IG Metall and Amnesty launches campaign

GERMANY: The German Metalworkers' Union, IG Metall, has launched the campaign MAYDAY, calling upon the public to help politically persecuted trade unionists. The goal of the campaign, which has been launched in cooperation with amnesty international, is to publicly uncover violations of human rights. The pressure on those who allow the violation of trade union rights should be increased with the help of the population and with the support at company level. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has recorded more than 600 cases of persecuted trade unionists. On their behalf, IG Metall has put up the names of three colleagues in big neon letters on buildings on the "Street of Human Rights" in the centre of Nuremberg. These are the trade unionists Tekin Yildiz (Turkey), Taye Woldesmiate (Ethiopia) and Dan Byung-ho (South Korea). Citizens and guests may get information on the fate of these unionist on a terminal located in the vicinity of the Nuremberg trade union house.