Good news from Canada, Egypt and Mauritius
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Earlier this week, I wrote to ask you to support trade union leaders and school cleaners who had gone on hunger strike in the island republic of Mauritius. Over 5,500 of you sent off messages of protest to the Mauritian government. The hunger strike has now ended and Joel Odigie of ITUC Africa wrote to say that "this campaign has been a huge success ... many thanks for your help, passion and commitment."
Just a few days earlier we also stopped our campaign, launched a month ago, in support of jailed trade union leaders in Egypt. Over 7,400 of you sent messages of protest to the Egyptian government. Ten days ago, they were all released from jail. Kamal Abbas of the CTUWS in Cairo wrote to say "Many thanks for your support and solidarity in the LabourStart campaign to release the nine Egyptian trade union leaders."
For those of you who live in Canada, you'll know that LabourStart recently ran an online campaign in support of striking workers at Toronto's Pearson Airport. That campaign too has ended in victory. Steven Tufts from the Toronto Airport Workers Council wrote this to us:
"On behalf of Toronto Pearson Airport’s (YYZ) 50,000 workers and our six solidarity unions, including Teamsters419, we would like to thank LabourStart and LabourStart Canada for the amazing support we received in our campaign against the use of temp agency workers during the Swissport strike. Within two days of launching this solidarity action, we are pleased to advise that the parties reached an agreement thus ending the strike. A key component of this strike's settlement was the removal of all temp agency workers and the non-renewal of their 'permit' to operate; a critical demand of the LabourStart action. It is often said that solidarity is our union movement's greatest strength. As we gear up for our bigger battle against the privatisation of our airport, victories like this reaffirm this basic truth. Long may this solidarity grow between us!"
It's been an amazing week. Not all our campaigns end in victory. And we know that such victories are primarily the result of determination and courage on the ground, by the workers in Mauritius, in Egypt and in Canada. Those workers deserve the credit for these victories.
But we also know that our campaigns helped, not least because we showed those workers that they are not alone.
I want to thank all of you for signing up and spreading the word.
Solidarity forever!
Eric Lee
P.S. Want to know which of our recent campaigns you may have missed? Click here to find out. Copyright © 2017 LabourStart, All rights reserved.
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