Send support message for the Guadeloupe General strike!
As you may know, a powerful general strike has swept across the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe -- which is a French colonial enclave.
There is an imminent threat of repression against the workers and people of Guadeloupe.
The striking workers and people need to hear words of support and encouragement from the United States. They also need to know that the world is watching and is demanding that the authorities heed the legitimate demands of the population and refrain from any and every form of intimidation or repression.
Please add your name to the Support Sign-On Statement. We need to send it out tomorrow, February 3rd.
Many thanks for your support,
In solidarity,
Ed Rosario and Alan Benjamin
For the OWC Continuations Committee
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Attention:
Collectif des 47 organisations
UGTG, Rue Paul Lacavé 97 110 Point-à-Pitre Guadeloupe
Fax : International : 00 335 90 89 08 70
France : 05 90 89 08 70
Email : ugtg@wanadoo.fr
Dear Sisters and Brothers of Guadeloupe,
We have just learned from the General Union of Guadeloupan Workers (UGTG) about the massive general strike that has paralyzed your country since January 20, 2009 -- a general strike that has been organized by a Strike Committee made up of 47 trade unions, political organizations, consumer associations and popular-cultural associations.
We have read with alarm that the employers are preparing a lockout against the workers and are seeking to drag in the forces of repression, including French troops, against your strike movement, just as they did in May 1967, when the French government killed more than 100 Guadeloupans in response to a strike in the building trades.
We call on the authorities in Guadeloupe and in France to heed the workers' and people's just demands -- and we urge the authorities to refrain from using any form of intimidation, pressure or repression against this powerful movement. The eyes of the world are focused on Guadeloupe. It is not by repression, not by the deployment of police and shock troops, that a solution will be found.
A solution will be found when the Prefect of Guadeloupe and other representatives of the French government agree to return to the negotiating table and agree to respond positively to the legitimate demands and aspirations expressed by the people of Guadeloupe through this powerful strike movement.
In solidarity,
follows list of signatories
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