1.3 Million Civil Servants Poised to Strike in South Africa
Unless last-minute negotiations succeed, 1.3 million South African public servants  will  go on strike on Aug. 10, the Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) announced.  A union spokesperson said that  the labor federation had rejected the government’s latest offer, as  did the Independent Labor Caucus (ILC). They plan to march and demonstrate throughout the country.

“It will lead to a complete shutdown in public services, with national marches taking place in Capetown, Tshwane and  Pretoria, as well as provincial marches in all the cities in the whole country,”  the spokesperson said.  The unions are still willing to compromise their demands to avert a strike.

The unions declared a dispute two months ago, and by law, would have been able to give notice and go on strike within seven days but they had decided to “play the game.” “We did not exploit the World Cup. I’m sure if we had, we would have had an agreement by now, but we are responsible to the country,” he said.

The U.S. Economy Lost 131,000 jobs in July
The loss of 131,000 jobs for the month of July, reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, raised new questions about the pace of the nation’s economic recovery. The report showed that private industry had created only 71,000 new jobs, but those increases  can accommodate only half the monthly growing population. The unemployment rate remained fixed at 9.5 percent.

The Labor Department greatly revised its headline number for June, widening the job loss figure for that month to 221,000 jobs, from 125,000. Private sector hiring in June, originally reported at 83,000, was lowered to 31,000. Nearly 7 million people have been unemployed for six months or more. Under the $26 billion package passed by Congress, their unemployment insurance benefits will expire Nov. 30.

AFL-CIO Supports Oct. 2 Washington March for Jobs  
The AFL-CIO Executive Council, at its Aug. 4-5 meeting in Washington,  issued a statement in support of the One Nation Working Together Coalition and its Oct. 2  Washington, D.C. march for jobs.. The initiative for the march came from Local 1199, SEIU’s New York-based hospital workers union, and the National Association of Colored People (NAACP). A growing list of community organizations will  be participating in the march.

“It is vital that this march succeed,” the statement said. “The risk of a double-dip recession, bringing additional large-scale job losses, increases every day. Without additional  public jobs programs and federal aid to prevent layoffs by state and local governments, we will face another economic contraction.”  In addition to calling for jobs, the marchers will demand a repair of the nation’s immigration system and Wall Street reforms.

On the day of the march, thousands of AFL-CIO members will walk door-to-door in 21 targeted states around the country, mobilizing union households to vote for candidates who support labor’s programs. While some marchers will call for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the subject is not on the official agenda of the march, nor was it a topic for discussion or action at the Council meeting.

Unions Accept 3,900 Job Cuts at Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia signed an agreement with labor unions to cut  3,900 jobs, as the country’s biggest phone company seeks to cut costs and debt. The reductions will be carried 0ut on a
voluntary basis through 2012, according to the agreement that  was signed Aug. 5 in Rome by Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi, along with union and company officials. An additional 2,200 employees will get “solidarity contract,” specifying reduced hours and lower pay. The agreement rules out any further job cuts over the next three years.

.The company, which had 71,384 employees at the end of last year, is seeking to reduce costs and boost efficiency amid growing domestic competition.. The job cuts are fewer than the 6,800  planned reductions by 2013 announced by Telecom Italia last April when the company said it would lower its debt by 5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in three years.

“We’re satisfied with the solution reached because negotiations were very complex,” Antonio Migliardi, head of the company’s human resources, told reporters in Rome. . Alessandro Genovesi, national secretary of the communications section of Italy’s largest union, CGIL, appeared to agree. “Overall, it’s a positive result for Telecom Italia’s workers,” he said.

Bangladesh Police Book 4,000 Protesting Garment Workers
Police in Bangladesh on Aug. 6 booked  nearly 4,000 garment sector workers protesting against a new wage structure announced last week, indicating tough measures to curb industrial violence that has caused large-scale destruction and halted production. Forty of the trade union leaders of the striking workers were  named for the continuing unrest in the industrial suburb of Narayanganj, where workers have barricaded the roads and engaged in pitched battles with the police.

Workers are protesting a seven-layer wage structure that pays 2,500 taka  ($36) a month for an apprentice and 3,000  taka ($43) at the entry level,. They are demanding a minimum wage of 5,000 taka ($ 72). Ready-made garments and knitwear are among Bangladesh’s  highest money-making sectors  that netted $12 billion last year in foreign exchange earnings.

However, the sector has been ailing for a long time due to poor wages and working conditions for its 3.5 million workers, mostly women. Employers have in the past gone back on wage agreements,  resulting in frequent clashes, vandalism and suspension of production.

Unions to Press for Rights-Based Approach to HIV and AIDS
The international trade union movement is calling for governments to push ahead with a rights-based approach to tackling the HIV and AIDS pandemic, following the 18th International Aids Conference in Vienna at the end of July. “We have to overcome the stigma and discrimination which are still common around the globe, and allocate sufficient resources to stop the spread of the virus and ensure that treatment is available to all those affected,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Emphasizing the importance of action at the workplace in fighting the pandemic, the trade union delegation at the Vienna Conference highlighted the adoption of an ILO  and the World of Work resolution that would include voluntary testing and counselling protection against discrimination, with a focus on those most vulnerable and at risk.

Participating at the Vienna Conference were delegates from Argentina, Cameroon, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire,  Ghana, Guyana, Kenya,  Nigeria, the Philippines, Tanzania,  the U.K.,  Ukraine and Zimbabwe. The conference attracted more than 20,000 participants.