Global Unions Support Tax on  financial Transactions
A grass-roots campaign in favor of a tax on financial transactions has spread quickly throughout Europe. The goal is to have the  G-20 governments agree to a minuscule tax on every trade in stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives. The proceeds would be put into a global fund directed at poor countries or climate change. At the same time, the tax would encourage traders to think twice before engaging in reckless behavior.

“We want to make the case for it, because we think the case is extraordinarily strong,” said Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 175 million workers in 155 countries. France and Germany are leading the European campaign for the tax, while the Obama administration has not taken a position on the matter.

While sentiment for the tax is growing in Canada,  the country’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, is opposed to the idea. Harper will be host to the G-20 meeting in Toronto on June 26-27, 2010. The European Union has said the financial tax could raise about $70 billion a year, while non-governmental agencies say the amount is more than $400 billion annually.

Warning Strike at Ford Plant in Russia Gets Favorable Results
Until Ford ‘s autoworkers at the company’s plant in Vsevolozhsk, Russia, conducted  a four-hour work stoppage,  management failed to settle many of their outstanding grievances during negotiations from Feb. 23 to March 22. Then,  the union responded by holding a warning strike on March 25. The work at the entire plant stopped, and for roughly four hours, not a single car was assembled.

Because of the workers’ action, an additional agreement with the management was signed on March 25. Most of the union’s demands were satisfied: wages were increased by 11.8 percent; additional job guarantees were provided; management agreed on health and safety measures and additional vacation time for workers employed in the plant for more than three years.

The Ford management also agreed not to punish workers who had participated in the strike. The workers at the plant belong to a relatively new independent union, the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers ITUA, which is affiliated with the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF).

Japanese Railway Settles 23-Year Dispute over Union Hiring
Representatives of union workers decided April 9 to accept a proposal under which the government would pay each worker roughly 22 million yen  ( $236,000 ), bringing to an end a 23-year-old dispute over the refusal of Japan Railway companies to hire them. Japan’s four political parties had proposed asking the JR companies to hire some 200 former workers of the state-run Japanese National Railways, which was  privatized and divided into separate companies in  1987.

But given the reluctance of JR companies to hire the former workers, the government said in its settlement proposal that it cannot guarantee employment for every former worker because it cannot force the companies to hire them. The four political parties’ suggestion that subsidies be paid to some of the companies if they agree to hire the former workers did not make it into the final proposal.

Under the agreement, Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, an organization that inherited debts from JNR, would pay roughly 22 million yen per worker to 910 households involved in the litigation. The plaintiffs are among the 1,047 workers that  JNR’s successor companies refused to hire. Many of those workers are members of the National Railway Workers Union, known as Kokuro.

Carlsberg Orders Employees to Limit Beer-Drinking to Lunch Breaks
Hundreds of warehouse workers at Danish brewer Carlsberg halted work for a second day on April 7 to protest a company decision to limit beer–drinking at work to lunch breaks  Under the Copenhagen-based company’s old policy, workers were free to help themselves to beer from coolers and refrigerators at any time during the workday. But as of April 1, workers at the world’s fourth largest brewery are allowed to drink only two beers in the canteen  during lunch breaks.

Jens Bekke, company spokesperson, said the strike was motivated by a perceived unfairness whereby company  truck drivers have the right to drink three beers a day while on the job—outside of lunch hours—whereas warehouse workers do not. A previous attempt by management to take away the drivers’ rights to three beers a day failed.

About 800 workers walked off the job on April 7, with 250 still on strike, causing the cancellation of shipments of beer throughout the Danish capital and delays of deliveries to the rest of the country. Dennis Onsvig, a union representative, said the strike was about more than just drinking  on the job. “Carlsberg’s management violated the bargaining agreement by making a policy change without our input,”  he said.

Lufthansa Pilots Call Off Planned Strike
Pilots for Lufthansa,  Europe’s largest airline,  have called off their threat to strike, following an agreement between their union, Cockpit,  and the carrier. The pilots had  initially planned what would have been a very expensive four-day strike from April 13-16 for Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and subsidiary Germanwings. But now, the two sides have agreed to take their dispute to mediation.

In late February, Cockpit called a first round of strikes for Lufthansa pilots, but  after just one day, a Frankfurt court stopped the industrial action. The company had asked authorities to prevent the four day strike, and on  the first day alone, had grounded almost half the airline’s flights.

The dispute between Cockpit and Lufthansa has been going on for months. The union, which represents  about 4,500 pilots, has been trying to pressure the airline into providing better wage contracts. Like most airlines, the German  flag carrier is still feeling the pinch of the global economic crisis, but Cockpit has said its members deserve a 6.4 percent pay raise and job guarantees.

Talks to Stop More Disneyland Suicides in  Paris
Union representatives and managers have been in discussions over the working environment at Disneyland Paris after three workers committed suicides in the last eight weeks. Managers at the French park are now under pressure to establish the motivations behind the deaths. The most recent suicide was that of a Eurodisney chef, who was found hanged at his home over a week ago and was due to start back at work after a prolonged period of sick leave.

Force Ouvriere, the trade union that represented the man,  has described the working conditions at the popular theme park as “humiliating.”  It says the chef had told colleagues he wanted to quit his job because too many demands were being made of him. The death of the chef follows the suicide of another chef on Feb. 21. He threw himself under a train. His death came a day after another worker threatened to kill himself at  the Disney park after it was announced he was to be dismissed. At the beginning of February, a third employee committed suicide for what the company called ”personal reasons.”

Work-related suicides are a controversial issue in France, following a spate of suicides at France Telecom, where a total of 44 workers have taken their lives since 2008. The unions have blamed the deaths on “unfeeling management culture.”