State Repression Of Unions.

  An appeal from IUF:

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 to urge Starwood management to use their influence to persuade the authorities to drop the case against union leaders.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

SOLIDARITY WORKS.

       Those how took part in the campaign for the realse of the two trade union leaders in Fiji, will be delighted to know and should feel proud, that they have been released. Solidarity works, direct action and solidarity the keystones to changing the world. 

From Labour Start;

     Less than 24 hours after we launched a publicity blitz in support of our online campaign demanding the release of the two jailed trade union leaders from Fiji (pictured above), they have both been released. That campaign is now over.
      There is still much work to be done regarding Fiji - it is still a military dictatorship which doesn't respect workers' rights. But it is still a victory - for us, for Felix and Daniel, and for the international trade union movement.
       Online campaigns work! Please make sure to visit http://www.labourstart.org/actnowen.shtml and sign up to any campaigns you've not yet supported. And spread the word in your union.

 And while we're celebrating - three more things you should know:

SOLIDARITY.

Korea's Hanjin workers - also the subject of a big LabourStart campaign earlier this year - have now won a victory. We'll have lots more coverage in the next few hours and days, but here's one report.

Are pineapples's an "ethical" fruit? Read about Make Fruit Fair's online campaign in support of workers rights in Costa Rica.

Finally, it's Monica's birthday on Monday. Who's Monica and why should you care? Click here.

Thanks!
Eric Lee

ann arky's home.

PRISON FOR UNION LEADERS.

           In most of the developed countries in the world we can take union participation for granted, but we should never lose sight of the fact that, it is because of the courage and determination of those early groups and individuals who fought long and courageously for that very basic right, sometimes ending in prison, sometimes paying with their lives. Their determined struggle allows us to play our part on our union, but it is not like that in other developing countries, where the employers in conjunction with the state, will do anything and everything, legal or illegal to prevent workers from becoming organised. They are going through now what we went through  in our not so distant past. A show of solidarity can make all the difference to those being persecuted and also to those doing the persecution, they don't like the adverse publicity from abroad.

An appeal from Labour Start.

       The military dictatorship ruling Fiji has arrested the country's two most prominent trade union leaders. 

    On November 4, police arrested Felix Anthony, General Secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and searched both the union headquarters as well as his home.

       Anthony’s arrest follows closely the arrest of Daniel Urai, President of the FTUC, who has remained in detention since his return from the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia in late October.
       The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling on trade unionists around the world to mobilise in our thousands and send messages of protest to the Fijian government.

Please take a moment to send your message today:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1155
And please forward this message to as many people as possible.

Thank you.
Eric Lee

ann arky's home.

THE STATE AND ITS HATERD OF UNIONS.

The trial of the leader of the Fiji Trades Union Congress

 is due to start this week.

SOLIDARITY.

         Fiji's military government has dramatically stepped up its harassment of trade unionists. Recently FTUC President Daniel Urai was arrested for holding an ‘illegal’ meeting, and his trial is due to start on 2 September. Meetings of the FTUC itself have also been prevented. Fiji has been under a military dictatorship since 2006, as a result of which Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum. The European Union has also suspended overseas aid payments to the regime. Leaders and activists of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) have been assaulted or detained on several occasions. In February, Felix Anthony, General Secretary of the FTUC and of the Sugar Workers’ Union affiliated to the ITF and the IUF was taken from home by three uniformed military officers and subjected to threats. His family including children were also threatened. A new government decree issued on 29 July will, 'effectively abolish all trade unions in Fiji', according to the FTUC. Fiji has ratified the two relevant core ILO Conventions - Convention 98(1974) and Convention 87 (2002) and is obliged to observe the workers' rights enshrined in them. Moreover, as a member state of the ILO, the Government of Fiji has an obligation to adhere to the Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted by the ILO in 1998.

An appeal from LabourStart.

       The trade unions of the Pacific island nation of Fiji are under attack. Please take a moment to join thousands of other trade unionists from around the world to send your message of protest:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1086
Please spread the word by email, on Facebook, and elsewhere.
This is extremely urgent.
Thank you!

ann arky's home.