No Sweat

Bangladeshi labour rights activist Aminul Islam has been murdered. People & Planet are organising a letter protest to the Bangladeshi government...

Mining giant Rio Tinto is providing 99% of the fine metals that go into the Olympic Summer Games medals, and yet the company does not live up to the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play when it comes to its treatment of its workers, their families and communities. Say no to Rio Tinto's tarnished gold...

No Sweat debated what attitude to take to the London Olympics at our recent dayschool. Whether you want to engage constructively (!?) or be more critical, you will certainly find out a lot more about the darker side of the games at this CounterOlympics event in London on Saturday 14 April

Victim to the cuts, the Women's Library, housed at London Metropolitan University, has been told to find a new home. Please join the campaign to save it - petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/925/128/986/save-the-womens-library-at-lo... - and read about a current exhibition "All work and low pay: the story of women and work"

X:Talk (pronounced "cross talk") spoke about sex work and the Olympics at No Sweat's "Workers and the Olympics dayschool" on 31 March. Here are notes from their talk plus links to their campaign

No Sweat supports many just causes beyond sweatshop workers' rights. We supported the Dale Farm Travellers and are happy to support the Roma Nation Day on Sunday 8 April, including the march in London. Read on...

Playfair 2012's postcard action targeting Adidas, Nike and Speedo culminates with a stunt in Covent Garden, London on Wednesday 4 April

If you are interested in No Sweat, or the Olympics and its implications for workers, or looking for advice on how to plan a simple campaign on any issue, you should find this dayschool useful... Saturday 31 March, London...

Two events in London, 19 and 24 March, featuring the National Garment Workers' Federation of Bangladesh, in the run-up to the Olympics...

A dayschool in London on 31 March about No Sweat, workers and the Olympics, and how to plan a campaign.

To register interest please email admin@noweat.org.uk or sign up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haldraper/posts/392827940743978?ref=notif&notif_t=share_reply#!/events/372431542768905/

A group of Zimbabwean socialist, trade unionist, student and human rights activists are being prosecuted for treason. Their trial resumes on 27 February 2012. If convicted, they face years in prison.

Please join our protest to demand the charges are dropped...

Labour Behind the Label have let us know about their "Six Items Challenge" fundraiser. Could you go six weeks wearing only six items of clothing (you are expected to wash them occasionally!)?

Here at No Sweat we're not sure we agree with all the messages that this campaign might send out - austerity is good, for example? - but it sheds light on the exploitative reality behind "fast fashion" - and raising money for Labour Behind the Label can't be bad!

UPDATE: Challenge blog here: http://thesixitemschallenge.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/the-six-and-only/

'The helplessness the Irish people feel in changing what is happening is totally apparent, but here is a movement that can change that, if only the Irish public could see.'

Labour Behind the Label reports:

"The trial of Thai labour rights activist and journalist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk started on 21st November 2011, following seven months in detention on charges of lèse majesté. If found guilty he could face 30 years' imprisonment."

And asks us to take action today to call for Somyot's release...

No Sweat is supporting the strikes to defend public sector pensions in the UK on 30 November. Find an action near you: http://falseeconomy.org.uk/nov30/uk/all/t1

The event included representatives from 100 Trade Unions and Workers’ Solidarity Organisations from all over the world (at least 30 countries were represented at the conference) and gave No Sweat the perfect opportunity to network with, and meet new and interesting people fighting for their workers rights in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Algeria, Pakistan, South Africa Iraq, Iran, Egypt and countries from across the Middle East region and the world.

To mark International Day to Stop Violence Against Women we offer this statement from MAP Foundation on violence against migrant women in Thailand...

Stepping Into the Light: MAP Foundation Statement

MAP Foundation, a Thai NGO, working with migrant workers from Burma, runs activities dedicated to reducing violence against migrant women and girls and to increasing their access to justice. Burmese migrant women have written their stories of violence, exploitation and abuse, and the stories of their efforts to get justice and compiled them into a report: Stepping into the Light, soon to be released by MAP Foundation.

Click title to read full statement

A statement from the Director of MAP Foundation on the current situation of migrants from Burma attempting to reach the boarder or leave Thailand and return home to their families in the midst of the worst flooding Thailand has seen in many years.

" In the midst of a humanitarian crisis, the local authorities in Mae Sot, Tak Province have declared a witch hunt on undocumented migrant workers. Mae Sot is the closest crossing point into Burma for the thousands of migrants affected by the floods in Bangkok and Central Thailand. It is also a town of refuge, or at least was."

"The local authorities, seemingly ignoring what is happening in the rest of Thailand, have announced their annual post registration crackdown on undocumented migrants. The result will be chaos."

" Although workers with documents have been given special permission to travel across provinces to escape the floods, many have lost their documents and many employers have held on to the documents of their workers. Without documents they are liable to deportation. Then there are those migrants who were employed in the flooded areas who were always undocumented . They too have suffered, they too have lost their livelihoods."

Click the title to read the full statement.

People & Planet are holding a protest today (Tuesday 1 Nov) outside the Greater London Authority, to support garment workers in their supply chains

Migrant workers left without electricity, food or drinking water. Migrants lacking documents, confiscated by employers, enabling them to leave flood areas. Migrants trapped in Thailand unable to get home or legally return to Thailand.

"The Mekong Migration Network, with 30 civil society organizations members from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan, China, wish to express our solidarity and support for all peoples who have lost their homes and livelihoods in the floods and to share our sincere condolences with the families who have lost loved ones. In this difficult time when the needs are so great, we are concerned that migrants from neighbouring countries may be neglected and forgotten."

The Mekong Migration Network calls on the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to work closely with the Royal Thai government and civil society to ensure that migrant workers receive relief supplies immediately and have equal access to all services.

Please read MMN's statement and recommendations concerning the situation of migrant workers affected by the floods.

Asalettin Arslanoglu, organising manager of the Textile, Knitting and Clothing Workers' Union of Turkey (Teksif), did a UK tour with Labour Behind the Label recently. News about the tour has been picked up in an article in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/workers-supplying-olympic...

Our friends at Ethical Consumer magazine released an issue last month with a focus on clothes and fashion!

With the in-depth research into ethical products that we have come to expect from this quality publication, you can now find out the latest info from their website.

Find out where to buy the most ethical clothes around, from online stores to alternative clothes companies as well as where to buy decent ethical clothes on the high street. What's more they have produced a special feature on Designer Clothing and Luxury Fashion, the 'Style over Substance' report. Find out who's ethically hot and who's not in the designer fashion world.

As much of central Thailand remains under water in the country's worst floods in decades, thousands of Burmese migrant workers left stranded by the disaster are making their way back to Burma.

Many of the affected migrants are crossing the Thai-Burmese border at Mae Sot-Myawaddy, where local sources say that in recent weeks, hundreds of people have been crossing the border back into Burma every day.

Workers in Burma will be allowed to form unions and go on strike under a new law signed this week by the president, officials say.

The law permits unions with a minimum of 30 members to be formed and allows strikes if a notice period is given.

Unions have not been allowed to operate in Burma since 1962.

The law appears to be the latest in a series of changes being introduced by Burma's new military-backed, civilian-led government.

No Sweat joined Labour Behind the Label in a "Ban Killer Jeans" protest outside Dolce & Gabbana on London's Bond Street. We are campaigning for D&G to join the brands banning sandblasting in their supply chain. Sandblasting causes respiratory diseases that kill workers. Sign the petition: http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/support-us/item/947-killerjeansluxur...