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At least 35 coal miners were killed this week when an explosion ripped through their mine. More miners are still believed to be trapped deeper inside the mine. There is confusion at how many miners might still be trapped or if there is any chance of them still being alive. This fatal explosion at this mine in Golestan Province was thought to have happened due to inadequate ventilation allowing a dangerous build up of methane gas. Unfortunately, this type of disaster has occurred before. With independent workers’ organising severely repressed by the Government, thousands of Iranian workers daily face dangerous workplaces. 

This week, on Monday 1 May, 6 workers were killed and more than 20 others injured when a crane that they were working on collapsed (see video). This industrial murder happened at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard on Geoje Island. Samsung is the world's third-largest shipbuilder and is a vicious anti-union company. All the dead workers were not direct employees of Samsung, but rather hired as subcontractors from different companies. The repression of independent unions and the increasing insecurity of employment, leads to unsafe workplaces for workers.

The hunger strike that more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners began last month continues amid protests in Palestine (see here and here) and solidarity actions all around the world. For May Day, the hunger strikers released a statement detailing the class character of the Palestinians protests issuing a call for solidarity for all workers around the world to take a class conscious stance in support of the hunger strikers. The Democracy and Workers’ Rights Centre in Palestine also issued a call to workers globally to support the demands of the hunger strikers. This hunger strike is likely to continue until Al-Nakba Day, that Israel has already banned within its borders. Events for Al-Nakba Day will be held throughout the world, including Melbourne, Australia.

On the 1 May, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, an Iranian labour and children’s rights activist, was finally released from Rajee Shahr prison. Benham spent almost 7 years in jail for the ‘crime’ of attempting to form independent labour organisations. The day before, another long-time imprisoned labour activist, Esmail Abdi, began a hunger strike. In conjunction with the start of his hunger strike, Esmail released a statement calling for justice for his fellow teachers in Iran. While the situation in Iran continues to be terrible for labour activists, protests against conditions and repression continue. The last year has also seen the politicisation of many of these strikes as workers direct their anger against the Government. 

Workers all around the world marched again for workers’ rights on May Day (see here, here and here). In Sweden, May Day specifically targeted the issue of Islamophobia and how this is impacting negatively on women workers. In the Asia Pacific region, workers had to survive police repression in Turkey, hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets in Jakarta, while other major demonstrations and actions took place in Pakistan, India, South Korea (see here and here), Cambodia, Malaysia, The Philippines (see here and here), and Australia.

During 2016 workers in all industries once again continued to face pressure from the ongoing crisis of capitalism. Companies everywhere tried to increase profits by making workers work harder for less, and by spending less on health and safety. This relentless ‘Race to the Bottom’ was coupled with repression against labour organisers, with many of our comrades in jail. Nevertheless, workers continued to organise and fight back. AAWL is part of this fight back. Read AAWL Activities report for 2016. You can also become a member, affiliate your union, and/or donate to our work.

The recent referendum in Turkey on whether or not to expand the powers of the president, once again exposed the deep class rifts in Turkish society. The results highlighted the opposition’s strongholds in the industrialised and urbanised areas of Turkey, as well as the Kurdish south east. In addition, accusations of irregularities were dismissed by the Erdogan Government. As expected, after securing victory, the Government has restarted its campaign to isolate and weaken any real or perceived opposition. Last week, another 4,000 workers were dismissed, with others are facing jail sentences.

World Press freedom day falls every year on the 3 May and it is a time to remember those who have been killed for doing their job and to call for greater protections. So far this year, 14 journalists have been killed around the world. The International Federation of Journalists published a report detailing how journalists are fighting back against repression, intimidation, censorship and precarious working conditions. In Australia, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has also put out a similar report on the situation in Australia. A major newspaper employer, Fairfax, chose World Press Day to announce wide-scale retrenchments of their workforce, for which the union announced a 7-day strike.

This week, the Basrah Gas Company, a joint venture with Shell, Southern Gas and Mitsubishi, agreed that its 6,000 strong workforce could be represented by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU). This is a great win by workers to have their power to collective bargain recognised, in such a strategic industry. In the last few years, oil workers have staged a number of large mobilisations as well as fighting off efforts to imprison their leaders. Just last month, six Iraqi trade unions decided to file a complaint with the International Labour Organisation in relation to the Iraqi government not allowing workers the right to freely organise into independent unions.

This week, the international labour movement received a letter from Han Sang-gyun, the imprisoned leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. In the letter, Sang-gyun thanks all of his supporters, both locally and internationally, and restated his commitment to keep fighting the anti-worker offensive of the last couple of years. Even though Korean workers were instrumental in forcing President Park to resign earlier this year, they are still facing many of the same issues and need your support and solidarity.