Seattle Transit Workers Action April 4, 2012

Seattle ATU Local 587 Takes Party Of National Day Of Action For Public Transportation

APRIL 4 2012: National Day of Action for Public Transportation

The Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 587 -- Union of Metro / King County transit workers -- will spearhead a day of action in Seattle to DEFEND PUBLIC TRANSIT. Their theme:
"Don't let your commute get thrown under the bus."

This action, in collaboration with the Seattle Transit Riders Union, begins at 11 AM AT 6TH AND ROYAL BROUGHAM (near Safeco Stadium and the-3 busway). Participants will "occupy a bus" (or buses and trains) and travel to downtown for a rally at Westlake (4th and Pine.) From there participants will leaflet buses. Please join Union transit workers, and bus riders to help defend public transit. This is part of a national day of action called by International ATU, and that includes the demand to STOP THE WAR, AND USE THE MONIES TO FUND PUBLIC TRANSIT AND OTHER VITAL PUBLIC SERVICES.

Across the U.S. public transit has suffered severe cutbacks andlayoffs -- even as gas prices rise, along with the need for expanded bus service. In Pierce and Snohomish Counties, transit service has been cut by more than 25 percent. In King County, fares have SKYROCKETED 80 PERCENT! in 4 years. THE ATTACK ON PUBLIC TRANSIT IS ANATTACK ON THE WORKING CLASS. This is an opportunity to push back. Please help forward and distribute the attached leaflet to your union, co-workers, friends, family. Spread the word. Let's say, TRANSPORTATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT! NO PRIVATIZATION, NO CUTS, NO FARE HIKES, NO EXCUSES! FUNDPUBLIC TRANSIT!

See you Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity OWLS@riseup.net

 

General Strike in Portugal. Spain and Italy Next

Anti-Austerity Mass General Strike Takes Portugalhttp://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/22-6
- Common Dreams staff

Today in Portugal public services and transportation came to a halt, as unions enacted a 24-hour general strike for the second time in two months. The metros in Portugal's largest cities have closed as well as major ports. The strike was called in reaction to austerity measures agreed upon by the government in return for a European bailout.


A picket at Sao Bento station in Porto. The bib reads "General Strike." (Jose Coelho/EPA) Demonstrations and rallies are planned for the afternoon in 38 cities and towns across the country. Today's events preclude similar strikes in both Italy and Spain among countries facing European austerity.

Spain's two main unions, the General Workers Union and the Workers Commissions, have called for a general strike on March 29 to protest the government's austerity push.
Italy's largest trade union called for a general strike over labor reforms on Wednesday, in protest of Prime Minister Mario Monti and Italy's austerity.

Portugal Hit by General Strike Against Austerity (Agence France-Presse):

Garbage went uncollected, ports closed, trains stood still, public transportation was disrupted and other public services were affected by the country's second general strike in four months. The metros in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second-largest city, were closed because of the strike, forcing tens of thousands of commuters to find an alternative way to get to work or school.

The majority of ports, including the port of Lisbon and Viana do Castelo in the north, were closed, according to the country's biggest union -- the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) -- which called the strike.  About two dozen ships were forced to change their routes to go to other ports because of the action, it added. [...]

The CGTP, which is close to the Communist Party, called the strike in February to protest against a reform of the labor code that makes it easier to hire and fire workers.
It is also angry over government austerity measures such as the elimination of public employees' Christmas and vacation bonuses -- each roughly equivalent to a month's pay -- among measures to rein in the public deficit. [...]

Italian Union Calls Strike Over Monti's Job Reforms (Reuters):

Italy's largest trade union called for a general strike over labor reforms on Wednesday, escalating a confrontation with Prime Minister Mario Monti that will test his resolve to push ahead with plans to transform the economy.

After weeks of negotiation, Monti announced late on Tuesday that the time for talking was over and he would press on with plans to overhaul employment protection laws dating back to the 1970s, despite stiff opposition from the left-wing CGIL union.

The CGIL proposed an eight-hour general strike to protest the measures, which would allow companies to lay off individual employees for disciplinary or business reasons, saying the changes risked causing massive job losses.   This will not be a flare-up which burns out in a day as the government expects and we have a duty to get results before we see years of mass dismissals from companies," the union's secretariat said in a statement.

The strike would mark the biggest demonstration against technocrat premier Monti, a former European Commissioner who has already imposed painful cuts and tax hikes and an overhaul of the pension system since taking office in November.

General Strike in Spain

Spain to go on General Strike
March 10 – The CNT, Spain’s anarchist labor union, issued a statement yesterday announcing that they will be convoking a nation-wide general strike for March 29 against the labor reform passed on Thursday by the Parliament.

This coincides with strikes that have already been called for Galicia and the Basque Country. In these regions the call was made jointly between “minority” unions such as the CNT and CGT as well as regionally-important unions linked to nationalist movements. On the national scale, however, the CNT has called the strike on its own.

According to Spain’s labor law, strikes are only official if called, or convoked, by a union or another official body. In the message announcing the strike call, the CNT said that they hope to give coverage to any workers’ organizations that want to take action.
Spain’s two main unions, the UGT and the CCOO, have also called for a strike on that day, but speak only of “amending” the labor reform. This is a continuation of their policy of social peace – in February they signed a major agreement with the employers’ confederation in which they gave major concessions. Recognizing the growing disillusion that many workers are feeling towards these unions, the CNT is promoting a different form of unionism, one which is not based on professional bureaucrats and policies of social peace, but rather on the direct action and solidarity of workers.

This appears to be the first nation-wide general strike since the end of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship to be called for by a union other than the CCOO or UGT, though it remains to be which unions, if any, will follow the CNT in calling for a general strike.

The CNT’s statement was clear that, although the strike is only called for March 29, this should be seen only as one step in a growing mobilization which seeks not only to remove this labor reform in its entirety, but also to go on the offensive with the goal of social transformation.
http://snuproject.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/strike-everywhere/#more-2131

British UNIONS Defy Gov't Pension Cuts

Unions say no to Tory pension cuts

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27811

The NUT, PCS, UCU and EIS unions could be part of a 750,000-strong strike on 28 March. The Tories (Conservatives) have unilaterally declared that the majority of their talks with unions are over. These had been over government plans to “reform” public sector pensions in health, education and the civil service. Talks over local government pensions are continuing. The Tories want to impose serious attacks on millions of workers in these sectors. This is despite the fact that a number of union leaderships have rejected the plans and many are still consulting members. The government wants to force public sector workers to work longer, pay more into their pensions each month and get less when they retire. It plans to impose stark rises on workers’ pension contributions from next month.

Carl, a teacher and NUT member in Bolton, told Socialist Worker, “What’s happening is a disgrace and I’m prepared to strike indefinitely. “I know many people who are considering withdrawing from the pension scheme because of the changes. “Private sector workers often don’t pay into pension schemes because they don’t trust them. Unfortunately we no longer trust ours either. ”DisagreeA treasury minister last week said that talks with the unions over changes to health, education and civil service pensions were “constructive”.

Unions disagree.NUT general secretary Christine Blower said, “The NUT has not signed up to these proposals and neither has the majority of the other teacher unions.“We cannot accept our members being asked to pay so much more and work so much longer for their pensions and receive so much less in retirement.

”PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said, “(Gov't) Ministers’ obstinacy means we have this ludicrous charade of what is now our fourth ‘final’ offer. We will continue to talk to other unions about planning further widespread coordinated industrial action. "Unison said it would ballot its 450,000 members in the NHS on the offer. The GMB promised to consult members in the NHS and civil service. And Unite denounced the government for “having avoided any meaningful negotiations over the last year”. It is “recommending that its members in the NHS, Ministry of Defence and government departments and in teaching reject the proposals”. The union is consulting its NHS members.Workers in public sector unions overwhelmingly voted for discontinuous strikes against the pension attacks last year.

This means that unions already have a mandate to call further strikes, regardless of fresh consultations. Anna, a teacher in Somerset, said, “People don’t see a consultation in the same way as an official ballot and so may not feel the need to vote in the same way. If the turnout is low, unions should still call the strike.“NUT members at my school are for taking action on 28 March. And they don’t just want it to be one day—they support further action after that too.”