Pakistan and India troops clash
Indian and Pakistani troops traded shots across the
border near the disputed Kashmir region May 22 resulting in
one Pakistani soldier been killed. Tensions between the two
governments have escalated since five underground nuclear
explosions were conducted by New Delhi May 11 and May 13.
The governments of Pakistan and India have fought wars against each other three times since 1947 over the Muslim- majority state of Kashmir. Pakistani foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan said May 17 that his administration has decided to begin testing nuclear weapons in response to New Delhi's nuclear tests. "It's a matter of when, not if, Pakistan will test," he declared.
Layoffs in Korea spark protests
"If I got fired, where else could I find work?" said
Hyundai auto worker Lee Hyuk Hoon. "This is my 14th year
here.... If I have to die sitting down or die fighting, Íd
rather die fighting." Lee expressed the growing sentiments
among workers in south Korea under the economic crisis
there. Unemployment, which hovered at 2.6 percent last year,
has more than doubled to 6.5 percent and is projected to
reach up to 12 percent by year's end. Hyundai bosses, for
example, plan to lay off 20 percent of the 46,000 workers
there. Thousands have already been thrown out of work as
businesses unable to make payments on bank loans collapse or
are bought up.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a union umbrella organization, has threatened to call a strike for May 27 to protest job losses. South Korean president Kim Dae Jung vowed to take strong action against protesters. Kim had been trying discourage mass labor action, arguing that it would scare away capitalist investors. The honeymoon was shattered in mid-April, when thousands of Kia workers stopped production to protest possible layoffs. On May 1 tens of thousands of workers protested government austerity measures.
Fish workers strike in Nairobi
More than 250 fish processing workers struck Kendag
Limited May 18 in Kisumu, Nairobi, after the company offered
no response to an April 28 letter of demands. Strikers are
calling for a raise, 21 days paid vacation, four days off
per month, double time pay to work on holidays, and an eight-
hour day. Another demand is that all temporary workers with
six months on the job get permanent status. Workers also
said that overtime and sick days often are not paid. A
company spokesman complained that workers struck swiftly and
refused to elect a negotiating committee to meet privately
with bosses. Kendag bosses are trying to get strikers to
return to work while negotiations are going on.
Zambian bosses suspend strikers
Workers at Zambia National Provident Fund were demanding
a 30 percent raise. When the company offered less than half
of that workers rejected it and staged a protest. On May 15
the company responded by suspending 24 members of the Zambia
Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW).
Twenty-one of the 24 workers are women. The suspended
workers went to the ZUFIAW hall to get backing from their
union. The union halted talks on wages. "How can we even
continue with negotiations when our members have been
suspended?" asked ZUFIAW acting general secretary Joyce
Nonde.
Workers in Brazil demand jobs
Workers in Brasília, Brazil's capital, held a union-led
protest May 20 to demand jobs and better working conditions.
Cops attacked the 15,000 demonstrators, some of whom pelted
the police with rocks. Cops fired tear gas into the crowd,
wading in on horseback. Meanwhile, the government reported
that unemployment in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city,
reached 1.65 million -18.9 percent - a new record.
New York cops conduct `no-knock' raids of homes
The New York Police Department's "no-knock" practice of
busting into apartments with warrants based on "confidential
testimony" got special attention in early May following an
unapologetic raid of the wrong house. Police officers
stormed into the Shorter residence May 1. First they dropped
a stun grenade into the apartment, then cops rushed in and
handcuffed everyone. Eighteen-year-old Phebi Shorter was
showering at the time. Her mother, Cecilia Short, exclaimed,
"She's mentally retarded...please don't shoot!" fearing
Phebi would misunderstand cop orders and be killed. Cops
threw a robe on her and cuffed her as well. The police
explained that the raid was carried out "by the book."
Issuance of search warrants to cops in New York increased up to 500 percent over recent years - 2,900 warrants in 1997 alone.
- BRIAN TAYLOR
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