Tag Archives: strike wave

Greece: Strike wave builds toward 48 hours general strike

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Greek strike wave grows ahead of austerity vote

ATHENS, Greece, October 17, 2011 – Greek railway workers and journalists joined ferry crews, garbage collectors, tax officials and lawyers on Tuesday in a strike blitz against yet more austerity measures required if the country is to avoid defaulting on its debts.

The protests will lead into a general strike over the coming two days, culminating on Thursday when Parliament holds a crucial vote on the new painful cutbacks that follow nearly two years of austerity. A similar strike before an austerity bill in June was accompanied by large protest marches which degenerated into street battles between rioters and police.

The highly unpopular new measures include further pension and salary cuts, the suspension on reduced pay of 30,000 public servants out of a total of more than 750,000 and the suspension of collective labor contracts. Continue reading →

In Face of Worker Unrest, Chinese Regime Launches ‘Strike-Hard’ Campaign

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Hundreds of Honda workers in Foshan, Guangdong went on strike on May 17. (The Epoch Times Photo Archive)

Epoch Times Staff
Jun 26, 2010
A wave of strikes in Chinese factories recently has highlighted the lack of authentic rights for Chinese workers and other inequities in Chinese society. In response, the regime is launching a “Strike-Hard” campaign.
According to China analysts, the recent wave of strikes is a reflection of simmering social discontent and unrest as a result of social inequality, injustice, and rising inflation. Many of the striking workers are not only demanding pay raises, but are also asking for independent unions.

If the strikes escalate they may threaten China’s position as the factory of the world, and thus threaten the communist regime’s popular legitimacy and survival. However, experts say that responding to the workers demands with brute force will not work. Continue reading →