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PUBLISHED BY THE
WEST MIDLANDS
INTERNATIONAL
FORUM WINTER 2014

At a joint meeting organised by UNISON and

operation .

ESNET (El Salvador network ) attendees heard

an interesting account of the Nueva Esperernza
(New Hope ) community in EL Salvador.

Children educated whilst in Nicaragua have grown and

become teachers in the community school .

The Government however would not allow them all to

In the 8Os a brutal civil war took place between
be employed . So they took the decision to all teach
the FMLN and a right wing government to end the and share the wages the government would provide.
oppression of the working class.
Since then the Birmingham based organisation which
The war lasted 10 years and left 70,000 dead.
is part of ESNET , has supported and fund raised for
Over 2 million fled their homes including freedom the community .
fighters and their families from the Bajo Lempa
For the first 18 years of its existence the right wing
region who fled to Nicaragua.
government put every obstacle in their path , but with
Ten year later they returned determined to build a the election of a left government in 2009 things have
been somewhat easier.
new community which they called Nueva
Esperanza . Armed only with blue plastic sheeting But El Salvador is still a poor country and the
(for tents), a machete and $30 (supplied to each
community is still relatively poor and support is still
family by the UN) they cut down the jungle to esneeded , particularly in the area of health care.
tablish their new community which would be
based on grass roots democracy and co-

Further information can be obtained by

emailing
Tim and Mogs at mogtim@hotmail.com

The aim of which , is to train and develop FETSALUD

activists, particularly women and young members.

Following the visit to the region in the summer of

The project would be funded by UNISONs International

development fund. Last Month UNISONs national international committee approved the bid and the project will
commence in the new year.

As previously reported the George Eliot hospital will be

Carmen Meir from Nicaragua health union FESALUD, sending a delegation to Nicaragua in February and we
as part of our building links with the Nicaraguan trade have also agree to send mark Glover (Solihull LG) as a
union movement , we agreed a joint project with
regional rep to report on the progress of the project.
FETSALUD .

THE BLAAN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF

THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES ARE IN
DANGER.
THE HUGE TAMPAKAN MINING PROJECT
AIMS TO BUILD ONE OF THE WORLDS
LARGEST OPENCAST COPPER AND
GOLD MINES RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE BLAANS ANCESTRAL HOMELAND
ON THE ISLAND OF MINDANAO.
Recently the region was visited by 2 Filipino
activists from the region who are campaigning
against the mine. The campaign is jointly
funded by UNISON and War on Want.
Mark Lopez and Clemente Bautista spoke of
the campaign and the oppression campaign
activists and the Blaan people face , in what
has become effectively a war zone .
Seventy four percent of the proposed mine
site is on land classified as ancestral land of
the Blaan. If the project goes ahead 4,000
people will be forced out of their homes. The
project boundary will measure 10,000 hectares, destroying swathes of rainforest which
are the source of 5 rivers .
In the face of concerted opposition from
Blaan communities , the tampakan mining

project has made payments to army and

paramilitary forces which have been responsible
for committing atrocities against campaigners
(including 10 murders.

WITH A CONTROLLING STAKE IN THE

PROJECT, THE ANGLO SWISS
COMPANY GLENCORE STANDS TO
MAKE ENORMOUS PROFITS
TOGETHER , WE CAN STOP THIS THIS
DEADLY MINING PROJECT FROM
GOING AHEAD .

Take action TODAY

Tell Ivan Glasenberg CEO of
Glencore -to withdraw from
the Tampakan project at
Waronwant.org/stopthemine

REGIONAL INTERNATIONAL FORUM

UNISON is backing the

TUC Play Fair Qatar campaign calling for the 2022
World Cup hosts to respect the
rights of migrant construction workers - who are dying at a rate of
around 40 a month.

964

Or at least that's the estimate from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which
has exposed numerous violations of the rights of
the more than one million migrant workers.

4000

The Qatar government disputes the figure, saying

that heart attacks cannot be classified as industrial
accidents. Many of the young Nepalese and Indian
workers suffer cardiac arrests and campaigners
says this most likely because they are working
long hours in temperatures of more than 40oC.

SUPPORTS THE CAMPAIGN.

CONFIRMED DEATHS OF WORKERS FROM

JUST NEPAL, INDIA AND BANGLADESH IN
2012-2013. THATS MORE THAN 40 DEATHS A
MONTH.

THE ESTIMATED WORKER DEATH TOLL BY

THE TIME THE QATAR WORLD CUP STARTS
IN 2022 IF NOTHING IS DONE TO STOP IT
90

PERCENTAGE OF LOW-INCOME MIGRANTS,

IN QATAR, THAT HAVE REPORTED HAVING
Since being awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010, THEIR PASSPORTS CONFISCATED..
Qatar has launched an unprecedented construction programme including building a new city to
accommodate the final of the World Cup.
The ITUC figures would mean around 4,000 people dying before the World Cup starts.
DEATH AND INJURY
To date, almost 1000 World Cup workers have
died in Qatar and many have been injured.
LOW PAY AND NO PAY
Workers are paid as little as 45p an hour and
some employers withhold wages.

WOLVERHAMPTON GENERAL WOMEN'S

GROUP SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN

TRAPPED IN QATAR
Workers need permission from their employers
before they can leave Qatar.
NO DEFENCE
World Cup workers in Qatar are unable to join
forces and defend themselves.

The TUC campaign is encouraging football fans to get

involved in highlighting the violation of workers rights
in the building trade.
You can take a selfie wearing your club colours and upload it to the Play Fair Qatar website. Encourage colleagues, friends and family to also get involved.

The landlocked Kingdom of

Swaziland is the only absolute
monarchy in Africa. The
country is ruled by King Mswati
III who rules by decree over his people and
who sucks up much of the countrys wealth.
Swaziland
has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the
world and an estimated 70% of people
live below the poverty line. Freedom of
speech is restricted, all political parties are
banned and any opposition to the monarchy is
heavily punished. This includes the harassment and imprisonment of trade unionists and
human rights activists
Women in Swaziland face horrendous levels of discrimination because they are
women.
Poverty, high levels of gender based violence,
traditional laws that classify women as minors
and the failure to implement laws that in theory guarantee rights and equality all contribute
to an appalling level of discrimination. Women
in Swaziland are treated as second class citizens, as objects and denied the opportunity or
resources to advocate for their rights.
ACTSA is working with the Foundation for
Socio Economic Justice and the Swaziland
Rural Womens Assembly on a four year project to Improve Womens Rights in Swaziland.
The project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Hobslie from the Swaziland rural women's network and Mark Beacon from ACTSA recently
spoke at the region.
Thousands of women in rural areas will benefit from a national peer education programme
to develop their understanding of their rights
and empower them to organise and advocate
for their rights on a family, community and national level.
A special programme will be run to improve
womens rights in the textile industry, notorious for discrimination and the denial of rights.
The project will bring women together to meet
and discuss their rights and what they need to
do to improve them at a series of national and
local events. Women will develop a charter of
womens rights which they can use to lobby
national politicians and community leaders to

support these rights and reform unjust laws that

discriminate against women.

The project will tackle discrimination against

women in the media by monitoring the portrayal
of women and working with journalists to improve this and highlight the challenges women
face.
It will help develop womens groups throughout
the country into strong, democratic organisations and develop the leadership skills of women
to stand for election in their communities and
civil society organisations.
Hobsile explained that despite the harassment
women who were active in the movement
faced , 90% of women who had taken leadership courses have taken on leadership positions
in their areas.
Hobsile also gave a concrete example of
women's empowerment, where a woman had
been thrown out of her house and all the other
women in the area threatened to leave their
homes. The threat worked and the woman was
allowed back into her home and her land
You can learn more about Swaziland and
ACTSAs work and individual campaigns at
Www.actsa.org and if your branch is not affiliated join now!
If you have any interest in international issues or want to
become a Branch International officer contact me at
daveauger61@hotmail .com
DAVE AUGER REGIONAL INTERNATIONAL OFFICER