Feb. 8: International Day of Action for Democracy in Egypt
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Trade unions around the world will join a Day of Action for Democracy in Egypt on Feb. 8. Union members are joining with community and human rights groups to organize rallies at Egyptian embassies. They will continue to press their governments to demand democratic transition in Egypt and to ensure that those responsible for the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations are brought to justice.
Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), says:
We will continue to push the international community to put pressure on the regime of Hosni Mubarak to respect the wishes of the Egyptian people. Our support for Egypt’s independent trade unions and the other forces for democracy is unwavering, and we are determined that there shall be no impunity for the people responsible for the killings, assaults and intimidation of innocent people.
Global Unions Demand End to Egyptian Violence
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The global union movement is demanding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak immediately stop the violence being organized by his regime against peaceful demonstrators, including children and thousands of trade unionists.
Sharan Burrow, general secretary off the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which includes the AFL-CIO, said:
The Egyptian president and government must listen to the legitimate demands of the massive number of peaceful demonstrators. These people represent the wide spectrum of Egyptian society, including the independent trade unions, and the repression against them is totally unacceptable. The authorities must put in place the measures necessary to ensure a peaceful transition to genuine democracy without any further delay.
The ITUC also charges that Mubarak’s regime is instructing government employees to join the violence against those seeking change, as well as dismissing employees who have joined the peaceful protest movement.
Egypt’s Workers Struggle to Keep Unions Free
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The first recorded workers’ strike was more than 5,000 years ago by the builders of the Pyramids in Egypt. Today, despite substantial government repression and persecution of workers, thousands of Egyptian workers are carrying out that long tradition of protest across their country. The Solidarity Center reports that from 2004–2008, some 1.7 million workers in Egypt participated in 1,900 strikes and their voices have grown even louder in the last two years.
This week, the AFL-CIO honored the courageous men and women of the Egyptian workers’ movement with the prestigious George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award, the first time the U.S. union movement has honored a workers’ organization from the Middle East.
Egyptian Workers To Receive Meany-Kirkland Award
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| Striking Egyptian property tax collectors demonstrate in downtown Cairo in 2007. |
Angered by severe economic pressures and frustrated by inadequate representation, Egyptian workers started to take to the streets in a wave of strikes and other public protests in the early 2000s. Despite strong government repression, more than 2 million Egyptian workers have been involved in 3,000 strikes, demonstrations and sit-ins since 2004.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council, meeting in Orlando, Fla., this week, awarded the Egyptian union movement for the 2009 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award. The award will be formally presented later this year. Click here to read the resolution in English and here for Arabic.
The Egyptian government has responded to the protests with a mixture of red tape and outright violence. Yet Egyptian workers haven’t backed down: As a result, the council said:
They are leading the most significant social movement in the Arab world since World War II, and the largest labor unrest in Egypt since the late 19th century. Egyptian workers are continuing to challenge their employers, their unions and their nation’s government.
Tell Policymakers Why Colombia Free Trade Is a Bad Idea
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After eight years of being pushed out of discussions over bad trade agreements, America’s working people now have a chance to personally let policymakers know what they really think about one of the most controversial trade deals.
In an announcement in the July 29 Federal Register, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) asks for comments on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. USTR is conducting a review of labor-related issues in the context of the agreement and is seeking “comment from the public to assist the USTR in working with the Colombian government to secure continued progress in ensuring that Colombia’s workers can fully exercise their fundamental labor rights.”
Written comments are due by noon, Sept. 15, 2009. Comments should be submitted electronically online at www.regulations.gov. For alternatives to online submissions, contact Gloria Blue at 202-395-3475.
Colombian Workers’ Rights Activist Nominated for Meany-Kirkland Award
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Seven years ago, Colombian union leader Jorge Dario Hoyos was assassinated. But his death did not silence his family’s search for justice. Today, his daughter, Yessika, is following in her father’s steps, risking her life in pursuit of workers’ rights and challenging the power of corporations and a government that does little to protect the rights and lives of workers.
Today, the AFL-CIO Executive Council, meeting in Miami, nominated Yessika Hoyos for the 2008 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award. Click here to read the resolution.
Hoyos, a lawyer, has been fighting tirelessly to bring her father’s killers to justice and to end the cycle of violence in her native land. Even though the low-level trigger men responsible for her father’s death have been prosecuted, the masterminds who ordered Dario Hoyos’ death have not been found—an all-too-common scenario in the deadliest country in the world for union members.
The Colombian government has not vigorously investigated or prosecuted the killing of trade union members. At the current pace of investigations and trials, it would take 37 years to prosecute the backlog of cases. And the caseload is growing—the rate of killings, which had fallen for a few years, jumped sharply last year by 25 percent, says José Luciano Sanin, director of Escuela Nacional Sindical (National Union School), a leading Colombian think tank.
