Welcome to The International Trade-Unionist, Issue 1, September 2009

THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE-UNIONIST
Issue 1, September 2009

Welcome to the first issue of The International Trade-Unionist, an online publication aiming to raise various issues of interest to the international trade-union community.
I hope that this publication will become a forum for a healthy debate on a number of issues. Let us share our thoughts, our concerns and our proposals for the building of a stronger international trade-union community.
Long live trade-unionism, long live The International Trade-Unionist.

Charalampos Xekoukoulotakis
Publisher & Editor of The International Trade-Unionist
International Officer of UNISON’s branch at the University of Brighton (U.K.)


Please note that the viewpoints expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of UNISON or UNISON’s branch at the University of Brighton.

Your comments and contributions are more than welcome.
E-mail: theinternationaltradeunionist@yahoo.co.uk


Deadline for inclusion of contributions in the next issue:
Friday 23 October 2009

Anti-trade-union attacks on the rise

Violent attacks on fellow trade union members are increasing according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Seventy-six trade unionists worldwide were killed in 2008. ITUC also has said that many countries were passing legislation undermining a worker's ability to go on strike.
In Europe, it said there were 2,400 cases of anti-union dismissals this year. The vast majority were in Turkey .
ITUC said there were a total of 7,500 cases of dismissal of workers involved in trade union activity in 68 countries last year.
"This denial wreaks havoc on their lives, as they work extremely long hours in hazardous or unhealthy situations with incomes so low that they are unable to support themselves and their households properly," said ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder.
After Turkey , ITUC said Indonesia was the least tolerant of unions, followed by countries such as Malawi , Pakistan , Tanzania and Argentina .

UNI's Warning to G20: Enough bank bailouts,governments must save jobs

UNI Global Union is going to tell global leaders at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh this week that they must take concrete action to boost employment. While governments spent billion bailing out banks, not enough is being done to save jobs and unemployment is spiraling out of control.A report out from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns that unemployment will rise in 2010 and could remain high for even longer. The OECD is calling for concerted government action to adapt social and labour market policies to fight the possibility of long-term unemployment for millions of workers.“Unemployment is not an acceptable price for the financial abuse we have seen,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “The G20 must get aggressive on bonuses and promote the common good. This must be the jobs summit.”A report in UK newspaper the Guardian claims that the pay gap between company executives and their staff continues to widen as pay for top-level managers is climbing higher and higher even in the midst of the global economic recession. Unemployment meanwhile has skyrocketed and workers are clearly feeling the pain of the financial crisis.The OECD report says the unemployment rate has already reached a post-war record high at 8.5 percent in the OECD area, which means more than 15 million more people are unemployed that at the end of 2007. The report says that without a recovery in the job market the OECD unemployment rate could hit a new post-war high of 10 percent, or 57 million people out of work.Among its warnings, the reports says that while most OECD countries have introduced measures to support labour demand that have worked in the short-term they may not be long-term fixes. It says ensuring employment for young people, strengthening social safety nets for the unemployed and job search and training assistance are vital to fight high levels of unemployment in the long term.“Now is the time for governments to act,” Jennings said. “As bad as unemployment levels are now, lack of decisive action from governments to train people and create jobs could lead to even more devastation for the world’s workers.”

In Zimbabwe: Three Trade Unionists Arrested During a Peaceful March

Three trade unionists were arrested in Zimbabwe during a commemoration march which took place on 12 September 2009. According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the peaceful march was organised to commemorate 13 September 2006, when ZCTU leadership and activists were brutally assaulted while in police custody, including the President Lovemore Matombo, Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, 1st Vice President Lucia Matibenga and 2nd Vice President George Nkiwane. The High Court had issued an order allowing the commemoration The police, however, went ahead to disrupt the proceedings. According to the police, they did not have enough human resources to control the crowd. However, hundreds of armed riot police were present on Saturday 12 September 2009. The three activists were arrested but were later released without charge. “The repression of peaceful gatherings in Zimbabwe is unacceptable,” pointed out Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary. “ Zimbabwe has ratified key ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to organise, so it has a clear obligation under international law to allow trade unions the right to freedom of assembly. Trade unionists were arrested and prevented from carrying out their activities peacefully, even as the ILO Commission of Inquiry into violations of fundamental workers rights there is ongoing.” he added.

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions' Property

On 19 August 2009 the Albanian President Sali Berisha announced to the national media, that the government will pass a bill in parliament to sequester all properties of Albanian trade unions. Mr. Berisha promised that he would push the Bill through within three months.Let us bear in mind that this is not the first time that trade unionism suffers discrimination. Trade unions in Albania have suffered continued discrimination from the national government in recent years. On 1 August 2007, both of Albania ’s Trade Union Confederations, the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), were expelled from their headquarters and prohibited from exercising their normal activity. All property and documents inside the offices were destroyed by the Albanian police. The threat of expropriation and police occupation of trade union premises has been continuous for many years. Since July 2006, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) has called on the prime minister to start a dialogue with the Albanian trade union movement, in order to find a solution safeguarding the continuity of the social dialogue in Albania .

Two Haft Tapeh Sugar Leaders Still Facing Lengthy Prison Terms in Iran

Three of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh sugarworkers' union in Iran sentenced to prison earlier this year have had their sentences overturned on appeal. However, Union president Ali Nejati and communications officer Reza Rekhshan still face prison sentences while their appeal process drags on. The charges against Rekhshan include providing information to foreign trade unionists on the working conditions at Haft Tapeh. Ali Nejati has been denied work at Haft Tapeh since his April release from over a month's solitary confinement in an Intelligence detention center. Nejati has been generally blacklisted from all work in the city of Shush and the situation for him and his family is becoming increasingly desperate. Thousands of trade union rights supporters around the world have protested the repression against the Haft Tapeh union and its leaders. Ali Nejati was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International following the Haft Tapeh court convictions. International protests presumably played a role in influencing the decision of the appeals court to dismiss the ludicrous charges including "undermining national security." Since 9 September 2009 over 500 workers have been on strike at Haft Tapeh demanding the restoration of the monthly overtime which management has cut from 120 to 40 hours. So low is the base wage that workers have to put in up to 120 additional hours per month to ensure minimal survival for themselves and their families. Cutters harvesting cane by hand in blistering heat work 6 months out of the year alternating with 6 months unemployment without compensation.

In Iran: Mansour Osanloo's health deteriorating

UNISON is supporting Amnesty International’s urgent action calling for trade union leader, Mansour Osanloo, an Amnesty prisoner of conscience, to receive emergency medical treatment. So far the Iranian authorities are denying him this urgently needed treatment. Mansour Osanloo is the leader of the Vahed Bus Company workers’ union in Tehran , Iran , an independent trade union in a country with an official trade union movement and a track record of persecuting independent trade unionists, etc.Mansour has been in jail since July 2007, and his health is deteriorating in part because of the brutal beatings he has received from the security services.