Thursday, November 29, 2007

[olympiaworkers] new website for oly workers

Hey all, check out http://olympiaworkers.net

join the olympiaworkers email list to post an article

if you would like to help build an online resource for local workers,
email olympiaworkers@riseup.net

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

[olympiaworkers] Amnesty International Action Alert for Gary Tyler

Amnesty International Action Alert for Gary Tyler


> Dear Gary Tyler supporter,
>
> Below is an action alert recently issued by Amnesty International. Please
> distribute this widely.
>
> The Free Gary Tyler Committee
>
> ----------------------
> Gary Tyler, a 49-year-old African American has spent more than 33 years in
> prison in Louisiana after being convicted of murder in the shooting of a
> white schoolboy during a racially charged incident in 1974. Aged 16 at the
> time, Gary Tyler has consistently maintained his innocence of the murder
> and federal reviewing courts have declared his trial fundamentally unfair.
> Earlier this year, a petition was filed with the Louisiana Pardon Board
> requesting that Gary Tyler's life sentence be commuted to a defined number
> of years so that the outgoing state governor can authorize his release
> before she leaves office in January 2008. This may be Gary Tyler's last
> chance for justice through executive clemency.
>
> Gary Tyler was convicted in 1975 of the murder of Timothy Weber, a white
> 13-year-old schoolboy who was shot outside Destrehan High School, St
> Charles Parish, Louisiana, in October 1974. The shot had allegedly come
> from a bus carrying black students which was under attack by white people
> throwing stones and bottles. The attack on the bus took place during a
> period of intense opposition by the white community to racial integration
> and the bussing of black students to the formerly all-white high school,
> situated in a predominantly white neighbourhood. Gary Tyler was charged
> with the shooting based primarily on the testimony of one student and the
> alleged murder weapon which police found in the seat where he had been
> sitting; having failed to find the weapon during an earlier search.
>
> Although he was only 16 at the time, Gary Tyler was tried as an adult in a
> trial which was seriously flawed. Despite heightened racial tension in the
> area, there was no change of trial venue and he was tried by an all-white
> jury from which members of the black community had been excluded. His
> defence attorney, who specialised in civil, rather than criminal, cases
> failed to prepare for trial and did not interview witnesses or conduct
> tests on the physical evidence offered by the state. He spent a total of
> about one hour with Gary Tyler in the whole year prior to the trial. The
> judge instructed the jury wrongly that Tyler had to prove himself innocent
> of an essential element of the case. Gary Tyler was convicted of
> first-degree murder and was originally sentenced to death; his sentence
> was
> later commuted to life imprisonment when the state's death penalty statute
> was ruled unconstitutional.
>
> Since his trial, further investigation has cast doubt on the reliability
> of
> the physical evidence in the case and the key prosecution witnesses have
> recanted their testimony. In two decisions, federal review courts have
> ruled that Gary Tyler's trial was fundamentally unfair and that he was
> denied the presumption of innocence, but refused to give him a new trial
> because his trial lawyer had not objected to this error at the time. Three
> previous pardon boards have recognized the unfairness of Gary Tyler's
> conviction and recommended a commutation of sentence, but no governor has
> yet taken action.
>
> Gary Tyler served the first nine years of his sentence in 23-hour a day
> lock-down in solitary confinement. However, since being transferred to the
> prison's general population, he has been able to turn his life around. He
> obtained his general educational certificate (GED) and trained in
> construction. He has been active for more than 20 years in the Angola
> prison drama club where he has written and performed in plays for
> children.
> He also works as a volunteer in the Angola prison hospice. He worked for
> over a year as part of a small team of volunteer prisoners assisting in
> the
> clean-up of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
>
> Despite his youth at the time of trial, and his exemplary record in
> prison,
> Gary Tyler has served more than three times as much as the national US
> average for a person convicted of murder or non-negligent manslaughter. As
> a life sentenced prisoner Gary Tyler cannot be granted release on parole
> unless his sentence is first commuted to a term of years by the Pardon
> Board and the Board's recommendation is accepted by the Governor. High
> ranking staff at Angola have reportedly endorsed his latest application
> for
> a pardon on the ground that he has matured into a responsible citizen
> deserving of release. However, to date his name has not yet appeared on
> the
> parole board's docket for a hearing, and it is feared that, without
> further
> pressure, he may miss the chance to be heard before the governor leaves
> office.
>
> RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible,
> in English or your own language:
> - expressing concern about the case of Gary Tyler, who is serving a life
> sentence in Angola prison, Louisiana;
> - expressing deep regret for the murder of Timothy Weber and sympathy for
> his family, while noting the very serious concerns that have been raised
> about the fairness of Gary Tyler's trial and the evidence on which he was
> convicted;
> - urging the Governor of Louisiana to ensure that Gary Tyler is granted a
> hearing before the Pardon Board in December; and that she grant him a
> pardon authorising his release;
> - pointing out that, even without concerns about the fairness of his
> trial,
> there are strong grounds for executive clemency based on Gary Tyler's
> efforts to improve himself in prison and the supportive work he has done
> both in the community and in prison;
> - note that on at least three separate occasions the Louisiana pardons
> board has recommended to two state governors that Gary Tyler's sentence
> should be reduced;
> - stating that he has served longer than many prisoners sentenced to
> similar terms, despite his young age at the time of his conviction; and
> that his age and length of time served should be taken into account as
> further grounds for clemency in this case;
> - stating that you believe there are compelling grounds for the Governor
> to
> take this step in the interests of justice.
>
> APPEALS TO:
> Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
> Office of the Governorâ?¨PO Box 94004â?¨Baton Rougeâ?¨LA 70804-9004, USA
> Fax: +1 225 342 7099
> Email: http://www.gov.state.la.us
> Salutation: Dear Governor
>
> COPIES TO:
>
> Pardon Board
> 504 Mayflower Street
> Building 6
> Baton Rouge, LA 70902, USA
> Fax: + 1 225 342 2289
>
> and diplomatic representatives of USA accredited to your country.
>
> PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
> or your section office, if sending appeals after 28 December 2007.
>

[olympiaworkers] Informational Picketing of Starbucks

SOLIDARITY INFORMATIONAL PICKETING

SUPPORT STARBUCK'S WORKERS RIGHT TO ORGANIZE!

STARBUCKS WORKERS UNION-IWW

* Increased pay and raises

* Guaranteed hours with the option of fulltime status

* An end to understaffing

* A healthier and safer workplace

Tacoma GMB-IWW will have a informational picketline at:

Dec. 8, begining at 3:30 pm at the Starbucks at 6th and Pine and them march down to the Starbucks at 6th and Sprangue.

Starting in New York City and then spreading to other cities, Starbucks workers have sought to organize into a union for better conditions. Starbucks has reacted to this by using union busting tactics that has included firing of union workers, racism and ageism. Workers across the U.S. and in Europe have taken up the call for solidarity by setting up informational picketlines in front of Starbucks stores. One such picketline in Pennsylvania has been threaten with a lawsuit by the Starbucks Licensee HMSHost. This act of seeking to repress workers right to Free Speech must be resisted. The Tacoma General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World has set up a date for an informational picketline in solidarity with Starbucks workers seeking to organize a union and in solidarity with IWW members resisting an outright attack on Free Speech. We ask that all people from the community of Tacoma and beyond join us as we join with many workers who are standing in solidarity with the Starbucks Workers Union-IWW.

For more information: IWW Starbucks Union: http://www.starbucksunion.org

Tacoma GMB-IWW, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464 TacIWW@iww.org http://tacoma.iww.org/

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

[olympiaworkers] Sunday video showing of "The Take"

 
Tacoma IWW will sponsor a showing of the powerful 2004 film "The Take," which tells the struggle of auto parts workers in Argentina.  < http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10004726-take/>

We will also be tabling at the event and will leave room after the film for discussion.

Please mark your calendars -- we have to educate the community and grow our chapter ... and celebrate workers!

Tacoma IWW Presents "The Take"
Sunday, November 18
7 PM
King's Books
218 St. Helens Ave
Tacoma
--------------------------------
Please forward widely.  Help publicizing this event would be excellent.

Tacoma IWW-GMB

P.O. Box 5464

Tacoma, WA 98415-0464

TacIWW@iww.org

http://tacoma.iww.org

Saturday, November 10, 2007

[olympiaworkers] Pakistan: Trade unionists arrested as unions call for restoration of democracy]



In this week's mailing:  
  • Pakistan: Trade unionists arrested as unions call for restoration of democracy
  • Build the online campaigns 
  • Facebook and us
Pakistan: Trade unionists arrested as unions call for restoration of democracy
 
The International Trade Union Confederation has called for "the immediate restoration of the rule of law, the country’s Constitution and the fundamental democratic rights of its people" in Pakistan following the imposition of a state of emergency earlier this week.  But while media attention outside Pakistan has focussed on well-known opposition politicians such as Benazir Bhutto and cricketer Imran Khan, there has been little coverage in the mainstream media of the arrest of trade unionists, as reported by the IUF.  LabourStart has full coverage of breaking news from Pakistan, updated throughout the day. 
 
Build the online campaigns
 
Your response to our recent appeals for help -- following up on physical attacks on union activists in Russia and Iran, and efforts to smash an independent union in Mexico -- was great.  Thousands of you sent off messages of protest. 
 
But it's very important that we grow these campaigns, that we involve thousands of people who've never sent off messages before.  You know people in your union, in your workplace, who haven't yet had the satisfaction of sending off a message and finding out later that it got someone their job back, or released from jail.
 
We need to expand the network of people we can call upon to participate in these campaigns so that we can ensure that even more of them are successful.  Please -- forward on these messages to your fellow union members and to co-workers.
 
We also know that a lot of our readers are students, and want to encourage them to use every means of communication at their disposal -- including social networks (more on this below) -- to spread the word about our campaigns at their schools and universities.
 
All current LabourStart campaigns are listed here.
 
Facebook and us
 
Last week we linked to a Canadian news podcast describing how Facebook had shut down a union organizing page -- but many of you couldn't access it, and it's no longer online. 
 
Here's the story in brief:  The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was organizing casino workers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  They set up a page on Facebook.  Facebook later took the page down, claiming that groups like a union were not allowed to have pages, and that Facebook pages could only be setup by individuals.  The union responded that many companies had set up Facebook pages including Tim Horton's (of donut fame).  
 
The story has a happy ending.  In early September, the results of the vote came in -- and the workers overwhelmingly chose to be represented by the SEIU.  
 
The lesson of the story, as I see it, is that by "outsourcing" our online campaigns to social networks like Facebook and MySpace -- which are for-profit, commercial organizations -- we are more vulnerable to this kind of thing than when we build websites ourselves, using freely-available tools.
 
That doesn't mean we should avoid using Facebook -- after all, LabourStart has 998 members in its Facebook group.  But it means that we should aware of the risks and limitations.
 
Have a great weekend.
 
Eric Lee
 
Book of the Week 
 
This week's LabourStart Book of the Week is Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labour.
 
 
 
Your heart will be broken by this exceptional book’s photographs of children at backbreaking, often life-threatening work, and the accompanying commentary by author Russell Freedman. Photographer Lewis Hine â€" who himself died in poverty in 1940 â€" did as much, and perhaps more, than any social critic in the early part of the 20th century to expose the abuse of children, as young as three and four, by American capitalism.

By his force of will, often by posing as a fire inspector, insurance salesman, or photographer interested only in the setting, not the workers, Hine made his way into coal mines and textile mills, farm fields and canning factories. He photographed the youngest of children doing the most tedious, physical, often incredibly dangerous work, from barefoot boys and girls clambering over looms in mind-numbing noise and heat (mill owners kept windows closed year-round because the humidity was helpful to the process) to nine- and ten-year-old "breaker boys" picking slate from coal and breathing black dust all day above ground, with survivors moving on to underground mining at the age of 12.

These blatant horrors are a thing of the past in many countries, but still exist in the world.

The book costs only US $9.95 -- and every copy you order helps to support LabourStart.  Please order multiple copies -- this is the perfect gift for the 2007 holiday season.
 

 
 



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. Email Marketing Software


Manage your subscription
The International Trade Union Confederation
[http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article1549] has called for "the
immediate restoration of the rule of law, the country’s Constitution and
the fundamental democratic rights of its people" in Pakistan following the
imposition of a state of emergency earlier this week. But while media
attention outside Pakistan has focussed on well-known opposition
politicians such as Benazir Bhutto and cricketer Imran Khan, there has been
little coverage in the mainstream media of the arrest of trade unionists,
[http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=4629&view_records=1&ww=1&en=1]
as reported by the IUF. LabourStart has
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Pakistan] full
coverage of breaking news from Pakistan, updated throughout the day.

Build the online campaigns

Your response to our recent appeals for help -- following up on physical
attacks on union activists in
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=306]
Russia and
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=295]
Iran, and efforts to smash an independent union in
[http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=294]
Mexico -- was great. Thousands of you sent off messages of protest.

But it's very important that we grow these campaigns, that we involve
thousands of people who've never sent off messages before. You know people
in your union, in your workplace, who haven't yet had the satisfaction of
sending off a message and finding out later that it got someone their job
back, or released from jail.

We need to expand the network of people we can call upon to participate in
these campaigns so that we can ensure that even more of them are
successful. Please -- forward on these messages to your fellow union
members and to co-workers.

We also know that a lot of our readers are students, and want to encourage
them to use every means of communication at their disposal -- including
social networks (more on this below) -- to spread the word about our
campaigns at their schools and universities.

All current LabourStart campaigns are
[http://www.labourstart.org/actnow.shtml] listed here.

Facebook and us

Last week we linked to a Canadian news podcast describing how Facebook had
shut down a union organizing page -- but many of you couldn't access it,
and it's no longer online.

Here's the story in brief: The Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) was organizing casino workers in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They set up
a page on Facebook. Facebook later took the page down, claiming that
groups like a union were not allowed to have pages, and that Facebook pages
could only be setup by individuals. The union responded that many
companies had set up Facebook pages including Tim Horton's (of donut fame).

The story has a happy ending. In early September,
[http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=767782] the results of the vote
came in -- and the workers overwhelmingly chose to be represented by the
SEIU.

The lesson of the story, as I see it, is that by "outsourcing" our online
campaigns to social networks like Facebook and MySpace -- which are
for-profit, commercial organizations -- we are more vulnerable to this kind
of thing than when we build websites ourselves, using freely-available
tools.

That doesn't mean we should avoid using Facebook -- after all, LabourStart
has 998 members in [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4247627245] its
Facebook group. But it means that we should aware of the risks and
limitations.

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee

Book of the Week

This week's LabourStart Book of the Week is
[https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=kidsawork&affl=labourstart]
Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labour.

Your heart will be broken by this exceptional book’s photographs of
children at backbreaking, often life-threatening work, and the
accompanying commentary by author Russell Freedman. Photographer Lewis
Hine â€" who himself died in poverty in 1940 â€" did as much, and perhaps
more, than any social critic in the early part of the 20th century to
expose the abuse of children, as young as three and four, by American
capitalism.

By his force of will, often by posing as a fire inspector, insurance
salesman, or photographer interested only in the setting, not the
workers, Hine made his way into coal mines and textile mills, farm
fields and canning factories. He photographed the youngest of children
doing the most tedious, physical, often incredibly dangerous work, from
barefoot boys and girls clambering over looms in mind-numbing noise and
heat (mill owners kept windows closed year-round because the humidity
was helpful to the process) to nine- and ten-year-old "breaker boys"
picking slate from coal and breathing black dust all day above ground,
with survivors moving on to underground mining at the age of 12.

These blatant horrors are a thing of the past in many countries, but
still exist in the world.

The
book costs only US $9.95 -- and every copy you order helps to support
LabourStart. Please order multiple copies -- this is the perfect gift
for the 2007 holiday season.

[https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=prod&ref=kidsawork&affl=labourstart]
Click here to order your copies.


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

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

[olympiaworkers] Tacoma IWW showing of the video "The Take"

Tacoma IWW will sponsor a showing of the powerful 2004 film "The Take," which tells the struggle of auto parts workers in Argentina.  < http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10004726-take/>

We will also be tabling at the event and will leave room after the film for discussion.

Please mark your calendars -- we have to educate the community and grow our chapter ... and celebrate workers!

Tacoma IWW Presents "The Take"
Sunday, November 18
7 PM
King's Books
218 St. Helens Ave
Tacoma

Monday, November 05, 2007

[olympiaworkers] Hollywood writers announce strike

Hollywood writers announce strike

By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Nov. 5, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood writers will strike after last-ditch talks called
by a federal mediator failed.

Writers and studios broke off talks late Sunday after East Coast members
of the writers union declared they were officially on strike, the group
representing producers said.

Last-ditch negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended after about 11
hours.

Producers said writers refused a request to "stop the clock" on a planned
strike while talks continued.

"It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action,"
producers said in a statement.

Producers said writers were not willing to compromise on their major demands.

The writers union confirmed that talks had ended and that members would
strike, but did not have any further comment.

The guild earlier announced sweeping plans to picket every major studio in
Los Angeles, along with Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is
headquartered.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers previously called
a writers' strike "precipitous and irresponsible."

The guilds had been preparing for these negotiations for years, hiring
staff with extensive labor union experience, and developing joint
strategies and a harder line than producers have seen in decades.

"We haven't shown particular resolve in past negotiations," said John
Bowman, the WGA's chief negotiator.

"The sea change is that this is an enormously galvanizing issue and two,
that the new regime at the guild actually has a plan, has an organization
and a structure to respond to something."

The writers are the first union to bargain for a new deal this year. Their
contract expired Wednesday.

In past years, actors have almost always gone first, although the
Directors Guild of America, which is seen as the least aggressive of the
three guilds, has sometimes taken the lead. Whatever deal was struck first
was usually accepted by the others.

The guilds are aware that if writers fail to win concessions involving
DVDs and the Internet, actors may have to take up the fight.

"This is an issue that touches every member of this guild and every member
of the Screen Actors Guild as well," said Carlton Cuse, executive producer
of the ABC drama "Lost."

Consumers are expected to spend $16.4 billion on DVDs this year, according
to Adams Media Research.

By contrast, studios could generate only $158 million from selling movies
online and about $194 million from selling TV shows over the Web, although
those numbers are expected to skyrocket in coming years.

Writers only get about 3 cents on a typical DVD retailing for $20.

Studios argue that it is too early to know how much money they can make
from offering entertainment on the Internet, cell phones, iPods and other
devices.

Hollywood unions have long regretted a decision made in 1984 to accept a
small percentage of home video sales because studios said the technology
was untested and that costs were high.

The guilds have tried and failed for two decades to increase video
payments, even as DVDs have become more profitable for studios than box
office receipts.

The first casualty of the strike would be late-night talk shows, which are
dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.

Daytime TV, including live talk shows such as "The View" and soap operas,
which typically tape about a week's worth of shows in advance, would be
next to feel the impact.

The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time
TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV
shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early
next year.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

[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. Email Marketing Software


Manage your subscription
Receive our messages as an RSS feed
---------------------------- 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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