May
31
2010
1

Correspondents’ meeting in Hamilton – agenda updated

I’ve done a few tweaks to the proposed agenda for our correspondents meeting in July at the end of LabourStart’s Global Solidarity Conference.  Please have a look and send me any changes you’d like made.  Thanks.

Written by ericlee in: 2010 Conference |
May
30
2010
0

New Labour & Technology podcast now live

OK,  so it’s a first attempt and maybe the sound quality could be a little better, but please have a listen and let my know what you think — and share some tips about how to make it better.  Thanks.

Written by ericlee in: Radio LabourStart |
May
30
2010
0

New campaign launched to protest conditions at Chinese factory that makes the iPad

Our new campaign is now live here:

http://www.labourstart.org/foxconn

I’ve done some basic publicity to our lists, via Facebook, UnionBook and Twitter, etc.

Please spread the word in your own organizations.

Written by ericlee in: Campaigns |
May
29
2010
0

LabourStart in Numbers – May 2010

The last month saw another big net gain for our mailing lists – especially English, French, Russian and Norwegian.  We are very close having 70,000 subscribers to the lists.  The LabourStart Facebook group also grew by nearly 10% in just one month. Here are the totals with the changes since the end of March in brackets:

  • Mailing lists – subscribers: 69,210 [+1,668]
  • LabourStart’s English language mailing list – 57,153 [+1,182]
  • UnionBook – members: 4,563 [+68]
  • Facebook – members of LabourStart group: 3,216 [+285]
  • Twitter – followers: 2,171 [+49]
  • Correspondents: 771 [+9]
  • Union group on Flickr: 552 [+11]
  • LinkedIn – members of LabourStart group: 171 [+5]

Some highlights from the mailing lists — the other large groups are:

  • Norwegian 2,676 [+65]
  • French 1,917 [+92]
  • Spanish 1,047 [+16]
  • German 761 [+16]
  • Italian 474 [+18]
  • Russian 395 [+87]
  • Polish 298 [+5]
  • Portuguese 229 [+7]
  • Swedish 226 [+4]
  • Dutch 215 [+20]
  • Danish 157 [+3]
May
28
2010
0

Coming soon: A campaign to protest conditions at suicide-rife plan that makes Apple iPads

We’re currently talking with trade unionists in Hong Kong and Taiwan about launching a major online campaign to protest conditions at Foxconn, where the Apple iPad is being manufactured.  The suicides at this Taiwanese-owned factory are making top global news now, but efforts so far to organize a big online response have not been great.  I hope we have something up this weekend.

Written by ericlee in: Campaigns |
May
26
2010
0

New campaign launched in support of Algeria’s independent unions

SNAPAP logo.

SNAPAP logo.

We were approached both by SNAPAP in Algeria (via Andy Funnel in France) and also by the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center — who are bringing over two Algerian trade unionists to our conference in Hamilton.

The campaign is now live, here.

The short URL is http://tinyurl.com/snapap

Written by ericlee in: Campaigns |
May
25
2010
0

Coming soon: Podcasts on labour and technology

I have to admit — I was inspired by a talk I heard at LabourTech Canada ten days ago on the subject of podcasting.

I’ve been thinking a lot about it and have decided to attempt a short weekly show on the subject of labour and technology.  The first one may go live on Friday.

Obviously, I’ll link to these on Radio LabourStart.

I used to write regular columns on this subject for Industrial Worker, International Union Rights and Labour Research but have terminated all of these.  Perhaps podcasting is a better approach — certainly worth trying.

Written by ericlee in: Radio LabourStart |
May
21
2010
0

Thai railway workers campaign – closed

This campaign, launched in early February, has now run its course.

Also, with events in Thailand it may seem odd to be focusing on this issue at this time.

By the end, the campaign attracted 4,039 letters of protest in 9 languages.  There have been no updates on the ITF site since we launched the campaign — as far as I can tell — and I’ve asked them for news.  If we’ve helped at all, we should tell our lists.

I will continue taking down campaigns after three months if we hear nothing from the unions.  The next up is the Turkish campaign for Seher Tumer, due to come down in another five days.

Written by ericlee in: Campaigns |
May
20
2010
0

Farzad campaign tops 6,000 – our biggest current campaign by far

With 6,161 participants after just a week, our campaign protesting the Iranian regime’s murder of teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar is one of our largest ever.

By comparison, here are the current totals of other currently active campaigns and their launch dates:

  • Philippines – Alta Mode: 3,159 (26 April)
  • Taiwan – YFO: 3,906 (21 April)
  • Iraq – Oil union: 2,954 (12 April)
  • Mexico – PEMEX: 4,247 (14 March)
  • Guyana – Bauxite: 2,645 (12 March)
  • Mexico – Cananea: 3,795 (2 March)
  • Turkey – Seher Tumer: 4,233 (26 February)
  • Thailand – Railway workers: 4,039 (8 February – overdue for removal)
Written by ericlee in: Campaigns,Uncategorized |
May
19
2010
2

Towards £10,000 – May Day appeal 2010 [updated]

In the first few days of the appeal we’ve received 122 donations totalling £8,764 from 18 countries (the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, and South Korea).  A very good beginning.  The full text of the appeal is here.

It would be great to bring the total up to £10,000 – we have to raise only another £1,236 to do.

Written by ericlee in: Fund-raising |

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