Victory for Samsonite workers
On September 13, the last 29 workers illegally sacked by a Thai subcontractor of US luggage giant Samsonite were reinstated. The company gave assurances that it will not "interfere with trade union activities" or "obstruct any activities conducted in accordance with the law".
This victory ends a long campaign that began in October 2001 when 600 workers were sacked. An important factor was the international solidarity organised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
Future of East Timorese refugees uncertain
US-based East Timor Action Network issued a warning on September 1 about the plight of East Timorese refugees in Indonesia. On that day, the Indonesian government stopped funding and other assistance for repatriating the 45,000 refugees still in West Timor.
The UN's International Organisation of Migration also ended its programs in the camps on the same day. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has declared that refugee status will expire by the end of 2002, at which time the West Timor camps are due to close.
Cops disperse hospital workers
Early on September 11, 2500 South Korean cops clamped down on striking hospital workers in Seoul. Seven union leaders were detained, including the acting head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. This followed the breakdown of talks between the government, hospitals and the hospital workers' union that began on September 8.
No-strike public sector union
South Korea's government is drafting a bill to allow public sector workers to form an "association" which will be allowed to engage in collective bargaining, but will be prohibited from taking strike action. The bill, expected to pass next month, will take effect in January 2006.
AIDS activist detained
China's AIDS Action Project was told on September 4 that the Ministry of State Security had detained AIDS activist Wan Yanhai for breaching "state security".
Wan, the founder of the AIDS Action Project, disappeared on August 24 and is famous for exposing in the mid-1990s the spread of AIDS via blood transfusions in Henan province. Security ministry officials have declared this a leaking of "state secrets".
[Compiled by Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP). For more details of these and other solidarity news, visit <http://www.asia-pacific-action.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 25, 2002.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.