Tag: unions

Underfunded & under-maintained: Eiffel tower workers strike for repairs, fair treatment

France’s iconic Eiffel Tower was closed for a fourth day on Thursday as employees extended a strike over the monument’s management, unions said. The stoppage at one of the world’s best-known tourist sites is the second within two months in protest of what unions say is insufficient investment. The tower’s operator, SETE, has advised ticket holders to check its website before showing up, or to postpone their visit. E-ticket holders were asked to check their […]

LA Times slashes a fifth of its newsroom jobs

By Huw GRIFFITH LOS ANGELES, Jan 23, 2024 (AFP) – The Los Angeles Times said Tuesday it laying off more than a fifth of its journalists, in another example of how news media in the United States and around the world are struggling to cope with the disruptions of the internet age. The announcement came as staff at the Conde Nast group, which publishes Vanity Fair and Vogue, took strike action over looming job cuts, […]

UAW auto strike widens as 8,700 more workers walk off the job

WASHINGTON, Oct 12, 2023 (AFP) – An auto workers strike in the United States expanded Wednesday with 8,700 more employees walking off their jobs, said the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, as a deal with major automakers remained elusive. The staff at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville join some 25,000 other UAW members on strike against the “Big Three” companies — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The UAW launched a targeted strike on September […]

UN probe finds Myanmar army using forced labour

GENEVA, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – A United Nations investigation into Myanmar on Wednesday urged the country’s military rulers to end forced labour in the army and to halt all violence against trade unionists. A probe launched by the UN’s labour agency found far-reaching violations of international forced labour and freedom of association conventions in the southeast Asian nation. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted the democratically-elected civilian leader Aung San Suu […]

Pres. Biden to visit striking US auto workers Tuesday

WASHINGTON, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden announced Friday he will travel to the US state of Michigan next week to show support for striking auto workers, a visit coming on the eve of a similar trip by his right-wing 2024 election challenger Donald Trump. “Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of (United Auto Workers) as they fight for a […]

Strikes bring London transport system to near halt

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Public transport workers in London held fresh strikes Friday over pay and conditions, cutting services on almost all underground and overground rail lines that link up the UK capital. The latest walkout comes during a summer of industrial action across Britain, with workers in various sectors pushing for pay rises in line with decades-high inflation and the soaring cost of living. A spokesperson for Transport for London, responsible for […]