210,000 South African State Workers Begin Strike
South African government ministers met with public sector workers’ unions to end a wage strike by 210,000 teachers, nurses and other state employees, and prevent it from spreading to other segments of the nation’s workforce. Unions representing 1.3 million workers are demanding an 8.6 percent pay increase and a monthly housing allowance of 1,000 rand ($136), backdated to April 1, 2010.

On July 22, the government made a final offer to raise wages by 6.5 percent and pay 750 rand for monthly housing allowances. Other public sector unions also rejected the government’s pay offer and threatened to go out on strike next month unless their demands are met.

South Africa’s laws ban strikes by certain categories of workers who provide essential services, such as police officers. The government, which has seen its wage bill double to 259 billion rand ($35.3 billion ) in five years, says it must  rein in pay increases if it is to improve health, education and other services.

A Coalition to Organize a Global Banking Giant
Bank workers from Brazil, England, Chile, Germany and Uruguay are encouraging American workers to undertake an unprecedented campaign against a common enemy: Grupo Santander, the global banking giant. The largest bank in the Euro-zone, where it is based, Santander is the world’s eighth largest banking company by market capitalization and the fourth largest bank in terms of profits.

The  meeting of international labor leaders  is focusing on something else: how the bank’s new U.S. branches might become as unionized as branches in Europe and Latin America. Santander bank branches, outside the United States,  are, on average75 percent unionized, according to UNI  Global Union Finance Director Oliver Roethig, because most other industrialized  nations have unionized  banking  sectors. In the United States, however, less than 1 percent of all front-office bank workers are organized.

Officials of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) met in July to use the clout of global union federations to gain a foothold in organizing the Sovereign Bank, which was taken over by Santander last year.

Nike, under Pressure, Helps Workers in Honduras
Facing pressure from universities and student groups, the apparel maker, Nike, announced on July 26  that it would pay $154 million  to help 1,800 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when two subcontractors closed their factories.  Nike agreed to the payment after several universities and  a nationwide group, United  Students Against Sweatshops, pressed it to pay about $2 million in severance  that the two subcontractors had failed to pay.

The University of Wisconsin, Madison, terminated its licensing agreement with Nike over the Honduran dispute, and Cornell warned that it would do the same unless Nike resolved the matter. “This may be  a watershed moment,” said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a group of 186 universities that monitors factories that make college-logo apparel.

A Nike spokeswoman, Kate Meyers, said that the $154 million was for a “worker relief fund” and not for severance. Nike also agreed to provide vocational training and finance health coverage for workers laid off by the two subcontractors.

Cabin Crews at Ireland’s Aer Lingus  Take a Strike Vote
Cabin crew staff at Aer Lingus are holding a ballot for industrial action due to an ongoing dispute over revised working hours. The issue has been subject to an unsuccessful arbitration process at the Labor Relations Commission (LRC). Attempts by the union, IMPACT, to resolve the dispute with the company directly have failed.

Christina Carney, a union official, explained: “The company sought an increase up to 850 hours in flight time for cabin crew,  which formed part of the agreement that was signed off last March. The details were to be finalized at the LRC. Cabin crew believes that the 850 hours flight target is achievable within the terms of existing agreements,” and the union sees no reason for the company to breach existing contracts to achieve this.

However, the airline has proceeded unilaterally to force changes in the contracts and agreements of cabin crew workers. In response, if the vote is favorable, the union will instruct its members to “work to rule,” within the contract, and withdraw current “flexibility” arrangements.

In a letter accompanying the ballot paper, Ms. Carney told members: “We regret to have to consider the taking of industrial action, but the company’s behavior has left us with no choice. The purpose of the action is to protect cabin crew contracts and to ensure that the contracts are honored and agreements are upheld. Cabin crew have a right to come to work each day as required and to expect that their duty hours and conditions of employment are as they have agreed to and as stipulated in their contract,” she said.

Bangladeshi Garment Unions Accept 80% Pay Raise
Bangladeshi trade unions, representing millions of low-paid garment workers, announced on July 28 their acceptance of a proposed 80 percent increase in their minimum wage. The day before, the government had said it would raise the minimum wage from 1,662 taka ($25) a month, the lowest industrial wage worldwide, to 3,000 takas ($43). The unions had been asking for 5.000 takas (45.97).

Since mid-June, Bangladeshi’s workers  have taken to the streets in mass protests, ransacking factories and fighting running battles with riot police. On June 22, hundreds of thousands of workers closed the key Ashulia export hub where they churn out clothes for western international apparel companies.

Workers Uniting, the global union created by Unite in Britain, and the  Steelworker in the U.S. and Canada, placed a full-page advertisement in a Bangladeshi daily newspaper that supported the workers’ very modest 5,000 taka demand. Union leaders, in the ad, affirmed that their goal was to “unify workers in the  western developed economies with our sister and brothers across Asia, Africa and Latin America."

Pakistani Power-Loom Workers End Strike with Victory
A nine-day strike by power-loom workers in Faisalabad, Pakistan, ended on July 29 with a complete victory for the strikers. Tahir Hussain, the labor  commissioner, announced, at a workers’ rally, that all demands of the workers will be met  and that they will receive  a 17 percent raise  The case of the four arrested strike leaders  will be withdrawn after an initial inquiry, he said.

The announcement came after 25,000 workers marched to the center of the city, despite heavy rain, and picketed the office of the commissioner.  The  12-mile march was entirely peaceful.  Neither the authorities nor the employers attempted any provocation.

In Lahore, the National Trade Union Federation  had organized a protest camp in front of the Punjab Assembly building. Scores of trade union activists turned up to show their solidarity with the striking workers.