A conference o­n �National Policy for Home-based Workers� was held at Ashoka Hotel in the Indian capital of New Delhi o­n January 18-20. A total of 47 participants from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal attended the conference. From Bangladesh, home-based worker leader Dilruba Anguri, Joint Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar and other home-based workers in the country participated in the workshop. Decisions taken in the workshop are including the rights and concerns of home-based workers mentioned in the Strategic Action Plan as priority issues in the upcoming SAARC Summit in April 2007, for mulating national policies for home-based workers, increasing trade opportunities for home-based workers by exclusive retail platforms and trade promotion initiatives, ratifying ILO Convention 177, supporting Development of the SAARC Gender Database to include data o­n Home-Based Workers and recognizing HomeNet South Asia as a representational body of home-based workers.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country, o­n the verge of achieving developed nation status. Malaysian people are a caring people concerned about justice and human rights. Today, there are about 1.8 million registered (or documented) migrant workers in Malaysia. 15 countries now supply workers in various employment sectors in Malaysia with the largest number coming from Indonesia (1.2 million ) followed by Nepal which provides 170,000 workers. Other sending countries include India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

According to government estimates, there is an equivalent number of unregistered (or undocumented) migrant workers in Malaysia, and today that means at least 1.8 million undocumented workers. The actual figure of unregistered (or undocumented) migrant workers in Malaysia could be about 5 million. This estimate is supported by the fact that official entry-exit records in 2004 showed that there were about 5,852,997 persons or 38% of the total arrivals overstaying. In fact, recently our Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad was reported saying that 800 to 900 foreign workers arrive at the KL International Airport daily(Star,14/10/06), and that did not include entry through land and sea. Undocumented migrants can enter Malaysia so much more easily by sea and land, avoiding immigration and customs authorities and that is, I believe, the manner of entry employed by the majority of undocumented migrants.

Chinese authorities in a Tibetan region of northwest Gansu province have arrested a monk, possibly for helping local people listen to Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcasts, local residents said. "Jamyang Gyatso, a monk at Bora monastery in Amdo Labrang [in Chinese, Xiahe] was taken away o­n the evening of Jan. 8 by Chinese security officials," a resident of Labrang told RFA's Tibetan service."On the night Jan. 8 he was told that somebody wanted to see him outside. When he went out, he never came back that night," the source said.A member of the Bora monastery said officials at the monastery later discovered police had turned over Jamyang Gyatso's room.

On Friday, November 17, the Gina Relations Workers Union (GRWU) met with representatives of the Clover Group, owners of the Gina Form Bra Factory in Bangkok, Thailand. Representatives from The Limited (makers of Victoria�s Secret brand lingerie and buyers from the Gina factory) also attended. Gina workers have been fighting to keep their unionized factory open after receiving word in early September that the Clover Group was going to close the factory and shift orders to China or Cambodia. After lengthy negotiations, The Clover Group agreed to pay all outstanding bonuses and legally required severance pay and approximately three-and-a-half months additional salary above the legal minimum severance pay for each worker. The package, worth approximately $1.6 million US Dollar, is an exceptional agreement in a country where even legal obligations are routinely ignored when factories close. It is the hope of the union that this settlement will set a positive precedent.

Revolutionary greetings from All Pakistan Trade Union Federation!

APTUF is holding its National Conference in this crucial time when the multinationals; the financial speculators; the international financial institutions such as the WTO, World Bank and IMF; and all the governments in their service -- have declared an economic and political war against the workers, against their organizations, and against the peoples. The struggles of resistance of workers against discriminatory policies will succeed in unitying working people the world over -- from North to South and from East to West. This requires a united struggle of oppressed and exploited workers/peoples to stop the offensive of war and destruction, which is leading the world to the brink of barbarism.

"...in this place, there is no boss banging over or taking advantage of us. There is no threat and insult. Most importantly, here is our own factory..."

This is the story of what happened after over 900 workers arrived for work at the Bed & Bath Factory in Bangkok o­n the morning of October 7th 2002 to find that the gates were locked and their bosses had run away, leaving all without o­ne cent of compensation. About 400 workers decided to fight for their rights and took action by camping o­n the ground-floor of the Ministry of Labour Building, where they remained for three months - until the authorities recognised their request in January 2003.

During the months preceeding the closure of the B & B factory the workers were producing for many brand names, in all for some 60 logos. The factory produced for brands like NIKE, ADIDAS, LEVI, HARLEY- DAVIDSON and for many smaller brands and shops in the USA ordering through agencies e.g. HADDAD the largest agency in the USA .

For more information, please visit: http://thailabour.org/index.html

Today, more than a thousand five hundred workers from seven states in Malaysia held a three-hour demonstration at Parliament house. The kind of mobilisation done by the factory and Union Coalition of JERIT o­n a working day would put even political parties and the Trade Union Movement to shame. The Government of Malaysia has declared that its ambition is to go for zero-strike target emphasising that workers' problems in Malaysia has been resolved. Union membership is at an all time low at less than 8%. Meanwhile the Malaysian workers continue to suffer the o­n-going neoliberal slaughter and other anti-working class measures. Under this serious problems facing the Malaysian workers, what is needed is a Workers Movement, which goes to the street to address the rice-bowl issues of the workers. Not a workers movement, which is comfortable in just representing workers for dismissal cases and conduction CA at Industrial courts.

Some 1,000 Thai lingerie workers plan to protest outside the US embassy over a labour dispute, defying the post-coup government's ban o­n staging rallies, a union member said Saturday.The laid-off workers from Gina Form Bra, which makes underwear for US apparel giants such as Victoria's Secret, Calvin Klein and Gap, will rally o­n Sunday to demand severance payments, the union member said. Since a bloodless coup o­n September 19 that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra's government, Thai military leaders have imposed martial law, scrapped planned elections, banned public gatherings and threatened action against media. But the union member said they had no choice but to protest and insisted their planned gathering was not politically motivated.

"Of course, we are afraid of martial law, but we are really suffering," said the union member, who declined to be named.

KCTU/KGEU Breaking News #2 - Sep. 22, 2006

In Nam-gu(district, municipality), Ulsan Metropolitan City, at 12:10 pm. the riot cops broke the wall of the KGEU local office to storm into and shut down the union office. In Geoje-gun(county), Gyeongnam-do(province), hundreds of riot cops have been deployed inside and outside of the building and, as of 12:10 pm., are learing away barricades that the union members established. More than 100 KGEU members are holding a sit-in protest around the union office and the confrontation continues.

On Friday the Security Council voted 10 - 4, plus o­ne abstention, in favour of putting Burma o­n its formal agenda for the first time. This is a major success, and means the UN is finally taking up its responsibility to address the situation in Burma, after 16 years of avoiding the issue. Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, described the vote as "a step toward finding political solutions to our problems." While getting Burma o­n the agenda is a significant step forward, we still have a struggle ahead of us to persuade the Council to pass a binding resolution to require change in Burma.

You can read more about this campaign here: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/unitednations.php

Written by Indoleft ,Wednesday, 13 September 2006
Jakarta -- o­n September 10 the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) held a demonstration at the State Palace in Jakarta against new forms of colonialism and demanded that the government set a standard national wage. The action, which had been going o­n since 1pm, involved more than 100 people from a number of labour organisations affiliated with the ABM including the Indonesian Trade Union Action Committee (KASBI), the Indonesian Labor Union Confederation (GASPERMINDO), the Indonesian Automotive Trade Union (SPOI) and the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI).

Two KGEU offices have been forcefully closed up to now. o­ne is the KGEU Gyeongnam Regional Branch office at Gyeongnam Provincial Government, and this was forcefully closed down and sealed off by the authorities o­n August 30th. The other is the KGEU Gyeonggi Regional Branch and provincial government Chapter office at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, which was forcefully closed down and sealed off with iron plates o­n May 27th.

The MOGAHA insisted that, as of August 31st, six KGEU local offices have been "voluntarily" closed down as of August 31st. But it is not true. 2 of them were not union offices, 2 others are still used as KGEU offices and the rest are those where the KGEU chapters had stopped working long before. This is a desperate attempt by the Korean government to try to 'prove' that there are substantial move to "transform illegal organisations into legal trade unions".

On August 16, over 1,000 members of the Pohang local union, an affiliate of the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Union (KFCITU), KCTU were participating in a legal and peaceful demonstration to protest the death of o­ne of their colleague, Ha Jeung Keun, who died as result of severe beating he suffered under the hands of the riot police in a demonstration to support the union's strike that began o­n July 1. In the midst of a peaceful procession, where some union members wore funeral dress and held photos of Ha Jeung Keun, the police blocked the union members from marching toward the National Police headquarters. Unable to proceed further, the union chose to conduct a sitdown demonstration o­n the streets of Seoul. The riot police responded by forcibly arresting the union members. In the end 736 union members were arrested including key leadership of the KCTU, the Korean Democratic Labor Party, and the KFCITU.

Publicis Thailand, the Thai subsidiary of French-based global public relations giant Publicis Groupe has withdrawn its libel lawsuit against Junya Yimprasert (fondly known as Lek), coordinator of the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC). Lek had been charged with "defamation by propagation" after the TLC website republished a CSR Asia Weekly article about an unfair dismissal case filed by Publicis Thailand employees. Following an international campaign calling upon Publicis to unconditionally drop their suit against Lek, o­n June 20th Publicis lawyers withdrew the suit from Bangkok�s Southern Criminal Court.

Crispin Beltran is a militant trade unionist in the Philippines. He is a member of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and was elected to the Philippines Congress.

In February Philippines President Gloria Arroyo declared a state of emergency and began a crackdown o­n political opponents in response to an alleged foiled military coup. Crispin Beltran was arbitrarily detained by the Arroyo administration o­n 25 February o­n charges that he was "part of a conspiracy to commit rebellion." These charges were never substantiated and the warrant used to arrest Beltran was dated back to 1985 - that is during the Marcos dictatorship.

Each May 1^st brings challenges and victories for workers around the world. Challenges, which are caused and made complex by neo-liberalism, patriarchy, greed of transnational corporations, conflicts, war o­n �terror�, lack of civil, political and socio-economic rights. Women workers face even greater challenges due to the inherent patriarchal structure of society which permeates the work place as well. Women workers in the informal economy and those living in areas of conflict are particularly the most vulnerable to exploitation. Yet, despite whatever challenges and hurdles there are, workers and peoples movements around the world struggle and fight against these oppressive and exploitative forces every single day. We celebrate the 1^st of May as a day to rejoice the solidarity among workers and the battles we have won.

              Long Live Workers Solidarity!

On 6^th March 2006, at 6.30 pm another fire broke out in a factory - Saiem Fashion Ltd. There are two other factories in the same building called SK Sweater, Radiance Sweater. These factories are in the district Gazipur. We received names of three dead workers . They are :

Mrs. Rahima, Mrs Rafija and Miss Lucky . More than 50 workers were injured . We got names of 31 injured workers.

National Garment Workers Federation has good contact with the workers of this factory and we are very much involved in this case . NGWF Gazipur branch has been involved from the beginning with the workers. Besides looking after the injured, NGWF Gazipur branch organized a protest demonstration in the area and NGWF central organized a demonstration in the Dhaka city o­n 7th March at 3pm.

In the factory there have been some other violations like long working hours , absence of weekly holiday etc.
In solidarity
National Garments Workers Federation
Dhaka

March10- Three recognised confederations- GEFONT, NTUC and DECONT have issued a joint press release as the immediate reaction against the Royal step imposing anti-worker ordinance. Signed by the Chairs the release states - "Present unconstitutional government of Nepal has imposed most unfair, unfavourable and anti-worker Royal Ordinance to amend existing Labour Act-1992, by defying previous understanding made by Central Labour Advisory Committee- CLAC (a high level tripartite committee)."

"We strongly oppose this ordinance", the release says- "We demand with the Government to withdraw and appeal to the workers to defy this ordinance and also request the employers not to implement it."

"We would like to inform that we o­n behalf of the Confederations are launching phase wise protest programmes of our movement. As the first phase of the programme, we announce the "Nation-wide Workers Demonstration" o­n March 18, 2006."

New Delhi, March 1. (PTI): The Government has banned the grant of emigration clearance to women below the age of 30 years seeking employment as housemaids or domestic workers in any foreign country.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi admitted that it had come to the notice of the Government that several Indian women going abroad for jobs face exploitation.

He, however, said, "Though there have been general reports regarding exploitation of Indian women going abroad for employment, there has been no specific complaint."

He ruled out the possibility of any separate legislation in this regard.

Source: The Hindu

The police filed charges o­n Monday against 16 people suspected of plotting to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as dozens of protesters tried to storm the Philippine Legislature, officials said. Among those charged were Gregorio (Gringo) Honasan, a former opposition senator and veteran of past coup attempts in the 1990s, as well as five members of the House of Representatives, a Communist rebel leader and some soldiers. They "conspired to overthrow the Arroyo government," prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said. The charges were for rebellion, a non-bailable capital offense punishable by at least 40 years in jail.

Arroyo declared a state of emergency o­n Friday to stop what was believed to be a coup plot by the political opposition and some in military and civilian groups, officials said.

About 100 leftist protesters, yelling anti-government slogans, barged into the House of Representatives o­n Monday to denounce the decree and the arrest of a leftist lawmaker, but were pushed back by the police, officials said.

Shouting "No to martial law!" and displaying anti-Arroyo placards, the protesters ran past guards and entered the House lobby, but other guards quickly shut the main door to the plenary hall, where lawmakers had just gone into recess after opening their session. Arroyo said Monday that her government would work to avoid an economic fallout from recent political turmoil, o­ne day after disgruntled marine officers ended a standoff that was viewed as a challenge to her leadership.

A five-storey building has collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, leaving at least 15 dead and 50 injured.

Soldiers have been brought in to help police and firefighters search for anyone still trapped. Locals say 200 people may have been in the building.

Officials say the building caved in as renovation work was being carried out.

It comes o­nly two days after a fire swept through a textile mill in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, killing more than 50 people.

Last April, more than 60 people died when an illegally-constructed garment factory collapsed near Dhaka.

'Swallowed up'

The BBC's Waliur Rahman in Dhaka says the latest building to collapse was being renovated for use as a hospital after a garment factory moved out. (!!!!)

Locals say more than 200 people may have been inside the building when it started to crumble.

Senior army officer Nizam Ahmed, who has been overseeing the rescue operation, told the BBC that he feared many might still be trapped.

Shahidul Islam told the AFP news agency he had seen the building crumble as he carried back tea for his boss.

"The first two floors of the building were swallowed by the ground which gave way within just a few minutes," he said.

"Some people who were working in the front portion of the building managed to escape before the building collapsed."

Dhaka: At least 51 people, mostly women, were killed and over 100 injured in a major fire that broke out in a textile factory in Bangladesh�s southeastern port city of Chittagong, officials said o­n Friday. The fire swept through the KTS Composite Textile factory crowded with at least 500 night-shift workers, most of them women, o­n Thursday night, they said.

"A total of 51 people, 45 of them women, died so far in the blaze," a police official told reporters outside the factory building which was still emitting smoke.

More than 100 others were also injured in the fire which broke out apparently due to an electric short circuit.

No matter how o­ne looks at it, the mega-deal between Shin Corp and Temasak Holdings has made Singapore look bad. During his weekly radio address o­n Saturday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra praised the Singapore counterpart in taking up the deal as "an act of real courage". With a twist of irony, he then said, with tongue in cheek, he would not have bought it because there is nothing in it.

He went o­n to say that everything Shin Corp sold to Temasek would belong to the Singaporean government, and would not be in private hands. "So, how can I sell off my country?" he wondered.

Thaksin�s comment came less than three weeks after the Singaporean government�s investment agency concluded the historic purchase of 49 per cent of Shin Corp for a record US$1.87 billion (Bt73.6 billion). So the jury is still out. But the ridiculous comment he made reveals Thaksin�s growing anxiety over the sale as the public outcry over it has intensified.

Over the past two weeks, local media outlets have criticised the deal as "selling off" Thailand. It was an extraordinary transaction because it involved the sale of government concessions, including telecommunication wavebands, satellite parking and air traffic rights and iTV. Several newspapers even dwelled o­n the impropriety of selling a company that had been given the Royal Garuda emblem.

Biggest anti-government demonstration since the bloody 1992 �May Crisis� throws his future and legitimacy into uncertainty

Thaksin Shinawatra, the embattled premier, yesterday suffered the biggest setback of his political career as nearly 100,000 Thais gathered at Bangkok�s Royal Plaza to demand his ouster in the largest anti-government rally in over a decade.

At the biggest show of people power since the bloody May 1992 uprising, which overthrew the Suchinda government, Thais of all walks of life from the capital and around the country chanted: "Thaksin get out. Thaksin get out".

The largely peaceful protesters, many of whom wore yellow shirts, included disgruntled teachers, labour and community activists, environmentalists, provincial people affected by government policies and members of Bangkok�s middle-class.

Dear Friends

The Diplomacy Training Program is now calling for applications for three training programs to be held in the first half of 2006. The programs are:

1. Human Rights and Migrant Workers in the Asia-Pacific region � a training program for advocates. This will be held in partnership with Migrant Forum Asia from 6th � 10th March. Deadline for Applications � Jan 20^th.

2. Indigenous Peoples Human Rights and Advocacy � a training program for Indigenous Peoples advocates to be run from 3^rd � 12^th May in Darwin, Australia. This year there will be a special focus o­n the Right to Health and Mr Paul Hunt, the UN Special Rapporteur o­n the Right to Health will participate. Deadline for Applications � March 3^rd.

3. The 16^th Annual Human Rights and Peoples� Diplomacy Training Program for Human Rights Defenders to be held from 5th � 23rd June in Timor Leste. Deadline for Applications � March 31^st.

Details of each of these programs and application forms can be found o­n DTP�s website � www.dtp.unsw.edu.au

Further information is also available through contacting [email protected]

Karmojibi Nari, as a member of 'Make Trade Fair Alliance' in Bangladesh, will organize a meeting and a rally o­n 25th November 2005 at 2-00 pm at Muktangon, Dhaka o­n the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

Several thousand working women engaged in formal and informal sectors will join the meeting and rally to raise their concerns o­n development related issues and against the 'hypocrisy and double standards' of the multilateral trading system.

The call of the event is:

WTO MUST GUARANTEE

FREE MARKET ACCESS FOR LDC PRODUCTS

FREE MOVEMENT OF LABOUR FROM LDCs

You are requested to attend the event. Your endeavor will support the development concerns in trade negotiations and people�s resistance against the �hypocrisy and double standards� of the multilateral trading system.

Ziaul Hoque Mukta

Director, Karmojibi Nari

3/6 Segun Bagicha, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Tel: +8802 9558740, +8802 9568111, +8802 9570967 Fax: +8802 7160681

Cell: (+88) 0171 85 63 60 Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) {Communist Party of India (Marxist)} congratulates the working class all over the country who responded in a big way to the general strike called by the Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions. Millions of workers belonging to different sectors, both organised and unorganised, joined the strike in support of the 16-point charter of demands. The strike, apart from the industrial sector, extended to the banks, insurance, state government and central government employees.

Mass organisations of the peasantry, agricultural workers, women, youth and students have also conducted various protest actions in support of their demands and in solidarity with the strike.

Diosdado "Ka Fort" Fortuna, 51, was riding his motorcycle o­n his way home from the Nestl� picketline at around 6:15 pm when suspects shot him at close range in front of Sagara Factory in Canlubang. Fortuna was felled by 2 bullet shots o­n the chest. He was rushed to the nearby Calamba Doctors Hospital where he was declared dead o­n arrival.Fortuna is also the union president in Nestle, which has been o­n strike for more than 3 years. He assumed union presidency right after then president Meliton Roxas was assassinated in front of the Nestl� gates in 1988.

A picket and press conference o­n the beatings of four Filipino workers in the Formosa Plastics Group plant in Mailiao last August 2 was a huge success this morning. Thirty participants from different human rights, migrant and local workers organizations including students and religious participated in said activity.

Sr. Wei Wei of Rerum Novarum read the participating groups petition letter addressed to the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA). A skit about the exploitative conditions of migrant workers in the said factory was also presented. The broker and employer were depicted as vampires preying o­n the workers with the blessings of the CLA. Most of the participants in the skit were students of Soochow University.

Almost all the representatives of the organizations present spoke about their opinions about the sad event in Mailiao and demanded that this be investigated. Major broadcast and broadsheet media covered the activity.

It�s a case of yet another ranking where India languishes at the bottom. Even as MPs debate the fine print of the women�s reservation bill, here are some numbers that should make them sit up and take notice. According to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 134th among 183 countries in terms of the percentage of women legislators (8.3%) in the national parliament (Lok Sabha). In comparison, the parliament of Pakistan includes 21.3% women, placing it at a highly respectable rank of 40, higher than many western countries. The ranking is helped in no small measure by a law in 2002, under which 60 of the 342 seats in the national assembly (17%) are to be allocated to women. While no country has more women than men in its national parliament, Rwanda heads the list with an impressive 48.8% of its parliamentarians being women. Again, it is committed to sending at least 30% women to parliament. Not surprisingly, Nordic countries dominate the top positions, with 39.9% of their parliament seats being occupied by women.

Latest UpdatesThe latest situation is that the factory management has obtained Stay Order against the union, not to hold meeting within 200 meter, union also filed a petition in labor court not to terminate any worker till the pending of the industrial dispute. Management is continue committing unfair labor practice, transferring office bearers, activists, putting pressure o­n them to leave the union and taking different measure to harass the members of the union. So it is requested that kindly assist and support to win the fight!

The Victorian Trades Hall Council and the Australian Council of Trade Unoions called stop-works and rallies to defeat the proposed Industrial Relation laws aimed at cutting wages, conditions and the rights of all workers.

120,000 workers marched in Melbourne in a massive display of unity and determination.

Many tens of thousands of workers also rallied in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Darwin as well as in regional centres.

The laws of the land, giving workers the right to form trade unions have been violated o­nce again, resulting in the �double sacking� of Helen Mary, the secretary of the newly formed Kamaya Electrical Workers Union. In addition, the company has turned down the claim for recognition of the union o­n the flimsiest of excuses.

It is Union busting at its prime. A company who just can't see a Union being formed. It needs to be crippled before they start asking for some decent demands. This seems to be encouragement to the workers in Malaysia. The union membership continues to decline as exploitation soars. This is a weird scenario but yes Union Busting is still the rule of the game.

Helen was sacked by Kamaya Elektric Sdn Bhd o­n 18 May 2005 for leading the formation of the union in Kamaya. Subsequently, barely five days after joining another company, Ultrawin Sdn Bhd, she was sacked again, o­n 17/6/05, o­n the grounds of her involvement in union activity in Kamaya. Helen was told by her new boss that Kamaya Sdn Bhd had telephoned him and passed o­n the information about her!

Unionists claim that the abolition of international import quotas for textiles and garments and the implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade initiatives could result in layoffs for 300,000 of the o­ne million Thai textile and garment workers. There are about 2,300 textile and garment factories in Thailand, but experts believe the number will eventually fall to 1,500.

�The workers are almost unable to bear the situation,� said Premwadee Chaijantha, a leading textile union member who has been working for 14 years in the industry and earns Bt207 a day.

Please find below additional information o­n conditions at Spectrum Sweater, the Bangladesh garment factory producing for major European brands including Zara, Carrefour and Karstadt Quelle, that collapsed April 11th, leading to the death and injury of hundreds of men and women. Also included below is news o­n the reaction of companies that were sourcing at the factory, as well as information o­n additional demands to be followed up o­n in relation to this terrible tragedy. It�s clear that efforts to push companies to take responsibility in this very serious case has had some effect but o­ngoing pressure will be needed to see that the demands voiced by workers and their organizations in Bangladesh will be met. Since the collapse of the factory o­n April 11th there have been several large-scale protests in Bangladesh to express outrage at the factory collapse in Savar and to draw attention to the need to follow-up o­n the numerous issues that require attention. More actions are planned for this week and in conjunction with May Day.

CONDITIONS PRIOR TO COLLAPSE

In addition to the overtime violations reported o­n at the time of the collapse, reports from various sources say that Spectrum Sweater was in violation of many labor laws and code of conduct provisions prior to the collapse. These include numerous safety issues. If safety issues at this facility had been addressed in a thorough and timely fashion it might have been possible that the factory collapse could have been prevented and many lives not needlessly lost.

(IANS News) Dhaka: At least 10 workers died when a factory building near the Bangladesh capital collapsed o­n them and police said more than 100 workers are trapped inside the rubble.Rescue teams recovered the 10 bodies from the rubble of a multi-storey sweater-making factory at Savar, 35 km from the Bangladesh capital. Police say the death toll could mount. Bangladesh Army, police, fire service and civil defence personnel have joined the rescue operations. "We can hear people screaming inside the collapsed building. There are still many people alive inside the rubble," a fireman told IANS. More than 200 people were working in the night shift at the factory when it collapsed early Monday. Savar Police said they were yet to ascertain the cause of the building collapse. "Faulty construction could be a reason for the accident," said the police. Earlier accounts had said the building had collapsed due to a boiler explosion.

The UNHCR is helping to feed and shelter Aceh's homeless. The UN refugee agency has announced it is withdrawing from the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh o­n Friday. The UNHCR's pullout comes ahead of the introduction of new restrictions o­n foreign aid agencies doing o­nly emergency relief in the region. Jakarta apparently failed to approve the agency's plans, which include the large-scale building of new homes. Correspondents say Jakarta has uneasy relations with the UNHCR, which it distrusts over ethnic Acehnese aims.

Regional UNHCR representative Robert Ashe expressed disappointment, but said his staff were happy to return if asked. The Indonesian government originally set a target of 26 March - three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami - for the withdrawal of all foreign aid agencies which are not contributing to long-term reconstruction.

15.01.05

� 15.30: Armed contact between TNA/GAM and TNI troops at Buket Drien, Sputh Idi , East Acheh, no casualties reported o­n GAM side. No information available o­n TNI side. [source: local GAM commander].

� 20.45: Armed contact at Paya Gaboh, o­ne TNA/GAM fighter, M. Saleh ben Yacob, 24, from Blang village, Siguci Tunong, was killed, 1 M16 captured by TNI. Both incidents took place 8 km from Acheh-Medan trunk road. [source: local GAM commander].

16.01.05

� 15.40: Armed contact occurred at Seuneubok Bayu � Bandar Alam, 15 km from Acheh-Medan trunk road. Aswandi, 27, TNA soldier from Matang Tublok village, was killed. [source: local GAM commander].

� Nasir bin Abu Bakar, 20, farmer, South Idi, arrested by TNI Kosrad 330 based at Blang Rambong o­n 11.11.04 in Idi, was found dead today with gunshot wound. His motorcycle taken when arrested is now used by a soldier of the base. [source: local contact]

Date: 20 Jan 2005
Banda Aceh, Indonesia (dpa) - More than three weeks after the devastating tsunami pulverised the Indonesian province of Aceh, some communities have yet to receive any aid, the Red Cross said Thursday."There are small pockets of communities that have not received international assistance as of yet,'' said Langdon Greenhalgh, programme coordinator for Banda Aceh for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.The Red Cross official declined to put a figure o­n the number of communities without aid, but stressed that the small communities along the west coast consisted of around 100 people each."Those are the areas that we are trying to target and are trying to get to as rapidly as possible. We are mobilizing the support that is necessary to serve them. It is simply a question of access,'' Greenhalgh said.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G Rajasekaran was ready to step down from his post but changed his mind upon learning of N Siva Subramaniam's nomination as a challenger for the key post.

"Personally, I had already told my supporters that I was stepping down. But the moment Siva was nominated for the secretary-general post, I just had to reconsider my decision," he said, referring to the recently-concluded election. "My supporters demanded to know if I really wanted to hand over the MTUC affairs to someone widely perceived as a government spokesperson. I couldn't abandon ship... not just yet."

Information from Isis International - Manila for those seeking for ways to help
may contact these women's groups.

1. The National Council of Women's Organisations Malaysia (NCWO) has set up a Humanitarian Aid Fund and several collection centres to receive public donations
for the victims.

2. The National Commission for Women (India) today called o­n the state governments to ensure that relief measures reach women and children expeditiously in the Tsunami-hit areas and asked women's organisations to pitch in with their resources.

Corruption among the Indonesian military is hampering relief efforts in Aceh, which is the hardest hit area in the Tsunami disaster.

"We are concerned that the big amount of money pumped in to rebuild the region might not be successful if the aid is 'controlled' by the military," said AltAid Aceh-Tsunami representative Alice Nah today.

"They (the military) have prioritised themselves over the Aceh people," she told a press conference at the United Nations office in Kuala Lumpur.

In view of this, she urged civil society groups, non-governmental organisations and individuals to coordinate with the UN to assist the tsunami victims.

Because the politicians in power take for granted that the stance of privatisation opponents is o­ne of "compromise", anti-privatisation supporters will take a more aggressive approach by campaigning against the ruling political party, o­ne of the protest leaders said yesterday. "From now o­n we will be an enemy of the Thai Rak Thai Party [TRT]. We will not vote for the party and if we know whom the party backs in the Bangkok governor's election, we won't vote for that candidate," said Pien Yongnu, chairman of the Network of Power and Water Utilities for the Country and the Public. He said the anti-privatisation workers would take whatever measures they deemed necessary to pressure the government o­n their demands.

The massacre of 11 Chinese road construction workers and an Afghan guard as they slept in their tents early Thursday was the deadliest against foreigners since the fall of the Taliban and dealt a setback to United States efforts to stabilize the country ahead of elections scheduled for September.

The men were among more than 100 Chinese engineers and construction workers who had recently arrived in Afghanistan to work o­n a World Bank project to rebuild a road running north from Kabul to the Tajikistan border. Some of those killed Thursday had been in Afghanistan o­nly a few days, the Chinese news agency reported.

The attack occurred at 1:30 a.m. about 20 miles south of Kunduz, in the normally peaceful northern part of the county, Afghan officials said. A group of some 20 gunmen in cars attacked the men as they slept, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Lutfullah Mashal, said.

This is what some experts are predicting will happen o­nce the current system of export quotas for the textile sector ends in 2005. China and India will be major competitors for Bangladesh�s garment industry, which alone makes up two-thirds of the country�s exports. With a work force consisting of 80% women and no alternative solution if jobs are lost, serious social problems could erupt in Bangladesh if there is a major recession in the textile industry. In a news briefing published o­n 9^th July 2004, the ICFTU stresses that Bangladeshi employers have sadly always resorted to solely relying o­n very cheap and easily exploitable workers in order to attract orders. This short-term approach is likely to earn them considerable setbacks in the liberalised market that will follow the ending of the Agreement o­n Textiles and Clothing (the successor to the Multi Fibre Arrangement). Some company bosses are beginning to realise, however, that improving their workers� conditions will also make their companies more productive.