UnionBook: Eric Lee's blog

Widgets are back

Eric Lee — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:08:08 +0000

You can drag and drop all kinds of cool widgets into your UnionBook profile - something which you couldn't do until a few minutes ago because our theme was broken. The UnionBook red logo has disappeared for the moment but don't worry, we'll soon get it back. Meanwhile, please feel free to edit your profile pages.

Pagination issues on UnionBook

Eric Lee — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:25:49 +0000

I've contacted the Elgg community about the problem that you sometimes cannot scroll beyond the first page when looking at, for example, Wire posts. This is apparently a well-known issue and is resolved in the next version of Elgg -- which we'll install. You can read my exchange with Elgg developers here.

UnionBook ads now on Facebook

Eric Lee — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:50:56 +0000

Check out our new ads on Facebook.

At present the ads are only being shown in the U.K.

But Facebook claims that the ads can be seen by 20 million people.

This is expensive, so we won't run for very long.

I hope that we'll recruit new members of UnionBook this way and will let you know.

Vale campaign now at 3,100 supporters

Eric Lee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:11:14 +0000

This is turning into one of the largest campaigns we've ever run. I encourage all of you to sign up and to spread the word.

New feature on UnionBook: Add your blog, or any other RSS feed, to your profile

Eric Lee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:31:27 +0000

Go into your profile page and there's now a widget called 'blog'. You can use this to add your most recent blog entries or any other RSS feed to your profile or home pages. Check it out.

Egyptian textile workers appeal to ILO for help

Eric Lee — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:40:33 +0000

To the president of the International Labor Meeting

(Geneva )

Allow me to pass to your good self our sincere regards and warmest greetings on behalf of my self and all the members of General Trade Union Of Textile Workers Egypt.

We would like to inform your good self that we had a strike for the Workers in Tanta Oil and Cotton company this is thanks to the Egyptian Law that organize the work system after we failed to negotiate with the owner which is Saudi and his name is Abd Elelah Alkaaky to reach solutions for the workers rights in the company :

1- 1- The company stopped to pay the annual rewards that mentioned in the labor law which is 7% from the basic salary this is from 1/7/2008

2- 2- The company stopped to pay the rewards salary based on the current basic salary and it frizzed the procedures payment on salary 30/6/2004

3- 3-The company refused to increase the cost of the meal from 32 Egyptian pound to 90 Egyptian pound as the same condition of the workers in another companies in the same sector

4- 4-The company fired 9 workers 2 of them are unionists within July 2007 and October 2008

5- 5-The company refused to pay the benefits for the workers since 2006 although they have over income in their balance since 2005 until now

We would like to inform your good self the Saudi investor does not respect the laws and the international agreements meanwhile he fired some of the workers and unionists and also he acting in tough way when he informed that the workers would have strike meanwhile he stopped to pay salaries since May 2009

Although the union announce the strike since 31/5/2009 until now he refused to negotiate and he insists on his violence which is not related to the agreements and the international legislation

We hope that you will interfere to support us to find the suitable solutions for the workers rights

Wishing you all the best

Said Elgohary

President

For more information, write to rostommostafa@hotmail.com

How to find your group on UnionBook

Eric Lee — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:32:18 +0000

You've created a group, but when you enter its name into the search box on top of the UnionBook page, you can't find it. Why not? Well, it turns out that Elgg (the social networking software that is the platform UnionBook runs on) will indeed find your group, but there's one extra step you have to do. When creating a group, there's a field called 'Interests'. You'll want to put some key words about your group into that field, separated by commas. If you already have created a group, you can edit it to do this. For example, the Union Books group can now be found simply by searching for the word 'books'. Try it - and if you're having problems, let us know.

New job: Head of worker rights and trade union relations at the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International

Eric Lee — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:03:51 +0000

Full details here.

Picketing tonight, tomorrow at Visteon Enfield

Eric Lee — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:51:47 +0000

This came in today from Barnet TUC - Vicki Morris:

Visteon supporters group is doing some picketing shifts at Visteon Enfield. Tonight and tomorrow morning are a crucial time as tomorrow morning they will be trying to turn around the 17 people kept on the payroll who are due to start work at 6.30am. And tomorrow the convenor Kevin Nolan and other Unite people will meet with Visteon. And the sacked workers have a meeting at the JobCentre. Another crunch day.

If you can stay up late tonight or get up early tomorrow morning, it could be an interesting experience for you, and a help to the Visteon workers.

If you can definitely commit to a picketing shift this evening 6.30-10.30pm or overnight 10.30pm-6.30am (ouch!) you can sign up here http://doodle.com/participation.html?pollId=7tgwd2akiyeas8id

You need to meet half an hour before the shift in the Falcon pub on the same road as Ponders End station. I am going for 6.30-10.30pm (no heroics) this evening.

You don't need to sign up if you want to join the picket early tomorrow morning, just turn up - all day actually as they are going to be short-handed (!) on the picket line after 9am. If you need more details and want to discuss you can ring me 07719 283132.

Vicki

Burmese military regime arrests trade union members in Burma: FTUB unlawfully detained, likely tortured

Eric Lee — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:11:46 +0000

On April 1, 2009, five members of the Federation Trade Unions Burma (FTUB) were arrested in their homes in Rangoon after returning from border areas where they had participated as delegates in the 1^st National Congress of FTUB. The five members are likely being held in interrogation centers in the Rangoon area where it is believed they are being tortured. These FTUB members have served as non-violent advocates and campaigners for workers’ rights and the improvement of wages and working conditions for workers inside Burma. While the charges on which they were arrested have not been announced, the FTUB strongly condemns these unlawful arrests.

The FTUB members arrested on April 1 are the following:

U Zaw Myint Aung (49 years old, Teacher, South Okkalapa, Rangoon)
U Soe Oo (37 years old, Textile Factory Worker, Shwe Pyi Thar, Rangoon)
Maung Tun Nyein (22 years old, Worker, Shwe Hninsi Textile factory, Hlaing Thayar, Rangoon)
Ms. Khine Lin Myat (22 years old, Worker, UMH Textile factory)
Ms. Shwe Yi Nyunt (25 years old, Nurses Aide and Law Student, University of Western

Rangoon, and Member, FTUB Women’s Committee)

In addition, the FTUB has learned that an unspecified number of family members of these five persons were also arrested, and these family members have been threatened and put under pressure in an effort by the military authorities to compel cooperation from the five detained FTUB members.

FTUB strongly demands the following:

1. U Zaw Myint Aung, U Soe Oo, Maung Tun Nyein, Ma Khine Lin Myat, Ma Shwe Yi Nyunt must be released immediately and unconditionally.

2. The SPDC authorities must immediately cease intimidating, detaining and threatening the family members of these FTUB members.

3. The SPDC must strictly abide by the ILO Convention 87 of the International Labour Organization on Freedom of Association, which Burma has ratifed.

4. The SPDC must denounce the actions of the authorities involved arresting our members, and immediately order an end to all actions to prevent workers from forming trade unions and exercising their workers’ rights in Burma.

U Maung Maung, the General Secretary of the FTUB, said today that “Burma has ratified ILO Convention number 87 on Freedom of Association, the military SPDC government is obliged by international law to respect and abide by this Convention. The fact that our members were arrested just after returning from participating in the 1^st National Congress of the FTUB, which is recognized by the international labour

movement as the legitimate national labour center of Burma, shows just how little regard Burma’s generals have for human rights, labour rights, and the international agreements they ratify.”

U Maung Maung continued that “We wholeheartedly condemn these arrests as a wanton violation of Burma’s commitments to the ILO and the international community. Our 1^st National Congress was attended by more than a twenty labour union delegates from the countries of ASEAN, the wider Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, and these arrests are an insult to both the international trade union movement, and to the ILO. We call on all human rights and labour rights organizations around the world to take up the cause of these five brave members of the FTUB, and we vow to hold the representatives of SPDC to account at the ILO Conference in Geneva in June.”

The FTUB requests the solidarity, support and cooperation from the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) and the international labor movement to immediately campaign for the release of not only these five FTUB members, but also for all our unlawfully arrested FTUB sisters and brothers in detention in Burma. The FTUB also calls on the the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its immediate action to help secure the release of our members in detention in Burma, and for continuing action to help achieve all trade union rights, especially Freedom of Association, in Burma.