S. Africa warns it will impose pay Offer as Strike Worsens
Tensions between the South African government and the public sector increased dramatically Aug. 19 after striking protesters clashed with police and the state indicated it would force its final offer of a 7 percent wage increase on workers, Rubber bullets and water cannon were used against public sector workers who were protesting outside a number of hospitals in Johannesburg, with both sides blaming each other for the escalation of violence that led to at least seven strikers being hospitalized.

On Aug. 17, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the country’s largest union federation, had called on 1.3 million members to go on indefinite strike to try to force the government to meet their demands of an 8.6 percent pay increase and a monthly housing allowance of 100 euros ( $127)  “The South Africa National Defence Force has been instructed to render support to any government department that may require assistance during the public service strike,” said a Defence Ministry spokesman.

Despite the intensified strike, the government repeated it could not afford to raise its wage increase offer. It also warned unions it would force workers to accept its offer in 21 days. In an effort to resolve the situation, the South African Human Rights Commision called on President Jacob Zima to intervene in the negotiations and added that both sides should put the interests of the country first.

Disneyland Employee Sent Home for Wearing Hijab
A Muslim employee in Disneyland’s Grand Californian Hotel has been sent home from work with no pay for refusing to take off her hijab while working as a hostess in one of the hotel’s restaurants.  On Aug. 19, Imane Boudlal filed a complaint against Disney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.

On Aug. 15, just days after the Islamic  holy month of Ramadan began, Imane Boudlal, a 26-year-old student and Anheim resident, wore her hajib (headscarf) to work, greeting customers at the Storyteller’s Restaurant in Disneyland. But Disney told her that if she wanted to work as a hostess, she had to remove her hajib, because it did not comply with the “Disney Look.”

Boudlal refused Disney’s offer to allow her to remain at work with the hijab in the back of the house position—out of guests’ view. “Their offer to put me in the back is humiliating,” she said. “They’re saying because I’m Arab, because I’m Moroccan, because I’m Muslim, they don’t  want to see me in the front.”  Islamic organizations have sent protests to Disneyland demanding that it drop its discriminatory policies and revise its “Disney Look.”

Australian P.M.  Announces 2-Week Paid Paternity Leave
Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, unveiled a plan that would give new fathers two-weeks  of paid  paternity leave. The Prime Minister, who is running for re-election in a tight race,  said the scheme would start from July  2012.  Eligible  new fathers who met a work test would be granted a fortnight’s pay at the minimum wage of $570 a week.

In her  final election address at the National Press Club, the Prime Minister stressed the values of hard work and education, including her plans for tax rebates to help with school costs. “With only two days to go, it is abundantly clear that the election is a cliffhanger,” she said.

The Coalition that is opposing Gillard  also has a paid parental leave plan, to be paid for by big business. Some companies already allow fathers to take paid leave on the birth of their first child.

Singapore Hiring More Retired Workers
About 34.5 percent more people aged 62 and older have found work past their retirement age, compared to last year Unionized companies have hired 9,413 older employees as of July 31. Last year, 6,999 were offered re-employment. These workers come from  957 of over 1,000 companies under the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) that have committed themselves to  the rehiring of  older workers, who must first meet performance and medical fitness standards.

People can no longer assume that they can save enough money to retire on, because they are living longer and investments can go awry, said Um Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, at a National Day Observance Ceremony for Active Agers on Aug. 18.

Early this week, Minister Lim  called on employers and workers to prepare themselves for the 2012 law which makes it compulsory for employers to re-employ workers who reach the age of 62. An NTUC survey of 100 unionized companies about two months ago found that only 52 percent had consulted their older employees of what the company can offer them when they reach retirement age and what the worker should do if they want to be rehired.

AFL-CIO Presents Award to Egyptian Workers’ Movement
The AFL-CIO has selected  independent Egyptian unions and their members  to receive the prestigious  Meany-Kirkland Award  for 2009. The award on behalf of Egyptian workers was presented to Kamal Abbas, the director of the Center for Trade Union and Worker Services and Kamal Abu Elta, president of the Real Estate Tax  Authority Union—the first independent union in Egypt in 50 years.

 Established in 1981, the award honors labor movements and their leaders, who overcame tremendous obstacles to protect the rights of workers. This year’s award went to the workers of Egypt for their dedication in fighting for freedom of association and workers’ rights and demonstrating  extraordinary courage and perseverance in the face of substantial state repression.

The award was presented to the Egyptian dignitaries on Aug. 3 by Arlene Holt-Baker, the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO.  The presentation marked the first time that the American labor movement has honored a workers organization from the Middle East.
       
Hundreds Protest New Zealand’s Employment Law Reform
Hundreds of workers took to the streets in New Zealand’s three main centers on Aug. 21 to protest against  changes in the law that unions describe  as the biggest labor reform in 20 years. A batch of changes introduced in Parliament this week would extend a 90-day trial period without normal legal protections for new employees in firms of all sizes, compel unions to get an employer’s consent before entering a workplace, demand a doctor’s certificate for workers taking even a single sick day and let workers trade in one week’s annual vacation for cash.

Helen Kelly, president of the Council of Trade Unions,  said the biggest threat to workers came from the package as a whole rather than from any single part of it. “When  you put things like sick leave and 90-day trials together, you get trouble,” she said.  The two-day rallies would be just the start of a campaign that would go on until the proposed law changes were repealed or withdrawn, she added.

Workers hired under the 90-day reform law can be fired with no rights to compensation for unjustified dismissal, although they still have other protections, such as the right not to be discriminated against.  Almost a quarter (22 percent) of those hired were fired during  the 90-day trial, mainly on poor performance or attitudes.