Blog: January 2014

KMU slams death threat vs. Mindanao labor leader

January 30, 2014

National labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno condemned today the contractor of a Japanese banana company for harassing and issuing a death threat against a union leader in southern Mindanao.

Vicente Barrios, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm (Namasufa-National Federation of Labor Unions-KMU), was fired upon and held at gunpoint by Jesus Jamero, contractor of Japanese banana company Sumifru.

Barrios was leading about 100 of Sumifru’s workers in a picket-protest in front of Jamero’s residence in Compostela Valley when the contractor came out carrying a gun.

Police and employers together threaten union activists for organizing brick kiln workers in Bhilwara Rajasthan

January 27, 2014

Madan Vaishnav, Secretary, Rajasthan Pradesh Int Bhatta Majdoor Union, along with three other union organizers – Shanti Lal Meena, Ratan Lal Bheel, and Shaitan Singh Raigar – was served a notice by the Sub Division Officer Mandal under Section 107/116 restraining him from undertaking provocative activities viz. organizing brick kiln workers. Mandal town has almost 100 brick kilns in its vicinity mostly employing inter-state seasonal migrants from UP and Bihar. The Rajasthan Pradesh Int Bhatta Majdoor Union was registered last year to organize these workers so that they can get minimum wages and other rights. Last year the workers had gone on a strike for three days demanding higher wages. During the strike the owners had attacked a procession of workers.

Burmese workers in Thailand organize, negotiate and win!

January 20, 2014

Protestors shutting down Bangkok to force the current government from power have grabbed international headlines this week. Meanwhile, efforts for a quieter revolution to improve the power dynamic between millions of migrant workers and their Thai employers took a significant step forward an hour south of Bangkok in Samut Sakhorn, one of the primary seafood processing areas in Thailand. Workers from one of the largest shrimp factories here have negotiated a settlement with their employer and developed an agreement for a representative labor committee within the factory.

Search form

Blog archive