South Korea: Hyundai workers strike
About 46,000 Hyundai workers will launched a four-hour strike over two days in order to press the South Korean car-maker for higher wages and benefits, union officials said on August 20.
Spokesperson Kwon Oh Il said that talks had made little progress, Morning Star reported that day. The union has demanded increased wages and benefits during three months of annual negotiations.
But the talks collapsed and the union voted to strike for a second time in two years. Poor relations with its trade unions have hit production at Hyundai. Workers banned overtime for in recent weeks, cutting output by 83,000 vehicles worth about $1.7 billion.
Another round of talks with Hyundai management has been scheduled, but Kwon said there was almost no chance of a breakthrough. Workers at Kia Motors, part-owned by Hyundai, are planning to take similar action.
Britain: Bankers get billions, public sector ails
Bankers are enjoying a bumper $25 billion bonus pool while public-sector workers have pocketed “close to zero”, the Office for National Statistics revealed on August 20, Morning Star said that day.
Finance and insurance sector fat cats took home an extra $26,000 on average between May last year and April as bonuses soared by 4%.
Conservative Party Chancellor George Osborne helped seal the rise by warning bosses to defer bonus payments until after he had slashed the top rate of tax from 50% to 45%.
Meanwhile, public-sector workers received less than $170 on average. Trade Union Congress general secretary Frances O'Grady said, “the return of big bonuses shows Britain is booming for the super-rich”.
O’Grady hit out at Osborne for showering bosses “with an extra gift worth tens of millions of pounds, courtesy of the taxpayer” by giving advanced notice of his tax cut.
O'Grady said: “The shape of Britain's recovery looks increasingly like one where the same old elites hog the gains, while ordinary workers are expected to take declining living standards on the chin.”
Britain: Long-term, youth joblessness grows
Furious British unions lashed out at arrogant boasts by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government of record employment levels on August 14, Morning Star said that day.
Unions warned that long-term and youth unemployment has actually risen. Latest figures showed that those claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 29,200 in July.
Total unemployment, including those not eligible for benefit, fell by 4000 in the quarter to June to 2.5 million. But youth unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds rose by 15,000 to reach 973,000. The number of people out of work for two years or more rose by 10,000 to 474,000.
Public sector union Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the small drop in unemployment masked “the damaging growth of under-employment plaguing the country and stifling economic recovery”.
He warned: “A toxic combination of part-time, minimum wage, zero-hours working is spreading across the country, as decently paid, full-time opportunities become increasingly rare.”
Trade Union Congress general secretary Frances O'Grady said: “Today's figures show that it's boom time again for the super-rich, while the dole queues are getting longer for young people.”