call of the millions #6 autumn 2013

7/27/2019 call of the millions #6 autumn 2013

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Call of the millions 6Call of the millions 6

Work is a four letter word. Most of us cannot live without it. Many too many Work is a four letter word. Most of us cannot live without it. Many too many struggle to survive it. From Manhattan to the maquiladoras, between London andstruggle to survive it. From Manhattan to the maquiladoras, between London and

Shenzen, low pay and dangerous work, temporary employment with no trade unionShenzen, low pay and dangerous work, temporary employment with no trade union

rights scar our lives day after day in today's global economy.rights scar our lives day after day in today's global economy.

A living wage; safe workplaces; permanent jobs; the ability to form independentA living wage; safe workplaces; permanent jobs; the ability to form independent

trade unions. These are simple demands, growing from needs and rights we alltrade unions. These are simple demands, growing from needs and rights we all

share. Because workers rights are indivisible, across economic sectors andshare. Because workers rights are indivisible, across economic sectors and

national borders.national borders.We support these rights and those struggling to claim them everywhere.We support these rights and those struggling to claim them everywhere.

..we are nothing and we should be everything; this is the call of the millions.....we are nothing and we should be everything; this is the call of the millions...

AFTER THE OUTRAGE: BANGLADESHAFTER THE OUTRAGE: BANGLADESH

features: wal-mart update p2; farm labour under pressure part 3 - africa p5;features: wal-mart update p2; farm labour under pressure part 3 - africa p5;

the millions in action p7; online campaigning and international solidarity p8;the millions in action p7; online campaigning and international solidarity p8;

solidarity interview p9; international women p12; the extras p13.solidarity interview p9; international women p12; the extras p13.


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Wal-Mart: beyond black fridayWal-Mart: beyond black friday

In COTM #3 we looked at the historicIn COTM #3 we looked at the historic

events of autumn 2012 in the US. Theevents of autumn 2012 in the US. The

first ever national stoppage of Wal-Martfirst ever national stoppage of Wal-Mart

retail workers (under the banner of theretail workers (under the banner of theOUR WalMart workers association),OUR WalMart workers association),

combined with disputes in its warehousescombined with disputes in its warehouses

to put real pressure on the mega retailerto put real pressure on the mega retailer ..

In the aftermath hopes were raised that atlast a definitive breakthrough was in sight inthis long-running struggle for workersjustice. These actions demonstrated:1. A welcome return to labour militancy, with

rank-and-file action outside the formalconvening of a recognised trade union, thatWal-Mart has always successfully opposed.2. The flexing of warehouse workers power evident in the successes of WarehouseWorkers for Justice (WWJ) and WarehouseWorkers United (WWU) in winningreinstatement of sacked activists, andsecuring talks with their ultimate employer.Here was a real vulnerability in the Wal-Martempire.

Nine months later, how have things changed?Nine months later, how have things changed?In some ways the initial excitement anddrama of last year hasn't been sustained.The prospect of setting up a trade unionwithin the company is no nearer. And under alegal challenge from their employer, OURWalMart agreed to suspend store picketingfor a 60 day period earlier this year, and

publicly concede it was not trying to becomea bargaining partner.

But that isn't the full story, of course.......But that isn't the full story, of course.......In the stores, OUR WalMart continues togrow and be active. There has been somesurprising success in tackling issues of work

scheduling and coercive management. In oneMaryland store, workers won an agreement topost schedules in-store, and allow workers toapply for extra shifts: inconsistency andinsufficiency of hours are ongoing problemsacross the company. Related to this on April24 OUR WalMart took delegations to over100 stores, calling on their employer to fixthe scheduling problems. So far, no progress.

Intimidation of OUR WalMart activists andretaliation against anyone joining directactions remain a key problem. A walk out onFebruary 7 at Maryland and Texas stores wasprompted by management reaction to BlackFriday. Workers were told strikes were'illegal' and that they may be sacked forgetting involved with, or just talking to, OURWalMart. Dozens of unfair labour practices

charges have now been filed by workers withthe National Labor Relations Board.

As a global employer Wal-Mart has generatedopposition to its ways of working in manycountries. The Wal-Mart Global Union

Alliance was launched in autumn 2012 by theUNI, to fight for decent conditions andfreedom of association.


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The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladeshbrought more pressure to bear. Unlike mostcorporations, Wal-Mart refused to sign thenew Fire and Building Safety Accord agreedbetween IndustriALL and global brands to

clean up garment production in the country.Instead it set out a far weaker pro-corporate alternative. In response OURWalMart brought Kalpona Akter from theBangladesh Center for Worker Solidarityover to join their lobbying of Wal-Mart'sannual shareholders meeting.She pulled no punches:Wal-Mart and the other large retailers holdthe key to ending senseless deaths in

garment factories across the world.

The 'Ride for Respect' convened by OURThe 'Ride for Respect' convened by OUR

WalMart in early June signalled the start ofWalMart in early June signalled the start of

another key push.another key push.Modelled on the civil rightsfreedom rides, OUR WalMart caravans calledat thirty cities on their way to BentonvilleArkansas, picking up striking 'associates' whocourageously walked out of stores to taketheir demands to the heart of the companyempire. In the words of Nicole Mora fromthe Lakewood California store:'I am going to Bentonville to speak up for

myself, along with all my coworkers that live

in fear to speak up about issues at work'.

Demands for better pay, more hours andtransparent scheduling were also on theiragenda.Wal-Mart is a company that puts profitsover people and employs tactics and

strategies that keep employees like me injobs that dont let us provide for our families.Even while Wal-Marts profits are going up,my coworkers and I have to rely on foodstamps just to cover groceries.(Charlene Fletcher;OUR WalMart)

Alongside the travelling protesters, otherstook strike action in their stores citing theunfair labour practices they face. Unlike

Black Friday this was more than just a oneday action.

And that brought reaction, though not of apositive kind. The employer began sackingassociates involved in the June events, anddisciplining others. 'Attendance issues' werethe stated reason, illegal retaliation thereality. Around 60 workers have beenaffected. OUR WalMart responded with a

demonstration at Yahoo HQ, calling on itschief exec (Marissa Mayer), who also doublesup as a Wal-Mart board member, to recognisetheir concerns and speak out against bullying.She didn't; five demonstrators got arrestedinstead.

And in the warehouse sector.....And in the warehouse sector.....The strategic power of this workforce mustbe matched against their dire workingconditions.From the reports of WWJ andWWU, the charge sheet includes:low pay, wage theft, 'perma-temp' status, nobenefits, health and safety concerns (from

excessive heat, poor ventilation and lack ofwater, to blocked exits, dangerous storageand many injuries), managerial intimidation of


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workers, sacking of activists, spying andhidden surveillance cameras. That's quite alist of grievances.

Despite their non-union status, this

workforce and their support groups havebeen keenly challenging this work regime.

Pride of place must go to the OlivetInternational warehouse workers at MiraLoma, California, 30 of whom who struck inlate July. The immediate cause of the

walkout was a severe package of employerretaliation measures introduced after

workers had lodged a complaint at theCalifornian Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (Cal-OSHA) over theirworking conditions. Organised throughWWU, their action also gained support fromOUR WalMart and the UFCW retail union.

In the words of one of the workers:

' managers harass and bother us. They followus everywhere and they are paying

consultants to follow us around thewarehouse. They have installed 29camerasto spy on us.'

strikers at Olivet International

That legal challenge is not the only one Wal-Mart and its subcontracted warehouse supplychain has faced. Many of these actions arebrought in respect of wage theft, and some

cite Wal-Mart as a responsible party for theappalling conditions in its supply chain.

In the case of Schneider Logistics, theworkforce successfully petitioned Cal-OSHAand won a ruling that over $1 million dollars ofunpaid wages were due. Those working for alabour supply agency as 'perma-temps' have

also successfully obtained permanentpositions and a 60% wage increase.According to WWU director, Guadalupe Palma'...the fact that now all workers at thiscritical Walmart-contracted warehouses willmake a living wage with benefits shows thatimproving the quality of warehousing jobs isentirely within reach for major retailers likeWalmart.'

Elsewhere in the Wal-Mart empire,warehouse operations run by Great Kitchensand the Staffing Network, Quetico LLC andNFI Industries have all come under challenge.These subcontracted outfits haven't alwaysresponded well to legal scrutiny. Reprisalsagainst those who dared to raise their voiceabout their pay and working conditions havebeen commonplace. Sometimes though theworkers have struck back and won early

reinstatement for the likes of David Acostaat Schneider Logistics.

Ultimately though the overall situation willnot improve until Wal-Mart actually does takeresponsibility for the working situationthroughout its supply chain and begins to takereal remedial action.

Spring 2013: Wal-Mart workers plus theirsupporters got together to fashion a common

set of working standards that the megaretailer should uphold throughout its wholeoperation. For the likes of WWU and WWJ,the National Guestworker Alliance and Jobswith Justice, the current 'Standards forSuppliers' Wal-Mart relies on are far tooweak to be credible in the face of well-documented and ongoing labour violations inthe sector. Change has gotta come....


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Farm labour under pressure AfricaFarm labour under pressure Africa

Large scale agriculture came to AfricaLarge scale agriculture came to Africa

during the colonial era. Cash-crop productionduring the colonial era. Cash-crop production

for export (of coffee, cotton, cocoa)for export (of coffee, cotton, cocoa)

appeared across the continent, relying on theappeared across the continent, relying on the brutal proletarianisation of peoples, oftenbrutal proletarianisation of peoples, often

migrants, on lands 'acquired' by settlers ormigrants, on lands 'acquired' by settlers or

foreign owners.foreign owners.

The monopoly form of land ownership createdThe monopoly form of land ownership createdin colonial times persists today, with largein colonial times persists today, with large

multinationals dominating the production ofmultinationals dominating the production of

food and crops right across the continent...food and crops right across the continent...

GHANA: The recent development of tropicalfruit export agriculture in West Africaprovides a rare but welcome example ofstrongly unionised farm workers in Ghana.

Here the national agricultural workers union(GAWU) has approaching 50,000 members,(split between smallholders and hired labour)and holds bargaining agreements with the twoMNCs that dominate plantation agriculture Del Monte and Dole/Compagnie Fruitiere. An

independent Fairtrade producer, Volta RiverEstates Ltd (VREL), also falls within theirdomain. Unlike Latin America, there is nostructural hostility to trade unions here.

At VREL the GAWU has won annual wageincreases of up to 20% and a substantialbenefits package covering health insurance,pension provision, paid leave for sickness andmaternity. Despite all that workers are stillfalling a long way short of a living wage, relyon second sources of income and remain

heavily indebted. Having said that they doenjoy permanent employment and have a sayin the distribution of the Fairtrade Premium.

Over in the capitalist mainstream, in thepineapple industry the GAWU is wellestablished. However their agreements withthe MNCs have not yet translated intoanything approaching a living wage, gaining

paid time off to attend union meetings, orsignificant advances on the road to genderequality. Then again we cannot expect onesmall African union to conquer these goalsalone, when their bigger and strongerWestern counterparts are still struggling onall these fronts.

KENYA:Tea has been grown commercially inKenya for over a century and is now its top

export. The proceeds from its sale typicallyflow disproportionately towards themultinationals who dominate its production,blending and marketing, rather than returningto its African source.Tea pickers on smallholdings and the large

estates are bound by common threads of lowwaged work, many trapped in perpetuallycasualised employment. In some cases thistakes the form of recurrent bimonthlycontracts; elsewhere they have the status ofday labourers, unsure if, where or when theywill next find work in the fields.

On one of the largest estates, UnileverKericho, the agricultural workers union(KPAWU) has collective bargaining rights.However a series of research projects by the

Dutch NGO SOMO, found real concernsamongst the casualised part of the workforceover their efforts.


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There were massive differences in benefitentitlements between casuals and permanentstaff. Worse still was the prevalence ofsexual harassment and discrimination : womenworkers faced bribery and the giving of

sexual favours to keep their jobs, and allfemale employees underwent pregnancytesting on hiring.As well as all this, the tea pickers are

threatened by mechanisation. Strikes tookplace across the country in 2010 and 2012over the increased use of machine harvestingby tea companies. The KPAWU estimate over20,000 jobs were lost 2005 2010 in thesector as a result. This broke an earlier

agreement between unions and employersthat limited mechanisation to 3% of the teapicking workforce. For the companies, theequation is simple: mechanisation = lowercosts. For the tea pickers the calculus isequally stark. Work or no work.

SOUTH AFRICA:The colonial legacy andapartheid divisions remain strong in SouthAfrican agriculture today. MNCs and largelandholders continue to monopolise landownership and cultivation, despite the labourlaw and land reforms of the post-apartheidgovernment. Over 1 million people have beenevicted from white commercial farms, tippedinto an expanding pool of seasonal andmistreated farm workers.By autumn 2012 the pressure reached boilingpoint. Throughout the Western Cape province

(where a large part of the 500,000 strongagricultural labour force work) farm labourrose up spontaneously against endless misery.Low pay, rising living costs, abuse at work,

scandalous housing conditions, recurrentindebtedness: the farm workers had little tolose. Nor could they look for trade unionhelp. Though legislatively granted by the newregime, unions are unable to gain access tothe large farms, who remain hostile to labour.

Only 5% of the farm workers are unionised.

The explosion did uncover a talent for selforganisation: farm workers forming their ownlocal committees, calling for negotiations withtheir employers (roundly ignored), and forgingalliances with informal settlement dwellers.

More historic events were to follow. In early2013 the government took a big step toanswering the cry of the oppressed fields, byintroducing a 50% (yes 50%) pay rise.As we have seen, legislation isn't always

followed by commercial farmers. So it proved

here again. The passage of the law has beensystematically ignored by farmers claimingthey couldn't afford this rise, sacking aproportion of their workers in response andevicting them from their homes. COSATUcalled for the expropriation of theseexpropriators in response, and threatenednew strike action.In an effort to redress this power

imbalance, the clothing and textile union haspromised financial support for organising thefields. There's plenty for the Food and AlliedWorkers Union to do. As reported last year inthe sugar cane sector there are over 70,000field workers to target, scattered acrossremote sites. The outsourcing of productionto smaller farms by the dominant industryplayers increases this dispersal; and theirreliance on casual and informal labour poses a

real organising challenge.


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The millions in action: campaigning for safety in BangladeshThe millions in action: campaigning for safety in Bangladesh

thanks to USAS for the photos


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The solidarity interview: Daisy Arago Centre for Trade Union and HumanThe solidarity interview: Daisy Arago Centre for Trade Union and Human

Rights, the PhilippinesRights, the Philippines

How would you describe the character of theFilipino labour movement to our UK readers?The Philippine labour movement remains

persistent, dynamic and a force to reckon with,albeit not numerically in Philippine society as it

was more than a hundred years ago. Its

historically progressive, independent and

militant tradition, rooted in the development of

peoples struggle for justice, genuine democracy

and peace, can still be found in some sections of

the labour movement that has also seen

fragmentation for several decades now.

Today, more than ever, the movement is facing

perhaps the most difficult time in its modernhistory. Since the mid-90s the number of

unionized workers has declined sharply as a

result of the implementation of neo-liberal

policies and programs in the country.

Economically, no strategic industries were

developed and the majority of population

remains in the peasantry. Even if today, when

the Philippines is the so-called brightest spot in

Asia due to its higher growth compared with its

Asian neighbours, the perennial unemployment

that long-characterized the Philippine economy

has not been reduced. Growth did not bring the

expansion of manufacturing, nor any

modernization of agriculture but rather the so-

called growth of the service sectors and in

stocks, both of which are not labour intensive.

Specifically, the apparent decline in unionism

could also be attributed to the widespread and

systematic use of flexible employment schemes

(such as short term contract, temporary worker,long term casuals etc) that virtually remove the

security of tenure and shrink the number of

regular or permanent workers who are the

traditional base of trade unions. The

precariousness of employment of casual and

contract workers prohibits them from

complaining, and to organize unions as they are

dismissed outright when companies learn of

attempts to organize. This condition is

compounded by anti-union laws and impunity

on corporate violations of labor laws and labourrights as well as a repressive political climate.

This combination of factors has seen existing

unions busted or attempts to organize unions

nipped in the bud. Consequently, the countrys

unionized workers dipped from as high as 12%in mid 80s to 1.83 million or 4.5% of the

estimated 40 million labour force. Out of this

number, only 220,000 workers are covered by

collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). The

quality of the CBA is another issue; there are

cases that CTUHR has documented where

companies themselves formulate the CBAs of

their organized or supported unions to deter any

independent union organizing. The union law

prescribes one company, one union policy and

unionism is workplace- based.

Our brief survey of farm labour in thePhilippines pointed towards a large role forthe military in industrial relations. Could yousay something about this?

The militarys role is a `common feature in

industrial relations, a role bolstered during

Martial Law in 1972 and strengthened as part of

the governments (past and present) counter-insurgency program. However, it was during the

Arroyo administrations on Oplan Bantay Laya

(Operation Plan Freedom Watch) counter-

insurgency program (2001-2010) and its War on

Terror Campaign that the militarys interference

became more naked and brazen. In September

2001, a little more than a week after the 9/11

incident in the US, then President Arroyo made

an open statement that the government will

hound all terrorists, including those instigators

of strikes and disputes in industrial areas whichwere equivalent to factory terrorism.

The declaration signalled both open and secret

involvement of the military particularly the

Army in strike dispersals, harassments,

abduction and extra-judicial killings of trade

unionists and labor activists. CTUHR also

received reports and was able to get information

from various sources detailing the spy

intelligence network set up in factories inside

the economic zones as a move to pre-empt union

organizing and to weaken militant unionsparticularly those allied to Kilusang Mayo Uno

(May First movement), trade union center.


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By 2005 several unions in different parts of the

country were taken over by the Army, and some

union officers were forcibly conscripted into the

Armys initiated and organized Barangay

(Village) Defense System (BDS) or Inter-

territorial Defense System (ITDS).

In 2008, again, then President Arroyo, formally

ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to

create the Investment Defense Forces (IDF), to

protect investments (primarily in power,

mining, plantations, other infrastructure) from

so-called terrorist attacks, including by the rebel

group, New Peoples Army. The militarys

interference and resulting human rights

violations have been object of criticisms in the

UN Special Rapporteur Prof Philip Alston's

report on Extra-Judicial Killings. It was also asubject of the ILO High Level Mission to the

Philippines in 2009, recommending that a high

level order be made that in the conduct of

military operations, the government must ensure

that such operations will not violate the workers

right to freedom of association. Despite the end

of Arroyos term and many recommendations,

the military remains a player in the countrys

labor relations.

The integration of labour relations in the

counter-insurgency program also continued with

the present Oplan Bayanihan or the Internal

Peace and Security Program (IPSP) of the

Aquino government. The IDF also continues its

operations and has expanded in scope. In some

parts of the country, the same forces are called

Investment Security Forces (ISF).

Tell us about the CTUHR you work for. Whatis its background?

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights

(CTUHR) as the name implies is a labor rights

NGO which monitors, documents, and

investigates human rights violations committed

against workers (by the state and corporations).

CTUHR is also engaged in research, public

information, advocacy and campaigns on

various issues related to workers rights; it

builds network at the national and internationallevel for the defense and protection of workers

rights, primarily the right to freedom of

association, i.e. to organize freely, collectively

bargain to strike, and launch solidarity action at

the national and international level. CTUHR

trains, organizes and coordinates the dispatch of

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to places and

situation where workers rights are violated or at

risk of being violated, such as arrests, dispersalof collective action, and even investigation of

cases of extrajudicial killings and abduction.

CTUHR maintains and develops its Women

program that ensures CTUHR work is gender

sensitive, and that women workers play an equal

role and are equally represented in all

undertakings of the organization.

CTUHR was established in 1984, under Martial

Law, following a fact finding mission by a group

of Catholic bishops, religious sisters and sometrade unionists on a violent and bloody dispersal

of a picket lines by the military in Mindanao.

Since then, CTUHR has remain faithful to the

reason why it was established but has also

broadened its scope to support workers rights

promotion in the special economic zones,

plantations and mining. Last year, it launched

its campaign to combat child labor starting in oil

palm plantations.

Many Filipinos work outside your country.What impact does this migrant mass haveon the labour movement?

The impact of mass migration of Filipinos to

other countries, which included workers,

previously unionized workers could be seen at

two levels, domestically and internationally;

1 Internally or domestically, workers' exodus

from the Philippines contributes to the reduction

of union membership, though, I must reiterate,

that this is not a principal factor in the decline.

The local labour movement has lost good union

organizers, trade unionists to migration. And

every loss of good union organizer or trade

unionist from organizing work has a negative or

weakening effect, albeit temporarily on trade

unionism.

2 The second way of looking at it, the loss of

unionists in the local workers organizingbecomes a gain in developing the movement of

migrant workers, in their host countries.


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Their organizing plays an important role in

supporting the movement at home, and in

helping develop another aspect of international

solidarity.

Most if not all Filipino workers migrant

organizations in host countries were, I think,

initiated by workers or individuals who havesome background in organizations here in the

Philippines. They provide crucial campaign

support for the rights and protection of migrant

workers in their host countries, and a formidable

challenge to the very policy of exporting labor

pursued by the Philippine government. To a

certain extent, migration also contributes to the

local labor movement in the host countries; their

presence challenges the local movements

understanding and analysis of capitalist

globalization, for instance, its impact onpeoples lives and strategies for dealing with

those impacts and causes.

For the labor movement, in home and host

countries, migration offers both opportunities

and challenges. Opportunities, because they can

be an effective means of building working class

solidarity, of bridging the gap between the so-

called North and South, as the impact of neo-

liberal policies on workers, regardless of thelevel of development becomes more naked. It is

also a challenge, especially for the labour

movement in the host countries to address and to

fight for rights of migrants to belong to a union.

For them to be accepted as equal in the union

movement and not seen as people stealing jobs

or competitors of local people, but rather as

allies in the pursuit of just, humane and peaceful

world for workers and their children .

Is international solidarity a feature ofcurrent labour action in the Philippines?

Yes, definitely. International solidarity work is

always a feature in all labor actions in the

Philippines and the labour movement has

learned and gained a lot from this activity at

different levels. One concrete example is the

campaign against the dismissal of 293 long term

casuals and child labor in the oil plantations in

CARAGA that CTUHR launched.

This was able to get lots of support abroad; the

management and Labor Department were forced

to talk to the union and went on to a marathon

hearing before the International Labor

Conference in June. Except, that the result was

not what the workers were exactly expecting.

But of course, theres another reason to that.Another big contribution is that the Philippine

government would not have accepted the ILO

High level Mission, if the international unions

and organizations had not exerted pressure on

the Philippine government.

Last month (July) CTUHR together with other

local organizations held an international

conference on freedom of association. As a

result, we are now looking at a more coordinated

action or platform to push for the defence of

freedom of association at the national andinternational level.

Are you hopeful for the future of the Filipinolabour movement?

Yes, absolutely. With crisis, poverty and

intensifying repression amidst the so calledgrowth besetting us now, there is no way for

workers to protect and defend their rights and

interests but to organize and act collectively.

The more the industrial relations become more

repressive, the greater the task and opportunities

to organize. It will not be a walk in the park,

and we really have to find creative but bold

ways to organize and raise awareness not only of

workers but also of the general public at all

levels. It is really important that simultaneous to

strengthening the labor movement, we are alsoable to share in the parallel task of strengthening

the peoples movement.


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international womeninternational women

the international domestic workers networkthe international domestic workers networkDomestic work, hidden from public view, is aDomestic work, hidden from public view, is a

labour long associated with gross exploitationlabour long associated with gross exploitationand abuseand abuse..For its 52 million plus globalworkforce, the challenge to be recognised asworkers with real rights has been a long andhard road. More and more organisations ofdomestic workers are now active around theworld, demonstrating that collective actionand association are the best way to break outof isolation and claim justice.

In 2009 the International Domestic WorkersNetwork (IDWN) was set up to help linktogether these national bodies, promote newstrategies and campaign for their rights.

The passage of the international ILOConvention on Decent Work for DomesticWorkers (C189) in 2011, and its earlyadoption in countries like Uruguay, gave theIDWN a strong momentum to press for

minimum labour protection for domesticworkers everywhere.

So far the strategy is playing out unevenly.To date eight nations have embedded C189 intheir national labour laws. Elsewhere thestruggle goes on . IDWN supports nationalorganisations who are trying to raise theprofile of domestic work in their countries.It now covers 33 national organisations, witha combined membership of 192,000 workers.

Meanwhile in India, the National Platform forDomestic Workers staged strike action atthe end of July to pressurise the governmentto recognise their rights. This involved over2000 workers from a dozen states. ThePlatform is itself made up of 17 differentunions of domestic workers and supportgroups. A worker registration system,

minimum wage and social security are keydemands on their agenda.

In Hong Kong, domestic workers havestaged public protests against forcedliving-in arrangements that leave them atextra disadvantage. Privacy, rest, self-education and interaction with the rest ofsociety are all undermined by thissituation. Some who have taken action andmoved out have faced arrest. The workersthemselves want their own accommodation,paid for by the employers. And rightly so.


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The extrasThe extras

For the continuing story of organising at Wal-Mart see Making Change at Wal-Marthttp://makingchangeatwalmart.org/and OUR WalMart at http://forrespect.org/.In the warehouse sector see http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/

The Ghanaian farm workers are reported on regularly through the Bananalink website,http://www.bananalink.org.uk/gawu-ghana. Kenyan tea pickers are the subject ofWar on Want's report A Bitter Cup: http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/fighting-supermarket-power/tea-industry. The SOMO research is available athttp://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_3711?searchterm=kenyan+tea.For South African farm labour try the International Viewpoint sitehttp://www.internationalviewpoint.org/and COSATU, available at

http://www.cosatu.org.za/index.php

The Bangladeshi garment sector has been extensively covered by many sites.Try IndustriALL as a starting point: http://www.industriall-union.org/

Daisy Arago and the CTUHR can be found at http://ctuhr.org/

Eric Lee's book Campaigning Online can be ordered from Labourstart:http://www.labourstart.org/2013/.

The International Domestic Workers Network can be followed here:http://www.idwn.info/. Particular affiliates can be tracked via the IDWN site.
http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/http://forrespect.org/http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/http://www.bananalink.org.uk/gawu-ghanahttp://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/fighting-supermarket-power/tea-industryhttp://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/fighting-supermarket-power/tea-industryhttp://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_3711?searchterm=kenyan+teahttp://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_3711?searchterm=kenyan+teahttp://www.internationalviewpoint.org/http://www.cosatu.org.za/index.phphttp://www.industriall-union.org/http://ctuhr.org/http://www.labourstart.org/2013/http://www.idwn.info/http://forrespect.org/http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/http://www.bananalink.org.uk/gawu-ghanahttp://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/fighting-supermarket-power/tea-industryhttp://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/fighting-supermarket-power/tea-industryhttp://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_3711?searchterm=kenyan+teahttp://www.internationalviewpoint.org/http://www.cosatu.org.za/index.phphttp://www.industriall-union.org/http://ctuhr.org/http://www.labourstart.org/2013/http://www.idwn.info/http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/

call of the millions #6 autumn 2013

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