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Column: Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry and Mary Holmes
Mozambique strike
Mozambican workers at the Mozal aluminum plant near Maputo went on strike,
Oct. 3, for the right to strike and to collective bargaining, better
working conditions and pay, an end to discrimination, and subsidies for
education for their children. A few hours into the strike, the company
fired the workers and called in police and dogs to clear the strikers out
of the plant. Workers had struck Mozal, Mozambique's largest company,
earlier this year.
Mozal attempted to demoralize workers before Oct. 3 by arresting a leading
union representative on phony charges. It sent out dismissal notices
without prior warning. It also recruited some 150 white workers from South
Africa to scab on the strikers.
Metalworkers in South Africa then called for a solidarity strike with
Mozambican workers against Mozal's major owner, the multinational company
Billiton. A South African Billiton plant worker where white workers were
hired to scab said, "Capital has never respected borders. We are starting
to do the same."
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