Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers continue protests
The Interim Government’s brutal assault on striking garment workers shows that it is committed to the same big business agenda as the ousted Hasina regime.
•Wimal Perera
South Africa
South Asia’s governments rush to congratulate America’s fascist president-elect Trump
Indian Prime Minister Modi and Sri Lankan President Dissanayake were quick to publicly hail Trump’s victory.
•Deepal Jayasekera
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
More than 10,000 Bangladeshi garment workers remain on strike over months of unpaid wages.
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Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
Tea plantation workers block roads in India opposing government pay cuts; Pakistani teachers fight privatisation; Garment workers strike in Bangladesh against job and pay cuts.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Bangladesh security forces shoot demonstrating garment worker; India: Nationwide protests demand repeal of Modi government’s anti-labour laws; Pakistani public-school teachers oppose privatisation; Australia: Qantas maintenance engineers expand strike action; Qube dock workers in Port Kembla widen industrial bans.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Protesting Bangladeshi factory workers attacked by industrial police; India: Samsung workers in Tamil Nadu strike for better wages and union rights; Australian Qube Ports workers fight for pay rise; New Zealand supermarket workers strike nationwide
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One fifth of world’s youth not in employment, education or training
These conditions testify to the powder keg that is Africa and indeed vast parts of the world. Youth-led protests have broken out in several countries over recent months calling for political change.
•Jean Shaoul
Bangladesh’s right-wing interim government moves to consolidate its power, end popular ferment
The government’s first orders of business are ensuring that capitalist “law and order” is re-established, Bangladesh’s garment industry resumes pumping out profits for global investors, and the IMF austerity measures Hasina agreed to in January 2023 in exchange for a $4.7 billion emergency loan are implemented.
•Keith Jones
Spouting democratic phrases, Bangladesh’s new “interim” government moves to impose capitalist order
Two leaders of the student organization that initiated and led the anti-government protests have been included in the 17-member “cabinet.” However, the key portfolios are all in the hands of trusted members of the Bangladeshi capitalist elite.
•Wimal Perera, Keith Jones
After popular uprising
Muhammad Yunus, promoter of “entrepreneurial development,” to head Bangladesh’s emergency interim government
The Yunus-led interim government will be a right-wing capitalist regime, beholden to the transnational garment industry giants, other foreign investors and the Bangladeshi bourgeoisie.
•Keith Jones
Bangladeshi Prime Minister flees to India amid mass uprising
In a televised statement to the nation Monday, army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman announced Sheikh Hasina had resigned as prime minister.
•Keith Jones
Bangladeshi government launches witch hunt after police kill hundreds of student protesters
There are ongoing reports on abduction and torture of students activists by police with many others going into hiding, fearing persecution and police raids.
•Wimal Perera
Rising death toll as Bangladeshi government unleashes military-police crackdown on protesting students
The nationwide student protests, and the support they are winning from the Bangladeshi masses, point to deep hostility towards Hasina government.
•Sakuna Jayawardena
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
South Korea: Samsung Electronics workers to hold three-day strike for higher pay; Bangladesh university workers hold national strike over pension scheme; Sri Lankan public sector workers still on strike over wages; Australia: Victorian ambulance paramedics intensify industrial action; NSW child protection workers strike over staff shortages.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Bangladeshi garment workers maintain sit-down protest over Gazipur factory closure; Sri Lankan government health workers walkout; Australia: Wilmar Sugar workers in Queensland strike again for pay rise; New Zealand nurses protest staff shortages.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
South Korea: Costco workers demand better pay and conditions; India: Air India Express workers strike over new employment terms; Australia: Wilmar Sugar mill workers walkout for higher wages in Queensland; Submarine maintenance workers in South Australia down tools; Fiji Water bottling plant workers strike.
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Bangladesh students protest Israeli genocide in Gaza
“What Israel has been doing to the people of Gaza is clearly a war crime and genocide. The Netanyahu administration has violated all the humanitarian laws.” –Bangladeshi student.
•Wimal Perera
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Bangladesh police open fire on protesting garment workers; Australia: Fraser Island Council workers protest for better pay and conditions; New Zealand doctors to strike after rejecting pay deal.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
India: Tamil Nadu Primary Cooperative Bank employees demand higher wages: Bangladeshi garment workers violently attacked by police in Gazipur; Qantas pilots in Western Australia strike again for pay rise; New Zealand nurses protest over payment delays.
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Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
India: Bihar public school contract teachers oppose mandatory competency examination; Thousands of Bangladeshi food and beverage factory workers demand higher wages; Qantas pilots in Western Australia hold six-day strike over low pay; BHP iron ore train drivers strike in WA for improved conditions
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