Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:38

A dispute over unpaid seamen's wages on a ship in Cork harbour has been settled.

The ship, the Defender, which is operated by a Latvian company, had been detained in Cork after action by the seafarers' union but is now free to leave the port.

The Irish inspector for the International Transport Federation, Ken Fleming, said it had been a very tough case but it was encouraging that, for the first time, dockers had supported the seafarers.

He said this would make it more difficult in future for shipowners who did not treat their crews properly.

The 1500-tonne Defender is registered in Phnom Penh in Cambodia but operated by Forestry Shipping of Riga in Latvia, which sent company staff to Cork.

Mr Fleming claimed five of the crew had been pressurised into withdrawing their claims.

The rest of the crew, who claimed they had not been paid since last year, are to get $63,000 in back wages and leave the ship. The ITF is arranging for them to go home.

Cork dockers backed the ships' crew, the first time a stand has been taken by a local labour force in Ireland in support of seafarers, according to Mr Fleming, who in the past two years has recovered $1m in unpaid wages.

By Jorge Martin - Friday, 18 April 2008

The struggle of the Barcelona bus drivers started on November 21, 2007 with a 5-hour strike. The main demand of the workers was to have two days rest a week. Currently, the drivers work six days a week, with a total of 251 days a year, when most other workers work an average of 228 days a year. They further demanded that this extra day of rest a week should be introduced with no loss of pay and no increase in the working time during the rest of the week.

The origins of the struggle can be found in the signing of the previous collective bargaining agreement on the part of the main unions, UGT, CCOO and SIT, despite the fact that the drivers had rejected it in a ballot.

As the workers explained, having only one day of rest a week has had a serious impact on the family life of the workers, particularly in such a stressful job as driving a bus for more than seven hours a day in a big city like Barcelona. Furthermore, because of the way the rosters are organised, a driver could be away from home for more than 11 hours a day, having worked two shifts and started and finished work in four different points of the city.

Original posting

April 23: Workers at France's seven biggest ports went on strike today to protest a government plan to sell dock-equipment management to private companies and take staff off public payrolls.

Sixty-seven vessels including thirty-nine tankers stranded at the harbor's entrance. Government officials, port managers and union representatives are yet to tally the costs of the strike. A 17-day walkout last year in Marseille alone cost Manutention Generale Mediterraneenne, the port's biggest cargo- handler, ?1.5 million ($2.4 million).

The ports plan is set to threaten jobs and unions say there will be "serious economic consequences" if the government doesn't back down on its port reforms for which they say there is "no real economic and financial necessity".

Port workers pledged to intensify disruptions after today's one-day walkout. The CGT called for strikes three nights a week and an end to overtime work. Ports will be blocked during the nights of April 24 and 25, it said. Le Havre will be closed for 24 hours starting mid-day on May 26.

Text of ILWU letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, dated February 22, 2008

"ILWU delegates recently concluded a two-week caucus where we reached agreement on our approach for bargaining a new Pacific Coast Longshore Contract that expires on July 1, 2008. We expect talks to begin sometime in March and will keep you informed of developments.

"One of the resolutions adopted by caucus delegates called on longshore workers to stop work during the day shift on May 1, 2008, to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.

"We're writing to inform you of this action, and inquire if other AFL-CIO affiliates are also planning to participate in similar events on May 1 to honor labor history and express support for the troops by bringing them home safely. We would appreciate your assistance with spreading word about this May 1 action."

In solidarity,

Robert McEllrath, ILWU International President

By Dietmar Henning and Anna Rombach, 6 December 2007 - World Socialist Website

The current conflict between train drivers and the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn—DB) is taking place against the background of the planned privatisaation of the German railway system. This accounts for the determination and obstinacy on the part of the DB management led by Hartmut Mehdorn, which has rejected any concessions to the train drivers.

The aim of the privatisation is to transform a national service built up over decades with taxpayers’ money into a globally operating logistics enterprise and a lucrative asset for private investors. Such a step presupposes low levels of wages and social conditions. The high levels of profits expected by the private investors can be only be achieved at the expense of the workforce and the quality of a service that, up until now, has been carried out by the railways as a public service.

In this respect, the strike by train drivers comes at a very inopportune moment. To launch German Railways on the stock market, it is necessary to demonstrate to investors that it has an obedient and submissive workforce.

Originally posted at - AMFA Local 9, August 24, 2007

Re: UAL seeks Joint Venture / maintenance partnership

To: AMFA Local 9 members

From: Local 9 President Joseph Prisco and Airline Representative Malik Miah

Media reports yesterday revealed that United Airlines is seeking third party investors to take over its maintenance division, with the exception of line maintenance, via a partnership or Joint Venture.  “We are contemplating bringing in third parties who can invest in the maintenance, repair and overhaul business,” said United spokeswoman Jean Medina.

The articles also explained that the Company seeks “a labor friendly cooperation” in accomplishing its objectives. “We are working cooperatively with our labor groups to ensure that any arrangement would be for the long-term with a partner that creates value for our customers, investors and employees.”

Has the Union leadership been involved in such discussions? Have we agreed to any options offered by management? There have been neither negotiations nor agreements.

German rail strikes brought rail transportation to a halt in many areas of the country earlier this month and revealed the enormous frustration and discontent that has accumulated over the past years. The power of the working class was felt when locomotive engineers, signal box workers and others in key positions proved that they could paralyse Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany´s still state-owned railway company. In the railway stations most passengers affected by the stoppages that caused long delays and chain reactions for several hours showed sympathy towards the strikers. An opinion poll revealed that 71 per cent of all Germans supported the strikes.

The determination was overwhelming. Wherever union pickets turned up and called upon the railway employees to come out, the response was impressive, as though many workers had been waiting for such a call for a long time. This is not surprising as railway workers have suffered losses in living standards over the past few years.

DB boss Hartmut Mehdorn has been pressing for a privatization for a long time and keeps urging politicians to take a final decision to sell up to 49% of DB shares on the stock exchange in an initial public offering (IPO). DB management have done their utmost to squeeze the workforce and create an economic balance sheet with record profits in order to prove that DB is "marketable" and "fit for the stock exchange". Yet cutbacks in staff and investment have made working life even more difficult. For example, they have reduced the staff and rolling stock in the freight section, Railion, to the extent that they cannot even cope with the present increasing demand for rail transportation and have to tell potential customers that they should rather go for road transportation.

OPINION Last week the Board of Supervisors received a proposed charter amendment that takes a misguided stab at the much-needed reform of the Municipal Transit Agency, which oversees Muni. In undertaking reforms we all agree are needed for the MTA to better serve our city, the supervisors should consider the Hippocratic oath required of doctors: "First, do no harm."

Our union, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents almost a thousand MTA workers, has enormous respect for the bill's sponsor, board president Aaron Peskin. We know that Peskin strongly supports workers' rights and has always stood for openness, transparency, and accountability in government. This initiative, however, undermines everything that he and his board colleagues stand for, and we urge progressives to oppose it.

Most important, the initiative is profoundly undemocratic and would transfer oversight from an elected body to an appointed one.

An MTA that no longer had to answer to our elected representatives would be a less accountable and less transparent board.

Downgrading elected oversight into appointive power resting in the hands of one person — the mayor — is not reform but a political power grab. Commissioners would be well aware that they might not be reappointed if they voted too independently of the mayor's preferences.

By Anthony Ramirez - New York Times, June 29, 2007

The National Park Service said yesterday that it planned to have another company replace the Circle Line, which has provided ferry service to the Statue of Liberty for more than half a century.

The park service, which operates Liberty Island and other national monuments, said it had selected Hornblower Yachts Inc., a California company that provides ferry service to Alcatraz Island, the former federal prison site in San Francisco Bay.

Terry MacRae, a co-founder and the chief executive officer of Hornblower, said by telephone yesterday, “The park service wanted an improved customer experience, they wanted more education and interpretive opportunities for the guests, enhanced protection of the environment” and expanded service to other federal locations, like the Jamaica Bay NationaleRefuge.

Hands Off Iraqi Oil!

WHEREAS, in the opening days of the 2003 Iraq invasion, US soldiers were ordered to protect the Oil Ministry, oil fields and refineries while wholesale looting of Iraq’s antiquities unfolded. The message to Iraqis was clear: “We’ve come for the oil.” There were no weapons of mass destruction. Rather than democracy, the US brought massive destruction and civil war to Iraq; and

WHEREAS, giving credence to Iraqi fears, the oil cartel has prepared a new Oil Law which, if enacted by the parliament, will put effective control of Iraq’s vast oil resources in the hands of foreign companies. Nationalized since 1975, Iraq’s oil was, before the years of US sanctions and invasions, the foundation for a relatively high standard of living, producing more PhD’s per capita than the U.S. and a health care system prized as the best in the region; and

WHEREAS, President Bush says the war is not about oil but his actions belie that claim. Before the 2003 invasion, the State Dep’t “Oil & Energy Working Group” met to plan how to open Iraq to foreign oil companies. The proposed new Oil Law is virtually a photocopy of the “Options” plan first conceived in Texas long before the US occupied Iraq. The law would create an Oil & Gas Council, on which would sit representatives of Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP, etc., whose tasks include approving their own contracts; and