Overview of the labor movement in the second half of August 2019

Strike in the Far East

On August 26, 2019, in the city of Dalnegorsk, Primorsky Territory, workers at the Bor chemical plant suspended their duties until wages for the second half of July were paid.

The problems of the enterprise have been dragging on since 2003, when its bosses first declared bankruptcy of the plant.

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Crane operators strike in Kazan led to positive results for them

In mid-August, a protest rally continued in the capital of Tataria, which began in July.

The striking crane operators summed up the preliminary results of the strike.

During the protest, the builders' working day was reduced to 8 hours. The authorities paid crane workers overtime hours and took measures to insure their life and health. In addition, the protests attracted the attention of supervisors, who began inspections.

The strikers noted: “We have proved to everyone that the worker, the crane operator, is not a slave. A tremendous force is in our working hands, and, using this power correctly, we can change a lot and make our life more worthy. ”

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In the Rostov region another rally by miners

On August 24, in the town of Gukovo, near the Palace of Culture, the miners organized a picket. They demanded that the head of the administration of the Golubev region pay back all their salary debts and resign.

The honored miner Nikolai Shulepov, who was present at the event, said with sadness: “I go to pickets to support people. We try to resist, we try to pay everyone the remaining debt, we try to wake the government, we do not give them rest. There is no industry in the city, despite the statement that Gukovo is a territory of rapid development. Only the service sector, shops, a bazaar and small wholesale markets operate. There are no mines, there are no depots and technical depots, there is no railway. All this was previously tied to the coal industry, to mines that is now closed. For coal by creating many jobs, now it's all lost. Of course, we hope, just not clear what. Create then large enterprises, most likely, will not be, so that the city will continue to turn up. "


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Rally in Stalingrad

On August 25, 2019, a mass protest rally was organized in the city on the lower Volga, on Metallurgov Avenue, in which workers, intellectuals, housewives, unemployed, students, and pensioners took part. Protesters said that the size of salaries and pensions in the city and the region does not meet the level of prices and tariffs for housing and communal services.

Protesters rallied because of a deterioration in living standards. One of them said: "I am here for myself and my friends who, like me, live in a former hostel ... The right to a decent life has been taken away from us. Prices are constantly rising, the right to decent work has been taken away from us, in our factories "We have been taken away the right to free housing. Even if you work, the salary is 15-20 thousand rubles, a family with two children is sentenced to poverty. Families are crumbling due to lack of housing."

The resolution adopted as a result of the rally contains requirements to take measures to support industry, reduce unemployment, create jobs, and increase salaries and pensions.


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Abroad

"Yellow vests" held a demonstration in France against a meeting of the rulers of the "big seven"

On August 24, demonstrators marched through the streets of Paris with the slogan "G7 for some and nothing for others."

A protest rally also took place in Toulouse, hundreds of people took part in it.

In the vicinity of the city of Biarritz, where the rulers of the G-7 countries met from August 24 to 26, clashes between protesters and the police took place.

In the commune of Jurrun on the border with Spain, seven activists were injured during the confrontation between demonstrators and "law enforcement officers", 17 people were detained. Protesters said they were organizing an anti-summit, tried to block the highway, and began to erect barricades. The police used rubber bullets against them.

Hundreds of people gathered in the city of Bayonne, which is located ten kilometers from Biarritz. There, the police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstration. 68 people were detained.

In addition, the "Yellow Vests" and their supporters organized a procession from the French city of Hendaye to the Spanish Irun. About 15 thousand people took part in the march.

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Mass protests in Sri Lanka

On August 21, the working people of the islands marched against the Employment Act. In particular, a crowded demonstration was held near the building of the Ministry of Labor in the capital of Colombo. Its participants demanded that the unified employment law proposed by the government be repealed. According to trade unions, the proposed changes in most cases undermine the rights of workers and ultimately lead to a deterioration in working conditions - an increase in working hours, a decrease in wages, a decrease in the level of security and a reduction in many of the currently existing social benefits and protection methods. Proposed changes ok8 million workers of private enterprises will have a negative impact on basic working conditions and will make the 8-hour workday a thing of the past.

“It is unacceptable that the new proposed law gives the employer the right to make decisions on working conditions through employment contracts, making workers defenseless and vulnerable to the whims and whims of employers,” said one of their union activists.

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Strike on the Spanish island of Ibiza

On August 25, hundreds of hotel workers went on strike because of poor working conditions. The protest was supported by the General Confederation of Labor of Spain.

The protesters demanded that the hotel owners treat them as professional workers with the appropriate rights and workload.


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Portugal rally

On August 21, flight attendants from one of the well-known airlines went on strike.

With this protest, they showed their dissatisfaction with the non-compliance with the rules regarding the payment of vacation subsidies.