LABOR BRIEFS

Five million Germans out of work

Germany's unemployment figure rose above five million last month. On Feb. 2, the German Federal Labor Agency said the jobless total had reached 5.037 million in January, which takes the jobless rate to 12.1 percent.

Unemployment has not been this high in Germany since the 1930s.

Changes to the way the statistics are compiled partly explain the jump of 572,900 in the numbers. But the figures are embarrassing for the government.

"With the figures apparently the worst we've seen in the post-war period, these numbers are very charged politically," said Christian Jasperneite, an economist with MM Warburg.

"They could well put an end to the recent renaissance we've seen by the SPD [the ruling Social Democrats] in the polls, and with state elections due in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, they may have an adverse effect on the government's chances there."

The opposition also made political capital from the figures. It said there are a further 1.5 million-2 million people on subsidized employment schemes who are, in fact, looking for real jobs.

It added that government reforms, including unpopular benefit cuts, do not go far enough. (BBC)

Colombian army murders leader of agricultural workers

Just after midday on Sat., Jan. 29 some 500 members of the 17th Brigade of the Colombian Army entered the rural area of Jiguamuando. The soldiers spent some six hours terrorizing the Afro-Colombian inhabitants of the area, accusing them of being supporters of leftwing FARC guerrillas. Homes were raided, local people were beaten, and supplies and livestock were destroyed.

During the incursion a group of soldiers near the community of Cano Seco shot and wounded the 50-year-old leader of the local peasant farmer union Pedro Murillo. Some minutes later the same soldiers walked over to Pedro, who was lying on the ground, and shot him three more times, killing him. The 17th Brigade later claimed that he was a guerrilla killed in combat. Residents of the area claim that among the soldiers were various well-known paramilitary death squad members, although those who killed Murillo were all regular soldiers.

The Colombian Government has not made any statement in relation to the above incident. The Catholic human rights organization ‘Justicia y Paz’ has asked that messages of protest be sent to the Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos. (Justice for Colombia (UK))

Halliburton to pay $30 million to asbestos victims

In a landmark settlement announced Feb. 4 in Seattle, Halliburton has agreed to pay $30 million to people and families who were exposed to deadly asbestos while working in shipyards, construction sites, industrial plants and Navy ships.

The amount is part of a recent $4.3 billion settlement to people who are ailing, have died - or will die in the coming years - because of asbestos exposure.

Most of the 120 families represented in the settlement live in the Pacific Northwest, most likely as a legacy of the area's prolific ship-building industry. Much of the $30 million settlement goes to asbestos victims and families affected by mesothelioma - a particularly agressive and incurable form of cancer, and $80,000 to victims with lung cancer.

Halliburton acquired many of the claims in 1998 during Vice President Cheney's tenure with the company. Halliburton spokeswoman Beverly Scippa concluded, "The settlement will provide a permanent resolution to a difficult and complicated problem."

But Seattle-area attorney Matthew Bergman, who helped negotiate the landmark settlement, called it "just a beginning," adding that asbestos is still legally sold in the U.S. (Seattle Post-Intelligence)