[olympiaworkers] No to impunity - defend union activists in Iran and Russia

 

In this week's mailing:  

• No to impunity - defend union activists in Iran and Russia
• Facebook, Second Life: Union campaigns get results - and censored
• Fremantle: Time to get off our chairs and into the streets
• Your holiday presents -- sorted  

Last week we told you about a brutal attempt to gun down Iranian trade union leader Majid Hamidi and we asked for your support in a major new online protest campaign.  We're pleased to report that Hamidi was released from hospital, though one of the seven bullets that entered his body remains in his neck.  Hamidi has denounced the cowardly assassination attempt, and thanked all of you who have sent off messages.

 

It is very important that we involve many more people in this campaign -- please help us reach out to new people by forwarding this message on to your lists and making sure that your fellow union members know about this.

 

Meanwhile, Tehran bus workers union leader Mansour Osanloo has gotten a five year jail sentence.   Full coverage is on LabourStart's Iran news page.

 

A few months ago we asked for your support in the case of Russian dockworkers leader Mikhail Chesalin, the victim of a brutal physical assault.  We asked the local authorities to investigate the attack and bring the attackers to justice.  But nothing has been done.  We have been asked by our friends in Russia to launch a new campaign around the now-familiar call of "no impunity" for those who attack trade unionists.  Please take a moment and send off a message -- even if you already participated in the campaign we launched last summer.

 

Two well-known brands are the subject of new online campaigns launched in recent days.  The British union Unite is campaigning against job losses at Cadbury in Birmingham and Bristol and has set up an online petition.  And the Solidarity Network has launched an online campaign to protest the exploitation of Disney toy workers in China.

 

For those of you who are following trade union use of "Web 2.0" technology, two interesting stories came to light in the last week.  First, the "virtual protest" in Second Life seems to have produced some positive results.  But a Canadian union discovered that using Facebook has it limitations -- Facebook shut down their site in the middle of an organizing campaign.

 

Several thousand of the people reading this message are in the UK, and I urge all of you to attend the November 10th demonstration in London in support of the Fremantle care home workers.Sometimes it's important to switch off our PCs, get up out of our chairs and take to the streets.  This is one of those times. Full details are on the Barnet Unison website.

 

Finally, with the December  holiday season coming up, many of you are no doubt thinking -- how can my gift purchases this year benefit LabourStart?  (OK, maybe that's not what you're thinking, but it's certainly what I'm thinking.)  If you're looking for books that the trade unionists in your family will love, start your search on Labour's Online Bookstore. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Eric Lee

 

 

This message was sent from Eric Lee to olympiaworkers@riseup.net. It was sent from: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3 2LG, United Kingdom. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below.

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---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: No to impunity - defend union activists in Iran and Russia
From: "Eric Lee" <ericlee@labourstart.org>
Date: Fri, November 2, 2007 2:02 am
To: olympiaworkers@riseup.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are having trouble viewing this message, please go to
http://labourstart.icontact.com/archives/inside/posts/no-to-impunity-defend-union-activists-in-iran-and-russia.html.

In this week's mailing:

- No to impunity - defend union activists in Iran and Russia

- Facebook, Second Life: Union campaigns get results - and censored

- Fremantle: Time to get off our chairs and into the streets

- Your holiday presents -- sorted
Last week we told you about a brutal attempt to gun down Iranian trade
union leader Majid Hamidi and we asked for your support in
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=295]
a major new online protest campaign. We're pleased to report that Hamidi
was released from hospital, though one of the seven bullets that entered
his body remains in his neck. Hamidi has denounced the cowardly
assassination attempt, and thanked all of you who have sent off messages.

It is very important that we involve many more people in this campaign --
please help us reach out to new people by forwarding this message on to
your lists and making sure that your fellow union members know about this.

Meanwhile, Tehran bus workers union leader Mansour Osanloo has gotten a
five year jail sentence. Full coverage is on
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Iran]
LabourStart's Iran news page.

A few months ago we asked for your support in the case of Russian
dockworkers leader Mikhail Chesalin, the victim of a brutal physical
assault. We asked the local authorities to investigate the attack and
bring the attackers to justice. But nothing has been done. We have been
asked by our friends in Russia to launch a new campaign around the
now-familiar call of "no impunity" for those who attack trade unionists.
Please take a moment and
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=306]
send off a message -- even if you already participated in the campaign we
launched last summer.

Two well-known brands are the subject of new online campaigns launched in
recent days. The British union Unite is campaigning against job losses at
Cadbury in Birmingham and Bristol and has set up an
[http://www.petition.co.uk/cadburys] online petition. And the Solidarity
Network has launched an [http://www.peuples-solidaires.org/article827.html]
online campaign to protest the exploitation of Disney toy workers in China.

For those of you who are following trade union use of "Web 2.0"
technology, two interesting stories came to light in the last week. First,
the "virtual protest" in Second Life seems to have produced
[http://www.uniglobalunion.org/uniibitsn.nsf/2e8743df5acf1602c125701f00464774/81e4715a3ddc567cc125737e002e246d?OpenDocument]
some positive results. But a Canadian union discovered that using Facebook
has it limitations -- Facebook
[http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?newsandcurrent] shut down their
site in the middle of an organizing campaign.

Several thousand of the people reading this message are in the UK, and I
urge all of you to attend the November 10th demonstration in London in
support of the Fremantle care home workers.Sometimes it's important to
switch off our PCs, get up out of our chairs and take to the streets. This
is one of those times. Full details are on the
[http://www.barnetunison.blogspot.com/] Barnet Unison website.

Finally, with the December holiday season coming up, many of you are no
doubt thinking -- how can my gift purchases this year benefit LabourStart?
(OK, maybe that's not what you're thinking, but it's certainly what I'm
thinking.) If you're looking for books that the trade unionists in your
family will love, start your search on
[http://www.labourstart.org/books.shtml] Labour's Online Bookstore.

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee

This message was sent by: Eric Lee, 51 Briarfield Avenue, London, UK N3
2LG, United Kingdom

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