Asia
China: Workers' action and collective awakening -- the 2010 auto workers' strike wave
[For more discussion on China's economic and political development, click HERE.]
By Wang Kan*, translated by Ralf Ruckus
Sozial Geschichte Online #6 (2011), posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission -- On May 17, 2010, a strike erupted at the Honda parts plant in Nanhai, a city located in the Chinese centre of the manufacturing industry in Guangdong province. More than 1800 workers participated, and the strike disrupted all of Honda’s spare parts production facilities in China and led to the paralysing of Honda’s car production in China. On May 28, the strike wave spread to a Hyundai carfactory and on May 29 to US-American Chrysler’s joint venture Jeep factory, both in Beijing. On June 18, Toyota’s second car plant in Tianjin had to close, due to a strike.
In July, the Chinese media were universally asked to restrict their coverage of the strikes, but the strikes in the auto industry still did not stop. Prior to July 22, at least two of Honda’s joint venture factories saw strikes. The organisers and most important participants of these strikes were migrant workers (nongmingong, peasant workers). During the strike wave they showed very strong collective consciousness and capacity for collective action.
China: Misery in Santa's workshop -- inside China's toy factories
A 2004 film shows that little has changed.
[For more discussion on China's economic and political development, click HERE.]
December 23, 2011 -- A new report by Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) reveals the terrible working conditions endured by workers who produce many of the toys that will be enjoyed by children in the Western world this Christmas.
In Guangdong province, from where 70% of China’s toys are exported, migrant workers’ official basic salary is around 850-1320 yuan a month (US$134-208), the statutory local minimum wage. The minimum wage is barely enough for self-subsistence.
[For more discussion on China's economic and political development, click HERE.]
The following petition, organised by the Hong Kong-based coalition Left21, explains the background to, and demands of, the rebellion by the people of Wukan.
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West Papua: Support workers at the Freeport-McMoRan Grasberg mine striking for a wage increase
Statement by Asia-Pacific left and workers’ organisations
Thailand: Yingluck Shinawatra's government lines up with the military
Protesters gather outside the criminal court in Bangkok December 9, 2011.
Pakistan: Six workers' leaders sentenced to a total 490 years' jail! Solidarity needed!
On November 2 a protest demonstration was held in Lahore by the Labour Party Pakistan to denounce the jail sentences imposed on six leaders of the power loom workers' movement in Faisalabad.
By Khalid Mehmood and Farooq Tariq
November 2, 2011 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Power loom workers in Faisalabad in mid-2010 went on a series of major strikes and demonstrations. Six of their leaders were arrested by the police. Once in detention, they were additionally charged under anti-terrorist legislation. The six have now been sentenced to a total of almost 490 years' jail (served concurrently). This is a clear message of how "anti terror" laws are used against workers. The Labour Party Pakistan is calling for demonstrations outside Pakistan embassies and consulates around the world.
Biography uncovers forgotten lessons of Sri Lanka’s JVP
Review by Ben Courtice
Thailand's flood crisis: neoliberalism is not the answer
[For more on Thailand and the Red Shirt movement, click HERE.]
By Giles Ji Ungpakorn
October 27, 2011 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The serious flooding in Thailand has affected millions of people. Houses, property and infrastructure have been seriously damaged. Factories and workplaces have been closed and hundreds of thousands of people have become temporarily unemployed. Agricultural land has been flooded, leading to further loss of incomes. Millions of people who are living modest lives will see their incomes and savings drastically lowered and the economy can only be dragged down. The waters are now predicted to remain high for at least a month.
The longer-term effects of the flood damage will become a real test for the Peua Thai government of Yingluck Shinawatra. If this crisis is not solved to the satisfaction of most citizens, the government risks losing long-term public support.
(Updated Oct. 23) Occupy wave reaches Pakistan
Occupy Karachi march, October 22, 2011. Photo by Comrade Sherbaz.
Occupy Lahore!
By Farooq Tariq
Afghanistan: Predictions, obstructed justice and 10 years of war
By Rupen Savoulian
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam seeks support from Cuba and Latin America
Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran.
By Ron Ridenour
October 4, 2011 -– Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- “We Tamils, inside and outside the island of Sri Lanka, still want an independent state. And because the war crimes and severe brutality of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government against our people has become well known, our cause is being spoken about all over the world”, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran told me recently in Manhattan, New York.
A positive sign of recognition for Tamil rights is the dramatic Channel 4 UK documentary, Sri Lanka Killing Fields, shown first at a June Human Rights Council session and then worldwide.
Rudrakumaran is prime minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), and a prominent activist in the diaspora. He earned law degrees from the University of Colombo and Southern Methodist University. He later studied and wrote articles about self-determination at Harvard Law School
