Strike

Amazon warehouse workers hold first UK strike, adding to labour turmoil

Amazon warehouse workers went on strike for the first time in Britain on Wednesday because of a dispute over pay and working conditions, adding to a wave of industrial labour action across the country fuelled by the soaring cost of living. Union members voted to walk off the job at the e-commerce giant's fulfillment center in Coventry, a city about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London near Birmingham. Amanda Gearing, a senior organiser with the GMB union, said Amazon staff who worked through tough conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic are just trying to get decent pay." Another big issue is performance targets set by an algorithm that piles extra pressure on workers, she said. The union is fighting for a bigger pay raise than the company's offer, which it says amounts to an extra 50 pence (61 cents) an hour. Amazon, which operates 28 fulfillment centers in the United Kingdom, said 2,000 workers are employed at the Coventry facility. The union says 98 per cent of those

UK strikes roll on as some 100,000 civil servants call for walkout

Workers for 124 government departments and agencies will walk out on Feb. 1, impacting a range of public services including driving tests, passport applications and welfare payments

Biden calls on Congress to block rail strike amid stalled contract talks

President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month's deadline in the stalled contract talks, following pressure by business groups on the stalled negotiations. Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy, Biden said in a statement. Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down. Congress has the power to impose contract terms on the workers, but it's not clear what lawmakers might include if they do. They could also force the negotiations to continue into the new year. Both the unions and railroads have been lobbying Congress while contract talks continue. Four rail unions that represent more than half of the 115,000 workers in the industry have rejected the deals that Biden helped broker before the original strike deadline in September and are back at the table trying to work out new agreements. Eight other unions have approved their five-year deals with the railroads and are in the process of getting

Turkey launches airstrikes in Syria, Iraq a week after Istanbul bombing

Turkey launched airstrikes over northern regions of Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Sunday, targeting Kurdish groups that Ankara holds responsible for last week's bomb attack in Istanbul. Warplanes attacked bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and the Syrian People's Protection Units, or YPG, the ministry said in a statement, which was accompanied by images of F-16 jets taking off and footage of a strike from an aerial drone. There was no immediate comment from either group. The ministry cited Turkey's right to self defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter in launching an operation it called Claw-Sword late on Saturday night. It said it was targeting areas used as a base by terrorists in their attacks on our country. Turkey said it was seeking to prevent attacks, secure its southern border and destroy terrorism at its source. The airstrikes came after a bomb rocked a bustling avenue in the heart of Istanbul on November 13, kil

When lawyers strike, consumer of justice suffers, not judges: CJI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Saturday said when lawyers strike, the consumer of justice suffers, the person for whom justice is meant, and not the judges or the lawyers.

Starbucks workers plan to go on strike at more than 100 US stores

Starbucks workers at more than 100 US stores say they're going on strike Thursday in what would be the largest labour action since a campaign to unionize the company's stores began late last year. The walkouts are scheduled to coincide with Starbucks' annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink. Workers say it's often one of the busiest days of the year. Starbucks declined to say how many red cups it plans to distribute. Workers say they're seeking better pay, more consistent schedules and higher staffing levels in busy stores. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort, saying the company functions best when it works directly with employees. The Seattle coffee giant has more than 9,000 company-owned stores in the US. Stores in 25 states planned to take part in the labour action, according to Starbucks Workers United, the group organising the effort. Some workers planned to picket all day while others planned shorter walkouts.

Swiggy partners go on strike over wages in Kochi as talks with company fail

Protests gather steam as earnings dwindle and fuel prices surge; some say the earnings have declined by as much as 50%

UK nurses' union to go on strikes as cost of living, energy crisis worsen

Britain's biggest nurses' union asked its 300,000 members Thursday whether they want to go on strike in a dispute over pay, and the UK's electricity system operator warned of potential winter blackouts, in the latest evidence of the UK's worsening energy and cost-of-living squeeze. Members of the Royal College of Nursing are voting through Nov. 2 on whether to stage the biggest strike in the organisation's 106-year history. General Secretary Pat Cullen said nurses are struggling to provide safe care for their patients because of staff shortages. The union is seeking a pay raise of 5% above the rate of inflation, which is currently at a 40-year high of almost 10%. The only way that we're going to address those vacancies and ensure that we recruit nurses into our health services and hold on to the brilliant services that we've got is if we pay them a decent wage, she said. Cullen said nurses would continue to provide critical care during a strike. The potential for a strike by nurs

Strike by electricity dept staff in Puducherry 'illegal,' says official

The Union Territory administration on Sunday declared as 'illegal' the ongoing strike by electricity department staff to protest the decision to privatise power distribution. In a statement, secretary, power department, T Arun said, "The strike is illegal under section 3 (q) of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and employees resorting to strike are liable for action as per rules". He said the period of strike will also be considered "a break in service". The secretary appealed to the staff to call off their agitation and return to their normal duties failing which "necessary action would be taken as per rules". Arun said the government had proposed to privatise power distribution "to increase efficiency and consumer satisfaction". He said "Section 133 of the Electricity Act, 2003, ensured all safeguards, that there would be no shortfall in the salary of employees and they would draw the monthly salary regularly as is being paid at present by the government". He said delegates of the

UK train strikes and soaring energy prices add to a week of turmoil

Trains in Britain all but ground to a halt Saturday as coordinated strikes by rail workers added to a week of turmoil caused by soaring energy prices and unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets. Only about 11% of train services were expected to operate across the U.K. on Saturday, according to Network Rail. Unions said they called the latest in a series of one-day strikes to demand that wage increases keep pace with inflation that is expected to peak at around 11% this month. Consumers were also hit with a jump in their energy bills Saturday as the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushes gas and electricity prices higher. Household bills are expected to rise by about 20%, even after the government stepped in to cap prices. Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has been in office less than a month, cited the cost-of-living crisis as the reason she moved swiftly to introduce a controversial economic stimulus program, which includes 45 billion pounds ($48 billion) of unfund

TotalEnergies shuts France's largest refinery over wage demand strikes

French multinational energy and petroleum company TotalEnergies has started to shut down the country's largest refinery in the Normandy region as a result of a strike over wage demands

Mumbai taxi and auto drivers to go on an indefinite strike from Sep 15

Over 200,000 autorickshaw drivers and 48,000 taxi drivers are expected to join the indefinite strike

French air traffic controllers to stage strike for higher wages on Sept 16

Air traffic in France will be severely disrupted this Friday due to a strike over wages, the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) has warned

Delhi anganwadi workers to meet LG for reversing terminations over protest

The anganwadi workers' union is slated to meet Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday to demand the reinstatement of its workers, the body has said. The LG agreed to meet the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSAWHU), after workers whose services were terminated staged a protest outside his residence on Wednesday, the union officials said. Earlier, the members of the union had gathered at the Raj Niwas Marg with banners and raised slogans against the LG and the Delhi government, demanding a hike in their pay and reinstatement of terminated workers and helpers. DSAWHU has claimed that 884 Anganwadi workers have been issued termination notices and 11,942 given show-cause notices by the Delhi government for participating in a 39-day strike.

Mizoram health workers on indefinite strike over pay, regularisation

Mizoram is currently facing a manpower crunch amid rising Covid-19 cases due to an indefinite strike called by contractual healthcare workers, sources said

UK PM Boris Johnson calls for compromise to end major rail strike

UK PM Boris Johnson called for a sensible compromise on the pay demands by workers' unions that have resulted in the UK's worst rail strike in 30 years

Workers at Ford's Chennai plant go on strike, seek better compensation

An employee said the negotiations with the management were going on at "snail's pace".

Nationwide strike partially hits banking, transport services in some states

Road transport workers in Haryana began their strike by picketing at depots from Monday onwards

Coal workers join nation-wide strike; production of dry-fuel to be hit

In Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), strike is successful in some areas only, he said and expressed hope that as time progresses, success rate will also increase

Two-day nationwide strike likely to hit essential services

Some of the essential services related to banking, transportation, railways and electricity are likely to be impacted during a two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions beginning Monday