Greater Middle East
Islamists, labor protest in Jordan
Hundreds of Islamists demonstrated in Jordan to demand faster political reform after an election weeks earlier that produced a mostly pro-government parliament.
Tag: labor
The Andes
Colombia: rebels attack coal mine amid strike
Colombia’s largest coal miner, Cerrejon, under force majeure due to a work stoppage, was targted in a guerilla attack that left four of the company’s trucks destroyed by fire.
Southern Cone
Chile: Pinochet was planning new coup in 1988
Declassified US documents show that Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was planning to carry out another coup if he lost a 1988 plebiscite on his military regime.
Mexico
Mexico: Finnish maquila signs with company union
The Finnish-based auto parts multinational PKC Group fired independent unionists and signed a contract with a protection union at three assembly plants near the Texas border.
The Caribbean
Haiti: unionist is beaten up at Gildan supplier
An assembly plant worker was assaulted and fired when he demanded that he be paid the legal minimum wage; activists ask for calls to Gildan, which buys from the plant.
The Andes
Colombia: mine contractor convicted in killings
A contractor gets 38 years for the murder of two leaders of the union at a Drummond mine; the judge asks for an investigation of the company’s managers back in Alabama.
North Africa
General strike rocks Tunisia
Thousands massed in Tunis for the funeral of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid, with the city shut down in a general strike called by the main union federation, the UGTT.
Mexico
Mexico: high court rules against electrical workers
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled against thousands of laid-off electrical workers who want to be hired by a state enterprise after the government shut down their former employer.
Iran
Iran impeaches labor minister over repression
The Iranian Parliament voted to impeach Labor Minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslami, because he appointed an official who was implicated in the deaths of prisoners in 2010.
The Caribbean
Dominican Republic: Haitians end labor protest—were they tricked?
A group of Haitian immigrants agreed to end an encampment they and family members held for more than a month in front of the Labor Ministry in Santo Domingo.
East Asia
Shanghai workers seize electronics plant
More than 1,000 migrant workers in Shanghai went on strike and held 18 managers hostage for a day and a half following the introduction of a draconian speed-up policy.
The Caribbean
Dominican Republic: Haitian workers protest
About 100 Haitian immigrant workers protested in front of the Labor Ministry in Santo Domingo, while hundreds more blocked a bridge at the border in the northwest.