By Sarah Attfield
2018 has seen many working-class
people around the world standing up for their rights and pushing back against
injustice and inequality. Some of these fights have made the mainstream news in
western countries, but many have not. As we reflect on the year that is ending,
let’s not forget the struggles of working-class people and the successes of
collective action and solidarity. Around the world, people have had enough of
corporate greed and government inaction to combat inequality.
The spectacular scenes of protests
and police responses on the streets of Paris were broadcast around the world.
Crowds of people dressed in yellow vests (gilet jaunes) rallying against the
French government have sparked much interest. The left has celebrated the
gilets jaunes as a working-class movement—people fed up with austerity and
regressive taxes, taking to the streets to demand better treatment and equality
from the centrist government (although it should be acknowledged that there has
been some coopting of the movement by the far right).
In Australia in October, the streets
were also awash with yellow vests, worn mostly by construction workers who put
tools down to join rallies and marches in the city centres as part of a
union-led campaign to ‘change the rules’ and allow workers more rights to
organize and strike.
Australia has also seen a number of
more localized strikes and organization of workers throughout the year,
including the notable formation of the First Nations Workers Alliance (FNWA),
set up to fight against the unjust Community Development Program—a ‘work for
the dole’ scheme targeting Indigenous people in remote communities. Under the
scheme, Indigenous people are expected to work for no pay and are penalized if
they refuse to do so. They are not covered by occupational health and safety
laws and do not receive other work entitlements. The FNWA has been campaigning
around the country, creating solidarity with non-Indigenous workers and unions
and empowering workers with information about their rights.
Australia’s neighbour, New Zealand,
has experienced industrial action this year by public servants, nurses, fast
food workers, bus drivers, and cinema workers. For some worker groups, such as
the nurses, the strikes are the first to happen in decades.
In the Asia-Pacific region, workers
at South Korean tech giant Oracle have been striking since May over unfair
conditions, rates of pay, and rights to unionize. Across China, factory workers
(many of whom are migrant workers from rural areas) are demanding an end to
unsafe working conditions and forced overtime. Even in Japan, where strikes are
very rare, in one town during a dispute over insecure work, bus drivers engaged
in industrial action by refusing to collect fares from passengers.
A Philippines branch of business
processing outsourcing company Alorica was notified of strike action in
September due to the company’s attempts to strip rights from the workers’
union. This will be the first strike of call centre employees in the
Philippines.
South Asia has also seen a series of
strikes this year. Tea plantation workers in eastern India staged a strike in
August over pay, and in October, Indian Uber and Ola drivers struck to demand
higher fares to meet their cost of living. Pakistani port workers have fought
back against unfair dismissals and low wages, and postal worker unions in
Pakistan have been protesting employers’ stripping of health benefits.
Various African countries have also
seen industrial action in 2018. Nurses in Kenya have threatened to walk off the
job if negotiations over pay are not successful, and teachers in Kenya recently
called off a planned strike to allow for talks with employers. Members of both
private and public sector unions in Nigeria called a national strike in
September in their quest for a livable minimum wage.
The South African National Union of
Mineworkers advised workers at the South Deep gold mine to take industrial
action after announcements of mass job losses. The right to strike is
entrenched in South Africa’s constitution, but recent amendments to labor laws
there will make it more difficult to take strike action. A new national minimum
wage has been criticized and likely to be used by employers as a maximum wage.
South African workers took to the streets in April to demand a higher minimum.
Workers in Middle Eastern countries
have also been downing tools. In the United Arab Emirates, where strikes are
technically illegal, construction workers in Abu Dhabi refused to work until
they were paid wages owed. In Iran, steel workers striking over unpaid wages
and other issues have faced arrest, and Iranian truck drivers, farmers, and
railway workers have also staged action in 2018.
Employees in Europe have been
fighting against Amazon—choosing the busiest days of the year to stage strikes
and speaking out publicly against unsafe working conditions in Amazon
factories. Greek workers have been protesting against government plans to
restrict industrial action, and German railway workers have been engaged in a
national strike over pay.
In the U.K., cleaners at the London
School of Economics finally won their fight to become in-house staff, vastly
improving their pay and conditions. This was the result of a ten-month strike
led by some of the most marginalized workers in the country. Their union,
United Voices of the World, has also run successful unfair dismissal campaigns
against retailer Top Shop and a London recycling plant. They also scored a win
for cleaners working for a London council in their fight to receive the London
Living Wage.
There are many, many inspiring
stories of successes and of continuing struggles. Campaigns have been varied as
workers have fought for decent pay and conditions, as well as job security, the
right to unionize, work safety, and to not be harassed at work (as in
McDonald’s worker walk outs in the U.S.). Working-class people are taking
action to improve their own lives and to challenge structures that maintain
inequality and injustice, and hearing about the actions and success of others
helps build workers movements. Stories from around the world show there is
still power in unions and collective action. They also highlight the need for
global solidarity.
In this season, let’s not forget the
many around the world whose work continues throughout the holidays, and let us
keep organizing, representing, supporting, and celebrating working-class lives
in 2019. Solidarity forever! (IPA
Service)
Courtesy: People’s World
The post Global Working Class Fought Back In 2018 appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
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