To: Trade Unions and Community/Political Organizations Across the United States
From: Haiti-Guadeloupe Campaign Committee Conveners
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
We sent you this past January an Urgent Appeal from Elie Domota asking for your support for a petition addressed to Mme. Christine Taubira, Justice Minister of France, calling for an end to the repression of trade unionists in Guadeloupe, a French colony (formally an Overseas Department) in the Caribbean. Brother Domota is the General Secretary of the UGTG trade union federation in Guadeloupe and spokesperson of the LKP coalition, which organized a successful 44-day general strike in 2009 against the French colonial administration.
In his appeal, Brother Domota informed us that the repression by the French authorities has been stepped up in recent months against the trade union leaders who organized that general strike and who have continued to champion the workers' struggle. [See background information below.]
Many of you have endorsed this petition, and we thank you for your support.
We are now calling upon all trade union and community/political organizations that have worked with our committee over the years to ask that:
(1) your union or organization endorse the appeal below to the French authorities demanding that they drop the charges against these trade unionists, and
(2) your union or organization send a message of support -- on your letterhead -- to the April 7, 2014, International Press Conference and Solidarity Rally in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) in Support of the UGTG Trade Unionists facing repression by the French State.
The day after this International Solidarity Rally, on April 8, Charly Lendo, Deputy Secretary General of the UGTG, will appear before the courts. He has been charged with indirect, involuntary manslaughter in the unfortunate death, during the 44-day general strike, of a young motorcyclist for which he bears no responsibility.
We ask that you please fill out the coupon below and that you send it back to us, along with your solidarity message to the April 7 International Press Conference and Solidarity Rally, if at all possible on your letterhead in a pdf file, to our two email addresses: <ilcinfo@earthlink.net> and <visionafrikka@gmail.com>. (We need to translate your statements into French, so we ask that you please send them to us as soon as possible -- and no later than April 2.)
Many thanks for your continued support, and hoping to hear back from you soon.
In solidarity,
Colia Clark and Alan Benjamin
Co-Conveners
Haiti-Guadeloupe Campaign Committee
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BACKGROUND INFO AND EXCERPTS FROM LETTER FROM ELIE DOMOTA
* On January 16, 2014, three leaders of the Union of Health Care Workers affiliated with the UGTG (UTS-UGTG) were summoned to appear before the Criminal Court of Pointe-à Pitre. Their charges date back to the strike actions of 2009.
* On April 8, Charly Lendo, Deputy Secretary General of the UGTG, will appear before the courts. He has been charged with indirect, involuntary manslaughter. He is considered responsible by the authorities for the accidental death of a young motorcyclist that occurred in February 2009 in the framework of the general strike and mobilizations organized by the LKP anti-profiteering coalition.
* On May 2, 2013, for the first time, a union activist in Guadeloupe (Jocelyn Leborgne, Secretary General of the Union of Commercial Workers, UEC-UGTG) was fired from his job for refusing to submit a DNA sample. The prosecutor appealed this decision. For the time being, no trial date has been set.
Brother Domota concluded his letter urging international solidarity with the UGTG unionists as follows:
"Things are clear: The French authorities want to silence the UGTG by any means necessary. . . . With these trials, the authorities and the employers seek to muzzle and terrorize union activists to better strip workers and the people of Guadeloupe of their rights and gains.
"We will not let ourselves be stomped upon. In the name of workers' solidarity, in the name of democracy, in the name of the right to the workers of Guadeloupe and their unions to fight for their legitimate demands, we appeal to you for support and solidarity."
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PLEASE ENDORSE THIS INTERNATIONAL LABOR SOLIDARITY APPEAL
Attention: Mme. Christine Taubira
Justice Minister of France
Paris, France
Dear Mme. Taubira,
We, the undersigned trade unionists and labor activists, have been informed that on top of refusing to respect and implement the Bino Agreements, which concluded the 44-day general strike in February 2009, your government is stepping up its repression against the trade union movement, and against the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe (UGTG) in particular.
We call on you to drop the charges and court proceedings against the UGTG trade unionists, particularly against UGTG Deputy General Secretary Charly Lendo, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the unfortunate death of a young motorcyclist for which he bears no responsibility.
We, who remain attached to the fundamental principles of international labor solidarity and democracy, call upon you to stop criminalizing the Guadeloupan trade unionists, to put an end to DNA tests against trade unionists, and to drop all charges against Charly Lendo.
Sincerely,
Initial Signatories
Colia Clark and Alan Benjamin
Co-Conveners
Haiti-Guadeloupe Campaign Committee
New York, New York (USA)
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ENDORSEMENT COUPON
[ ] I endorse the Appeal to French Justice Minister Mme. Taubira demanding an end to the repression of the trade unionists in Guadeloupe
NAME
UNION/ORGANIZATION
TITLE (list is for id. only)
CITY
STATE
ZIP
EMAIL
[Please return this filled out coupon to <visionafrikka@gmail.com> and to <ilcinfo@earthlink.net>. This statement, with the full list of endorsers, will be sent to the UGTG federation, the LKP Coalition, and French Justice Minister Mme. Taubira.]
~
Haiti-Guadeloupe Campaign Committee
52 St. Nicholas Place #23
Harlem, New York 10031
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Vivre libre ou mourir
To be free or to die
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