„*Since February 11, 2014, a group of inspiring autoworkers has been on hunger strike (consuming nothing but clear liquids) as part of a protest against General Motors‘ inhumane treatment of employees at an assembly plant in Bogotá, Colombia. The injured workers who formed ASOTRECOL were severely injured at work, then illegally fired and left to a system rigged to deny workers‘ comp.*“
„*Click HERE for more information!*“
*We are writing to request your participation in a national week of action demanding accountability from General Motors. We are organizing dealership actions across the country during the week of June 7th-14th. These informational protests are simple to organize, and are already getting GM’s attention. * *If you are willing to visit a GM dealership in your city, please contact Paige Shell-Spurling by emailing * [ mailto:paige@pcasc.net ]*paige@pcasc.net* [ mailto:paige@pcasc.net ]*.*
If you’ve been following the epic struggle of the Colombian GM workers who took on General Motors after suffering disabling injuries on the job, you will be heartened to hear the latest news of their struggle. These workers, who are inspiring people around the world- sleeping in tents in front of the U.S. Embassy for over 1000 days, and enduring 4 hunger strikes with lips sewn shut with a needle and thread, are refusing to give up. Their perseverance is beginning to pay off.
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Soon after their first hunger strike, GM invested $6 million in ergonomic improvements in the plant. Thousands of current and future workers will not be at risk of suffering permanent disabling injuries, a major win in a plant that’s mostly non-union.
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Support for these workers has grown, with Justice For Colombia in the UK, the Alliance for Global Justice in the US and other groups joining the solidarity effort.
You have likely seen GM in the news media a lot lately. The ignition switch defects (which GM knew about and covered up for over a decade) similar to the dangerous working conditions maintained by GM at their Colombian factory, show a business model which places profits above safety. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the GM Recall Survivors and are calling for accountability from GM. And we need your help!
We saw just a few weeks ago that new possibilities have opened up for this struggle as a result of the recall. That came when a group of students at the University of Michigan wrote a resolution challenging the selection of GM CEO Mary Barra as their commencement speaker – citing both the mishandling of the recall and the firing of the injured workers. *Both reasons* got picked up in a major way by local press. So we are aiming to do the same thing again, but this time on a much larger scale.
Currently larger-than-life puppets of the current and former CEOs of General Motors, Mary Barra and Daniel Akerson are making their way to Detroit. What we are trying to do now is organize actions at dealerships across the country. Join in and help us escalate this campaign!
More information about the struggle (including a one-hour documentary) is available online at: www.asotrecol.org [ http://www.asotrecol.org/ ]
In Solidarity,
Paige Shell-Spurling
Just Breaking!
The human rights office of the Alcaldia Mayor de Bogota has just decided to feature ASOTRECOL in their brand new Precarious Workers initiative. They have promised a number of exciting resources to ASOTRECOL including legal accompaniment for ASOTRECOL members challenging the foreclosures of their homes. The Alliance for Global Justice applauds this exciting news!