
2015 Aug 5, London Underground
staff walked out this evening and will not return until August 7
morning, causing a shutdown of the subway network that has severely
disrupted transport in the capital.
(AP, 8/6/15)
2015 Aug 8, Zimbabwe police
blocked the country's main workers union from protesting against a
recent wave of job losses and briefly held union leaders.
(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015 Aug 12, Kraft Heinz said
it is cutting 2,500 jobs in the US and Canada, including about 700
in Northfield, Ill., where the company is headquartered.
(SFC, 8/13/15, p.C2)
2015 Aug 15, Brazil's labor
ministry said its inspectors have found 11 men hired by the
construction firm building the athletes' village for the 2016 Rio de
Janeiro Olympics living in slave-like conditions.
(AP, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 28, Zimbabwe media
reported that President Robert Mugabe has signed a new law banning
mass lay-offs following a spate of redundancies that unions say put
30,000 people out of work.
(AFP, 8/28/15)
2015 Sep 7, Pres. Obama in a
Labor Day speech in Boston announced a new executive order that will
require federal contractors to offer employees up to 7 paid sick
days a year.
(SFC, 9/8/15, p.A5)
2015 Sep 15, In Chile a 24-hour
strike by civil aviation workers grounded departing flights.
(AP, 9/15/15)
2015 Sep 18, In Finland a
one-day strike halted public transportation and shut down ports
nationwide as workers protested against government cutbacks aimed at
trying to drag the Nordic country out of a three-year economic
downturn.
(AP, 9/18/15)
2015 Sep 18, Kenya's education
ministry ordered all schools to shut because of a three-week
teachers' strike over pay.
(AFP, 9/18/15)
2015 Sep 21, France's labor
court ordered the national railway to pay 150 million euros ($169
million) in compensation after finding that Moroccans had faced
discrimination in benefits compared with their French colleagues.
(AP, 9/21/15)
2015 Sep 29, The United Arab
Emirates announced labor reforms to be enforced from Jan. 1 aimed at
curbing abuse and protecting the rights of millions of foreign
workers.
(AFP, 9/29/15)
2015 Oct 6, California Gov.
Jerry Brown singed SB358, a bill known as the Fair Pay Act. It
closed loopholes in existing antidiscrimination statutes and barred
employers from paying women less than men when they do substantially
similar work.
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 7, Belgian trade
unions mobilized about 100,000 workers for the second time in a year
to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that
the center-right government has been pushing through during its
first year in office.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 13, South African coal
mineworkers ended a 10-day strike after reaching a pay agreement
with employers.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 15, Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro said he is raising the country's minimum
wage by 30%, effective Nov 1, to help workers being clobbered by
inflation economists say is likely the highest in the world.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 20, Manufacturer Tata
Steel announced 1,200 job cuts in the UK, underscoring the damage
caused by cheap Chinese imports.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 21, Swiss-based Credit
Suisse said it plans to cut at least 3,400 jobs over three years in
Britain and Switzerland and raise billions in a new share offering
after its net profit fell 24 percent in the third quarter.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 27, Qatar's emir,
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, approved a new law overseeing the
sponsorship system, which currently only allows workers to leave the
country with the approval of their employer, as well as rules that
allow workers to switch jobs. Rights groups the next day dismissed
as a "sham" the long-awaited reforms.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 30, Chevron Corp. said
it will layoff 6,000 to 7,000 employees worldwide because of the
sustained slump in world oil prices.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.D1)
2015 Nov 1, Qatar officially
opened the country's biggest workers' accommodation camp, with
enough space to house almost 70,000 laborers.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 2, Greece's islands
were left without ferry links after the country's umbrella seamen's
union launched a strike.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Banking group
Standard Chartered said it is slashing 15,000 jobs worldwide and
plans to raise $5.1 billion from shareholders through a rights issue
as part of a major restructuring to shore up its financial position.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 5, Greek ferries
started operating again after the seamen's union called off rolling
48-hour strikes.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 6, Germany's flagship
airline, Lufthansa, canceled 290 flights as cabin crew workers went
on strike at Frankfurt and Duesseldorf airports.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 7, Cabin crew at
Lufthansa staged a second day of strikes, forcing the German airline
to cancel some 520 short- and medium-haul flights.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 9, Chilean civil
registry workers resumed work after a 39-day nationwide strike.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Germany some
113,000 Lufthansa passengers were facing domestic and international
cancellations due to all-day walkouts at three airports staged by a
cabin crew union protesting cost cuts.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 11, Danish brewer
Carlsberg says it will slash 2,000 jobs, or about 15 percent of its
white-collar work force, after posting a 4.5 billion kronor ($650
million) loss in the third quarter.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Greece public
and private sector workers walked off the job in the second 24-hour
general strike in a month against new austerity measures.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Qatar signed the
first contracts on a mega-accommodation project which will
eventually see almost 180,000 migrant workers housed in seven
specially built "cities". All seven sites could be in operation
within two years.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Tennessee
skilled-trades workers at the Volkswagen's lone US plant voted to be
represented by the United Auto Workers, marking the union's first
victory at a foreign-owned automaker in the South.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 8, London-based Anglo
American said it will shed 85,000 employees, 63 percent of its
workforce, in a radical restructuring meant to cope with tumbling
commodity prices.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 11, DuPont and Dow
Chemical said they have agreed to merge. On Dec 29 DuPont CEO Ed
Breen sent a letter to employees saying that some 1,700 Delaware
jobs would be eliminated at the beginning of the new year.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.D1)(SFC, 12/30/15, p.C1)
2015 Dec 11, Indian officials
investigating the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman working at a
brick kiln in Telangana state said they had uncovered an organized
racket where hundreds of people were being trafficked and forced to
work in inhumane conditions.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 12, China’s state
media reported that the government will loosen some restrictions on
the free movement of workers within the country, long stymied by
registration papers that limit access to critical social services.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Cambodia
garment workers in eastern Svay Rieng province went on strike to
boost their monthly wages to $148.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 18, French livery
drivers protested a drop in their rates, again striking out against
what they say an unfair decision by Uber and other companies to
drive down their earnings.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 19, Ten of Chile's
airports remained closed as striking workers tied to the civil
aviation authority and officials failed to reach an agreement.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 21, Cambodian police
made dozens of arrests and used water cannon to break up a strike by
garment workers protesting over low pay.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Japan’s
scandal-plagued manufacturer Toshiba Corp. said it is cutting 6,800
jobs after projecting a net loss of 550 billion yen ($4.5 billion)
for the fiscal year through March 2016.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Britain’s National Health
Insurance (NHS) employed one in 18 workers.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.54)
2015 Germany’s car makers
employed one in seven workers nationwide.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.59)
2015 South Korea’s Supreme
Court conferred official status to a migrant workers’ union.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.34)
2016 Jan 6, In Belgium the
start of a two-day rail strike has largely paralyzed train traffic
in and around Brussels and disrupted service to Paris and London.
(AP, 1/6/16)
2016 Jan 12, Tens of thousands
of junior doctors went on strike in England, causing major
disruption to hospitals in the first walkout of its kind for 40
years.
(AFP, 1/12/16)
2016 Jan 12, British energy
major BP said that it will axe more than 4,000 jobs worldwide over
the next two years in response to collapsing oil prices.
(AFP, 1/12/16)
2016 Jan 15, Walmart announced
that it would close 154 stores in America with the possible loss of
10,000 jobs.
(Econ, 1/30/16, p.22)
2016 Jan 16, Pres. Obama
unveiled a proposal to provide workers with wage insurance.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.23)
2016 Jan 21, British education
publisher Pearson unveiled plans to axe 4,000 jobs, or 10 percent of
its global workforce, in an effort to combat weak demand.
(AFP, 1/21/16)
2016 Jan 27, In Greece ferries
were docked at ports as sailors kicked off their second 48-hour
strike this week, adding to a groundswell of public discontent over
plans to reform the country's struggling pension system.
(Reuters, 1/27/16)
2016 Jan 29, Caterpillar said
it plans to close five plants, causing a net reduction of about 670
jobs in Illinois and several other states, as part of a broader
cost-cutting campaign announced last year.
(AP, 1/17/16)
2016 Feb 2, Yahoo said it is
laying off about 1,700 employees and shedding some of its excess
baggage in a shake-up likely to determine whether CEO Marissa Mayer
can save her own job. She will also close offices in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates; Mexico City; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Madrid and
Milan.
(AP, 2/3/16)
2016 Feb 2, British energy
giant BP posted the company's biggest loss in at least 20 years,
ravaged by tumbling oil prices, and axed another 3,000 jobs.
(AFP, 2/2/16)
2016 Feb 3, Greek journalists
walked off the job ahead of a general strike set to disrupt services
across the country to protest pension reforms that are part of the
country's third international bailout.
(AP, 2/3/16)
2016 Feb 4, Switzerland’s
Credit Suisse said it is cutting roughly 4,000 jobs to reduce costs
after announcing a massive pre-tax loss in the fourth quarter that
includes "substantial charges which are not reflective of our
underlying business performance."
(AP, 2/4/16)
2016 Feb 10, Thousands of
junior doctors throughout England wet on strike after the failure of
contract negotiations.
(AP, 2/10/16)
2016 Feb 11, Thousands of
junior doctors at English hospitals continued a second strike
against proposed new conditions and pay rates for working unsociable
hours.
(AFP, 2/11/16)
2016 Feb 22, In Spain transport
workers in Barcelona staged the first of four days of strikes,
increasing road traffic problems in the northeastern city as the
four-day Mobile World Congress gets underway.
(AP, 2/22/16)
2016 Feb 24, Romanian officials
said about 40 coal miners are continuing an underground protest in
western Romania over fears of job losses and mine closures.
(AP, 2/24/16)
2016 Feb 29, Israeli drinks
firm SodaStream laid off its last Palestinian workers and lashed out
at the government for refusing to grant them work permits after it
relocated from the West Bank to southern Israel.
(AFP, 2/29/16)
2016 Feb 29, Italian police
raided an abandoned slaughterhouse near Rosarno in Calabria that
African migrant farmworkers use as a dormitory, part of a recently
launched crackdown on labor exploitation.
(AP, 2/29/16)
2016 Mar 1, Georgian coal
miners ended their two-week strike after the coal company agreed to
a raise.
(AP, 3/1/16)
2016 Mar 5, In South Africa a
lawyer representing 4,365 claimants affected by silicosis said that
Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti have agreed to pay
the equivalent of $32,595,800.
(AP, 3/5/16)
2016 Mar 8, British gas and
electricity supplier Npower said it is cutting 2,400 jobs, a fifth
of its workforce, after losing hundreds of thousands of customers
and reporting poor financial results.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 9, Thousands of
British doctors began a 48-hour strike in an acrimonious dispute
over a new contract.
(AP, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 9, French students and
trade unions staged protest marches across the country against
far-reaching labor reforms.
(Reuters, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 9, The Indian arm of
global consumer giant Unilever said it has reached a settlement with
hundreds of former employees 15 years after its thermometer plant in
southern India was shut following accusations of mercury
contamination.
(AP, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 10, In Spain a strike
by refuse collectors in the city of Malaga entered its 10th day.
(Reuters, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 12, In northeastern
China thousands of miners, who say they have not been paid for
months, staged a rare protest in Shuangyashan city, days after the
provincial governor made the apparently false claim that no miner
working for the province's largest publicly owned mining company was
owed any back wages.
(AP, 3/13/16)
2016 Mar 14, French PM Manuel
Valls unveiled a revised labor reform bill that makes concessions to
trade unions following mass protests against the measures.
(Reuters, 3/14/16)
2016 Mar 17, French unions said
the government will lift a six-year-old freeze on civil servants'
pay, but that the resulting wage increase was too little.
(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 17, In France
thousands of youths held street protests to reject the government's
new labor changes.
(AP, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 22, Indonesian cabbies
clashed with motorbike drivers working for online apps, pulling them
off their bikes and assaulting them as thousands of drivers took to
the streets of Jakarta calling for a ban on ride-hailing apps like
Grab and Uber.
(Reuters, 3/22/16)
2016 Mar 28, California Gov.
Jerry Brown announced a deal with state lawmakers and public unions
that would make the minimum wage $15 an hour by 2022, up from $10.
(SFC, 3/29/16, p.A1)
2016 Mar 30, Indian giant Tata
Steel put its British business up for sale, sparking calls for the
government to intervene and safeguard thousands of jobs in the
crisis-hit industry.
(AFP, 3/30/16)
2016 Mar 31, In France
demonstrators clashed with police in the streets during fresh
protests over labor reforms. Official figures said at least 200,000
people had joined demonstrations in around 50 towns around the
country despite rainy weather.
(AFP, 3/31/16)
2016 Mar, A Nepalese
construction worker in Qatar was "sacked" the day after speaking to
a UN delegation visiting the 2022 World Cup host country to examine
labor conditions. This was only reported in Sept. 2017 because of
sensitivities surrounding the case.
(AP, 9/26/17)
2016 Apr 1, Britain's
Conservative government raised the minimum wage by 7.5 percent in a
move denounced by critics as largely symbolic in an era of state
austerity. Workers aged 25 and over will now earn a minimum hourly
gross wage of £7.20 ($10.36, 9.10 euros) compared with £6.70
previously.
(AFP, 4/1/16)
2016 Apr 5, Paris riot police
fired tear gas and charged youths throwing stones, bottles and eggs
during fresh protests against France's proposed labor reforms,
making over 100 arrests.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 6, Junior doctors in
English hospitals went on strike again, withdrawing all but
emergency care in their fourth walk-out in a bitter dispute with the
government over working conditions.
(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 8, Wisconsin’s right
to work law, championed by Gov. Scott Walker, was struck down as
violating the state constitution.
(SFC, 4/9/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 9, In western France
clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in Rennes as
thousands took to the streets for a sixth day of nationwide protests
against a draft law that seeks to loosen some labor protections.
(Reuters, 4/9/16)
2016 Apr 13, Some 39,000
Verizon landline and cable workers on the East Coast walked off the
job after making little progress in negotiations since their
contract expired nearly eight months ago.
(SFC, 4/14/16, p.C2)
2016 Apr 15, It was reported
that San Francisco will begin requiring some 37,000 Lyft and Uber
drivers who work in the city seven or more days a year to obtain a
$91 annual business license.
(SFC, 4/15/16, p.A1)
2016 Apr 16, French police
arrested twenty-two people in Paris during overnight clashes at a
demonstration over labor reforms seen as threatening workers'
rights.
(AFP, 4/16/16)
2016 Apr 17, Thousands of
Kuwait's oil workers began an open-ended strike in protest at plans
to cut their wages, action which saw the emirate's crude production
plunge.
(AFP, 4/17/16)
2016 Apr 19, Intel said it
would cut 12,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce, as demand for
personal computers continued to fall.
(SFC, 4/20/16, p.C6)
2016 Apr 20, In Hungary nearly
25,000 of about 150,000 teachers in some 1,200 of 5,000 schools
walked out on a one-day strike to demand more freedom, more
financing and lighter workloads for themselves and their students.
Teachers have been protesting for months against moves by the
right-wing government of PM Viktor Orban to strip schools of much of
their autonomy and increase central planning and management.
(Reuters, 4/20/16)
2016 Apr 24, Greek press unions
expanded a strike to protest bailout creditor-demanded reforms of
their taxpayer-funded pension fund, leaving the country without
newspapers and news broadcasts for several days.
(AP, 4/25/16)
2016 Apr 26, Junior doctors in
England staged their first ever all-out strike in a bitter,
deadlocked row with PM David Cameron's government over pay and
conditions. The National Health Service employs more than 50,000
junior doctors.
(AFP, 4/26/16)
2016 Apr 26, French train
services were severely disrupted as tens of thousands of state rail
workers protested over plans to reduce rest periods and other
protective work practices in preparation for Europe-wide
deregulation.
(Reuters, 4/26/16)
2016 Apr 26, German government
workers called short-term strikes in the run-up to wage discussions
later this week. Lufthansa said it has cancelled 895 flights
scheduled for April 27 from six German airports as public-sector
workers doing ground handling and security checks were expected to
walk off the job.
(AP, 4/26/16)
2016 Apr 28, French protesters
were back on the streets over proposed reforms to the country's
labor rules and strikers have forced cancellations and delays at two
airports serving Paris.
(AP, 4/28/16)
2016 Apr 29, Germany's federal
and local governments reached agreement with public sector workers
on a pay rise, settling a dispute that grounded hundreds of flights
during a warning strike two days earlier.
(AFP, 4/29/16)
2016 Apr 30, In Saudi Arabia
employees at the Saudi Binladin Group, a construction giant, set
fire to more than seven company buses in the latest protest by
disgruntled staff over not being paid salaries for months and a
large round of reported layoffs.
(AP, 5/1/16)
2016 Apr 30, Venezuela's Pres.
Nicolas Maduro ordered a 30 percent increase in the minimum wage,
the latest move by the socialist government to grapple with high
inflation and economic stagnation. The boost comes after a 25
percent increase on March 1.
(AP, 5/1/16)
2016 May 1, In Egypt some 650
workers from several provinces, who came to hold a meeting in Cairo
for International Workers' Day, were prevented from assembling by
police.
(AP, 5/1/16)
2016 May 1, Turkish police
clamped down on unauthorized protests during a tense May Day in
Istanbul, using tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators and
imposing a heavy security blanket on the city.
(AFP, 5/1/16)
2016 May 4, French riot police
clashed with demonstrators outside a school building in Paris,
prompting government and police calls for an end to weeks of violent
protests mainly linked to plans for a loosening of France's highly
protective labor laws.
(Reuters, 5/4/16)
2016 May 5, Greek labor unions
declared a 48-hour national walkout as lawmakers debated unpopular
tax and pension reforms Greece hopes will help persuade creditors to
approve release of badly-needed bailout cash.
(Reuters, 5/5/16)
2016 May 6, Services in Greece,
from garbage collection to public transport, shut down as workers
kicked off three days of strikes to protest new bailout austerity
measures that they say will further reduce incomes.
(AP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 10, In Brazil the
mayor of Sao Paulo signed a decree authorizing the use of
smartphone-based ride-sharing applications like Uber. Cab drivers
protested that Uber is unfair competition because its drivers don’t
have to pay city fees or undergo official inspections.
{Brazil, Labor}
(SFC, 5/10/16, p.C2)
2016 May 10, France's
government decided to bypass parliament and impose a relaxation of
the country's protective labor laws by decree, sidestepping a
rebellion against one of socialist President Francois Hollande's
flagship reforms.
(Reuters, 5/10/16)
2016 May 13, In South Africa a
judge ruled that gold miners who got lung diseases while working
underground, as well as families of miners who died of such
diseases, can launch a class action suit against mining companies.
(AP, 5/13/16)
2016 May 17, Dozens of Belgian
trade unionists and prison workers who have been on a three-week
strike to demand an end to austerity and better working conditions
broke into the justice ministry in Brussels and damaged part of the
building. Police pushed them back with tear gas.
(AP, 5/17/16)
2016 May 18, Strikes by French
railway and port workers halved train services and prompted
cancellation of ferry links to Britain. French police staged
demonstrations in about 60 cities against a surge of "anti-cop
hatred" which they say they have suffered at a series of
anti-government protests in recent months.
(Reuters, 5/18/16)(AFP, 5/18/16)(SFC, 5/19/16,
p.A2)
2016 May 25, The French oil
industry federation said France has started using its strategic oil
reserves for the first time since 2010 to counter union blockades of
its refineries. The industry said it has been using the strategic
reserves for two days. Workers at the hardline CGT union voted for a
24-hour strike at Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear plant.
(Reuters, 5/25/16)
2016 May 26, In France 11 of 58
nuclear power plants were hit with unplanned outages after unionized
workers at utility EDF joined a rolling nationwide strike against
planned government reforms.
(Reuters, 5/26/16)
2016 May 30, Verizon and its
unions said they have reached a tentative agreement and that almost
40,000 workers will return to their jobs on June 1.
(SFC, 5/31/16, p.A5)
2016 May 31, In Belgium strikes
by public-sector employees across the country intensified, with
train and bus services disrupted along with schools, prisons and
mail delivery as workers protested against the government's social
and economic policies.
(AP, 5/31/16)
2016 Jun 1, Transport chaos hit
France, just nine days before the Euro 2016 football tournament, as
railway workers went on strike in the latest salvo of a months-long
battle between the government and unions.
(AFP, 6/1/16)
2016 Jun 1, Thousands of
Romanian teachers demonstrated to demand higher salaries, rallying
outside the government's main offices in Bucharest then marching
through the capital.
(AP, 6/1/16)
2016 Jun 5, Qatar figures from
an April 2015 census showed almost 60 percent of the country’s 2.4
million population live in what the government calls labor camps.
(AFP, 6/5/16)
2016 Jun 7, Washington DC
lawmakers approved a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Mayor Muriel Bowser
pledged to sign it.
(SFC, 6/8/16, p.A4)
2016 Jun 7, The European Union
warned Thailand to take "swift and determined action" by next month
to improve its fisheries and labor practices or face a serious
economic threat of an EU ban on Thai seafood.
(AP, 6/7/16)
2016 Jun 11, About a quarter of
Air France pilots went on strike to demand better working
conditions. Up to a fifth of flights were canceled, both domestic
and international. Among those affected were flights carrying
spectators to cities holding matches for the European Championship
soccer tournament. Train drivers and garbage collectors continued
their strikes.
(AP, 6/11/16)
2016 Jun 14, In France tens of
thousands of people rallied in Paris under heavy police presence for
a protest against a planned change of labor laws that would make
hiring and firing easier.
(Reuters, 6/14/16)
2016 Jun 15, French leaders
told the hardline CGT labor union it would be denied permission for
further street rallies unless it rooted out troublemakers, a day
after violent battles between masked youths and police during
protest marches in Paris.
(Reuters, 6/15/16)
2016 Jun 23, In France tens of
thousands of people marched in Paris to protest planned labor
reforms, gathering for a demonstration that authorities had
initially considered banning due to the violence that has
accompanied similar recent events. Police arrested around 100
protesters.
(AP, 6/23/16)(AFP, 6/23/16)
2016 Jul 1, In New Jersey Local
54 of the Unite-Here union walked off the job at the Carl
Icahn-owned Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic city.
(SFC, 7/5/16, p.A5)
2016 Jul 5, France's government
forced approval of a contested labor bill in the lower house of
Parliament without a vote — for a second time — because of
resistance from the left and right.
(AP, 7/5/16)
2016 Jul 6, In Greece most
workers on the the Athens public transport system walked off the job
in a 24-hour strike to protest privatizations that are part of the
country's international bailout conditions.
(AP, 7/6/16)
2016 Jul 13, Human Rights Watch
said foreigners employed as maids in Oman can face physicdal and
verbal abuse while entrapped in conditions that near slavery. Its
report alleged that the United Arab Emirates acts as a gateway for
maids trafficked into the sultanate.
(SFC, 7/14/16, p.A2)
2016 Jul 14, In Abu Dhabi a new
decree allowed people as young as 12 to apply for a temporary work
permit. Current law prohibited work until the age of 15.
(SSFC, 7/17/16, p.A9)
2016 Jul 14, In Kuwait a decree
issued by Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Sabah set the
minimum wage for domestic workers at 60 dinars ($200) a month and
also granted domestic staff a raft of other rights. The decree also
requires employers to pay overtime for any extra hours worked.
(AP, 7/14/16)
2016 Jul 20, The French
government forced a divisive labor bill through Parliament without a
vote for third and final time.
(AP, 7/20/16)
2016 Jul 26, Iran's government
said it would cap salaries for public officials as it seeks to
dampen a scandal over exorbitant pay that has threatened to derail
President Hassan Rouhani's re-election hopes. The payslips of
executives at several public companies were leaked in May, showing
that many earned over 100 times more than the average worker.
(AFP, 7/26/16)
2016 Jul 28, Portuguese public
health workers began a 48-hour strike to pressure the government
into extending a new 35-hour week to more staff.
(AP, 7/28/16)
2016 Jul 31, India's foreign
minister said the government is providing food aid to thousands of
Indian workers in Saudi Arabia who are not able to buy food after
losing their jobs in the kingdom.
(AP, 7/31/16)
2016 Aug 1, India's government
said it plans to evacuate thousands of Indian workers who have lost
their jobs in Saudi Arabia and cannot afford to pay for a flight
home. The workers were mostly employed by Saudi construction
companies and were laid off amid a slowdown in the industry caused
by low global oil prices.
(AP, 8/1/16)
2016 Aug 6, The Philippines
said it would within days send government missions to Saudi Arabia
to help thousands of jobless Filipinos left stranded across the
kingdom after the plunge in oil prices.
(AFP, 8/6/16)
2016 Aug 12, Staff on the
Eurostar rail service between Britain and mainland Europe started
four days of strike action although the company insisted there would
be minimal disruption to services.
(AFP, 8/12/16)
2016 Aug 24, In Bolivia at
least one person was killed and dozens injured after miners and riot
police exchanged sticks of dynamite and tear gas during a protest to
demand better work conditions.
(Reuters, 8/25/16)
2016 Aug 26, Belgium-based AB
Inbev said it expects to cut about 3 percent of its total workforce
— equivalent to thousands of jobs — once it completes its huge
takeover of its closest rival, SABMiller.
(AP, 8/26/16)
2016 Aug 30, Montenegrin police
used pepper spray to stop laid-off employees of an aluminum smelter
from storming the parliament building.
(AP, 8/30/16)
2016 Sep 2, In India millions
of public sector workers across the country went on strike to
protest economic reforms, saying the government's plan for raising
the country's minimum wage for unskilled workers did not go far
enough.
(AP, 9/2/16)
2016 Sep, Saudi Arabia slashed
salaries and benefits for public-sector employees, a sector that
made up two-thirds of Saudi workers.
{Saudi Arabia, Labor}
(Econ, 11/5/16, p.40)
2016 Nov 8, Irish teachers went
on strike in a dispute that could close most secondary schools
indefinitely, the latest industrial unrest testing the minority
government and pressuring the country's still fragile finances.
(Reuters, 11/8/16)
2016 Nov 16, Poland's lawmakers
voted to lower the retirement age in a reversal of a 2012 reform,
despite questions about financing of the new system. The lower house
voted 262-149 with 19 abstentions to allow women to retire at the
age of 60 and men at 65, as of October 2017. The lower chamber also
voted 269-170 for a bill establishing the Territorial Defense Forces
that are starting to recruit men and women.
(AP, 11/16/16)
2016 Nov 17, Delaware-based
DuPont said it will soon stop contributing to active employees'
pension plans, a move that will affect the retirement of 13,000 US
workers, including 2,800 in Delaware. DuPont closed the pension plan
to new employees in 2007.
(AP, 11/18/16)
2016 Nov 18, Germany-based
Volkswagen announced plans to cut 30,000 jobs in a wide-ranging
restructuring of its namesake brand as it tries to recover from a
scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel emissions tests.
(AP, 11/18/16)
2016 Nov 22, In Germany cabin
crew at Lufthansa's budget unit Eurowings launched a 15-hour strike,
causing dozens of flight cancelations, as the German carrier warned
customers to prepare for a larger walk-out by pilots the next day.
(AP, 11/22/16)
2016 Nov 23, A federal jury in
San Francisco awarded $54 million in damages against Walmart for
failing to pay hundreds of truck drivers for time they spend waiting
to load and unload cargo, washing and fueling their trucks and other
tasks.
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.A6)
2016 Nov 24, In Belgium close
to 20,000 protesters from the non-profit sector took to the streets.
Their anger centered on plans to limit days off for veteran workers
in the future.
(AP, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, German flagship
carrier Lufthansa said it is scrapping 830 flights for tomorrow,
grounding more than 100,000 passengers, as a strike by pilots over
wages extends to a third day.
(AFP, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, Greek
public-sector workers went on strike to protest labor and pension
reforms and state asset sales which the leftist-led government
agreed with the country's official creditors in exchange for bailout
loans.
(Reuters, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 26, In Germany pilots
at Lufthansa staged a fourth consecutive day of strikes, with
chances of an immediate resolution to the pay dispute looking slim
after their union rejected a new offer from the company. The Cockpit
union targeted Lufthansa's long-haul services, prompting 137 flight
cancellations and affecting some 30,000 passengers.
(AP, 11/26/16)
2016 Nov 28, Germany-based
Lufthansa said it is canceling more than 1,700 flights scheduled for
the next two days as a union representing the airline's pilots
resumes a campaign of strikes.
(AP, 11/28/16)
2016 Nov 29, Airbus said it
wants to cut more than 1,100 jobs across Europe after presenting a
reorganization plan to the works council in Toulouse.
(AP, 11/29/16)
2016 Nov 30, Air-conditioning
maker Carrier Corp. said it has reached a deal with Pres.-elect
Donald Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.
(SFC, 12/1/16, p.C2)
2016 Dec 7, London-based
think-tank Overseas Development Institute said one third of children
living in the slums of Bangladesh's capital spend more than 60 hours
a week making clothes for the garment sector, well beyond the legal
working limit.
(Reuters, 12/7/16)
2016 Dec 10, Greek ferry
workers ended a nine-day strike, saying they did not wish to disrupt
the holiday season, but promised to resume action if the government
did not back off tax hikes for ferry workers.
(AP, 12/10/16)
2016 Dec 10, Sri Lankan naval
troops fired warning shots to break up a protest by striking dock
workers who have held up a Japanese vessel for four days at the
island's southern international port.
(AP, 12/11/16)
2016 Dec 13, In France the
Eiffel Tower, normally open every single day of the year, closed
because of a strike over salaries and working conditions.
(AP, 12/13/16)
2016 Dec 13, Mexico’s National
Statistics Institute released a study saying about 58 percent of
jobs in Mexico are in the informal sector including categories such
as unregistered vendors, artisans and domestic workers.
(AP, 12/13/16)
2016 Dec 18, In Spain several
thousand workers took to the streets of Madrid to protest the
government's labor policies of recent years as the country emerges
from a long economic downturn.
(AP, 12/18/16)
2016 Dec 19, British postal
workers began what could become the longest strike in the Post
Office's 300-year history as part of a wave of industrial action
that is also threatening Christmas travel chaos.
(AFP, 12/19/16)
2016 Dec 28, In Japan
government authorities filed papers demanding prosecutorial charges
against an unidentified Dentsu employee suspected of driving Matsuri
Takahashi (24) to suicide from overwork. Takahashi was clocking 100
hours of overtime a month before she jumped from her company dorm
balcony in December 2015.
(AP, 12/28/16)
2016 Dec 31, In southern
England the RMT union launched a three-day strike on Southern Rail,
which runs commuter services from the south coast into London, as
part of a long-running dispute over plans to downgrade the role of
the train guard.
(AFP, 12/31/16)
2017 Jan 4, Macy’s said it will
move forward with 68 store closures and eliminate more than 10,000
jobs following a disappointing holiday shopping season.
(SFC, 1/5/17, p.C4)
2017 Jan 4, Indian officials
said police have rescued nearly 200 children, most of them under the
age of 14, who had been found working in a brick kiln in the
southern state of Telangana in one of the biggest operations in the
region.
(Reuters, 1/4/17)
2017 Jan 4, In India a
24-year-old housemaid died in hospital, two weeks after she was
admitted with multiple fractures and injuries. She had said she was
abused by her New Delhi employers after being lured to the city with
the promise of a job.
(Reuters, 1/6/17)
2017 Jan 4, The Israeli
government said China has agreed for thousands of migrant
construction laborers to work in Israel in a bid to alleviate a
housing crisis.
(AFP, 1/4/17)
2017 Jan 5, A Swiss insurance
agency ruled that an Uber driver is an employee for whom the company
must pay social security contributions, dealing a blow to the US
ride-hailing platform that says drivers are independent contractors.
(Reuters, 1/5/17)
2017 Jan 10, British Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC that "I would like to see some
kind of high-earnings cap" to reduce inequality. He said that it
should kick in at a level "somewhat higher" than his own 138,000
pound ($167,000) annual salary.
(AP, 1/10/17)
2017 Jan 19, University
lecturers in Kenya began a strike over pay, joining doctors who
walked out in early December, crippling the country's healthcare.
(AFP, 1/19/17)
2017 Jan 26, Puerto Rico's new
governor signed a labor reform bill that targets the private sector
and aims to stimulate the island's economy amid concerns that it
infringes on workers' rights.
(AP, 1/26/17)
2017 Jan 31, Brazil said
unemployment hit a record 12 percent between October and December,
even as the economy is forecast to slowly exit deep recession.
(AFP, 1/31/17)
2017 Feb 6, Missouri Rep. Gov.
Eric Greitens signed a bill making his state the 28th right-to-work
state banning union fees and dues.
(SFC, 2/7/17, p.A5)
2017 Feb 8, The Czech
government said it has decided to double its quota for Ukrainian
workers, due to an acute labor shortage as the economy continues to
grow strongly.
(Reuters, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 8, In Greece hundreds
of firefighters in uniform took to the streets of Athens, saying
roughly one third of their jobs are at risk due to hiring
restrictions placed on the public sector by Greece's international
bailout conditions.
(AP, 2/8/17)
2017 Feb 9, In Myanmar
production at Hangzhou Hundred-Tex Garment Company in Yangon was
halted. Workers had demanded a better performance review system and
healthcare coverage. Later in the month hundreds of workers stormed
the Chinese-owned factory making clothes for Swedish fashion
retailer Hennes & Mauritz. They damaged facilities including
textile machinery, computers and surveillance cameras.
(Reuters, 3/7/17)
2017 Feb 16, In Germany a union
representing ground staff has called on its members to go on strike
at Berlin's two airports, leading to the cancelation of some 210
flights.
(AP, 2/16/17)
2017 Feb 16, In Italy taxi
drivers in Rome, Milan and Turin staged wildcat strikes to protest
proposed legislation they say will favor Uber and other car-sharing
services.
(AP, 2/16/17)
2017 Feb 21, Thousands of
Italian taxi drivers protesting legislation they say will favor Uber
clashed with riot police, intensifying a weeklong cab strike that
has crippled transportation in Rome, Milan and Turin.
(AP, 2/21/17)
2017 Feb 26, In Belarus
about 3,000 people demonstrated across the country against an
unpopular new labor law that targets the unemployed. Many people
were unhappy with a so-called "anti-sponging" law that forces
citizens to pay the equivalent of $250 if they work less than half
the year and do not register with nation's labor exchanges.
(AP, 2/26/17)
2017 Feb, Unemployment in Japan
fell to 2.8%, the lowest rate since 1994.
(Econ, 4/8/17, p.63)
2017 Mar 1, In South Africa
thousands of coal truck drivers descended on Pretoria to protest
against the country's renewable energy program, after President
Jacob Zuma expressed support for the sector last month.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)
2017 Mar 7, The Kenyan
government ordered striking medical staff to go back to work and
said it had withdrawn an offer of a 50 percent pay hike after the
workers' union became inflexible in their negotiations.
(Reuters, 3/7/17)
2017 Mar 8, Britain’s
Chancellor Philip Hammond in his budget announced an increase in tax
for the self-employed, who self-employed make up around 15% of the
UK’s workers.
(Econ, 3/11/17, p.56)
2017 Mar 9, The Ile de France
region passed a new rule obliging laborers on public building sites
to use French, copying action taken elsewhere in France to squeeze
out foreign workers.
(AP, 3/10/17)
2017 Mar 14, Berlin's airports
remained paralyzed after ground staff extended a strike, stepping up
pressure in a dispute over pay that has already caused the
cancellation of more than 1,000 flights since March 10.
(Reuters, 3/14/17)
2017 Mar 16, In Spain taxi
drivers in Barcelona and Madrid went on strike to urge authorities
to protect their regulated service against companies like Uber and
Cabify, which offer cheaper services.
(AP, 3/16/17)
2017 Mar 22, An estimated
17,000 AT&T workers in California and Nevada went on strike to
protest the handling of work assignments. Technicians and call
center workers returned to work the next day following an agreement
on work assignments.
(SFC, 3/23/17, p.C1)(SFC, 3/24/17, p.C1)
2017 Mar 22, Romanian rail
workers staged a walk-out after unions and management failed to
agree about wage hikes. More than 150 trains were affected by the
strike.
(AP, 3/22/17)
2017 Mar 28, Iceland became the
first country to introduce legislation requiring employers to prove
they are paying men and women equally.
(SFC, 3/31/17, p.C2)
2017 Mar 30, In Argentina port
workers in Greater Rosario suspended plans for a 24-hour strike
after a truck driver ran over and killed a protester.
(Reuters, 3/30/17)
2017 Mar, In Japan a man (23)
died of suicide while working at Tokyo’s new Olympic stadium. In
October Japan’s labor standard office ruled that his death stemmed
from overwork (karoshi) and that his family was eligible for
government compensation. The man had recorded 190 hours of overtime
in the month before killing himself.
(SFC, 10/11/17, p.A2)
2017 Apr 1, An executive order
by the former Obama administration came into effect banning the box
declaration of criminal history for all federal jobs.
(SFC, 9/25/17 p.25)
2017 Apr 18, President Donald
Trump visited Wisconsin and signed an order, dubbed "Buy American,
Hire American," aimed at curbing abuses in the H-1B visa program
used by technology companies that rely on high-skilled foreign
workers. The EU later argued that more stringent "Buy American"
policies were likely to increase costs and delays, with no net
benefit in job creation.
(AP, 4/18/17)(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A1)(AP, 10/18/17)
2017 Apr 18, Australia’s PM
Malcolm Turnbull announced plans to replace the 457 visa for
temporary foreign workers in particular occupations with two new
temporary visas requiring better English-language and work skills.
(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A2)
2017 Apr 20, Saudi Arabia’s
labor ministry said foreigners will no longer be allowed to work in
the country’s numerous shopping malls, in the latest measure to
boost employment of Saudis.
(AFP, 4/20/17)
2017 Apr 23, Israel said it has
signed a deal with China to bring Chinese construction workers to
Israel, but the workers will reportedly be barred from building in
West Bank settlements at China's insistence.
(AP, 4/23/17)
2017 Apr 24, In Sri Lanka long
lines formed at gasoline stations across the country as workers at a
state-run petroleum company went on strike to protest a government
plan to lease out oil tanks to neighboring India.
(AP, 4/24/17)
2017 Apr 26, In Romania
hundreds of taxi and bus drivers protested outside government
offices in Bucharest to demand that Uber and other online ride
services be outlawed.
(AP, 4/26/17)
2017 Apr 26, South African
Airways cancelled nearly three dozen flights, most of them domestic,
because of a strike by some cabin crew. A labor court ruled that the
strike was not allowed under terms of the crewmembers' contracts.
(AP, 4/26/17)(AP, 4/27/17)
2017 May 1, Greek trade unions
marked May Day with a 24-hour nationwide strike and protests against
looming new cuts demanded by the country's creditors in return for
bailout cash.
(AFP, 5/1/17)
2017 May 1, South African
President Jacob Zuma was jeered by labor unionists and his speech
was cancelled after scuffles broke out between his supporters and
workers chanting for him to step down at a May Day rally.
(AP, 5/1/17)
2017 May 4, A US circuit
court judge lifted an injunction that had blocked a 2015 ordnance
from becoming law in St. Louis, Mo. The city’s minimum wage will
rise to $10 and hour as of May 5 and to $11 an hour in January.
(SFC, 5/5/17, p.A6)
2017 May 8, The California
Supreme Court ruled that state workers can be required to work more
than six consecutive days without overtime as long as they don’t
work more than six days in a single week.
(SFC, 5/10/17, p.D3)
2017 May 10, Switzerland's
government said it will temporarily limit the number of workers from
European Union member states Bulgaria and Romania who can access
Swiss jobs, after an influx from the countries in recent months.
(AP, 5/10/17)
2017 May 11, German industrial
conglomerate Siemens AG said it is cutting or outsourcing 2,700 jobs
as part of efforts to modernize its IT operations and increase
efficiency elsewhere.
(AP, 5/11/17)
2017 May 15, In Romania some
20,000 finance workers from the public sector went on strike to
protest a move to cut their salaries.
(AP, 5/15/17)
2017 May 17, Ford said it is
cutting 1,400 non-factory jobs in North America and Asia Pacific
this year in an effort to boost profits and rescue its sagging stock
price. The company faced heavy costs for new technology and slowing
US car sales.
(AP, 5/17/17)
2017 May 18, In Greece
protesters took to the streets of central Athens for the second day
running, hours before lawmakers voted in parliament on measures that
will impose additional income losses for many Greeks for another
three years. Parliament approved a new package of reforms demanded
by the EU and the IMF. Unemployment in the country was around 23%.
(AP, 5/18/17)(Econ 5/27/17, p.47)
2017 May 19, As many as 37,000
AT&T workers in 36 states began a 3-day strike over wages and
job security.
(SFC, 5/20/17, p.D1)
2017 May 24, Angry UN staff in
Geneva protested against a proposed 7.5 percent cut to their
salaries, the equivalent of almost a month's pay, and called for
strike action if it is implemented.
(Reuters, 5/24/17)
2017 May 27, In Spain tens of
thousands of people rallied in Madrid for a "march of dignity" to
demand better wages and job security as Spain's economy improves.
(AFP, 5/27/17)
2017 May 31, China Labor Watch
executive director Li Qiang said he lost contact with three
investigators over the weekend. They were investigating a Chinese
company that produces Ivanka Trump-branded shoes in China and were
working with a US nonprofit to publish a report next month alleging
low pay, excessive overtime and possible misuse of student labor.
(AP, 5/31/17)
2017 May, Missouri’s Republican
legislature passed a measure barring local government from enacting
minimum wages different from the state, which is $7.70 per hour. On
August 8 Kansas City voters decided on whether or not to set the
minimum wage to $10 per hour and increase it annually to $15 per
hour in 2022.
(SFC, 8/8/17, p.A6)
2017 Jun 5, Hundreds of taxi
drivers in Poland's four largest cities drove at a crawl blocking
rush-hour traffic in a protest to draw the government's attention to
the rising number of unlicensed drivers who offer transport
services.
(AP, 6/5/17)
2017 Jun 5, Activity in Spain's
ports was intermittent as dockworkers began a three-day strike to
protest layoffs stemming from an effort to liberalize the industry
in line with European Union rules.
(AP, 6/5/17)
2017 Jun 15, Oregon-based Nike
announced several changes to its business structure including
a cut of about 1,400 jobs and reduction of the number of
sneaker styles it offers by a quarter.
(AP, 6/15/17)
2017 Jun 16, Italians and
tourists alike struggled to get around as a nationwide transport
strike forced the cancellation of Alitalia flights, the closure of
subway stations and the suspension of bus service.
(AP, 6/16/17)
2017 Jun 21, Hundreds of
Croatian taxi drivers blocked one of the capital's main boulevards
with their cars to protest against Uber services in the country. PM
Andrej Plenkovic said "we have concluded that transportation via
Uber is against the current regulations in the Republic of Croatia."
He urged the taxi protesters to stop their action until a solution
is worked out.
(AP, 6/21/17)
2017 Jun 22, In Greece mounds
of rubbish festered in soaring temperatures in Athens as thousands
demonstrated in support of refuse collectors demanding the renewal
of their contracts.
(AFP, 6/22/17)
2017 Jun 28, In Spain Madrid
metro drivers began a five-day strike, threatening to create travel
chaos during WorldPride, one of the biggest celebrations of lesbian,
gay and transsexual rights.
(AFP, 6/28/17)
2017 Jun 29, Leading global
fashion brands and trade unions agreed to continue a safety program
involving thousands of garment factories in Bangladesh for another
three years. Swiss-based global trade unions — IndustriALL Global
Union and UNIGlobal Union — and brand representatives announced the
agreement in Paris.
(AP, 6/29/17)
2017 Jun 29, Hundreds of
striking Greek sanitation workers ended a 10-day strike in Athens
over jobs as steaming mountains of garbage piled up across the
country and temperatures soared.
(Reuters, 6/29/17)
2017 Jun 30, Brazilian labor
unions staged peaceful nationwide demonstrations against scandal-hit
President Michel Temer, seeking to stop his unpopular administration
from pushing through Congress changes to labor and pension laws.
(Reuters, 6/30/17)
2017 Jul 3, In Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives promised more police, more
homes and full employment within eight years when they presented
their program for an election in which she will seek a fourth term
in office.
(Reuters, 7/3/17)
2017 Jul 3, Thailand
immigration officials said tens of thousands of migrant workers,
most of them from Myanmar, have fled from Thailand in fear after new
labor regulations adopted by the military government. About 60,000
workers left between June 23 and June 28, and the number has risen
since.
(Reuters, 7/3/17)
2017 Jul 4, Thailand's junta
delayed parts of a new labor law aimed at regulating the foreign
workforce after the decree sparked panic and prompted more than
60,000 foreign workers to flee from the country.
(Reuters, 7/4/17)
2017 Jul 12, It was reported
that the Russian city of Vladivostok has embraced cheap North Korean
painters. Human rights groups said most of the laborer’s earnings
are confiscated by the state.
(SFC, 7/12/17, p.A3)
2017 Jul 13, Brazil’s Pres.
Michael Temer signed into law an overhaul of the country’s 1943
labor law, to become effective in four months time.
(Econ 7/22/17, p.52)
2017 Jul 18, In Serbia several
hundred striking workers from Fiat's factory in Kragujevac marched
to demand higher wages.
(AP, 7/18/17)
2017 Jul 21, Peru’s Labor
Ministry said striking mining workers in have agreed to return to
work by July 24 after the government of President Pedro Pablo
Kuczynski promised to name a task force to discuss labor laws with
them.
(Reuters, 7/22/17)
2017 Jul 27, Haiti announced a
slight minimum wage increase for garment workers that fell well
short of their demands, prompting union calls for a strike.
(AP, 7/28/17)
2017 Jul 28, Hundreds of
Croatian taxi drivers protested against Uber services, disrupting
traffic at the height of the tourist season in the Adriatic country.
(AP, 7/28/17)
2017 Aug 1, Bank of England
employees began a three-day strike, the central bank's first in over
50 years, as they stood outside the institution demanding better
pay. The central bank noted that the number of strikers is small and
said it will continue to operate as normal during this period.
(AP, 8/1/17)
2017 Aug 4, In Spain
holidaymakers faced delays and long queues at Barcelona's El Prat
airport, the first day of strikes by security staff that may be
stepped up in coming weeks.
(Reuters, 8/4/17)
2017 Aug 6, In Spain workers
handling carry-on luggage checks at Barcelona's airport staged a
second day of partial strikes, causing long lines for passengers at
one of Europe's most popular airports.
(AP, 8/6/17)
2017 Aug 7, Google fired James
Damore, a software engineer, who had written a memo saying the
company’s efforts to hire more women are biased.
(Econ, 8/12/17, p.10)
2017 Aug 9, Cambodia said it is
recruiting hundreds of maids to work in Hong Kong. The minimum
monthly wage for maids in Hong Kong was $550.
(AFP, 8/9/17)
2017 Aug 10, Kuwait said it
will continue to grant visas to North Korean laborers whose wages
allegedly aid Pyongyang in evading international sanctions.
(AP, 8/10/17)
2017 Aug 22, In Romania about
200 disabled people, some in wheelchairs, others with crutches,
protested outside the labor ministry against a measure they say
could leave them jobless. A government emergency decree, effective
September 1, means companies with more than 50 employees no longer
have to hire a certain number of disabled people or use a department
that hires special-needs personnel.
(AP, 8/22/17)
2017 Aug 30, South Korea's
Supreme Court said a former worker in a Samsung LCD factory who was
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis should be recognized as having an
occupationally caused disease, overturning lower court verdicts that
held a lack of evidence against the worker.
(AP, 8/30/17)
2017 Sep 6, Greek asylum
service employees on short-term contracts launched a two-day strike
to protest months-long delays in their salary payments.
(AP, 9/6/17)
2017 Sep 12, In France tens of
thousands of protesters marched against President Emmanuel Macron's
flagship economic reforms in the first major demonstrations against
his pro-business agenda. Riot police clashed with hooded youths on
the fringe of a protest in central Paris against Macron's reforms to
loosen labor regulations.
(AFP, 9/12/17)(Reuters, 9/12/17)
2017 Sep 13, French PM Edouard
Philippe shrugged off nationwide protests against planned reforms to
France's strict labor regulations, saying he was "listening" but
would nonetheless press ahead with the bill.
(Reuters, 9/13/17)
2017 Sep 18, Much of Haiti came
to a halt because of a transportation strike over new taxes proposed
by the government.
(AP, 9/18/17)
2017 Sep 21, Hewlett Packard
Enterprises said it is planning to cut about 10 percent of its
staff, or at least 5,000 workers, as part of an effort to pare
expenses under mounting competition.
(SFC, 9/22/17 p.C4)
2017 Sep 21, French labor
unions staged fresh protests against Pres. Emmanuel Macron's
contested labor law reforms, a day before he adopts them by
executive order.
(AP, 9/21/17)
2017 Sep 22, French President
Emmanuel Macron formally signed five decrees overhauling labor
rules, the first major economic reforms since he took power in May.
(Reuters, 9/22/17)
2017 Sep 23, In France several
thousand demonstrators rallied to a call by firebrand leftist
politician Jean-Luc Melenchon to join a protest in Paris against
President Emmanuel Macron's sweeping reforms of the labor code.
(AFP, 9/23/17)
2017 Sep 23, PM Abdulla Aripov
said Uzbekistan will no longer have thousands of students, teachers
and healthcare workers pick the cotton harvest, confirming a halt to
a practice condemned abroad as forced labor.
(Reuters, 9/23/17)
2017 Sep 25, French truck
drivers staged road blockages near fuel depots across the country to
protest against President Emmanuel Macron's changes to labor laws.
(AP, 9/25/17)
2017 Sep 25, Target Corp.
announced that its minimum hourly wage will rise to $11 starting
next month and move to $15 by the end of 2020.
(SFC, 9/26/17, p.D1)
2017 Oct 4, More than 50
Jordanian and international companies advertised hundreds of jobs in
textiles, construction and agriculture at a job fair for Syrian
refugees, part of an EU-sponsored effort to help the displaced
become more self-reliant during what could be years of exile.
(AP, 10/4/17)
2017 Oct 5, Cambodia's
government agreed to raise the minimum wage for workers in the
garment and footwear industry, a move likely aimed at winning their
support ahead of a general election next year. The minimum wage will
be raised by 11.11 percent to $170 a month, with $165 to be paid by
the employers and $5 to be paid by the government, effective next
year.
(AP, 10/5/17)
2017 Oct 5, In the Netherlands
thousands of primary school teachers went on a one-day strike to
back demands for better pay and conditions.
(AP, 10/5/17)
2017 Oct 10, British defense
company BAE Systems said it is cutting almost 2,000 jobs in its
military, maritime and intelligence services amid a slowdown in
orders for its Typhoon fighter jets.
(AP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 10, In France more
than 100,000 public sector workers angered by Pres. Emmanuel
Macron's plans to freeze their pay and eliminate jobs went on
strike, amplifying opposition to the president's cost-cutting,
pro-business agenda.
(AFP, 10/10/17)
2017 Oct 12, French President
Emmanuel Macron launched round two of his ambitious domestic reform
program. This included major changes to the generous unemployment
benefits system, as well as large increases in state-funded training
aimed at helping the unemployed back into the workplace.
(AFP, 10/12/17)
2017 Oct 23, An agreement
reached by EU member states limited the amount of time workers can
be "posted" from one EU country to another, but the agreement did
not cover the road transport sector.
(Reuters, 11/21/17)
2017 Oct 26, Nordea Bank AB,
the Nordic region's largest bank, said it plans to cut at least
6,000 jobs over the next four years to stay competitive as its
retail banking operations increasingly become digital and automation
hits the financial industry. The cuts will spread across its home
markets of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
(AP, 10/26/17)
2017 Oct 27, In China Vlada
Dzyuba (14), a Russian model, died after working on a photo shoot in
Yiwu, about 300 km (186 miles) south of Shanghai. A Chinese modeling
agency that hired the girl denied media reports that a "slave
contract" contributed to the teen's sudden death.
(AP, 10/30/17)
2017 Oct 31, In Argentina a
strike by workers of its two largest airlines caused the
cancellation of dozens of flights and the grounding of tens of
thousands of passengers. Unions representing state-run carrier
Aerolineas Argentinas and sister company Austral Lineas Aereas
demanded a 26 percent salary hike in line with the inflation rate.
(AP, 10/31/17)
2017 Nov 1, The Bank of England
predicted that some 10,000 UK financial services jobs could move
abroad on the first day of Brexit, after warnings of up to 75,000
relocations in total.
(AFP, 11/1/17)
2017 Nov 7, In Romania some
5,000 employees at a Dacia automobile factory in Mioveni protested
an unpopular government plan to make employees pay social welfare
taxes currently paid by employers, saying it will lead to salary
cuts.
(AP, 11/7/17)
2017 Nov 10, In Brazil hundreds
of people marched through Sao Paulo to protest the implementation of
new labor rules and express their opposition to proposed changes to
the social security system. The labor law goes into effect Nov. 11.
(AP, 11/10/17)
2017 Nov 18, Thousands of
Spanish police officers packed a central square in Madrid to demand
higher salaries and better working conditions. The National Police
and Civil Guard members asked for the same pay received by the
regional police forces that are exclusive to the regions of
Catalonia and the Basque country.
(AP, 11/18/17)
2017 Nov 21, French truck
drivers blocked traffic at border crossings with Spain, Italy and
Belgium in protest over cut-price competition in the road-freight
industry. French truckers faced being priced out by drivers from
other EU member states, who are willing to do fixed-term work for
lower pay than French drivers might normally receive.
(Reuters, 11/21/17)
2017 Nov 26, Israel's health
minister Yaakov Litzman, who heads a powerful ultra-Orthodox
political party in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, resigned saying
he opposed continued maintenance work on the country's railways on
the Sabbath, when all labor is strictly prohibited by Jewish law.
(AP, 11/26/17)
2017 Nov 27, Teachers at many
of France's international schools, a symbol of French soft power
around the world, went on strike over planned cuts to budgets and
staffing. Paris has 492 schools in 137 foreign countries, catering
to some 350,000 students including the children of elite business
leaders and diplomats.
(AFP, 11/27/17)
2017 Dec 5, In the SF Bay Area
unionized city workers of Oakland went on strike to push for better
pay, less use of part-time workers and other demands.
(SFC, 12/6/17, p.A1)
2017 Dec 14, The US National
Labor Relations Board overturned a key Obama-era precedent that had
given workers significant leverage in challenging companies like
fast-food and hotel chains over labor practices. The 3-2 vote along
party lines restored a pre-2015 standard.
(SFC, 12/16/17, p.D4)
2017 Dec 14, Israel-based Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world's largest generic
drugmaker, said it would lay off over a quarter of its workforce as
part of a global restructuring meant to salvage its ailing business.
The company said 14,000 workers would be let go over the next two
years.
(AP, 12/14/17)
2017 Dec 15, In Puerto Rico
union leaders representing power company workers slammed local and
federal officials for lack of equipment as the territory missed a
deadline to restore 95 percent of power as promised by the island’s
governor. Current power generation was at 64%, nearly three months
after Hurricane Maria.
(SFC, 12/16/17, p.A6)
2017 Dec 17, Israel's national
trade union held a half-day nationwide strike to protest generic
drugmaker Teva's decision to lay off a quarter of its workforce,
snarling traffic and shuttering key services across the country.
(AP, 12/17/17)
2017 Dec 18, In Argentina
demonstrators gathered in Buenos Aires and the country's main union
called a 24-hour general strike to protest a hotly debated pension
reform measure.
(Reuters, 12/18/17)
2017 Dec 18, A major Nigerian
oil union said it would suspend a nationwide strike after securing
worker demands through dispute resolution with the government and an
oil firm.
(Reuters, 12/18/17)
2017 Dec 19, Argentina's
Congress passed a reform to the pension system early today, after
days of demonstrations by the bill's opponents and violent clashes
between protesters and police gripped the South American country.
(Reuters, 12/19/17)
2017 Dec 29, Brazil's official
government gazette said the government has issued a decree
backtracking on plans to weaken the definition of slave labor in
response to criticism and a court suspension of the original edict.
The original mid-October decree, backed by Brazil's powerful farm
lobby, narrowed the definition of slave labor to limiting the
ability of workers to move freely while disregarding other abuses.
(Reuters, 12/29/17)
2017 In Nevada the 82-year-old
Culinary Workers Union Local 216 included some 57,000 members and
represented employees at most of the casinos on the Vegas Strip and
downtown.
(Econ, 8/12/17, p.21)
2017 The World Bank said over 5
million people already offer to work on online marketplaces such as
Freelancer.com and UpWork. Mico work sites such as Mechanical Turk,
a service operated by Amazon, counted some 500,000 workers.
(Econ, 8/26/17, p.55)
2018 Jan 1, In Iceland a new
law took effect requiring all companies to prove that their wage
practices don't discriminate against women, in what is thought to be
a global first in the effort to reduce gender pay gaps.
(AP, 1/4/18)
2018 Jan 8, Germany's powerful
metalworkers' union launched mass strikes over pay and working hours
that could impact a key industry and the shape of labor nationwide.
IG Metall demanded that all workers have the option to temporarily
switch to a 28-hour week in the pursuit of better work-life balance.
(AFP, 1/8/18)
2018 Jan 12, In Greece police
fired tear gas in brief clashes with protesters and strikes halted
ferries and disrupted public transport, as unions stepped up
protests against a new austerity bill that will limit the right to
strike and speed up property foreclosures.
(AP, 1/12/18)
2018 Jan 15, Greek labor unions
went on strike to protest further creditor-demanded austerity
measures due to be voted on in Parliament. Strikes shut down all
public transport in Athens.
(AP, 1/15/18)
2018 Jan 19, In France five of
six unions at Peugeot maker PSA Group agreed to 1,300 job cuts made
possible by new French labor rules imposed by Pres. Emmanuel Macron.
(AP, 1/19/18)
2018 Jan 19, The Philippines
suspended sending workers to Kuwait, a day after President Rodrigo
Duterte said abuse by employers there had driven several domestic
helpers to suicide.
(Reuters, 1/19/18)
2018 Jan 23, US-based
Kimberly-Clark announced plans to cut more than 5,000 jobs in an
attempt to lower costs as consumer demand for some of its core
products declined with falling birth rates.
(SFC, 1/24/18, p.C5)
2018 Jan 24, In France
two-thirds of the country’s 188 prisons were being disrupted by work
stoppages and pickets. The protests began on Jan. 12 after an al
Qaeda convict jailed over killings in Tunisia stabbed and injured
two wardens with a pair of scissors in northern France.
(AP, 1/24/18)
2018 Jan 24, In Slovenia
thousands of public sector workers in Ljubljana staged a one-day
strike and protest demanding higher wages.
(AP, 1/24/18)
2018 Jan 29, Australia’s
government announced a strategy to create high-tech jobs and become
one of the top 10 defense-industry-exporting countries within a
decade through arms sales to liked-minded nations while also keeping
those weapons from rogue regimes.
(AP, 1/29/18)
2018 Jan 30, In France workers
and some residents at nursing homes protested around the country in
anger over staff shortages and cost cuts, pressing President
Emmanuel Macron's government to rethink care for the elderly.
(AP, 1/30/18)
2018 Feb 1, Industrial workers
in Germany began a second day of 24-hour strikes over pay and
working hours, affecting companies including carmakers VW and Ford .
(Reuters, 2/1/18)
2018 Feb 2, Car factories
across Germany were at a standstill as industrial workers staged a
third day of 24-hour strikes, focusing on plants owned by
Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and BMW.
(Reuters, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 6, Germany's biggest
industrial union and employers reached a wage deal that gives
workers the equivalent of 3.5 percent annual raises over 27 months
and the chance to work a 28-hour week for up to two years.
(AP, 2/6/18)
2018 Feb 7, British supermarket
chain Tesco faced legal claims that it is paying women less than men
for work of equal value, in a case that lawyers estimate could
ultimately cost it as much as 4 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in
compensation payments.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 8, In Poland
protesting doctors and health authorities signed a deal that will
significantly increase spending on health care, including doctors'
pay.
(AP, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 8, A spokeswoman for
the Russian Foreign Ministry said North Korean workers can stay in
Russia until Dec. 2019, in line with a United Nations' resolution.
(Reuters, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 11, The Philippine
labor minister said more than 2,200 Filipinos are ready to take up
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's offer to repatriate workers from Kuwait due
to reports of abuse.
(Reuters, 2/11/18)
2018 Feb 12, Malaysian police
said three members of a Malaysian family have been detained in the
death of their Indonesian maid, who suffered injuries and was forced
to sleep outside on a porch with the family's dog. Adelina Lisao
(26) had died a day earlier. The alleged maid abuse prompted calls
by activists and lawmakers for better laws to safeguard migrant
workers.
(AP, 2/12/18)
2018 Feb 12, Slovenian police
officers began a strike and nurses staged a two-hour walkout a day
later. Last month about 30,000 public sector employees took to the
streets calling for higher wages. Slovenia imposed restrictions on
public sector wage hikes during a financial crisis in 2012. Not all
of these have been lifted.
(Reuters, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 13, Kuwait's foreign
minister condemned what he called an "escalation" by Manila after
the Philippines expanded a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait.
(AFP, 2/13/18)
2018 Feb 14, Most schools in
Slovenia closed as some 40,000 teachers held a one-day strike, the
latest in a week of protests by public sector workers demanding more
pay amid stronger economic growth.
(Reuters, 2/14/18)
2018 Feb 27, West Virginia
teachers reached a deal with Gov. Jim Justice to end a four-day
strike. Under the agreement teachers will receive 5% raises over a
year. The state Senate soon cut the raise to 4% and the strike
continued.
(SFC, 2/28/18, p.A5)(SFC, 3/6/18, p.A6)
2018 Mar 6, West Virginia’s
lawmakers ceded teachers a 5% pay raise ending a 9-day classroom
walkout. The pay hikes were extended to all state workers.
(SFC, 3/7/18, p.A4)
2018 Mar 6, Greek train routes
were suspended for the day as railway workers staged a 24-hour
strike to protest the privatization of the rolling stock maintenance
company and a lack of staff.
(AP, 3/6/18)
2018 Mar 12, In India tens of
thousands of protesting farmers from Maharashtra state marched into
the state capital of Mumbai to demand government support to address
hardship in a sector that employs the majority of the country's
workforce.
(Reuters, 3/12/18)
2018 Mar 15, French pensioners
and retirement home workers staged protests across the country,
kicking off a series of strikes against Pres. Emmanuel Macron's
reforms.
(AFP, 3/15/18)
2018 Mar 16, The Philippine
labor secretary said a ban on sending Filipinos to work in Kuwait
will continue indefinitely after the nations failed to conclude a
migrant labor protection pact. Later today a deal was signed in
Manila after a meeting between a visiting Kuwaiti delegation and
Filipino authorities.
(AP, 3/16/18)(Reuters, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 17, Tens of thousands
of Spaniards rallied across the country to demand better pensions as
unions accused the government of seeking to privatise retirement
benefits.
(AFP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 20, The European Union
said that the right of citizens from poorer member states to work in
richer ones on a low salary would be limited to 18 months under a
reform of the bloc's labor laws sought by France.
(Reuters, 3/20/18)
2018 Mar 21, Spanish workers in
the largest logistics center in Spain, owned by global e-commerce
giant Amazon, began a 2-day strike over wages and overtime benefits.
(AP, 3/21/18)
2018 Mar 21, The UN's
International Labour Organization (ILO) launched a commission of
inquiry into complaints that Venezuela is violating standards
including freedom of association and workers' rights to organize.
(Reuters, 3/21/18)
2018 Mar 22, In France tens of
thousands of nurses, teachers and other public sector workers joined
forces to march against President Emmanuel Macron's reforms, causing
widespread travel disruption and bringing brief clashes with police
in some cities.
(Reuters, 3/22/18)
2018 Mar 27, Algerian doctors
expanded a pay strike and teachers resumed one, putting pressure on
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his prime minister at a time when
resources are limited.
(Reuters, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 30, Air France staff
went on strike for the third time in a month, forcing the airline to
cancel a quarter of flights. Lawyers were also set to strike
nationwide against reforms that they say will over-centralize
France's court system.
(AFP, 3/30/18)
2018 Mar 31, Workers at
France's Carrefour supermarkets began striking to protest planned
job cuts. The strike caused disruptions at about 300 Carrefour
markets across the country.
(AP, 3/31/18)
2018 Mar, US officials
announced settlements with four Chinese construction firms to pay
$14 million in back wages and damages to 2,400 affected workers in
Saipan. The companies, contracted by Hong Kong's Imperial Pacific
International, brought workers on tourist visas, paid them less than
required by law and failed to secure proper work authorization by
exploiting a visa waiver program that allows Chinese citizens to
travel to the Northern Mariana Islands.
(AP, 3/14/18)
2018 Apr 1, Qatar World Cup
organizers said migrant workers building stadiums will receive more
than $5 million in compensation after recruitment fees were demanded
to secure employment in the Gulf nation.
(AP, 4/1/18)
2018 Apr 2, The US Supreme
Court ruled 5-4 that car dealerships' service advisers, like car
salesmen and mechanics, are exempt under federal law from overtime
pay requirements.
(SFC, 4/3/18, p.D3)
2018 Apr 3, French rail workers
launched the first in a series of nationwide strikes, threatening
disruption over several months in the sternest challenge yet to
President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to modernize Europe's second
biggest economy.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 4, In France millions
of commuters suffered a second consecutive day of travel chaos as
striking rail workers locked horns with President Emmanuel Macron's
government in a dispute over reforming the state-owned SNCF
railways.
(Reuters, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 5, In France PM
Edouard Philippe said the government would not back down in a
shake-up of the state-owned SNCF railways, prompting accusations of
arrogance from unions who said further strikes would go ahead as
planned.
(Reuters, 4/5/18)
2018 Apr 7, Air France
cancelled hundreds of its flights as pilots, cabin crew and ground
staff pursued a fifth day of strikes aimed at securing higher pay.
(AFP, 4/7/18)
2018 Apr 8, In France travelers
grappled with another crippling wave of transport strikes, as train
workers protested President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms and a
stand-off between the government and rail unions hardened.
(Reuters, 4/8/18)
2018 Apr 9, The Ninth US
Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled that employers can't set
different pay levels for women and men doing the same job by
relying, even in part, on their salary at a previous job.
(SFC, 4/10/18, p.C1)
2018 Apr 9, France's rail
operator said that the rolling strikes against plans to overhaul the
debt-laden company had already cost it around 100 million euros
($123 million) as the standoff between unions and the government
dragged on.
(AFP, 4/9/18)
2018 Apr 10, In France air
traffic was severely disrupted as the country's biggest airline Air
France was forced to cancel one in four flights, in the sixth round
of strikes launched by its employees since February.
(AFP, 4/10/18)
2018 Apr 10, In Germany tens of
thousands of air passengers were stranded as workers at airlines
Lufthansa staged strikes that crippled traffic.
(AFP, 4/10/18)
2018 Apr 11, Striking Air
France pilots and cabin staff insisted they weren't backing down, as
their latest walkout forced the cancellation of some 30 percent of
the airline's flights worldwide.
(AP, 4/11/18)
2018 Apr 11, In Germany trade
unions piled more pressure on public sector employers with a second
day of nationwide wage strikes, as more than 25,000 workers staged
walkouts at hospitals, childcare centers and waste depots.
(Reuters, 4/11/18)
2018 Apr 12, French President
Emmanuel Macron vowed that he would not back down on his plans to
overhaul the state rail operator, urging workers to call off three
months of strikes and pursue the reforms "together".
(AP, 4/12/18)
2018 Apr 16, In Romania health
workers protested pay cuts following government promises to hike
salaries in the health care sector amid a general tax and wage
overhaul.
(AP, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 17, Zimbabwe's
government sacked the majority of 15,000 nurses who started
industrial action this week shortly after doctors ended their
month-long strike.
(AFP, 4/19/18)
2018 Apr 18, Striking French
rail staff halted train services for the seventh day this month in
protest over a major shake-up of the state-owned railway company,
but President Emmanuel Macron said he would not be cowed into
retreat.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)
2018 Apr 18, Greek ferries
remained docked at the country's ports as seamen, marine engineers
and ship cooks walked off the job for 24 hours to protest against
planned government reforms which they say will further hurt their
labor rights. The Panhellenic Seamen's Federation, announced in the
afternoon it would extend the strike for a further 24 hours.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)(AP, 4/18/18)
2018 Apr 19, In France
thousands of people marched across the country to protest President
Emmanuel Macron's labor law changes, as rail strikes and student
protests continued to shake the country.
(AP, 4/19/18)
2018 Apr 22, Zimbabwean nurses
called off a strike against poor working conditions. a nurses union
said they will return to work on April 23.
(Reuters, 4/22/18)
2018 Apr 25, In South Africa
several thousand South African union members marched in Johannesburg
to protest a proposed national minimum wage of $1.60 per hour they
called inadequate, accusing the government of being hostile to
labor.
(Reuters, 4/25/18)(AP, 4/25/18)
2018 Apr 26, In Romania
thousands of health care workers protested wage cuts outside the
government offices in Bucharest.
(AP, 4/26/18)
2018 Apr 29, Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte said that a ban on Filipino workers from
heading to Kuwait that's been in effect since February would now be
permanent.
(AP, 4/29/18)
2018 Apr 29, Kuwait said it
stands ready to cooperate with the Philippines to address labor
issues facing Filipino workers, but would also "act decisively"
against attempts to breach its sovereignty.
(AP, 4/30/18)
2018 May 1, In France hundreds
of demonstrators marched across Paris as part of May Day protests
taking place in French cities to oppose economic policies pursued by
President Emmanuel Macron. Some 109 people were taken into custody
in Paris suspected of offenses including carrying prohibited weapons
and firing projectiles after May Day protests.
(AP, 5/1/18)(AP, 5/2/18)
2018 May 1, Tens of thousands
of workers marched across Germany and Austria rallying for their
rights in the face of globalization.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, Thousands of Greeks
are marching through central Athens in at least three separate May
Day demonstrations.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, In Indonesia about
10,000 workers from various labor groups rallied near the
presidential palace in Jakarta to voice their demands.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, Hundreds of
Iranians defied a ban on protests to mark International Labor Day,
with police detaining at least six people.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, In Russia more than
100,000 people came out on the streets on Moscow to march in the
traditional May Day parade.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, In South Korea
thousands of labor union members rallied in downtown Seoul for a
higher minimum wage and other demands.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, More than 70 cities
across Spain held May Day marches calling for gender equality,
higher salaries and pensions now that the country's economy is back
on track.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 1, In Turkey police
detained dozens of demonstrators during May Day events around
Istanbul, most of them protesters who tried to march toward the
city's symbolic main square in defiance of a ban.
(AP, 5/1/18)
2018 May 2, The Chinese
state-backed documentary "Amazing China" portrayed the Huajian
Group, which manufactured Ivanka Trump shoes, as a beneficent force
spreading prosperity — in this case, by hiring thousands of
Ethiopians at wages a fraction of what they'd have to pay in China.
Huajian workers said they work without safety equipment for pay so
low they can barely make ends meet.
(AP, 5/2/18)
2018 May 3, Arizona-Gov. Doug
Ducey signed a plan giving striking teachers a 19 percent pay raise
over the next two years ending a five-day walkout.
(SFC, 5/4/18, p.A6)
2018 May 3, The Palestinian
Authority cut salaries for its staff in Gaza by 20 percent and
failed to make up for skipping the previous month's pay, leaving
civil servants in the impoverished territory fuming they were pawns
in a factional power struggle. PA salaries in the other Palestinian
territory, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, were paid in full.
(Reuters, 5/3/18)
2018 May 3, In South Africa the
Legal Resources Center said lawyers for gold miners who got lung
diseases while working underground over many decades have reached a
compensation agreement in their class action lawsuit against mining
companies.
(AP, 5/3/18)
2018 May 4, Online donations to
help French rail workers topped one million euros, a month after
they began rolling strikes over President Emmanuel Macron's drive to
transform the heavily indebted state rail monopoly into a
profit-making company.
(Reuters, 5/4/18)
2018 May 7, Romanian health
workers staged a two-hour strike to protest a government measure
that has led to wage cuts for some employees while some medics saw
their salaries doubled.
(AP, 5/7/18)
2018 May 11, Kuwait and the
Philippines signed a new agreement regarding Filipino laborer rights
after the Philippines earlier banned its citizens from working there
amid a diplomatic dispute.
(AFP, 5/11/18)
2018 May 16, In North Carolina
thousands of teachers filled the streets of Raleigh demanding better
pay and more funding for public schools.
(SFC, 5/17/18, p.A14)
2018 May 16, Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the "total" lifting of a ban on
Filipinos working in Kuwait after the two countries agreed on
measures to regulate employment following a diplomatic row over
alleged abuse of workers.
(Reuters, 5/16/18)
2018 May 21, The US Supreme
Court ruled 5-4 to allow employers to limit the ability of workers
to band together in court to pursue redress for labor violations.
(SFC, 5/22/18, p.A1)
2018 May 22, French
public-sector employees joined rail workers in striking to protest
reforms planned by President Emmanuel Macron, calling them an
"attack" against civil services and their economic security.
(AFP, 5/22/18)
2018 May 25, Thousands of
Brazilian truckers angry over fuel price hikes blocked roads, the
fifth day of a strike that led thousands of schools to shutter. The
airport in Brasilia canceled flights as it ran out of fuel due to
the strike.
(AP, 5/25/18)(AFP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 25, French union
officials said the government has agreed to absorb 35 billion euros
in debt from the state railway SNCF, raising the chances of an end
to nearly two months of strikes.
(AFP, 5/25/18)
2018 May 26, France's main far
left party, the hardline CGT trade union and some 80 other
organizations, led several thousand people in street protests across
the county against President Emmanuel Macron's reforms of the public
sector.
(Reuters, 5/26/18)
2018 May 28, A Brazil truckers'
strike, paralyzing fuel and food deliveries across the country,
entered an eighth day but with hopes of relief after unpopular
President Michel Temer caved in to the strikers' key demand.
(AFP, 5/28/18)
2018 May 29, Brazilian truckers
frustrated by rising fuel prices struck for a ninth day in several
states, though sporadic deliveries of gasoline and goods were
starting to ease a shutdown that has led to widespread shortages and
disturbances.
(AP, 5/29/18)
2018 May 30, Brazilian oil
workers began a 72-hour strike in a new blow to President Michel
Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled
Latin America's largest economy for over a week.
(Reuters, 5/30/18)
2018 May 31, Brazil's economy
showed signs of returning to normal, as the nation's largest oil
workers association ended a strike well ahead of schedule and an
11-day truckers protest appeared to dissolve, except in the nation's
far south.
(Reuters, 5/31/18)
2018 May 31, In South Africa
more than 100 support staff stopped work over the failure of
Johannesburg's Charlotte Maxeke hospital, also known as Joburg
General, to pay performance bonuses and overtime.
(AFP, 5/31/18)
2018 Jun 6, In Jordan shops and
pharmacies closed in Amman as some unions pressed ahead with a
strike protesting against tax hikes, after King Abdullah replaced
the prime minister to defuse public anger.
(Reuters, 6/6/18)
2018 Jun 13, France's biggest
agriculture union told its farmers to suspend a blockade of
refineries and fuel depots that had entered its third day over palm
oil imports and unfair competition.
(Reuters, 6/13/18)
2018 Jun 14, British plane
engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce said that it plans to cut 4,600 jobs
over the next 2 years as part of a major restructuring effort.
(AP, 6/14/18)
2018 Jun 14, Russia's PM Dmitry
Medvedev said that the government wanted to raise the retirement age
for men by five years, to 65 from 60, and for women by eight years,
to 63 from 55 in an effort to ease intense pressure on state
coffers.
(Reuters, 6/25/18)
2018 Jun 14, In South Africa
about 1,000 union members picketed Eskom's headquarters in
Johannesburg in a wage dispute that threatens the cash-strapped
utility's ability to deliver power.
(Reuters, 6/14/18)
2018 Jun 15, A New York City
taxi driver who spent 30 years behind the wheel hanged himself after
running out of money to lease a vehicle. Abdul Saleh (59) was found
dead in his rented Brooklyn room. The Yemeni immigrant was the sixth
driver to kill himself in the past six months amid financial
struggles while often working 12-hour shifts.
(AP, 6/16/18)
2018 Jun 15, Japan's Cabinet
adopted an economic plan that would allow more foreign workers as
the rapidly aging country seeks to make up for its declining
workforce.
(AP, 6/15/18)
2018 Jun 19, The French Palace
of Versailles, a top tourist attractions, and the Orsay museum in
Paris were closed to visitors due to a strike of employees.
(AP, 6/19/18)
2018 Jun 21, Health officials
in Azerbaijan said that about 200 farm workers have been poisoned
with chemicals while working in cotton fields.
(AP, 6/21/18)
2018 Jun 25, Argentina's unions
paralyzed the country with a 24-hour strike in protest at the
government's latest deal with the International Monetary Fund.
(AFP, 6/25/18)
2018 Jun 27, The US Supreme
Court in a 5-4 decision barred public employee unions from
collecting representation fees from nonmember workers.
(SFC, 6/28/18, p.A1)
2018 Jun 28, Benin's
Constitutional Court banned the right to strike by workers in the
country's defence, security, justice and health sectors, sparking
concern among union officials and legal observers.
(AFP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jun 29, The BBC struck a
deal with senior journalist Carrie Gracie and apologized for
underpaying her. Gracie had quit her post to protest the British
media company's gender pay gap.
(AP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jul 5, A Brazilian Supreme
Court justice ordered the suspension of labor minister Helton Yomura
as part of a corruption investigation.
(AP, 7/5/18)
2018 Jul 12, Iraqi police fired
into the air to disperse protesters demanding jobs and better public
services at one of three demonstrations outside major oilfields in
the southern oil hub of Basra.
(Reuters, 7/12/18)
2018 Jul 13, In Iraq about 100
protesters demanding jobs and better services from leaders closed
access to Umm Qasr commodities port near the southern city of Basra.
(Reuters, 7/13/18)
2018 Jul 15, Iraqis demanding
better public services and jobs took to the streets for the sixth
day in the southern oil-rich province of Basra, as authorities put
security forces on high alert and blocked the internet in the
country's Shiite heartland. Dozens of demonstrators were wounded.
The internet was off service across the country for a second
consecutive day and foreign airlines announced the suspension of
flights.
(AP, 7/15/18)(AFP, 7/15/18)
2018 Jul 17, Amazon workers in
Germany and Spain called for strikes over salary and working
conditions to coincide with the online retailer's global sales
event, Prime Day.
(AP, 7/17/18)
2018 Jul 19, Russian lawmakers
tentatively approved a hugely unpopular government plan to raise the
pension age to 65 for men and 63 for women. The plan has led to
protests and a record slump in Vladimir Putin's approval ratings.
(AFP, 7/19/18)
2018 Jul 20, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said a plan to raise the retirement age would be
reviewed, signaling a retreat from a reform that is needed to
balance state finances but which has hurt his popularity.
(Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018 Jul 26, In Spain tourists
arriving in Barcelona faced long lines and jam-packed buses and
subways as the city's taxis went on strike for a second day.
(AP, 7/26/18)
2018 Jul 28, In Spain taxi
drivers in Madrid went on strike in solidarity with Barcelona
cabbies protesting against "unfair competition" from Uber and
Cabify.
(AP, 7/28/18)
2018 Jul 29, In Russia
thousands protested in central Moscow against a proposed increase to
the retirement age and the crowd chanted slogans critical of
President Vladimir Putin whose approval ratings have been dented by
the bill.
(Reuters, 7/29/18)
2018 Jul 30, Workers at South
Africa's high-speed Gautrain went on strike over pay affecting
services to the country's main airport, the capital Pretoria and
commercial hub Johannesburg that caters for business commuters.
(Reuters, 7/30/18)
2018 Jul 30, Spanish taxi
drivers blocked major city streets including Barcelona's Gran Via
and Madrid's Castellana in a protest to pressure the government to
curb licenses to online ride-hailing services such as Uber.
(Reuters, 7/30/18)
2018 Aug 2, Guinea-Bissau PM
Aristide Gomes said public-sector workers have secured a pay
increase. The strike, launched on July 24, ended after the
government agreed to increase minimum monthly pay from 19,200 CFA
francs ($33.91, 29.28 euros) to 50,000 francs from September.
(AFP, 8/3/18)
2018 Aug 3, Russia denied a
report by the Wall Street Journal that said Moscow was allowing
thousands of fresh North Korean laborers into the country and
granting them new work permits in potential violation of UN
sanctions. Russia said fresh documents had been issued to laborers
already based in Russia who were working on old contracts.
(Reuters, 8/3/18)
2018 Aug 7, Italy's Senate
approved a decree curbing temporary job contracts and penalizing
firms that move production abroad, passing the first major
legislation by the new government.
(Reuters, 8/7/18)
2018 Aug 8, In southern Italy
hundreds of crop pickers and labor union activists marched from a
shanty town to protest what they say is the exploitation of migrant
farmworkers. 16 farmworkers were killed on Aug 4 and Aug 6 while
riding in vans that collided with trucks.
(AP, 8/8/18)
2018 Aug 8, Workers seized
partial control of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees in Hamas-run Gaza, accusing their union of "mutiny" over
job cuts.
(AFP, 8/8/18)
2018 Aug 10, Ryanair pilots in
several European countries staged a strike over work conditions that
prompted the budget carrier to cancel 400 flights. Walkouts called
by German and Belgian unions accounted for many of the cancelations,
with strikes also called in Sweden and Ireland.
(AP, 8/10/18)
2018 Aug 13, Workers at South
Africa's high-speed train service that mainly caters for business
commuters ended a two-week strike over pay after reaching a 12-month
agreement with their employer.
(Reuters, 8/13/18)
2018 Aug 17, Chilean miners at
the world's biggest copper mine, Escondida, signed an agreement with
Anglo-Australian owners BHP to avoid a strike announced two weeks
ago when unions rejected as insufficient a proposed salary hike.
(AFP, 8/17/18)
2018 Aug 22, In Croatia some
4,500 workers at the country's largest shipbuilding group Uljanik
went on strike and called for management to step down in protest
over late payment.
(Reuters, 8/22/18)
2018 Aug 27, In Croatia
hundreds of workers from two major shipyards protested in Zagreb
over unpaid wages and working conditions.
(AP, 8/27/18)
2018 Aug 28, US federal
immigration agents raided Load Trail Trailers in Sumner, Texas, and
arrested 160 workers following a tip that the company was hiring
illegal workers.
(http://tinyurl.com/y9t5wpmh)(SFC, 8/30/18, p.A5)
2018 Aug 30, Pres. Donald Trump
informed Congress that he is cancelling pay raises due in January
for most civilian federal employees, citing budget constraints.
(SFC, 8/31/18, p.A6)
2018 Aug 27, Ethiopian air
traffic controllers began a strike after disputes over pay and calls
for more employment benefits. Their average monthly salary was
around $540.
(AP, 9/1/18)
2018 Sep 3, Greek ships
remained docked at the country's ports as seamen started a strike to
demand the restoration of wages and labor rights, following the
expiry of Greece's third bailout program last month. The strike has
left tens of thousands of travelers stranded on the country's
popular island destinations.
(Reuters, 9/3/18)(AP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 3, In South Africa
workers from the mainly-white Solidarity union staged a go-slow
protest at the petrochemicals firm Sasol over a share scheme offered
exclusively to black staff, and said they would begin a full strike
on September 6.
(AP, 9/3/18)
2018 Sep 4, Greek ferry crews
have ended a strike that left tens of thousands of travelers and
islanders stranded for more than a day after ferry operators offered
them a 2-percent pay increase after an eight-year freeze because of
Greece's debt crisis.
(AP, 9/4/18)
2018 Sep 5, In India thousands
of farmers and laborers paralyzed central New Delhi in a protest
against what they called the anti-people policies of PM Narendra
Modi's government, as opposition parties step up pressure ahead of
key elections.
(Reuters, 9/5/18)
2018 Sep 12, Irish budget
carrier Ryanair was defiant as dozens of flights were disrupted in a
walkout by German pilots and cabin crew, the latest flare-up in a
bitter Europe-wide battle for better pay and conditions.
(AFP, 9/13/18)
2018 Sep 14, In Costa Rica a
labor strike that went into its fifth day with no apparent end in
sight. The government was struggling with a deficit estimated at 7.1
percent of GDP this year, which has pushed up the public debt load
and increased its need for revenue.
(AP, 9/15/18)
2018 Sep 14, Turkish security
forces fired tear gas at construction workers at Istanbul's new
airport who were protesting dangerous working conditions at the site
as it prepares to open for business next month.
(AFP, 9/14/18)
2018 Sep 15, Turkish unions
said hundreds of workers on the construction site of Istanbul's
third airport, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mega
development projects, have been arrested for protesting at the
number of work-related deaths and poor conditions.
(AFP, 9/15/18)
2018 Sep 15, Turkey freed 160
workers late today out of almost 600 who were arrested following a
protest over work-related deaths and poor conditions at the
construction site for Istanbul's third airport.
(AFP, 9/16/18)
2018 Sep 17, Turkish activists
and the opposition expressed outrage after a court jailed 24 workers
ahead of a trial over their actions in protests against labor
conditions at Istanbul's giant new airport.
(AFP, 9/19/18)
2018 Sep 18, South Africa's
largest trade union federation elected a woman president, a first
for the 33-year-old labor movement that helped lead the fight
against apartheid. Zingiswa Losi (42) was nominated unopposed at an
annual meeting of the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(Cosatu).
(AFP, 9/18/18)
2018 Sep 24, Staff at the
United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees went on strike in the
Gaza Strip to protest against job losses and US funding cuts.
(AFP, 9/24/18)
2018 Sep 25, In India the
relatives of thousands of workers who died cleaning sewers protested
in New Delhi, aiming to stop the practice of workers entering
underground conduits to unclog drains and remove waste with their
bare hands.
(Reuters, 9/25/18)
2018 Sep 26, Amnesty
International reported that a contractor involved in building
infrastructure around the marquee stadium for Qatar's hosting of the
2022 World Cup did not pay its workers, leaving them stranded
thousands of miles from home.
(AP, 9/26/18)
2018 Sep 28, Dublin-based
Ryanair canceled scores of European flights, but downplayed the
impact of the strike. Unions hoped the strike would be the biggest
in the airline's history. A key complaint of workers based in
countries other than Ireland is the fact that Ryanair has been
employing them under Irish legislation.
(AFP, 9/28/18)
2018 Oct 1, Slovenian police
resumed their strike for higher wages, less then three weeks after a
new minority center-left government led by PM Marjan Sarec took
power following a June parliamentary election.
(Reuters, 10/1/18)
2018 Oct 2, Amazon said it is
boosting its minimum wage for all US workers to $15 per hour
starting next month and said it will push for an increase in the
federally mandated minimum wage, which now stands at $7.25 per hour.
(AP, 10/2/18)
2018 Oct 2, German ministers
said the government will ease immigration rules to attract foreign
jobseekers, including giving well-integrated, irregular migrants who
are employed a shot at staying in the country to combat a
fast-ageing worker shortage.
(AFP, 10/2/18)
2018 Oct 2, In Morocco a
long-awaited law aimed at protecting thousands of young girls
working as housemaids took effect, the country's first such
legislation. The law sets a minimum age of 18 for household work. It
allowed 16-17 year-olds to work as domestic helpers for a further
five years until October 2023.
(AFP, 10/2/18)
2018 Oct 2, Workers for the UN
agency for Palestinian refugees went on strike to protest job cuts
due to a funding crisis sparked by US President Donald Trump's aid
cancellation.
(AP, 10/2/18)
2018 Oct 2, In Poland more than
20,000 policemen, firemen, border and prison guards gathered in
Warsaw to decry "outrageous" working conditions and demand pay
rises, in what they described as the biggest protest in Polish
police history.
(Reuters, 10/2/18)
2018 Oct 4, In San Francisco
almost 2,500 hotel workers began a strike that spanned seven
Marriott hotels. On Dec. 3 the hotel workers finally approved a new
contract.
(SFC, 12/4/18, p.A1)
2018 Oct 9, In Britain drivers
for taxi-sharing app Uber went on strike, demanding higher fares and
improved workers' rights and urging users not to cross the digital
picket line by ordering rides.
(AFP, 10/9/18)
2018 Oct 11, Zimbabwe police
arrested dozens of trade union members ahead of a planned protest in
the capital over the worst economic crisis in a decade. Police
arrested Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions members in Harare and the
cities of Mutare and Masvingo. The government banned the protest,
citing an ongoing cholera outbreak.
(AP, 10/11/18)
2018 Oct 22, Canada Post
workers went on a rotating strike, affecting mail deliveries in four
cities after nearly one year of stalled contract negotiations.
(AFP, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 24, Poland's national
airline LOT cancelled some flights as some crew members struck to
protest layoffs and demand better working conditions. Almost 70
flight crew members have been fired for participating in the strike
that started Oct. 18 and that the management says is illegal.
(AP, 10/24/18)
2018 Oct 26, In Belgium
hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Brussels international
airport after luggage handlers went on strike over workload and pay
demands.
(AP, 10/26/18)
2018 Oct 26, In Italy travelers
and commuters faced delays as several national trade unions staged a
24-hour strike, disrupting transport services as well as some public
schools.
(Reuters, 10/26/18)
2018 Oct 28, A long-awaited
reform of Qatar's controversial exit visa system, which requires
foreign workers to obtain their bosses' permission to leave the
country, came into force.
(AFP, 10/28/18)
2018 Oct 29, In Belgium a
strike by baggage handlers disrupted flights to and from the main
airport for a fifth day.
(AP, 10/29/18)
2018 Oct 29, In Guinea a "dead
city" strike call by the opposition largely emptied the streets of
the capital Conakry, with no solution in sight to a pay dispute in
the education sector.
(AFP, 10/29/18)
2018 Oct 29, In Myanmar dozens
of striking workers from a Chinese-owned garment factory marched to
a government compound in Yangon, demanding to meet the city’s chief
minister, as part of efforts to get sacked colleagues reinstated.
(Reuters, 10/29/18)
2018 Oct 31, In Belgium unions
and management found agreement to end a six-day strike by baggage
handlers that has disrupted flights to and from the main airport for
part of the autumn holiday season.
(AP, 10/31/18)
2018 Sep, Qatar approved
legislation to scrap the "kafala", or sponsorship, system which
required that foreign workers obtain permission from their employers
to leave the country. In October it went into force for all but five
percent of a company's workforce.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2018 Nov 2, The US Trade
Representative's Office (USTR) said President Donald Trump intends
to end trade benefits for Mauritania on Jan. 1 for not making
sufficient progress on ending forced labor practices.
(Reuters, 11/3/18)
2018 Nov 5, In Poland a North
Korean worker who claims he is a victim of modern slavery in a
Polish shipyard filed a criminal complaint against a Dutch
shipbuilder that bought products from the Polish firm. Dutch lawyer
Barbara van Straaten filed the case on the worker's behalf.
(AP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 8, Canadian aerospace
and transportation manufacturer Bombardier announced 5,000 global
job cuts over the next year to 18 months in a bid to "streamline"
the struggling firm.
(AFP, 11/8/18)
2018 Nov 9, Romania's
government passed an emergency ordinance that will create two
different levels for the minimum national wage. The minimum monthly
salary will be 2,080 lei ($507) starting Jan.1, while those with
higher education qualifications or 15 years of employment are
guaranteed 2,350 lei ($573).
(AP, 11/9/18)
2018 Nov 13, In China students
and alumni of several Chinese universities sounded the alarm over
the apparent detention of more than a dozen young labor activists
who have been missing since the weekend. They were involved in a
coalition, led by young Marxist activists, that was founded this
summer to show solidarity with factory workers at Jasic Technology,
a welding equipment manufacturer in southern China.
(AP, 11/14/18)
2018 Nov 16, A senior North
Korean official on a visit to South Korea called for Japan to
apologize for the wartime forced labor of thousands of Koreans.
(AP, 11/16/18)
2018 Nov 18, Iran's state-run
IRNA news agency reported that the country's authorities have
detained four workers protesting not having been paid their salaries
for months in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
(AP, 11/18/18)
2018 Nov 22, Portuguese police
in riot gear broke up a picket line of striking stevedores in the
port of Setubal to clear the way for strikebreakers hired to resume
shipments of cars made at a nearby Volkswagen plant nearby.
Thousands of cars have piled up at the port and at the Volkswagen
Autoeuropa plant since the strike began on Nov. 5, forcing the
manufacturer to cancel seven shipments.
(Reuters, 11/22/18)
2018 Nov 22, Tunisian civil
servants staged the largest general strike in five years after their
powerful trade union failed to secure wage hikes in tense
negotiations with the government.
(AFP, 11/22/18)
2018 Nov 23, Unions in Britain
said they would stage protests at five sites to complain about
safety conditions. In Germany, workers walked off the job at Amazon
distribution centers in Rheinberg and Bad Hersfeld as part of a
years-long push for higher pay. In Spain Labor groups representing
workers at Amazon said that around 90 percent of workers at a
logistics depot near Madrid joined a walkout.
(AP, 11/23/18)
2018 Nov 26, Detroit-based
General Motors said it will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar
workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure
as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and
electric vehicles.
(AP, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 26, Trains stopped
running across Austria as last-minute pay negotiations failed to
avert a planned two-hour strike, disrupting travel for 100,000
travelers in Europe.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 26, South Africa's
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the national minimum wage
bill, part of efforts by the government to tackle wage inequality in
Africa's most industrialized economy. The National Minimum Wage Act
sets South Africa's minimum wage at 20 rand ($1.45) an hour, equal
to 3,500 rand per month.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 28, In Greece train
and island ferry services were suspended and most Athens public
transport was idle as the country's biggest labor union held a
strike against persisting austerity measures.
(AP, 11/28/18)
2018 Nov 29, Hundreds of
Bulgarian coal miners and energy workers protested to demand
government guarantees that their jobs will be preserved amid bids by
the European Union to close mines and tackle climate change. 150,000
jobs were reportedly at risk.
(AP, 11/29/18)
2018 Nov 29, South Korea's top
court ordered Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to
financially compensate 10 Koreans for forced labor during Tokyo's
1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, in the second such
ruling in a month that again drew quick, vehement protests from
Japan.
(AP, 11/29/18)
2018 Nov 29, In Spain thousands
of Catalan civil servants joined strikes and ongoing protests by
students and health workers to demand more funding and better
working conditions.
(AP, 11/29/18)
2018 Nov 26, Japanese police
arrested 11 Chinese nationals in northern Japan for allegedly
working at a construction site without passports or proper visas.
Officials looked for 46 other Chinese who disappeared from the
construction site after the arrests.
(AP, 12/3/18)
2018 Dec 4, Doctors in Sierra
Leone's public hospitals began a strike to protest against low wages
and poor working conditions. Nurses said they may follow suit.
(Reuters, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 5, Britain's High
Court has ruled that Deliveroo riders do not have the right to
collective bargaining, the latest in a series of rulings as U.K.
courts grappled with the rise of the so-called "gig economy".
(AP, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 5, It was reported
that Croatia is suffering a severe labor shortage, most glaringly in
its booming seaside tourist resorts, that is compounding obstacles
to economic growth and dimming hopes of catching up to more
developed EU peers.
(Reuters, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 5, French trade unions
and farmers pledged to join nationwide protests against President
Emmanuel Macron, as concessions by the government failed to stem the
momentum of the most violent demonstrations France has seen in
decades.
(AP, 12/5/18)
2018 Dec 6, France's PM Edouard
Philippe said he was open to new measures to benefit workers on the
lowest salaries, as the government scrambled to head off another
round of 'yellow vest' protests in Paris this weekend.
(Reuters, 12/6/18)
2018 Dec 7, Mexico's Supreme
Court suspended a new law that cuts public sector pay, freezing it
until the tribunal has made a definitive ruling on the legislation,
and dealing a blow to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
(Reuters, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 7, In Portugal a
walkout by rail workers over pay disrupted train services amid a
spate of strikes by government employees.
(AP, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 7, Qatar paid the
salaries of nearly 30,000 Gazan civil servants, delighting the
impoverished workers but angering some in the deeply divided
Palestinian leadership who balked at the intervention of a foreign
power.
(Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018 Dec 8, Hungarian trade
unions protested a government plan to raise workers' allowable
overtime from 250 to 400 hours a year and the relaxing of other
labor rules meant to offset Hungary's growing labor shortage.
(AP, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 8, Japanese lawmakers
approved government-proposed legislation allowing hundreds of
thousands of foreign laborers to live and work in a country that has
long resisted accepting outsiders.
(AP, 12/8/18)
2018 Dec 10, In Germany a
four-hour strike affected more than 1,400 trains nationwide, hitting
long-distance traffic and also metro rail systems in Berlin, Munich,
Hannover and Frankfurt. The EVG labor union called the so-called
"warning strike" to put pressure on Deutsche Bahn after wage
negotiations broke off on Dec. 8 without an agreement.
(AP, 12/10/18)
2018 Dec 11, Six Cambodian
union leaders each received suspended 2 1/2-year prison terms in
connection with labor protests in January, 2014, in which four
garment workers were killed and around 20 others hurt.
(AP, 12/11/18)
2018 Dec 12, In Hungary rare
scenes of chaos gripped the parliament as it passed a controversial
judicial reform, as well as labor legislation that critics call a
"slave law".
(AFP, 12/12/18)
2018 Dec 16, Iranian
authorities detained an unspecified number of steel mill workers
after five weeks of protests over delays in salaries in Khuzestan
province.
(AP, 12/17/18)
2018 Dec 18, Mexico's Pres.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his new government is increasing
minimum wages across the country by 16 percent and doubling the
minimum wage in a narrow stretch of territory along the border with
the US. The minimum is currently equivalent to $4.40 per day, and
will rise to $5.10 in January.
(AP, 12/18/18)
2018 Dec 18, The US government
said that it is reviewing reports of forced labor at a Chinese
internment camp where ethnic minorities are sewing clothes that have
been shipped to the US market.
(AP, 12/19/18)
2018 Dec 20, Hungary's Pres.
Janos Ader said he has signed into law disputed amendments to labor
rules which greatly increase overtime hours employers can request
from workers.
(AP, 12/20/18)
2018 Dec 21, In Hungary at
least 5,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the Budapest late
today, as rightwing nationalist PM Viktor Orban dismissed a wave of
protests against a new labor reform as "hysterical shouting".
(AFP, 12/21/18)
2018 Dec 21, Spanish PM Pedro
Sanchez decreed a 22 percent rise in the minimum wage, the biggest
in four decades, and a move that could strengthen his grip on power
but defies warnings that it could worsen unemployment.
(Reuters, 12/21/18)
2018 Dec 22, Britain's
Beefeater guards at the Tower of London switched their traditional
red uniforms for yellow vests as they went on strike with staff at
other historic sites over pensions.
(AFP, 12/22/18)
2019 Jan 3, In Spain workers at
Amazon's biggest local warehouse started a two-day strike just ahead
of a gift-giving feast day, as part of a long-running campaign for
better pay and conditions.
(Reuters, 1/3/19)
2019 Jan 4, Zimbabwe's
government said it has begun laying off 3,365 workers from its youth
ministry, as it tries to make good on its promise to cut the bloated
civil service and sort out the country's finances.
(Reuters, 1/4/19)
2019 Jan 5, In Hungary
thousands marched through Budapest's city center to protest against
a new law that allows employers to ask staff to work up to 400 hours
per year of overtime.
(Reuters, 1/5/19)
2019 Jan 9, Bangladesh police
fired tear gas and swung batons as thousands of garment workers
demonstrated for better wages for a fourth day. One protester was
fatally shot and three dozen others were injured in clashes with
police.
(AP, 1/9/19)
2019 Jan 9, India's upper house
of Parliament approved a bill providing a 10 percent quota in
government jobs for the poor members of upper castes who have been
excluded from existing quotas for low-ranking castes. The bill now
only needs the approval of India's president, a formality, to become
law.
(AP, 1/10/19)
2019 Jan 10, Baton-wielding
Bangladeshi police fired tear gas to break up thousands of garment
workers demonstrating for higher wages for a fifth day, forcing
dozens of factories to close.
(Reuters, 1/10/19)
2019 Jan 10, In France
ride-hailing giant Uber lost an appeal brought by a former driver
who wanted his terms of employment recognized as a fully-fledged
work contract.
(AFP, 1/11/19)
2019 Jan 10, In Germany almost
640 flights were cancelled as security staff went on strike at three
airports, meaning disruption for around 100,000 passengers.
(AFP, 1/10/19)
2019 Jan 11, Greek police fired
teargas to disperse hundreds of teachers protesting against
government plans to change hiring procedures in the public sector.
(Reuters, 1/11/19)
2019 Jan 13, Bangladesh's
commerce minister said local garment manufacturers have agreed to
raise workers' pay, urging people to return to work after a week of
violent demonstrations. At least 20 people were hurt when police
used teargas and water cannons to disperse workers blocking a major
highway in the Ashulia garment manufacturing belt, on the outskirts
of the capital Dhaka.
(Reuters, 1/13/19)
2019 Jan 17, In Greece striking
school teachers and other civil servants shut down central Athens
for hours during a protest of new hiring criteria for teachers that
were under consideration in parliament.
(AP, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 17, Romanian coal
miners ended a weeklong strike after the energy minister offered
them wage hikes and other perks.
(AP, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 17, A public sector
strike brought Tunisia to a standstill as workers heeded calls from
a powerful trade union to stay home over demands for wage hikes and
economic reforms.
(AFP, 1/17/19)
2019 Jan 18, Los Angeles
teachers picketed and rallied for a 5th day as contract negotiations
continued.
(SFC, 1/19/19, p.A8)
2019 Jan 22, In Spain taxi
drivers striking to demand tighter regulations for companies using
ride-hailing apps blocked traffic for another day in Madrid and
Barcelona, while threatening to take their protest to the French
border.
(AP, 1/22/19)
2019 Jan 23, Spanish taxi
drivers demanding more regulations for app-based ride-hailing
services blocked access to a trade exhibition center in Madrid where
a major tourism fair began.
(AP, 1/23/19)
2019 Jan 28, Greece announced
plans to return to bond markets and increase the minimum wage, amid
protests against bailout-era measures by farmers who used tractors
to block the country's main highway. PM Alexis Tsipras announced an
11-percent rise in the minimum wage, the first after a decade of
austerity and months ahead of legislative elections.
(AP, 1/28/19)(AFP, 1/28/19)
2019 Jan 30, Sweden's state
employment agency said it would lay off a third of its own workers,
in the first sign of budget cuts and reforms under a newly-formed
government propped up by two center-right parties.
(Reuters, 1/30/19)
2019 Jan 30, Taiwan-based
Foxconn Technology Group said it is shifting the focus of its
planned Wisconsin campus away from blue-collar manufacturing to a
research hub, while insisting it remains committed to creating
13,000 jobs as promised.
(AP, 1/30/19)
2019 Jan 31, Bangladesh
activist Kalpona Akter said more than 5,000 workers who demanded
higher wages have been fired by factory owners, and hundreds faced
police charges in the world's second-largest garment export industry
after China.
(AP, 1/31/19)
2019 Feb 5, Indonesian police
found 193 Bangladeshis locked up in a shop house in Medan on the
island of Sumatra, after human traffickers had lured them with the
promise of getting them to Malaysia. Some of the group had been held
by the traffickers for three months.
(Reuters, 2/7/19)
2019 Feb 5, In Sri Lanka food
importers and wholesalers shut their shops in Colombo to demand the
government resolve a "work to rule" action by custom officials at
the island nation's main seaport.
(AP, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 5, Some Zimbabwean
teachers stayed at home while others went slow on the job as an
indefinite strike at state schools got off to a patchy start amid
fears of further intimidation by security forces who cracked down
hard on protests last month.
(Reuters, 2/5/19)
2019 Feb 6, In Congo DRC
stoppages that hit transport, a key port, television, insurance and
the fire service continuing as Pres. Tshisekedi visited Kenya on his
first foreign tour.
(AFP, 2/6/19)
2019 Feb 7, Portugal's Health
Minister Marta Temido announced that the government has decided to
order a so-called civil requisition, whereby workers in essential
services are required by law to report for duty in "exceptionally
serious" circumstances.
(AP, 2/7/19)
2019 Feb 8, The Social
Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) said a nationwide experiment
with basic income in Finland has not increased employment among
those participating in the two-year trial, but their general
well-being seems to have increased.
(AP, 2/8/19)
2019 Feb 8, Pilots from
Taiwan's China Airlines went on strike in the middle of the Lunar
New Year travel rush, forcing the cancellation of at least 18
flights over coming days and stranding thousands of passengers.
(AP, 2/8/19)
2019 Feb 10, A strike among
pilots at Taiwan's flag carrier China Airlines dragged into a third
day, resulting in further flight cancellations.
(AP, 2/10/19)
2019 Feb 11, Teachers in Denver
went on strike for the first time in 25 years over the district's
incentive-based pay system. Teachers returned to their classrooms on
Feb 14 after their union reached a tentative deal raising their pay
as much as 11 percent.
(SFC, 2/12/19, p.A5)(SFC, 2/15/19, p.A6)
2019 Feb 13, In South Africa
thousands of workers staged nationwide demonstrations to protest
against high unemployment and government policies they say have
failed to create jobs and are deepening poverty.
(AFP, 2/13/19)
2019 Feb 14, South African gold
mining giant Sibanye-Stillwater announced plans to shed more than
6,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, from underperforming
gold mines.
(AFP, 2/14/19)
2019 Feb 20, Moroccan police
fired water cannons at protesting teachers who were marching toward
a royal palace and beat people with truncheons amid demonstrations
around Rabat. Morocco now sees an average of 48 protests daily,
according to the ministry for human rights.
(AP, 2/20/19)
2019 Feb 20, The leader of one
of Portugal's main nurses' unions started a hunger strike after
prosecutors declared unlawful a crippling three-week-long walkout by
surgical nurses and threatened to impose penalties on those still
taking part.
(Reuters, 2/20/19)
2019 Feb 21, China announced
new measures against gender discrimination in Chinese workplaces
that forbid employers from asking potential female hires questions
such as if they are married or have children.
(AP, 2/22/19)
2019 Feb 21, Hundreds of
workers in Port Sudan continued a days-long strike against the
transfer of its vital container terminal. Workers opposed Khartoum's
decision to transfer control of the port's container terminal to a
Philippine company, International Container Terminal Services Inc.
(ICTSI).
(AFP, 2/21/19)
2019 Mar 2, In Germany union
and government negotiators reached a new wage agreement late today
that will give more than a million public servants a nearly 8
percent pay increase over 33 months.
(AP, 3/3/19)
2019 Mar 3, Teachers in
Oakland, Ca., approved a new contract ending their 7-day strike.
They won salary increases and concessions on class sizes and staff
workloads.
(SFC, 3/4/19, p.C1)
2019 Mar 5, In South Africa
growing unrest at Sibanye-Stillwater's gold operations has left nine
people dead since workers downed tools in November, prompting the
country's mines minister to call on the police to step in and
protect the local community.
(Reuters, 3/5/19)
2019 Mar 7, Eurostar trains
from Paris to London were running up to two hours late and trucks
stacked up on the approaches to the Channel port of Calais as French
customs officers staged the fourth day of a work-to-rule strike.
(AFP, 3/7/19)
2019 Mar 8, In Portugal
thousands of nurses marched through Lisbon in a show of unity to
demand better pay and working conditions and protest the
government's poor handling of the long-running dispute.
(Reuters, 3/9/19)
2019 Mar 14, Greece reported
that its unemployment rate, the highest in the 28-country European
Union, climbed slightly to 18.7 percent in the final quarter of
2018.
(AP, 3/14/19)
2019 Mar 30, Egypt President
Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said he has raised the minimum wage to 2,000
Egyptian pounds ($115.74) per month from 1,200 ($69.27).
(AP, 3/30/19)
2019 Apr 1, The Pacific Daily
News reported that More than 350 Philippine workers have been
approved by the government of Guam to work at projects on the
island.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 9, Bank of America CEO
Brian Moynihan said that bank plans to raise its minimum wage to $20
an hour from $15 over the next two years.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.D1)
2019 Apr 16, Portugal declared
an emergency crisis late today, ordering drivers to get back on the
road immediately to ensure supplies to essential services. PM
Antonio Costa's government ordered striking fuel-tanker drivers to
supply essential services such as hospitals and airports, and to
provide a minimum amount to fuel stations, but the decree did not
seem to be fully heeded.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Energy shortages
in Portugal sharpened as a strike by fuel-tanker drivers entered its
third day in the worst industrial unrest of the Socialist
government's four-year rule.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Portugal
truckers ended their walkout after their employers agreed to start
new talks later this month.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Brussels
thousands of trade union members protested outside EU headquarters
to demand better working conditions and protections for employees
after next month's EU-wide elections.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, The UN's
International Labour Organization said Qatar is set to abolish its
controversial exit visa system for all foreign workers by the end of
the year.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Scandinavian
airline SAS pilots went on strike as wage talks broke down,
grounding around 70 percent of the airline's flights and hitting
some 170,000 people over the weekend alone. SAS is part-owned by the
Swedish and Danish governments.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Scandinavian
airline SAS canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for April 28 as a
pilot strike entered its second day, disrupting the travel plans of
tens of thousands of passengers.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 28, Scandinavian
Airlines (SAS), the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden,
announced further flight cancellations for the next week on the
third day of a pilots strike as the parties have failed to resume
talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 May 1, Tunisia raised the
minimum wage for industrial and farm workers, as well as pensions
for hundreds of thousands of private-sector retirees, by 6.5
percent, a move aimed at defusing discontent about economic
hardship.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Tunisia fuel
distribution workers began a three-day strike to demand higher
wages, leading to long queues and empty pumps at petrol stations
across the North African nation.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 3, Tunisia ordered the
army to transport fuel to petrol stations on the second day of a
strike by fuel distribution workers that has caused empty pumps and
long queues across the country.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 5, In Lebanon hundreds
of foreign domestic workers demonstrated in Beirut to demand the
scrapping of a sponsorship system that they complain leaves them
open to abuse from employers.
(AFP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 7, The New York
University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights reported that
Ethiopian garment factory workers are now, on average, the lowest
paid in any major garment-producing company worldwide. The head of
Ethiopia's Investment Commission questioned the report's monthly pay
figure of $26 per month: "That is a basic salary but in Ethiopia the
factories also provide a workplace meal and other services".
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Employees at the
Central Bank of Lebanon suspended their open-ended strike for three
days, saying they hope their wages and benefits will not be cut.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 9, French unions held
strikes and protests against 120,000 job cuts and other deep changes
to France's huge public sector by Pres. Emmanuel Macron's
government.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 10, Portugal's
parliament rejected proposed retroactive pay hikes for teachers,
quelling the prospects of a political crisis following last week's
threat by the government to resign if the measure was approved.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 14, The US National
Labor Relations Board issued a memorandum concluding that Uber
drivers are contractors, not employees.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.D1)
2019 May 14, Officials data
showed that South Africa's unemployment rate has risen by half a
percentage point to 27.6 percent.
(AFP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 22, An appeals court
in Thailand upheld a 10 million baht ($313,000) judgment against
British activist Andy Hall, who was sued by a fruit canning company
whose workers complained of alleged labor abuses. The case was one
of several stemming from a 2013 report Hall researched for Finnish
consumer organization Finnwatch that included allegations by migrant
workers from Myanmar at Natural Fruit's canning operation that the
company abused them and broke labor regulations.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 28, In the Netherlands
around 80 flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol were canceled as a
24-hr nationwide public transport strike made it hard for passengers
and staff to get to Europe's third largest airport.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 29, A nationwide
strike in Argentina protesting austerity measures under President
Mauricio Macri brought the country's airports to a standstill and
halted work at key grains ports, the latest sign of tension in the
recession-hit nation.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 27, In France workers
at a northern factory that makes a quarter of the world's Nutella
began striking for more pay. The Villers-Ecalles factory is
privately-owned Italian confectionery giant Ferrero.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 12, French PM Edouard
Philippe said the government would create incentives for workers to
stay on the job longer than the current minimum legal retirement age
of 62.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 13, The Slovak capital
Bratislava won the right to host a new European Union agency to
oversee the labor market that is due to start operating this autumn.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 18, Chilean police
fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes early today with miners
striking at the giant Chuquicamata copper mine, as the workers tried
to block access to a site operated by state-owned giant, Codelco.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Employees at Radio
France turned off their microphones over plans to shed nearly 300
jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort, with many of the daily
programs replaced by music.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 19, In southern
Bangladesh clashes erupted between local and Chinese construction
workers at a Chinese-funded power station near the port of Payra in
which a Chinese worker was killed.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, A strike by flight
attendants at EVA Air, Taiwan's second-largest airline, left
thousands of passengers scrambling for alternative transport.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The UN's
International Labor Organization (ILO) overseeing international
labor standards adopted a new treaty against violence and harassment
in the workplace, fueled by the women's #MeToo movement.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 22, In Chile striking
workers employed by the world's top copper producer were set to
continue their walkout after voting down a management offer of
better wages and compensation.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jul 1, In Kentucky
Blackjewel LLC, a coal mining company in Harlan County, declared
bankruptcy. In July unpaid miners blocked a train carrying company
coal.
(http://tinyurl.com/y5xpj2sm)(SFC, 8/20/19, p.A5)
2019 Jul 7, Germany's
struggling Deutsche Bank announced that it will cut 18,000 jobs by
2022 in a sweeping restructuring aimed at restoring consistent
profitability and improving returns to its shareholders.
(SFC, 7/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Jul 15, Walmart Chile said
it would resume talks with a union of 17,000 workers who walked off
the job last week amid a major push by the global retail giant to
automate jobs and slash costs.
(Reuters, 7/15/19)
2019 Jul 16, Representatives of
Zimbabwe's government workers protested against what they called
"slave salaries" as inflation almost doubled to 176%, a decade high
that highlights the country's rapidly deteriorating economy.
(AP, 7/16/19)
2019 Jul 19, Pres. Donald Trump
selected Eugene Scalia, the son of late Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Scalia, as his next secretary of labor. Scalia had a long
record of representing Walmart and other companies that pushed back
against unions and tougher labor laws.
(SFC, 7/20/19, p.A8)
2019 Jul 24, A strike by
Alaska's ferry workers halted traffic for the Alaska Marine Highway
System, the state-operated ferry system that serves 35 coastal
towns, most of them without outside road access.
(Reuters, 7/27/19)
2019 Jul 27, Alaska ferry
workers and state officials sought a federal mediator's help to end
a strike that has disrupted travel during the peak summer tourist
season as the labor dispute surfaced in the 2020 presidential
campaign.
(Reuters, 7/28/19)
2019 Aug 2, Alaska officials
and the union for striking boat workers said they have reached a
deal to end a walkout that has shut down the state's ferry system
for 10 days at the peak of the summer tourist season.
(Reuters, 8/2/19)
2019 Aug 5, In a Worker
Adjustment and Retraining Notification Pittsburgh-based US Steel
said it expects to let go fewer than 200 workers following its
decision to halt production at a Michigan facility. In mid-June the
company said it would idle two blast furnaces at its Great lakes and
Gary Works plants, citing lower steel prices and softening demand.
(Reuters, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 7, US immigration
authorities arrested nearly 700 people at seven agricultural
processing plants across Mississippi in what federal officials said
could be the largest worksite enforcement operation in a single
state.
(Reuters, 8/8/19)
2019 Aug 9, Ryanair's directly
employed pilots in Ireland voted in favor of industrial action
unless pay demands are met swiftly. Spanish pilots also threatened
to join growing unrest at the airline.
(Reuters, 8/9/19)
2019 Aug 12, The Portuguese
government imposed fuel rationing at petrol stations as some 2,000
fuel-tanker drivers started an indefinite strike. The government
promised to prevent the labor action from paralyzing the country at
the height of the tourist season.
(Reuters, 8/12/19)(SFC, 8/13/19, p.A3)
2019 Aug 16, The union of
Portugal's fuel-tanker drivers said it will suspend a five-day-old
strike that led to fuel rationing at filling stations and negotiate
with employers in government-brokered talks.
(Reuters, 8/16/19)
2019 Aug 17, Portuguese
fuel-tanker drivers said they will maintain their strike
indefinitely after a 10-hour meeting of union leaders and government
officials ended without an agreement.
(Reuters, 8/17/19)
2019 Aug 21, Ireland's high
court granted Ryanair an injunction to prevent its Dublin-based
pilots from going on strike this week in a setback to union hopes
for a wave of industrial action against Europe's biggest budget
airline.
(Reuters, 8/21/19)
2019 Aug 22, A French union
representative said BNP Paribas plans to cut around 500 jobs at its
securities services arm, as the bank seeks to reduce costs and
retain competitiveness.
(Reuters, 8/22/19)
2019 Sep 3, Zimbabwean public
sector doctors went on strike for the second time in less than a
year to demand a further salary increase amid soaring living costs,
as President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government struggles with a
deteriorating economy.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
2019 Sep 5, British Airways
dismissed a proposal by a pilots union to avoid strike action next
week as "unrealistic," leaving it little closer to resolving a
dispute over pay with its pilots that could disrupt its services.
(Reuters, 9/5/19)
2019 Sep 9, British Airways
canceled almost all its flights for 48 hours, affecting as many as
195,000 travelers, due to a strike by pilots over pay.
(AP, 9/9/19)
2019 Sep 12, United Auto
Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones and his predecessor were unnamed
officials listed in a federal criminal complaint detailing alleged
corruption and embezzlement by union leaders. The complaint was
released just two days before the UAW's contracts with Detroit's
automakers GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV expire
on Sept. 14, raising questions about the status of ongoing contract
talks.
(Reuters, 9/13/19)
2019 Sep 15, The United Auto
Workers (UAW) said that its roughly 48,000 hourly workers at General
Motors Co facilities would go on strike as of midnight today after
US labor contract talks reached an impasse, the first nationwide
strike at GM in 12 years.
(Reuters, 9/15/19)
2019 Sep 16, Negotiators for
General Motors Co and the United Auto Workers resumed talks to
resolve a strike that shut down the automaker's highly profitable US
operations. UAW members will get $250 a week from the union's strike
fund.
(Reuters, 9/16/19)
2019 Sep 18, California's Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed AB5, a landmark gig-worker bill that could turn
thousands of independent contractors into company employees with
protections and benefits.
(SFC, 9/18/19, p.D1)
2019 Sep 20, Germany's
Commerzbank AG says it's planning to cut 4,300 jobs and close 200
branches as part of a restructuring that will also see it sell its
stake in Poland's mBank.
(AP, 9/20/19)
2019 Sep 23, British travel
giant Thomas Cook collapsed into liquidation overnight, a failure
that consigns the most iconic name in world travel to the annals of
history. The company’s 21,000 employees, around 9,000 of whom are
UK-based, lost their jobs, with 600,000 people worldwide having
their travel plans disrupted.
(The Telegraph, 9/23/19)
2019 Sep 24, The US Department
of Labor issued a long-awaited rule extending mandatory overtime pay
for 1.3 million US workers, far fewer than an Obama administration
rule that was struck down by a federal judge.
(Reuters, 9/24/19)
2019 Sep 26, General Motors Co
on reversed its decision not to pay for the healthcare coverage of
its striking United Auto Workers union workers, citing confusion
around the issue.
(Reuters, 9/26/19)
2019 Sep 30, British finance
minister Sajid Javid said he would increase the country's National
Living Wage, a mandatory minimum wage, and expand its reach to cover
all workers over the age of 21, down from 25 now.
(Reuters, 9/30/19)
2019 Oct 1, In central Italy
Fiat Chrysler worker Fabrizio Greco died overnight in an accident at
the group's factory in Cassino, prompting unions to launch a strike
at the plant to demand tighter safety measures.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 7, General Motors said
it is temporarily laying off another 415 workers in Mexico as a
strike by 48,000 US hourly workers enters its fourth week.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Striking Zimbabwean
doctors defied a government ultimatum to return to work, after
rejecting a 60% pay rise offer they say is not enough to keep up
with soaring prices of basic goods.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 9, Zimbabwe's public
sector workers demanded to be paid US dollar-indexed salaries to
cushion them against soaring inflation, and will decide this week
whether to strike.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 11, A Zimbabwean court
ordered doctors on a 40-day strike over pay to return to work within
48 hours, after a ruling that their boycott was illegal.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 16, General Motors and
the autoworkers' union said they have reached a tentative agreement
on a labor contract that could end a monthlong strike.
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 16, The Peruvian
government authorized the intervention of the armed forces and
police to unblock access to one of the country's largest copper
mines, after owner Chinese miner MMG Ltd said it may have to cease
production at the site.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 17, Teachers in the
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system picketed outside of schools
during their first day of a strike after protracted labor
negotiations between the union and district leadership failed to
produce a deal.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Chicago classes
for more than 300,000 students were canceled for a third straight
school day, although striking teachers reported progress over the
weekend over issues such as class size and staffing in the Chicago
Public Schools (CPS), the third-largest US system.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Greece
municipal workers in Athens launched a series of strikes that caused
garbage to pile up on the streets of the capital.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 26, Iran's
semi-official news agency reported that its judiciary has released
two labor activists on bail. Sepideh Gholian, arrested in October
2018, was released on some $130,000 bail, along with Atefeh Rangriz,
arrested last May. His bail terms were not provided.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 26, Portugal's PM
Antonio Costa promised to raise the monthly minimum wage by 25% to
750 euros ($830) by 2023 as he started his second term in the
office, while reiterating the goal to cut public debt to below 100%
of GDP.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 28, In Chicago classes
were canceled for about 300,000 students for an eighth day as the
teachers' union and public school district failed over the weekend
to resolve a deadlock in contract talks over class sizes, support
staff levels and pay.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 31, US federal
prosecutors charged a 12th United Auto Workers official with alleged
corruption. Union official Edward Robinson was accused of conspiring
with colleagues to embezzle more than $1.5 million in union money to
fuel "lavish lifestyles," and to defraud the US.
(The Week, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, Chicago Mayor Lori
Lightfoot called on the city's teacher's union to embrace a "spirit
of compromise" as a strike that has kept 300,000 public students
away from school extended into an 11th day, despite a tentative
contract deal.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 1, Chicago teachers
returned to work after a grueling 11-day strike as parents hoped the
deal struck between the teachers' union and district would improve
their children's education.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, UAW senior leaders
at Ford's US plants recommended approval of a tentative four-year
labor agreement with the automaker, sending the deal to the 52,000
UAW members at Ford for final approval. The union previously
ratified a similar deal with General Motors Co and will soon move to
negotiate with Fiat Chrysler.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, The United Auto
Workers (UAW) said its president Gary Jones, who has been linked to
an ongoing corruption probe by US federal officials, has taken a
leave of absence.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 3, Instacart's "gig"
workers targeted the grocery shopping and delivery firm with a
three-day work action aimed at disrupting service and forcing
executives to fix inequalities in pay structures that they say are
getting worse every year.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 5, Brazil's President
Jair Bolsonaro said he would push for a constitutional amendment to
allow the government to cut public sector employee salaries, hours
and benefits to help it comply with a public spending cap.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 13, Britain's
Communication Workers Union said that postal company Royal Mail had
won a high court injunction to block potential strikes by the union.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 14, In Arkansas
teachers walked out of dozens of Little Rock schools to protest the
state's control of the local school system and their loss of
collective bargaining rights.
(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 15, Chicago teachers
approved the contract deal that ended an 11-day strike and includes
pay raises, $35 million to enforce limits on class sizes and a
pledge to supply each school with a nurse and a social worker.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, South African
Airways (SAA) said its future is hanging in the balance after its
workers went on strike to demand higher wages and protest planned
job cuts, forcing the struggling state-owned carrier to cancel all
flights.
(Reuter, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of
red-clad Indiana teachers swarmed the state capitol building,
chanting loudly to protest low salaries and evaluation policies and
forcing half the state's school districts to cancel classes for the
day.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of
unionized Canadian National Railway workers held their first strike
in a decade after negotiating parties failed to resolve contract
issues at a time of softening demand for freight service.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Tata Steel, the
Indian steel manufacturer, announced that it will be slashing 3,000
jobs across its operations in Europe, citing a global consumption
slowdown and the uncertainty surrounding the UK general elections
and Brexit that is scheduled to follow right after.
(Benzinga, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 20, It was reported
that major hotels in Britain are failing to protect workers from
debt bondage and sexual exploitation, according to a study that
found 75% of hospitality businesses were flouting 2015 anti-slavery
legislation.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 21, WeWork said it is
laying off around 2,400 employees globally, as the office-sharing
company seeks to drastically cut costs and stabilize its business
after it transformed from a Wall Street darling into a pariah in a
matter of weeks.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 22, South African
Airways (SAA) signed a wage deal with trade unions to end an
eight-day strike that brought the cash-strapped state airline to the
brink of collapse.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Dec 3, President Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador pushed back against US attempts to subject
Mexico to oversight of its labor market, and said the Mexican Senate
should be consulted before changes to a new North American trade
deal are signed off.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 4, Former United Auto
Workers vice president Joseph Ashton pleaded guilty in Detroit to
conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud as part of a
wide-ranging federal corruption probe into the union.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 4, Colombian unions
and student groups held a third national strike amid fraught talks
between protest leaders and the government over President Ivan
Duque's social and economic policies.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 6, French unions
continued to bring rail, bus and metro systems to a standstill in
protest over the government's planned pension reforms. Railways
company SNCF said it expected rail traffic would continue to be
heavily disrupted through the weekend and Dec. 9, based on
statements from transport unions.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 9, In India day
laborers in one of New Delhi's most congested neighborhoods
demonstrated against unsafe working conditions, a day after at least
43 people were killed in a devastating fire at an illegal factory
there.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 11, France's PM
Edouard Philippe outlined an overhaul of France's byzantine pension
system that he said would be fairer and plug a gaping deficit in the
pension budget. People born after 1974 would have to work until the
age of 64 to get a full pension, instead of 62 previously, drawing a
hostile response from trade unions who said they would step up
strike action to force an about-turn.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)(SFC, 12/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 13, France's Pres.
Macron said that he wants the government to push ahead with an
overhaul of the nation's pension system despite more than a week of
damaging strikes.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 17, In France hundreds
of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country to
protest Pres. Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plans.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 17, Iranian media
reported that two labor activists in southern Khuzestan province
have been sentenced to five-year prison term each for taking part in
a January protest over several months of owed back pay. A third
worker from the same region was also given a five-year sentence for
supporting a workers' strike last year.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 19, In Michigan
Michael Bowdler, mayor of River Rouge, received a voicemail that
United States Steel Corp was about to send out a press release
announcing layoffs for 1,545 workers and the idling of a significant
portion of operations at the local Great Lakes Works facility. River
Rouge is city of 7,500 that sits on the Detroit River roughly 10
miles south of Detroit.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 21, French travelers
and tourists were struggled to get to their destinations as the
Christmas season ramped up amid continuing strikes against the
government's plans to raise the retirement age to 64.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 28, In France
thousands of protesters opposed to the government's plan to revamp
the retirement system marched through Paris, the 24th day of
crippling strikes.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 31, A federal judge
temporarily blocked a California labor law meant to take effect from
Jan. 1 from impacting over 70,000 independent truckers by granting a
temporary restraining order.
(Reuters, 1/1/20)
2020 Jan 2, French rail strikes
against government plans to reform the country's retirement system
reached 29 straight days, surpassing the lengths of strikes in the
1980s.
(SFC, 1/3/20, p.A2)
2020 Jan 10, Boeing Co's
biggest supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, said it plans to
lay off more than 20% of the workforce at its Wichita-Kansas base as
it grapples with halted production and uncertainty over when 737 MAX
jets will return to service.
(Reuters, 1/10/20)
2020 Jan 11, In Cambodia
thousands of striking workers of NagaWorld hotel and casino complex,
a Hong Kong-listed casino company, returned to their jobs after
winning wage increases and the reinstatement of a suspended union
leader in a rare labor victory.
(Reuters, 1/11/20)
2020 Jan 19, South Africa's
Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it is angered by Telkom's
plan to cut up to 3,000 workers and called for an urgent meeting
with the ruling party and the minister of communication.
(Reuters, 1/19/20)
2020 Jan 21, Britain's
Sainsbury said it plans to cut hundreds of management jobs as it
seeks to bring its main supermarket operation and its Argos general
merchandise arm closer together.
(Reuters, 1/21/20)
2020 Jan 22, A senior US
official said on China has failed to send home North Korean workers
by a December 22 deadline in violation of a 2017 United Nations
resolution. The United States has estimated Pyongyang was earning
more than $500 million a year from nearly 100,000 workers abroad, of
which some 50,000 were in China and 30,000 in Russia.
(Reuters, 1/22/20)
2020 Jan 23, British
supermarket group Morrisons said it plans to cut 3,000 management
jobs as part of a workforce restructuring that will create 7,000
frontline jobs in its stores.
(Reuters, 1/23/20)
2020 Jan 23, Striking junior
doctors at Zimbabwe's state hospitals planned to end a four-month
strike after accepting an offer from a telecoms billionaire to pay
them a monthly allowance of about $300 for six months. Strive
Masiyiwa, through his philanthropic arm Higher Life Foundation, last
November set up a 100 million Zimbabwe dollar ($5.9 million) fund
for the striking doctors. Negotiations with the government
continued.
(Reuters, 1/23/20)
2020 Jan 28, French police
clashed with firefighters protesting in Paris against their working
conditions and demanding more pay.
(Reuters, 1/28/20)
2020 Jan 29, The BBC said it
will axe 450 jobs from its news division in a cost-saving plan that
will result in cuts at the World Service and its 5Live radio station
and in fewer reports being made by analysis show Newsnight.
(Reuters, 1/29/20)
2020 Jan 31, In Nigeria More
than 1,000 motorcycle taxi drivers marched to the gates of the Lagos
state legislature to protest against a measure that will bar them
from much of the traffic-choked commercial capital.
(Reuters, 1/31/20)
2020 Feb 4, Cincinnati-based
Macy's Inc said it plans to close 125 of its least productive stores
over the next three years to tackle slowing mall traffic and will
slash more than 2,000 corporate jobs as a part of a cost-savings
effort.
(Reuters, 2/5/20)
2020 Feb 7, Vance Pearson, a
former senior official of the United Auto Workers based in St.
Louis, pleaded guilty to a corruption scheme that used union cash
for vacation villas, golf, cigars and booze.
(SFC, 2/10/20, p.A5)
2020 Feb 10, Finland's paper
workers union agreed a pay deal with the forestry industry
association, ending a two week strike that halted production of one
of the country's main exports.
(Reuters, 2/10/20)
2020 Feb 12, It was reported
that Kosovo's PM Albin Kurti and cabinet ministers will accept a
halving of their salaries in an attempt to demonstrate that the new
government plans to tackle wage inequality.
(Reuters, 2/12/20)
2020 Feb 18, Spain's cabinet
voted to ban employers from dismissing workers due to illness, the
first step in a planned overhaul of the country's 2012 labor reform.
(Reuters, 2/18/20)
2020 Feb 19, Boris Johnson’s
government unveiled plans to end what it called Britain's dependence
on “cheap low-skilled labor” and deliver on its pledge to halt
freedom of movement from the European Union after Brexit.
(Bloomberg, 2/19/20)
2020 Feb 20, France's hard-left
unions brought workers back onto the streets in protest against
President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, but numbers were low as
the fight to derail the project shifted to parliament.
(Reuters, 2/20/20)
2020 Feb 29, French PM Edouard
Philippe said the government would push its contested pension reform
through parliament by decree, avoiding the need for a vote after the
opposition filed more than 40,000 amendments to the draft law.
(Reuters, 2/29/20)
2020 Mar 16, Amazon said it
would try to hire 100,000 people across the US to help meet a surge
in purchases by customers shopping more online to avoid going out as
the coronavirus spreads.
(The Week, 3/17/20)
2020 Mar 17, In Peru miners
halted operations and girded for extended supply chain disruptions
in neighboring Chile as governments tightened curbs due to
coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 18, In France several
hundred Amazon workers protested at one of its sites, calling on the
online retailer to cease operations or make it easier for employees
loath to work during the coronavirus outbreak to stay away.
(Reuters, 3/18/20)
2020 Mar 21, Amazon.com Inc
said it is raising overtime pay for associates working in its US
warehouses, as the world's largest online retailer tries to meet the
rapidly growing demand for online shopping from consumers stuck at
home during the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/21/20)
2020 Mar 24, Canadian banks
followed US heavyweights in offering one-time bonuses and extra paid
days off to customer-service employees who are required to work in
branches and call centers amid the coronavirus crisis.
(Reuters, 3/24/20)
2020 Mar 26, The US Labor Dept.
reported that a record 3.8 million American filed for first-time
unemployment last week.
(SFC, 3/27/20, p.A1)
2020 Mar 26, Swiss-based
Nestle, the world's biggest food company, said it would pay full
salaries for at least three months to employees affected by work
stoppages to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
(AP, 3/26/20)
2020 Apr 1, Cambodia's labor
ministry said at least 91 garment factories in Cambodia have
suspended work due to coronavirus, with 61,500 workers affected. The
ministry said the government would provide salary replacement of
about $38 per month for about 61,500 workers.
(Reuters, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 1, In South Korea US
Gen. Robert B. Abrams announced the furlough of 9,000 South Koreans
who worked for the local American military forces.
(Economist, 4/4/20, p.29)
2020 Apr 2, The number of
Americans applying for unemployment benefits more than doubled to a
second straight record. A total of 6.65 million people filed jobless
claims in the week ended March 28. The coronavirus pandemic has
killed at least 5,148 people in the United States. Global
coronavirus cases topped 962,000 with more than 48,000 dead.
(Bloomberg, 4/2/20)(ABC News, 4/2/20)(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 2, The Philippines
issued an order to stop doctors, nurses, medics and other healthcare
workers from going abroad while it needs their skills to meet the
threat of the coronavirus spreading at home. The order was made
public on April 10.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported that the US economy lost 701,000 jobs in
March and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent to 4.4 percent
amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 7, European Union
countries adopted new rules for truck drivers' working conditions,
despite several countries calling for the reforms to be halted to
help support vulnerable transport firms amid the fallout of the
coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 4/7/20)
2020 Apr 10, Over 200,000 Irish
workers are now in receipt of a new wage subsidy scheme, meaning the
state is supporting nearly 30% of the labor force due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 21, Hundreds of Amazon
and Target workers started a nationwide wave of sickouts to call
attention to what they described as inadequate efforts to protect
employees from the coronavirus pandemic.
(The Week, 4/22/20)
2020 Apr 23, A record 26
million Americans likely sought unemployment benefits over the last
five weeks, meaning all the jobs created during the longest
employment boom in US history were wiped out in about a month.
(Reuters, 4/23/20)
2020 Apr 23, India froze
inflation-linked increases in salaries and pensions for more than 11
million federal employees and pensioners to generate nearly $10
billion to help combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/23/20)
2020 Apr 24, In China five
prominent labor activists were freed more than a year after they
were arrested in coordinated raids in the southern city of Shenzhen.
They still had to undergo a 14-day quarantine period before finally
returning home on May 7.
(Reuters, 5/9/20)
2020 Apr, Emily Cunningham and
Maren Costa, web designers at Amazon, were fired after they
organized a virtual town hall for Seattle colleagues to hear from
the company’s low-paid and largely uninsured warehouse staff. Costa
and Cunningham later said Amazon is now so intent on keeping
warehouse and corporate workers apart that human resources
executives not only fired them, but removed the virtual town hall
event from the calendars of several hundred employees who had
planned to attend.
(Yahoo News, 5/9/20)
2020 May 1, Poland's government
will hike unemployment benefits, President Andrzej Duda said in an
election broadcast, promising "an unbelievably high amount" of
support for households and businesses struggling through the
coronavirus crisis.
(Reuters, 5/1/20)
2020 May 6, Indian southern
state of Karnataka halted trains taking stranded migrant laborers
home so that work on construction sites could restart, a move widely
condemned as amounting to forced labor.
(Reuters, 5/6/20)
2020 May 7, The US Labor
Department reported that 3.2 million Americans claimed unemployment
benefits for the first time last week, bringing the total to about
33.5 million since March 21, roughly 22.1% of the working-age
population.
(Reuters, 5/7/20)
2020 May 8, A US government
report showed that the economy shed 20.5 million jobs in April, and
the unemployment rate rose to 14.7%. in a note attached to its
report the government said the true unemployment rate may be closer
to 19.5%.
(Reuters, 5/8/20)
2020 May 14, The US Labor
Department said roughly 36 million people have now filed for jobless
aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of
businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces.
(AP, 5/14/20)
2020 May 14, The US
Transportation Department published new rules revising hours of
service requirements for truck drivers that will expand short-haul
driving and save the industry $2.8 billion over 10 years. Changes
included lengthening the short-haul drivers’ maximum on-duty period
from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit from 100 air
miles to 150 air miles.
(Reuters, 5/14/20)
2020 May 18, It was reported
that Uber is cutting 3,000 more jobs and shutting 45 offices due to
the coronavirus crunch.
(Reuters, 5/18/20)
2020 May 20, England-based
airline engine maker Rolls-Royce announced plans to cut 9,000
workers as it grapples with the collapse in air travel due to the
pandemic.
(AP, 5/20/20)
2020 May 27, Boeing Co said it
will notify 6,770 US workers they are being laid off with "several
thousand remaining layoffs" planned in the next few months.
(AP, 5/27/20)
2020 May 28, It was reported
that Chevron Corp., based in San Ramon, Ca., will lay off up to 15%
of tis 45,000-person global workforce amid the economic havoc
wrought on the energy sector by the coronavirus.
(SFC, 5/28/20, p.C1)
2020 Jun 3, In Michigan Gary
Jones (63), the former president of the United Auto Workers Union,
pleaded guilty to embezzling union funds to pay for vacations,
liquor and other personal luxuries.
(AP, 6/4/20)
2020 Jun 4, In Lebanon dozens
of domestic workers gathered outside the Ethiopian Consulate in
Beirut, some inquiring about flights home, others stranded after
they were abandoned by employers who claimed they could no longer
afford to pay their salaries.
(AP, 6/4/20)
2020 Jun 5, President Donald
Trump said "we're bringing our jobs back" as he held a news
conference to tout May's surprising jobless numbers out about two
hours earlier -- the unemployment rate declining to 13.3 percent --
not rising to near 20 percent that even one of his own economists
had predicted. The April number was 14.7%.
(Good Morning America, 6/5/20)(SFC, 6/6/20, p.A1)
2020 Jun 9, The California
Public Utilities Commission said that ride-hail drivers are
employees under AB5, the state's new gig-work law.
(SFC, 6/11/20, p.C1)
2020 Jun 10, Officials at the
Federal Reserve said they expected the unemployment rate to end 2020
at 9.3 percent and to remain elevated for years. The Fed pledged to
do “whatever we can” to support the recovery.
(NY Times, 6/11/20)
2020 Jun 10, Germany said that
it will from next week relax entry restrictions for seasonal workers
introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 6/10/20)
2020 Jun 22, The Trump
administration extended a ban on green cards issued outside the
United States until the end of the year and added many temporary
work visas to the freeze, including those used heavily by technology
companies and multinational corporations.
(AP, 6/22/20)
2020 Jun 22, In South Africa a
strike by minibus taxi drivers over what they say is inadequate
coronavirus relief funds has disrupted the return of scores of
thousands of people to work. The minibus taxis have been restricted
in the hours they can work the number of passengers they can carry
due to the coronavirus lockdown.
(AP, 6/22/20)
2020 Jun 25, The US Dept. of
Labor said 1.48 million people were seeking unemployment benefits
marking the 14th straight week of new claims above 1 million.
(SFC, 6/26/20, p.D1)
2020 Jun 25, Hungary said it
has lost 120,000 to 130,000 jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The cabinet expected the economy to contract by 3% this year.
(Reuters, 6/25/20)
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