Eric Lee: And the winner is ...

[Omaha Steve]

In this week's mailing:

* And the winner is ...
* Transport union leader murdered in Nigeria
* Russian Ford strike update
* No thank you - we don't sell books to union-busters

And the winner is ...

Voting is now over for this year's Labour Website of the Year. As you may recall, this year we allowed everyone on this mailing list to nominate their favorite sites. Then, LabourStart's volunteer correspondents created a shortlist of ten sites, which you've been voting on for the last month.

The winner this year is Your Rights at Work http://www.rightsatwork.com.au/ (Australia) -- a website that contributed enormously to the ouster of the viciously anti-union John Howard government a few weeks ago. Congratulations to the Australian Council of Trade Unions on a great campaign and a great website.

To see the four runners-up, go here: http://www.labourstart.org/lwsoty/

Transport union leader murdered in Nigeria

Last Sunday night, four men gunned down Alhaji Saka Saula, the popular leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in Lagos, Nigeria. Following the killing, workers in Lagos, protested and there was considerable violence with some shops being burned. Chances are you didn't see this on your evening news or read about it in your local newspaper. But you can read full coverage from sources in Nigeria on LabourStart: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Nigeria

Russian Ford strike update

First of all, your generosity amazes me. You gave nearly $10,500 in online donations to the Ford workers. Our friends in Russia tell us that "the strike is a success story, the longest in Putin's history. It lasted three weeks and the moral spirit of workers was high. At the end the company was forced to negotiate wages and this is a good achievement. However, the negotiations are still on and the company is violating now the agreement on non discrimination of strikers."

Aleksei Etmanov, the leader of the Ford workers union, thanks all of you for your messages and your contributions, which is unprecedented. The struggle continues -- and full coverage can be found here: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=315

No thank you - we don't sell books to union-busters

For several years now we've been selling labour books in partnership with a small U.S. company, Union Communication Services (UCS). https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=store&affl=labourstart Recently, a union-busting firm in Syracuse, New York attempted to purchase a book -- the Contract Campaign Manual -- which unions use in their organizing campaigns. UCS became suspicious, rang up the local central labour council, and found out that these were not the kinds of people we share information with. They rejected the order.

UCS says it will sell things like labour history titles to anyone, but some of its books contain truly potent information which trade unionists need to win organizing campaigns -- and they will not knowingly sell these books to those who are working to destroy unions.

I say -- well done to UCS. Makes me proud to partner with them.

Please do check out their online catalogue and show your support for them (and for LabourStart) by stocking up on books: https://ssl30.pair.com/unionist/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?rrc=N&pg=store&affl=labourstart

Have a great weekend.

Eric Lee