Mr. Mansour Osanloo, a bus driver, was in jail for almost four years. He was released from an Iranian jail in June of this year. Mansour’s health is now severely compromised due to an untreated heart condition while in prison.
Mr. Kim Hyuk also got out of jail earlier this October. He is a South Korean metal worker and spent two years in jail. Hyuk did not receive proper medical care in jail for his workplace chemical exposures, and was never allowed to exercise outside in the open air. A colleague of Hyuk, Mr Han Sang Kyun, still has one year of his jail sentence to serve.
Mr Kim, Mr. Han and Mr Osanloo were imprisoned for their trade union activities. Their crime was in believing that workers have rights. They both campaigned for greater job security, a living wage and safe working conditions. Read more…
Mr. Mansour Osanloo, a bus driver, was in jail for almost four years. He was released from an Iranian jail in June of this year. Mansour’s health is now severely compromised due to an untreated heart condition while in prison.
Mr. Kim Hyuk also got out of jail earlier this October. He is a South Korean metal worker and spent two years in jail. Hyuk did not receive proper medical care in jail for his workplace chemical exposures, and was never allowed to exercise outside in the open air. A colleague of Hyuk, Mr Han Sang Kyun, still has one year of his jail sentence to serve.
Mr Kim, Mr. Han and Mr Osanloo were imprisoned for their trade union activities. Their crime was in believing that workers have rights. They both campaigned for greater job security, a living wage and safe working conditions. Read more…
As we mark International Human Rights Day on the 10th of December, it is worth remembering that Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, ‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food.’
While most countries of the world are signatories to this Declaration, it is obvious that for many people in the world, even asking for this right is dangerous.
Farzad Kamangar was a teacher in the city of Kamyaran, in western Iran. In 2007, Farzad was arrested after he tried, with some colleagues, to organise a union meeting. Farzad was executed in May of 2010, after years of torture.
In these times of global economic turmoil, amid calls for cost cutting, greater efficiency and productivity, it is important not to forget the people who produce the goods that we use and consume.
Many commentators are prone to argue that trade unions are unnecessary in this age of globalisation, instant communication and individual choice. They say that work has changed, we are all more knowledgeable, and more able to control and negotiate our working environment. The reality for most workers in the world is very different.
If trade unions were really not important and on the way to becoming extinct, then anti union laws would not be necessary. The arrest, beating and killing of labour activists would also not occur.
In Australia, while unionists do not have to fear for their lives, organisations like the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) and Fair Work Australia (FWA) have wide ranging powers to curtail industrial action and fine workers and unions alike. We witnessed the powers of FWA during the recent disputes at Qantas and of the nurses in Victoria.
For the majority of working people, the world is still not a fair or just place. The power imbalance between employers and workers in most workplaces is vast. Without an organisation representing them, workers have no way to be heard and are at the mercy of their employers.
Sometimes conditions for workers are so hopeless that suicide seems to represent the only way left for people to have any control over their lives. This was examplified most clearly at two Foxconn factories in southern China when, in the first half of 2010, 13 workers committed suicide. Reports have stated that, long working hours, low pay, cramped dormitories, and no ability to have a say contributed to the workers despair.
It is incidents like these that show why trade unions and labour organisations are as important as ever to protect the interests of workers. The continued effort of labour activists globally to improve the standard of living of workers is a testament to the bravery of these women and men and their commitment to a fairer world.
These efforts have a positive ripple effect for workers’ families and local communities which depend on the workers well being and income. This link to community is examplified by the ongoing strike at the giant Freeport McMoRan mine in the highlands of West Papua, Indonesia. Up to ten thousands workers have been on strike for two months, with the local villages and towns helping to blockade access to the mine.
On the other hand, these very same people represent a thorn in the side of the rich and powerful. The International Trade Union Confederation yearly report on human rights abuses against labour activists makes for very sad reading. Hundreds of workers are killed and thousands are imprisoned each year under the most spurious of charges.
For example, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk was arrested in April of this year under Thailand’s draconian ‘Lese Majeste’ law. He is facing a 15 years sentence for allegedly insulting the monarchy and endangering national security. Somyot is a long time labour activist and journalist. His trial has just begun.
Similarly, in Pakistan, six textile workers from Faisalabad have just been convicted under that country’s Terrorist Act legislation. They have been sentenced to a total of 490 years in jail. Their crime was to organise successful demonstrations in 2010 demanding higher wages.
These labour activists were asking for simple justice at the workplace. But, as history has shown, human rights are never given as a gift from the rich and powerful. They are won by people demanding them. It was the same yesterday, it is the same today.
Having a living wage and safe working conditions is about justice and dignity. That is what human rights are all about. Labour activists like Sang kyun and Somyot are fighting for all of us.
10 December 2011 – International Human Rights Day
