Honda Strike in China Ends with a  24% Wage Increase
Workers at a Honda auto parts factory in China have returned to work with a 24 percent wage increase, after taking strike action that shut down Honda assembly plants to protest low wages. Production restarted on June 3 after the company agreed to the raise. Around 1,900 workers are employed at the factory in Foshan, China. The strike began May 21.

The average monthly  wage at the transmission plant was  around $150. Workers were demanding a wage hike of $117. The strike at the plant drew media coverage when a closure resulted in the shutdown of several of Honda’s assembly plants in China. The company announced that production of cars at four factories will restart June 4.

The official China Daily newspaper  ran an editorial on May 28, citing the Honda strike as evidence that government inaction on wages might be fueling tension  between workers and employers. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions reports that nearly a quarter of Chinese employees have not had a pay raise in five years.

Romanian Workers Strike over Government Plan for 25% Wage Cut
Many thousands of Romanian workers walked off the job on May 31, the same day the ruling Democratic Liberal Party submitted a plan to slash wages by one-fourth to reduce the budget deficit  to about 6.8 percent of the gross domestic product. Employees in the departments of education, health, public administration, customs and jails stopped work, union leaders said.

Thousands of medical staff protested shortages of basic medical supplies and low salaries, in front of hospitals across the country. About 150 retirees in Bucharest, the capital, and 1,000 elsewhere, protested the government’s decision to cut pensions by 15 percent.

If the proposed legislation fails, the government could fall, The public  call for the government to resign has grown louder. The opposition Social Democratic Party said it would submit a “no-confidence” vote to Parliament. Unions said they would continue their protests.

Workers at 32 Toronto Hotels Vote to Strike
By a favorable vote of 94 percent, workers at 32 Toronto hotels authorized a strike if negotiations break down. “If we do not reach an agreement, we intend to take a strike action by June 24,”  said Paul Clifford,  president of UNITE HERE Local 72.  However, Clifford said that workers at only one hotel—the Novotel on the Esplanade—would actually go on strike, even though a third of the unionized hotels are currently in negotiations,  About 100 workers at Novotel are Local 75 members.

The union represents 5,500 front desk workers, porters, cleaners and cooks at  the hotels. At issue is what the union calls “precarious work conditions,” including shortened shifts, split shifts and  “hyper-flexible”  scheduling.  The union has conducted picket lines and rallies to publicize its demands.

A lot of cuts in shifts and services are having a negative impact on both workers and hotel guests,  said Cicely  Phillips, a Royal York room attendant and vice president of the union. Local 75 will ask the support of G20 delegates at their Summit meeting in Toronto, June 26-27.

AFL-CIO to Conduct National Young Workers Summit, June 10-13
The first national AFL-CIO Young Workers Summit will be held June 10-13 in Washington D.C. Young men and women who will lead the nation’s union movement into the future will meet with AFL-CIO leaders to share their ideas, skills and concerns about young people’s roles and their vision about the future.

Hundreds of young union activists will take part in  forums, panel discussions and breakout sessions about organizing, political and union activism and communications, designing a blueprint for the union movement’s future. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will be among the principal speakers.

The AFL-CIO has arranged for a live presentation on its web site of key discussion sections that can be seen by viewers by clicking on http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/youthsummit/.  The Summit will be developing and announcing “A Blueprint for the Future.”

Metalworkers Unions Agree to Cuts to Save Jobs at Opel
To save their jobs and their future at the Opel auto company, workers  have agreed to waive one-time payments, postpone a planned 2.7 percent salary increase and reduce Christmas and vacation bonuses by 50 percent for two years in return for the long-time prosperity at General Motors’ European operations.

According to the agreement reached by the metalworkers’ unions and the company, the annual cost savings of 265 million euros ($328.4 million), shouldered by the workers, will be managed by a trustee and have to be invested in new car models. In addition to job security, the agreement gives the workers a guarantee on investments and innovation through a management-sharing board. The workers’ investments will be returned if GM reneges on  agreements to invest in new models and electric-powered vehicles.

An outline of the changes was agreed to  on May 21, with a restructuring plan signed 10 days later. Opel management and union leaders have been negotiating the plan for months in an effort to return Opel to profit by 2012. GM Europe owns plants in Belgium,  Germany, the U.K., Spain and Poland, and employs about 48,000 people in Europe.

Strike Averted in Turkey after Aviation Union Wins Settlement
Aviation workers in Turkey have reached an agreement on pay and working conditions with their employer less than 10 days after they announced their intention to call a strike. The agreement, which was signed by Have, an ITF union affiliate,  and the Turkish Airlines on May 29, will increase workers’ wages from between  4.5 percent to 9 percent.

In addition, there will be a  substantial boost in social benefits over a two-year period covering 2009  and 2010. Although all workers will benefit, the  relatively low-paid people will gain the most.

The union also managed to  see most of its demands on working conditions met in the final settlement. Workers will get a two-day increase in annual leave entitlement and an additional day off for cockpit and cabin crews.