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.
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.
Amazon workers along with other unions organized series of "Make Amazon Pay" protests in the United States, South Africa, Brazil and across Europe on November 26 (Black Friday) against the inhuman working conditions, company’s exploitative practices and union busting activities.
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.
US Healthcare System
The US must end the inhuman blockade of Cuba!
In June, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn the US led trade embargo against Cuba, with 184 countries supporting an end to the embargo, while 2 opposed it (the US and Israel being the only two opponents). The resolution has passed for the 29th consecutive time in the meeting of the UN General Assembly demonstrating that the voices against global imperialism remain vocal as always.
Steve Gillis is an elected member of the executive board of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union (United Steel Workers/USW Local 8751). He has been a school bus driver for 37 years, elected President of the union for 3 years in 2003, served as Vice President for 6 years and Financial Secretary for the last 6 years.