Coal miners strike in Ukraine
Coal miners in Ukraine went on strike in mid-August for
back pay, higher wages and pensions, and better medical
benefits."I haven't been paid in two months," said Aleksi
Tsybin, a miner from the eastern town of Makayevke. "This
is a gross violation of workers' rights."
The miners, who have launched sporadic strikes at some of the country's 246 mines in the past few weeks, are also demanding more control over the industry, such as setting coal prices and their own wage scale. The miners' union has warned the government that a broader strike is likely in the winter if negotiations collapse.
5,000 clash with S. Korean cops
Some 5,000 students in South Korea fought with cops
August 15 as they attempted to walk to North Korea for a
rally to commemorate Korea's liberation from Japanese
colonial rule. The students, who were demanding the
reunification of Korea, clashed with police several times
along Unification Road, which leads from Seoul to North
Korea. Seoul bars its citizens from attending the annual
event.
Washington, which backs the regime in Seoul, fostered the division of the peninsula after the overthrow of colonial rule in 1945 and waged a war against the Korean people from 1950-53.
Women in Japan file equality suit
Nine Japanese women filed a $4.4 million lawsuit in
early August against the Sumitomo corporation, charging the
company with sex discrimination in wages and promotion.
Sumitomo is one of Japan's largest corporations, employing
more than 42,000 people.
Women make up about 40 percent of Japan's workforce, but earn on the average only 60 percent of men's wages- one of the widest disparities in the industrialized world. Last year the Tokyo district court ordered Sanyo Bussan, a food and drinks wholesaler, to pay three women $90,000 in compensation because they earned less than their male counterparts.
Miners protest layoff in Morocco
Some 750 miners at a Moroccan mineral ore mine went on a
hunger strike July 24 to protest layoffs. The mine closed
in 1993 after the Companie Astorienne des Mines, a Belgian
company that owned 74 percent of the mine stock, went
bankrupt. Workers were given no unemployment payments.
The miners suspended their strike after government officials promised to pay them $6 million. The Moroccan Labor Union announced that miners resumed their indefinite hunger strike August 7 because government promises were not fulfilled.
S. Africa gov't signs Iran oil deal
The government of South Africa signed an agreement with
Tehran to store and market Iranian oil. U.S. ambassador
Princeton Lyman is scheduled to meet with South African
foreign minister Alfred Nzo in an attempt to pressure the
government to back off the oil pact and closer relations
with Tehran.
South African president Nelson Mandela met briefly with Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati in South Africa and told reporters, "We believe that no country is entitled to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries." Few governments have heeded Washington's recent trade ban on Iran.
More use Montreal food banks
The number of working people using food banks in
Montreal has increased by 66 percent since 1992. Some 46
percent of the city's population lives under the poverty
line and is forced to spend at least 57 percent of their
income for food, clothes, and housing.
"Quebec is becoming the poorest province in Canada," stated Moissson Montreal, an organization that distributes 25 tons of food to community organizations in Montreal.
Report says millions are at risk from industrial
accidents
According to a study by the National Environmental Law
Center and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, more
than 44 million people risk being injured or killed in
industrial explosions, chemical releases, or fires. The law
center calculated scenarios of deaths or serious injuries
that could occur from disasters at almost 10,000
manufacturing companies. Matthew Weinstock, a spokesman for
the Chemical Manufacturers Association, criticized the
report, saying the data "doesn't measure what you're doing
inside to safeguard against an actual release."
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in August to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency's law that requires 23,000 industrial facilities to issue annual reports on emissions of 651 chemicals tracked by the government.
Youth denied food in D.C. jail
Four youth held during the weekend of August 12 at the
city- run detention center in Washington, D.C., said August
14 that they were denied food and were not allowed to brush
their teeth or take showers.One boy, who had told the
arresting cop and the detention personnel that he needed
insulin, was hospitalized only after lapsing into a coma.
"This is unreal," said Judge George Mitchell, who oversees the city's juvenile facilities. Charges of "fare- evasion," against the youth were dismissed August 14.
Texas A&M cheats workers
Texas A&M University admitted August 15 that it cheated
400 farm laborers by depriving them of unemployment,
disability, and Social Security benefits. The infractions
were uncovered by Texas Rural Legal Aid, which filed a
class-action suit on behalf of Berene Murillo, a farm
worker in Plainview, Texas. Murillo said at a news
conference in Austin, the state capital, that she sought
help from Texas Rural Legal Aid because the Internal
Revenue Service was demanding taxes, penalties, and
interest and she was denied jobless benefits.
"What really bothered me, angered me, was that my bosses never paid into my Social Security, because when I reach my old age and I won't be able to work, I won't have any way to support myself," she said. According to the New York Times, the lawsuit charged the university's Agricultural Extension Service fraudulently paid Murillo as an "independent contractor" to save 51 cents an hour in payroll taxes.
State revives inmate, kills him
Oklahoma prison officials rushed death row inmate Robert
Brecheen to the hospital August 10, after they found he had
overdosed on sedatives. Hours later, they brought him back
to the prison and killed him with a lethal injection - only
two hours off from his scheduled execution.
Under a 1986 Supreme Court ruling, Brecheen was required "to be aware of his execution, and he has to know why he is being executed," said Oklahoma assistant attorney general Sandy Howard, justifying the barbaric event.
- MAURICE WILLIAMS
Michel Prairie from Montreal contributed to this column.