More than a dozen Greek trade unionists face prison on Tuesday.
If you're a trade unionist fighting to ensure that workers don't pay the price for the global financial crisis they didn't create, 2012 looks like it will be a challenging year.
On Thursday 24 November 2011, the Greek police arrested Nikos Photopoulos, President of the power workers' union GENOP/DEI, along with more than a dozen of his fellow trade unionists. They will appear in court on Tuesday 10 January 2012 to face charges that could see them jailed for up to five years.
They were protesting against part of the Greek austerity measures - the cutting off of power to people unable to pay a new property tax, levied regardless of income or wealth and added to all electricity bills. The new tax is just the most recent 'austerity' action by the Greek government. The abolition of the national minimum wage and the lowering of employer-paid taxes are next.
Please take a moment to send a message to the Greek Prime Minister in support of the campaign Greek trade union confederation GSEE, which is calling for the charges to be dropped.
Just go HERE to send your message.
And please don't forget to pass this message along to your contacts, and to use your Twitter, Google+ and Facebook accounts to help us get the word out.
Thanks.
Welcome to the International page. UNISON has strong local, regional and national links with trade unionist and democratic struggles throughout the world and has well established links including educational, awareness raising and fund raising links which include twinning arrangements with sister organisations overseas. The Local Services branch is interested making twinning links with a branch existing in the local authority covering the area which includes Orkney South Africa. As the site develops we hope to have more information about such links but our main focus for fund raising is the two projects outline in the attached briefings. We work through a Non Government Organisation (NGO) the Bishop Simeon Trust who has a local worker who supports and monitors the projects and ensures the money raised is appropriately spent on the people it is intended for. The work of the Trust is not a religious agenda but it aims at supporting and developing any grass roots organisation to sustainable development and links them into the appropriate South African government funding and support.
Bishop Simeon TrustImbiza Development Services
