[mobglob-discuss] The World of Labor (March 24, 2006)

[Gordon Flett]

The World of Labor  (March 24, 2006)
By Harry Kelber

General Motors Offers Buyout to 113,000 U.S. Employees

To carry out a massive retrenchment policy, General Motors Corp., once the 
world's largest automaker, announced an agreement with the United Auto 
Workers on March 22 to offer voluntary buyouts to its 113,000 hourly 
employees in amounts ranging from $35,000 to $140,000, depending on years of 
service, age and other factors.  The buyout plan will be a significant step 
toward GM's commitment to eliminate 30,000 production jobs by 2008, when it 
will have shut down some or all of its operations at a dozen facilities 
across North America.

The  buyout offer also applies to the 13,000 workers at the Delphi Corp., 
the largest U.S. auto parts supplier, that was spun off from GM in 1999. 
Delphi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, while discussions 
continue between the UAW, GM and Delphi regarding the auto part company's 
desire to reach a comprehensive contract to cut its overall labor costs.

 Delphi warned that unless it reaches an agreement with the union and GM by 
March 30, it will enter a motion with the bankruptcy court to cancel its 
union contracts and end retiree health and life insurance.

The GM offer has stirred conflicting views among auto workers. UAW officials 
are urging acceptance of the buyout. Younger workers,with only a few years 
of service, feel uncertain about the future, wondering whether there will be 
more layoffs if GM's restructuring plans fail to increase sales and market 
share.

Showdown Expected Between French Unions and Government

As tens of thousands of students and union members continue their protests 
in more than a 150 rallies throughout France, Prime Minister Dominique de 
Villipin indicated he will not back down over his controversial youth labor 
law, despite union threats of a general strike. The proposed law, known as 
the government's First Employment Contract (CPE), allows employers to end 
job contracts for under-26s at any time during a two-year trial period 
without having to offer an explanation or give prior warning.

Students and union leaders have been calling upon President Chirac not to 
sign the law, as he is required to do, for it to take effect, as expected, 
in April. Chirac has straddled the issue, stating on March 20 that "I am 
confident that the sense of responsibility of employers and trade unions and 
the representatives of young people will lead them to go down the road, 
which is that of effectiveness and good sense," he told French TV.

Bernard Thibault, head if the powerful General Labor Confederation (CGT), 
said: "If nothing moves, we will propose preparing a day of general work 
stoppages in the coming days."  Union leaders are meeting on April 3 to 
discuss the situation and prepare an appropriate response.

South Africa Security Guards on Strike

 About 90,000 security guards are on strike in South Africa, with unions 
demanding better working conditions, including the right to use the toilet 
without being charged with deserting a position.  Fewer than half of the 
security companies are said to pay the minimum wage of 1,500 rand ($250)  in 
an industry  that has prospered in recent years because of South Africa's 
crime wave.

At least 10,000 striking guards marched in the streets of Pretoria to 
deliver a petition to the Private Security Regulatory Authority.  "We are 
concerned about the impact the strike is going to have on the economy, but 
unfortunately, it has come to a point that we cannot find a settlement with 
employers," said Jackson Simon of the South African and Allied Workers' 
Union.

Reports indicate a variable turnout in different parts of the country. Some 
companies in Cape Town and Pretoria reported up to 80 percent absenteeism 
rates, while those in Johannesburg were less affected.

Another Labor Activist Murdered at Philippine Sugar Plantation

Tirso Cruz, a leader of the United Luisita Workers Union (Ulwu) at the 
Cojuango family-owned sugar estate in Tarlac City, was shot dead March 22 in 
Concepcion town, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.  Five leaders 
of militant labor groups have been killed since December 2004. Cruz was the 
first slain leader following the resolution of the labor strike at the 
Luisita hacienda in December last year.

Roman Politan, Bayan chair in Central Luzon, says that 49 political 
activists were killed and seven others were abducted in Central Luzon in 
2005, according to Bayan records. In the first quarter of 2006, 18 were 
killed and six abducted.

The union represents more than 5,000 farm workers on whose behalf the 
government agreed to cancel a stock distribution scheme and transfer to them 
the ownership of about 12,500 acres of the Hacienda Luisita.

Belgian Protesters Reject Commercialization of Water

Some 500 protesters demonstrated against the commercialization of water at 
Schuman, near the European Commission's building on March 22, World Water 
Day. Passing around buckets of war, the protesters also wore shirts with the 
message, "Our water is not for sale." The protests were especially aimed at 
Aquafed, a federation of water companies. that has been lobbying to 
privatize water facilities of European countries.

The protesters included the European Federation of Public Service Unions 
(EPSU), environmental groups and water activists.  They demanded that water 
be kept under the supervision of public authorities and that it remain 
accessible to the public. They also said that access to clean, safe and 
affordable drinking water should be recognized as a human right.

EPSU spokesman Jan Willem Goudriaan sad that the European Commission plays 
an important role in the mounting pressure on water to be considered a 
commodity and the liberalization and privatization of water services.

Germany's Doctors Continue Their Strike

Physicians from state-run hospitals in Germany held a demonstration in 
Hanover, continuing a strike that began last week.  About 20,000 strikers 
have been holding staggered strikes at various locations across the country, 
calling for an increase in pay and better working conditions.

"We need to finally get a respectable income," said union leader Frank 
Montgomery, as he addressed 5,000 doctors in Hanover. He said that Germany 
has a high standard of public health care, but that this was now at stake.

The strike comes amid a wider dispute in the public sector, with nurses, 
rubbish collectors and road maintenance workers on strike for the last seven 
weeks.

Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "The World of Labor" columns, along with other 
material, can be viewed at our website: www.laboreducator.org

Harry Kelber's e-mail address is: hkelber at igc.org