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The Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) is a labour and women's rights organization that supports the efforts of workers in global supply chains to win improved wages and working conditions and a better quality of life. ( More)
In response to a violent August 16 attack by thugs from a protection union, workers at the Johnson Controls Interiores plant in Puebla, Mexico walked off the job and remained on strike for several days. On August 19, the dispute was resolved when management signed an agreement recognizing the workers' independent union and severing its ties with the Confederación de Organizaciones Sindicales (COS), a company union that was ejected from the factory in May after a previous strike.
Your support is needed once again to stop the intimidation and harassment of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS). On July 30, more criminal cases were filed against the BCWS staff and other worker leaders. On August 13, two more BCWS leaders were arrested by and are being held by the Bangladesh authorities. Please take a few minutes to take action in support of the BCWS now.
The Central General de Trabajadores de Honduras (CGT) and Nike announced a ground-breaking agreement today that will provide a US$1.5 million fund for workers in Honduras that formerly produced Nike apparel. According to a press release from Nike and the CGT, workers will also receive a year's access to the health care system, training and priority hiring. The agreement comes after intense pressure was put on Nike by a student-led campaign that had convinced some US universities to end lucrative licensing agreements with Nike.
June 28th marked the anniversary of the coup d'état in Honduras. One year later, the political crisis in the country remains unresolved. Despite an election in November, 2009, violence and repression have continued under new President Porfirio Lobo, and civil society continues to refuse to recognize his government while pressing ahead with plans to hold a Constituent Assembly to begin the process of changing the Honduran Constitution.
A three-day strike by workers at a Johnson Controls auto parts plant in Puebla, Mexico, backed by an international solidarity campaign, has won the workers the right to be represented by a union of their free choice. The agreement sets an important precedent in Mexico where employers often sign "protection contracts" with corrupt unions without the workers' knowledge and/or consent in order to prevent those workers from organizing or affiliating with a democratic union.
As consumers rush to get their hands on an iPad, Apple Inc.'s latest gadget, which officially hit Canadian stores today, Asian civil society organizations are protesting Foxconn, the world's leading electronics manufacturer and one of Apple's major suppliers, for its deplorable labour practices which have been linked to 12 worker suicides at one of its Chinese plants this year alone.
The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) of Bangladesh launched a new campaign this month entitled "No More Fires, No More Locked Exits, No More Garment Workers Deaths." NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin, speaking at a recent rally, said "Since 1990, there have been 33 major garment factory fires in which more than 400 garment workers have been killed...One of the reasons for the large number of causalities is the practice of locking factory exits, as well as a lack of health and safety inspections in many of the garment factories..."
On April 27, Mexican human rights activist and indigenous leader Alberta ("Bety") Cariño and Finnish human rights observer Jyri Antero Jaakkola were killed and several people injured when the international aid caravan they were part of was ambushed by paramilitaries.
We urge you to write to the Mexican authorities today to condemn this crime and demand that those responsible be brought to justice.
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