INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

july/august 2005 :: RMTnews 31 C onstruction workers in east China's Zhejiang province rushed to repair a railway line following heavy subsidence due to over- extraction of earth by a local brick plant. The line runs between Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou - the provincial capital, and coastal city of Ningbo. Luckily, a tragedy was averted and no-one was killed. Trains were cancelled and passengers were offered other transport means. C rowds of commuters were stranded at Moscow metro stations recently following huge power cuts. The outage, caused by a fire in a substation, shut the stock exchange and crippled transport and mobile phone links in the sweltering Russian capital. I talian transport workers launched a 24-hour walkout on May 31 against government attempts to undermine sick leave provisions. Buses, subways and trams came to a halt in major cities across Italy. A sign on the bus reads "Out of Service" (Fuori Servizio) in central Rome. INTERNATIONAL FOCUS W orkers at Belgian's public transport network TEC took to the streets in Namur, southern Belgium recently following two weeks of strike action to demand better working conditions. Continued intransigence in wage negotiations by the Walloon Regional Transport Company (SRWT), the company which is the cornerstone of TEC, has paralysed the TEC bus network since April. “We have done as much as we could have done. If the Walloon government and the SWRT want peace, they will have to make a gesture. We have already revised our list of claims twice” said General Confederation of Public Services (CGSP/ACOD) representative Yves Depas. At present, the company employs 4,795 people, including approximately 3,200 drivers. The TEC has 1,634 vehicles at its disposal, as well as 552 vehicles which belong to private sub- contractors. Belgian bus workers take to the streets CHINESE LOSE TRACK D utch transport workers joined firefighters, civil servants, emergency services and office workers to demonstrate in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last month. Thousands of Dutch civil servants went on strike to protest against attacks on social benefits and low wages, halting public transport in two major cities and rubbish collection in towns across the country. The banner in the centre reads: "We can't be treated like trash." DUTCH WORKERS TAKE ACTION ITALIAN TRANSPORT STRIKE F ilipino protesters stage a die-in along a busy street to block vehicles during recent a transport strike demanding a fares hike amid rising oil prices in Manila. Transport around Manila and other Philippine cities came to a halt due to the protesters against the rise in oil prices and to demand the scrapping of the oil deregulation law. The banner reads "Junk oil deregulation law." PHILIPINES TRANSPORT STRIKE B us drivers stand outside a Berlin bus depot during strike action against low pay. The Verdi union called for a 7-hour-strike of public transport in the German capital to support their demand for a pay rise for public service employees. BERLIN BUS WORKERS DEMAND PAY RISE POWER CUT HITS MOSCOW