European Workers Issues
The importance of the VW Strike in Slovakia
By Ulrich Rippert, 1 July 2017
Auto workers at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, Slovakia resumed work at the beginning of this week. Eight thousand of the 12,300 workers at the plant had struck for six days and paralyzed production.
Manchester Metropolitan University staff oppose site closure, redundancies
By Margot Miller, 1 July 2017
University bosses plan to shut the Crewe campus, threatening 370 jobs, on the grounds that it is “no longer academically or financially sustainable.”
Support the strike by VW workers in Slovakia!
By Ulrich Rippert chairman of the SGP and SGP candidate in North Rhine Westphalia, 26 June 2017
The 8,000 striking Volkswagen workers in Slovakia deserve the support of VW and all autoworkers throughout Germany and the world.
UK: Sheffield Jobcentre workers continue fight against job losses and relocation
By Danny Richardson, 24 June 2017
The dispute centres on a national plan to close more than 1 in 10 Jobcentres around the UK, with the loss of up to 750 jobs.
Over 8,000 VW autoworkers launch unlimited strike in Slovakia
By Dietmar Henning, 22 June 2017
The autoworkers are engaged in the first strike since VW began operations in the Eastern European country in 1991.
UK unions suppress strikes for duration of general election campaign
By Margot Miller, 6 June 2017
The unions have performed this service on behalf of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who wants no association with actual struggles of the working class.
“It’s sheer slavery”
Amazon warehouse worker in Manchester UK “enterprise zone” speaks of intolerable working conditions
By our reporters, 19 May 2017
Amazon’s warehousing operations have become a byword for ultra-high levels of exploitation of a largely minimum wage workforce, who carry out highly demanding physical work.
VW trade union boss pockets €750,000 per year
By Dietmar Henning, 17 May 2017
It has just been revealed that the salary of Bernd Osterloh, chairman of the joint works council of the Volkswagen Group, totals around €750,000 per year.
French auto parts workers at GM&S; threaten to blow up plant to block closure
By Anthony Torres, 16 May 2017
The only way forward is a broad mobilization of workers to defend jobs at GM&S; in a break with the union bureaucracies and in opposition to newly elected President Emmanuel Macron.
UK National Union of Teachers sabotages struggle against funding cuts
By Tom Pearce, 16 May 2017
While the NUT continues to oppose action, other education unions, including the NASUWT, are equally concerned about preventing strikes.
Rail companies Bombardier and Siemens plan merger
By Gustav Kemper, 25 April 2017
Since the beginning of 2017, the two rail companies have been engaged in secret merger negotiations behind the backs of their employees.
Fujitsu strikers in the UK speak out in defence of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 22 April 2017
Workers on the picket line at Fujitsu in Manchester discussed support for the victimised Indian workers, their own dispute and Saturday’s international March for Science.
UK nurses in online vote over strike in protest at low pay
By Margot Miller, 22 April 2017
Registered nurses earn an average of just £23,319 per year and had their pay kept up with inflation they would now earn £26,584.
“They’re stuffing money into the pockets of the shareholders”
British autoworkers strike BMW to defend pensions
By our reporters, 20 April 2017
The strike is the first by the BMW’s British workforce, who could lose up to £160,000 each if pension cuts are enforced.
Attend NHS FightBack meeting in Bournemouth
UK: Oppose health care cuts, redundancies and privatisation of the National Health Service
Statement by NHS FightBack
11 April 2017
Health workers and all those who want to fight in defence of the NHS must build a new leadership, which fights on the basis of a socialist programme.
Occupational therapist and service user condemn attack on Bournemouth Intermediate Care Team
By Ajanta Silva, 11 April 2017
A resident said, “The loss of this team should be of grave concern to everybody in Bournemouth.”
Southern GTR train drivers in UK vote down union sell-out again
Build new organisations of struggle to unify rail workers
By Michael Barnes, 6 April 2017
Rail workers must break the stranglehold of the unions by creating their own rank-and-file organisations of struggle.
Irish bus workers defy unions and continue strike
By Dermot Quinn, 5 April 2017
To the consternation of the unions and political establishment, Bus Eireann workers set up pickets at city bus depots and trains last Friday.
German auto workers oppose Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By K. Nesan, 5 April 2017
Many Daimler workers in Stuttgart agreed to sign the online petition demanding the release of their colleagues in India.
UK: Strikers at Fujitsu support release of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 29 March 2017
The pickets expressed their support for the campaign to release the Maruti Suzuki workers by applauding a Socialist Equality Party member who had appealed to them for support.
For a unified struggle of drivers and conductors
Vote “no” to the ASLEF sell-out deal at UK’s Southern GTR rail!
By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 22 March 2017
Another “no” vote in opposition to the ASLEF/Southern deal would represent a powerful blow against the plans by the train companies and government to impose DOO.
UK train conductors strike three rail companies
By Robert Stevens, 14 March 2017
The strike by 2,000 conductors proves the willingness of transport workers to fight the destruction of their working conditions and livelihoods.
UK striking rail conductors explain: “This is about the public and their safety”
By our reporters, 14 March 2017
WSWS reporters spoke to striking rail conductors during Monday’s strikes.
UK rail conductors strike at three companies to defend jobs and safety conditions
By Robert Stevens, 13 March 2017
Claims by the government and rail companies that removing conductors and eventually drivers will have no impact on public safety have been proven false by several recent incidents.
UK: Unite union imposes isolation of Heathrow cabin crew strike
By Ross Mitchell and Robert Stevens, 11 March 2017
Unite has done nothing to mobilise the support of other cabin crew in defence of the Heathrow crew, either at that airport or at any other in the UK.
“They want to cut thousands of jobs.”
PSA purchases Opel-Vauxhall from General Motors
By Marianne Arens, 8 March 2017
The works council and IG Metall union are covering up the danger facing the jobs and living standards of workers after the takeover of Opel and Vauxhall by the PSA Group.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
3 March 2017
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Southern railway workers in UK strike in the face of union sabotage
By Michael Barnes, 28 February 2017
Southern Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) conductors and drivers carried out a 24-hour strike to oppose job-cutting demands that endanger passengers.
With mass job cuts looming, German union pits Bombardier workers against one another
By Dietmar Henning, 24 February 2017
The Canadian aircraft and train manufacturer Bombardier is planning massive job cuts, including the possible closure of factories.
Spanish dockworkers threaten to strike
By Alejandro López, 24 February 2017
Dockers are facing a savage attack on their working conditions by the Popular Party-led government, port companies and the European Union.
UK: Southern GTR drivers vote against union-backed sellout deal
By Michael Barnes, 18 February 2017
This principled stand by a majority of drivers comes despite immense pressure from management and the union to accept the deal.
Lufthansa-union agreement on arbitration ruling: an attack on pilots in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 18 February 2017
Lufthansa and the pilots union have accepted an arbitration ruling on compensation for 5,400 pilots, and the airline linked the agreement with a new declaration of war on workers.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
By our reporters, 17 February 2017
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UK: A conductor’s appeal to Southern GTR drivers
Vote “no” in the “referendum” on Driver Only trains
8 February 2017
The Socialist Equality Party (UK) has received the following letter from a train conductor.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
27 January 2017
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Verdi union strangles bus drivers’ strike in Hesse, Germany
By Marianne Arens, 23 January 2017
With the two-week strike by bus drivers gaining popular support, the public service sector union Verdi agreed to arbitration and to enforce “industrial peace.”
Support the striking bus drivers in Hesse, Germany!
By the Socialist Equality Party (Germany), 21 January 2017
The strike by Hesse bus drivers is significant because millions of workers in Germany, Europe and throughout the world suffer under similar conditions.
UK: ASLEF drivers’ union calls off Southern Rail strikes
By Robert Stevens, 20 January 2017
The planned action was over the company’s plans to widen the use of driver only operated trains.
Striking bus drivers in Hesse, Germany: “The latest company offer is a joke”
By Marianne Arens, 20 January 2017
Verdi is conducting the most limited possible action, mobilizing only bus drivers immediately affected while refusing to extend it to other sections of workers.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
20 January 2017
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Germany: Bus drivers in Hesse continue their strike
By Marianne Arens, 18 January 2017
In the last few weeks and months, workers in bus and transport companies and the public sector have commenced major strikes in France, Italy and the US.
Subway, train and airline workers strike in the UK
By Robert Stevens, 11 January 2017
The 24-hour strike that paralysed the London subway system Monday was followed by the start of two 48-hour walkouts by drivers on Southern Rail and British Airways cabin crew.
UK rail union TSSA and pro-Corbyn Momentum stoke up anti-European sentiment
By Paul Mitchell, 10 January 2017
A video posted by the pro-Corbyn Momentum organization seeks to portray the population of Europe as benefitting from the privatization if the UK’s rail network.
Wakefield school cleaning workers sacked after three-month strike in UK
By Barry Mason, 6 January 2017
Unison, with over 1.2 million members and an annual income of more than £200 million, has proved unwilling and incapable of defending the jobs of three embattled cleaners.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
6 January 2017
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UK: Appalling warehouse working conditions exposed at JD Sports
By Joe Mount, 3 January 2017
A succession of governments have created the conditions for the legal, uninhibited exploitation of workers, removing restrictions on business and cutting spending on welfare benefits.
1,000 former GM Opel workers facing joblessness in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 3 January 2017
Instead of the new jobs promised by the IG Metall union, Opel workers face precarious employment, temporary work and welfare.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
30 December 2016
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Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
23 December 2016
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UK unions seek to head off further strikes
By Chris Marsden, 22 December 2016
This week, a strike by conductors on Southern Rail was joined by a walkout of Crown Post Office workers, while further action was scheduled to take place at Swissport and British Airways.
Berlin’s Humboldt University plans massive job cuts
By Katerina Selin, 19 December 2016
The latest developments at Humboldt University are linked to the drastic austerity policy of the Berlin Senate regarding higher education.
Unions back pension attacks at Tata Steel UK
By Danny Richardson, 15 December 2016
Tata and the unions are working to abolish the British Steel Pension Scheme that Tata had been seeking to eliminate ever since it bought its UK steel plants in 2007.
Rail strike halts services throughout southern England
By Richard Tyler, 14 December 2016
The ability of railworkers to prosecute a successful fight to defend their pay, conditions and the safety of the travelling public, is undermined by the unions and Labour Party.
Striking Lufthansa pilots demonstrate in Frankfurt
By Marianne Arens, 2 December 2016
Hundreds of striking Lufthansa pilots gathered at Rhein-Main Airport in Frankfurt on day seven of the latest pilots’ strike.
Irish unions seek deal with government to prevent industrial unrest
By Dermot Quinn, 2 December 2016
Posturing as defenders of workers interests, the union bureaucracy is trying to re-establish the “social partnership” agreement with the government it previously enjoyed.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
2 December 2016
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Germany: Striking pilots need a socialist perspective
By Ulrich Rippert, 1 December 2016
The strike by 5,400 Lufthansa pilots deserves the support of all workers.
Lufthansa makes new offer to striking pilots
By Dietmar Henning, 28 November 2016
The offer made by the Lufthansa board on Friday evening is aimed at breaking the resistance of the pilots’ union and pushing through fundamental changes in working conditions.
Huge growth in “precarious employment” in the UK
By Thomas Scripps, 28 November 2016
The total number of workers in self-employment, temporary work and zero-hours contracts has increased by nearly 2 million over the past decade.
“Buried alive by the National Coal Board”
The Aberfan disaster in Wales 50 years on
By Margot Miller, 28 November 2016
A total of 116 children perished in the avalanche of coal waste—almost half of those at Pantglas Junior School—along with 28 adults, including five teachers.
Volkswagen plans 30,000 job cuts
By Dietmar Henning, 19 November 2016
VW and its works council agreed to the destruction of more than one in seven of the company’s current 200,000 staff worldwide as part of the so-called Pact for the Future.
Uber UK verdict highlights super-exploitation through “self-employment”
By Thomas Scripps, 19 November 2016
Since its founding seven years ago, Uber has extended its reach to 66 countries and 507 cities worldwide, with over 1 million drivers.
Buyer reportedly found for German supermarket chain
By Dietmar Henning, 3 November 2016
An agreement has reportedly been reached to divide up the German supermarket chain Kaiser’s Tengelmann.
Germany: UFO union calls off strikes and begs for hearing with Lufthansa bosses
By Dietmar Henning, 2 November 2016
The Independent Flight Attendants Organisation has cancelled strikes planned for this week at Eurowings, declaring it is “speechless” at the company's tough stance.
Eurowings strike grounds domestic German flights
By Dietmar Henning, 31 October 2016
The conflict is a reaction to Lufthansa’s strategy of reducing the wages and working conditions of all of its employees to the level of its cut-price subsidiary airline Eurowings.
Flight attendants union calls off strikes at Eurowings airline in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 26 October 2016
The small sectoral union, Ufo, does not represent any alternative to the large service sector union Verdi which collaborates closely with Lufthansa and other companies.
National strike needed in Britain to defend striking Southern GTR conductors
By Michael Barnes, 18 October 2016
Conductors should reject the RMT’s proposal to accept new contracts.
German government expands military operations in the Middle East
By Johannes Stern, 14 October 2016
In future, German soldiers will monitor Syrian airspace on board NATO’s AWACS reconnaissance planes.
Italy: Strikes and protests against the Renzi government’s “Jobs Act”
By Marianne Arens, 4 October 2016
Italy is experiencing a wave of strikes by rail workers, flight attendants and teachers that are also directed against the traditional unions.
The pseudo-left’s role in the defeat of the British junior doctors’ struggle
By Robert Stevens, 3 October 2016
The Socialist Workers Party sowed illusions in the trade unions and the Labour Party at every juncture in the junior doctors' struggle.
Irish unions call off Dublin bus strike
By Dermot Quinn, 30 September 2016
The unions are winding down the dispute and paving the way for the defeat of their members’ struggle.
The Verdi union’s despicable role in the breakup of Germany’s Kaiser’s Tengelmann retail group
By Marianne Arens, 30 September 2016
Roundtable talks, secret negotiations, time limit extensions—the unions are seeking to ensure nothing prevents the smooth sell-off of the retail chain.
German supermarket chain to be broken up with thousands of jobs lost
By Marianne Arens, 22 September 2016
The trade unions and the SPD have given their seal of approval to the destruction of jobs, wages and workers’ rights in the store chain merger.
French unions join far-right movement against refugees in Calais
By Anthony Torres, 12 September 2016
The CGT is inciting nationalist hatred to divide the workers and disorient their opposition to the wars and social cuts of the French government, which it helped elect.
Working conditions worsen in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 10 September 2016
Working conditions in Germany have worsened significantly. Evening, night and weekend work as well as both paid and unpaid overtime are on the rise.
Appeal by Berlin Senate candidate Andy Niklaus: Workers need their own party!
By Andy Niklaus, 9 September 2016
Andy Niklaus has worked for the Berlin Transport Company for 25 years and is running as a candidate of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit in the Berlin Senate elections on September 18.
British Medical Association calls off junior doctors strikes
By Robert Stevens, 8 September 2016
The junior doctors have been isolated by both the trade unions and by the Labour Party, with a key role played by party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Volkswagen production halt affects almost 30,000 workers
By Dietmar Henning, 24 August 2016
The hard-line position of company headquarters toward suppliers is part of a massive attack on workers.
UK: Strike action at historic low, and unions work to keep it that way
By Simon Whelan, 23 August 2016
The virtual disappearance of strikes during a period when workers’ jobs, wages, and conditions have been under unparalleled attack is a damning indictment of the trade unions.
Trade unions work to suppress German hospital strikes
By Markus Salzmann, 23 August 2016
With some difficulty, the trade unions managed to suppress the justifiable anger over poor working conditions and inadequate pay at hospitals.
Thyssen-Krupp Steel works council meeting prepares job cuts in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 18 August 2016
Around 250 works council officials from Thyssen Krupp’s steel division met at a conference last Friday in Duisburg.
Lufthansa sets a course for confrontation with pilots
By Marianne Arens, 16 August 2016
The breaking off of talks between the pilots’ union and management heralds a new phase in the dispute.
BHS scandal in the UK: The real face of capitalism
By Jean Shaoul, 13 August 2016
The BHS/Philip Green scandal shows how asset-stripping, sale-and-lease-back arrangements, dummy companies and tax havens are now the norm, not the exception.
Union calls off UK rail strikes
By Michael Barnes, 12 August 2016
By calling off the Scotrail and Southern GTR strikes, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has again proved its worth to the government and the rail companies.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
12 August 2016
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Southern rail conductors begin longest UK rail strike in 50 years
By Robert Stevens, 9 August 2016
The five-day stoppage by train conductors on the busy Southern rail network has caused widespread disruption, with some 60 percent of services expected to be cancelled.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
5 August 2016
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UK: Weymouth and Bridport bus drivers escalate strike action
By Ajanta Silva, 3 August 2016
The Weymouth bus drivers’ dispute demonstrates that whenever the union bureaucracy are forced to call industrial action, they ensure that it remains isolated.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
29 July 2016
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UK trade unions fail to mobilise for anti-austerity demonstration
By Paul Mitchell, 19 July 2016
The most striking feature of the London demo was the absence of trade union leaders and Labour “lefts.”
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
15 July 2016
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Five agency workers crushed to death in British scrapyard
By Danny Richardson, 11 July 2016
Three serious incidents have occurred at the Hawkeswood Metal recycling plant in the Nechells area of Birmingham in the last few years.
UK junior doctors vote to reject contract
By Paul Mitchell, 7 July 2016
Junior doctors rejected a contract supported by the British Medical Association union that slashes overtime pay and extends working hours.
Lufthansa flight attendants union accepts arbitration agreement
By Marianne Arens, 6 July 2016
By agreeing to the arbitration award, the union is stabbing cabin staff and pilots in the back in their struggle to defend jobs, wages and pensions.
UK teachers hold one-day strike against education bill
By Tania Kent, 5 July 2016
The strike by National Union of Teachers members takes place amid the drive for the complete privatisation of state education.
Volkswagen: 700 workers lose their jobs in Germany
By Dietmar Henning, 5 July 2016
The VW board is using the company’s current crisis to make long-planned cuts in its workforce, relying heavily on the IG Metall trade union and its related works councils.
Workers at two UK rail companies strike against threat to jobs and safety
By Michael Barnes, 29 June 2016
On all existing driver-only operations there are no conductors or onboard staff, other than the revenue inspectors.
IG Metall trade union backs Volkswagen board
By Dietmar Henning, 28 June 2016
IG Metall sprang to the support of management, which is exploiting the emission scandal to impose the biggest ever attacks on jobs, wages and conditions.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
24 June 2016
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Despite mounting opposition, French unions signal concessions on labor law
By Alex Lantier, 20 June 2016
The Stalinist General Confederation of Labor has indicated that it may be open to negotiating firm-level contracts under the new law that violate the national Labor Code.
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