The reduction of the working day to a maximum of 7 hours, eliminating subcontracted work and increasing maternity leave to a period of 5 months are some of the proposals which have been put forward by thousands of workers across Venezuela in an effort to write the country’s new Labour Law, said President of the Socialist Bolivarian Workers’ Central, Will Rangel on Monday.
Over 27,500 Venezuelans have registered in the first two days of the government’s new Knowledge and Work mission, which aims to incorporate over 800,000 unemployed citizens into the labour market within the coming year.
A Presidential Commission to draft a new labour law was announced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday, as workers handed over 656,815 signatures in support of the law.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez pledged to enact a new labour law this Thursday, as workers took to the streets of Caracas demanding “revolutionary” legislation to further advance the workers’ control project and improve working conditions.
National electricity workers are protesting post changes that they believe give power to the rightwing and override workers, while Sidor steel workers protested violence towards some of its workers as it runs union elections, and workers in the Bicentenario supermarkets demanded worker control and better conditions.
Last weekend, approximately 7,000 motorcyclists registered in a national census in accordance with a new law meant to prevent crime, promote organization, and regulate motorcycle usage in this crucial facet of Venezuela’s transportation and commercial system.
This Tuesday military chief Henry Rangel Silva revealed that over 40,000 hectares of land had been recovered and 15,000 people freed from conditions of “slavery” as part of Plan Caura, the Venezuelan government’s anti-illegal mining project.
On Sunday the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) concluded its XIV Congress in Caracas following 3 days of discussions. Over 526 national delegates and 43 international representatives attended the conference, which was convened in conjunction with the PCV’s 74th anniversary.
President Chavez, who recently confirmed plans to run for reelection, called the opposition’s electoral strategy “a farce”, terming their coalition the “Roundtable of the United States”
Yesterday over 2000 workers marched to the National Assembly in Caracas in support of increased workers’ control. Handing over a document with over 45,000 signatures, the workers demanded that the legislative body approve the Special Law for Socialist Worker Councils and begin an immediate discussion of a “new and revolutionary” Organic Work Law (LOT).
Speaking on national television from the Miraflores Presidential Palace, Chavez said that his cabinet had decided on the 30% wage increase for public sector doctors after having reviewed a number of wage increase proposals presented by different medical associations. Chavez said that he had chosen between “exaggerated” proposals and others that were “more rational.”
Over the weekend, mora than 900 workers’ council delegates from across Venezuela met at the SIDOR steel plant in Puerto Ordaz in order to advance the organisation of Socialist Workers’ Councils and analyse progress, strengths and weaknesses of worker control in Venezuela.
Workers at the state-run bauxite and aluminium company Bauxilum in Ciudad Guayana, peacefully recovered the main access doors at the plant after it was violently and illegally closed by a right-wing union last Thursday.
Workers at the exercise book factory have organised themselves into thirteen committees, driving development of a new management model since 2005 through the formation of a general management council, where they make decisions concerning the company.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday used his standing legislative authority to enact three new laws designed, he said, “to dignify” the living conditions of Venezuela’s urban residents. Each law sets out to address the issues relating to forced evictions, ‘residential workers’ (concierges), and the management of urban property rights.
