International news briefs
Korean bank strike aborted
A planned strike led by South Korea's Federation of Bank and Financial Labour Unions (KFBU) to defend 18,700 jobs was called off on September 29, the day it was scheduled to take place.
The decision was taken after the union leaders struck a deal with the bosses of the nine affected banks which will lead to only a marginal reduction in job cuts. Details of the deal are not available, but thousands of the workers will be losing their jobs in the coming months.
The KFBU is affiliated to the traditionally pro-establishment Federation of Korean Trade Unions. South Korean unemployment rose from 465,000 to 1.58 million in the year to August amidst widespread wage cuts.
OPM denies cease-fire claim
Radio Australia reported on October 2 that representatives of the rebel Free Papua Movement (OPM) in West Papua (Irian Jaya) had denied reports of a cease-fire agreement between the Indonesian military and the OPM. ABC Radio reported on September 30 that an agreement had been reached.
The OPM representatives, reported Radio Australia, said they had met the Indonesian military to discuss a peace settlement but there was no cease-fire agreement.
Bishop of Jayapura Leo Ladjar said the talks were positive: "It is not a cease-fire between the military and the OPM, but it was a personal and private meeting where they spoke as brothers ... the military at least say they don't want to use weapons any more."
SA metalworkers win gains
Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa employed in small workplaces associated with the motor industry began returning to work on October 5 after a bitterly fought five-week strike. Three NUMSA members were killed in clashes with scab workers during the strike.
Sixty thousand petrol pump attendants and workers in panel beating shops, spare parts firms and car parts manufacturers went on strike on September 1 to demand wage increases of 12-18% on actual pay, rather than the bosses' offer of 4.5% on minimum pay.
NUMSA deputy general secretary Peter Dantjie said employers had agreed that future annual pay negotiations would be based on actual rates. As a compromise, this year's increases would be based on minimum rates and range from 4.5% to 10%, with the lowest paid getting the highest increases. Petrol pump attendants' minimum hourly rate will increase from R3.83 to R5.
Adams visits Basque Country
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams visited the Basque Country on October 5 to offer support to the cease-fire announcement by the Basque resistance organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA — Basque Homeland and Freedom).
Adams called on the "international community to assist" proposed all-party talks on the Basque Country's future to eventuate. "Powerful nations have a duty to assist, and clearly the United States is the most powerful", he said.
Herri Batasuna, the militant left-nationalist party, mobilised thousands in the four Basque provincial capitals on October 2. The protests were in response to the "negative" response to ETA's initiative by the Spanish state's ruling Popular Party and the opposition Socialist Party.
La Paz brought to standstill
Bolivia's capital, La Paz, was deserted on October 1 because of a strike by neighbourhood associations and transport workers to protest against increases in water and power rates. Water and electricity rates for the city's 1.2 million residents, and those of the nearby city of El Alto, have risen every six months under a policy that fixes rates to the value of Bolivia's currency against the US dollar.
French students strike
Thousands of sixth-form students walked out of classes in 30 towns across France last week, protesting about crowded classes, long hours, crumbling schools and a shortage of teachers.
The leaders of the protests, which began in Nimes, have called for a nationwide strike next week if their demands are not met. The education minister, Claude Allegre, met a representative of the main union of secondary students on September 8 to try to defuse the crisis.
The Nimes protesters said they had to study demanding science and language courses with up to 39 pupils in a class; that constant repair work at their schools made studying impossible; and that a shortage of teachers had forced the cancellation of sports and some subject combinations.