Social Movements Assembly at the World Social Forum Nairobi, 24 January 2007

We, social movements from across Africa and across the world, have come together here in Nairobi at the 2007 World Social Forum to highlight and celebrate Africa and her social movements; Africa and her unbroken history of struggle against foreign domination, colonialism and neo-colonialism; Africa and her contributions to humanity; Africa and her role in the quest for another world.

We are here to celebrate and reaffirm the spirit of the World Social Forum as a space of struggle and solidarity which is open to all people and social movements regardless of their ability to pay.

Congratulatory Solidarity Message from Committee for Asian Women

To Ela Bhatt, SEWA

The Committee for Asian Women sends warm fraternal greetings, congratulations and solidarity wishes to Ela ben o­n winning the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Awards. The award is an acknowledgment of your courage and strong commitment to women and social justice. This recognition is also a victory for the women workers movement in India and Asia.

The Network Groups of CAW make up the vision and work of CAW in giving rise to a conscious women workers movement in Asia. Ela Ben�s and SEWA�s contribution to CAW as a network group has been valuable and pioneering. SEWA�s work and vision has contributed tremendously in bringing to light the issues of informal sector women workers. Ela ben�s commitment to fighting against socio-economic injustice and standing up for the rights of the marginalised women is commendable.

On behalf of all the Network Groups from 14 countries in Asia, CAW Executive Committee, Secretariat, friends and supporters of CAW; we extend our warmest congratulations to you, Ela Ben and we shout our strong solidarity support with the women workers of SEWA.

In Solidarity

CAW Secretariat

This is the statement from Hong Kong organisations sent to The Limited and Clover Group International denouncing them for not fixing a meeting with the union as agreed o­n 23rd NOvember in HK. Time has been passed and it is not acceptable that the Limited is just backing itself out in front of all the international campaigners and GIna workers sitting everyday outside the empty factory.

1 November 2006 

We are agitated by the lack of response from The Limited/Victoria�s Secret to the request of the Gina Relations Workers Union (GRWU) for a tripartite meeting with the union and Clover Group International in Hong Kong. The demand was made to The Limited/Victoria�s Secret by GRWU o­n 23 October and the US company consented to it. Yet it is deplorable and indeed causing an outrage in the international community now as in nine days� time The Limited could not even propose a fixed date for the meeting while more than 1000 workers are faced with joblessness and are struggling hard against it everyday outside the empty factory building. Gina Form Bra has officially closed down by now.

Early this morning, the People's Volunteer Corps (RELA) raided the urban neighborhood of Jalan Imbi in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, taking into their custody over two hundred individuals, including over 50 asylum seekers from Burma. Forty-five men and seven women from Burma's Chin State have been taken to Lenggeng detention camp in Selangor State, located two hours outside of Kuala Lumpur. Hundreds of thousands of Chins have fled from Chin State to escape severe ethnic and religious persecution committed by the military regime.The raid began around 3:00 am and lasted over o­ne hour. Over 100 RELA volunteers, Malaysia's controversial untrained reserve force charged with frequent misuse of powers, ordered some 2,000 residents living in the Jalan Imbi area out of their urban flats and into a parking lot. They then systematically checked for immigration documents. Those holding official UNHCR cards were released while those whose cases are pending before the UNHCR were put o­n lorries and taken to the local Rela office. Most of the residents in the Jalan Imbi area are Chin asylum seekers and refugees.

We Follow The Rule Of Law, Yet Our Rights Are Being Trampled

We, the striking workers from Chong Won Fashion Inc. (CWFI) and Philippines Jeon Garments, Inc. (PJI) at the Cavite Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) condemn to the strongest possible term the violence and the injury inflicted o­n us by the police and security forces of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). September 25 and 27 were the days we learned our painful lesson � that violence and repression is indeed a state policy!

We strongly condemn PEZA Director General Lilia de Lima for her unwritten order of food blockade, use of violence and superior force, and her blatant disregard of our rights to strike and to bargain collectively. Her office is hostile and its violent acts is an affront to the rights of the workers. De Lima�s order of food blockade had caused the arrest and detention and filing of fabricated charges of trespassing and inciting to sedition to eight (8) members of the Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) who were caught secretly-storing the food supplies of the striking workers at CWFI. We follow the rule of law, yet our rights are being trampled and our bodies are being assaulted violently. Our Korean companies arrogantly mocked our law, yet they are not being clubbed to suffer head and body injuries but rather enjoy full protection and relentless favour from the government.

4 October 2006, Geneva

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today expressed deep concern after the Sri Lankan Government informed it that the ICJ�s official representative would be prevented from entering the country to observe the inquest into the killing of 17 Action Internationale Contre la Faim (ACF) aid workers in Muttur in August.

On behalf of the Regional Consultation o­n Women Construction Workers in Chennai, India, held from the 25-30, August 2006, we would like to state some of our concerns. The consultation brought together women activists and trade unionists from Cambodia, Nepal, South Korea, The Philippines and India to discuss issues facing women construction workers in our own countries and in Asia as a whole.

The Regional Consultation was organized by Committee for Asian Women together with local construction workers� organizations and unions in Chennai, India. The Committee for Asian Women has been working o­n the issues of women workers for the last 28 years. We have been working with women workers� organizations and unions in over 15 countries.

We bring to your attention about the plight of domestic women workers, due to atrocities perpetrated by Mr.Raghupathy, Founder trustee of Raghupathy Trust, Founder of Thiruvallur Gurukulam, House Maids Service Home and South India Scheduled Tribes Welfare Association (Reg No 205/1972) situated at 579, Anna Salai, Saidapet, Chennai �15.

Destitute women have been cheated by calling to offer employment for and offering facilities for their children. Raghupthy Trust and specifically Mr.Raghupthy have been involved in the following criminal activities.

1.Forcing innocent women to give their children for adoption and selling them in the foreign countries.

2. Economic exploitatation of the women � not paying the wages.

3. Sexual exploitation of women and forcing the women in immoral traffic activities.

Greetings from Karmojibi Nari (KN). Trust you all are informed about the details of the recent labour uprising in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh. All quarters have been trying to mark the actions as a conspiracy rather labour grievance. The party in power blamed the party in opposition and the party in opposition blamed the party in power. Some ministers and factory owners blamed NGOs and neighbouring and competitor countries. KN understands that any kind of marking o­n the grievance as conspiracy will help the factory owners and state to avoid the concerns raised by the workers.

KN, since the day of workers uprising, has been arguing explicitly that there is no conspiracy but genuine labour grievances. Genuine labour grievances have caused the spontaneous and uncontrolled revolt of the workers. o­n 23 May, KN and other national non-government organizations that work o­n human rights, women rights and workers rights, have organized a joint press conference under the banner of Worker's Safety Forum [known as SNF, formed last year as a response to the Spectrum Incident] and have notified the point. The press conference has also noticed that lack of bargaining agent [ i.e. trade union] in the factory is the major reason behind the actions. The press conference demanded immediate end of all kind of harassment and violence against workers, cancellation of all cases filed against the workers, release of arrested workers, opening of the factories, payment of due wages, fixation of minimum wages, implementation of labour laws in the factories and formation of tripartite committee to solve the problems in ready-made garment factories.

UN Reform is high up o­n the agenda of this year�s UN Commission o­n the Status of Women (UN CSW) session. Two panel discussions o­n this topic were held--one at the NGO Consultation coordinated by the NGO Committee o­n the Status of Women and another organized by the International Women's Tribune Centre and the Heinrich Boll Foundation that specifically examined the UN Reform agenda�s relevance to women.

Following these, more discussions o­n this topic took place in regional caucuses as well as in the Linkage Caucus. In its statement to the official plenary o­n February 28, 2006, the Asia-Pacific Caucus called for the setting up of a women�s task force o­n the Reform of the UN. It noted the under-representation of women in decision making roles within the UN system and urged the UN to be a role model of its member states in promoting equal participation of women and men in development. In addition, the Asia-Pacific women emphasized that women�s equal participation in all levels of decision-making will strengthen the gender architecture of the UN structure, processes and mechanisms, and reinforce its commitments to the Convention o­n the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Beijing Platform for Action.

Press Statement : 28 February 2006  

The violent dispersal of peaceful rallies commemorating the 1986 People Power uprising in EDSA and President Arroyo's declaration of the State of National Emergency last Friday, 24 February , is a clear indication of her government's disregard for people's rights, according to Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP)-Philippines.

The Arroyo administration has suppressed peaceful protests, cracked down o­n independent media outfits, and issued, and in some cases implemented, "warrantless" arrests of its critics, both in parliament and civil society�Filipinos who continue to search for the truth o­n the real outcome of national elections last year and massive charges of corruption levied against the President.

" The government should put the country in red alert ," said GCAP-Philippines Coordinator Marivic Raquiza, "not because of the threats to Gloria Arroyo's leadership but because of the alarming levels of poverty among our people. Four million families live in extreme poverty and hunger: this is the real emergency situation, which has bred massive discontentment and resistance over bad policies. Our people cry out for social justice and government's immediate response is to deny the people's right to speak out."

More than 1,000 workers held a protest rally last November 20 in front of the Government House to denounce the contract labour system and to demand an amendment to the New Labor Protection Act (B.E.2541) of 1998, which encourages its existence.

The rally was organized and spearheaded by the Alliance of Democratic Trade Unions (ADTU) and the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee. It was participated by several unions mostly from the eastern part of Bangkok.

In the said rally, the speakers alternately lambasted Prime Minister Taksin for his indifference to protect the employment security of the Thai workers. o­ne of the speakers also demanded the resignation of Mr. Taksin, which the rally participants received with a loud applause.

Trade unions and NGOs are concerned that the WTO negotiations, to be pursued at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December, will have a massive impact o­n employment in the agricultural, industrial, fisheries, forestry and services sectors.

Statement

The Doha Development Round: a recipe for the massive destruction of livelihoods, mass unemployment and the degradation of work

When the world�s trade ministers put their signatures to the founding document of the WTO in April 1994 in Marrakesh, their very first sentence establishing the WTO committed them to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume of real income�

Has the Marrakesh miracle materialized? Are employment and livelihoods ensured and steadily growing? No. The WTO's trade and investment rules have taken the world in the opposite direction, and the current negotiations threaten to take us further still.

We, the women workers sacked by Gate Gourmet, urge you to publicise our experiences

at the hands of the brutal management of this multinational corporation and their utter

disregard for our basic rights and dignity. We would also like to remind you that our struggle continues, and we need your support. Gate Gourmet is the worlds largest supplier of in-flight meals and operates in over 29 countries. Internationally, the company has been making profits of ฃ1.05bn and has assets of ฃ15 billion. In Britain, Asian women form the majority of the workforce, many of us - mothers and grandmothers are the sole wage earners for our families.

Our wages are o­n average between ฃ6.00 and ฃ7.00 an hour. We had been struggling for

one year to get the positions of those of us who were employed o­n a temporary basis

regularised. The management told us in January 2005 that they were planning to make

670 people redundant because they were surplus workers and negotiations had been going o­n over this between our union, the TGWU, and the management.

Today, we are deeply saddened and outraged by the report that a respected trade unionist has been brutally shot dead by unidentified gunmen o­n his way back from the picketline in Barangay Paciano, Calamba City, Philippines. Nestle Philippines Trade Union President Diosdado "Ka Fort" Fortuna was a committed trade union leader who has always been at the centre of the prolonged struggle with Nestle - the Swiss multinational giant company known for its speciality for union busting wherever it goes. Killings of trade union leader and human right activists are not rare in the Philippines under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo�s regime. In April 2003, two other activists, Eddie Gumanoy and Eden Marcellana were also murdered brutally.

Finalizing the modality of the WTO DDA negotiations and then inaugurating the set of new trade rules signifies reorganization of the entire world based o­n neoliberal principles. Already workers and peoples of the world have been under vicious neoliberal attack that has led to impoverishment, exploitation and discrimination. However, with the new trade rules, these attacks will become even harsher. The WTO has the potential to control every part of our lives, and the new trade rules named �Doha Development Agenda� will in fact become the �global constitution for transnational capital�, with executive, judicial and legislative powers.

Workers in factories in Gurgaon are not allowed to form trade unions and efforts are made by the big companies to suppress all trade union activities. The Honda factory is an illustration of how workers rights are suppressed.

Global Unions have kicked off a world asbestos ban campaign in Geneva, where some 4,000 worker, employer and government representatives from around the world have gathered for the annual conference of the UN�s 178-member International Labour Organization (ILO).

Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), will announce at a special event by Global Unions, the beginning of a country-by-country process that trade unions hope will bring an end to the death and destruction caused by asbestos, which continues to kill over 100,000 people per year throughout the world and inflicts suffering among millions more.

Global Unions have formally delivered a letter to every government attending the ILO Conference, asking them to become involved in nationally banning asbestos or in supporting a world ban o­n the commercialization and use of the product.

�Asbestos is a threat to everyone, not just workers�, Ryder said, �from children in schools, to young and old in private and public buildings where asbestos is present and to whole communities where it exists as a pollutant".

All asbestos can cause lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma and gastrointestinal cancers. It has been declared a proven human carcinogen by the international Agency for Research o­n Cancer of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Ryder said that nearly 40 countries have already banned asbestos and nearly 80 more that still actively use asbestos will be called upon to stop such activities.

A trade union profile of each country�s status and performance relative to asbestos is available at: http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpL_6.EN.pdf

More information: Lucien Royer, ICFTU/TUACEmail: [email protected] Web: www.icftu.org/ 

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) : Press Statement , April 1st, 2005

1. Today afternoon, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will enter a four-hour warning strike in order to protect the rights of irregular workers and to stop further polarization of society.

The government is planning to unilaterally push forth its bill o­n irregular workers, which is expected to expand irregular labour and worsen social polarization, during the April session of National Assembly. In the meantime, labour circles have continuously called for withdrawal of the government�s bill while proposing an alternative legislation aimed at substantially protecting the rights of irregular workers.

However, the government and National Assembly have ignored this alternative proposal and remain obstinate o­n enforcing the government bill. As a result, the KCTU had implemented a six-hour strike o­n 26th November, and also struggled throughout February.

The government thoroughly underestimates the destructive effects that its bill will bring.

How can irregular workers be protected when there are no measures inside the bill to ban discrimination, when there are no set standards for use of period workers?

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history. History of survival, significant sacrifices, disappointments and wonderful achievements. It is a day when women from around the globe, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, religious, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their day as well as to pay respect of women�s struggle for equality, justice and peace.

We, o­ne hundred migrant and refugee women from Burma currently taking refuge and seeking livelihood in Thailand have discussed and explored the issues of forced labour, forced migration and trafficking in relation to women from Burma. We are women of different ethnicities with multiple experiences of forced migration. Some of us have also experienced forced labour and others trafficking. We are all committed to assisting our sisters who experience these human rights abuses.

We estimate that there are 2 million internally displaced persons living in desperate conditions in Burma, 120,000 refugees living o­n the Thai-Burma border housed in refugee camps, and well over o­ne million migrants and their families living and working in Thailand.

We are particularly concerned that the majority of these people are currently forced to migrate both internally and externally due to the following reasons:

The Linkage Caucus represents a diverse group of NGOs from all regions of the world gathered at the 49th Session of the Commission o­n the Status of Women.As long-standing supporters of and advocates for the United Nations and the multilateral system, we believe that the UN Member States and the UN leadership need to take strong action to advance gender equality within the UN system and to make the promotion and realization of women's empowerment and human rights a priority.Based o­n the discussion at this 49th Session of the CSW reviewing implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, we note that the UN system needs both more effective, results-driven gender mainstreaming, and effective, adequately resourced women's units to bring us closer to implementing the Beijing Platform, to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to ending the pandemic of violence against women, and to reflecting the UN's unequivocal commitment to the world's women in all their diversity

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