Communist
28th July 2009, 02:36
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In Solidarity, Labor Steps Up Pressure on Honduran
Junta
Monday July 27
Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein
Working In This Times
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/4663/labor_stepping_up_the_pressure_on_honduran_junta1/
Followers of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya
demonstrate July 24, 2009, in front of a police line
blocking the passage to Las Manos border post in
Honduras, along the border with Nicaragua. (Photo
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Tomorrow marks the one-month anniversary of when
soldiers raided the home of Mel Zelaya, the
democratically elected president of Honduras, and
forced the pajama-clad leader into exile in Costa Rica.
The coup was swiftly denounced by the international
community, including the United States and the
Organization of American States (OAS). The U.S. is
trying to broker some kind of compromise between Zelaya
and the coup leaders, but two rounds of negotiations
have already broken down. More meetings are scheduled
with Sec of State Hillary Clinton in Washington
tomorrow.
In the meantime, Zelaya is camped out on the
Nicaragua-Honduras border after defying the junta by
making a symbolic 30-minute return to Honduras over the
weekend.
From the very beginning, unions have been at the
forefront of the battle to restore Zelaya to power. The
Honduran workforce is heavily organized and Honduran
labor has played a pivotal role in opposing the coup at
home.
Upon Zelaya's ouster, Honduras's three largest public
sector unions called a general strike. A union official
estimated that 100,000 workers walked off the job.
Latin American unions joined the fight. On July 3, the
Global Union Federation organized a protest in
Nicaragua near the Honduran border which was attended
by unions members from Guatemala, El Salvador and
Nicaragua.
On the same day, members of unions affiliated with the
London-based International Transport Workers Federation
(ITF) formed a symbolic ring around Honduras with
simultaneous demonstrations on all three of the
country's international borders.
The American labor movement also moved quickly to
denounce the coup. The AFL-CIO condemned the coup and
successfully lobbied the Organization of American
States and the U.S. government not to recognize the new
regime.
Individual unions also weighed in. The Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) issued a statement
condemning the coup and expressing concern for the
safety of trade union leaders in Honduras.
Dan Kovalik, the associate general counsel of the
United Steel Workers, traveled to Honduras earlier this
month on a fact-finding mission and met with union
leaders, human rights advocates and other community
activists. His delegation also helped block the
Pan-American Highway outside of the capital of
Tegucigalpa as part of an anti-coup protest.
Labor leaders agree that that the outcome of this
crisis has implications beyond Honduras' borders.
Zelaya is a moderate left-wing leader who is more
sympathetic to labor than most Honduran presidents have
been. Moreover, if this military coup is allowed to
prevail, other left-wing leaders of Latin American
countries might find themselves vulnerable to coups by
conservative elites.
"I think that as time has gone on the unions in the
U.S. in general, and the Steelworkers in particular,
have really realized how much we are linked to unions
and the fate of workers in other countries,
particularly in Latin America," Kovalik told a radio
interviewer.
As the crisis drags on and Zelaya remains in exile,
some labor organizations are trying to step up the
pressure on the regime. On July 17, the ITF called on
its 656 affiliated unions to oppose the coup by
"focusing protests on the Honduran merchant fleet." The
press release didn't say what kind of protests the ITF
had in mind, however. ITF spokesman Sam Dawson stressed
in an email yesterday that ITF wants member unions to
stay within the law. The federation is not publicly
calling for a general boycott.
There are many historical precedents of longshore
workers using strikes to make political points, but ITF
isn't ready to go that far.
We won't know the effects of the ITF edict until some
ITF-affiliated unions are called upon to unload
Honduran ships. That hasn't happened since ITF issued
the statement.
Dawson said that ITF is monitoring the movements of
Honduran ships but that, so far, there has been
"minimal contact" between members of ITF-affiliated
unions.
If member unions take action, their protests could have
far-reaching effects. Ship owners from around the world
fly the Honduran flag as a "flag of convenience,"
meaning that they use Honduras as a cheap place to
register their ships even though they don't hire
Honduran crews or do business with Honduran firms. So,
protests targeting the Honduran fleet could have a
global impact. Honduras is also the largest producer of
textiles in Latin America and a major exporter of
coffee. The United States is its number one customer.
Robert McEllrath, the international president of the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), a
U.S.-based ITF affiliate, condemned the coup in a July
22 letter to the ITF.
"The military takeover of a democratically elected
president and the removal of union workers from their
jobs for organizing peaceful demonstrations in support
of president Zelaya are not acceptable," McEllrath
wrote. However, so far, there is no indication that
McEllrath is prepared to back up these sentiments with
a call for action against the Honduran merchant fleet.
Since the coup, international labor groups have
gradually intensified the pressure on the regime.
Remember that negotiations are still ongoing to resolve
the crisis. So, unions may be holding back to see
whether the process will work. It remains to be seen
how far they are prepared to go in solidarity with the
workers of Honduras.
Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein
_____________________________________________
====================================
==========================================>>
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
----------------------------------------
=================================
----------------------
In Solidarity, Labor Steps Up Pressure on Honduran
Junta
Monday July 27
Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein
Working In This Times
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/4663/labor_stepping_up_the_pressure_on_honduran_junta1/
Followers of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya
demonstrate July 24, 2009, in front of a police line
blocking the passage to Las Manos border post in
Honduras, along the border with Nicaragua. (Photo
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Tomorrow marks the one-month anniversary of when
soldiers raided the home of Mel Zelaya, the
democratically elected president of Honduras, and
forced the pajama-clad leader into exile in Costa Rica.
The coup was swiftly denounced by the international
community, including the United States and the
Organization of American States (OAS). The U.S. is
trying to broker some kind of compromise between Zelaya
and the coup leaders, but two rounds of negotiations
have already broken down. More meetings are scheduled
with Sec of State Hillary Clinton in Washington
tomorrow.
In the meantime, Zelaya is camped out on the
Nicaragua-Honduras border after defying the junta by
making a symbolic 30-minute return to Honduras over the
weekend.
From the very beginning, unions have been at the
forefront of the battle to restore Zelaya to power. The
Honduran workforce is heavily organized and Honduran
labor has played a pivotal role in opposing the coup at
home.
Upon Zelaya's ouster, Honduras's three largest public
sector unions called a general strike. A union official
estimated that 100,000 workers walked off the job.
Latin American unions joined the fight. On July 3, the
Global Union Federation organized a protest in
Nicaragua near the Honduran border which was attended
by unions members from Guatemala, El Salvador and
Nicaragua.
On the same day, members of unions affiliated with the
London-based International Transport Workers Federation
(ITF) formed a symbolic ring around Honduras with
simultaneous demonstrations on all three of the
country's international borders.
The American labor movement also moved quickly to
denounce the coup. The AFL-CIO condemned the coup and
successfully lobbied the Organization of American
States and the U.S. government not to recognize the new
regime.
Individual unions also weighed in. The Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) issued a statement
condemning the coup and expressing concern for the
safety of trade union leaders in Honduras.
Dan Kovalik, the associate general counsel of the
United Steel Workers, traveled to Honduras earlier this
month on a fact-finding mission and met with union
leaders, human rights advocates and other community
activists. His delegation also helped block the
Pan-American Highway outside of the capital of
Tegucigalpa as part of an anti-coup protest.
Labor leaders agree that that the outcome of this
crisis has implications beyond Honduras' borders.
Zelaya is a moderate left-wing leader who is more
sympathetic to labor than most Honduran presidents have
been. Moreover, if this military coup is allowed to
prevail, other left-wing leaders of Latin American
countries might find themselves vulnerable to coups by
conservative elites.
"I think that as time has gone on the unions in the
U.S. in general, and the Steelworkers in particular,
have really realized how much we are linked to unions
and the fate of workers in other countries,
particularly in Latin America," Kovalik told a radio
interviewer.
As the crisis drags on and Zelaya remains in exile,
some labor organizations are trying to step up the
pressure on the regime. On July 17, the ITF called on
its 656 affiliated unions to oppose the coup by
"focusing protests on the Honduran merchant fleet." The
press release didn't say what kind of protests the ITF
had in mind, however. ITF spokesman Sam Dawson stressed
in an email yesterday that ITF wants member unions to
stay within the law. The federation is not publicly
calling for a general boycott.
There are many historical precedents of longshore
workers using strikes to make political points, but ITF
isn't ready to go that far.
We won't know the effects of the ITF edict until some
ITF-affiliated unions are called upon to unload
Honduran ships. That hasn't happened since ITF issued
the statement.
Dawson said that ITF is monitoring the movements of
Honduran ships but that, so far, there has been
"minimal contact" between members of ITF-affiliated
unions.
If member unions take action, their protests could have
far-reaching effects. Ship owners from around the world
fly the Honduran flag as a "flag of convenience,"
meaning that they use Honduras as a cheap place to
register their ships even though they don't hire
Honduran crews or do business with Honduran firms. So,
protests targeting the Honduran fleet could have a
global impact. Honduras is also the largest producer of
textiles in Latin America and a major exporter of
coffee. The United States is its number one customer.
Robert McEllrath, the international president of the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), a
U.S.-based ITF affiliate, condemned the coup in a July
22 letter to the ITF.
"The military takeover of a democratically elected
president and the removal of union workers from their
jobs for organizing peaceful demonstrations in support
of president Zelaya are not acceptable," McEllrath
wrote. However, so far, there is no indication that
McEllrath is prepared to back up these sentiments with
a call for action against the Honduran merchant fleet.
Since the coup, international labor groups have
gradually intensified the pressure on the regime.
Remember that negotiations are still ongoing to resolve
the crisis. So, unions may be holding back to see
whether the process will work. It remains to be seen
how far they are prepared to go in solidarity with the
workers of Honduras.
Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein
_____________________________________________
====================================
==========================================>>
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.