Where trade unionists start their day on the net.
In this week's mailing:
* Remember this name: Jesús Marino Mosquera
* Google ads followup
* UK: National shop stewards' conference
* Canada's failure to protect bargaining
REMEMBER THIS NAME: JESÚS MARINO MOSQUERA
How many members of your union have recently been murdered simply because they were trade unionists?
If that union is rural workers union in Colombia known as SINTRAINAGRO, the answer is four hundred.
That's right: more than 400 SINTRAINAGRO members have lost their lives since the union was founded.
The most recent victim was Jesús Marino Mosquera, a union rep from Carepa. He was murdered last week.
With so many deaths -- and Colombia continues to hold the world record for trade unionists killed each year -- it is easy to forget that each statistic is a name, a human being, a person like yourself who had a family and a life.
We must never get used to this, we cannot accept it, and we must intensify our efforts to create a world in which working people can freely organize and join trade unions without fear.
For details about the Mosquera murder, go here:
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GOOGLE ADS FOLLOWUP
Last week we told you about how we were using Google's keyword-based advertising in our online campaigns and we asked for your donations and support. We were flooded with questions and realized that you needed a bit more information, so here goes:
If you did not see our ad when searching Google for 'Dole', it's probably because our budget for that day ran out. Google allows us to set a daily budget and once we hit it, the ads stop until the following day. So far in October, we've shown over two million ads (over 100,000 per day), including ads highlighting the ongoing repression against South Korean trade unionists. (Search Google for "KGEU" to see our ad, which has been shown almost 600,000 times).
Many of you asked for more information, so here's what we can recommend: This article, written three years ago, explains in principle what we are doing:
http://www.ericlee.info/2003/05/google_and_online_campaigning.html
To set up a Google ads account, and to learn more, go here:
Finally, a big thanks to all of you who donated, and especially to those who agreed to take out a "subscription" (meaning a monthly donation to LabourStart). It's not too late to help support our online campaigning in defense of workers' rights. Please go here and give generously:
http://www.labourstart.org/donate.shtml
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UK: NATIONAL SHOP STEWARDS' CONFERENCE
All trade union members in Britain are invited to attend the national shop stewards' conference due to held on Saturday, 28 October. The conference, convened by the RMT union, will feature speakers from the T&G, CWU, PCS, NUJ, NUM, CYWU, FBU and BFAWU -- and of course, Bob Crow from the RMT. One of the focuses of the event will be to build support for the Trade Union Freedom Bill. The conference will be held at the Camden Centre, Bidborough Street, London WC1H 9JE. To register, email j.croy@rmt.org.uk. See you there!
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CANADA'S FAILURE TO PROTECT BARGAINING
Normally when we think of countries cited by the International Labour Organization as violators of workers' rights, we think of places like Colombia and Burma -- but not Canada. Yet Professor Roy J. Adams claims that "hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers are being denied the power to bargain jointly with their employers" while many others "although ostensibly given that right, have frequently had it stripped away from them by governments all across Canada."
Violations of workers rights in Canada include wage freezes, strike-breaking, and arbitrary impositions of contract settlements. These have been condemned by the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association.
This week's LabourStart Book of the Week is Adams' brand-new "Labour Left Out: Canada's Failure to Protect Bargaining". Order copies for your union today:
http://www.labourstart.org/bookoftheweek
If you leave in or near Toronto, note that Roy Adams is doing a book signing at Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Ave on October 25 at 7:30 PM.
Texts appearing here are often press releases sent to us by unions and other organizations which do not appear elsewhere on the web. LabourStart takes no responsibility for their content.