Eric Lee: How many deaths will it take?

[Omaha Steve]

In this week's mailing:

* How many deaths will it take?
* Warrant of arrest for Dutch labour rights activists
* In Brief: Burma, Egypt, Fremantle, Strike Bike, Second Life

How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?

That's the question Bob Dylan asked in his 1962 song, "Blowin' in the Wind".

And it's the question I'm asking you now -- to each and every person on this mailing list.

Less than two weeks ago, a man you've never met or even heard of, who lived in a country you may know very little about, was gunned down by masked criminals while leaving his house to go to work.

Murders happen every day. Why single this one out?
The man killed was Marco Tulio Ramírez Portela. He was in charge of sports and culture for the banana workers union in Guatemala. This is the union that organizes Del Monte workers. The bananas you eat may have been picked by members of his union.

Marco Tulio's murder on 23 September was part of a pattern of rising anti-union violence in Guatemala.

I mentioned this in passing in last week's message. Maybe you noticed, or maybe you didn't. Very few of you responded.

I can understand why -- sometimes these mailings have a lot of information and we all have very little time.

And as we've pointed out before, 144 trade union activists were killed in 2006. That's a big increase over the previous year.

If we don't make a special effort, we may become apathetic. And we may begin to accept -- by our silence -- what we know we cannot accept.

Dylan rhetorically asked how many deaths will it take?

The answer for all us should be this: Just one.

Marco Tulio's murderers are benefiting from a culture of impunity in Guatemala. Those behind the murder are convinced that few will have heard his name and fewer still will have raised their voices in protest.

Unions across Latin America have raised the cry -- "¡Basta de impunidad en Guatemala!" Unions around the world -- your union -- must take up this slogan as well.

Please, take a few seconds and go to this link -- send the strongest possible message to the authorities in Guatemala that trade union activists are not legitimate targets for assassins and death squads.

Thank you.

Warrant of arrest for Dutch labour rights activists

A judge in Bangalore, India has ordered the apprehension of seven staff members of the Clean Clothes Campaign and the India Committee of the Netherlands. This is but the next step in the libel law suit initiated by the Indian jeans manufacturer FFI against the activists and internet providers Antenna and Xs4all.

The defendants have been campaigning to raise the issue of labour rights violations in the FFI factories following reports of high work pressure, forced overtime, physical and psychological abuse, overwork without pay and failure to provide contracts. FFI produces jeans for many well known clothing brands.

I urge everyone reading this message to support the Indian and Dutch organizations and take action now!

In brief

Burma: A global day of protest has been called for this Saturday. Amnesty International's website will list events as they come in and LabourStart will continue with full coverage of Burma.

Egypt: With a massive wave of strikes shaking the country, the government has chosen to arrest workers' rights activists and try to clamp down on dissent. Full coverage of the struggles is on LabourStart.

Fremantle: The struggle of care home workers in north London is heating up. They're calling a national demonstration for Saturday 10 November.

Strike Bike: Good news - there have been over 1,300 orders for the bikes, 64,000 visits to the Strike Bike home page, and the workers have decided to go ahead and begin producing the red bikes at the end of this month. They still need orders, so if you've not yet ordered yours, or told your local bike shop to do so, please do this now.

Second Life: Organizers report that last week's innovative virtual protest was a big success.

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee