Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

9/1/2010 World action day to back Turkish UPS workers

World action day tomorrow backs Turkish UPS workers
Trade unions in over 40 cities worldwide will demonstrate their solidarity with sacked Turkish UPS workers tomorrow, September 1, in an action day coordinated by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation).

The international protest is being held in response to reported intimidation and sackings of workers who opted to join Turkey’s TÜMTIS trade union. Since April 2010, 157 employees of UPS Turkey have been dismissed without any application of the procedures specified by Turkish law. All of the dismissed workers are union members or were interested in union representation. On 2 July 2010, the conflict escalated even further when the manager of a sub-contractor fired shots at the office of a notary public in Izmir where, union representatives reported, he had been trying to force workers to resign their union membership (see www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/4662/region/1/section/0/order/1)

TÜMTIS President Kenan Ozturk explained: “UPS workers in Turkey face aggression. International support will send a clear message to UPS that anti-union activity is not acceptable. Global workers' solidarity can help to defeat an attack by employers.”

7/26 ILWU 10 Organizing Meeting For Labor/Community Rally:Justice For Oscar Grant! Jail Killer Cops

Longshore workers call for labor/community rally for:

Justice for Oscar Grant! Jail Killer Cops!

A labor/community organizing meeting is called for this Tuesday
7 PM at the Longshore Hall in San Francisco
You are urged to attend!

Information from the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Please forward!

26 July 2010 - Following the outrageously light-weight conviction-- involuntary manslaughter--given to ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle, who murdered the unarmed Oscar Grant in cold blood in 2009, longshore workers in Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have called for a labor community rally at City Hall in downtown Oakland.

Calling the Mehserle verdict "another example in a racist justice system where police officers go free for killing young black men," the longshore workers resolved that "the labor movement organize a mass protest rally...with participation from community groups, civil rights organizations, civil liberties organizations and all who stand for social justice [to] demand jail for killer cops."

Spain: Striking Metro workers face military intervention and union betrayal
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/madr-j01.shtml
Spain: Striking Metro workers face military intervention and union betrayal
By Paul Mitchell
1 July 2010
The vice-chair of the Popular Party-run Madrid regional government, Ignacio González, has warned that he is “not going to discard the option” of the military taking control of Madrid’s Metro system, which has been brought to a standstill by striking workers and brought chaos to the streets of the capital.
Metro workers walked out on June 28 on a three-day strike, incensed by the Madrid regional government passing an “Urgent Measures Law” that cuts the salary of employees of public companies like Madrid Metro by 5 percent. They voted almost unanimously at a mass meeting to ignore legal minimum service rules, which force workers to maintain 50 percent of normal service, greatly reducing the effectiveness of industrial action.
González called the strike an “an attack on the rights of citizens” and thanked the Socialist Party (PSOE) government’s interior minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, who would have to authorise the use of the army, for “his willingness to cooperate.” The last time the military was used in such circumstances was in 1976 in the dying days of the Franco Fascist dictatorship.

Iran Bus Union Leader Leader Of Syndicate Of Workers Of Iran And Suburb Vahed Bus Company Arrested
http://www.labournet.net/world/1006/Iran1.html
Tehran: Workers Leader Arrested

Report by info@workers-iran.org
Published: 09/06/10

Saeed Torabian, board member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburb Vahed Bus Company arrested

Saeed Torabian, board member the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburb Vahed Bus Company was arrested on Wednesday June 9 2010 at 9 a.m. by security forces at his home and has been transferred to an unknown location. It is worth noting after ransacking his home his computer and cell phone were confiscated by security forces. After the board of directors was informed, they, along with Torabian's family members, despite their search, were not able to locate his whereabouts. Previously Mr. Saeed Torabian had been arrested twice during the 2005 strikes of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company and spent more than one month in detention. He was also suspended from work for four years and was denied wages and all benefits. After continuous inquiries with the court of public administrative justice he was reinstated in his job and was returned to work. At this time two other members of the Syndicate's board of directors, Mansoor Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, are imprisoned in Rajayee Shahr prison in City of Karaj and Evin Prison in Tehran.

Transport Workers Concerned For Jailed Iranian Labor Activist

http://www.rferl.org/content/Transport_Workers_Concerned_For_Jailed_Iranian_Labor_Activist/2062391.html

Mansur Osanlu (left) has been in prison since 2007.
June 04, 2010
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) says it is seriously concerned for the safety of jailed Iranian labor activist Mansur Osanlu.

The federation's general secretary, David Cockroft, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda he was concerned by reports that Osanlu had been moved recently to a prison ward together with drug addicts "and other people who could put his life at risk."

Cockroft sent a letter this on June 1 to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad detailing his concerns. In the letter, he called on Ahmadinejad to either stop what he called the persecution of Osanlu, or prove the reports wrong by allowing his family to visit and check his state of health.

"We are now organizing a major global protest around the world to make it absolutely clear that the eyes of the entire labor community are on the Iranian government, and that we want [Osanlu] to be treated properly and we want him to be released as quickly as possible," Cockroft said.

ILWU Vows to Fight Police Takeover of Costa Rican Longshore Union
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/05/28/ilwu-vows-to-fight-police-takeover-of-costa-rican-longshore-union/
ILWU Vows to Fight Police Takeover of Costa Rican Longshore Union

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Police at the SINTRAJAP union hall stand below a sign that says the port funds are for everyone, and the workers won’t give that up.

Jennifer Sargent, Coast communications director at the ILWU, sends us the latest on the struggles by longshore workers in Costa Rica.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has asked the Obama administration to investigate illegal ousting of elected union leaders. Declaring that longshore workers are united beyond international borders, the ILWU today denounced Wednesday’s police takeover of SINTRAJAP, the union representing longshore workers in the Caribbean ports of Limón and Moín, Costa Rica, and promised to increase its months-long campaign to help restore union democracy in the Central American country. Limón and Moín are major importers of petroleum and other products and major exporters of bananas, coffee, cocoa and coconuts.

ILWU President Robert McEllrath said:

UK Court Decision Undermines The Right To Strike Of British Workers Says RMT Leader Bob Crow "Without the right to strike workers are nothing more than slaves..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/blog/2010/may/18/flight-disruption-ash-cloud-ba-strike
Flight disruption, ash cloud rules and the BA cabin crew strike - live updates
Passengers are still facing delays and cancelled flights despite another relaxation of volcanic ash cloud restrictions and a high court's decision to block a strike by BA's cabin crew.

Journey's end: a frustrated passenger waits at Heathrow airport. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Helen Pidd
1.31pm:
While we wait for the appeal to start (or perhaps that should be the appeal to be allowed appeal) Helen has more on what could happen next if Unite loses.

"If Unite loses again in the appeal court this afternoon, the union will very likely take its battle to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. Unite are worried that yesterday's decision has further eroded the right of trade unions to take strike action and set a dangerous precedent.

You can only appeal to the Supreme Court on a point of law, so Unite would have to argue that the fiddly bit of legislation that caught them out yesterday (a small clause in the 1992 Trade Union Act which required them to inform all eligible voters of the breakdown of votes

Emergency Labor Call-in Campaign
Defend pro-labor Cleveland high school students attacked for protesting layoffs and school cutbacks

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

On May 13, at 10:30 AM, a small group of Collinwood High School students walked out to protest the layoffs of 800 teachers and other school workers. By 10:45 Cleveland police had arrived on the scene, most likely after being called by the principal.

This video by Caleb Maupin, a supporter of the students, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpmjnDW-Ys8) shows an African-American male being shoved against a police car and a vicious attack on a 19-year old African-American female and her 16-year old sister. The two young women were arrested; the 19-year old has been charged with obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and aggravated disorderly conduct. The 16-year old has been charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, aggravated disorderly conduct and violating daytime curfew.

Other students were also given citations for violating daytime curfew and were suspended from school for five days. Walkout organizer Seth Barlekamp and another student were brutally interrogated inside the school by police, who threatened to have Seth institutionalized. Seth’s mother was threatened with arrest if the protests continued. All of the students who participated in the walkout, with the exception of Seth, are African-American, as are the majority of students at Collinwood High and in the Cleveland Public School District.

Revisiting the ‘Charleston 5’ Struggle, A Decade Later
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5933/the_charleston_5_struggle_a_decade_later/
Revisiting the ‘Charleston 5’ Struggle, A Decade Later
Monday
May 3
12:10 pm
By Kari Lydersen

It has been a decade since 600 state police were bused in to confront longshoremen in Charleston, S.C., picketing Danish shipping company Nordana’s use of non-union labor. The action kicked off one of the most high-profile and symbolic labor victories in recent history.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422 and their supporters are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the struggle – which sparked an international solidarity movement, with workers in Spanish ports refusing to unload Nordana ships and. After a year of house arrest, the "Charleston 5" were cleared of trumped up felony charges.

Union longshoremen around the country continue to mark the Charleston 5 anniversary year in the context of ongoing struggles to protect jobs from automation and shifts in global industry. (The Longshore Workers Coalition will hold its 10th anniversary convention in June, as I mentioned in my post on Friday.) In this light, I talked with Suzan Erem, author (along with E. Paul Durrenberger) of On the Global Waterfront, a gripping chronicle of the Charleston 5 struggle published in 2007.