car industry

Gurgaon Workers News - Newsletter 13 (October 2008)

On September 1, workers at the Volkswagen-Audi factory in the city of Curitiba began a one-week strike. Workers at the Volvo and Renault/Nissan plants in the same town also went on strike on the same day.

During that week, 24-hour strikes occurred at Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes Benz and Scania in cities in the interior of Sao Paulo state.

With the recent arrest of Hyundai Motor Branch First Vice-President Kim Tae-gon on September 16 and the arraignment of Jung Gab-deuk, president of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), on September 18 on charges of obstructing business, members of the KMWU are bracing for more assaults. Leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have also been targets of arrest.

Workers began their strike on Tuesday in support of demands for wage increases to deal with rising inflation. Three Volkswagen, Nissan, and Renault owned plants in the southern state of Parana have been affected, causing a production loss of about 6,600 vehicles.

The workplace struggles that took place in 1987 occurred within the wider background of political reform. For thirty years South Korea had been ruled by a military dictatorship, and growing calls for democracy had echoed across the peninsula through the 1970s and early 80s.

Sixteen staff were laid off from the Langage power station construction site near Plymouth, and picketed the site on Thursday morning, bringing 350 workers out in support by shift start.

After three weeks of not receiving wages workers at the Alborz Elastics Factory began a strike on July 12. Management had reneged on a promise to pay a New Year's bonus to 400 workers, and has refused to pay into a loan fund for workers despite taking regular deductions from salaries.

What began as a hunger strike launched on June 28 has grown to a full-scale strike as thousands of workers at Iran Khodro, the country's largest auto manufacturer, walked off the job to win wage and conditions improvements.

Workers' demands include:
1) Prohibited entry of security guards to workstations;
2) An end to mandatory over-time;
3) Increases in productivity benefits;

The Ecological Challenge: Three Revolutions are Necessary
by Alternative Libertaire