Join AFT in Alleviating ‘Children’s Famine’ in Somalia
AFT sends us this report.
AFT President Randi Weingarten urged President Obama to “help marshal the humanitarian aid needed to halt the advance of the apocalyptic ‘children’s famine’ spreading through Somalia and neighboring nations in the Horn of Africa.”
President Obama has called a meeting of heads of state and ministers in New York this week to address the crisis.
Farm Workers Struggle One More Step Toward Democracy in Zimbabwe
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Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us a report from their journey through Africa. Read more at their blog, Border Jumpers.
Gertrude Hambira doesn’t look like someone who gets arrested regularly. Nor do the other women and men in suits who work with her at the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ). The union was formed in the mid-1980s to protect farm laborers. But arrest, harassment and even torture have been regular occupational hazards for Hambira—who is general secretary of GAPWUZ—and her staff for many years.
Unfortunately, things have not gotten much better since the 2008 elections, when Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe refused to cede power to the democratically elected Morgan Tsvangirai, a former union leader. The resulting power-sharing agreement has left the two sides battling for control as the nation plummets deeper into unemployment and poverty. At least 90 percent of the population is not part of the formal workforce.
Icelandic Volcano Means Lost Wages for Flower Workers in Africa
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Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us a report from their journey through Africa. Read more at their blog, Border Jumpers.
Flights resumed across Europe yesterday after clouds of ash from an Icelandic volcano left travelers stranded for days.
And while we feel deep sympathy for all the stories of weddings being canceled, funerals missed and family reunions delayed, the volcano’s impact on workers in Africa means many are losing much-needed wages.
It may be hard to believe, but much of the fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores in the United Kingdom are grown by African farmers. And the roses, orchids, carnations, irises and other flowers sold in Amsterdam and London are grown on huge flower plantations in Kenya and Ethiopia.
