Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand
9 July 2021
Over 150,000 Indian government steel workers hold national strike
Over 150,000 workers at the public sector plants of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) walked out across India on June 30 after negotiations for a pay rise deadlocked. The wage increase has been outstanding since December 2017.
The collective wage and conditions agreement is usually revised every five years by the National Joint Committee for Steel, made up of SAIL management and the five central trade union federations of India.
Workers’ demands included higher wages for permanent and contract workers, increased employer’s contributions to the pension scheme, compensation and employment for family members if a worker dies from COVID-19, the withdrawal of workers’ suspensions in Bhilai and Bokaro steel plants and no privatisation of SAIL and RINL.
West Gate Tunnel: Calls for soil contaminated with PFAS to be treated rather than dumped in landfill smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand
4 June 2021
India: Punjab state administration workers strike
Striking workers from the Punjab State District Commissioner’s (DC) Office in Fatehgarh Sahib demonstrated outside the DC Office building on May 28 over several long outstanding demands. They chanted slogans denouncing the revenue minister and the chief minister and burnt an effigy. The workers had been on casual leave since May 24 in support of their demands.
The DC Office Employees Union is demanding implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations, payment of outstanding dearness allowances, promotions and restoration of the previous pension system. Workers said 55 percent of positions in the DC offices were vacant but management had made no move to recruit workers.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
14 May 2021
India: Striking health workers in Punjab sacked
Around 1,400 striking National Health Mission (NHM) workers, including staff nurses, medical officers, homeopathy Ayurveda doctors and ministerial staff, were sacked by the Punjab government on May 10 for refusing to end their week-long strike.
About 3,000 NHM workers walked out on strike to demand higher wages and permanent jobs. The sacked workers, who were fired through the draconian Disaster Management Act, were from seven districts in Punjab.
Last September over 30,000 NHM contract workers held a national stoppage over the same demands. Although many have had ten years’ service, they are paid meagre salaries and are denied entitlements available to regular government employees.
Second site approved to take toxic soil from $6.7b West Gate Tunnel project
We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
Normal text size
Advertisement
Two Victorian landfills have now been approved to receive contaminated soil being dug up to build the $6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel.
Bacchus Marsh landfill site Maddingley Brown Coal is the latest to be approved by the Environment Protection Authority to receive huge amounts of rock and soil from the controversial project, which is running at least two years late and estimated by Treasury to be $3 billion over budget.
Work on the West Gate Tunnel has been delayed by a major dispute over how to deal with 3 million tonnes of contaminated soil.