health and safety

Building workers on strike in Trinidad

Contract workers hired for the construction of the continuous catalytic reactor (CCR) and the alti-acid plants at Petrotrin, Pointe-a-Pierre, yesterday downed tools for the second time in three days.

On Saturday, the workers at the CCR plant walked off the site in protest against what they described as unfair treatment of women employees by management.

Bitter death in a chocolate factory

Factory puts profit over safety.

In May 2008, Krzysztof Pruszewicz would have been 21. He was killed on April 16 in an industrial accident in the Vobro Chocolate Factory in Brodnica, Poland.

Wildcat strike in South African mines

Workers at the Everest mine in South Africa have gone on wildcat strike about health and safety issues.

On 28 May, 42 load-haul-dumper operators stopped unprotected work at the Everest mine, and the rest of the underground workforce, numbering around 1,300 employees, stopped work in sympathy the following day.

Coca Cola plant goes up in flames

Three persons died and several others were injured when the multi-million naira Coca Cola plant at Eyean, near Benin City, Edo State, on Tuesday went up in flames during an explosion that causes extensive damage to the facility.

The development had prompted the management of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) to suspend operations at the plant.

The dead workers were said to have been taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) morgue while the injured were reportedly receiving treatment.

Tube strike suspended after safety guarantees won

Three days of strikes by more than 7,000 RMT station staff, signallers and drivers have been suspended by the union after lengthy talks this week yielded guarantees on a raft of safety and staffing issues.

Faced with the prospect of three days of strike action from 18:30 on Sunday, London Underground has abandoned plans that the union had described as a fundamental attack on Tube safety standards and casualisation of safety critical work.

RMT and TSSA vote for joint strike action

RMT station staff and train operator members voted Thursday by a margin of five to one for strike action in defence of safety on the London Underground.

The strike ballot saw 1,673 members vote for action with 333 voting against. The ballot result opens the way for joint action with fellow Tube union TSSA, whose own members voted for action earlier this month. The unions are opposing management attacks on safety standards and the casualisation of safety-critical work (details in notes below).

Strike brings Brussels public transport to a halt

Public transport in Brussels was almost entirely halted on Wednesday, as bus and tram drivers went on strike for improved safety, after a bus was attacked with a molotov cocktail.

Starting at 6.30, citywide buses and trams were completely shut down. Metro services were reported to be overcrowded beyond capacity.

French air traffic controllers continue strike

Workers at Paris' three air traffic control centres have been strking since Monday.

The strikes led to 50% of flight from Orly airport being cancelled with many others suffering delays of up to five hours. Marseille, Nice, Lyon and Toulouse airports were forced to cancel flights to Orly knowing that they would not be able to land. The Airport at Roissy was largely unaffected.

Edinburgh rail workers in wildcat strike

Rail signallers in Edinburgh went on wildcat strike, bringing the station to a standstill for an hour on Monday.

The action at Edinburgh's Waverly station was taken in a dispute over the provision of cover for breaks. David Simpson, of Network Rail in Scotland, said the "deliberately disruptive, unprovoked action" was "completely unacceptable".

Ian MacIntyre, the RMT's regional organiser for Scotland, was reported as saying: "Our members took the action in the interests of safety.

Belgium: train conductors wildcat over violence

A wildcat strike by conductors over violence has rapidly spread across Belgian railways.

The strike began late Monday night at the Mons et La Louvière depot after two conductors were attacked on a train and their colleagues walked out in support. As new shifts arrived from 4:30am more workers joined the action. In all only two conductors crossed pickets and at least 30 trains had been cancelled by 6:30am.

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