International unions

Korean trade unions are heading for a clash with the government over its anti-union harassment. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) have threatened a walk out this week. In April, 825 unionists were arrested during a demonstration outside Ulsan City Hall, and in May 600 trade unionists were arrested during peaceful and legal strike action, taking the total of arrests of labour activists to at least 1425 in the space of 8 weeks, or more than one trade unionist arrest every hour. The arrests targeted union members and leaders of Ulsan...

By Amina Saddiq For three weeks in May and June Pakistan saw an upsurge in class struggle, with the military regime forced to seize physical control of the country’s state-owned telecom corporation and arrest over a thousand telecom workers in order to force through its privatisation plans. The Employees’ Union has now signed a deal with the government allowing privatisation to go ahead, but a rank and file organisation of telecom workers is still opposing the privatiation. A strike started in May at the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) against plans to sell off 26% of the corporation...

By Paul Hampton The voices of African workers have been missing from the recent media frenzy about Africa. Even on the left the general picture of Africans is of passive victims of disease and malnutrition in need of charity. This conception is completely wrong. The political and economic situation for African workers is generally very difficult, but their militancy and organisation is an inspiration that deserves our solidarity. And the working class in Africa is no privileged caste but the crucial agent of progress on the continent: both for reducing poverty, for improving democratic rights...

Even if one believed that terms like “socialism”, “class struggle” or “working class” would be restored into Israeli society, a campaign waged by Israeli socialists to take control of the leadership of Israel’s Labour party sounds like a dream. Nonetheless, it is absolutely not a dream as Amir Peretz MP, the leader of Israeli’s federation of trade unions, carries forward a comprehensive campaign for the party’s leadership. Recent polls amongst Labour party members give to Peretz the second place in the struggle for chairmanship, while the current chairman, Sharon’s deputy Shimon Peres (who is...

Truck drivers from across Europe have agreed to work towards more European-wide trade union co-operation to tackle problems on social dumping, security and health as well as organising in pan-European companies. At a conference attended by over eighty delegates from nine EU conference at the T&G Centre in Eastbourne, delegates highlighted action on these points as well as individual country concerns. Jimmy Hill for the T&G said the union’s key concern was to implement the “Drivers’ Charter” so that we can push for a national minimum for drivers of £10 an hour or £25,000 a year for a 48 hour...

Trade unionists in Pakistan face a daily struggle to organise. The unions have often been hijacked by reactionary political parties. Farooq Sulehria of the Labour Party Pakistan tells the story. In Pakistan people often take on two jobs or have some small business after work to survive. All our governments, whether khaki or civilian, have had the same IMF-World Bank dictated neo-liberal agendas: privatisation, downsizing, and an end to subsidies. It may have been different had there been a workers’ party built by trade unions. But Pakistan’s trade unions are too weak and divided to build even...

Dharmananda Panta, chair of a branch of the GEFONT trade union in Nepal, has been imprisoned for 90 days for trade union activity. The authorities allege that his views had “hurt friendly relationships between neighbouring countries and disturbed peace in society”. Panta has been active in the Independent Transport Workers Association of Nepal (ITWAN-GEFONT) for over fifteen years. He led a demonstration prior to a recent union convention and together with other trade unionists had chanted slogans in favour of peace, democracy and the trade union rights. Following the convention a police van...