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Ongoing Struggles Algeria | Argentina | Benin | Bolivia | Burkina Faso | Ecuador | Malawi | Mozambique | India | Indonesia | Niger | Nigeria | Pakistan | Paraguay | Puerto Rico | South Africa | Thailand | Zimbabwe Burkina Faso General Strike "A country-wide general strike in the western African country of Burkina Faso opened on Aug. 18. The strike, backed by the seven main union federations and three independent unions, called for the rehiring of labor activists fired after a general strike in June as well as a series of economic demands. Reuters reported that banks, tax offices, health centers and telecommunications were hit by the strike. Unions have been in the front of mass anti-government demonstrations against the regime of President Blaise Compaore. Compaore took power in 1987 in a coup against the revolutionary government of Thomas Sankara. He has been a tool for the International Monetary Fund and French imperialism since then, privatizing the small industry that exists in the mostly-agricultural country and imposing harsh austerity measures. A struggle opened up against Compaore after the December 1998 killing of Norbert Zongo, a popular democratic journalist. Unions have led at least two strike waves since then, in January and in June. Following the June strikes, strike activists at the Societe Sucreire de Banfora sugar works and the CIMAT cement company were fired. In addition to demanding the rehiring of the workers, the unions are calling for a 15 percent hike in wages and pensions, the repeal of anti-worker civil service reform, and an end to privatizations." |