Overview of the labor movement in the second half of November

Protests against pension reform resumed in Russia

 Despite the fact that Putin and Medvedev were able to push through their anti-people law on increasing the age of citizens leaving for deserved rest, many residents of the country do not want to put up with it.

On November 24 and 25, 2018, in Kuibyshev (Samara), Kaluga, Omsk, Novosibirsk and other cities, a series of pickets against retirement age was held. Workers, students, representatives of the intelligentsia, the unemployed came to these protest actions with proposals not to elect deputies who supported the cannibal reform. Picketers showed posters with photos of these corrupt personalities and calls no longer to vote for them.

The protesters expressed confidence that not one of those who supported raising the retirement age would be elected to the State Duma, the Federation Council, or any regional parliament. They are convinced that the deputies by their vote finally undermined the people's trust in themselves. The picketers called for a vote of no confidence in everyone who supported raising the retirement age.

Such actions are scheduled to be held regularly until this anti-popular reform is canceled.
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Strike by car makers of the Leningrad Region

 In Vsevolozhsk, on November 19, workers declared an indefinite strike. In the following days, the number of strikers increased. The protest action is organized by the primary trade union organization of the local automobile plant. Workers are demanding higher wages, a stable schedule, compensation in the event of a reduction or liquidation of an enterprise, and protection of rights under medical restrictions. Since September, a four-day work week has been introduced at the plant, in December, a simple downtime is possible at the enterprise, due to which workers will receive a salary, reduced by an average of 49 percent.

In total, over 2700 employees work at the plant.


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Workers strike in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District

On November 19, in the Nadym district, at the Pestsovoye field developed by the Novy Urengoy enterprise, a strike of more than 200 shift workers began. Wages have not been given to them the fourth month. Local chiefs respond to the demands of the strikers only by threats of deprivation of housing and the seizure of grocery cards.

The situation with the crew of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District is not new. People constantly come there to earn good money, but often they end up in natural slavery. While the firm-employer is registered far from the place of work, mercenaries are beating at the field itself, beating the disgruntled. Owners replenish their pockets with many months of free labor of thousands of people.

As a result, many after threats and intimidations, they simply leave with nothing, and only through solidarity struggle can certain groups of workers defend their rights. The lesson of these small victories leads us to a future victory over capitalism — the predatory system of blatant profit on someone else’s work.
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In Kaliningrad, the director of the company shot a worker who demanded a salary

In mid-November, the head of the plant for the production of metal products more than four times fired a traumatic weapon into the body and head of an employee who was dissatisfied with the delay in the issuance of earnings. 47-year-old man was hospitalized needing surgery.

The director of the company was detained. A criminal case on hooliganism. The maximum penalty for this article is imprisonment for up to seven years. There is no doubt that this monster-capitalist with the help of bribes to judges and policemen will be able to evade responsibility. There can be no other under the conditions of the bourgeois dictatorship now prevailing.

And for workers this event is a serious lesson. If there is no friendly and organized protest against the abuse of the bourgeoisie, then such cases are quite logical. The capitalists become impudent from impunity, seeing that the opposing proletariat does not give due resistance in the matter of defending their rights. If the working class rises in a friendly and active way to the struggle against the capitalists, then there will be no such cases. The bourgeoisie will shake from fear of the proletariat. There are thousands of capitalists, millions of workers.
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Abroad

The outbreak of class struggle in France

On November 25, more than 100 thousand workers, students, employees, the unemployed actively protested against the rise in gasoline prices.

Against the protesters on the Champs Elysées in Paris, police used tear gas. The demonstrators called for the resignation of French President Macron, and the Eiffel Tower was closed to the public.

The protests began on November 17th. During the rally, two people were killed, more than 500 were injured.

According to the plans of the government, the prices for gasoline in France should increase by 2.9 eurocents from January 1, and by 6.5 eurocentes per liter for diesel. During 2018, diesel fuel went up by about 23 percent, gasoline - by 15 percent.
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A crowded proletarian protest in South Korea

On November 21, over 120 thousand workers of 109 enterprises in which the metalworkers trade union joined the all-Korean strike.


The strike was also attended by employees of car factories, shipyards. After the strike, workers held regional rallies throughout the country.

Workers opposed the government’s inability to establish tighter control over the activities of large industrial conglomerates, known as chaebols, under the control of family clans. In addition, the workers demanded a reform of labor legislation that would guarantee the fundamental rights of trade unions, as well as reduce the length of the working day.
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Full-scale strike by mailers in Canada

At the beginning of the second half of November, a mass strike continued in the country. It was conducted by postal workers.

Demonstrations took place in more than 200 cities in Canada. The main demands put forward by the protesters are a reduction in workload, improvement of safety at work, and an increase in the salaries of rural postal workers to the level of money incomes of urban ones.

Despite the achievement of some agreements, new protests were planned in the provinces of Winnipeg, Quebec, Ontario.
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 Strike by railway workersd of Austria

 November 26 for two hours in the country stopped all the trains. The reason for this was the strike of employees in the industry.

This strike was due to the breakdown of negotiations regarding the increase in salaries for railway workers. The union demands higher earnings for inflation, but the employer is willing to increase it only by 3 percent.