U.S. officials initially called the Israeli government's action "provocative," but quickly toned down their criticisms and opposed a proposal by Arab governments to put the question on the floor of the UN Security Council for debate.
Russia: job actions spread
Thousands of unpaid workers in Russia continue to block
roads and railways in the far eastern regions of the country
June 23. According to local press reports, an estimated
10,000 people have joined the strikes. Energy workers from
local power plants and utilities have joined pickets set up
by miners in Ussuriysk, demanding immediate payment of up to
eight months' wages. Workers from a submarine repair plant
near Vladivostok are also on strike over a 15-month delay in
wage payments. Hundreds of protesters are staging a sit-in
in front of the regional government's offices in central
Vladivostok. According to trade union officials, there were
strikes at 1,283 companies in Russia during the first four
months of this year.
Workers are increasingly directing their demands at the government. Two hundred miners have been camping outside the main government building in Moscow for two weeks, refusing to leave until Russian president Boris Yeltsin resigns. The government's response to the economic crisis has been to propose a package of austerity measures that will cut social services in the name of boosting state revenues.
Thousands demand jobs in Italy
Hundreds of thousands of workers from all parts of Italy
marched through the streets of Rome June 20, demanding that
the government create more jobs. The crowd - estimated at
300,000 by organizers and 100,000 by the cops - rallied in
central Rome and heard officials of the three main union
federations. One of the demands was to create jobs,
particularly in the southern part of the country, where
unemployment is nearly double the national average of 12.2
percent. Labor officials warned of strikes if the government
does not move to ease the jobless situation.
Airline workers strike in Nepal
Air travel came to a grinding halt throughout Nepal June
25. The workers at Nepal Airlines walked off the job after
the company refused to negotiate on demands made earlier in
June.
S. Korean unemployment triples
The National Statistical Office in south Korea announced
June 23 that a record 1.49 million people were out of work
in May -triple the number just six months ago. The report
noted that this fact increases concerns of renewed labor
resistance that would hamper the government's plans to shut
down unprofitable companies. The jobless rate rose to 6.9
percent in May, the highest level in more than 15 years.
Unemployment in south Korea is expected to increase further,
the report added, with newly passed laws that make it easier
for bosses to dismiss workers.
The labor movement's response included a two-day general strike at the end of May called by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions against growing joblessness.
Teachers strike in Uruguay
Teachers on strike across Uruguay were joined by
secondary school teachers in the capital city of Montevideo
June 23. The teachers' union is demanding that pay be more
than doubled, and calling for better working conditions.
Canada: air traffic controllers vote to strike
Canadian air traffic controllers voted June 23 with 99
percent in favor of striking if a collective agreement is
not reached with Nav Canada, the air navigation services
organization. Workers in the Canadian Air Traffic Control
Association have been without a contract since December of
last year. Major issues in the talks include working
conditions and hours of work. Negotiations between the union
and the company have been going on since last October; an
earlier agreement presented to the rank-and-file members in
March was rejected by 95 percent.
U.S. court cuts miners benefits
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 that Eastern
Enterprises, a company that included coal mines in West
Virginia from 1946 to 1965 but is no longer in the coal
industry, does not have to pay lifetime health insurance
premiums for miners who had worked for them and for their
survivors and families.
The Supreme Court, voting in a 5-to-4 vote, reversed lower court decisions to say that the health care requirement was an unconstitutional "taking" of company's property.
Miners first won the legal right to lifetime health benefits from their employers as a result of a 1946 nationwide strike that involved some 400,000 coal miners.
BY MEGAN ARNEY AND BRIAN TAYLOR