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		Letters: Unilever poisoned workers and residents in India Published Monday, February 04, 2008 - 02:08 AM
		2140 Reads This is a letter calling for international solidarity and support to the workers and their families who are living in Kodaikanal, India, where the environment has been contaminated by mercury from a Unilever factory. ------------------------------- Sick workers; Poisoned Environment Hold Unilever Accountable for Mercury Poisoning March 7, 2008: Global Day of Action Against Unilever We are workers and residents of Kodaikanal, who were exposed to toxic mercury from Hindustan Unilever's mercury thermometer factory in this beautiful hill station in Tamilnadu, South India. We are pursuing the Anglo-Dutch giant seeking compensation, long-term health rehabilitation and monitoring, and clean-up of mercury contamination of our home town and its beautiful lakes. March 7, 2008, is the 7th anniversary of the day when we exposed Unilever's irresponsible dumping of toxic mercury wastes in a sensitive watershed forest and in a scrap yard in a crowded working class neighborhood. The company's in-house safety practices were as lax as their environmental quality control. We were not warned of the hazards of working with mercury. Many of us unwittingly carried the toxic metal home in our clothes and hair and exposed our children to the poison. Many of us are too sick to work for a living. Faced with mounting medical expenses under the circumstances, our families are being pushed to destitution. At least 19 young workers have died till date, and hundreds, including children born to exposed parents, are sick. The company refuses to come to the aid of those poisoned by it, and is delaying clean-up to international standards. Make Unilever fulfill its obligations to the community of ex-workers and Kodaikanal residents. Take Action: Target Unilever wherever you are Organise candle-light vigils Take out a rally supporting the cause of the ex-workers Organise actions at Hindustan Lever/Unilever offices in your cities Organise photo exhibitions on Unilever's mercury fever in schools, community halls Organise local boycotts of Unilever's consumer products � tea, cosmetics, soaps and detergents Write, call, fax the local Unilever office and ask them to take responsibility for their pollution in Kodaikanal. Contact details for Unilever offices worldwide can be found by verifying their country websites. Select the country by going to: www.unilever.com/resources/downloadlibrary.asp Ponds Hindustan Lever Limited ex- mercury employees' welfare Association, J.R Complex, Kamarajar Road, Kodaikanal � 624 101. Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India. For more information, and campaign resources such as downloadable posters, photo exhibition, flyers and placards log on to kodaikanalstruggle.blogspot.com Email us at: [email protected]


		News: Call to punish factories which exploit migrant workers Published Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 06:41 PM
		1378 Reads Factories found exploiting migrant workers should be punished by having their investment privileges revoked, human rights commissioner Sunee Chaiyarose said yesterday. Mrs Sunee said the proposal could be a way to better protect the rights of foreign workers in the country. Her idea, which was put forward at a forum held by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was backed by Philip Robertson Jr, a consultant for human rights and labour. The former official of the United Nations Inter-agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region said the United States and the European Union banned goods from countries where alien workers were abused and treated badly. Thailand is a haven for workers from neighbouring countries due to higher wages and opportunities in those jobs Thais do not want. Many immigrants get jobs at sub-contractors. A study by the Labour Rights Promotion Network released yesterday stated they are being taken advantage of by sub-contractors who supply them to factories and deduct 3-7% of their wages besides service fees from factories. He raised the issue during a seminar held yesterday at the NHRC office. Lack of understanding about Thai laws and regulations opened the way for unscrupulous sub-contractors to take advantage of alien workers, the study said. Many workers had to pay extra fees to the sub-contractors if they wanted to go to hospital or negotiate with police if they were caught, it added. Mrs Sunee said the exploitation of foreign workers could not be resolved partly because they dare not lodge complaints with their employers over unfair wages or poor welfare benefits for fear they would be sent back home. Source: Bangkok Post, 31/1/2008


		News: Another round of dispersal in HanjinGarments Published Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 01:36 AM
		955 Reads Reference: Romeo Legaspi, PAMANTIK-KMU Chairman, Mobile Number: 09293313189. Another round of dispersal in Hanjin Garments: �Outright management-PNP-LGU collusion!� This is the statement of condemnation of more than 350 Hanjin Garments workers in another round of dispersal yesterday, January 26, on their third day of picket protest in front of the company in Barangay Banay-Banay, Cabuyao, Laguna. Coming from within the company gates, more than 150 combined elements of Philippine National Police (PNP) Cabuyao, PNP Regional Mobile Group, CALABARZON Police, and Laguna Industrial Park Police Action Group (LIPPAG) dispersed and drove the workers away from Gatchalian Industrial Subdivision at 7PM. PNP Maj. delos Santos at Col. Marvin Saro (not Maj. Marvin Saro as earlier reported) led the dispersal. �The workers and the people witnessed how the police freely accessed and assembled within Hanjin gates. It was executed in the open and unembarrassingly intentional. A firetruck was even sent earlier by the municipal government of Cabuyao, while civilian intelligence operatives are everywhere,� according to Christopher Capistrano, vice-president of independent union Aniban ng Manggagawang Inaapi sa Hanjin Garments (AMIHAN). Workers reported that uniformed and plainclothes men entered and assembled within the company premises from 12 midnight until afternoon. A firetruck sped in at 5:30PM. �This shows an outright and conspiratorial collusion between Hanjin management, PNP, and Cabuyao municipal government to harass and suppress the legitimate demands of Hanjin workers,� declared Capistrano. After dispersing the workers out of the industrial subdivision, police barricaded its gates. The workers, however, regrouped and held a program here until 9PM. No one was reportedly hurt in the dispersal. After their program, the workers found refuge and spent the night in a nearby chapel in Barangay Banay-Banay. Closely guarded negotiation Earlier, before the dispersal, Maj. delos Santos, upon the orders of Hanjin management, called on the workers for a negotiation to be held within the company premises at 6PM. According to Capistrano, �Major delos Santos forced us to enter into the negotiation. Policemen accosted us in to the company premises, brought us to the basketball court, and made us squat on the floor.� �Hanjin owner Mrs. Mak Rae Min spoke and point accusing fingers on us. She accused us of our unrelenting position despite her so-called good gestures towards us. She also said that all terminated workers will be reinstated on Monday, January 28. But she mentioned that she cannot give our demands, especially the implementation of minimum wage.� �As Mrs. Mak Rae Min delivers her sermon, the workers were surrounded by 7 policemen armed with high-powered rifles.� While the negotiation was taking place, outside the company gates, the police destroyed the workers� protest camp. �We did not agree with the one-sided position of the management on our demands. It was a useless negotiation. The management showed no tinge of sincerity in talking to us while the workers are closely guarded and threatened,� said Capistrano. Immediately after the negotiation, the police dispersed and drove the workers away from Gatchalian Industrial Subdivision. Law enforcers violating the laws Meanwhile, Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) chants in unison with the Hanjin Garments workers in the statement of condemnation. �Isn�t it that the government, including the police, is the primary enforcer of the law? They should be the role model in respecting and implementing the law. However, in their outright connivance with the Hanjin management and attack against the workers, it is evidently clear that they are the ones violating the law,� according to Romeo Legaspi, PAMANTIK-KMU chairman. Legaspi also made mention of Article 2, Section 18 of the Philippine Constitution which states, �The state affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare�. �It is the government itself exposing its rottenness to the workers and the people. Hanjin workers cannot rely on anything else in their struggle but their own strength and the solidarity of the people. We expect nothing, not even a speck of concern, in this government which does not represent and serve the interest of its people,� concluded Legaspi.


		Urgent Appeals: RELEASE HUMAN RIGHT DEFENDERS, STOP HARASSMENT ON THEIR FAMILIES -- CHINA Published Monday, January 28, 2008 - 01:12 AM
		1440 Reads HOTLINE ASIA URGENT APPEALS UA080125(1) RELEASE HUMAN RIGHT DEFENDERS, STOP HARASSMENT ON THEIR FAMILIES - CHINA 25 January 2008 SUMMARY The Justice and Peace Commission of Hong Kong Catholic Diocese (HKJP) is highly concerned with the continuous arrests of human rights defenders in China. Together with China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, the Commission has initiated a campaign for 3 high profile human rights defenders: Hu Jia, Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong) and Chen Guangcheng. The Commission plans to channel support letters / signatures to the Chinese authorities through Liaison Office of the Central People� s Government in Hong Kong in early February. It is hoped that aggregated effort can press for human rights defenders� release before the Chinese New Year in early February 2008, so the 3 can spend the important festival with families. It is common for human rights defenders (HRDs) in China to experience arbitrary detention / arrest, unfair hearing, torture and inadequate medical treatment. Many of them are reported to be in dire health condition. Since his arrest on 27 December 2007, Mr. Hu Jia, a renowned HIV/AIDS activist was denied access to family and lawyers. Medication from his wife was rejected and it is not clear if daily access to the medical treatment he needs for his liver disease is guaranteed and if he can count on a doctor�s assistance during his detention. On the other hand, Mr. Guo Feixiong has been beaten in prison and has started hunger strike since 13 December 2007. He was reportedly locked on a wooden bed for 42 days and given electric shocks on his genitals during his 14 months detention from September 2006 to November 2007. Often, HRDs� families and lawyers experience different levels of harassment. Ms. Zeng Jinyan, wife of Mr. Hu Jia was put under residential surveillance as soon as her husband was arrested in December 2007. The couple�s friends, lawyers and reporters have been barred from contacting her. The passport and telephone of Ms. Yuan Weijing, wife of the blind activist Mr. Chen Guangcheng, were confiscated by Chinese authorities on her attempt to pass the security cordon at the Beijing airport to fly to the Philippines to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for emergent leadership. * Please respond before 29 February 2008* ACTION REQUESTED 1) Please write polite letters to the Chinese authorities requesting them to: � Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Hu Jia, Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong) and Chen Guangcheng. � Put an end to any acts of harassment against human rights defenders and their families. � Provide adequate reparation to Yang Maodong and Chen Guangcheng, who have been physically abused. � Release human rights defenders such as Hu Jia, Yang Maodong and Chen Guangcheng immediately, as their detention or imprisonment is arbitrary. 2) You may also co-sign the HKJP statement at http://www.hkjp.org/english/enfocus/fb_hu_jia_eng.htm Send letters or faxes to: 1. President Hu Jintao People� s Republic of China Zhongnanhai, Xichengqu, Beijing City PEOPLE� S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Send copies to: 1. Mr. Gao Siren, Director Liaison Office of the Central People� s Government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 160, Connaught Road West, Sai Wan HONG KONG Fax: +852 2572 0182 2. Diplomatic representatives of People� s Republic of China in your country. SAMPLE LETTER *Please avoid typing 'cc ACPP' at any part of your letter but send copies to us separately for monitoring purpose* We are gravely concerned with the alleged torture and injustice to human rights defenders, Hu Jia, Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong) and Chen Guangcheng. They are detained in the Beijing Municipal Detention Centre at Dougezhuang in Chaoyang District, Meizhou Prison of Guangdong Province and Linyi City Prison of Shangdong Province, respectively. Their families and lawyers were reportedly harassed by the police. As the important festival of Lunar New Year is approaching, we sincerely request your kind attention to bring peace to them and their families. We appreciate the Chinese authorities� promise upon being awarded to host the 2008 Olympic Games in July 2001: Wang Wei, the Secretary General of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee confirmed that "the Games...not only promote our economy but also enhance all social conditions, including education, health, and human rights." Similar pledge was made by your government when signing International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1989. Articles 7, 9(1) and 14(1) state "no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel treatment"; "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention" and" all persons shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing". It is also unfortunate to see the continuous harassment that infringes Article 17 of ICCPR which states that �no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence.� With sincere faith that the authorities exercise utmost effort to improve human rights condition as part of the effort for Beijing Olympic Games, we kindly request your honour to: � Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Hu Jia, Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong) and Chen Guangcheng. � Put an end to any acts of harassment against human rights defenders and their families. � Provide adequate reparation to Yang Maodong and Chen Guangcheng, who have been physically abused. � Release human rights defenders such as Hu Jia, Yang Maodong and Chen Guangcheng immediately, as their detention or imprisonment is arbitrary. *Thank You for Your Continued Support* BACKGROUND Hu Jia, the latest victim Mr. Hu Jia, a Beijing-based HIV/AIDS activist, is the co-founder and former director of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute for Health Education, a grassroots organization that aims at educating the public about HIV/AIDS and at advocating for the rights of persons suffering from AIDS. In early Dec �07, Hu Jia and his wife, Ms. Zeng Jinyan received a special press freedom award from Reporters without Borders. He was also nominated for the Sakharov Human Rights Award of the European Parliament. There is immense international pressure demanding his release, including a resolution passed by the European Parliament on 17 Jan �08. On 27 Dec �07, about 20 policemen came to Mr. Hu Jia�s home, surrounded his wife and child as well as his wife�s grandmother, who was visiting, cut off the telephone line and internet connection, confiscated their mobile phones and then took Hu away, on suspicion of �inciting subversion of state power�. Prior to this, he has been victim of constant harassments due to his human rights activities: � 7 Sep �06: arrested by 20 plain-clothes policemen and detained for 12 hours for no official reason. � 26 Sep �06: taken to the local public security bureau and was interrogated on his relationship with 2 other human rights lawyers, Mr. Gao Zhisheng and Mr. Chen Guangcheng, as Mr. Hu Jia had started an Internet campaign for their defence. � 16 Feb to 28 Mar �06: allegedly �detained� for having participated in a hunger strike organized by human rights defenders and lawyers. During his �disappearance�, authorities denied him the right to have access to the medication he requires to treat Hepatitis B. � Apr to 27 Dec �07: put under residential surveillance. Since his latest arrest, policemen remained at their home, preventing Ms. Zeng Jinyan from publicly denouncing his detention. Mr. Li Jinsong, lawyer of Ms. Zeng was also reportedly detained by the police at his hotel in Beijing on 11 Jan �08, when reporters from international news agencies have been invited to cover lawyers� effort to visit Ms. Zeng. Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong), victim of unfair trial and torture Guo Feixiong was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on 14 Nov �07 for conducting illegal business activities, after publishing �Shenyang Political Earthquake� a book exposing government corruption in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. It is alleged that his sentence is related to the legal assistance he had provided since July �05 to the peasants of the village of Taishu, Guangdong Province, in an attempt to dismiss the head of the village committee, who was suspected of corruption. His family is very concerned about his current health condition. After a visit on 28 Dec �07, Guo�s wife, Ms. Zhang Qing told the press that her husband is suffering from irregular heartbeat and looked emaciated. "He was beaten on 18 Dec �07 by a fellow prisoner, the fifth day after he entered the prison in Meizhou� (The authorities) also threatened to send him to a mental hospital. In the past they carried out their threat to send him to Shenyang, where he was tortured." Guo has started a 100-day hunger strike since 13 Dec �07. During the 14 months of investigation, Guo was reported to experience inhumane treatment and unfair trial. In his wife�s statement dated 28 Dec �07, Guo mentioned that the people who interrogated him on 12 Feb �07 were not the same as those who appear on the interrogation records which were provided by the prosecutors during the hearing. He thus believes those records are perjurous. He also said that his attempted suicide on 13 Feb �07, following the confession extorted through the use of electric shocks on his genitals on 12 Feb �07, had also been recorded by video as evidence. However, the video was not presented in the hearing. During a prison visit on 11 Jan �07, Guo told his lawyer that he had been handcuffed and shackled to his bed for more than 40 days. He was also deprived of sleep for days and subjected to around-the-clock interrogation. Chen Guangcheng � continuous harassment on his family Chen was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months for "damaging property and organising a mob to disturb traffic" on 24 Aug �06. His lawyer and wife say the charge was trumped up by local officials angered by his blistering exposure of abuses by local family planning officials under China�s one-child policy. He was earlier addressed by the Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in shaping our world in April �06. According to the information received, on 16 June �07, some guards of the Liyni City Prison (Shandong Province) obliged 6 prisoners to beat Mr. Chen Guangcheng after he refused to have his head shaved. When Chen�s wife visited him on 19 June �07, he told her that he had pains in his ribs and that he feared to have a broken rib. His wife, Ms. Yuan Weijing, protested to the guards about the mistreatment and demanded that the prison immediately arrange for Mr. Chen to be sent to a hospital for a check-up, including an x-ray of his ribs, which the authorities refused. Chen�s wife, Ms. Yuan Weijing has been under survillance since August 2005. The latest one took place on 8 Jan 2008: it was alleged that the authorities have tapped the phone line and learnt that a German television journalist wanted to visit Ms. Yuan and Chen�s elder brother, Mr. Chen Guangfu. Officials then blocked all the roads leading to Yuan�s village, increased the number of police watching her house to 40 and threathened to arrest Chen Guangfu. The interview failed to happen ultimately. ----------------- SOURCES: HKJP OMCT Radio Free Asia Human Rights in China South China Morning Post http://www.2008olympicsbeijing.org/ -------------------- Yours faithfully, Linda Noche Coordinator


		News: Terminated Mossimo workers preparing to strike in the Philippines Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 08:13 PM
		896 Reads 23 January 2008 [news from ATNC] More than 200 contractual workers cried foul when forced to sign end contract by Hanjin Garments Incorporated, a Korean-owned exporting company in Cabuyao, Laguna. Hanjin produces and exports to United States blazers, cocktail dresses, and pants, including branded Mossimo teen pants and shorts. The 200 workers received their respective notices for end of contract on January 14. Four days after, on January 18, they filed a notice of strike to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-Region IVA). Korean nationals Jeong Kee Min and Mak Rae Min own Hanjin Garments, employing more than 1,000 contractual workers. �They fired us for the mere suspicion and simple reason that we are trying to form a union,� said in Filipino by Christopher Capistrano, vice-president of independent union Aniban ng Manggagawang Inaapi sa Hanjin Garments (AMIHAN) and one among those terminated. �It�s high time that we fight for our rights to become regular workers. We bear the brunt of being contractual workers for 12 years, since the company operated. It is in this situation that we see no other solution but to unionize and fight for our legitimate interests.� explained Capistrano. Macale reported that sewers who have been in service to the company for five months to one year receive only P160 daily wage, while one year and above receive P260. The DOLE-mandated daily wage for Cabuyao is P282. �It still depends if you can get that daily P160 wage. If some sewers don�t reach the prescribed production quota or in cases of re-work items, they get to render their overtime services to Hanjin for free,� explained Capistrano. Aside from the demand of regularization, Hanjin workers also complained of poor working conditions, non-payment of leaves, and irregular SSS and Pag-Ibig remittance. �The company also deducts P10 during paydays. We are also forced to sign 2 payslips, one of which we are not allowed to see the content,� said Capistrano. Meanwhile, the militant Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) expressed solidarity to the Hanjin workers. �We have seen the worse of these Korean-owned companies exploiting workers from Fashion House Garments, Chong Won, Phils Joen, and now with Hanjin Garments. And yet, the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which promised employment generation by the millions has done nothing for the cause of these workers,� said Romeo Legaspi, chairman of PAMANTIK-KMU. �What we see and experience is the massacre of regular jobs by these foreign capitalists and the Arroyo government. Even the contractual employment has been deprived us for the mere suspicion that we are forming a union, as if unionism is a terrorist activity.� �The Hanjin workers� struggle represents the plight of contractual workers. The only way for regularization is thru collective action, thru unionism. And thru this concerted actions, we prepare for strike which is our main weapon in achieving our purpose of regularization,� concluded Legaspi. ------ Source: Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (PAMANTIK-KMU) Solidarity of Workers in Southern Tagalog-May First Movement

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	Women Workers' Declaration on FTAs This declaration is adopted by all delegates of the regional conference on "Informalisation of Work through Free Trade Agreements: Eroding Labour Rights" on 19-20 June 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand Download the Declaration



	Campaign: Domestic Workers Are Workers



	Coming CAW Events Regional Conference on Domestic Workers 26-27 August 2008 Bangkok, Thailand



	CAW Secretariat Executive Coordinator- Lucia V Jayaseelan Programme Coordinator- Deepa Bharathi Programme Officer- Niza Concepcion Information Communication and Media Officer- Juliette Lee Publication, Resource Centre and Thai Liaison Officer- Patima Kalumpakorn (Pui) Book-keeper / Administration Assistant- Suneerat Sangthong (Tuk) Finance Consultant- Leong Mee Nan (Mei Yun)

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