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Asia
South Korea: Hyundai Heavy Industries shipbuilding workers continue industrial action
Industrial action by the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union continues with seven-hour daily strikes this week, the tenth walkout since July 11. A tent sit-in by workers at the HD Hyundai GRC Center has passed 64 days. The dispute over stalled negotiations for a new work agreement involves workers from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Mipo and HD Hyundai Samho.
The company and union have held over 20 negotiation meetings for the 2025 wage agreement since May 20. The union is demanding a 141,300 won increase in base pay, an extension of the retirement age, and changes to the performance bonus calculation standard. On July 18, management and the union reached a deal for a new offer that included a base salary increase of 133,000 won and an “encouragement payment” of 5.2 million won. It was rejected by the workers.
Hong Kong: Coca-Cola workers strike over sacking of colleague
About 180 workers from Swire Coca-Cola’s Sha Tin factory walked off the job for the day on September 5 to protest the “unfair” sacking of a colleague truckdriver following a traffic accident. Management alleged the driver was not wearing a seatbelt when he reversed into a pedestrian, injuring her.
The Swire Beverages (HK) Employees General Union called striking workers back to work the following day after management agreed to reinstate the driver, along with other workers’ demands. Management agreed to review its internal guidelines with transparency, conceding that they were unclear, and to designate a legal adviser to facilitate consultations with workers. However, while management agreed not to retaliate against the strikers, pay would be deducted for the time they were on strike. Management rejected the union’s demand that the company stop using in-vehicle cameras for surveillance purposes.
India: Assam public sector health workers strike for permanent jobs
About 1,000 contract public sector health workers from across Assam rallied in Chachal on September 9 to kick-off a campaign of indefinite industrial action in support of their long-pending demands. These were for permanent jobs, new ambulances to replace those in service for 15 years, and provident fund for all contract workers. Workers said that in 2019 the government agreed to set up a committee to investigate their demands but there has been no action since.
Vijayawada taxi drivers protest Andhra Pradesh government’s broken promises
Auto (three-wheeler) and taxi drivers in Vijayawada demonstrated and blocked a main city road on September 9 over the Telugu Desam Party’s failure to keep its pre-election promises. These included financial aid of 25,000 rupees ($US283) for each auto driver’s family, interest-free loans for auto purchase and repayment relief and subsidies on auto CNG and insurance. The protest was called by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions.
Tamil Nadu: Talema Electronics factory workers hold on-site protest against terminations
About 140 terminated workers from the Talema Electronics factory in Salem, Tamil Nadu have been holding a sit-down protest at the plant since July 17 to demand reopening of the factory and their jobs back. Many had been employed at the plant since it opened in 1998.
Talema Electronics designs and produces spare parts, such as transformers for scanning machines and flight equipment. The Salem factory was abruptly closed on July 31 leaving 430 workers, including 150 women, out of work.
Workers said the shutdown came without prior notice or negotiations, and the management has not held any talks so far. One worker who had been with the company for 25 years said, “This is too tough for us. Our livelihoods have been shattered overnight, and families are struggling to cope.”
Bangladesh: Alif Casual Wear factory workers protest unpaid wages
About 600 workers from the Alif Casual Wear garment factory in Gazipur blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Monday morning for about an hour. They were demanding unpaid wages for July and August. Police intervened and ended the protest. The workers returned to the factory and entered into talks with management over their demand.
Workers accused factory authorities of deliberate and repeated delays of payments on the pretext of holidays. They closed the factory, which employs 800 people, from August 28 to September 4 and again from September 6 to 7, declaring general holidays.
Bangladeshi government threatens striking electricity workers
The Bangladeshi Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources threatened protesting electricity workers from the Palli Bidyut Samity (rural electricity cooperative) that if they failed to turn up for work on Monday they would face legal action.
The protesting workers had decided to take “mass leave” from Sunday over various demands including for the merger of the Rural Electrification Board and Palli Bidyut Samity or the formation of a company like other distribution agencies. They also wanted permanent jobs for contract and irregular staff (meter readers-cum-messengers, line workers and billing assistants), reinstatement of dismissed workers, and determination of working hours for emergency services line crews.
A government representative accused the workers of being anti-state forces trying to create instability. “If the protests disrupt electricity supply or customer services, the government will be forced to take strict measures,” he threatened.
Sri Lankan School Development Officers demand direct recruitment
Hundreds of School Development Officers (SDOs) protested on Monday outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo to demand immediate recruitment into the national teaching service. The SDOs, who are already qualified graduates, expressed strong opposition to sitting for recruitment examinations, citing that their existing credentials and service experience qualifies them for direct entry.
Government officials assured the SDOs during the demonstration that a meeting would be arranged with President Dissanayake to address their concerns.
Australia
Woodside oil and gas production workers in Western Australia begin industrial action
About 250 Australian Workers Union (AWU) members employed by maintenance contractors Monos and Legeneering at five Woodside oil and gas production facilities in Western Australia began industrial action on September 5 seeking industry standard wages and conditions in new enterprise agreements.
The workers’ bargaining unit is the Offshore Alliance (made up of the AWU and the Maritime Union of Australia). It claimed that Woodside is demanding that the contractors cap wages at 2.5 percent per annum for the next four years. Legeneering wants its hook-up and commissioning crew to accept a 10 percent rate cut.
AWU members voted on August 28 to approve future industrial action which could include unlimited strikes from 30 minutes to 24 hours duration and up to ten work bans.
DHL Express workers at Brisbane Airport locked out for wearing union badges
On September 5, Transport Workers Union members from DHL Express at Brisbane Airport were sent home for wearing union badges while at work. Wearing the union badges was part of their industrial action following seven months of failed negotiations for a new enterprise agreement.
On August 29, 50 TWU members stopped work for 24 hours, their first strike ever.
The workers voted unanimously on August 14 to approve future action, including unlimited stoppages from 2 hours to 24 hours and bans on six different work activities including a ban on the performance of work unless wearing badges and/or hats with TWU branding.
The workers sort and deliver freight coming through Brisbane Airport. They want a pay rise that will keep pace with the rising cost of living and bring them into line with interstate DHL workers, about $33 per hour.
Repco warehouse workers in Queensland strike for better pay
United Workers Union members from Repco’s automotive parts distribution centre at Eagle Farm, a Brisbane suburb, walked off the job for 24 hours on Monday, to protest the company’s low pay offer in its proposed enterprise agreement. Workers are demanding a decent pay rise to compensate for years of near zero pay increases imposed by the union and Repco during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the union’s failure to reach a pay deal with Repco’s parent company GPC Asia Pacific, about 120 UWU members voted overwhelmingly on August 15 for future industrial action. The union has restricted its pay demand to just industry standard wages. Repco workers receive $5–6 less per hour than their counterparts at their competitor Supercheap Auto. Repco has 12 distribution centres across Australia and New Zealand. The strike mainly affected Repco stores in Brisbane.
Southern Downs council workers strike over pay and conditions
The Services Union (TSU) members from the Southern Downs Regional Council in southeast Queensland walked out for two hours at 1 p.m. on Thursday and rallied outside their offices at Warwick and Stanthorpe. The action was in response to the failure of TSU and the council to reach agreement on a new certified agreement.
The union is demanding a 15 percent pay increase over a three-year agreement, improved paid parental leave, five-day natural disaster leave, paid productive leave, and for council to drop its demand that ordinary hours be extended from five to seven days in the week. The union said the council is refusing to increase its original offer of a 4 percent pay rise with no back pay and rejected all workers’ demands.
Queensland public sector trades workers continue action for shorter work week
Following a 24-hour strike on September 1 by hundreds of state public sector trades workers from QHealth, QBuild and the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), QBuild workers in Brisbane decided on Monday to continue industrial action and walked off the job.
The workers are represented by four unions, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Construction Forestry Maritime and Energy Union, Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and the Plumbers Union, who are pushing for a 36-hour week which they say would bring them into line with “white-collar” public servants.
Meanwhile, ETU members from TMR who were locked out on September 1 after they voted to impose low level bans on paperwork and answering phones, remained locked out on Monday. The ETU said TMR is using contractors to do their job of maintaining and repairing road traffic signals.
South Australian firefighters demand better pay and conditions
After 13 months of negotiations with the South Australian Labor government for a new work agreement, members of the United Firefighters Union (UFU) at a mass meeting on September 3 rejected the government’s proposed work agreement offer and voted to take industrial action in their “Fair Go For Firies” campaign. The UFU accused the government of not providing adequate training and demanded it “recognise and respect the true value of firefighters”.
Stage 1 action included an immediate ban on charging for alarms using “Code 600,” wearing union t-shirts and flying union flags on work vehicles. Stage 2 action was put in place on Monday. This involves working-to-rule on shift changeovers, a ban on “Act ups” in Operations, and chalking “Fair Go For Firies” on station windows and vehicles. The union has threatened that Stage 3 action will start next Monday and will be added to current action.
South Australia public sector nurses and midwives walk out for higher pay
Hundreds of Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation (ANMF) members began rolling one-hour lunchtime stop work rallies outside public hospitals in Adelaide on Monday to win pay parity with their counterparts interstate. About 400 rallied outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital, followed by a rally of 300 nurses and midwives outside the Flinders Medical Centre on Tuesday, and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.
The ANMF called the action after members rejected the state Labor government’s pay rise offer of 13 percent over four years. The union told the media it was not publicly naming a dollar figure but said nurses and midwives wanted parity with other states. ANMF members also want rural and regional attraction and retention provisions, increased penalties for night duties, and reduced use of excessive overtime.
MSS Security guards at Casey Hospital, Melbourne strike for wage rise
About a dozen security guards employed by MSS Security at the Monash Health - Casey Hospital in Melbourne walked out for three days on September 5 after MSS refused to pay them following the commencement of low-level industrial action. The United Workers Union members returned to work on Monday morning.
The security guards had voted for future industrial action after negotiations for a “fair” pay increase in a new work agreement failed to reach agreement. The company and the union were to resume negotiations this Friday.
Fonterra dairy processing workers in Victoria still striking
Eighty United Workers Union (UWU) members from the Fonterra dairy manufacturing plant at Bayswater, a suburb of Sydney, began a week of rolling stoppages on Monday to protest the company’s enterprise agreement offer. The striking workers rallied outside the plant.
After six months of failed negotiations, workers held two 1-hour stoppages on August 22 and imposed a ban on overtime, followed by two 2-hour strikes last week. Workers have accused management of purposely delaying negotiations prior to the sale of the company to French dairy manufacturer Lactalis.
The workers are worried about future attacks on jobs and conditions and want their new work agreement extended to four years during the company takeover. They are demanding an increase in redundancy payouts by 8 weeks to 60 weeks, as well as higher allowances and health-and-safety improvements. They also want wages increased to bring them in line with Fonterra workers at other company sites who they say are paid $5 more per hour.
CDC bus drivers in Victoria strike for improved pay
Bus drivers covered by the Industry Transport Union (ITU) employed at CDC bus depots at Oakleigh and Wyndham, in Melbourne, stopped work for twenty-four hours at 12.01 am on Friday. They will strike again on September 15 for 48 hours.
The workers voted overwhelmingly on August 29 to take protected industrial action following long-running failed negotiations over the company’s proposed enterprise agreement. On September 7, they rejected the company’s pay rise offer of 13 percent over three years, saying it was inadequate.
CDC drivers describe their current working conditions as horrible, saying they lack access to clean meal and toilet facilities, that current rostering is anti-social, pay is poor and disciplinary procedures are unfair. The union says its current log of claims is to address these issues in the new agreement.
CDC employs about 700 drivers in the Melbourne metro area, of which 126 are members of the ITU and 542 are members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU). The unions are not coordinating action and TWU members are not joining the strike.
Tasmanian paramedics ban expansions of work responsibilities
Tasmanian community paramedics are refusing to undertake any expansion of the government’s integrated care activities, including community paramedics in rural areas.
Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) members are taking the action after Tasmania’s Rockliff government refused to honour its April agreement with the union to back-pay skill loadings and boost the pay of Community Paramedics, Police Ambulance Clinicians, Early Response and Secondary Triage Paramedics for the expanded work they have been undertaking.
The government claimed its model for out-of-hospital care connects patients with local health services and avoids unnecessary transport to a hospital emergency department. Paramedics say the cost cutting plan is an attempt by the government to do more with less and cover up its years of under-resourcing of the Tasmanian health system which has driven it into crisis.