Success.

Jailed Philip Morris Pakistan workers released!

       I have no doubt that solidarity won the day in this case, as it has done in countless thousands of cases around the world. The state apparatus, and its vile partner, large corporations, can pick off individuals and small groups with impunity, if we don't stand up and support those being abused, oppressed, and imprisoned, they win. We have the numbers to overcome all oppression, it just requires our coming together in solidarity, global solidarity.

This from IUF: 

On January 8, we informed you of the arrest and jailing of 35 workers who were peacefully protesting the brutal, illegal termination of 141 workers at the Philip Morris International factory in Mardan, Pakistan. Thousands of you responded to our appeal for messages, and we are very pleased to inform you now that the 35 workers with their union President were released from jail on January 10, and the union is determined to continue their struggle.  The union has warmly thanked the IUF and all those who responded to our appeal. We thank you for your solidarity and support.

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

Mass Terminations, Mass Arrests.

Time and time again we see the state apparatus step in to support large corporations against their employees, peaceful protest can be turned into a criminal offence at the whim of the authorities. All this proves is that there is a festering cancerous marriage between state and big business. Workers can never expect fair and just treatment from either. However, whenever this oppression happens, we should all stand up and support those workers being repressed and criminalised by the state in its efforts to protect the profits of big business. Workers jailed for protesting illegal mass terminations at Philip Morris Pakistan. An appeal from IUF:        Thirty-five workers were arrested in the city of Mardan on January 6 for peacefully protesting the brutal instant termination of 141 employees at the Pakistan subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International. Workers were informed of the mass terminations on November 21 when they arrived to work only to learn that dismissal letters would be sent to them by post.          With the support of the local union, whose President Abrar Ullah was among the arrested, workers launched a continuous round of protests at the factory gate after management refused to discuss the terminations and began pressuring workers to accept the illegal dismissals. To add to the pressure, police were called to the factory gate when the protest began.        On January 6, workers gathered with their union officers to present a Charter of Demands to management when police arrested 35 protestors under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows for up to 90 days detention without charges.        A solidarity delegation from the IUF-affiliated Pakistan Food Workers Federation (PFWF), which had hoped to meet with the workers demonstrated outside the police station following the mass arrests. The arrested workers were then shifted to Bannu Jail, some 250 kilometers from Mardan and notorious as a prison for incarcerating Taliban activists.        The PFWF and the IUF will continue to support and assist the workers, who have vowed to continue the fight. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNMENT authorities calling for the immediate release of the workers and their union President. Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Capital, The Enemy Of Workers Rights.

      To any sane person it absolutely ridiculous that being a workers rights activist should be dangerous, yet the nature of the beast that has wrapped itself around the world, makes such activities extremely dangerous. You are seen as an enemy of capital, and that in the eyes of our lords and masters, is an evil philosophy.

An appeal from IUF:

      Labour rights activists are being held in criminal detention following a wide-scale police crackdown in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong December 3-5. Police targeted independent worker rights centers and arrested, questioned and detained staff and volunteers against a background of factory closures and rising worker protests and strikes. Seven of the more than two dozen arrested activists are either in detention or cannot be contacted. Confirmed as being in detention and denied access to lawyers for reasons of 'national security' are Panyu Workers' Centre director Zeng Feiyang and staff member Zhu Xiaomei; Foshan Nanfeiyan Social Work Services Organization director He Xiaobo; and Deng Xiaoming.
        The IUF-affiliated Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and Globalization Monitor have initiated an online petition to the Chinese government, calling for the immediate release of all detained activists and an end to the repression of labour rights organizations. CLICK HERE to add your name or that of your organization to the petition - links to translation in various languages are at the top of the page, scroll down for the English text.

 

 December 10 - International Human Rights Day - HKCTU and labour support groups rally for the release of detained labour activists on the Mainland.

This story is posted on the IUF website here

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

 

Finnish Workers Fight Back.

      An update on the Finnish workers fight back against the vicious attack on their pay and conditions by the right-wing coalition government. This government has tried to do in one fell swoop, what the Cameron Bullingdon Boys have been doing over the last few years. However, the Finnish workers are not taking it lying down, they are organising across the country, isn't it time we followed their example.

This from IUF

      Last week we appealed to you to send messages to the government of Finland condemning proposed new anti-union laws. Over 7,000 of you sent messages, which were shared with the Finnish labour movement. The Finnish Food Workers, on behalf of our affiliates and the wider labour movement have conveyed their warm appreciation for this show of solidarity.
     Workers in Finland's 3 national trade union centers held strikes and demonstrations on September 18 to show their opposition to the new coalition government's proposed legislative attack on collective bargaining rights. Some 300,000 workers engaged in work stoppages, including 10,000 members of the Food Workers Union SEL who held strikes ranging from 15 minutes to 4 days, depending on the company.
    30,000 workers demonstrated in torrential rain in the capital Helsinki and unions held local demonstrations across the country.

The fight has only started.

       If you were not able to respond to our earlier appeal, please take a moment now - CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE

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

Europe's Race To The Right.

      Europe's governments are moving rapidly to the right, and it becomes more obvious and more brutal by the day. Here in the UK the Cameron Bullingdon Club boys are introducing legislation that will make it practically impossible to take strike action, and when you do, the employer will be able to ignore that strike by legally hiring agency workers, (scabs, blacklegs). Spain's gagging laws, among other things, makes demonstrations almost impossible. Finland's new right-wing coalition government is cutting wages and slashing at working conditions. This is the direction of Europe today under the dictate of the financial Mafia and their corporate buddies.

This from IUF:

Stop the government of Finland's massive attack on trade union rights!

      Finland's new right-wing coalition government has announced plans to unilaterally cut pay and benefits negotiated through collective bargaining through legislation which violates basic trade union rights, Conventions of the ILO and international and European human rights instruments. They are asking for solidarity and support.
      On September 9, after unions refused to agree to the proposals, the government announced a series of measures to be legislated and imposed as collective agreements begin to expire next year. These include substantial reductions in compensation for overtime, weekend and night work and sick pay, the elimination of two paid national holidays and a substantial reduction in annual leave. Unions estimate that the impact would be a 4-6% reduction in pay, with the impact falling hardest on the most vulnerable, including part-time and women workers.
     The national trade union centers SAK, STTK and Akava have called for a mass demonstration on September 18 as the first stage in a fight to defeat these laws. The IUF's Finnish affiliates, on behalf of the country's labour movement, have called for messages to be sent to the country's Prime Minister and Minister of labour in the run-up to the demonstration.

You can support them - CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE!

        Add to this Hungary's border fence to protect the purity of their Christian values. Christian values that obviously have no respect for the suffering of other human beings.

        This trend will continue and accelerate as capitalism tries in desperation to salvage itself from another one of its perpetual crisis. Plunder the working class, divide and rule, backed up by ever more brutal state repression. That is tomorrow's world, unless we, the people of Europe, take the only step that will bring an end to capitalist crisis and the misery and mayhem that it spews, bring down the capitalist system. We must consign it to the dustbin of history, with the label, "man's darkest hour".

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

Solidarity Is Our Weapon.

An appeal from Labour Start:  

       The International Union of Foodworkers launched an online campaign last week to support workers on strike at global brewery giant SABMiller.  The company had been refusing to negotiate and was engaging in union-busting practices at its subsidiary in Panama.
      The company's reaction was to block all email messages coming in.  Thousands of campaign supporters received error messages in their inboxes.  You may have been one of them.
       SABMiller has to learn that they can "blacklist" our email servers, but they can't silence our voices.
The IUF has forwarded on all the messages to the workers on strike, and is going to present all the names to the company in the form of a petition.

Please take a moment to send your message today:

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=943

      Please share this message widely, among friends, family, and fellow union members.  (Use the links on the right side of this email message.)

Thank you.



Eric Lee 

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

Solidarity Wins The Day.

     It is always a good feeling when we can mark up a success in our struggles against the corporate greed machine. It is obvious that it was solidarity across borders that help bring this particular struggle to a win situation for those workers involved.

This from IUF:

 

     Worker occupation at food flavours TNC ends with strong union agreement

      Members of Australia's National Union of Workers occupying the International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF) factory in Dandenong ended their 5-day occupation by signing a new agreement which meets their bargaining demands and more.

      Faced with a united workforce backed by strong local community and national and international union support for their action, regional management flew to Australia to meet with the union. Workers ended the occupation and marched out of the factory on Friday night, January 30. On Saturday, negotiations began at the Fair Work Commission, and on Sunday workers voted to accept an agreement which brings a solid wage-increase over three years and retains all conditions which management had sought to erase.

     The union has warmly thanked the more than 6,000 supporters who quickly responded to the IUF call for messages to the company.

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

Workers Lockin!!

A call for solidarity from IUF:

Occupy Dandenong! 

Workers fight lockout with lockin

     National Union of Workers (NUW) members at the International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF) facility in Dandenong (Victoria) have responded to a management lockout by occupying the lunchroom.

      After months of fruitless bargaining for a new wage agreement which saw management demanding big concessions, union members voted to ban overtime and paperwork. Workers arriving for the early morning shift on January 27 were informed of the lockout and several dozen union members rushed inside as the gates were closing. They've installed themselves in the lunchroom while members and supporters demonstrate outside.

     You can support them - CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO IFF urging the company to lift the lockout and bargain in good faith!

 

     US-based International Flavours and Fragrances is one of the largest transnational makers of food ingredients and a supplier to many leading food and snack companies.

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

Corporate Greed And Right-wing Governments.

       Turkish companies, like companies everywhere, rub their hands with greed driven glee, as their government moves ever more to the right, they jump in and try to crush any workers organisation that they consider might impede their ever increasing exploitation of the workforce.



 This appeal from IUF:

       Union members at the Turkish Sütas dairy company are fighting for their rights against mass intimidation by management including dismissals, criminal complaints to the prosecution office, police raids on the union offices and the dumping of 13 tons of liquid manure on the sit-in area across the factory gate where the dismissed workers were picketing.

       The IUF-affiliated Tobacco, Drink, Food and Allied workers Union, TEKGIDA-Is, began organizing workers at Sütas dairy company in 2012. The company responded with mass dismissals targeting union members between October 2012 and August 2014, leaving 83 workers and their families without income. Many workers are harassed and compelled to resign from their union membership by threats and calls to their families. To break the workers' picket management poured 13 tons of liquid manure on the area.
     You can support their struggle for union rights and recognition. CLICK HERE to send a message to Sütas management calling on the company to reinstate the 83 dismissed union members, stop harassing the workers who want to join the union and recognize TEKGIDA-Is.

     And if you have not yet had the opportunity to do so, please take a moment to support the German Food Workers and their members' fight for a first collective agreement with the transnational catering and retail giant Autogrill - CLICK HERE!

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

Solidarity Has No Borders.

     By now it should be obvious to all working people, that business doesn't like workers organising to protect themselves. The word "union" can have CEO and their cohorts wetting their knickers at the thought that workers should be organising. From the Carlton Weavers Strike, 1787, to the Ludlow Massacre, 1914, and on to the Thacher era attack on the miners union, it has been the same story, crush any workers who dare to organise for collective security. They are still at it, day and daily we hear the same stories from all the smiling brands, whether it be in manufacturing or services, they see union busting is part of their business. The welcoming KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. put on that show of "welcome" to take customers money, but come down hard on any worker that tries to be active in any way in a union. Non-union, disorganised workers are much easier to exploit, more likely to be subservient to the demands of their employer, hence the need for all workers to be organised and unionised, you know it makes sense.

 This from IUF:

KFC, stop harassing union members!
      Only few days after her return from the 1st IUF International Fast Food Workers' meeting in New York (click here for more) a union representative has been summoned and threatened with legal action from YUM! BRANDS' managers, which owns famous fast food brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, for simply having attended that meeting.

SEND A MESSAGE TO YUM! BRANDS

This is not the first time that union members face brutal repression from the company. In 2011, three workers were terminated after they established a union and sought to bargain a collective agreement with KFC (read more here). The three workers were only reinstated (click here for more) by court order months later.

This harassment spanning three years demonstrates that Yum! Restaurant International (Thailand) does not recognize and respect the human right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and is in breach of its obligations under the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Click here to send a message to YUM! BRANDS - stop the anti-unionaggression in Thailand now!

 E-mail: iuf@iuf.org
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
www.iuf.org
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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

Let's Sing In Perfect Harmony!!

      They once had an advert that had crowds singing, “I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony”, well let the world now sing in perfect harmony, one song, in perfect solidarity with the Spanish workers facing redundancy in Coca-Cola bottling plants, in that country that already has 26% unemployment and almost 60% unemployment among the young. This is not a company in financial trouble, its profits are in the sphere of monopoly money. Its policies, like all the corporate world, are driven by greed, more production from the workers at less cost, higher profits at worse working conditions, and lower wages. Solidarity is our most powerful weapon.

This from IUF

 

     If you have not had time to respond to this earlier, please do so now. Coca-Cola workers in Spain need your support today!
     Coca-Cola Iberian Partners (CCIP), a company created from the integration of seven Coca-Cola bottling companies in Spain, announced the shutdown of four of its 11 plants on December 10, 2013 affecting nearly 1,200 workers.
    Workers at four bottling plants have called an indefinite strike starting on January 21, 2014. The IUF affiliated unions FEAGRA-CC.OO and FITAG-UGT are preparing to bring legal action if the company pushes on with the plan.
    Last year the turnover of the CCIP was €3,000 million and recorded profits were €900 million. The response to record profits has been to close plants and dismiss workers.
ACT NOW! SEND A MESSAGE TO COCA-COLA and CCIP and insist that they reconsider their initial plan to close four of its 11 factories and significantly reduce its workforce.

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

The State, The Corporate World, And Union Crushing.

     As the military dictatorship in Egypt tightens its grip on the people, so does the Corporate world. Never ones to miss an opportunity to screw the workers, Cargill, the transnational agro-food corporation is attempting to smash the union at its plant, knowing full well that it will have the backing of the military junta.

An Appeal for solidarity from IUF

      Transnational agro-food giant Cargill is seeking to destroy a democratic union of workers at their factory in Egypt.
     Faced with arbitrary punishments and a deteriorating work environment, workers at the Cargill vegetable oil plant in Egypt held a sit-in in December 2013. Cargill sent in thugs with attack dogs to remove them from the factory and, in defiance of the law, has begun issuing dismissal letters. While management prevents them from returning to work, the workers maintain their picket in the factory parking lot. Read more here.
      Send a message now, calling on Cargill to withdraw the dismissals and put an end to anti-worker practices!

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

Nice Flowers, Rotten Smell!!

An appeal from IUF for solidarity:

Strike coming at Dutch flower giant FloraHolland 

     Valentines Day means flower sales, but at the moment there is little love between the auction giant FloraHolland (over 20 million flowers and plants in daily sales!) and the two unions representing the company's thousands of workers, CNV Dienstenbond and FNV Bondgenoten, who will hold a 24-hour warning strike beginning on the evening of February 7. SEND A MESSAGE TO FLORAHOLLAND!

      Workers at the company have been fighting in vain since last year for a new CBA and a decent social plan for hundreds of workers who are losing their jobs and others who will be transferred to new locations in a major restructuring announced in October 2013.

     Frustration came to a head at a meeting between the unions and the FloraHolland Board on January 17, convened to overcome the impasse on CBA negotiations. The company announced that, contrary to what had been agreed, the purpose of the meeting was only to discuss the social plan!

      Negotiations on both contentious issues have reached an impasse, leaving the unions no alternative but to take strike action. They've asked for your support - CLICK HERE to send a message to FloraHolland in support of the union's demands.

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

Victory For Solidarity.

     Solidarity wins again. Time and time again the solidarity of the ordinary people, turns back repression. The truth we must grasp, when we pull together we win.

 This from IUF:

     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

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

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

Why Not To Buy Kellogg's

       An urgent appeal from IUF for solidarity. Please take a minute to send a message.

Say no to disposable jobs -
tell Kellogg's to end the Memphis lockout! 

     Transnational cereal maker Kellogg's has locked out 220 members of the IUF-affiliated BCTGM since October 22 at its factory in Memphis, Tennessee in an effort to force union acceptance of a plan to radically increase the use of casual workers. With this plan all newly employed workers would be employed as casuals with no guaranteed hours at significantly lower pay and benefits, effectively transforming over time the entire employment structure at the facility. The company calls this "The New Workforce of the Future". The workers are fighting back.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO KELLOGG'S!

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Subscribe to IUF NEWS by e-mail 

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