World News in Brief

Submitted by Anon on 13 March, 2009 - 8:37

Japan

Thousands of workers have rallied in Tokyo demanding job security and wage rises.

Japan’s economy is in its worst condition for three decades, with several large firms announcing job losses. The rally, organised by the Japanese equivalent of the TUC, represents a markedly different approach to that taken by many union leaders in the UK (such as those of the GMB and USDAW) who have meekly accepted job losses and have reduced the union’s role to that of mitigating the impact of forced redundancies.

Banners on the Japanese rally included slogans such as “never let workers get fired”.

Palestine

Nearly 80,000 Palestinian public sector workers are facing delays in their salary due to Israel’s refusal to allow cash transfers into Gaza.

The leader of the Public Employees’ Union blamed “Israeli obstacles” imposed on banks for the delays in payment. This struggle emphasises the predicament of public sectors workers in Palestine — faced on the one hand with the brutality of Israeli occupation and on the other with a fiercely anti-worker Hamas government which attempted to smash a recent teachers’ strike.

Jamaica

Energy workers at Jamaica’s Rockfort and Bogue power plants have taken unofficial industrial action, provoking a warning from the Jamaica Public Service Company (which runs the plants) to its customers that they may experience disruption to their electricity supply.

Management personnel may be drafted in to work on the shop floor in order to maintain a basic level of service.

The action follows a breakdown in negotiations between management and unions representing JPSC workers over bosses’ failure to pay overtime payments owing from a 2003 industrial tribunal ruling.

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