Women Workers Help Line has shown strong solidarity here on Tuesday with Turkish trade union activists on trial. General Secretary Women Workers Help Line (WWHL), Bushra Khaliq demanded immediate release of Turkish activists in prison, and the dropping of all charges against them.
She said that WWHL expresses strong solidarity with workers rights and trade union in all over the world, adding that the WWHL is a member of different national and international networks. The General Secretary WWHL said, "In Turkey, 31 trade unionists are being tried from 19 to 20 November, what the trades unions concerned, denounce as a clamp down of trade union rights for civil servants (most of them teachers) and an effort to terrorise them.
Among them, there are 22 activists (10 women and 12 men) who are already in prison, awaiting this trial. She informed that many imprisoned women are women secretariat leaders, particularly concerned with women rights. These unions have been present in all the European Social Forums during the last 8 years and we are, therefore, interested to safeguard their freedom of activity through international feminist and trade union solidarity, particularly since the European Social Forum will be held in Istanbul in July 2010, she added.
She further informed that this is the first trial since the arrest of 34 trade unionists in 28th May 2009 and the imprisonment of many of them up to the present time, in contravention of Turkish state law and of relevant international conventions ratified by Turkey.
On 9th June, the World March of Women released a declaration of solidarity, while many trade unions and social movements across Europe have done the same. The General Secretary WWHL demanded immediate release of all those in prison, their acquittal in this trial, the dropping of all charges against them and the end of the repression of opposition movements, including the women movement, trade unions and human rights associations.
Comments
Comments are closed.