South African police fire stun grenades, rubber bullets as unions clash

 

Striking miners run away as South African police officers fire rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse miners who were trying to prevent a rally organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Stephane De Sakutin)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/africa-police-unions-clash-374/

South African police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse striking miners who tried to foil a rally of the nation’s largest union. The miners say the union reached an unfavorable deal with Amplants mine without their consent.

­The Anglo American Platinum mine in Rustenburg has announced an agreement to reinstate 12,000 miners fired earlier this month for staging illegal strikes and failing to appear at a disciplinary hearing. The credit for the deal was taken by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

"[Amplants] agreed to reinstate all the dismissed workers on the provision that they return to work by Tuesday," the NUM announced Saturday, a day after the breakthrough in talks.

But the Amplants workers said they were neither aware of nor happy with the deal.

"We know nothing about it. We were not consulted, we only heard about it on the radio," Ampants miner Reuben Lerebolo told AFP.

 

Striking miners run away as South African police officers fire rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse miners who were trying to prevent a rally organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Stephane De Sakutin)

Clashes outside a stadium in Rustenburg broke out after police cleared around 300 people from the area. Protesters armed with sticks and stones held posters reading "NUM we are tired of you." The demonstrators blocked the stadium’s entrance with vans and set T-shirts bearing the union’s emblem on fire.

The employees of the world’s largest producer of platinum say they cannot go back to work until their demands are met, including a monthly wage hike to 6,000 rand (about $1,800). Amplats in return offered a one-off "hardship allowance" of 2,000 rand (about $230) and the same working conditions as before, provided they return to work by Tuesday.

 

A South African policeman (2nd R) intervenes to protect a striking miner (2nd L) from being beaten by a member of the COSATU Union movement (R) as South African police officers fire rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse miners who were trying to prevent a rally organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Stephane De Sakutin)

Saturday’s clashes turn a new page in the ongoing conflict between various union factions in the country. The strife itself is slowly replacing the wildcat strikes that have gripped South Africa since August. The miners have steadily grown dissatisfied with the way the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU), and its powerful affiliate NUM represent their interests. Striking South Africans even started a fresh union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), to take matters into their own hands.

In Rustenburg, AMCU members tried to scuttle COSATU’s rally and even beat up several people wearing COSATU T-shirts. South Africa’s largest labor organization wanted to stage a rally Saturday in a bid to reclaim the northwestern area from “the forces of counter-revolution" after workers snubbed NUM in the recent strikes.

 

man holds a sign as striking miners gather in protest to prevent a rally organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Stephane De Sakutin)

The South African strikes have begun to lose steam despite the recent clashes. At their peak, some 80,000 miners, representing about 16 percent of the mining workforce were striking around the country. If the Amplats miners were return to work on Tuesday, it would most likely put an end to labor unrest in the country.

 

South African police officers face striking miners as rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas are used to disperse miners who were trying to prevent a rally organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg on October 27, 2012 (AFP Photo / Stephane De Sakutin)

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Iran threatens to stop oil exports, considers anti-Europe sanctions

 

A general view of Iran's first offshore oil platform, Iran-Alborz, in the Caspian Sea near city of Neka about 392 km (245 miles) north of Tehran (Reuters/Official website of the Iranian Oil Ministry)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/iran-stop-oil-export-sanctions-072/

Iran warns that it could stop exporting oil, driving global crude prices up, should the US and allied Europe tighten sanctions further. For such a case, Tehran says, it has a contingency strategy to carry on without oil revenues.

­“If you continue to add to the sanctions, we will stop our oil exports to the world,” Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi told reporters Tuesday. “The lack of Iranian oil in the market would drastically add to the price.”

Iran is currently under pressure from international sanctions, mainly in oil exports, imposed by the UN Security Council, the US and the EU in order to curb the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program. Washington and some if its allies believe the program is being used to develop a nuclear weapon.

On October 15, the European Union foreign ministers approved a new package of sanctions targeting Iran’s financial, trade, energy, transportation and telecommunications sectors.

Earlier in October, American lawmakers also extended the already tough sanctions against Iran.

The measures have severely hurt the Islamic Republic’s economy.

However, Qasemi said that Iran has a “Plan B” which will enable the country to make due without profits from oil sales. He did not mention how long the economy could function, though, without selling oil.

Iran is still pumping oil at capacity and producing 4 million barrels per day (bpd), Qasemi said, denying OPEC’s report that the country's output has fallen to around 2.7 million bpd. He added that "Iran has been facing US sanctions for 30 years while successfully managing its oil sector."

Iranian Parliament considers sanctions on Europe

­Angered by a new round of sanctions, Iranian lawmakers are working on a “preemptive embargo package” which would hit European states, Press TV reported.

Officials plan to impose sanctions in three phases.

The first will deprive Iran’s enemies of its high-quality light and heavy crude oil. According to the report, 70 European oil-refining plants depend on Iranian oil.

The second phase is a ban on goods transported from European states that participated in imposing the sanctions against Tehran.

And the third would prohibit Iranian citizens from traveling to hostile countries.

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Moody’s lowers credit rating of major Italian bank to Junk Status

 

Moody’s Investors Service has slashed the credit rating of Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/18/267361/moodys-cuts-italy-bank-credit-rating/

Moody’s Investors Service has slashed the credit rating of Italy’s third biggest bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) to ‘junk’ status, saying Rome’s recapitalization program is feared to prove inadequate.

The rating agency said on Thursday that the lowering of the bank’s rating by two notches to ‘Baaa3’ (a non-investment grade) reflects Moody’s view that there “remains a material probability that the bank will need to seek further external support.”

Earlier in June, BMPS, the world’s oldest bank, said it was set to borrow around 1.5 billion euros ( about 1.87 billion dollars) from the Italian government to pay off its debt and beef up its capital.

The ailing bank has also said it would downsize its workforce by 4,600 employees by 2015.

In July, Moody’s also lowered the debt ratings of 13 Italian banks, including Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, by one to two notches, citing the Italian government’s weakened creditworthiness.

Several eurozone member states, including Greece, Spain and Italy, have been struggling with deep economic woes since the financial crisis began about five years ago.

Over the past decade, Italy has been the slowest growing economy in the euro area.

The continued recession in the eurozone’s third-largest economy is gloomy news for Italians, who have seen a series of austerity packages, tax hikes and pension charges.

The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

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