councilor.org
| Source | Aram Falsafi |
| Date | 99/05/01/02:02 |
| /* Written 6:46 PM Jan 23, 1998 by jshell@netcom.com in igc:labr.all */ /* ---------- "Online petition against union-busti" ---------- */ Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 10:22:58 -0800 (PST) From: Aram Falsafi Subject: On-line petition against union-busting in El Salvador The following action alert was sent by CISPES, The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. It is about firing of union leaders at the El Salvador telephone company, in preparation for its sell-off. We at TecsChange have set up an on-line petition for sending protest letters. It is at: http://www.tecschange.org (click on "on-line petition") If you fill out your name and address in the form, we will send an email to the president of El Salvador on your behalf (with copies to you). Copies will also go to the state department and the project manager at the InterAmerican Development Bank for the "modernization" [i.e., privatization] of the Salvadoran telephone company. You will also see a copy of the message being sent in your name. The workers of El Salvador thank you for your support. Aram Falsafi for TecsChange --------------------------------------------------------------------- CISPES ACTION ALERT Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador National Office: P.O. Box 1801, New York, NY 10159 212-229-1290 3 Regional Offices: New York, NY 212-229-1290 Minneapolis, MN 612-872-0944 San Francisco, CA 415-648-6520 January 6, 1998 72 UNION LEADERS FIRED IN ATTEMPT TO BUST TELECOM UNIONS On Friday, January 2, CTE, the Salvadoran Telecommunications Company (formerly ANTEL), fired 72 leaders of the four ANTEL unions, including Wilfredo Berrios, ASTTEL Secretary General, and Wilmer Erroa Argueta, ASTTEL Secretary of International Relations. Many of you met Wilmer in the fall of 1996, during a CISPES-sponsored national tour. The firings were announced just after the union leaders began to solicit recognition of a single industry-wide union in the area of telecommunications, ATANTEL. Union leaders charge that the Government of El Salvador and the management of the privatized ANTEL want to destroy the unions before turning the company over to a strategic partner, (i.e. a global telecom giant), who will bid for and win the right to buy 51% of the company. The entire process of privatization is slated for completion in the first half of this year. CTE claims that the 72 employees were fired because of their poor performance historically and for carrying out union activities instead of their jobs. Juan Jose Daboub, the company's president, justified the firings on the grounds that the employees' union activism might discourage potential investors, while CTE's General Manager, Carlos Medina, stated, "These people threatened the process of privatization." Most recently the unions have protested the closing of the ANTEL Hospital and transfer of services to the Social Security Institute hospitals. (None of the ANTEL Hospital workers are being recontracted and chronic patients that have been receiving care as family members of ANTEL employees are no longer going to be eligible for continued care.) The fired leaders and their unions have denounced the company's actions as violating their constitutional right to organize; the privatization of ANTEL law, which stipulates 18 months of job stability; as well as the labor contract that CTE signed with its employees on Dec. 29, 1997. The company claims that it is complying with the privatization law by giving the fired workers extra monetary compensation for the 18 months of labor stability promised. The workers are refusing this compensation, insisting that they be reinstated. They are considering organizing protests and undertaking legal procedures to challenge the constitutionality of the firings. Article 47 of the Constitution allows for free association, the right to defend one's interests and unionize. It also prohibits the firings of union leaders for one year after they are no longer in their respective office. For over 2 years workers warned that the privatization of ANTEL would dramatically undermine workers' rights and ability to organize. The fired union leaders and their unions are calling for solidarity to denounce this violation of their rights and insist upon the workers' reinstatement! ACTION STEPS: * Call and fax Dr. Armando Calderon Sol, President of the Republic of El Salvador. (See letter below.) Tel: 011 503 271 1555; Fax: 011 503 281 0018. Fax copies of messages to Dr. Juan Jose Daboub, President of CTE, Fax: 011 503 281 0017, and to Lic. Carlos Medina Novelino, Fax: 011 503 221 2122. DEMAND that the 72 union activists be reinstated at CTE in accordance with the contract signed between the workers and CTE on Dec. 29, the Law for the Privatization of ANTEL and article 47 of the Constitution of El Salvador. * Contact your congressional representative and the US State Department El Salvador desk and urge them to send the above message. Congressional switchboard toll free: 1-800-972-3524. Ask for your rep. by name! US State Department El Salvador desk: 202-647-3505 * Contact labor unions, especially 1996 Tour relations, and urge them to take action to demand the reinstatement of the fired workers. Please send copies of all messages to ASTTEL! Fax: 011 503 270 8056 or asttel@netcomsa.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This on-line petition is brought to you with the help of volunteer web developers at The Boston Committee on the Middle East. Please visit their web page at http://www.salam.org They also have on-line petitions demanding an end to unconditional U.S. support for Israel. |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho