Burmese Refugees Battle Oppression in U.S. Plant
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Aung Oo fled his native Burma with his family to escape the brutality, ethnic violence and repression of that country’s military dictatorship.
After being allowed to legally migrate to the United States under the refugee resettlement program, he faces another kind of oppression―working for an employer that pays him half what he should make and that forces him and his co-workers, both native and foreign, to work in unsafe conditions.
So on Sept. 8, Aung Oo and a U.S.-born employee, Tim Hand, went on strike against W&K Steel on behalf of all the other 35 workers in the plant, located in Rankin, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh. They are still on strike.
In a letter to W&K, they demanded that management correct such egregious safety violations as water running down into electrical panels, frayed extension cords with exposed wires in standing water, lack of ventilation, exposure to extreme cold weather and lack of safety training. They also demanded an end to discrimination and equal pay for equal work.
AFL-CIO Demands Release of Burma Activist Suu Kyi
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The AFL-CIO is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Burmese democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma’s military dictators today sentenced her to 18 months of house arrest after her conviction on trumped-up charges.
Suu Kyi, 64, was arrested in May 2009, just six days short of completing her most recent house arrest. She was taken to prison after a U.S. citizen swam a mile across a lake to her home and stayed overnight, which violated the terms of her house arrest. She has been under house arrest a total of 14 of the past 20 years.
In a statement, the AFL-CIO said:
The verdict in her so-called trial is a travesty. Her continued imprisonment is extremely dangerous to her future well-being as she is reportedly in poor health and in need of medical care.
AFL-CIO Calls for Release of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi
The AFL-CIO and the global union movement are demanding that Burma’s military dictatorship immediately free Nobel laureate and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since last Thursday. She was just six days short of completing her house arrest. She was taken to prison after a U.S. citizen swam a mile across a lake to her home and stayed overnight, which violated the terms of her house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years and reportedly is in poor health and in need of medical care. The military regime has given no indication that it will grant her freedom and just last week denied an appeal made by her lawyer for her release. A few days ago, she was transferred from her home to Insein Prison and threatened with new charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the legitimate leader of Burma and a recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, won 82 percent of the parliamentary seats in a national election in 1990, but the military regime refused to cede power.
Solidarity Center Condemns Arrests of Burmese Union Members
Update: The Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) reports that after a concerted international campaign, five FTUB members and their families who had been arrested by the Burmese military junta were released on April 10.
The AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center and the global union movement are condemning the April 1 arrests of five members of the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB) by the Burmese military junta. The union members were arrested as they returned home from the first national FTUB Congress.
No charges have been announced in the arrests. According to a statement by the FTUB, the delegates are likely being held in interrogation centers in the Rangoon area, and FTUB spokespersons believe they may be being tortured.
Solidarity Center Director Ellie Larson says:
These arrests are clearly unlawful and violate international human rights standards that the Burmese government has ratified. They are an insult to the global trade union movement and to workers everywhere.
