Press Release – Socialist Equality Group
More than a week ago, drivers employed by NZ Bus in Wellington voted against a sellout deal hatched by the Tramways Union and management. The offer, the third that the drivers have rejected, would have increased hourly wages to just two dollars above the legal minimum, while cutting overtime and weekend rates.
During the ratification meeting on June 23, drivers angrily denounced the union for promoting the agreement in the media, and for seeking to pressure workers into approving it. Union officials had distributed a memo declaring that if drivers voted against the rotten deal, they would face drawn-out industrial action with no chance of a better offer.
The Wellington bus drivers dispute and the case for rank-and-file committees
More than a week ago, drivers employed by NZ Bus in Wellington voted against a sellout deal hatched by the Tramways Union and management. The offer, the third that the drivers have rejected, would have increased hourly wages to just two dollars above the legal minimum, while cutting overtime and weekend rates.
Bus drivers picket during the April 23 lockout in Wellington [Credit: WSWS Media]
During the ratification meeting on June 23, drivers angrily denounced the union for promoting the agreement in the media, and for seeking to pressure workers into approving it. Union officials had distributed a memo declaring that if drivers voted against the rotten deal, they would face drawn-out industrial action with no chance of a better offer.
Indian workers discuss need to build rank-and-file committees to fight auto bosses
Inspired by the struggle that the striking Volvo truck assembly workers in Dublin, Virginia are mounting against the transnational automaker and the pro-company United Auto Workers (UAW), several Indian auto workers have spoken with
World Socialist Web Site reporters about the need to build rank-and-file committees, independent of the pro-capitalist unions, to assert their class interests.
Hyundai was forced to close down its plant in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu for several days in late May after workers staged a sit-down strike to protest the lack of protections from COVID-19.
Support striking Volvo workers in the United States!
An appeal to Volvo workers in Ghent (Belgium) and all European workers
Dear Colleagues,
Three thousand Volvo Truck workers in Dublin, Virginia, have been on strike for three weeks. The workers at the New River Valley plant are fighting for a contract that overturns the attacks on wages and workplace benefits over recent years. They urgently require your support to win their struggle against the multinational company.
If the strike remains confined to a single plant, the company will stick to its guns and use all means at its disposal to break the will and unity of the workers. It is therefore urgently necessary to break the strike out of its isolation and mobilise reinforcements: workers from other plants in the United States and internationally.