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 Welcome to the St.Jude’s Justice & Peace groups web page
As well as our continued Nestle boycott
(www.babymilkaction.org)
we are also a FAIRTRADE parish
We meet on the 1st Wednesday of the month
in St.Jude’s parish hall
All are welcome to come for more information please contact
Sr Patricia Cassidy at st_jude_jp@msn.com
WHY WE DO IT
The Commission's priorities and campaigns are firmly underpinned by Catholic Social Teaching.
News in Brief
Please subscribe to updates by visiting: www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/newsletter.shtml
‘TOGETHER AGAINST POVERTY’ LOBBY
Get Fair is a national coalition supported by over 60 organisations, working together to campaign against poverty in the UK. They are co-ordinating a constituency-based lobby of MPs on 26-27 June. Government statistics have revealed that 12.8 million people are living in poverty in the UK today - that's 1 in 5 of us. We want you to tell your MP that this is wrong, and it's time to GET FAIR. For the lobby to be successful, they need to find people in as many parliamentary constituencies as possible who are willing to act as a local organiser. Please get involved full details at http://www.getfair.org.uk/lobby
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SCOTLAND TO GET ALL NUCLEAR SUBMARINES
The Government have announced that three Trafalgar class submarines will be moved from Devonport to Faslane between 2014 and 2017. This will bring forward the date when all nuclear submarines will be based in Scotland. This follows an earlier decision to base the new Astute class at Faslane. Both Trafalgar and Astute submarines are nuclear-powered but not nuclear armed. More information at:
http://banthebomb.org/ne/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1158&Itemid=1
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CRUNCH TIME FOR TRIDENT - SING OUT FOR PEACE
Saturday 20th June, join thousands of Scots marching and singing for peace. Saturday 20th June. Assemble 11am George Square, Glasgow. March off 11.30am. Sing out at Kelvingrove Park from 12.30pm
The government is now spending £2bn a year on Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system - almost twice as much as 5 years ago. And this at a time when our banks have collapsed and our economy is broken. Money spent on renewing Trident comes at the expense of schools, hospitals and housing. It is already cutting jobs and services across Scotland. Across the world there is growing support for a global ban on nuclear weapons. Barack Obama shares this vision and is opposed to the development of new nuclear weapons. Why are we pushing ahead with new nuclear weapons at this time?
TRIDENT - IT’S NOT A DONE DEAL - WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Write to your MP telling him/her you don’t want Trident. Organise a local meeting against Trident replacement - contact Scotland’s for Peace for help with speakers, leaflets, posters etc. Scotland’s for Peace, 15 Barrland St, Glasgow G41 1QH.
Tel 0141 433 2728 http://www.scotland4peace.org/
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REFUGEE WEEK 2009 WILL TAKE PLACE FROM 15 - 21 JUNE.
To find out what is happening in Scotland and how you can take part visit:
www.refugeeweek.org.uk/InYourArea/Scotland/
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TRADE JUSTICE AND THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS.
The Trade Justice Movement has produced a special guide for lobbying MEPs and MEP candidates on Economic Partnership Agreements and the EU’s wider, neo-liberal ‘Global Europe’ agenda. Download the guide at www.tjm.org.uk/action/lobbyguide.shtml?dm_i=3F8,10KO,A44QC,2A85,1
There is also the opportunity to urge EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton to seize the opportunity of her new appointment to break away from Europe’s current unfair trade policies. The Trade Justice Movement has produced postcards and an e- action to make this as easy as possible. To order postcards contact Trade Justice Movement, email EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton at
http://www.tjm.org.uk/action.shtml?dm_i=3F8,10KO,A44QC,2A85,1
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‘A FREE CUP OF TEA WITH AN MEP’
A chance to ask questions of MEP candidates before the European Elections in June. Wednesday 27 May, 6:30-9pm, Hillhead Library, Byres Road. Come along and ask those all important questions about trade justice, international development or anything else you think is important and hear what your future MEPs have to say. Organised by WDM. More info at www.wdmscotland.org.uk/index.html
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FORCED LABOUR IN UZBEKISTAN’S COTTON INDUSTRY
Uzbekistan is the sixth largest producer of cotton in the world and the third biggest exporter. The single biggest destination for Uzbek cotton is the European market.
State sponsored forced labour, particularly of children, underpins the cotton industry in Uzbekistan. Schools are closed down for the duration of the cotton harvest and children are sent to the fields to pick cotton by hand for little or no pay. Students who fail to meet their targets or refuse to work are beaten, or can face expulsion from school. Human rights groups estimate that up to 200,000 children are involved each year.
Adults, including administration employees, teachers, factory workers and doctors, are also commonly forced to leave their jobs for weeks at a time and pick cotton with no additional compensation. In some instances refusal to co-operate can lead to dismissal from work. Wal-Mart, Tesco and Marks and Spencer amongst others have taken action to ban Uzbek cotton from their products.
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
Write to retailers - expressing your concern about forced child labour in the Uzbek cotton industry. Ask where the cotton in their products originates from and tell them that you would like assurances that they will not use Uzbek cotton until such time as forced labour is eradicated. Ask them to label their cotton clothing with the country of origin of the cotton and not just the country of manufacture. (You can find the address of the Retailers headquarters on their website – sometimes under terms and conditions.)
Write to your MEP - (and send a copy to your local elected representative) expressing your concerns about forced child labour in Uzbekistan. Ask your MEP why the European Commission is continuing to allow Uzbekistan to benefit from preferential import duties for its cotton exports to the EU. Ask that steps be taken to remove these benefits, to ensure independent monitoring of the cotton harvest, and what other steps the Commission will take to ensure forced child labour is eradicated from Uzbek cotton production. (Information about the EU Parliament and MEPs is at www.europarl.eu.int )
(Taken from Anti-Slavery International’s Action Briefing, May 2009 www. http://www.antislavery.org/ )
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DIARY
Monday 18 to Sunday 31 May
The fourth Edinburgh World Justice Festival (EWJF) www.ewjf.org.uk/node/281
Friday 29 May
International Day of UN Peacekeepers. www.un.org/depts/dhl/peacekeepers/
Saturday 30 May
To Copenhagen and Beyond. What we want from the climate change talks and how to get it. Friends of the Earth Conference, The Pleasance, Edinburgh. 1pm
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/resources/events/agm2009/
Thursday 4 June
International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. http://tinyurl.com/r5vdnt
Friday 5 June
World Environment Day. www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/
Friday 12 June
World Day Against Child Labour. http://tinyurl.com/o6du7g
Sunday 14 June
Day of Prayer for the Arms Trade www.caat.org.uk/
Sunday 14 - Sunday 21 June
Stop the Arms Trade Week www.caat.org.uk/
Monday 15 - Sunday 21 June
Refugee Week www.refugeeweek.org.uk/
Saturday 20 June
UN World Refugee Day www.un.org/Depts/dhl/refugee/
Friday 26 June
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture www.un.org/events/torture/
Thursday 16 July
1st atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico, 1945
Thursday 6 August
Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, 1945
Saturday 8 August
Atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki, 1945
Sunday 9 August
International Day of the World's Indigenous People www.un.org/depts/dhl/indigenous/
MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM
Justice and Peace Scotland
THANK YOU FOR CARING AND GOD BLESS
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