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Demonstrators explain what happened with police on Monday night during protest in Denver. Down with the DNC!

There are generally good working conditions at the expansion of the electric power plant in Hellisheidarvirkjun - but not for everybody. Around 300 people are working for various companies on construction-related projects. On August 20, a few Romanians had to stay and work overtime. At 8PM it came to light that two of them were killed on the job. The employers tried to sweep the whole incident under the carpet.

The company tried to cover up the deaths. Because of this, the foreigners working at the Altak firm held a meeting. They decided to discuss the safety situation at work and the Poles decided not to work for 2 days. They also prepared a list of changes that they want their employer to make. They decided that if the firm doesn't comply, they will all call in sick.

The action is being by the workers directly, without unions.

Two Beijing grandmothers remained defiant and in good spirits Friday despite being sentenced to one year of reeducation through labour for applying to protest during the Olympics.

In an interview with AFP, neighbours Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, said they had not received compensation after their homes were demolished by the city government seven years ago and were simply fighting for their rights.

"We have done nothing wrong," said Wang. "They won't let me protest, then they sentence me to a year labour camp. I am really mad.

In May 2008, Krzysztof Pruszewicz would have been 21. He was killed on April 16 in an industrial accident in the Vobro Chocolate Factory in Brodnica, Poland.

Krzysztof had been working on the chocolate mixing vat for just 16 days. He fell into the machine and was crushed. Krzystof's family, devastated by the accident, found no justice afterwards. Initially they did not want to publicize the incident for fear of being accused of libel; the management of the factory apparently convinced many that the accident was the result of worker carelessness. After much consideration, Krzystof's sister wrote a heart-wrenching report which was published on this website. Below are the main details of the case. We hope to have the whole report translated into English shortly.

Two international activists were detained by Chinese security forces August 13 near the Lionbridge office in Beijing where they were attempting to hang a banner. The banner related to the case of the unfairly dismissed unionist from Poland who is trying to get reinstated.

Another banner was also found in their possession relating to Microsoft's cooperation with the Chinese authorities in repressing activists. The two had planned to hang this near Microsoft's Beijing office. Both banners were confiscated.

After questioning, the two were released without charges.

Journalists from the daily newspaper "Dziennik" investigated the working conditions of Chinese labourers in Poland. P&L Company from Poznan sent out ads to other firms in Poland offering Chinese workers for hire. According to the ads "they are not subject to Polish Labour Law, they do not get holidays, they can work 10 hours a day, six days per week and they don't drink." The journalists asked the director of the Chamber of the Construction Industry to pose as a potential employer.

During the enquiry, the faux employer was told that the Chinese workers could even work 14 hours per day, could live in barracks and only needed one meal a day. J&L also claimed that they did not need insurance in Poland since they were insured in China.

Firms who would like such a worker should pay J&L 3150 zloties (more than 1000 euros) a month. It is likely that the worker would be paid a third of that salary or less if food and "accomodations" or other items were deducted.

The Road Transport Inspector and the Department of Health and Sanitation have finished their investigation of work conditions at three bus companies which have contracts with the city of Warsaw: PKS Grodzisk Mazowiecki, ITS Michalczewski and MZA. The first two companies were fined 30,000 zl. (15,000 USD) and the last, 12,000 (6000 USD). This is a slap on the wrist for these companies whose practices can endanger the lives of many public transport workers and passengers.

They found that many bus drivers work extremely long hours without any break. The longest documented incident they found was a Ukrainian driver from PKS Grodzisk Mazowiecki who worked 44 hours without rest. They also found that some drivers are employed by two firms and work the norm in one, and a second shift in another. Drivers at PKS Grodzisk Mazowiecki point out that sometimes the records and falsified and the names of two drivers are written down but only one was forced to drive the whole time.

American negotiators in Warsaw today gave in to Poland's demands to provide the country with an arsenal of Patriot missiles in exchange for hosting a US Missile Base near Słupsk in the north of the country. The Polish government has been holding out on signing the deal in the hopes of improving their local arsenal. The situation in Georgia has apparently convinced the US that they need to further militarize Poland.

Surveys have traditionally shown that over two-thirds of Poles were against the building of the American missile base in Poland. It is unknown whether this has changed in recent days due to the media bombardment of the populace with comments that Russia poses a significant threat in the region.

The agreement is currently being drawn up but still has to be signed. Most politicians support the program of further militarization in Poland which includes the introduction of a professional army starting in 2010 and playing a more important military role in the region.

Today was second part of case against Lionbridge corporation in Warsaw Labour Court. Jakub G. did not agree for the company's proposition to stop demands for reinstatement and to take the compensation instead. Jakub is supported by State Labour Inspector who found in investigation that he was fired illegally. State Inspector will also make the court case against Lionbridge.

Next part of case is at end of October.

The eruption of military actions between Georgia and South Ossetia threatens to develop into a large-scale war between Georgia supported by NATO on the one hand, and the Russian state on the other. Thousands of people are already killed and wounded – principally, peaceful inhabitants; whole cities and settlements have been wiped out. The society has beed flooded with muddy streams of a nationalist and chauvinistic hysteria.

As always and everywhere in conflicts between the states, there is not and cannot be the righteous in new Caucasian war - there are only the guilty. The coals which have been fanned for years now have caused a military fire. The Saakashvili regime in Georgia keeps two thirds of population in poverty, and the greater internal discontent in the country this causes, the more it desires to find a way out from the deadlock in the form of a "small victorious war" in the hope, that it can write everything off. The government of Russia is full of determination to keep the hegemony in the Caucasus. Today they pretend to bethe defender of weak, but their hypocrisy is abundantly clear: in fact, Saakashvili only repeats what the Putinist soldiery did in Chechnya 9 years ago. Ruling circles of both Ossetias and Abkhazia aspire to strengthen their role as exclusive allies of Russia in the region, and at the same time to rally the impoverished population around the tested torch of the "national idea" and "rescue the people". Leaders of the USA, the European states and NATO, on the contrary, wish to weaken the influence of their Russian rivals in the Caucasus as much as possible to provide to themselves with control over fuel resources and their transport. Thus, we became witnesses and victims of the next coil of world opposition in struggle for power, oil and gas.

As a result out of bad conditions in prisons and initiated through the ongoing acts of violence from prison-staff against one active poltical prisoner in the womens prison in Bielefeld, around 500 prisoners from around 29 cities in germany decided some months ago to act public.
The hunger strike is going to take place for a whole week and also 10 prisoners from belgium, swiss and spain are going to participate.
Anarchist black cross, red help and other groups and organisations plan to support the struggle of the prisoners from outside with pickets in different cities like berlin and hamburg and with spreading information about the fighting prisoners.
The hunger strike aims to reach publicity for their situation in prison-parallel-society, against isolation and arbitrariness inside prisons.
Prison-stuff and gouverners try to frighten people to act, so solidarity from outside is very important!
Citing the call from the prisoners organisation:
"The hunger strike aims to publish the acts of arbitrariness, harrasment, deliberate insults, psychological terror, torture and failure to render assistance in german prisons and to change this kind of daily life inside."

more information (in german):

http://www.abc-berlin.net/hungerstreik
http://www.political-prisoners.net/home.php?lang=de

ABC Moscow is supporting repressed antiauthoritarians, who are repressed for their political activities or actions which do not conflict anarchist ideals. Financial support for prisoners is often necessary. Often financial resources are needed, for this we have set up a fund.

Money from our fund is allocated to

-legal support
-material support, for example medical aid and food parcels for prisoners

You may help ABC by donating to our fund. If you have particular wishes on allocation of money, let us know. Also always write how did you transfer funds for us and how much.

Year 2008 and the administrators of the worldwide authority wage wars and spread
exploitation in order to further spread their sovereignty. One of these war
conflicts is in Afghanistan, where the western powers, including the Greek
state, and leaded by the USA, invaded in the name of the “war against terrorism”
and they still fight this so called “humanitarian” war seeking to dominate the
region on all levels. When the first bombs fell on Afghanistan the Greek society
was demonstrating against the war, but today that the repercussions of war reach
our region most of the people are hypocritically closing their eyes in front of
these repercussions.

Workers of the AUCHAN mall reveal cases of serious workers' rights violation. In reality a shift in the mall lasts from 16 up to 20 hours per day. Workers who don't want to subordinate are threatened with dismissals.

AUCHAN, the French giant, has opened its first mall in Kiev at the end of March 2008. At 15 thousand square metres of the surface over 500 workers were employed. However, the European logo of the company didn't mean European working conditions by no means - claim the employed.

Fagor's not a Workplace but a Workcamp: Mondragon Capitalists Fuck Workers in Poland. Strike is Imminent

Fagor is a large appliance manufacturer owned by the Mondragon "Cooperative" capitalist enterprise. In Poland it cooperatives FagorMastercook in Wroclaw. Currently there are serious labour problems in FagorMastercook. Members of the Wrocław group of Union of Syndicalists (ZSP) went Friday to a protest in front of the factory.

The place has become quite militarized. On Friday the firm had over 200 armed security guards from the notorious firm Impel there to protect the factory. The place was surrounded by metal barricades and each worker going in was throughly searched. Some employees say that there is often heavy security and searches.

Despite the heavy security, or perhaps because of it, about hundreds of workers joined in the demonstration on Friday. About 300 people, workers and supporters, were there after the morning shift, and about 200 before the afternoon shift began. The demo was organized by the August 80 union which has been negotiating with the firm for many months to get people a pay raise.