An urgent appeal from Labour Start, the struggle is global.
Most trade unionists have had experience with difficult employers at some time in their lives. But have you ever had an employer who did this?
Sacked 51 people from their jobs - just because they joined your union
Then ignored court rulings and ILO decisions that backed the union case
Assassinated the union's lawyer
Made repeated death threats against the union president -- and killed eight other union members
Forced fifteen members of the union into exile
And finally in December, provoked workers to launch a hunger strike as a last, desperate act to get justice
I hope not. But that's exactly what has happened to the municipal employees in the city of Cali, in Colombia.
Support justice for the workers of Cali - send a message now.
Support justice for the workers of Cali - send a message now.
Please have a look at the photo above. That shows two of the union's leaders -- one who has repeatedly been threatened with death -- meeting with one of the hunger strikers. Those workers have reached out through their global union federation, Public Services International (PSI), to ask all of us to take just a minute and send off messages to the Colombian government saying enough is enough - it's time for justice for the municipal workers of Cali.
Please do this today -- and please tell everyone you know, especially public sector workers, that our brothers and sisters in Cali need our help.
And while we have your attention ...
Locked out meat workers in New Zealand are also appealing for your help. Please take a moment to learn more and to send off your message.
LabourStart's campaign in defense of Abdolreza Ghanbari, the Iranian teacher trade unionist who has been sentenced to death, is the largest we have ever run, with more than 14,000 people having sent off messages so far. But we can do better than that. This is indeed a matter of life or death, and if you've not yet done so, please send off your message today.
Finally, the fastest way to learn about a new LabourStart campaign or breaking news stories is to follow us on Twitter -- with your help, we'll have more than 6,000 Twitter followers today.
Thank you!
Eric Lee
