On August 27, 2018 the student community at the College of Sciences and Humanities (CCH) campus in Azcapotzalco - one of the 15 baccalaureates of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) - decided at a meeting to take over the facilities and initiate a stoppage, a decision taken because of various problems including a lack of teachers, unpunished attacks by violent groups and authoritarian decisions by the college leadership. Days later, on September 2, the burnt body of Marcia Miranda, a student at CCH East, was found in the state of Mexico. This news had a great impact because in Mexico seven women are murdered every day, and the possibility of being a victim of femicide increases exponentially for young women. Despite such a shocking incident, the university said nothing.
Worker Power in the Platform Economy
4 October 2018, byThe response of unions in Germany to the growth of the platform economy can teach us important lessons about the challenges of ‘platform labour’ as an emerging category in the labour market, and in particular to the limitations of pan-national responses. Problems for national and international regulators include a lack of clarity on where work is commissioned or carried out, which regulatory frameworks are relevant, and where the burden of taxation or insurance lies. As a result, the formulation of either a supra-national labour market policy or the application of already-existing regulation becomes incredibly complex and onerous. In response to this, there has been a sea-change in the European Commission’s emphasis on who should be policing and monitoring the extent of platform labour in member countries, with an expanded role created for ‘social partners’ (including employers’ organisations, NGOs, and trade unions) since 2014.
Effort to form union in China meets ferocious repression
3 October 2018, byMore than 50 students and workers were arrested this summer during a weeks-long struggle to form a union at Jasic Technology in Shenzhen, China.
Strike empties streets: Palestinians unite against Israel’s nation-state law
2 October 2018Widespread strike brings Palestinians together against controversial law, but also serves as a platform for existing grievances
Three Years Later: The Evolution of Russia’s Military Intervention in Syria
1 October 2018, byAs it draws closer to the eve of September 30—when three years earlier Russian military intervention in Syria first began—it is telling that Russia’s influence in Syria continues to grow on the ground and internationally, particularly through various de-escalation zones, the Astana peace process, and more recently the de-militarized zone in Idlib province.