Search

PDF version available for download (PDF help)

International Development Matters

Articles for inclusion in International Development Matters should be sent to at twarlock@tuc.org.uk

TUC NEWS

Security fears for peasant farmers' leader, Hernan Henry Diaz

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has written to the Colombian Ambassador to the UK to express the TUC's concern for the safety of FENSUAGRO trade union activist Hernan Henry Diaz.

TUC Aid Project mobilizes support for the ILO Recommendation on HIV in Nigeria

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is mobilizing support for the implementation of the ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2010.

Read more here

Fair Games? Not for workers making sportswear for the Olympics

In the run up to London 2012, the Play Fair campaign has found exploitative working conditions in 10 factories making Olympic goods and sportswear in China, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. This has to change. Acting together, we can demand that the Olympic Movement and sportswear industry do much more to ensure that the human rights of workers making their goods are respected.

OTHER INTERNATIONAL NEWS

British trade unionist Guy Ryder elected head of UN workplace rights body

Guy Ryder CBE, the founding General Secretary of the 175-million strong International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), was elected to be the next Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva today (Tuesday).

Read more here

Colombia: General Secretary of the sugar cane workers' union assassinated

The Colombian and international trade union movement is in mourning once more: Daniel Aguirre, the General Secretary of the National Union of Sugar Cane Cutters (SINALCORTEROS) was assassinated on 27 April. The ITUC joins its Colombian affiliates CUT, CHT and CTC in strongly condemning this most recent assassination, which brings the number of murders committed this year to seven.

Guatemala: Over Two Hundred Municipal Employees

The ITUC has joined with its Guatemalan affiliates, the CUSG, CGTG and UNSITRAGUA, in voicing strong protest at the unfair dismissal of over 200 municipal workers in Jalapa between 30 April and 4 May.

The ITUC and its affiliates have strongly condemned the assassinations of 2 further Guatemalan trade unionists due to their involvement in the trade union movement.

Human rights defender abducted and threatened with death in Puebla, Mexico

José Enrique Morales Montaño, a member of the Workers' Support Centre (CAT*), was abducted and tortured for 16 hours on 15 May in the city of Puebla. The ITUC has firmly condemned this intolerable act against the human rights defender.

Paraguay: Workers Arrested for Forming a Union

Three trade union leaders - Leoncio Britez, Gustavo Jara and Teodoro Enciso - employed by the company Maehara S.A. were arrested for helping to unionise the company's workforce. These arrests blatantly violate the National Constitution of Paraguay as well as ILO Convention 87. The ITUC has forcefully denounced this unlawful action.

Grave Concerns for Algerian Unionists on Hunger Strike

With the hunger strike of nine Algerian trade union leaders entering its fourth week, the ITUC has expressed grave concerns for the health of the strikers, and is calling on Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to intervene.

Read more here

New evidence of abuses of workers' rights in Qatar prompts ITUC investigation

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has announced a new investigation into the conditions of workers in Qatar following a visit of ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow to Nepal to hear firsthand accounts from workers who have just returned from the Gulf Kingdom.

Zambia: ITUC Welcomes New Jobs and Social Protection Agenda

The ITUC has welcomed a new tripartite agreement announced by the Zambian government, aimed at job creation and implement of a social protection floor. The agreement was reached at a conference in Lusaka involving the government, the ITUC-affiliated national trade union centre ZCTU, the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia and the country's employers' federation.

IFI NEWS

'Jobs Wanted' - young workers deliver message to Mexico's Secretary of Labour and G20 Labour Ministers

Young workers from G20 countries including Mexico, Canada, USA delivered a 'Jobs Wanted' message to Rosalinda Vélez Juárez Secretary of Labour and Social Prevention, Mexico, calling on the Secretary of Labour to take their message to G20 Labour Ministers meeting in Guadalajara.

Read the new report 'The Social Crisis Behind the Economic Crisis - the Millions of Young People Unemployed' focusing on the situation of young European workers and the answers from the trade union movement to the problems they face.

G8 asked for cash commitment

Oxfam wants the G8 leaders to make predictable, measurable funding and policy commitments that will help 50 million people lift themselves out of poverty through sustainable, small-scale agriculture by 2015.

Read more here

French president supports eurobond proposal

French president François Hollande spoke in favour of the issuance of eurobonds to underwrite euro zone countries' sovereign debt during the G8 Summit in Maryland and intends to do so again at an informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Wednesday (23 May) despite the opposition of German chancellor Merkel.

Read the Reuters article here

Fair rules on debt: developing countries try to force the IMF's hand

At the World Bank and IMF spring meetings, the G24, the group of developing countries governments made a bold bid to get debt work-out mechanisms back on the agenda. They called for a study on sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms, a topic which the IMF had ignored.

Read more here

GLOBAL CALLS TO ACTION

ACT NOW! Thailand: Free Somyot

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a trade unionist, activist and journalist in Thailand has been in jail since April 2011 on charges of lèse majesté (defaming the King). Somyot is innocent of these charges. An international campaign has been underway for the last 12 months to secure his release.

Take immediate action here

ACT NOW! Free Iranian trade unionists

The TUC is backing an Amnesty International call to release jailed Iranian trade unionist Reza Shahabi, currently serving a six-year prison sentence, as well as to clarify the whereabouts of Zabihollah Bagheri and provide access to his family and his lawyer.

URGENT ACTION: tell Bahrain to free Mahdi!

Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the President of the Bahraini Teachers Association (BTA), has now spent more than a year behind bars for doing nothing more than leading his trade union. His union, with the support of Education International, has launched a global petition calling on UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to intervene in his case.

ACT NOW! Light the flame for workers' human rights

Unfair play, disrespect and inequality aren't values we usually associate with the Olympics. But for some workers making Olympic goods and sportswear, this is what the Olympic ideal really means.

Take action now. Email the International Olympic Committee and call on them to light the flame for workers' human rights.

FOCUS ON TRADE UNIONISTS

John Carlos, Olympic legend talks about his fight for justice and supporting Playfair 2012

John Carlos met with representatives of the TUC and Playfair 2012 campaign as he toured the UK speaking about his ongoing fight for justice and why we need to stand together and speak out against injustice at the local and global levels.

Watch the interview here

RadioLabour: Millions of informal workers in Africa need protection

In the developing world more than 40 per cent of workers are employed in the informal sector. They are people trying to scratch out a living as best they can. They are not protected by a country's labour laws or health and safety provisions. In Africa most of the workers are in the informal sector. Workers' World Media Productions, based in South Africa, has produced a feature report on informal workers.

ILO interview with International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) Director, Raymond Torres

High unemployment and growing inequality fuel social unrest around the world

More than half of 106 countries surveyed by the ILO face a growing risk of social unrest and discontent, says the new World of Work Report published by the International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) - the research arm of the ILO.

Read an interview with IILS Director, Raymond Torres.

EVENTS

The African Market

Sunday 3 June

12pm - 7pm
Free

A unique alternative fair, showcasing the talents from Africa and the Diaspora located in London and UK at the Rich Mix. It includes designers' and charities' stalls where you can find original, ethical, vintage and urban fashion pieces, accessories, jewellery, shoes as well as arts and crafts, homewear, natural beauty products, books, music, arts amongst more.

More details here

Cuba Solidarity Campaign AGM

Saturday 16 June

10am - 4pm

Hamilton House

Mabledon Place

London WC1

As part of the AGM there will be a full and informative presentation and discussion from 2pm -4pm focussing on the Economic changes in Cuba. It will be led by Dr Steve Ludlam, Senior lecturer in Politics at the University of Sheffield, and a panel of academics and experts.

Full event details here

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival and Rally 2012

Friday 13th July to Sunday 15th July 2012

The annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival is a unique event. There has been a celebration of the Tolpuddle story every year since the 1930s and the Festival is a key date for the Labour Movement. But it is a lot more than a rally for trade unionists.

Read more

Useful websites

There are a number of websites with useful information for trade unionists, policy makers and campaigners. Details here: Useful websites

Newsletter (1,600 words) issued 31 May 2012