…more violence against labor organizers

Please read this chilling article about labor leaders unprotected by side deals in the recently passed trade deal with the US and Colombia.

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Global-Action/Violence-Threats-Increase-in-Colombia-Ahead-of-Trade-Deal-Start

McDermott’s Statement on the Murder of Bangladeshi Labor Leader

Seattle, WA-Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) issued the below statement regarding the murder of Aminul Islam, a prominent Bangladeshi labor rights activist. Mr. Islam, a former garment worker, was a labor organizer for the Bangladeshi Center for Worker’s Solidarity-a group that advocates for higher pay and better working conditions for Bangladesh garment workers

“Here in the United States, we expect businesses to provide livable wages and safe working conditions for all their workers. Unfortunately, the same expectation isn’t true in other countries. Earlier this month we learned what can happen when someone dares to speak out. Aminul Islam, a labor leader from Bangladesh, was tortured and killed in an apparent effort to silence him and stifle labor organizing efforts in the Bangladeshi garment industry.

“I am deeply troubled by this development and call on the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a full investigation into Mr. Islam’s murder. Workers do not have even the most basic labor rights if they can be killed with impunity for trying to improve their working conditions.

“A hundred years ago, the Triangle factory fire in New York City outraged our nation, but where is the outrage when U.S. companies that manufacture abroad don’t provide workers with even the most basic standard of living? I think most of us here would be willing to pay a few cents more if it meant workers in other countries could adequately provide for themselves.”

Local Police Found Body Bearing Signs of Brutal Torture

Former Apparel Worker Had Received Numerous Death Threats & Been Detained & Tortured by Bangladeshi Security Services in 2010

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — A Bangladeshi labor rights activist and former apparel worker was tortured and murdered last week in Dhaka. His body was dumped outside of the capital city and was found by local police last Thursday.  According to the police report, Aminul Islam’s body bore signs of brutal torture. Aminul’s family, who had been searching for him since he disappeared last Wednesday, identified him on Saturday from photos appearing in local newspapers. Labor rights organizations in Bangladesh and the United States believe the killing is associated with Aminul’s work on behalf of apparel workers who sew garments for suppliers to major U.S. retailers and brands.

Aminul had worked for several years as a labor rights organizer and advocate. His organization is among the most prominent labor rights groups in the country. Levi Strauss called BCWS “a globally respected labor rights organization that has played a vital role in documenting and working to remedy labor violations in the apparel industry in Bangladesh.” The Bangladeshi Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) was featured in a recent ABC TV News story exposing the relationship of U.S. brands to a sweatshop factory fire in Dhaka that killed twenty-nine workers last year, and describing the repression of labor rights advocates.

BCWS and its staff have been the target of a campaign of harassment by the Bangladeshi government and apparel factory owners for two years. The organization’s license to operate was revoked and Aminul and two of his colleagues were jailed in 2010. Their release was secured only after international pressure.

Aminul had disappeared Wednesday evening on his way to meet a worker who had called him seeking assistance. Aminul’s family and friends searched for him until Saturday, when his wife recognized a photograph of his body, published in a local newspaper.

Aminul had been detained by officials of the National Intelligence Service (NSI) in June 2010. According to Aminul, he was subjected to severe and repeated beatings, which his captors said would stop only if he agreed to give false testimony against his colleagues at BCWS. The NSI officials demanded that he write a letter stating that his colleagues were the instigators of recent worker protests, which had resulted in damage to some factory buildings. Aminul refused. While being transported to another location, he managed to escape his captors and went into hiding.

Later that year, Aminul and two colleagues, Kalpona Akhter and Babul Akter, were arrested and jailed on charges of fomenting riots and related acts – charges regarded as baseless by international labor and human rights organizations. They were released only after substantial international pressure on the Bangladesh government and they still face trials.

On Wednesday of last week, after working during the day at BCWS’s office in Savar, Aminul went to evening prayers. While there, he noticed a police van parked outside. Fearing harassment or arrest he called a colleague to say that they should close the BCWS office for the day. Aminul then returned to his home. Later in the evening, he received a call from a worker urgently seeking assistance. He left home to meet the worker and was never heard from again.

Labor rights organizations in the U.S. and Bangladesh are calling for a full investigation of the murder and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

On Friday, March 16th, as thousands of activists around the world drew attention to the atrocities being perpetrated by Monsanto, the Washington Fair Trade Coalition joined the Community Alliance for Global Justice’s AGRA Watch, GMO Free Washington, Washington Biotechnology Action Council &  Seattle Educators Association and Social Equality Educators to call out the support of Monsanto by the Gates Foundation.

We know that through trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA, Monsanto and big agri-business flooded Mexican and Central American countries with cheap food and overloaded their water systems, land and community with chemicals.

Our most recent trade deal with Colombia was touted as a way to solve the problem of displaced farmers and loss of livelihood, by reducing tariffs and opening up Colombia’s agricultural markets. However, we, the US tax payers gave some $25million to Monsanto to use their Round-Up Ultra to fumigate coca fields. This led to the destruction of all crops (not just coca) as well as poisoning water sources and protected areas. This Plan Colombia, anti-drug fumigation, actually increased coca cultivation as desperate farmers turned to the drug trade as a means of economic survival. So Monsanto is the cause of the problem and through the trade deal will again benefit from the solution.

The US does not require labeling of GMO products, it is voluntary. That is not the case in Australia or New Zealand, two countries currently in the TP FT negotiations. GMO labeling is also mandatory in Japan-another country that  wants in. By controlling TP FT negotiations, the US is driving down standards worldwide on food safety and consumer transparency.

How is this happening exactly? Meet, Islam Siddiqui, the US Chief Agricultural Negotiator on trade, and ‘former’ Monsanto lobbyist. He is at the trade negotiating table with Philip Morris, PhRMA, Chevron and others. Not farmers or workers or environmentalists. The Gates Foundation’s work of poverty alleviation, global health and sustainable development is at odds with their investment in Monsanto, which is causing unprecedented harm to the food and water of communities and undermining their health. The same is true of US trade policies. With Monsanto at the table our communities will not be safe.