Urgent appeal: Jailed woman trade union leader in Bangladesh

[ckaihatsu]

It has now been more than five weeks since the illegal arrest of Moshrefa Mishu, President of the Garment Workers Unity Forum in Bangladesh (pictured).

There was no warrant for her arrest at the time that heavily-armed plainclothes officers took her off to jail, where she remains - in poor health and badly treated.

Her real crime was leading a protest campaign to demand the implementation of the legal minimum wage.

I'd like to ask you to take a moment to send off an urgent message of protest to the government of Bangladesh demanding her release.

Please click here to do so.

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=846


If you're on Facebook, please also sign up to support the cause there.

And also please forward this message to your fellow union members - let's mobilize thousands of trade unionists around the world to demand Mishu's release now.

Thank you very much.

Eric Lee

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I have been informed that Moshrefa Mishu, President of the Garment Workers Unity Forum (GWUF), was illegally arrested on 14 December 2010 by heavily armed policemen in plain clothes. The arrest occurred after mass protests of garment workers demanding the implementation of the new minimum wage. While there was no warrant at the time of her arrest, Mishu is now facing three fabricated criminal charges. Mishu has been ill-treated and threatened with death while in detention, and the police did not allow her to take necessary medicines with her. Mishu's health condition has deteriorated as a result of ill-treatment and the subsequent denial of adequate medical treatment by politically-motivated doctors while in detention. Mishu's arrest, her ill-treatment and the fabricated charges constitute a serious violation of human rights. The attack against the garment workers' union also constitutes a violation of ILO conventions 87 and 98. I demand the immediate release of Mishu Moshrefa and that the charges against her are dropped. It is totally unacceptable that people who demand the implementation of their rights and the payment of the agreed minimum wage are intimidated and criminalised.

[ckaihatsu]

Dear Chris,

One month ago, a tragic and preventable fire claimed the lives of 28 workers at a clothing factory in Bangladesh. 36,619 Change.org members banded together to demand justice and prevent another tragedy.

Today, we have good news: GAP, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger are all taking the first steps toward providing fair compensation for the families of those killed and instituting an urgent program of factory inspections.

But Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, JC Penney, Jansport, North Face, OshKosh B’Gosh and the other clothing brands are still dragging their feet.

We need to put more pressure on these companies to begin an immediate inspection of their factories to prevent any more deaths and fairly compensate the victims' families. Please add your name to the petition.

The labor activists leading negotiations with the clothing companies have specifically told us that the petition Change.org members signed played a significant role in getting brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger on board, and will play a critical role in pressuring Abercrombie, OshKosh and others to do the same.

Please take a moment to add your name now. It's time to tell these American companies that we're aware of their reprehensible willingness to put workers in danger -- and their refusal to take responsibility for their actions. We expect them to make sure that none of their employees ever burn to death again.

Here's the petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_clothing_companies_to_take_responsibility_for _workers_burned_alive?alert_id=OUGNFNoVyW_ZXBDCfIb UP&me=aa

Thanks for taking action,

Patrick and the Change.org team