The Fiom-Cgil Central Committee express its total solidarity to the greek workers struggling against the austerity measures imposed by the Troika and accepted by the greek parliament. - News from around the world / Italy, Greece, Trade unions, European Union

This text was presented by the Working Group on the "Green Economy" at the Porto Allegre Social Forum in January 2012. - IV445 - February 2012 / Ecology and the Environment, Economy

Health workers in Kilkis, Greece, have occupied their local hospital and have issued a statement saying it is now fully under workers control. - News from around the world / Greece, Public health services

16 bodies, ten of them women and three teenage boys, are recovered after 24 hours of an industrial incident when a three-storey factory building owned by a pharmaceutical company caved in after a huge blast in Lahore. The huge blast was apparently caused either by the boiler or by gas cylinders in the boiler section of the factory. The building collapsed trapping over 50 workers, most of them young women and child labor. The factory was located in a residential area and the blast also destroyed an adjacent house and partially damaged another. - IV445 - February 2012 / Pakistan

International Viewpoint 443 December 2011 PDF - IV443 - December 2011 / PDF

Ranaw Disaster Response and Rehabilitation Assistance Center, Inc. (RDDRAC, Inc.) is a network of NGOs organising relief for the victims. - News from around the world / Philippines, Solidarity after disasters

On Friday 16 December, the security forces violently attacked oil workers demanding better living standards in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan. Ten people were shot dead, more than 70 wounded, and 70 arrested, according to the government. Opposition activists and Russian media say that the number of victims could be much higher. - News from around the world / Kazakhstan

Six thousand of our comrades at PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) have been on strike since September 15. They are demanding a wage increase to US7.5 per hour. The strike is a legitimate action under Indonesian labour laws (Law Number 13/2003 Articles 137-145). The Freeport management however claims that the strike is illegal and is refusing to pay the workers. - IV443 - December 2011 / Indonesia, Trade unions

The French Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (NPA) backed the public sector strikers in Britain and called for coordinated resistance across Europe. The NPA participated in organising the Coalition of Resistance‘s Europe Against Austerity Conference last month, which was addressed by Olivier Besancenot on behalf of the NPA - News from around the world / Europe, Britain

On November 30 up to three million workers in Britain will be taking strike action in defence of pension rights under brutal assault by the Tory-led Coalition government, following overwhelming yes votes in ballots by thirty unions. - IV442 - November 2011 / Britain, Trade unions