SUNDAY IS WORKERS MEMORIAL DAYþþþþÿMourn for the dead - fight for the living.ÿ That's the slogan being used by trade unions in the United States and other countries to mark Workers Memorial Day, which takes place in another 3 days (on Sunday, 28 April).þþþþWe've made the AFL-CIO's site-within-a-site about Workers Memorial Day into this week's Labour Website of the Week. The site is located at http://www.aflcio.org/safety/wmd.htm but we encourage people to go through the front page of the AFL-CIO site to see how they're covering this (go to http://www.aflcio.org ).þþþþNo need to remind any of you that this year's Labour Website of the Year went to Hazards ( http://www.hazards.org ) which has its own Workers Memorial Day page as well, located here: þþþþhttp://www.hazards.org/campaigns/index.htmþþþþ***þþþþLONDON DEMO ON 29.4 - IN SOLIDARITY WITH US WORKERSþþþþWorkers Memorial Day is on Sunday -- and on the following day, Monday, April 29, those of you in Great Britain will have a chance to show your solidarity with workers in the United States who are suffering from union-busting by a European-based transnational company.þþþþ(This is the opposite of the usual case, where US companies come to Europe with their ideas about a ÿunion-free workplaceÿ.)þþþþFollowing up on an appeal from the AFL-CIO and the clothing and textile workers union UNITE, we are all invited to a protest in London at 11:40 AM at the back of the Royal Academy on Burlington Gardens (nearest tube: Picadilly Circus). þþþþUnions are calling for international solidarity to protest the union-busting activities in the United States of a French-owned multinational, þþPinault-Printemps-Redoute, headquartered in France, which has holdings which include Steve McQueen, Stella McCartney and mail order and business-to-business companies in Europe and the US. Since last October, nearly 1,000 workers have been trying to form a union at two distribution centres in Indiana owned by a PPR subsidiary, Brylane. A majority of the workers have signed union cards requesting recognition but the company refuses to recognise the union. Since the union drive began, workers have been interrogated as to their union support; promised extra benefits if they oppose the union; and a supervisor threatened to shut up a vocal union supporter with a gun. Nearly half of the workers in the Indiana distribution centres are members of racial minorities; many are recent immigrants. Immigrant workers have been segregated and forced to attend mandatory meetings in which implicit threats of firing and deportation were made. UNITE is asking the company to allow an independent party to come in and count the union cards so that recognition can be granted. Brylane, PPR’s US subsidiary, has refused and is trying to force workers into an election which would provide an opportunity for long delays and further union-busting activity. An international solidarity campaign is getting underway calling for PPR to respect the Indiana workers’ rights to freedom of association. The Union Network International and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation have put out appeals for pressure on PPR. þþþþIf you can't attend the London protest, here is the email address for Serge Weinberg, the CEO of PPR. Let him know of your concern over violations of workers' rights at Brylane: s.weinberg@pprgroup.com þþþþ***þþþþMAY DAY 2002 þþþþTwo days after that is May Day -- the international workers' holiday.þþþþWe're pleased to report that once again the tireless Eugene Plawiuk has reinvigorated his May Day on the Web site, now in its fifth year. The site is located at http://www.mayweek.ab.caþþþþ***þþþþDO YOUR BIT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT GETTING UP FROM YOUR CHAIRþþþþEven if you can't get out of the house -- or away from your PC -- long enough to demonstrate on May Day, you can do your little bit for social justice right now. Go to http://gopetition.com/info.php?petid=988 and sign the online petition supporting the right of Wal-Mart employees to join a trade union. It will take you less than 30 seconds to do this.þþþþI was told about this petition by an activist here in the United Kingdom, and was shocked to see that it had only 29 signatures. Let's do what we can do build support for this, and to show Wal-Mart workers that they are not alone. þþþþIn the meantime, a very Happy May Day to all LabourStart's readers and correspondents!
By Eric Lee
