Latest Data Shows New Increases in U.S. Unemployment and Layoffs

Some 467,000 jobs disappeared in June, raising the jobless rate to 9.5 percent, the highest in the last 26 years. It was a clear indication that the recession was far from over, despite optimistic predictions from many economists. There was also a monthly increase of 433,000 Americans who had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more, bringing the total number of long-time jobless to 4.3 million.

The U.S. recession has wiped out the entire growth in jobs over the past nine years, according to the progressive Economic Policy Institute. There are now 14.7 million jobless in the United States who are unemployed. When the underemployed and those who have given up looking for work are counted, the broader U.S. unemployment rate  is at 16.8 percent—more than 25 million people who need full-time work but can’t find any.

Labor activists believe a second stimulus is absolutely essential to provide more public works jobs and emergency relief to  the unemployed, and to the many states that, because of a lack of funds, are eliminating programs that help the poor, sick and elderly. The Obama administration thus far has been cool to the idea of  proposing another stimulus package,  suggesting that the $787 billion that Congress passed last February is a sufficient stimulus that is working.

Honduras to Be Ringed on Three Borders by Unions Protesting Coup

The International Transport Workers’ Federation will hold anti-coup demonstrations on three borders of Honduras, starting on July 3  The ITF’s member unions in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala will mobilize in each country, adjacent to their border with Honduras. They will be joined by  transport workers from Venezuela and Mexico.

Antonio  Rodriguez-Fritz, Inter-American Regional secretary, commented: “Our member unions in Honduras asked us to help them by organizing  peaceful demonstrations at border crossings in each of their neighboring countries, and that’s what we’ll be doing tomorrow. Our friends in Honduras report that they are facing increasing violence, with two people killed, a thousand injured and several trade union leaders arrested.”

The ITUC and its  regional organization, the Trade Union Confederation for the Americas (TUCA) have condemned the military coup in Honduras that overthrew President Manuel  Zelaya,  and called for his immediate return as the country’s highest executive authority, “with full respect for the will of the people in the Republic de Honduras.”

300,000 Russians Lose Jobs as Gambling Casinos Shut Down

Starting July 1, casinos and slot machines have been shut down  across Russia, as a new law imposed sweeping  restrictions on the gaming industry. More than 300,000 people are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the law, which was signed in 2006 by then-president Vladimir Putting in a bid to contain gambling addiction... Under the new law, a casino may operate only in four remote regions of Russia, each of them at least 1,000 kilometer from Moscow and some much further.

Some casinos are expected to refashion themselves into poker clubs, under a quirk of Russian law that officially recognizes poker as a sport rather  than a game of chance. The gambling law is expected to have the largest impact on Moscow, which had 524 casinos and gaming halls until the law took effect. There were 109 casinos in St. Petersburg. A special task force to ensure compliance with the law has been set up in Moscow.

The four designated legal gambling zones are in Russia’s western Kaliningrad enclave, along the Azov Sea in the south, in the Altai region of Siberia, and in the far  eastern Primorye region, near North Korea and Japan. The gaming industry has been reluctant to move there, given the regions’ undeveloped infrastructure and difficulty of attracting customers to the far-flung locations.

Unilever Pakistan Agrees to Permanent Jobs for Dismissed Temps

An agreement between Unilever Pakistan and the Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers (IUF), effective  June 24, will create 120 new permanent positions, and that all members of the Action Committee will be placed on these jobs. The Action Committee, a group of temporary workers at  the factory, who had campaigned for permanent status since Oct. 2007 on the streets and in the courts, finally won their demand.

According to the settlement, Action Committee members will suffer no discrimination at the factory, and the company pledges  to abstain from interference in the work of the union. For the small number of Action Committee members who do not currently meet the educational requirements, Unilever will provide a scholarship of up to two years, equivalent to the monthly permanent wage, plus medical insurance.

The settlement with Unilever Pakistan constitutes an important union victory in the fight against disposable jobs and Unilever’s strategy of reducing  union bargaining power by radically shrinking the number of employees eligible for union membership and inclusion in the collective bargaining unit.

Pilots at KLM Choose Pay Cuts and Ground Service to Avoid Layoffs

Pilots at Dutch airline KLM volunteered to do “ground work,” after the management made an appeal to all employees to pitch in this summer to help the company survive the economic crisis. KLM employees, as well as those on other airlines, are given the choice of accepting pay cuts and performing other tasks, rather than be laid off, and, of course, most of them are choosing the lesser of two evils. Putting the pilots to work in other areas helps the company  to save on hiring expensive temporary workers.

The unions are on the fence about the new trend in company strategy. “When times are bad, it is not unreasonable to expect employees to share the burden. As long as this happens on a voluntary basis, we don’t see any problem,” said Anja Jongbloed of the Netherlands’s largest union, FNV. “But workers should be careful what they agree to. What does it mean in the long term if you agree to work for less?”

Unions are angry at seeing themselves sidelined, while companies make deals with their employees. TNT Post, the mail delivery company, offered employees three years of security  against layoffs in exchange for a 15 percent pay cut. The unions  opposed the deal and it was rejected. As employers continue their aggressive policy to get their workers to share the burden of the economic downturn  by working  for less pay and giving up benefits, the FNV and other Netherlands unions are prepared to fight the new trend.

UNI Accuses Tesco  of Labor Violations in  Its Worldwide Stores

Tesco’s treatment of its workers abroad has come under attack from UNI,  the global trade union. In a series of reports, UNI,  which is based in Switzerland, makes allegations about the firm’s behavior in Thailand, South Korea and the United States. It accuses Tesco of firing workers who wanted to form a union, and making employees work 24-hour shifts.

UNI claims that Tesco, the U.K.’s largest supermarket company, fired employees in Thailand who applied to form a  trade union, and was guilty of “systematic and deliberate” violations of health and safety laws. It also required  employees to work  24-hour shifts. In South  Korea, employees were said to work 20 hours a week on unpaid overtime. In the United States, Tesco hired only part-time workers and rejected a request to form a union in one of its California stores.

A UNI official said that attempts to raise concerns about Tesco’s  labor policies with the company’s British headquarters had been rebuffed, with Tesco claiming the  issues should be answered by management in the local countries. The company denied it was anti-union and said all of its staff were free to join trade unions.