Free jailed leaders of Fiji's trade union movement now.

[ckaihatsu]

You strike, you settle, you get arrested


Free jailed leaders of Fiji's trade union movement now.

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Imagine if this happened to you:

Your union is in a dispute with your employer. You call a strike. The employer agrees to negotiate. The strike ends, the workers return to work.

And then the government steps in, announces that what you have done is illegal, and arrests the leaders of your union.

That's exactly what just happened in Fiji.

Among those arrested was Daniel Urai, who is also President of the Fiji Trades Union Congress. I met Daniel (pictured above left) at the LabourStart Conference in 2012 in Sydney.

This is outrageous -- which is why the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Union of Foodworkers have launched a joint global protest campaign on LabourStart here:

http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2169&src=lsmm

We're demanding that the government release the jailed union leaders now.

This is one of those campaigns that has a really good chance of having an effect because Fiji is dependent on tourism and goodwill from overseas.

Every protest message we send can help ensure that Dan and his colleagues are freed.

Please make sure to share this message with your friends, family and fellow union members.

Thank you!



Eric Lee
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[E-Shock Executioner]

Damn neoliberal governments, they don't give two shits about the law, the only law they have is one evil creature

The market

[ckaihatsu]

Six arrested Fijian union leaders need your help


Fijian union leaders arrested after a strike at Starwood hotels

Fiji is governed by a harsh military dictatorship which maintains a permanent crackdown on civil, political and trade union rights. Six leaders of the island’s hotel workers union now face trial on criminal charges – while their union is negotiating with the employer!

We sent you this message two weeks ago, but the charges still hang over them. Please take a moment to respond by sending a protest message. Your voice makes a difference.

On January 9, six union leaders from the National Union of Hospitality Catering and Tourism Industries were arrested and charged as a result of what the government claims to have been an "unlawful strike" that took place on New Year's Eve at Sheraton Fiji Resort and Westin Denarau Island Resort and Spa (owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.) at Narewa village, Fiji. Workers in fact held a spontaneous protest against the unilateral removal of their staff benefits.



The military government declared the strike illegal and arrested the leadership of the union. Now they are out of jail but harsh bail conditions prevent them from exercising their role and their rights as union leaders.

Although it is believed Starwood played no direct role in their imprisonment, the Company was responsible for workers taking action as a result of management's unilateral withdrawal of workers' benefits.

CLICK HERE (http://iuf.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e788a43ccacc225abf8e6e748&id=151ac3e319&e=090f0b0646) to urge Starwood management to use their influence to persuade the authorities to drop the case against union leaders.

E-mail: [email protected]
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
www.iuf.org

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[ckaihatsu]

Victory in Fiji as charges against union leaders dropped


Thank you for making this happen.


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Great news from Fiji -- charges have been dropped against the trade union leaders.

A little more than a week ago, I wrote to ask for your support for a new campaign. We were demanding that the government of Fiji drop all charges against trade union leaders, including Daniel Urai (pictured above).

As I wrote then, "the Fijian regime declared the strike illegal and arrested the leadership of the union ... Bail conditions for the arrested leaders include not repeating the "offence" of calling a strike, so that if negotiations do not resolve the dispute and the union decides to hold another strike before the case is heard (which could be months, as it often is in Fiji), their leaders will be carted off to jail forthwith."

But now the charges have been dropped and we've suspended our online campaign.

The Fiji Trades Union Congress has thanked all of us for our support. The International Union of Food Workers, which sponsored the LabourStart campaign and which ran a parallel campaign of its own, issued this statement. The British TUC which was very involved in launching this campaign ran this short article by Owen Tudor on its Stronger Unions blog. And of course there's lots more on LabourStart's own Fiji labour news page.

I want to thank every one of you, and especially the more than 7,500 of you who sent off messages to the government of Fiji.

Our voices were heard. Our campaign worked.

Solidarity forever!



Eric Lee




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Which campaigns have I missed? Click here to find out.
Copyright © 2014 LabourStart, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this message because you opted in at our website (http://www.labourstart.org) - most likely when you signed up to support one of our online campaigns in support of workers' rights.
Our mailing address is:
LabourStart
Unit 168, Lee Valley Technopark
Ashley Road, Tottenham
London, England N17 3LN
United Kingdom

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Campaign success ! – charges dropped against Fiji hotel leaders


All police charges against leaders of Fiji’s National Union of Hospitality Catering and Tourism Industries stemming from a New Year’s Eve strike were dropped on February 2. Union President Dan Urai and five others, who had been free on tough bail conditions, were charged by the military dictatorship's police on January 9 with leading an “illegal strike” at Sheraton Fiji Resort and Westin Denarau Island Resort and Spa (both owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.) despite the fact that the union was negotiating with management following the brief industrial action.

The union thanks all who supported the international campaign and will continue its fight against the unilateral withdrawal of benefits and for the elimination of the part-time work category which can deprive workers of retirement benefits




E-mail: [email protected]
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
www.iuf.org

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