International

On 19 January 2022, the Israeli occupation forces forcefully evicted two Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem and demolished their homes. The demolition and expulsion followed days of protests by the affected Salhiyeh family household. According to reports, Israeli forces broke into their home in the night and assaulted family members. Six of the family members were arrested, including the head of the household, Mahmoud Salhiyeh. Earlier, the Israeli forces arrested 25 people for protesting against the eviction drive on 17 January this year.

On the morning of 2 January 2022, two days after the world entered into a new year, hundreds of people began gathering in the city square of Zhanaozen in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan. Overnight more people began to gather in this oil-rich region and in other parts of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, including in the capital city of Almaty. The main demand of the protesters was the reduction of fuel prices, which had been increased by around 100 per cent.

Food Processing Workers Strike in South Africa

Food processing industry workers in South Africa, under the banner of Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) and the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA), began an indefinite strike at Israeli-owned dairy giant Clover on 22 November. The striking workers are demanding an end company’s attempts to retrench workers and increasing working hours.

On December 10, a series tornado struck across six US states, killing more than 80 people. It left a trail of death and destruction behind its path, with hundreds of homes and structure razed to ground. Amid the calamity, when everyone was looking for their safety, corporates were trying to churn profits. Among the killed were several factory workers including those working at Amazon ware house in Illinois and a candle factory in Mayfield.

Death of workers at Amazon warehouse in Illinois

The Amazon Empire

Amazon started in 1994 as an online bookseller and distributor. Since its founding it has become one of the largest corporations in the world with a market capitalization of 1.7 trillion dollars. It has 1.2 million part -time and full-time employees. There are 1093 global Amazon facilities (per data from June 2019), with 477 located in the U.S and, notably, 331 located in India. The exact numbers of data centers for Amazon Web Services (AWS) are not available but are estimated to be 36 in the U.S. and 3 in Ireland employing 10,000 people.

"They have force and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested by neither crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history!" These were the final words of Salvador Allende, a socialist President of Chile, who was overthrown in 1973 by a right-wing coup organised by Augusto Pinochet and backed by United States.

Spanish Metal Workers Clinches Pay Rise After 9 Day Strike

Metal workers in the Spanish city of Cadiz ended their strike on November 25 after a pay rise deal was agreed. The strike on November 16 witnessed more that 20,000 workers hitting the streets demanding a pay rise in line with the surging inflation rate, which in October stood at 5.5%.

The strike witnessed heavy police repression with security forces using rubber bullets on the workers in picket lines on November 23.

Its Time Workers Struggles Go Global!

Organizing Workers Who Place Food on the Table

Ed Childs started as a dish washer at the Sheraton hotel in Boston 46 years ago. He moved to Harvard University two years later as a dining hall worker. He was in a leadership position initially in the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE). In 2004, Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE) and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) merged to become UNITE HERE.