TELEFONISTAS de Mexico are on the verge of a national strike.
The Union of Telephone Operators of the Mexican Republic, STRM, issued a double strike call to Telmex, because of violations to the collective bargaining agreement and the non-fulfilment of new job openings.
In June, the strike was postponed and both parties agreed to revise the collective bargaining agreement, which established a 4.5 per cent salary increase for active and retired workers.
According to the union, three years ago the company promised to offer almost 2,000 vacancies throughout Mexico, but has not yet complied. As a result, the company operates with fewer personnel than required.
‘We agreed to mediation from the Secretary of Labour, but we have not made any progress, the company does not want to dialogue,’ said Francisco Hernández Juárez, general secretary of STRM.
‘The telephone workers are acting in defence of the collective bargaining agreement since Telmex has not complied with the filling of the vacancies already negotiated and necessary to provide good service and wants to reduce the CBA by modifying and reducing the retirement clause of the contract.
‘The union has shown its willingness to dialogue, but the strike will go ahead if the company maintains its intention to provoke a conflict,’ he concluded.
STRM also accuses that there are outsourcing contracts, and denounces the company for repeatedly violating the contractual agreements affecting the rights of the workers.
- Cuba has reaffirmed at the United Nations its solidarity with Africa, a continent where some 6,000 professionals from the island are currently working in different sectors such as health and education.
This was expressed by Cuba’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the United Nations Yuri Gala, who recalled the unconditional support provided by the Cubans to the struggles for independence and sovereignty of African territories.
At present, cooperation between Cuba and Africa is diversifying, the ambassador said during a high-level meeting on Wednesday.
Gala also pointed out that more than 30,000 Africans have graduated from Cuban universities.
‘Africa could always count on Cuba’s solidarity assistance. My country ratifies its invariable will to continue contributing with all its resources to the development of that continent and the success of its 2063 Agenda,’ he stressed.
‘This is our commitment to honour the ties of blood, culture and history that unite us,’ he added.
According to the Cuban representative, international and regional efforts to prevent conflicts and consolidate peace in Africa should be oriented towards the sustainable development of the continent and the building of human and institutional capacities of countries and regional organisations.
Separately, Ambassador Orlando Hernandez said that Vietnam’s support for Cuba is a decisive factor in confronting the blockade maintained by successive US governments for over six decades.
Hernandez described a donation made by the National Assembly of Vietnam to the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba, as a new gesture of brotherhood that is added to the numerous signs of solidarity between both countries throughout their history.
He also spoke of the upcoming visit to Havana of the president of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Vuong Dinh Hue, which will mark an important milestone in relations between both parliaments.
The permanent deputy head of the Vietnamese parliament, Tran Thanh Man, stated that the traditional friendship and solidarity between both countries has been tested throughout the most difficult years of history, and was built and nurtured from sincere feelings shared by presidents Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro.
The donation from the parliament of Vietnam consists of computer equipment intended for practical activities that contribute to improving operational efficiency, and includes 750 tablets, two servers, a storage device and two multifunction printers.
- A Special Economic Zones Law has been enacted in Venezuela.
On Wednesday, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, enacted the Organic Law of Special Economic Zones to boost the ‘productive development of the country with a perspective that breaks with the oil rentier model’.
‘Venezuela resumes with a new impulse the path of the Special Economic Zones for the development of the country at all levels,’ said the President, emphasising that the Law is based on the principles of human development, economic-social development and social justice.
Maduro underlined that this law has been discussed in the right way, and represents a ‘new and special impulse to the development process of the new Venezuelan economy’.
He said that laws must be activated with a great political will, and specifically the one enacted will strengthen new territorial and regional engines.
He added that this regulation boosts the productive economy and gives confidence to investors coming from all over the world. The head of state estimated that despite the illegal sanctions, Venezuela’s economy is growing with national collective work and is undergoing steady growth.
‘The Homeland belongs to all of us who love Venezuela,’ said Maduro, pointing out that ‘a new economic stage must be built by all of us, of growth, of development, which brings to the country all the virtues that a process of expansion and development of the real productive forces must bring.’
The Bolivarian president recognized Tortuga Island as the largest future tourist project in the Caribbean and declared it as a respectful space for all the people of the world. ‘Clean and happy tourism,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Venezuela recorded a 61 per cent increase in its oil exports last month, mainly due to the first shipments of Venezuelan crude to Europe in two years.
According to data and documents released on Tuesday by the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the shipments of Venezuelan crude were delivered to the European companies Eni (from Italy) and Repsol (from Spain), following the green light from the US, a country that maintains tough sanctions against Caracas.
Washington decided to allow these exports in order to help Europe compensate for the energy shortages caused by the crisis in Ukraine.
In fact, in June, the oil company PDVSA exported an average of 630,500 barrels of crude and fuel per day.
On Tuesday, the head of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s Mohamad Barkindo, said that the oil from Venezuela alongside Iran could ease the global energy crisis.
- In Brazil, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva continues to lead the presidential race, according to PoderData’s poll published on Wednesday.
Lula has 43 per cent of the votes and the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, appears in second place with 37 per cent, a difference of 6 points.
Ciro Gomes appears with 6 per cent; Simone Tebet obtained 3 per cent; André Janones has 2 per cent of voting intentions and Pablo Marçal 1 per cent. The other candidates did not score.
The Poder Data survey shows stability in the presidential race in the case of a second round. Lula has 51 per cent of voting intentions against Bolsonaro’s 38 per cent, a disadvantage of 13 points. Compared to the previous survey, Lula’s popularity has increased by 1 point and Bolsonaro has maintained the same score.
The survey was carried out from July 15 to 17 and 3 000 people were interviewed in 309 municipalities in the 27 units of the Federation. The interviews were conducted by telephone and the confidence interval of the study is 95 per cent.
The last PoderData survey was released on July 6 and also showed stability in the presidential dispute scenario, with Lula in the lead, with 44 per cent of voting intentions, followed by Bolsonaro, who had 36 per cent.
