Malaysia: immigrants fight cops
Immigrant workers held in four detention centers in
Malaysia rebelled against cop brutality March 26, setting the
camps on fire and battling with 3,500 police. After a police
officer was killed in the Semenyih camp, the cops moved in
and viciously attacked the detainees, most of them
undocumented workers from Indonesia. In the Machap Umboo
camp, witnesses said, the riot police lobbed tear gas and
beat immigrants with batons.
Seeking to scapegoat undocumented immigrants for the recent economic crisis in that country, the Malaysian government has arrested tens of thousands of workers, who are being held in 10 severely overcrowded detention centers. The government has deported nearly 19,000 immigrant workers since January and pledged to deport 10,000 each month.
Airline workers strike in Ireland
After Ryanair withdrew security passes and barred airport
entrance to 39 baggage handlers on strike at Dublin Airport,
2,000 workers in the country's largest airport struck for
five hours March 7, forcing the company to negotiate. As the
strikers picketed the airport, the other workers refused to
cross their line and effectively closed it down for the day.
The Ryanair baggage handlers have been on strike demanding
union recognition since January. The company has now
threatened to seek financial compensation for the
cancellation of flights. Sinn Fein, the party leading the
fight for a united Ireland and to rid the northern six
counties of British troops, called on all who value workers
rights to continue their support for the unionists. Sinn Fein
president Gerry Adams said the party's members "would not use
the airline during this dispute."
Germany: public workers win small raise, gov't pushes for cuts
After widespread strikes and protests by workers belonging
to the DAG and OTV public sector unions, workers in Germany
won a 1.5 percent pay increase this year. Workers in the
eastern part of Germany will get an additional 1.5 percent
rise in wages. One of the union's demands, which will cover
3.2 million workers, has been wage parity between unionists
in the two parts of Germany. The wage increases will put
workers in the East at about 86.5 percent of wages in the
West. Union officials are still negotiating with employers
over whether to peg the wage increases to cuts in benefits
and sick pay. Mediators in the talks have called for workers
to begin contributing to pension plans, which are now paid
for by the employers, as well as proposing part-time work for
older employees.
Greece: workers hold work stoppage over wage cuts, two- tier
Workers at the state-owned Olympic Airlines in Greece held
a three-hour work stoppage March 24. They were protesting a
"reconstructing" plan proposed by Athens that includes
workers acquiring shares in the company in lieu of wage
increases and individual contracts instead of a union
contract. The airline unions have already rejected plans for
pay cuts of 20 percent, increased hours, and a two-tier wage
system. The government says the plan is aimed at reducing
Athens' national deficit in order to be allowed into the
European Monetary Union.
Athens has already passed several laws that allow the government to overrule collective agreements on pay and working conditions at state-owned enterprises that don't make a profit. The Greek Confederation of Trade Unions called a one-day general strike for April 9.
Tel Aviv: still no troop pullout
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced March
27 the rejection a White House proposal for Tel Aviv to
withdraw its troops from about 13 percent of the occupied
Palestinian territories. Netanyahu instead proposed a 9
percent withdrawal plan, which Palestinians have made clear
is not acceptable.
The Israeli prime minister faces staunch opposition within the government to any pullout. Right-wing politicians in Tel Aviv have vowed to bring down the Netanyahu regime if the Palestinians win their land back. Under a 1997 agreement the Israeli government pledged to carry out three pullbacks by the middle of this year. So far, none have occurred. Washington's plan includes that the troop withdrawal would be monitored by the U.S. government. The White House is also demanding the Palestinian Authority pledge to outlaw incitement against Israel and provide lists of all members of the Palestinian security forces.
Gold prices drop, S. African mine boss cuts 6,000 jobs
Gold prices are at their lowest in two decades. In
response, one of South Africa's largest gold exploiters, Gold
Fields, says it will lay off 6,000 workers at two of its
mines. This is in spite of a deal made between the company
and the union to lessen the impact on workers when mineral
prices drop. South Africa is the world's largest producer of
gold. In the last year, however, mining companies in that
country have laid off 50,000 workers and expect to lay off
100,000 this year.
Brazilian Indians take back land
Quiriri Indians in Brazil took back their land March 26
after the government refused to move on a 1982 agreement to
return the stolen territory. Armed with bows and arrows and
dressed in full war paint, the Quiriri took back their land
in the municipalities of Banzae and Quinjingue, about 930
miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. In 1982 the government of
Brazil designated the area as Quiriri ancestral lands. It
also agreed to pay 1,360 families compensation in order for
the land to be returned to the Quiriri. So far only 400
families have received any money.
Truckers block roads in Mexico
Dozens of drivers lined up their tractor-trailers along
some of Mexico's major highways March 23 after launching a
work stoppage. The drivers say they will continue their
protest until the government addresses truckers high
registration fees, the rising cost of diesel fuel, and other
concerns.
Meanwhile, Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo has introduced legislative measures to make it easier for foreign capitalists to buy up national banks there.
Killer cop convicted, again
Walter Budzyn, a Detroit cop previously convicted for
killing a Black worker in 1992, was found guilty of
involuntary manslaughter in a second trial on March 19.
Budzyn had been convicted of second-degree murder in the
first trial for his role in the beating of Malice Green. An
unemployed steelworker, Green died from savage blows to the
head from Budzyn's and his partner Larry Nevers' flashlights
after being stopped in his car.
After serving nearly four years in jail of his original 8-18 year sentence, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed Budzyn's conviction last July and granted him a new trial. Budzyn, who remains free, will return to court April 17 for sentencing. His manslaughter conviction could be punished with as little as probation or a sentence matching the time he has already served. Budzyn's partner, Larry Nevers was released from prison at the beginning of the year when his sentence was overturned. No new trial date has been set for Nevers.
- BY MEGAN ARNEY
Jean Luc Duval from Detroit contributed to this column.