Eric Lee: Urgent appeals from Russia, Iran and Canada

[Omaha Steve]

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In this week's mailing:

* Russia: Nestle refuses to negotiate
* Iran: Jailed trade unionist goes on hunger strike
* Canada: Stop union-busting in Saskatchewan
* Global: Unions launch Olympic-linked campaign for workers' rights
* UK: Fremantle update



Russia: Nestle refuses to negotiate

A few months ago, the determined resistance of workers combined with a global solidarity campaign forced Ford to negotiate with its workers in Russia. Now it's Nestle's turn. The giant food multinational is attempting to dictate wages to its Russian workers, and refuses to bargain collectively with the union. The workers at the company's factory in Perm have called for an international campaign of protest, which has been launched by the IUF. Please take one minute to send your message right now.

Iran: Jailed trade unionist goes on hunger strike

Mahmoud Salehi, the jailed Iranian trade unionist, was due to be freed from prison on 23 March. But the authorities now accuse him of "communicating with those outside prison for the purposes of issuing messages of solidarity". As a result, he has not yet been released and has gone on hunger strike. Amnesty International is waging a global campaign to demand his freedom -- please send off your message today.

Canada: Stop union-busting in Saskatchewan

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan was once known as the citadel of democratic socialism in that country. No longer. A new right-wing government has made its first legislative priority the enactment of union-busting legislation. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour is asking for our help to pressure the government to back down. More details and a chance to send off your protest message are available here .

Global: Unions launch Olympic-linked campaign for workers rights

The international trade union movement has launched a campaign to highlight abuses of workers' rights in the run-up to the summer Olympic games in Beijing. The campaign -- called "Catch the Flame" -- is part of Play Fair 2008. Full details are here.

UK: Fremantle update

As you may recall, last year we ran a very large online campaign in support of care home workers in North London employed by Fremantle Trust. Despite your 12,500 email messages, the dispute is not yet over. However, the union has informed us that a series of meetings are now taking place with the employer in an attempt to resolve the dispute. They have asked us to suspend the online campaign, which we have done, and have promised to update us in the future.

You can help make these online campaigns much more effective by spreading the word -- pass this email on to fellow union members and to mailing lists. Thank you.

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee