Tag: workers rights

Azerbaijan Cracks Down on Independent Trade Union Leaders

Even with growing repression and efforts to rally people around national pride, it’s getting harder to ignore the impact of declining living standards in Azerbaijan. And now, for the first time in a while, there are signs that class tensions are starting to come to the surface.

Low wages and the rising cost of living are pushing even well-educated professionals into financial uncertainty. Many have turned to second jobs in the informal sector—driving for ride-hailing apps or delivering food—just to stay afloat. With growing frustration over the government’s lack of action and no real political alternatives in sight, more and more people are starting to look toward labor organizing as a way forward.

What makes this shift especially significant is Azerbaijan’s long history without independent trade unions. During the Soviet era, unions were controlled by the state, and not much changed after the country embraced capitalism. Genuine, combative labor organizing has barely existed for decades.

But as economic pressure mounts, that might finally be starting to change. Aside from a handful of labour rights groups kept afloat by foreign donor funding through NGOs, the topic of workers’ rights remains almost completely absent from public discourse in Azerbaijan. Any serious attempt to organize around these issues is met with swift and often harsh repression from the authorities.

In 2022, that tension boiled over when workers employed by international courier and ride-hailing companies launched a series of strikes which is the first actions of their kind in recent years. These protests sparked the creation of the Labor Desk Confederation of Trade Unions, led by labour activist Afiaddin Mammadov.

But the growing movement quickly caught the attention of the regime. The strikes organized by this coalition in 2022 and 2023 led to the arrests of Mammadov and three other activists involved in the organizing efforts: Mohyaddin Orujov, Aykhan Israfilov, and Elvin Mustafayev. With the conviction of Orujov on 25 February 2024, all four activists have now been officially sentenced.

Pakistani factory producing for int’l brands in Canada ‘illegally’ fires workers 

Naeem Impex laid off 49 workers without any notice or payments

By LabourStart correspondent

A factory in Karachi, Pakistan which produces textiles and apparels for international brands, such as Batman, Featherhead Baby and Fisher-Price, in Canada has ‘illegally’ fired more than two dozen workers without clearing their dues, National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) Pakistan’s general secretary Nasir Mansoor said. 

On Monday, the sacked employees along with the representatives of the NTUF staged a demonstration outside the factory, Naeem Impex, located in the SITE area of the city, demanding reinstatement. 

Workers protest outside Naeem Impex, factory in Karachi, Pakistan producing textile and apparel for international brands in Canada. PHOTO: Zehra Khan

“The factory management said to the workers that they were fired over violation of the discipline. On the other hand, when we [NTUF] approached the management, they said that the workers were laid off owing to financial crunches and there could be more retrenchments in the coming days,” Mansoor said.

He added that the workers were laid off in retaliation for demanding better working conditions, ending workplace harassment and violence. He said that most of the workers were without any contract and earned less than the already insufficient minimum wage.

He said that the NTUF had filed a complaint with the Department of Labour, Government of Sindh, on behalf of the sacked employees. He stressed that the workers were in need of solidarity from trade unions in the North. 

Workers showing the labels they produced for:

In a video of the protest seen by LabourStart, a woman worker complained that her supervisor tried to slap her and then pushed her outside the factory. She added that she was then asked to write an apology if she wanted her job back. 

Another woman said that the management had an abusive attitude towards workers and whoever raised voice against it was threatened to be fired from the job. She added that the management made them work even on Sundays with a warning that those who abstained would be allowed on the premises on Mondays. 

Their male colleague said that he was blackmailed into writing a resignation and despite that he was not paid his full salary and overtime. The workers at the demonstration said that the factory ran two production units and from them a total of 49 workers were laid off. They added the sacked workers were awaiting a bonus from the factory for upcoming Eid holidays.