[mobglob-discuss] The World of Labor (January 26, 2007)

[Gordon Flett]

The World of Labor (January 26, 2007)

By Harry Kelber

A Wage Increase for 170,000 Overseas Domestic Workers

About 170,000 overseas Filipino household workers, or around 60 percent of
the total 282,944, will receive a mandated increase in their minimum wage
from $200 to $400, Rosalinda Baidoz. Chief of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA), announced at a press conference on Jan.
24.

Aside from raising the minimum wage for household workers to be deployed
abroad, the POEA also raised the age of deployment to 25 years, prohibited
the collection of placement fees, and required those to be deployed to have
undergone skills training and a seminar on the culture of the receiving
countries. "The good thing about this is they won't be at the beck and call
of their employers 24/7. After eight hours of work, they get overtime pay,"
Baidoz said.

The POEA chief also said that no country has officially opposed its policy,
but noted that employment agencies of several countries are free to get
domestic helpers from other sources.. She said that about 105,000 job orders
related to household work are still to be filled and available under the new
minimum wage.

Nestle Nails Fiji Workers to Sub-Poverty Wages

At a conciliation meeting on Jan. 17, the Nestle management adamantly
refused to meet the union's demand for moving the wages of its employees at
least close to where the poverty line is. The Poverty Wage Line in Fiji was
defined as F3.50 an hour ($2,10) several years ago, a figure that did not
take into account the cost of housing. Even so, management simply refused to
increase wages beyond F2.70 ($1.65 ) an hour, effective from Jan. 1, 2007.

The Fiji Sugar and General Workers Union says the company's actions are
"unacceptable" on two counts: the hourly rate is too far below the poverty
line and any agreement should be dated back to August 2005, when the union
secured recognition rights for collective bargaining. The Fiji union, which
is an affiliate of the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), is asking
that their dispute with Nestle be sent to arbitration.

Nestle is the largest transnational food company in the world with annual
income of over $70 billion. (By comparison, Fiji's gross national income is
$2,4 billion and New Zealand's is $81.2 billion) While the company has
announced record profits, it has no guilt feelings about keeping its workers
in poverty.

British Airways Cabin Crews to Hold Three-Day Strike

More than 11,000 cabin crew employees of British Airways will hold a
three-day strike from Jan. 29-31, following the breakdown of negotiations
over a range of issues with the airline. Strike action was approved by a
vote of 96.1 percent, with an 80 percent voter turnout.

The strike could severely disrupt the airline's flight schedule. Further
three-day stoppages will be held on the same three days in the two
subsequent weeks if the dispute is not resolved.

T&G deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said: "BA has simply failed to
engage with the union in negotiations on our compromise proposals, and
appears unwilling to listen to this loyal, professional and hard-working
group of employees. Indeed, managers have chosen to provoke."

Chinese Textile Worker s in Romania Stage Job Protest

About 400 Chinese women, the first to be employed legally in Romania, have
asked for their monthly after-tax pay to be doubled, from$350 to $700, and
their living conditions improved. They are on strike at a textile factory in
the Romanian town of Bacau, northeast of Bucharest.

The factory manager has refused to raise wages to that level;. He says they
are getting the same pay as the average Romanian worker. He has hired a
Chinese cook, but workers complain their food is poorly prepared and they go
hungry. The women feel isolated, because they don't speak Romanian and know
only a few words of English. A small number of workers have said they want
to return to China, and about 100 others are said to have agreed to return
to work, but the majority are still on strike.

Romania faces a severe shortage of skilled workers in the garment industry,
since many of them have sought employment in Western Europe. So to fill
vacancies, Romania has had to import skilled workers from China. Chinese
diplomats have visited Bacau and spoken to the workers and local
authorities, but there has been no agreement to end the strike.

Ireland's College Lecturers on Strike for Pay Parity


Northern Island's 16 further education colleges face shutdown on Jan. 29
when lecturers embark on their sixth day of strike since last May. The
series of strikes is part of the lecturers' long-running campaign for pay
parity with teachers in schools. The University and Colleges Union (UCU)
claims that college lecturers are paid about $4,000 a year less than most
school teachers for similar work.

The employers agreed to pay parity in 2001, but did not implement it and
also imposed a cap on public sector pay. A statement from the UCU said:
"Lecturers have met with Secretary of State Peter Hain in a bid to have the
cap lifted. He has said he accepts in principle that lecturers should have
pay parity, but that would breach the government's current pay policy."
Teachers had their pay increased by 2.5 percent last September and will get
a further 2.5 percent next September, while lecturers have been offered
nothing.

The union is committed to indefinite strike action should employers send
lecturers home without pay for participating in the strike. UCU is
conducting a march on the strike day in Belfast City Centre and past the
headquarters of the Department of Employment and Learning.

Our two weekly columns (LaborTalk and The World of Labor) can be viewed and
downloaded at our website www.laboreducator.org