Walmart destroys Mexico’s cultural heritage
15 May 2013
Part of the ancient Teotihuacán site, pictured right, is now underneath a Walmart, after Walmart bribed local officials. Walmart destroys Mexico’s cultural heritage for profit. More
Part of the ancient Teotihuacán site, pictured right, is now underneath a Walmart, after Walmart bribed local officials. Walmart destroys Mexico’s cultural heritage for profit.
Walmart is the biggest private sector employer in the world. Whether they’re undermining wages or building stores on ancient archaeological sites, let’s keep an eye on them.
Bangladeshi garment workers’ union leader Aminul Islam was tortured and murdered in April this year. Support the campaign to bring his killers to justice.
More than 1,000 workers died – and the lives of their families ripped apart - when a factory making clothes for Primark, Matalan and Mango collapsed. Demand that these UK high street retailers take responsibility for their supply chains.
There are four things you can do right now:
The Tazreen Fashion fire in Bangladesh killed 112 workers in November last year. Some brands have compensated family members for their loss, but Walmart and Disney refuse.
Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck says that water isn’t a human right, and that privatisation is the best way to ensure fair distribution. Tell him he’s wrong.
15 May 2013
Part of the ancient Teotihuacán site, pictured right, is now underneath a Walmart, after Walmart bribed local officials. Walmart destroys Mexico’s cultural heritage for profit. More
15 May 2013
Walmart is the biggest private sector employer in the world. Whether they’re undermining wages or building stores on ancient archaeological sites, let’s keep an eye on them. Watch
Aminul Islam was a leader of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation and a senior organiser for the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a workers' rights organisation. Weeks after winning a major commitment from American clothing giant Phillips-Van Heusen to improve labour conditions in the garment factories of Bangladesh, he was found tortured and murdered.
His killers have not been brought to justice.
Take Action!
Tweet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hassina and tell her government to bring Aminul Islam’s killers to justice.
The International Labor Rights Forum is running an international campaign to highlight the case and to demand justice.
For background information, see this chronology of events.
You can send a message to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh here.
You can donate money to his supporters here.
[post_title] => Justice for Aminul Islam
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1 May 2013
Aminul Islam was a leader of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation and a senior organiser for the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a workers’ rights organisation. Weeks after winning a major commitment from American clothing giant Phillips-Van Heusen to improve labour conditions in the garment factories of Bangladesh, he was found tortured and murdered. His killers [...]
27 September 2012
Tafadzwa Choto, one of the Zimbabwe 6, recently visited the UK on a trade union solidarity visit. She is campaigning for support for herself and the other five socialists and activists who were recently tried and convicted by Mugabe’s regime of ‘conspiracy to commit public violence’. The STUC Conference in April this year unanimously backed [...]
Over 300 workers were killed in devastating factory fires on 11 September at a garment factory in Karachi and a shoe factory in Lahore, Pakistan. Support the campaign by IndustriALL and LabourStart to demand action.
Various reports indicate that workers could not escape the fire because the factory buildings lacked basic fire safety standards and emergency exits.
The fire at Ali Enterprises, the garment factory located in Hub river road, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) in Karachi killed more than 289 workers. Many of them died of suffocation as they were trapped in the basement. A large number of workers suffered grievous injuries as they jumped from the building to safety.
It is reported that the factory was illegally established and identifying the dead is extremely difficult as the workers were not registered with government authorities nor received written contracts.
In another fire accident at the four-story shoe manufacturing unit at Lahore about 25 workers were killed.
IndustriALL Global Union joins with unions in Pakistan to demand the government pay compensation of five million rupees (53,000 USD) to the families of the workers who were killed, and two million rupees (21,000 USD) to injured workers and that the workers continue to receive their salary.
Unions are also demanding the government arrest the employer and charge him with murder and take action against the labour department and government authorities that failed to ensure the safety and health of these workers.
Send your message in support of these demands to the Pakistan Prime Minister today.
Support
[post_title] => Pakistan: Make textile factories safe
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13 September 2012
Over 300 workers were killed in devastating factory fires on 11 September at a garment factory in Karachi and a shoe factory in Lahore, Pakistan. Support the campaign by IndustriALL and LabourStart to demand action. Various reports indicate that workers could not escape the fire because the factory buildings lacked basic fire safety standards and [...]
"Organising the workforces to fight for better employment conditions."
Seasonal migration of wage labourers is on the rise in India; pushed by regional imbalances in growth and the prevalent political economy where migrant workers are preferred over local labour because they are more vulnerable. This huge labour force remains completely unorganised and highly vulnerable to various kinds of exploitation.
Prayas Centre for Labor Research and Action has been working for the last five years to organise brick kiln workers in North and Central Gujarat. It has been able to bring about substantial improvement in material and social well being of the workers. USI's flagship campaign with brick kiln workers seeks support for replicating this model in other areas in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh by raising £6,200 to support a sustainable model of union organising.
PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO THE INDIA BUILDING SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN BY CLICKING ON THE BELOW BUTTON AND FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS. YOU DO NOT NEED A PAY PAL ACCOUNT TO PROCESS ANY MONIES KINDLY DONATED.
[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignnone" width="480"]
© Prayas Centre for Labor Research and Action[/caption]
Brick industry in India is labour intensive, employing up to 10 million workers according to some estimates (ILO Report on brick kiln workers). The industry remains completely manual with almost no mechanization. Most brick workers are seasonal migrant workers who migrate for six months or more with their families to kiln sites.
The workers mostly belong to Scheduled Castes/ Tribes and inhabit some of the poorest areas in the country. They constitute one of the most exploited sections amongst unorganized sector workers. The work hours are inhumanly long – up to 16 hours a day. They work for nominal wages under very primitive working and living conditions. Most workers have accumulated debts that they are unlikely to ever pay up fully. As a result, they can be classified as bonded labor. The workers are not only bonded to the owners where they work, but also to the contractors who provide them advance payment, in promise of requisite amount of labour. For more stories on bonded labour read here.
The public service providers in destination areas do not have any documentation of the vast number of workers present in their service areas. Consequently the workers and their families are not able to access any public services. The children are denied education. The children and pregnant mothers do not get anganwadi benefits.
The worker communities are not covered by the primary health system. Physical violence is frequent at the brick kilns. It becomes very difficult to leave a kiln if workers realise that work conditions are not suitable and they want to go. This is primarily owing to the fact that the middlemen leave the workers at the mercy of the owners as if property being handed over. Wages at the destination are calculated and settled at the end of the season when the workers have already put in their back breaking labour and hence have no negotiating power.
Bricks are a basic building material in India. Brick kilns are to be found on the outskirts of most developing towns and cities. The prevalent mode of work requires a resident labour force. Most brick kilns employ seasonal migrant labor. Movements of brick kiln workers cross cut nationally. There are some major clusters from where workers migrate to brick kilns all over the country. These are some of the poorest areas of the country. For example workers from Bilaspur cluster in Chhattisgarh go to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa. Similarly, workers from Western Orissa cluster go to the Southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The map on the next page and accompanying table shows the nature of cross cutting movements.
Prayas Centre for Labor Research and Action (PCLRA): Prayas is a thirty year old NGO. Centre for Labor Research and Action is the unit within Prayas that works on the issue of seasonal migration. PCLRA has worked with kiln workers in Gujarat facilitating a Union of brick kiln workers. The Union has led wage struggles that have resulted in significant wage hikes – up to 118 percent over a four year period. The Union has settled hundreds of wage disputes over last three years and got more than a 1000 workers released from bondage in Gujarat. View some footage of the workers at a union meeting.A key feature of the work has been that the mobilisation has been undertaken in source areas also. Consequently the Union has reached out to all the source states from where workers come to Gujarat. These include Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and tribal parts of Gujarat. PCLRA has also established contacts in Western Orissa tribal belt from where brick workers go out to work in Southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
USI working in cooperation with PCLRA plans to replicate the Gujarat model to new clusters. The conditions of work are very similar across different regions. Piece rate payments, recruitment against advances, poor living conditions, wage settlement at the end of the work season – most of the conditions are similar. The proposed unit of intervention is a cluster of 50 brick kilns. The geographical unit can be a district or a sub district. Each brick kiln employs on average 150 workers. Thus total number of workers impacted in a cluster is 7500.
The clusters can be located in the parts of Gujarat not yet covered by the existing operation – primarily South Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The primary criterion for selection of new cluster will be the presence of local activists who are willing to take up mobilisation work with kiln workers. This is because mobilising brick kiln workers is difficult and risky. The workers live within closed boundaries. The employers are powerful and resist any outside intervention. Physical violence is always a possibility. Therefore, presence of locally based committed activist is a starting point for mobilisation process.
To bring about sustainable change in extreme vulnerability of brick kiln workers through a process of mobilization and organization by:
Ensuring access to public services like education, health, and early child care
The strategy will be a combination of both rights based approach and service delivery. The roots of the extreme vulnerability of kiln workers lie in extremely low wages that has resulted in a bondage situation for a vast majority of them. The project will accordingly push for enforcement of labour laws and a rapid hike in wages over the medium term. Simultaneously it will also put pressure on the state to ensure access to public services to kiln workers spread out in different clusters across the country.
ActivitiesIdentifying organisers: This is the first and the most critical step. We need to find the right kind of people who are willing to help brick kiln workers. Kiln owners are local and powerful. Kiln workers are often migrants from outside who do not form a local political constituency. It would be necessary to support a team of two-three people as it is difficult for a single person to operate. This will require visits to potential areas/clusters of brick kilns and meeting a range of stakeholders.
Training organisers: The organisers will be trained through a theoretical and practical training regime. A three day theoretical workshop is proposed followed by a seven day practical exposure in a location with ongoing union activity.
Mapping of workers: This is the first intervention. Most of the kiln workers are seasonal migrants who live on the brick kiln campus and have minimum contact with outside civil society. The organizers will list workers in brick kilns to know where they are from, their family profile, their working and living conditions. This will help them strike acquaintance with the workers.
Legal action: It is expected that a variety of legal cases will come up. Two prominent types relate to (i) Bonded Labor (ii) Wage disputes. Most cases involve groups of workers – ten, twenty or even more. The work units are family units comprising female workers, adolescents, and children.
Training worker: Workers will be trained into union formation through residential workshops. A typical workshop will involve up to 50 workers and will of two days duration.
Policy advocacy workshops: Workshops will be organized for policy advocacy. The objective is to orient the Government officials to problems of workers and make them sensitive to the issues of workers.
Public events: The project interventions require holding of a number of public events like public meetings, rallies, dharna etc. Support for these will come from workers.
Outside support: The local teams will be supported by an experienced team of union activists. This support team will Research and documentation: There will be a need for systematic documentation of the workers – their numbers and social profile.
Two sets of outputs are envisaged. (i) mobilisation of workers leading to wage hike and improvement in working and living conditions (ii) linkage with public service like education, health, early child hood care, and others.
Release of workers from bondage: Most of the workers in the brick kilns are under debt bondage. The employers advance money to the workers before the season starts and then force them to work through the season lasting 6 to 8 months at sub optimal wages. The settlement of wages is done at the end of the season. If workers try to leave early, the back wages are not paid.
Payment of back wages: There are frequent conflicts in brick kilns over payment of wages. It is expected that these cases will come to the Union.
Increase in wages: The ultimate objective is to hike wages that is possible only after sufficient collectivization has taken place. The interventions will move towards collective bargaining. Normally workers have to strike work before the employers get ready to negotiate.
Linking the children with education: The workers migrate to the kilns with the families that include children of school going age from 6-14 years. The children need to be linked to schooling. This is possible by either opening hostels in their home villages where they can stay or by linking them to a school in the destination areas. Both the options are not easy. However the Indian state is committed to provide schooling to every child of school going age under the Right to Education Act.
Linking under age children with early childhood care services: The state also promises every child under six years of age early childhood services that includes supplementary feeding. Malnutrition is very common in India. Attempts will be made to introduce these services in kilns.
Linkage with health services: The brick kilns are like semi permanent villages with a large number of resident families. However the public health system does not reach out to these workers. The project will undertake advocate with Health Department to include the kiln workers in their service coverage.
The number of beneficiaries, expected monetary benefits in pound sterling (at Indian Rs. 75 to one UK sterling) for a cluster of 50 kilns is given in the table below
| Sl | Type of benefits | per head benefit | No. of beneficiaries | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobilization | ||||
| 1 | Case work payment of wages |
21 |
50 |
1058 |
| 2 | Case work bonded labor |
96 |
20 |
1923 |
| 3 | Hike in wages |
38 |
1000 |
38462 |
| Public service linkage | ||||
| 1 | Schooling |
10 |
1000 |
9615 |
| 2 | Hostel |
77 |
10 |
769 |
| 3 | ICDS Early child hood care |
6 |
1000 |
6154 |
| TOTAL |
57981 |
|||
| Sl | Head | Unit | No. of units | Unit cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wage labour mapping | brick kiln |
50 |
40 |
2000 |
| 2 | Training workshops |
3 |
200 |
600 |
|
| 3 | Public events | event organised |
3 |
250 |
750 |
| 4 | Legal aid | Case |
10 |
60 |
600 |
| 5 | Travel | per month |
10 |
45 |
450 |
| 6 | Administrative | per month |
10 |
80 |
800 |
| 7 | Outside support | per month |
10 |
100 |
1000 |
| TOTAL |
6200 |
||||
6 September 2012
USI are looking to bring about sustainable change in the brick kiln sector through a process of mobilisation, union organisation and education. We want you to take action by participating in the forums and helping to raise money for this vital campaign which will benefit an estimated 7,500 workers. Thanks for sharing – and helping to build union solidarity. Find on our website here: http://usilive.org/campaign/india-ensuring-social-security-for-brick-kiln-workers/
“The people of Greece face an unprecedented economic and political crisis”
USi is particularly concerned with countries within the Eurozone that are facing tremendous economic, political and social instability. One country in particular USi wants to build a genuine and ongoing exchange between trade unions and their members is in Greece.
All trade union members across the World have been deeply concerned about the events in Greece. In a letter to the Guardian dated 13 February 'Solidarity Campaign to support the people of Greece' signed by trade unions, writers, community and campaign groups, academics and politicians the UK labour movement made its intentions clear to provide support.
As such, USi's flag-ship campaign will be a solidarity campaign with the people of Greece. This will involve raising funds that the USi Advisory Board will determine the allocation of any monies raised in consultation with Greek trade unions so it can be put to the best possible usage.
We want you to TAKE ACTION:
1. Show your solidarity with the people of Greece by signing up and sharing this campaign and latest articles
2. Engage with Greek trade unionists through USi forums and web conferences
3. Build practical solidarity between your union and community and sister organisations in Greece
4. Donate to USi's Greek solidarity campaign. All funds raised go directly to support Greek trade unionists in their battle against austerity
Letter from Greece: the end of the social contractPLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO THE GREEK SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN BY CLICKING ON THE BELOW BUTTON AND FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS. YOU DO NOT NEED A PAY PAL ACCOUNT TO PROCESS ANY MONIES KINDLY DONATED.
[post_title] => Solidarity with Greece [post_excerpt] => Join in USi's Greek Solidarity campaign as we build a daily exchange between trade unions and their members in Greece. By getting involved in the campaign we want you to take a number of actions including participating in the forums and helping to build practical support on the ground by raising money. Thanks for sharing - and helping to build union solidarity. Find on our website here: http://usilive.org/campaign/greece/ [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => greece [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2012-08-07 15:45:51 [post_modified_gmt] => 2012-08-07 15:45:51 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://usi-dev.mass1.com/?post_type=campaign&p=341 [menu_order] => 5 [post_type] => campaign [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )6 August 2012
Join in USi’s Greek Solidarity campaign as we build a daily exchange between trade unions and their members in Greece. By getting involved in the campaign we want you to take a number of actions including participating in the forums and helping to build practical support on the ground by raising money. Thanks for sharing – and helping to build union solidarity. Find on our website here: http://usilive.org/campaign/greece/
Domestic workers won one of the best fought and most justified victories ever on June 16 2011 when ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers was adopted. The voices, experiences and visions of domestic workers themselves were finally heard and respected, not only within the trade union movement but also by governments and many employers.
Shamefully, the UK was one of just 8 countries that abstained from voting in favour of the Convention, standing together with Sudan, Malaysia, El Salvador, Panama, Singapore, the Czech Republic and Thailand who also abstained. Swaziland was the only government to vote against convention. In stating its reasons for abstaining, the Government said that the UK already provides comprehensive employment and social protections to domestic workers. We believe the UK Government should not be allowed to get away with this attack on vulnerable workers.
TAKE ACTION
Share our campaign through your social networks while we build momentum around this issue.
This is not the last action we will be asking you to take: victory is not complete until Convention 189 is translated into national legal instruments and collective agreements across the world, including the UK. Over the coming weeks and months USi will be working closely with domestic workers and their unions to keep this issue firmly on the agenda. Join USi to keep momentum behind this campaign in your union and community.
On 29th February 2012 the Home Secretary Theresa May announced changes to the rules for migrant domestic workers including the removal of the right to change employer.
The removal of the legal right to leave an abusive living and working relationship will illegalise many women who enter as domestic workers accompanying wealthy employers. Some of them will feel unable to leave abusive situations thereby risking their physical, mental and emotional security. Others will escape, and thereby become undocumented with no access to legal employment or basic legal protection.These changes will not affect domestic workers already in the UK. They will also not affect people who apply for entry clearance or enter before 6 April 2012.
Read more in this Guardian article.
International Domestic Workers' NetWork
[post_title] => Domestic Workers [post_excerpt] => The issue of domestic workers across the World is a vitally important one and the battle goes on after the implementation of ILO Convention 189. The UK Government shamefully remains a non-signatory. We want you to take action by participating in the forums and continuing to raise awareness. Thanks for sharing - and helping to build union solidarity. Find on our website: http://usilive.org/campaign/domestic-workers/ [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => domestic-workers [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2013-04-11 19:33:08 [post_modified_gmt] => 2013-04-11 19:33:08 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://usi-dev.mass1.com/?post_type=campaign&p=500 [menu_order] => 4 [post_type] => campaign [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )6 August 2012
The issue of domestic workers across the World is a vitally important one and the battle goes on after the implementation of ILO Convention 189. The UK Government shamefully remains a non-signatory. We want you to take action by participating in the forums and continuing to raise awareness. Thanks for sharing – and helping to build union solidarity. Find on our website: http://usilive.org/campaign/domestic-workers/
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