LabourStart's 2nd Annual Global Solidarity Conference / LabourStart'ın İkinci Küresel Dayanışma Konferansı, İstanbul, 18-20.11.2011

We’ll be posting links to articles, photos, and videos about the conference here.

For those of you who will already be in Istanbul on Friday at 11:00 AM, you’re invited to meet up in the lobby of the Taksim Gonen Hotel, and from there we’ll be taken by bus to a picket line to support 62 locked-out members of Birlesik Metal-IS, an affiliate of the International Metalworkers’ Federation.  Full details of the action are here.

We will sing this at the conference closing session – everyone can sing in their own language.  Here are the lyrics in the three conference languages – English, Turkish and Arabic: The Internationale

An explanation for conference participants – in English and Turkish.  Click here: What is LabourStart?

And in Arabic: What is LabourStart? (Arabic)

If you plan to speak at the conference, this is essential reading – in English and Turkish: Speaker guidelines

In Arabic: Speaker guidelines – Arabic

If you’re using Twitter, use this hashtag to post tweets about the conference – #lsconf

Don’t know what we’re talking about?  Learn more here.

With the LabourStart conference only two weeks away, we’re going to be sending you some emails over the next few days with key details. You may find it useful to print these out and bring them with you to Istanbul.

What do I do when I arrive at the airport?

First of all, if you carry a passport from one of the countries which require a visa to Turkey, you must first purchase your visa before you get into the line to show your passport.  You can purchase the visa in foreign currency (Euros, pounds, dollars).  There are signs in the airport with flags showing you which countries require the purchase of visas.

Catch the airport shuttle bus to Taksim Square — it’s called HAVAŞ (pronounced Havash) and you’ll see signs for it as you exit through the doors outside. Take it to the very last station, Taksim Square.

From where you get off the bus, it is a very short (200 meter) walk to the conference hotel. Full details are on this map:

http://g.co/maps/994a5

What if I’ve requested solidarity housing?

Come to the conference hotel; we’ll meet you there and organise for you to be met by your hosts.

What’s the name of the conference hotel?

We were asked to keep this quiet for a while as they were offering us very good rates. But we can tell you now that it’s the Taksim Gonen Hotel and their website is at http://www.taksimgonen.com/

Where’s the conference taking place?

All conference sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will take place at the headquarters of Petrol-Is — which is also on the map (see above). Petrol-Is is located on the Asian side of Istanbul.

How do I get from the conference hotel or the home I am staying in to the conference each day?

We will have a bus to take all participants from the hotel to Petrol-Is and back each day.

What languages is the conference being held in?

The official languages are English, Turkish and Arabic. We will have simultaneous translation in the main hall for plenaries and one of the workshops. The other workshops will feature consecutive translation where needed.

Where can I see a conference timetable?

Here, on the conference website:

http://www.labourstart.org/2011/?p=171

What about a full list of workshops?

This is still in draft form – there will be 20 workshops and you’ll need to choose between five of them each time. We’ll publish a list at the end of this week on the conference website and will send it out by email in a few days.

How do I contact you in Istanbul?

We have a staff person there, Eyup Ozer. He can be reached by email at eyupozer@labourstart.org and by cellphone at +905362059121.  Eric Lee and other LabourStart correspondents will be at the Taksim Gonen Hotel from the evening of 16 November onwards and can be reached there.