Transportation Workers General Strike Paralyses Busan Port
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200806/200806160012.html

Truckers' Strike Paralyzes Busan Port

Dark clouds gather over the Shinsundae and Gamman container terminals as a general strike by the Korean Transport Workers' Union paralyzed Busan Port on Sunday.

Major Disruption of Cargo Transport Feared
Transport Crisis Looms as Drivers Mull Strikes
Strikes Will Only Worsen Transport Woes

Busan Harbor, which accounts for 80 percent of the country's container cargoes, was virtually paralyzed when a nationwide strike by the Korean Transport Workers' Union went into its third day on Sunday. According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, container storage at seven container terminals of Busan Harbor's North Port reached 86 percent on Sunday, far higher than the normal daily average of 72.1 percent.
At the Busan International Container Terminal Pier in Busan, which is used by Hanjin and Sebang shipping companies, storage reached 101.8 percent at one point that day. At the new and old Gamman container terminals at Busan Harbor it reached saturation point with 99.7 percent and 97.2 percent respectively. If the strike continues, it is feared that imports and exports will be severely disrupted at various workplaces early this week.

Korean KCWU Truckers Strike Cuts Container Moves 22%
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/293510.html

The volume of moving containers drops 22 percent due to KCWU’s strike
Strike of construction industry will add to the transportation paralysis

» Many containers are accumulating in a shipyard in Busan due to the strike of transportation laborers on June 15.
There is a sign that a strike by the Korea Cargo Workers Union would probably be lengthier than expected. What is worse, a union of construction equipment workers, a branch of the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Union, will go on strike on June 16. The paralysis of cargo deliveries is expected to worsen as demand for transportation will rise early this week when most manufacturers resume production.

As the KCWU’s strike continued for a third day, the daily average volume of containers moved in or out of ports fell to one-fifth of normal operations. On the same day, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said, “The volume of containers moved in or out of major seaports or inland container terminals is 14,969 TEUs, twenty-foot equivalent units, or 22 percent of normal levels as of noon.” One TEU refers to a 20-foot shipping container. In the areas of Jecheon and Danyang, the volume of cement shipments plunged to less than 10 percent of normal levels.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/11/europe/fuel.php

Spain cracks down on striking truckers

The Associated PressPublished: June 11, 2008

MADRID: Spain got tough with striking truckers who have disrupted food and fuel supplies, deploying riot police officers Wednesday to lift blockades of a border crossing with France and a major highway outside Madrid, and making dozens of arrests.

But unions representing the strikers vowed to press on, rejecting a package of measures presented by the government to end the three-day-old nationwide protests over rising fuel prices.

One striker died Tuesday when a van drove through a picket line, and a protester died in a similar incident in Portugal, which has been hit by the same kind of strike since Monday.

One of the Spanish industries hit hardest by the strike, automobile manufacturing, warned that if the stoppage continued, the entire industry and its daily production of 13,000 vehicles would halt Thursday because parts for assembly were not reaching factories.

The strike is being waged by self-employed drivers, who represent an estimated 20 percent of the 380,000-vehicle trucking industry. They say big companies cope better with fuel-price hikes by lowering hauling rates to land more jobs.

Monday, 9 June 2008 12:54 UK

Spanish hauliers on fuel strike

The strike has caused tailbacks 10kms long around the Spanish capital
Tens of thousands of Spanish lorry drivers have begun an indefinite strike over the soaring price of diesel, which has risen by 20% this year.
After stopping work at midnight, many disrupted traffic at one of the border crossings between Spain and France.
A number of lorries crossing the picket lines had their windscreens broken, lights ripped out and tyres slashed.
The government is preparing a package to assist the sector, with emergency loans and more flexible contracts.
It would also offer cash payments to older lorry drivers who are willing to retire.
French fishermen from Mediterranean ports have, meanwhile, joined fleets from other French ports in suspending their action pending an EU summit in Brussels later this month.
Wide support
Overnight, about 200 lorry drivers parked their vehicles beside roadside toll booths in the Catalonian town of La Jonquera, close to the border with France.

There's been no hostility and it is rather good-natured
James Barber
English driver stuck in Spain

Eye-witness: 'No trucks on the road'

Video :: US TRUCKERS PROTEST HIGH FUEL PRICES
http://www.vloggingtheapocalypse.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=571&title=US_TRUCKERS_PROTEST_HIG
H_FUEL_PRICES

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7413967.stm

Page last updated at 23:28 GMT, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 00:28 UK

France braces for day of strikes

President Sarkozy shows no sign of bending to stiff opposition
French workers at the national rail company, SNCF, have begun strike action against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to reform public-sector pensions.
Workers from other sectors are expected to join them early on Thursday in a one-day protest to pressure Mr Sarkozy to reverse his economic reforms.
Bus drivers nationwide were expected to strike, air service may be disrupted and about 50% of trains are to be cut.
The strikes follow protests by fishermen that blocked French ports.
High-speed international trains between Paris, London and Brussels were not expected to be affected by the SNCF workers' action.
The transport workers are due to be joined by postal, utility and other public sector workers across France.
Job cuts
The walkouts are not expected to cause the widespread travel chaos of last November when transport workers staged a nine-day strike against Mr Sarkozy' plan to scrap their special pension rights.
The government and the unions negotiated an end to the strikes but now workers are upset over plans to make them stay on the job one year longer - for 41 years - before receiving a full state pension.

May Day March In Olympia Washington
Dockworkers Union to Shut Down Ports on May 1st!
NO PEACE, NO WORK!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

In recognition of this bold stand by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), Peace Action Coalition Tacoma (PACT) proposes a MAYDAY Solidarity Demonstration.

Thursday, May 1st
5-7 PM

PACT proposes a DEMONSTRATION for the rights of ALL workers, and against another dumb bosses' war on Pacific Ave. over Interstate 5. The demonstration will be followed by a short march to the Federal Courthouse where a vigil will be held.

More details to follow.... Contact pactacoma@yahoo.com for more information.

(Tacoma-Olympia calendar and background below)

Tacoma-Olympia Mayday Calendar:

Noon Mayday Rally in Olympia-Sylvester Park (Legion & Capitol Way)
2 PM Olympia March
Sponsors-Evergreen MEChA, Olympia Movement for Peace & Justice, Olympia Students for a Democratic Society and more..

5 PM Tacoma Demonstration-Pacific Ave. I-5 overpass
6:30 PM March to Federal Courthouse
Sponsor-Peace Action Coalition Tacoma, and ..

7 PM Working Families, Not War program-1911 Pacific Ave. Washington State History Museum, Tacoma
8:30 PM Candle-light Vigil at Federal Courthouse, 1717 Pacific Ave. Sponsor-America in Solidarity

War on the Waterfront - Coming soon to ABC TV 28 March 2007.

By MUA news

Maritime workers will be among the stars on tele in coming weeks as the hard hitting ABC doco drama on the 1998 waterfront conspiracy goes to air.

THE BASTARDS ARE COMING

Two Men with everything to lose. One story that shook the nation.

It was the fight that stopped the nation - the 1998 battle for Australia's waterfront. More than just a dispute over reform, it became a war for the hearts and minds of Australians. Controversial, all-consuming and combative, it forced people around the country to pick a side and fight for their beliefs. Political thriller, war epic, buddy movie, love story and courtroom drama rolled into one, BASTARD BOYS is the riveting story of the people behind one of the greatest conflicts in Australia's industrial history.

Over two compelling nights, BASTARD BOYS relives what happened when Chris Corrigan, Managing Director of Patrick Corporation, took on one of the country's most unionised workforces, in a bid to change waterfront practices. On one side is a man determined to instigate change. On the other, an army of workers hell-bent on maintaining their conditions and rights. And in the background, a government intent on pursuing its own agenda. As the drama plays out in the full glare of the public spotlight, there is no room for failure or second chances. Every second counts.

Direct employment
Not mass dismissals
Stop Repression and Fines

Whereas, KTX crew workers (all subcontract and female) have been on strike for 180 days against an outsourcing plan and mass dismissal of the Korail (Korea Railroad Corporation) and

Whereas,the public corporation has being initiated to extend irregular and subcontract workers in public sector and now attack irregular workers and,

Whereas,the workers have suffered attack by riot police and other oppression by the Korean government and,

Whereas, they have been without wages for more than 6 months and,

Whereas, the teachers of Oaxaca SNTE Section 22 have been struggling against privatization and the defense of education and,

Whereas, the Mexican government with the support and encouragement of the US government has sent in Federal troops to crush the movement of teachers and communities and,

Whereas, the crisis in Oaxaca is a direct result of the economic policies of US supported agreements such as NAFTA and the support for privatization of the entire Mexican economy and,

Whereas, these policies have destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs and lowered the wage levels and conditions of the Mexican working class,