15 Oct 2007 -
International Road Transport Action Week 2007

As part of the ITF's Action Week, ITF unions have expressed their solidarity with Mansour Osanloo by participating in the "Free Osanloo!" badge campaign.  It is a symbolic message as the Iranian regime continues to detain other unionists such as Ebrahim Madadi and Mahmoud Salehi.

The campaign has again been supported by Amnesty International. On 17 October, they launched an emergency on-line petition to demand immediate medical treatment for Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi. The petition has been highly successful with more than 6,000 people taking part within 24 hours of its launching.

Furthermore, the ITF released its promotional video, "Freedom will come - the story of Mansour Osanloo" during the week. It is available on Youtube and will soon be made into DVDs. Internet campaign site, Labourstart has been promoting these two initiatives.

On 15 October, 200 unionists from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, together with the ITF and ETF representatives held a protest rally in front of the Iranian Embassy in Brussels. Their request to meet with the Ambassador was rejected. A protest letter was posted instead. Similar protest actions were planned in countries including Romania by ITF unions.

On 19 October, a Central America delegation of unions in a meeting of ITF/3F project in Managua planned to present a letter to the Ambassador of Iran in Nicaragua.  Transport workers´ unions from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador have also asked for a meeting respectively.

On 17 October, 10,000 bus workers in four Norwegian transport unions began to wear the badge at work. So did transit drivers of Local 111 in Vancouver, Canada and transport union vida members in the Vienna Airport Lines (Austria). The union also placed campaign posters at the ticket offices. In Australia, members of TWU in Canberra and Wollongong demonstrated their public support for the Iranian workers at press conferences. The Federal Member of Parliament, Sharon Bird attended the meeting in Wollongong and expressed her support for the campaign.

In Seoul, Korea, activists from two road transport unions with their banners with the message "Free Osanloo!" distributed badges and leaflets to bus and taxi drivers. Similarly, the ITF Thai Coordinating Committee has utilized the Action Week to campaign for the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi. A special exhibition was organised in Bangkok, together with a demonstration by the ITF affiliates.

Members of the four road transport unions in Mauritius used a rally on 18 October to highlight the message "Free Osanloo!"  Wearing the ITF yellow decken and the "Free Osanloo" badges, union activists carried placards demanding the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi. In Pakistan, members of the PTWF used their rally in Lahore on 20 October to demand the immediate release of Mansour Osanloo. HKCTU in Hong Kong and UMT in Morocco also raised this campaign in their meetings during the week. In Morocco, all participants signed a letter addressed to the Iranian President. So did the UK union RMT whose seminar participants have sent a protest letter to the Iranian government. Members of Teamsters union Canada in a conference next week will also be wearing the badge.  Staff at the British TUC and Amnesty International in London have been wearing the badge to demonstrate their solidarity with the campaign. The ITUC has sent its protest letter to the Iranian Government on 19 October.

Photographs

View photos of this solidarity activity >>