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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2012
Phone: (212) 554-3296
UANI Asks UNITE HERE Labor Union and Affiliates to Declare Work Stoppage at Warwick Hotel During Ahmadinejad's Stay
[Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad, or call the Warwick directly at 212-247-2700 to voice your concern.]
New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) contacted the UNITE HERE International Labor Union and its local New York affiliates, and requested that it declare a work stoppage for unionized Warwick Hotel employees during the stay of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation at the Warwick later this month.
Iran's record on workers' rights is abysmal, as the regime bans independent unions, denies legal rights to workers, and arrests, tortures, and executes union activists. As such, UANI is asking UNITE HERE to declare a complete work stoppage at the Warwick so that New York's unionized labor forces do not have to play host to Ahmadinejad and his cohorts.
Last week, UANI revealed that Ahmadinejad and his delegation will be staying at the Warwick during the final week of September. UANI's campaign has been covered by Fox 5 News, the New York Post, and was the subject of a Monday Op-Ed by UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, "Say 'no' to A'jad, NY."
In a letter sent today to John W. Wilhelm, President of UNITE HERE, UANI CEO, Ambassador Wallace, wrote:
As a result of the Warwick's highly irresponsible decision, members of UNITE HERE International Union and its local New York affiliates (collectively "UNITE HERE") will be expected to host and provide important services to the leader of a regime that has for years waged a war on workers by banning independent unions, denying legal rights to workers, and arresting, torturing and executing union activists. On August 30th, UANI sent a letter to the Warwick requesting that it reconsider hosting President Ahmadinejad and his cronies.
UANI calls upon UNITE HERE to declare a complete work stoppage at the Warwick should the Warwick choose to host the Iranian delegation and send a message to both the Warwick and Iranian regime that egregious violators of workers' rights are not welcome by New York's unionized labor forces.
It is galling that the Warwick expects UNITE HERE to provide hospitality services to the Iranian delegation while trade unionists in Iran are victimized by the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on its own citizens. According to Amnesty International, "independent unions in Iran are banned, workers have few legal rights or protections, and union activists are regularly beaten, arrested, jailed and tortured." For example, Iranian labor union leader Mansour Ossanlu was imprisoned, beaten and given a 5-year sentence for reconstituting the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company ("UWTSBC"). UWTSBC members who protested his arrest were subjected to a fierce crackdown that resulted in 500 arrests, and a further 54 workers have been fired for their membership in the union. Additionally, in 2008, a five-minute trial resulted in a death sentence for union activist Farzad Kamangar. He was executed in secret on May 9, 2010.
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By refusing to welcome the Iranian delegation, UNITE HERE will stand with Iran's persecuted trade unionists, and UANI to send a message to the Iranian regime that its war on workers and hijacking of the ILO and ILC are unacceptable.
Click here to read UANI's full letter.
Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad.
Click here to read UANI's Monday New York Post Op-Ed, "Say 'no' to A'jad, NY."
Click here to read UANI's July 30 letter to the Warwick.
Click here to learn more about UANI's Hotels Campaigns.
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United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.
The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran
- Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad;
- Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world;
- Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran;
- Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies;
- Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and;
- Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures.
UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country. |
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