The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Transport Works Federation (ITF) and Amnesty International have declared Thursday, August 9 a day of action on behalf of imprisoned Iranian trade unionists. The cases of Mansour Ossanlu, head of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, and Mahmoud Salehi, Spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions and former head of the Saqez Bakers’ Union, are being highlighted. Both trade unionists are being detained by the fundamentalist rulers of Iran’s Islamist state to thwart their organizing of independent unions.
To send an appeal for Ossanlu and Salehi, and to sign a petition for their release, visit this Amnesty International site.
“All the protest letters from Amnesty and the trade unions made us know that we were not alone. When I was in prison and heard of all the support my spirits rose. In this struggle it is very valuable to get so much support from so many thousands of miles away. This campaigning has also disclosed the repression and made sure that the authorities know that they are being watched by the outside world.”
Mansour Ossanlu, prior to his most recent detention
