Asia

India: Punjab public school teachers demand steady employment

Hundreds of contract teachers and non-teaching workers from Punjab state schools demonstrated in Sangrur on October 16 to demand that the state government fulfill their old demand for permanent jobs.

The protests were summoned by the Democratic Teachers Front which sent notes of demands to the government in May and June but received no response. The demonstrators also called for promotions and special transfers of teachers who have to travel long distances from home to work.

Assam state rail workers demand festival allowances

Several hundred workers organized by the Northeast Border Railroad Workers Union demonstrated at 52 work sites in several cities in Assam state on October 18 to demand bonuses for the Durga Puja (religious festival). They threatened to shut down the entire rail network if the government ignored their requests.

The next day workers organized by the Dakshin Railway Employees Union demonstrated demanding the same bonus.

Haryana car factory workers protest the labor law

Workers from the Bellsonica Auto Component India (BACI) plant hold a hunger protest outside the mini-secretariat in Gurugram, Haryana state, on October 15. Eight BACI trade union officers went on a hunger strike for eight hours and were followed by other workers as they ended their shifts.

The demonstration was to protest the Indian government’s latest labor law. Trade unions claim that the new law undermines workers’ rights, gives employers the freedom to exploit workers and will lead to an increase in contract workers.

Workers also opposed the company’s refusal to negotiate with unions for a three-year contract that covers 1,200 workers. No negotiations for 20 months.

Andhra Pradesh city workers demand late wages

Municipal workers in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh have been staging protests over the past two weeks demanding immediate payment of three months’ wages. Statewide protests are planned for November 2.

Workers also alleged that city officials harassed them through a Real-Time Monitoring System (RTMS) which tracks garbage collection. They also called for an increase in the minimum wage to 24,000 rupees ($ 326) per month, the abolition of the RTMS system and the transfer of contract workers to full-time jobs.

Bangladesh: Port trade unions cancel a national strike without a resolution

The Bangladesh Water Transport Workers Federation (BWTWF) and the Bangladesh Lighters Union ended a nationwide strike against 200,000 water transport workers after three days without resolution to their 11 demands charter.

Workers started indefinite strikes Tuesday at ports across the country, including major ports such as Chattogram and Mongla. Millions of tons of cargo were affected.

The strikers demanded wages in accordance with official government news published in 2016, issuance of landing tickets, letters of appointment and identity cards, provision of food allowances for ship workers bound for India and compensation of one million taka ($ US11,798) for workers who died. in a work accident.

The union quickly broke off the strike after the employer agreed to only one of the demands: the provision of food allowances.

The workers on the passenger ships did not go on strike because of the Durga Puja festival.

Unemployed assistant school teachers in Bangladesh staged hunger protests

Hundreds of unemployed elementary school teacher assistants have been on hunger strike since October 13 outside the National Press Club in Dhaka to demand work. The assistant teachers, who say they have passed the mandatory recruitment exam, have promised to continue the protests until their requests are met.

Bangladeshi police attacked protesting against hemp factory workers

Hundreds of hemp factory workers and demonstrating family members were seriously injured when police used batons and fired tear gas to break up their protest on the Khulna-Jashore highway on Monday. At least 22 workers were injured and 14 arrested. The protesters are demanding the reopening of a closed government-owned hemp factory.

Hundreds of hemp workers and hemp farmers demonstrated in Khulna and Tangail in August demanding factory reopening.

In July, the government closed 25 state-owned jute factories, claiming they were losing money. About 50,000 workers lost their jobs overnight while thousands of hemp farmers had no income. The government claims that the factory will reopen under public private ownership or be leased.

Pakistan: Women’s Health Workers ended a seven-day strike

More than 500 members of the National Federation of Health Workers Programs ended a seven-day strike and sit-in protest outside the National Assembly in Islamabad on Tuesday. The workers employed by the Lady Health Workers (LHW) program ended their industrial action after negotiating with the government. They demanded salary increases, improved service structures and gratuities, as well as protection while on duty.

More than 100,000 workers are employed in LHW programs across Pakistan. In most rural areas where there are no permanent health facilities, LHW provides vaccinations and other essential services as a mobile unit. Workers, who are only paid around 20,000 rupees a month (US $ 123.27), are among Pakistan’s most exploited working class. After years of fighting for permanent positions, some remain under contract.

Sri Lankan tea plantation workers protest against factory closings

About 30 tea plantation workers who lost their jobs due to the sudden closure of factories in the northern division of the Helboda plantation in Kotmale, the main tea plantation area in the Nuwara-eliya district, held a sit-in outside the factory on October 16. They demanded reappointments in several other divisions of the estate. They were supported by workers from other divisions who went on strike for two days.

Australia

Western Australian workers protest after death at work

At least 2,000 construction workers and family members marched to the Western Australian parliament building in Perth on Tuesday to demand an industrial kill bill promised by the McGowan State Labor government in 2017, and detained on a High House technical committee, passed immediately. The law increases the financial and criminal penalties for those convicted of industrial killings.

The protests came just one week after a 20-meter high glass and steel tent at Curtin University in Perth collapsed killing 23-year-old glazier apprentice Johnnie Hartshorn and leaving two other workers injured, one critically. That devastating destruction could have killed and injured two dozen other construction workers if they had not gone to lunch off site five minutes earlier.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Maritime Energy Union (CFMMEU) and other labor unions at the site were aware one week earlier of the danger of serious accidents, but allowed work to resume after the chief building contractor insisted that construction should continue.

Tasmanian care workers protest over staff shortages

More than 20 workers from Tasmania’s largest elderly care facility demonstrated outside a facility in Burnie, northwest Tasmania, on Tuesday. Health and Community Services Union (HASCU) members at OneCare Umina Park said they were concerned that the facility was severely under-developed and doubted that it would be able to fill the shift in the event of another coronavirus outbreak in the region.

The workers were supported by local people who held placards that read “Faceless but voiceless” and “OneCare has a lot of problems.” With no union campaign to unite all members across Tasmania due to a chronic state-wide shortage of elderly care staff, protesters have been forced to put leaflets in local mailboxes in a bid to win community support.