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Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
15 February 2008

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and
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to this regular feature.

Europe

Greek workers stage general strike

On February 13, up to 2.5 million workers in Greece staged
a 24-hour strike to protest government plans to restructure the
state pension system.

The government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis plans to
merge some 170 social security and pension funds into four to
six main funds. It also plans to increase the retirement age for
some jobs. Many workers fear that the overall value of the state
pension will be reduced by the measures.

The strike was called by country’s two main labour unions,
the General Confederation of Greek Workers and the Civil Servants’
Union, representing more than 2.5 million workers. During the
industrial action, a stoppage by air traffic controllers resulted
in all flights to and from Greek airports being cancelled, while
and trains and buses were only running on a heavily reduced schedule.

Hospital doctors struck and were treating only emergencies
cases. Journalists on TV news programmes struck, forcing them
off air. Schoolteachers, dentists, lawyers, construction workers,
engineers, civil servants and port workers were also involved
in the strike. All ferries to Greece’s islands were cancelled.

During the day, tens of thousands of workers marched through
central Athens to the parliament building to protest. Many held
banners, with some reading, “Hands off our pension funds”
and “The future belongs to the workers.” A further 9,000
people marched through the northern city of Thessaloniki, and
workers protested in many other cities and towns.

The industrial action is the second such strike in two months.

Air traffic controllers strike in Paris, France

On February 11, air traffic controllers at Paris airports staged
industrial action to protest plans to restructure the air traffic
control system in the French capital. The action is being held
over a one-week period and was called by the General Labour Confederation
union.

The French Civil Aviation Authority plans to centralise air-traffic
control in Paris at a single base.

On the first day, the stoppage disrupted flights at two airports,
Orly and Charles de Gaulle, leading to numerous delays and cancellations.
At Orly, only one flight in two will go ahead as scheduled this
week.

Staff at Les Echos newspaper in France strike

Staff employed at the French business daily newspaper Les
Echos struck February 13 following the resignation of the
editor-in-chief, Erik Izraelewicz. The strike followed a vote
by staff not to publish the newspaper and to stop production of
the paper’s web site.

The action follows the sale of Les Echos by the publisher
Pearson to LVMH, a luxury goods company controlled by multibillionaire
Bernard Arnault, for €240 million. Journalists at the paper
were opposed to the sale, stating that they feared there were
inadequate guarantees of editorial independence. Several strikes
were held during the negotiations prior to the sale.

The Journalists’ Union commented, “We think that
LVMH and the new management of Les Echos did not allow
Erik Izraelewicz to carry out his job as editor-in-chief with
total independence.”

Carrefour staff in Marseille, France, continue industrial
action

Staff at the retail company Carrefour continued to strike in
Marseilles, France, this week to demand better pay and working
conditions. On February 12, the action by checkout, shop floor
and warehouse staff entered its eleventh day. The action began
with a national one-day retail strike.

The workers are employed at the Grand Littoral branch of the
company in the city, with more than 100 of the store’s 571
employees estimated to have participated in the action. Many of
the staff at Grand Littoral are on part-time contracts, often
30 hours a week with a monthly income of just €840 after
tax.

One of the strikers employed in the fruit and vegetable department
said, “With our salaries, 11 days of strikes is pretty tough,
but we are determined. We’ll stick it out because we’ve
had enough of being treated as though we’re nothing.”

Middle East

Strike at Egyptian textile factory

Textile workers employed at the Makarim Textile Company in
Mahalla, Egypt, began industrial action February 6 to demand a
15 percent increase on the basic salary social allowance payment
and a 7 percent salary increase.

The strikers at Mahalla are demanding that President Hosni
Mubarak intervene in the dispute, claiming that Minister of Manpower
Aisha Abdel Hadi had not kept promises she made when they ended
their last strike. Strikers have also revealed the comments of
Managing Director Ahmed el-Shafei, who has threatened to sack
them. He wrote in a memo, “Go strike at home.”

Railway employees strike in Egypt

On February 7, 100 workers employed at the Mahmoud Abdel Salam
Company in Egypt began strike action to protest the sacking of
a co-worker. The workers are employed to maintain sleeping carriages.

The sacked worker, Mohamed Mekhemar, had filed a lawsuit with
149 others against the firm for not paying bonuses and for their
ill treatment of staff.

In a statement, Mekhemar said, “The 500 workers of the
company have been suffering for years. They are not treated at
par with their colleagues at the Railway Authority. Their wages
range between 200 and 500 pounds only, and they were denied their
bonuses. When we filed a lawsuit, the company started to persecute
us. I was transferred to another department that we call Abu Ghraib
Prison because of the misconduct of its director insulting the
workers. When the management did not consider my complaint, I
filed police protocol No. 362/2 on October 9. I was fired the
next day”.

Africa

Namibian university workers strike over pay

More than 900 workers at the University of Namibia have voted
to take indefinite strike action from February 15, in support
of their demand for a 12 percent pay increase. They are members
of the Namibian Public Workers’ Union and the Namibian National
Teachers’ Union.

The university authorities are insisting on no pay and transport
allowance increases. In a recent referendum, 94 percent of those
participating voted in favour of the action.

The cost of living has recently increased considerably, and
according to New Era (Windhoek), workers are struggling
to pay for basics such as food and transport. They currently receive
a transport allowance of between N$500 (US$65) and N$1,000 (US$130),
depending on grade, and want this to be increased by N$250 (US$32.60)
across the board.

It is expected that the strike will bring the university to
a standstill.

Nigerian judiciary workers threatened with dismissal
for going on strike

On February 12, the Nigerian government threatened to dismiss
any member of staff from the Court of Appeal who goes on strike
in support of the national industrial action of members of the
Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). The JUSUN members began
their national strike February 4 to demand better working conditions.

According to Leadership (Abuja), the acting chief registrar
of the Court of Appeal, Bode Thomas, has issued a circular to
all staff in which he claims that “some staff of the court,
under the guise of the ongoing picketing of the court, have begun
to absent themselves from duty.” The statement has been sent
to Court of Appeal headquarters and all its branches in Lagos,
Ibadan, Kaduna, Benin, Enugu, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Jos, Ilorin
and Calabar.

University workers in Sierra Leone protest non-payment

Junior workers at the Institute of Public Administration and
Management (IPAM)—part of the University of Sierra Leone—launched
a protest February 7 against the non-payment of around 30 percent
of their basic salary since 2007.

One of the workers told Concord Times (Freetown) that
two years ago, half their salaries was deducted for social security,
but they later learnt from the National Social Security and Insurance
Trust that they were not even registered with the scheme.

According to the paper, Minister of Labour Minkailu Mansaray
has told the demonstrators to stay away from work until their
backlog salaries and allowances are paid.

Ugandan lecturers defy government ultimatum

Around 2,500 striking lecturers at Makerere University in Uganda
have been issued with an ultimatum that they either return to
work by February 14 or face dismissal. They have been on strike
since February 6 to demand the supply of teaching materials, payment
of non-teaching allowances and better working conditions. According
to New Vision (Kampala), the striking lecturers also claim
that management has been diverting their pension funds to pay
salaries.

On February 13, a meeting of the strikers, who are members
of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association, rejected
the ultimatum. One of the strikers, Edward Matovu, from the Faculty
of Forestry, told New Vision he would not return to work
unless teaching materials like chemicals are made available. He
said in the last semester, students were unable to carry out most
of their practicals because the university lacked the required
chemicals.

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