I'm
wearing the badge! Free Osanloo now!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itf/sets/72157602429966468/
As part of the
ITF's Action Week (Organising Globally - Building Union Power), ITF unions have
expressed their solidarity with Mansour Osanloo by participating in the
"Free Osanloo!" badge campaign. It is a symbolic message as the
Iranian regime continues to detain other unionists such as Ebrahim Madadi and
Mahmoud Salehi.
The campaign has again been supported by Amnesty International. On 17 October,
they launched an emergency on-line petition to demand immediate medical
treatment for Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi. The petition has been highly
successful with more than 6,000 people taking part within 24 hours of its
launching. You can join the campaign by visiting http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=334.
Furthermore, the ITF released its promotional video, "Freedom will come -
the story of Mansour Osanloo" during the week. It is available on Youtube
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in-vF2LvITk and will soon be made into DVDs. Internet
campaign site, Labourstart has been promoting these two initiatives.
On 15 October, 200 unionists from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia,
France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden,
together with the ITF and ETF representatives held a protest rally in front of
the Iranian Embassy. Their request to meet with the Ambassador was rejected. A
protest letter was posted instead. Similar protest actions were planned in
countries including Romania by ITF unions.
Today, a Central
America delegation of unions in a meeting of ITF/3F project in Managua will
present a letter to the Ambassador of Iran in Nicaragua. Transport
workers´ unions from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador have also asked for a meeting respectively.
On 17 October, 10,000 bus workers in four Norwegian transport unions began to
wear the badge at work. So did transit drivers of Local 111 in Vancouver, Canada and transport union vida members in the Vienna Airport Lines. The union
also placed campaign posters at the ticket offices. In Australia, members of TWU in Canberra and Wollongong demonstrated their public support for the
Iranian workers at press conferences. The Federal Member of Parliament, Sharon
Bird attended the meeting in Wollongong and expressed her support for the
campaign.
In Seoul, Korea, activists from two road transport unions with their banners
with the message "Free Osanloo!" distributed badges and leaflets to
bus and taxi drivers. Similarly, the ITF Thai Coordinating Committee has
utilized the Action Week to campaign for the immediate release of Mansour
Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi. A special exhibition was organised in Bangkok, together with a demonstration by the ITF affiliates.
Members of the four road transport unions in Mauritius used a rally on 18
October to highlight the message "Free Osanloo!" Wearing the
ITF yellow decken and the "Free Osanloo" badges, union activists
carried placards demanding the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim
Madadi. HKCTU in Hong Kong and UMT in Morocco also raise this campaign in their
meetings during the week. In Morocco, all participants signed a letter
addressed to the Iranian President. So did the UK union RMT whose seminar
participants have sent a protest letter to the Iranian government. Members of
Teamsters union Canada in a conference next week will also be wearing the
badge. Staff at the British TUC and Amnesty International in London have been wearing the badge to demonstrate their solidarity with the campaign. The
ITUC has sent its protest letter to the Iranian Government on 19 October.
Information and
photos on activities organised for the Action Week can be found on the Campaign
webpage:
INFO: http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/RoadActionWeek2007.cfm
PHOTOS: http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/RoadActionWeek2007-images.cfm