Some 1,200 members of Mexico's National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union, or Los Mineros, have been on strike since July 2007 at the Cananea mine over health and safety and other contract violations.

Grupo Mexico, the mining giant which operates Cananea, and the Mexican government have continuously tried to end the strike and crush the union.

They have threatened and jailed union leaders, illegally frozen union bank accounts and failed to investigate or prosecute assassinations of union members.

On February 11th, a federal court gave Grupo Mexico permission to fire the striking workers and terminate the labor agreement. The government has threatened to use armed force to gain control of Cananea.

The Los Mineros members at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair labour agreement is reached. Los Mineros is one of the strongest and most democratic trade unions in Mexico.

Take a moment to send off your letter of protest today from the LabourStart website today by going HERE.

2010 looks to be a big conference year.  LabourStart in July in Hamilton Ontario, Canada, LabourTech in Windsor Ontario, Canada 13-15 May.

The organizing committee has decided to link Labourtech to the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Labour Media to expand our networks and benefit from the workshops offered at both conferences.

    * Conference Schedule <a href="http://www.labourtech.ca/tiki-index.php?page=2010ConferenceSchedule">HERE</a>
    * Deadlines:
          o Conference registration:April 23
          o Hotel rooms:April 14
          o Residence rooms: April 30
    * Cost: $195 or $100 for individuals not funded by an organization or union

To register online go <a href="http://www.labourtech.ca/tiki-index.php?page=2010RegistrationForm">HERE</a>.

Workers in India, including children, will die young grinding gemstones for Valentine’s Day

We can make a difference: Sign the petition

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, the National Labor Committee is releasing an explosive new report:  “Hearts of Darkness, Workers in India, including Children, will Die Young grinding gemstones for Valentine’s Day.”

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A new weekly presentation of international labour news is now on the Internet.

The audiocast - called Solidarity News - started on Monday, February 1. The audiocast will remain on the RadioLabour site throughout its current week. New audiocasts will be posted every Monday morning.

RadioLabour is on the Internet at www.radiolabour.org.  It is also on Facebook, please join the RadioLabour page.

RadioLabour is the brainchild of Marc Belanger -- the founder of SoliNet, which was the first trade union online network back in the 1980s.

Solidarity News will focus on union and workers' activities and issues from around the world with special emphasis on emerging market and developing countries.

RadioLabour reporters will provide regular weekly presentations, but a special feature of the audiocast will be reports from unionists who want to report on particular events or publicize an activity of their organization.

Scripts of the audiocasts will be available as aids for unionists who want to learn the use of English as an additional language in the international labour movement.

For more information about RadioLabour, listen to the audiocasts, or provide reports, visit the RadioLabour site.  Or write directly to Marc at m.belanger@radiolabour.org

61 building service workers at the Toronto Dominion Centre in Toronto were locked-out and then fired by their employer when they refused to agree to the gutting of their collective agreement. They were forced to celebrate Christmas on a picket line almost 6 months after being forced off the job. Their union, CEP, is asking you to send a message to Cadillac Fairview, the company that manages the TD Centre. Tell CF that enough is enough! A copy of your message will go to the workers on the picket lines.

30 seconds is all it takes: go HERE to send a message to Caddillac Fairview.

We were expecting some pre-registrations for sure, but in the event the response to a very limited call-out has been overwhelming. Thanks to all who have responded, you're helping us with conference logistics, as well as the agenda.

As of today 382 people from 64 countries have pre-registered.

We know not all who have expressed an interest will be able to come, but it is encouraging to know so many would at least like to.

If you have not yet pre-registered and would like to, go HERE

If you think you might be able to attend the LabourStart conference on 9-11 July 2010 at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, please pre-register. This does not obligate you -- it just gives us a sense of who is interested in attending.

Thanks.

Pre-register HERE.

It's the holiday gift season again and if you are at a loss about what to buy your favorite union activist, we've got some suggestions. And if you are a union activist, maybe you've been scratching your head trying to come up with a union-themed gift for your son, daughter, niece or nephew. Or maybe, you want to avoid that awkward moment, when you open a gift and have to feign joy on receiving a sweat-shop gift. In that case, here's a list you can pass on to family and friends.

1. A coffee table book--Agitate! Educate! Organize! American Labor Posters by Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher. $24.95, Cornell University Press, 2009. [For more book ideas, check out the unionized on-line Powell's Books or Union Communication Services' Online Book Catalog.]

2. A magazine subscription--The American Prospect or In These Times. There are lots of liberal/progressive magazines out there, but these are two of the finest and give more extensive coverage to labor and working life issues than most.

3. A gift membership in the Union Sportsmen's Alliance. The USA is a one-of-a-kind, hunting and fishing association of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and its trade union partners, exclusively for conservation-minded union members, retirees and their families that hunt, fish and appreciate the outdoors.

4. A labor history DVD--Rosemary Feuer amd Laura Vazquez's documentary on Mother Jones. It's just $10 plus $3 for shipping. At 24 minutes it is perfect for showing at union meetings or classrooms. And, as a bonus, there's a Spanish version. For more ideas, check out the DVD section at Labor Heritage. You can't go wrong with the classic The Inheritance or the made-for-HBO drama Ten Thousand Black Men Named George, the inspiring story of A. Philip Randolph and the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

5. An intellectual journal --New Labor Forum or Working USA, Dissent or New Politics. The first two are more labor-specific, the latter two have a broader agenda. Working USA and Dissent are quarterlies, New Labor Forum appears three times a year and New Politics twice. Looking for something not quite so heavy that comes out a little more often? Try Labor Notes (monthly) or Dollars and Sense (six times a year).

6. A CD--Smithsonian Folkways has many fine CDs of labor songs, we especially like Joe Glaser's I Will Win! Songs of the IWW, which includes a 1960 speech by "Solidarity Forever" composer Ralph Chaplin to a woodworkers convention and My Darling Party Line. Labor Heritage has an extensive selection that can be ordered on-line.

7. For your favorite clergy person who is vaguely pro-union, how about Blue Collar Jesus or make a contribution to Interfaith Worker Justice and sign them up for the quarterly Faith Works newsletter.

8. A calendar. A century ago, the IWW with its advocacy of industrial unionism, was a rival to the business unionism of the American Federation of Labor. Today, it isn't what it used to be, but it still produces an attractive labor history calendar every year. They are only $12.50 and $6.50 each for 5 or more.

9. A union-made hoodie from the AFL-CIO's Union Shop. We could have just listed the Union Shop as your one-stop solidarity gift headquarters, you'll find all sorts union gifts you can buy here--books, CDs, DVDs, things for kids, and lots more.

10. A contribution--LabourStart, Association for Union Democracy or Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras. Still stumped? Check out Union Label or union shop. And, most international unions have gift shops. (For example, the American Federation of Teachers , United Farm Workers, and United Food and Commercial Workers

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A group of international union activists is getting together to start a labour audio show on the Internet. The show, which will be  hosted by labour educator Marc Belanger, will feature news about union activities around the globe. The 20 minute audiocast, called Solidarity News, will be presented on www.radiolabour.net every Monday.  

RadioLabour is currently looking for volunteer reporters to provide one or two minute English-language audio reports about union activities in their region of the world. The reporters would be expected to provide their audio-report (as an MP3 file) and a written script of the report.   To volunteer, or find out more about the project, email Marc at:  m.belanger@radiolabour.org

The latest edition of Radio Netherlands' "The State We're In" asks if forming a union is a human right. Available as a pod off iTunes. Always an interesting show and the only such in English I know of with a human rights theme.

The show's web page is HERE.