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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">From: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Ben Beachy <br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Vietnamese Labor Activists tell Congress NO on Fast Track</b><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">June 11, 2015 at 12:23:05 PM EDT<br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class="">
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<div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D" class="">Independent labor leaders in Vietnam just released this important letter to members of the U.S. Congress on the eve of the Fast Track vote,
<u class="">urging them to vote NO on Fast Track</u> for the TPP until systematic labor rights violations in Vietnam have ended. See below and attached. Please circulate widely.
<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D" class=""> </span></p>
<div class=""><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#1F497D" class="">--------------<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Contact:</span></b><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Jim Keady, Director, Educating for Justice<br class="">
732.988.7322 / <a href="mailto:jwkeady@gmail.com" class="">jwkeady@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
Trung Doan, Director, Viet Labor</span> <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">
<br class="">
+61 400466848 / <a href="mailto:doanviettrung@gmail.com" class="">doanviettrung@gmail.com</a></span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Independent labor leaders in Vietnam push Congress to say "NO" on Fast Track authority</span></b><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i class=""><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Changes must come to Vietnam before the US fast tracks the deal and allows Vietnam entry into the TPP</span></i><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">(June 11, 2015) On the day before Congress is to vote on fast track authority for the highly controversial transpacific partnership trade deal, leading dissidents in Vietnam's
underground labor movement have issued a letter to members asking them to vote “NO.”
<br class="">
<br class="">
The letter states in part:<br class="">
<br class="">
<i class=""><span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow" class="">Members of the U.S. Congress who wish to assist us in ending Vietnam’s systematic labor rights violations should
<b class="">NOT</b> grant Fast Track authority for the TPP until the Vietnamese government has reversed its ban on independent labor unions; has ended widespread workplace abuse and unsafe working conditions; has increased our abysmal wages; has halted its repression
of workers and organizers who are trying to promote basic labor rights; and has released all labor rights activists from prison who have been convicted for simply speaking up for workers.</span> </i></span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">While these leaders support the TPP in theory and want Vietnam to be in partnership with the United States, they also want to be sure that the deal actually benefits workers
in Vietnam and is not simply a giveaway to giant transnational corporations. </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">"A TPP which leaves Vietnamese workers exploited is bad for American workers. A TPP which allows the state-run 'union' (VGCL) to continue helping police arrest real unionists is bad for Vietnamese workers." said Trung Doan, Director of
Viet Labor. he continued, "Will the TPP be a trade deal or a raw deal? This all depends on the TPA vote setting prerequisites and setting the rules. Prerequisites include Vietnam ending unionists' jail time, ending criminalizing unionism, and ending forced
labor in jails. Setting the rules includes drafting legislation requiring companies implementing American aid projects to allow their workers to unionize."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">This letter came about from a collaborative project in late May between Viet Labor, an alliance of Vietnamese Labor groups inside and outside Vietnam and Educating for Justice,
a US-based NGO with 15 years experience of labor rights advocacy in Southeast Asia.
</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">“When I met with the underground labor leaders in Vietnam, it was obvious that they had only been given one side of the debate about fast track authority and the TPP,” said
Jim Keady, Director of Educating for Justice. “Once they had a more complete set of information, they realized that they could not blindly trust the Obama administration or the regime in Vietnam to do what is right for workers. That is why they are taking
their case to the U.S. Congress and calling for a no vote on fast track until real changes are made.” </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">###</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Attachments include:<br class="">
<br class="">
1. Letter to Congress</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">2. Nike in Vietnam: A Case Study for Consideration during the TPA/TPP Vote</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">3. Briefing paper on Vietnam’s state-owned union
</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">4. Photograph of Vietnamese labor leaders</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">5. Photograph of Nike workers</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class=""> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"" class="">Additional photos and video clips are available
</span><o:p class=""></o:p></p>
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