PRC-UTE
10th April 2009, 04:34
LabourStart.
In this week's mailing:
* Turkey: Metal workers sacked for union membership
* Colombia: Protest anti-union repression
* Pakistan: Unilever workers campaign against 'disposable jobs'
* USA: New book reviews historic Staley battle
First of all, I'd like to wish a very happy Easter and Passover to all
our readers. I realize that for many of you, this will be a long
weekend -- but I hope you will take a moment and respond to the appeals
for help we've received from trade unionists in on three continents this
week.
_*Turkey: Metal workers sacked for union membership*_
All over the world, workers are losing their jobs by the thousands every
day as "credit crunch" turns into "recession", and "recession" into
something even worse.
Employers will always claim that workers are sacked purely for economic
reasons, never because they were union members, but in Turkey we have a
case of exactly that happening.
Recently a large number of metal workers were sacked precisely because
of their union membership and it's not just the union saying that --
it's the government's Ministry of Labour too.
Those workers have appealed through the International Metalworkers
Federation for your help in flooding their employer with messages of
protest.
Please take a moment and *click here to send off your message*
<http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=497>.
_*Colombia: Protest anti-union repression*_
Colombia is infamous as the most dangerous place in the world to be a
trade unionist. More trade unionists are killed there every year than
anywhere else. Public sector unionists in Cali are the latest targets
and Canada's public sector union CUPE has launched an online campaign to
put pressure on the Colombian government. Please send off your message
by clicking here <http://cupe.ca/global-justice/Cali-unions-liquidated>.
_*Pakistan: Unilever workers campaign against 'disposable jobs'*_
Over 700 contract agency workers at Unilever's last directly-owned and
operated Lipton tea factory in Pakistan are stepping up their campaign
for permanent employment status. Their global union federation, the
IUF, has helped with a new website - Casual-T
<http://www.casualtea.org (http://www.casualtea.org/)>. You can learn more about their struggle and
send a message to Unilever from there - please do so today.
_*USA: New book reviews historic Staley battle*_
Finally, if we want to win battles to protect jobs we need to learn the
lessons of the past -- both victories and defeats. The historic fight
at A.E. Staley corn processing plant in Decatur, Illinois was one of the
great battles of the 1990s and we've now got what appears to be the
definitive account in *Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor
Movement*
<https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=staley&affl=labourstart>.
It's this week's LabourStart Book of the Week and I strongly recommend
that you click on the link to learn more and to order your copy.
Remember that every book you order helps support LabourStart's
campaigning activities.
Have a great weekend.
Eric Lee.
In this week's mailing:
* Turkey: Metal workers sacked for union membership
* Colombia: Protest anti-union repression
* Pakistan: Unilever workers campaign against 'disposable jobs'
* USA: New book reviews historic Staley battle
First of all, I'd like to wish a very happy Easter and Passover to all
our readers. I realize that for many of you, this will be a long
weekend -- but I hope you will take a moment and respond to the appeals
for help we've received from trade unionists in on three continents this
week.
_*Turkey: Metal workers sacked for union membership*_
All over the world, workers are losing their jobs by the thousands every
day as "credit crunch" turns into "recession", and "recession" into
something even worse.
Employers will always claim that workers are sacked purely for economic
reasons, never because they were union members, but in Turkey we have a
case of exactly that happening.
Recently a large number of metal workers were sacked precisely because
of their union membership and it's not just the union saying that --
it's the government's Ministry of Labour too.
Those workers have appealed through the International Metalworkers
Federation for your help in flooding their employer with messages of
protest.
Please take a moment and *click here to send off your message*
<http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=497>.
_*Colombia: Protest anti-union repression*_
Colombia is infamous as the most dangerous place in the world to be a
trade unionist. More trade unionists are killed there every year than
anywhere else. Public sector unionists in Cali are the latest targets
and Canada's public sector union CUPE has launched an online campaign to
put pressure on the Colombian government. Please send off your message
by clicking here <http://cupe.ca/global-justice/Cali-unions-liquidated>.
_*Pakistan: Unilever workers campaign against 'disposable jobs'*_
Over 700 contract agency workers at Unilever's last directly-owned and
operated Lipton tea factory in Pakistan are stepping up their campaign
for permanent employment status. Their global union federation, the
IUF, has helped with a new website - Casual-T
<http://www.casualtea.org (http://www.casualtea.org/)>. You can learn more about their struggle and
send a message to Unilever from there - please do so today.
_*USA: New book reviews historic Staley battle*_
Finally, if we want to win battles to protect jobs we need to learn the
lessons of the past -- both victories and defeats. The historic fight
at A.E. Staley corn processing plant in Decatur, Illinois was one of the
great battles of the 1990s and we've now got what appears to be the
definitive account in *Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor
Movement*
<https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=staley&affl=labourstart>.
It's this week's LabourStart Book of the Week and I strongly recommend
that you click on the link to learn more and to order your copy.
Remember that every book you order helps support LabourStart's
campaigning activities.
Have a great weekend.
Eric Lee.