SIGN PETITION

Over 2,500 workers of Philippines Airlines were sacked in October of last year for their refusal to be out sourced and casualised. Their union, PALEA, has been fighting for 6 months to regain their jobs. PALEA Vice President, Alnem Pretencio, has just finished a very successful solidarity tour in Melbourne and Sydney visiting airport workers in both of these cities. Join in solidarity with Philippines Airline Workers.

The ILO has called on the government of Ivory Coast to release jailed union leader Basile Mahan Gahé. In the latest report of the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, published in connection with the March 2012 session of the International Labour Conference, the Committee referred to Basile Gahé's April 2011 abduction, torture and detention as "a grave violation of the principle of freedom of association", adding that "a genuinely free and independent trade union movement can develop only if fundamental human rights are respected. Furthermore, the report notes, The guarantees set out in international labour Conventions, particularly those relating to freedom of association, can be effective only if the civil and political rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, are genuinely recognized." The Committee called on the government of Ivory coast "to state the charges brought against Mr Gahé and to indicate whether he has been released pending trial."
 

Act now! -- click here to send a message to President Ouattara (with copies to Ivory Coast embassies in France and Belgium) calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Basile Mahan Gahé.

Supporters of human rights in Colombia were justifiably thrilled last month at the news that human rights activist, trade unionist and documentary filmmaker Liliany Obando had been released from prison. She had spent almost four years in harsh conditions in detention and subjected to abuse by Colombian prison authorities.

Liliany was held without conviction on politically motivated charges of “rebellion” and aiding “terrorism”, i.e. gathering finances for leftist guerrillas involved in decades’ long insurgency arising from the appalling social injustice in Colombia. This type of abuse of the legal system by the Colombian government to silence critics is still all too common in Colombia.

 SIGN ONLINE PETITION 

The management of Mandiri Bank in Timor-Leste had dismissed three Union leaders Bro Joaquim Gonzaga, Brother Helder do Rego Barreto and Brother Leonardo Bele Bau Amaral. The decision of dismissal was made arbitrarily by Mohamad Yani, General Manager of Mandiri Bank on November 30, 2011 and December 12, 2011.