URGENT APPEAL On behalf of the working people of Pakistan
The labor movement of Pakistan has issued an urgent appeal to the labor movement in the U.S. and around the world for solidarity aid in response to the devastating floods that have impacted an estimated 20 million people.
Wholesale Attack on Iraq Electricity Union - YOUR Solidarity Needed!!
Iraq government shutters union offices across country in lightening raids
Iraqi troops and police have raided the offices of the Electricity Union all across Iraq, implementing a new decree - the latest in an escalating series of antiunion measures designed to incapacitate and destroy the Iraqi labor movement.
The unions of Iraq have called upon the labor movement of the world to respond to this outrageous assault on worker rights.
Paste this text onto the wall at the White House Facebook page. (You have
to become a fan of The White House to post on their wall.)
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twice to play)
This is a heartbreaking toll on American families. These were people's
sons and daughters, husbands and wives, moms and dads. Our hearts go out
to all of their families. Our hearts also go out to the families of the
many thousands of Afghan civilians who have died.
We want the President and the American people to know that we abhor the
awful cost of this war and want our troops to come home. Please post the
message above on the White House Facebook page.
Falah Alwan, President, Federation of Workers Councils & Unions in Iraq
USLAW & IVAW Deliver Iraq Labor Rights Petitions to State Department
A
delegation composed of representatives of U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW),
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and the President of the Iraq Federation
of Oil Unions held an unprecedented meeting on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 with
officials of the U.S. State Department to present them with a petition signed
by thousands of labor, antiwar and other social justice activists across the
country demanding that the U.S. government speak out forcefully in support of
labor rights for Iraqi workers.
A group of Iraqi labor leaders were in the
U.S. to attend the AFL-CIO Convention and participate in events organized by U.S. Labor Against the War. They want to bring international attention to the lack of a
basic labor law in Iraq guaranteeing the right to unionize without
repression. Last week the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution defending Iraqi labor
rights. Amy Goodman interviewed two of the union leaders, Rasim Awadi and Falah Alwan.
[transcript]
Congress will vote soon on whether to pony up another $33 billion to pay for escalating the war in Afghanistan. Take 3 minutes to make a call to let your Congress member knowyou want them to vote against throwing any more money into the Afghan sinkhole. (Learn more)
Theres a bill that would require a timeline for the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but Congress needs to hear that you want them to support it.
Sign a letter to your congressperson at http://rethinkafghanistan.com.
Iraqi DC Consulate Picketed Over Violations of Labor Rights
Labor Rights "Fundamental" To Iraqi Democracy
Thursday, April 15, 2010
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Charging that the Iraqi
government is using the same laws that
Saddam Hussein used to “attack workers and prevent trade union
organization,” dozens of labor rights activists rallied outside the
Iraqi
Consulate in Dupont Circle at noon yesterday demanding an end to the
“systematic abuse” of workers and unions in Iraq. “Hey Iraq it’s union
time – organizing is not a crime!” chanted the demonstrators as they
brandished signs reading “Democracy for Iraqi Workers” and “Labor Rights
Are Human Rights” under the midday sun. Oppressive working conditions in
much
of Iraq – it is illegal for workers to form a union and strike – make
Iraq
“one of the most dangerous places in the world for workers who are
trying to
organize,” Jim Catterson from the International Confederation of
Chemical,
Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union told the crowd. “Workers are
being
sent into exile to places where their lives are in jeopardy just because
they
are unionizing for better conditions. It’s time now that Iraq accepted
freedom
of association!” Stanley Gacek -- Associate Director of the AFL-CIO
International Department – called on the American union movement to
stand in
solidarity with the workers of Iraq. “There will be no democracy in Iraq
until
the Iraqi government passes labor law reform to allow freedom of
association and
protect the rights of workers who are trying to organize,” he said. “The
Iraqi government needs to end the direct political interference by
authorities
into workers’ organizing campaigns now.” –
report/photo
by Adam Wright
We were told back in 2002 that Iraq had weapons of
mass destruction.
The previous administration even pursued torture to try
to extract false confessions in order to justify the war.
It is time to tell
the truth.
The truth is we should not have prosecuted a war against the
Iraqi people.
The truth is the Democratic Senate could have stopped the Iraq
war in 2002.
The truth is we Democrats were given control of Congress in 2006
to end the war.
The truth is this bill continues a disastrous war, which
has cost the lives of thousands of our soldiers.
The truth is the occupation
has fueled the insurgency.
The truth is the Iraq war will cost
the American and the Iraqi people trillions of dollars and as many as a
million innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of this
war.
'Don't tell the American people that you are ending the war by
continuing to fund the war.
Don't tell the American people that the war will
end when their plans leave 50, 000 troops in Iraq.
Don't tell the
American people that the way out of Afghanistan is to escalate our
presence.
'Get out of Iraq. Get out Afghanistan. Come
home America.'
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), speaking on a supplemental
appropriations bill that would continue to fund the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan
May 14, 2009
It's OUR Money. See how Congress spends it!
How they tell us they spend it.
The Government
Deception
The
pie chart below is the government view of the budget. This is a distortion of
how our income tax dollars are spent because it includes Trust Funds (e.g.,
Social Security), and the expenses of past military spending are not distinguished
from nonmilitary spending. For a more accurate representation of how your
Federal income tax dollar is really spent, see the large chart
How they ACTUALLY Spend it!
Total
Outlays (Federal Funds):
$2,650 billion MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion
From the day the
dictatorship fell, Iraqi workers have demanded the right to organize their own
unions, free of government interference. They have demanded all of the rights
established by the International Labour Organization - foremost the rights to
freely organize, bargain and, when necessary, to strike. The new Iraqi
Constitution calls for the adoption of a basic labor law that recognizes and
codifies these rights.
The Maliki regime
has instead ordered labor elections in June in which workers are to designate
their unions and elect union leadership. However, workers in all public
enterprises (including the entire oil industry) are barred from voting, and the
government retains the right to disqualify union leaders chosen by the workers
in those elections. The elections will apparently result in only one
government-approved labor federation, rather than providing union pluralism
required by ILO standards (and already established in fact by the workers
themselves in the variety of labor organizations they created after the
overthrow of Saddam Hussein).
It
is in this context that John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, and Guy Rider,
General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), have
written strong protests to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
Show your support for the emerging labor movement in Iraq by donating to the Iraqi Labor Solidarity Fund. Funds will be used to support the labor movement in Iraq and to support USLAW's international solidarity activities.
Big Oil makes a grab for Iraq's black gold. Bush tries to ram new oil law down the throats of the Iraqi parliament. If adopted, foreign oil companies would be able to negotiate control over Iraqi's oil (and the lion's share of the profits) for more then 30 years.
Channel 4: There could be concessions from Israel on the Gaza
Strip aid blockade
There could be concessions
from Israel on the Gaza Strip aid blockade, Channel 4 News
International Editor Lindsey Hilsum reports from Ashdod, as it faces
more international pressure after stopping another aid ship.
The Israeli navy diverted
the Rachel Corrie - the last of the so-called "freedom
flotilla" containing thousands of tonnes of aid for Gaza, as
well as activists from Ireland and elsewhere - without incident.
The ship, named after the American woman
killed in Gaza in 2003, had ignored Israeli orders to divert
to Israel's Ashdod port where Israel had offered to unload the cargo
and deliver it to Gaza before inspecting it.
However,
following the Israeli military intervention, it was escorted to Ashdod
where the cargo was unloaded and the passengers were put onto buses to
the airport to be deported.
Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News International Editor,
said that Israelis continued to support the blockade, despite the aid
crisis in Gaza and international condemnation - although some
alterations could be made to what kinds of items are blocked as a
result of recent events, she said.
"Most Israelis seem to
agree with their government that the blockade of Gaza is necessary in
order to weaken the Hamas government in Gaza and prevent it from
getting weapons," she said.
"But international reaction
is now stepping up - with the White House saying that it is
unsustainable, it has to change.
"But nonethless Israel
seems quite determined...they think that if the blockade is lifted,
there is a danger of weapons going into Gaza, that at least is what
they say.
"But I think now there will be new negotiations to
change at least what can go in and what can't. There is an Israeli list
of goods which are allowed in and which aren't. Rather bizarrely,
coriander is not allowed in, ginger however is allowed in."
The humanitarian cargo on board the Rachel Corrie
includes: 550,000 kilograms of bagged cement 20,000 Kgs
of printing paper 25,000 kgs of school supplies and books 12,000
kgs of toys 150,000 kgs of medical supplies
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying: "Forces
used the same procedures for Monday's
flotilla and Saturday's sailing but was met by a different
response.
"On today's ship and in five of the six vessels in
the previous flotilla, procedure ended without casualties. The only
difference was with one ship where extremist Islamic activists,
supporters of terrorism, waited for our troops on the deck with axes
and knives."
Passengers on board the
MV Rachel Corrie include: Mairead Maguire, nobel Peace
Laureate and Cofunder of Peace People, Northern Ireland. Dennis
Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary General, nobel peace prize
nominee, and winner of the UK Gandhi Peace Prize. Matthias Change
Wen chieh, Malaysia barrister and former political secretary to former
Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed.
The
ship was the latest attempt to break the four-year
old blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel, with the stated aim
of preventing Gaza's rulers Hamas from building up weapons to attack
the Jewish state.
It prevents materials
such as cement from entering Gaza, which it says could be used for
military purposes.
The Guardian newspaper reported today that autopsy
results showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close
range. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said.
Speaking
to Channel 4 News, Chris Gunness, UN Relief and Works
Agency spokesman, said that the key issue was that people in Gaza were
absolutely desperate for aid.
"We have to get aid into Gaza. There is 80% aid
dependency and 44% unemployment. Last year 100,000 people came to us
because they could not feed their families, this year it was 300,000
so deep poverty has gone up three times," he said.
"There's a crisis in the health service in Gaza, there's a
crisis in the education service in Gaza," he said.
"Thousands
of five and six year olds can't go to UN schools today because of
this illegal blockade, this collective punishment of 1.5 million
people, which is why we say lift the sea blockade, lift the land
blockade. We know we can do it and do it in a way which adequately
accommodates Israel's legitimate security concerns."
He
also said that his organisation had been working with Israeli
authorities to get cement into Gaza, which showed that it could be
done.
"If we can do it for two months, we can do it for
two years. If we can do it for a few trucks, we can do it for a few
tens of thousands of trucks," he said.
International
criticism has been heaped on the blockade following the incidents this
week, including by Israel's ally the United States.
A
spokesman for the White House National Security Council said: "We are
working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other
international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more
goods and assistance to Gaza.
"The current arrangements
are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties
to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid
any unnecessary confrontations.
U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay increased the pressure.
"International
humanitarian law prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of
warfare and ... it is also prohibited to impose collective punishment
on civilians," she said.
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