On Thursday 11 August, a blast occurred at a chemical plant located in Dangyang in the central Hubei province of China. The blast was caused by a high pressure steam tube breaking apart. Initial reports put the death toll at 21 workers dead with another 6 injured. This blast happened […]
Daily Archives: August 15, 2016
8 posts
This week, after much delay, and with no independent campaigning allowed, and arrests of any opponents, a new constitution was adopted via a national referendum. The ruling military junta had overseen the drafting of this new constitution as a way to guarantee law and order. In reality, the new constitution […]
A huge database of incident reports from the Nauru concentration camp was leaked to the Australian media this week. It catalogue long lists of abuses, incidents, assaults and self harm that refugees have endured while imprisoned in Nauru. These documents come only weeks after Australia offshore concentration camps were condemned […]
It has been another big week in the fight against Samsung in South Korea. Earlier this month the news came that a 32-year-old worker, Yi Chang-oun, died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia after 3.5 years working with various chemicals at a Samsung plant. A few days later, investigators uncovered how South […]
While the end of colonial rule in India promised a new era, for workers employed in the extensive tea plantations, improvement has come at a glacial pace. Tea workers have been involved in many struggles in the past in an attempt to improve their working conditions and pay (see here […]
Free trade zones in Sri Lanka, as in many other parts of the world, are very difficult areas for workers to form independent unions. This has become an even more urgent task as there is an offensive by employers to try and make Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka totally […]
A number of unions in India have come together to put out a call for an all India general strike for 2 September 2016. This is going to be the latest of a series of general strikes that workers have participated in over the last few years in India (see […]
The Malaysian Government abolished its repressive, colonial era Internal Security Act in 2012 after sustained pressure by activists for decades. It nevertheless had a number of other laws, such as the Sedition Act by which it has been able to detain and arrest opponents almost at will. Nevertheless, this month […]