Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
30 April 2021
India: Bangalore sanitation workers protest for personal protective equipment
Sanitation workers in Bangalore, the Karnataka state capital, protested on Tuesday to demand personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, whilst at work. The sanitation workers, popularly known as pourakarmikas, are frontline employees, daily exposed to possible infection from COVID-19 and its variants.
Workers said they were forced to handle dangerous and hazardous medical waste with their bare hands and that many households did not separate their waste. The highly exploited, mainly female employees complained that they do not have access to toilets, sanitisers or canteens during working hours.
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Clarification: Cape & Torres News article regarding bulk carrier Movers 3
The Maritime Union of Australia wishes to clarify a number of points contained in an article that appeared in the Cape & Torres News regarding the bulk carrier Movers 3, which has been banned from all Australian ports for 18 months by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority after being detained in Weipa for two months.
The article incorrectly identified Sarah Maguire as “MUA Queensland Inspector”. Ms Maguire is an Australian inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The article also suggested that Rio Tinto was responsible for the chartering of the Movers 3, which is operated by Aswan Shipping. The bulk carrier is not part of Rio Tinto’s supply chain and was instead chartered by one of the mining company’s customers to transport bauxite from Australian to China.
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: Mixed run rates in Asia-Pacific
The BPCL Mumbai refinery on the west coast of India is currently running at full capacity even as partial lockdown has been introduced in many parts of the western region. It recorded a 118% run rate in March compared with 116% a year ago, while the run rate for 2019-20 (April-March) was 95%, compared with 115% in 2019-20, reflecting the impact of lockdown in 2020.
However, India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. in March ran at 84% at its two refineries at the Jamnagar integrated refinery complex, down from 96% a year earlier, with overall runs still to attain pre-pandemic levels. In March, the domestic refinery ran at 101%, compared with 108% a year earlier, while the export-focused refinery ran at 69%, from 84% in the year-ago month.
Health authorities have found three new cases of coronavirus on board the gas tanker Inge Kosan which is off the Queensland coast.
The new cases on Thursday take the total number of COVID-19 cases among people on the British-flagged gas tanker to 11.
The Inge Kosan is currently anchored off Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast with state authorities containing and treating the active cases aboard the ship.
The Inge Kosan is seen anchored off the coast of the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday. Health workers will assess COVID-positive crew on board a British-flagged tanker after the ship was given permission to anchor
Apart from the economic blockade, Venezuela is also dealing with armed attacks from Colombia. VSC member Joe Montero told the meeting that because of these paramilitary incursions, the Venezuelan government has given people guns and training to defend themselves. More than three million people have joined the Bolivarian militia citizens who have volunteered to help in the defence of Venezuela against US-backed aggression
Yonaton Vargas, a member of the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current, spoke by video link from Venezuela, saying the country faces “constant aggression from the Colombian oligarchy and US imperialism”. He said US troops are stationed at seven bases in Colombia, as well as bases in Curacao and Aruba, the Dutch-ruled islands off Venezuela’s coast. Vargas said that citizen’s assemblies are helping people organise against the provocations.