Unilever hand in glove with Pakistani dictator Musharraf in mass firing of temporary workers

This video from Al Jazeera TV is called Pakistan opposition speaks out despite crackdown – 12 Nov 07.

From the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF):

Mass Firing of Temporary Workers at Unilever Pakistan as Management Escalates Anti-Union Assault

Posted to the IUF website 15-Nov-2007

Unilever management has escalated its assault against the union at its Rahim Yar Khan factory with the mass firing of hundreds of casual workers who were seeking recognition of their legal right to permanent employment status.

When casual workers arrived for the first shift (6 AM to 2 PM) on 20 October, armed police officers posted at the factory gate ordered them into a meeting room where management staff, backed by police officers, handed out termination letters. The police then forced the workers to sign these termination letters. Casual workers on the second shift entered the factory and started work, but at 6 PM – before the end of the shift – management staff started handing out termination letters.

Termination letters were also sent to workers’ homes by courier. As a result nearly all of the 300 casual workers were terminated in a single day.

The union responded by asking casual workers not to join the third shift (10 PM to 6 AM), which left the factory at a standstill. Management responded by deploying more armed police at the factory.

Management also retaliated by illegally terminating 23 casual workers who had already applied for permanent status at the Labour Court. The terminations were illegal because as long as the cases remain in Court the workers’ employment status should not be changed. The management plan now is to use labour hiring agencies to supply casual workers – a move that the union opposes.

That police intimidating the Unilever workers is the police of Pakistani dictator Musharraf. Showing in whose interests the dictatorship is.

US Secretly Aids Pakistan in Guarding Nuclear Arms: here. And here.

US envoy lauds Pakistani dictator’s “democratic vision”: here.

US steps up plans for military intervention in Pakistan: here.

Unilever Ditches Self Esteem as a Marketing Concept, Embraces Misogyny: here.

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ACTION ALERT UPDATE PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Unilever Threatens Côte d’Ivoire’s Primary Rainforests,
Showing Promises of “Sustainable” Palm Oil Meaningless

By Rainforest Portal, http://www.rainforestportal.org/ and
Climate Ark, http://www.climateark.org/
June 2, 2008

TAKE ACTION
Leading global consumer products company poised to destroy
Ivory Coast’s rainforests as both investor and customer, just
after its commitment to rainforest protection and certified
oil palm was much heralded by some

http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=ivory_coast_oil_palm

One of Côte d’Ivoire’s most important primary rainforests is
to be cleared by global consumer product company Unilever and
others, despite Unilever’s recent promises to buy only
“sustainable” palm oil from lands not cleared of rainforests
for their production. Tanoé Swamps Forest in Côte d’Ivoire
(Ivory Coast) is one of the last remaining old growth forests
in the country and the last refuge for three highly endangered
primates — the Miss Waldron Colobus, the Geoffroy’s colobus
and the Diana roloway — as well as home to many endangered
plant species. Despite international protests, palm oil
company PALM-CI has just begun destroying this 6,000 hectare
forest to convert it to oil palm plantations. Unilever is one
of the main companies behind PALM-CI and the destruction of
the Tanoé Swamps Forest. After sending the first protest email
to Unilever, you will be forwarded to a second protest email
asking the government of Côte d’Ivoire to ensure that the
forest and the communities that depend on it are fully
protected.