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Updated: 18.12.2012 15:51 |
HOUSTON, wir haben ein Problem! - Mindestlöhne jetzt, hier und überall Aktion: nächsten (!) Mittwoch, 8.11. 12 Uhr (Mittags!) überzeugtes Flugblattverteilen bei 4 Gebäuden, die HINES besitzt, zwischen Pariser Platz und Brandenburger Tor Treffpunkt: Hintergrund: Für uns stellt sich die Frage, wie wir diesen Kampf weltweit wie auch hier in Deutschland unterstützen können, und dies zur rechten Zeit - gegen die global player, in Solidarität mit prekarisierten migrantischen ArbeiterInnen, die für Gerechtigkeit kämpfen? Dies ist die Herausforderung, die vor uns liegt! Es wäre dramatisch, wenn dieser Streik durch verschärfte Repression gegen illegalisierte MigrantInnen und extremer Arbeiterrecht-Feindlichkeit, durch staatliche Repression und Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, HINES in Berlin - sowie in den anderen west- und osteuropäischen Städten, wo HINES präsent ist, in London, Mailand,Paris und Moskau, und wohl auch bald in Düsseldorf und München - daran zu erinnern, dass die Globalisierung des Kapitals eine Anbei die ausführlichere Informationen über die ersten Aktionen, die Mittwoch in Berlin im Hines Hauptquartier lief, in englisch. Update on Strike: Yesterday there were actions in London, Amsterdam, Moscow and Berlin. We hope to have more next week. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/us/03labor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Report from Yesterday's Action at Hines in Berlin:15 of us joined the delegation to the Hines German HQ in Berlin. We had a great time. We came into the building and asked to speak to Mr. Karl Wambach, the Managing Director of Hines operations in Germany. The secretary called a middle level manager, who became very agitated, refused to help us and told us to leave. At that point our compas began leafleting every We discussed in detail the different standards between Germany vs. Texas - he admitted that the standards in Houston were some of the lowest and we talked about the U.S. not providing universal healthcare. He blamed the situation on the Houston market and said Hines could not do much. We explained Hines could set the example and could do a lot if they so chose to. He said Hines was a responsible company and he would send a fax to inform his American counterparts of the action and our demands. Some of us were clear to point out that this was the first action of a possible escalation if the strike continued. Afterwards some of us distributed leaflets to other Hines clients outside. We agreed to return next Wednesday at 12 noon and do a leafleting tour of the 4 Hines properties in the area and bring more people. We will meet at the starbucks on Unter den Linden 1 at 12 pm (we will not consume there!) and then hit some Hines sites across the street.We also talked about the possibility of doing a pod "projection" action on one of the Hines' buildings in the afternoon (it gets dark in berlin at 4:30pm) and mobilize the press for it. We are getting the pods translated in german and italian, but we will need support getting, a permit, a van, and projection equipment. we will try to see the feasibility of doing a public projection - if we are able to manage it then we will let you know. After the delegation half of us went to the Mexican embassy to protest the human rights violations happening in Oaxaca. We passed out the houston leaflets and got more interested activists for next Wednesday's action. General Information on the Strike: Thousands of migrant cleaners are on strike in Houston, the 4th most important city in the US - and Bush territory. The cleaners, many of whom are undocumented migrants from Mexico, clean the majority of Houston's office buildings. They receive the lowest wages and benefits of any major city in the U.S -- only 4,16EUR per hour and no health insurance coverage while cleaning the most important oil companies' headquarters in the world and the most important global real-estate Cleaning companies recently threatened to deport undocumented cleaners who support the strike to break union efforts (Texas has one of the harshest political climates, i.e. anti-labour and anti-migrant). Why are the cleaners on strike? After voting to form a union last year, 5,300 cleaners have been negotiating their first labor contract with Houston's large cleaning companies. Cleaners seek 6,69EUR per hour, health insurance, and more full-time jobs (many companies give cleaners only 3-4 hours of work a day, meaning they earn only 15,70EUR per day). Despite months of negotiations, the big cleaning companies have refused to offer even modest improvements to cleaners. And the In response to the companies' actions, cleaners began a strike on October 23. Roughly 1,700 cleaners have walked off their jobs so far, with more set to join them as part of a phased-in, escalating strike plan. Many migrant rights organizations, local politicians and churches have joined with cleaners to support them but it's not enough. This labor dispute needs global support! for more info see: Hines (www.hines.com) is one of the world's largest real-estate companies, owning more than 10 billion euros of properties in 85 countries. It has operations throughout Europe, with premier office en solidaridad, Valery Alzaga |