[OPE] Workers News from the Special Exploitation Zone

Interesting newsletter of the workers at Gurgaon in India to the South of
Delhi
(see http://www.guragaonworkersnews.wordpress.com/about-gurgaon ).
In wonder: over the last twenty years (since 1990), have 'special economic
zones' in
the world increased in quantity as measured by both the quantity of zones
and number
of workers and, if so, by how much?

In solidarity, Jerry

> GurgaonWorkersNews - Newsletter 23 (March 2010)
> (full version at: www.gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com)
>
> Gurgaon in Haryana is presented as the shining India, a symbol of
> capitalist success promising a better life for everyone behind the gateway
> of development. At a first glance the office towers and shopping malls
> reflect this chimera and even the facades of the garment factories look
> like three star hotels. Behind the facade, behind the factory walls and in
> the side streets of the industrial areas thousands of workers keep the
> rat-race going, producing cars and scooters for the middle-classes which
> end up in the traffic jam on the new highway between Delhi and Gurgaon.
> Thousands of young middle class people lose time, energy and academic
> aspirations on night-shifts in call centres, selling loan schemes to
> working-class people in the US or pre-paid electricity schemes to the poor
> in the UK. Next door, thousands of rural-migrant workers uprooted by the
> agrarian crisis stitch and sew for export, competing with their angry
> brothers and sisters in Bangladesh or Vietnam. And the rat
> -race will not stop; on the outskirts of Gurgaon, Asia's biggest Special
> Economic Zone is in the making. The following newsletter documents some of
> the developments in and around this miserable boom region. If you want to
> know more about working and struggling in Gurgaon, if you want more info
> about or even contribute to this project, please do so via:
>
> www.gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com
> gurgaon_workers_news@yahoo.co.uk
>
> In the March 2010 issue you can find:
>
> 1) Proletarian Experiences -
> Daily life stories and reports from a workers' perspective
>
> *** Hundreds Hotspots of Potential "Internal Threat" / Workers' Reports
> from Gurgaon Factories -
> While the Indian government declares a small armed Maoist guerilla as the
> 'biggest internal threat' their economic miracle produces a mass base of
> diffuse discontent in the industrial areas across the country. The reports
> were gathered by Faridabad Majdoor Samachar during the distribution of
> their newspaper in Winter 2009/2010.
>
> *** Food Price Inflation, Farmers Supply-Chain Management and Urban
> Re-armament -
> The food and transport prices are soaring, the nominal minimum wage hikes
> are minimal and the internal security fear is on the rise. Short overview
> on the matter followed by reports given by proletarians of the security
> sector: the potential angry brigade of / against neoliberal law and order.
>
> *** Two Random Encounters -
> Short conversations with a locked-out worker employed in the defense
> industry and a boxing farmer's son in a Faridabad train, pondering about
> the unreliable security of farmer's life.
>
> 2) Collective Action -
> Reports on proletarian struggles in the area
>
> *** After Rico Strike now Trouble at Denso Car Parts Factory / Report
> after a Visit in Manesar -
> Denso supplies Suzuki and Toyota with fuel pumps. After intending to
> register a union 500 permanent workers were locked-out on 17th of February
> 2010 - Denso management hired 300 temp workers and kept them inside the
> factory day and night.
>
> 3) According to Plan -
> General information on the development of the region or on certain company
> policies
>
> *** NREGS: Encircle the Countryside? -
> The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is presented as the
> main anti-insurrectionist welfare-measure against Maoist exploitation of
> rural despair - while Maoists claim that without their pressure the NREGS
> would not be implemented in their areas. Fragments on the social control
> character and conflicts around the world's largest work-fare program.
>
> 4) About the Project -
> Updates on Gurgaon Workers News
>
> *** Glossary -
> Updated version of the Glossary: things that you always wanted to know,
> but could never be bothered to google. Now even in alphabetical order.
> --
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> jetzt kostenlos herunterladen! http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/chbrowser
>

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Received on Tue Mar 2 08:12:27 2010