Merry Christmas & Happy new millennium. Wish your struggle for working class get successes all over the millennium. Hope solidarity amongst working class all over the world will be more effective in future. Wish you all the best.

APWSL Bangladesh is busy to mobilize agricultural workers in the country. There are several unorganized sectors including formal and informal. Among which agriculture is the biggest. In this sector about seven million people are working. But they don't have any union nor they are organized.

The government has not ratified ILO Conventions about agricultural workers. As a result these workers cannot form union. However in the form of association they are trying to organize themselves. APWSL Bangladesh along with their federation are trying to organise these ill-fated workers under the banner of Bangladesh Landless Association. The penetration of multinational capital in agricultural sector is another threat to this unorganized sector. Imperialist capital is compelling the poor landowners to take loans and buy seeds and destructive fertilizers. So to counter the imperialist onslaught we must organize this sector.

APWSL Australia delegation consisted of Richard Wahl (AAWL), Ellen Kleimaker (VTHC), Geoff Guest (ETU), and David Cushion (MUA).

The Delegation visited Seoul at the invitation of the Korean Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links between November 12, 1999 and November 20, 1999.

Australian friends generate their own money to buy two tickets for two delegates. During the visit delegation did some observations and they find same problems which Australian workers as well as Korean workers are facing.

NALMO: National Association of Labor Movement Organisations

KILSP: Korean Institute for Labor Studies and Policies

YUIM: Youngdongpo Urban Industrial Mission

KWWAU: Korean Women Workers Association United

IPECK: International Politics and Economy Center of Korea

JCMK: Joint Committee for Migrant Workers in Korea

Congratulation from APWSL, APWSL Aotearoa nominated Ms. Lynn Smart APWSL Sub Regional Coordinator, Lynn is a life member of National Distribution Union and Southern Coordinator on UNITE (union of marginalised workers.  Her email address is SM.PORT@xtra.co.nz

As you know APWSL Pakistan group is very much active in Railway Workers struggle. Railway workers are very active in APWSL. Through collective struggle workers get their rights that they are demanding. In next week we have meeting with Labour Minister, in meeting we discuss the problems which railway workers as well as general working class is facing in Pakistan.

APWSL Nepal has a plan to visit Indian tea plantation in India on the month of January 2000. 15 persons including Central Committee members and selected enterprise level leaders of ITPWUN visit India.

• To know more about the working conditions and existing problems of workers in the Indian Tea States.
• To share the experience of organising workers in tea plantations.
• To get information about the activities of unions run by them.
• To learn how they could organise down trodden workers and strengthen the unions.
• To develop new strategy and plan after returning back in the light of the experiences gained during the trip.
• To develop network relationship between tea plantation workers unions in Nepal and India.

APWSL regional coordinating team meeting will be held in March 2000, in Pakistan. So I would like to inform all Sub-Regional Coordinators as well as Robert Reid (Convenor), Elizabeth Lombos (Convenor) to make arrangement to participate in this important meeting.

Before RCT meeting Coordinator and Robert Reid (Convenor) will visit to Philippine to contact Sub-regional Coordinator or Convenor, both are from Philippine, unfortunately we have no communication with both of them.

Coordinator

14 N, Industrial Area, Gulberg, Lahore

Pakistan

Tel: 92-42-5759838 / 92-42-5715252 Fax: 92-42-5715252