South African unions suspend strike action after offer rise

Tuesday 07 September 2010

by Tom Mellen

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Public-sector staff have returned to work in South Africa after their unions decided to suspend a 20-day strike for three weeks while members consider a draft agreement.

Hospitals and schools reopened and are expected to be operating as usual from today.

Strikers have repeatedly taken to the streets and braved rubber bullets and water cannons over the last three weeks to press their demand for an 8.6 per cent pay rise, more than double the inflation rate, plus a 1,000 rand-a-month (£90) housing allowance.

President Jacob Zuma's ANC administration had signed a 7 per cent and 700 rand (£63) offer which it was threatening to implement unilaterally.

But the 1.3 million strikers, who are not compensated for missed work days by their unions, didn't budge an inch.

And with the strike costing the developing country an estimated 1 billion rand (£89.7m) a day, the ANC swiftly upped its offer to 7.5 per cent - plus 800 rand (£72) for housing.

A statement released by the Cosatu union federation saluted the "heroic workers who sacrificed days' wages and remained united in order to push the employer to move from its original position." The state had "failed to crush the strike and finally succumbed to the demand by labour to withdraw" the signed 7 per cent agreement, it said.

"This is a victory in the history of public service negotiations where the employer was forced to reopen negotiations," Cosatu declared, adding that the action had also succeeded in "placing the needs of the poor and social issues such as health, education and a social safety net at the top of the national agenda."

It went on to stress that the public-sector unions' decision to suspend the action "does not mean that they have accepted the government's latest wage offer."

Reports in local media suggest that union officials will have a tough time drumming up support for the draft agreement.

The City Press newspaper said that rank-and-file members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) chased union officials out of a meeting in Soweto when they heard that the strike had been suspended.

NEHAWU member Ndiitwani Ramarumo was quoted as saying: "Members are angry and they want to protest by going to the national office to burn their membership cards."

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Slow U.S. economy hits Canadian hiring - Globe and Mail

Slow U.S. economy hits Canadian hiring

Survey shows companies more optimistic, but still holding back on adding to payrolls

Tavia Grant

From Tuesday's Globe and MailPublished on Tuesday, Sep. 07, 2010 6:00AM EDTLast updated on Tuesday, Sep. 07, 2010 11:27AM EDT

Optimism about hiring is improving, though most Canadian employers don’t anticipate much change in staffing levels in the coming months as the outlook for the U.S. economy remains shaky.

Seventy per cent of companies don’t see a change in head count in October through to December. About one-fifth, or 21 per cent, expect to hire people, while 7 per cent see job cuts in the fourth quarter, according to employment services company Manpower Canada’s quarterly survey to be released Tuesday.

Canada’s jobs market has been healing over the past year after the recession wiped out almost half-a-million jobs. While most of the losses have been recouped, most economists expect further hiring will be muted, as employers wait for more evidence of a sustained recovery before adding to payrolls.

“We’re slowly moving out of this thing. But the U.S. is keeping people cautious,” said Byrne Luft, vice-president of staffing operations for Manpower Canada.

Hiring sprees are unlikely. However, the overall outlook is still the highest in two years. Manufacturers of durable goods, such as furniture and car parts makers, are the most upbeat in a decade, an outlook Mr. Luft says stems from a rebuilding of inventories and an expected pick-up in activity to meet year-end demand. Hiring in the mining and energy sectors is also increasing, particularly in Western Canada.

The survey comes before a jobs report Friday is expected to show about 25,000 new positions were created with the jobless rate staying at 8 per cent.

Manpower polled almost 1,900 Canadian employers in July and conducts the survey in 36 countries. Here are some of the findings:

MOST OPTIMISTIC CANADIAN CITIES

Moncton

Richmond, B.C.

St. John’s, Nfld.

Saskatoon

Red Deer, Alta.

MOST PESSIMISTIC CITIES

Brantford, Ont.

Niagara Falls, Ont.

Granby, Que.

Montreal

Windsor, Ont.

MOST OPTIMISTIC COUNTRIES

China

Taiwan

India

Brazil

Peru

MOST PESSIMISTIC COUNTRIES

Greece

Italy

Czech Republic

Spain

Ireland

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France walks out to save pensions - Morning Star

World

France walks out to save pensions

Tuesday 07 September 2010

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Women holding a banner reading "Retirement" during a protest in Marseille

French unions have launched a massive strike over President Nicolas Sarkozy's deeply unpopular plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018.

Two million public and private sector workers, students and pensioners took part in over 200 street demonstrations across the country against the pension "reform," which would also lift the age at which employees would be eligible for full pension payments from 65 to 67.

In Paris over 100,000 marched behind their union banners and placards reading "Liberty but more importantly, equality" for the one-day event.

Protesters tore into the Sarkozy administration, nicknaming it the ''bling bling'' regime for its bias towards the well-heeled elite.

The general strike hit the transport, education, justice, hospital, media and banking sectors.

At midday on Tuesday the labour ministry said that 25 per cent of civil servants were on strike, while state-owned rail operator SNCF said that nearly 45 per cent of staff there had stayed away.

Around 30 per cent of secondary school teachers took part in the strike.

Civil aviation authorities asked airlines to cut a quarter of flights at Paris airports and only two out of five fast trains ran.

Traffic ran at a snail's pace on the city's subway and suburban transport lines, travel to Germany was curtailed while Spain and Italy were completely cut off, but Eurostar trains between Paris and London ran as normal.

The strike coincided with the start of parliamentary debates over the Sarkozy government's pension reforms, which have been endorsed by the International Monetary Fund and credit ratings agencies.

French Prime Minister François Fillon reportedly ruled out any change to the fundamentals of the plan - but he intimated that some concessions could be made at the end of the week.

Mr Fillon echoed embattled Labour Minister Eric Woerth, who had said that the government would press ahead with the reform no matter how strong the protest turnout was.

The Sarkozy administration has assured EU commissioners that it is committed to cutting the public deficit from a projected 8 per cent of gross domestic product this year to 6 per cent next year, 4.6 per cent in 2012 and 3 per cent in 2013, the maximum allowed under EU diktat
.

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Canada pays a lot for education -- through tuition fees

The line is the OECD average. In countries above the line, such as Canada, students pay the bill (while the capitalist system benefits from their education).

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