Malaysia enters official recession
Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank 6.8 percent
for the second consecutive quarter in April-June. A country's
economy is officially in recession when the GDP, the
measurement of output of goods and services, falls for two
consecutive quarters. This is the first recession in Malaysia
in 13 years. Farm production shrank by 9.6 percent,
manufacturing output contracted 9.2 percent, construction
plummeted 22 percent, and mining also dipped. Since the
currency crisis that rocked Asia about a year ago, the
Malaysian currency, the ringgit, has declined by one-third
against the U.S. dollar.
Hyundai workers end strike
A month-long strike at Hyundai Motors, south Korea's
largest automaker, ended August 24 with the company being
forced to severely scale back its layoff plans. Some 5,000
workers and their families had occupied five Hyundai plants
since July 20 to protest the projected layoff of 4,800 workers.
The company estimates it lost nearly $700 million during the
strike. The agreement between the union and Hyundai allows the
company to lay off 277 workers, and put a further 1,261 workers
who earlier received dismissal notices on an 18-month unpaid
leave. Other bosses in south Korea now claim they may attempt
to cut jobs, following Hyundai's lead. Meanwhile, south Korea's
recession deepened in the second quarter, as its GDP dropped at
an annual rate of 6.6 percent. And unemployment stood at 7.6
percent in July - triple of what it was a year earlier.
Unemployment remains "extremely severe" in Japan
Tokyo announced August 28 that, for the sixth consecutive
month, the overall number of people employed in Japan declined
from a year ago. The official jobless rate dipped slightly to
4.1 percent. Anyone who has worked one hour or more in the
month is considered "employed." The hardest hit are men
between the ages of 15 and 24, with an unemployment rate of
nearly 8 percent. A report by the government's Management and
Coordination Agency called the unemployment "extremely severe."
Australia: Asian immigration cut
The Australian government said August 25 that it would cut
the number of immigrants granted refugee status from southern
and southeastern Asia from 685 to 180 this year, and increase
the number from Europe, including 12,000 from Yugoslavia.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the shift in origins
had nothing to do with pressure from ultrarightist Pauline
Hanson, who has demagogically declared that Australia is being
"swamped by Asians."
Miners and airline workers strike in South Africa
Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South
Africa have been on strike at the state-owned Alexkor diamond
mine since August 24. Unionists' demands include better working
conditions and the dismissal of two senior managers.
Meanwhile, thousands of ground workers, cabin crew, and
technical maintenance workers went on strike at SA Airways
August 27. Workers are organized into the SA Railway and
Harbours Workers' Union (Sarhwu) and the airport union
Salstaff. The strike was sparked after pilots were awarded a 17
percent raise, while other workers were offered a 7.5 percent
wage increase. Both the Alexkor mine and SA Airways are
scheduled for privatization.
Niger: teachers threaten strike
The National Union of Basic Education Teachers of Niger is
threatening to strike at the start of the school term October 1
unless the government fails to meet their demands, which
include the payment of back wages, opening negotiations on
stalled entitlements and family benefits, and regularization of
newly hired teachers. Workers in Niger are currently owed
between seven and eight months in back wages.
Tel Aviv builds settlements, imposes curfew, builds wall
Tel Aviv imposed a round-the-clock curfew on 30,000
Palestinians living in the Israeli-controlled city center of
Hebron, West Bank, August 20, after a rabbi was killed there.
When settlers repeatedly stoned and beat Palestinian
schoolchildren during a brief lifting of the curfew August 27,
dozens of youth responded by throwing stones at Israeli
soldiers. Riot troops then fired a stun grenade at the
protesters. That same day, the Israeli government announced it
would give the go-ahead for 132 new housing units for settlers
in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority
said it would "will confront this with all means."
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would build a multi-million dollar discontinuous wall separating Israel and the West Bank, supposedly to prevent car theft. Tel Aviv annexed the territory, seizing it from Jordan in 1967.
Volkswagen workers in Mexico win 21 percent wage hike
After 10,000 workers at a Volkswagen plant in Mexico were
set to strike in mid-August, the company backed down, conceding
a 21 percent increase in wages and an increase in benefits. The
factory is Volkswagen's largest North American plant.
Black enrollment down in South
According to a report issued by the Southern Education
Foundation, the percentage of Black students in the South
enrolling in college is declining, and the likelihood of
graduating is no better than it was when the civil rights
movement succeeded in desegregating universities in the region
decades ago. Although Blacks make up 20 percent of the college-
age population, only 10 percent receive bachelor's degrees,
while whites constitute 68 percent of the population and make
up 80 percent of the graduates.
KKK leader convicted of murder
After almost 33 years, Sam Bowers, a former Ku Klux Klan
Imperial Wizard, was convicted of murder for ordering the
firebombing of Vernon Dahmer's house. Dahmer, who died from
the fire, had been a local official with the NAACP and was
singled out by the KKK for allowing his store to be used as a
place for Blacks to pay the $2 poll tax that was required for
voter registration. Bowers had previously walked free after
four mistrials, including two state murder trials in the 1960s,
after all-white juries were deadlocked. This time, he was
sentenced to life in prison.
- MEGAN ARNEY
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