On Friday June 24th, over fourty members of two visiting US delegations from the organizations Sister Cities and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, CISPES, gathered in front of the Attorney General's office in San Salvador. They called on the Attorney General to investigate unsolved cases of violence against labor leaders, and anti-mining activists and journalists in Cabañas, including the recent murder of 30-year old student Juan Francisco Duran Ayala.
Campaign for Global Justice
At Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, we know that the struggle for workers' rights reaches beyond the United States. Workers around the world are engaged in struggles against corporations and bad employers, while simultaneously dealing with the repercussions of globalization.
Justice for El Salvador
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice has been working with local organizations and the Salvadoran community on building a campaign against the Pacific Rim Mining Company, a greedy corporation that is suing the Salvadoran government for $177 million in “lost profit” under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) because they were refused a permit to mine gold in the country. We are working in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador and we will continue to target local shareholders for their involvement in this unjust case.
Bangladesh Solidarity
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice has been working with organizations across the country, and around the world, on campaign to get false charges dropped against labor activists in Bangladesh, who are facing possible life imprisonment for trying to improve the conditions for sweatshop workers in Bangladesh. We are targeting suppliers, such as Walmart, as well as the Bangladeshi government, pressuring them both to drop these egregious charges.
We are also actively fighting for improved safety in garment factories in Bangladesh. One report estimates that at least 1,000 workers have been killed in apparel industry fires and related incidents since 1990. We have partnered with the International Labor Rights Forum, to demand that companies like Walmart, Gap, and H&M sign a fire-safety agreement to ensure that these tragedies do not continue.
No FTAs
At Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, we oppose "free trade" agreements (FTA). FTAs like NAFTA and CAFTA protect corporate profits at the expense of workers and farmers and fail to uphold environmental and human rights standards. We work closely with international unions and we have been able to host two union brothers, Hector Giraldo from Colombia and Victor Montenegro from Mexico, who came to the U.S. to share their stories and explain how FTAs hurt their communities.
For more information about our Campaign for Global Justice, contact Mary Hewey at (617) 524 8778.
