Day 24 - June 6, 2008

Update

Today is Day Twenty Four of the hunger strike. This week there have been a number of important developments in the campaign. Paul Konar was hospitalized yesterday on his 23rd day of the hunger strike. Mr. Konar was released from the hospital last night and his health is stable today. See below for information on Paul's health and the continuation of the hunger strike from the New Orleans Workers Center and a statement from Mr. Konar.

The workers are gaining increased national attention. Yesterday Rep. Dennis Kucinich sent a sign-on letter to the Department of Justice with 18 signatures from U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives expressing support for the workers. The letter is an important show of support for the workers. The letter concludes, "We urge you to take the steps necessary to ensure the workers' continued presence so that DOJ can continue this important investigation of modern day slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor and bring these traffickers to justice." The signers give the DOJ just a week to respond, demanding a response no later than June 13. The letter is attached and will be available online at www.jwj.org this weekend.

In India, there has also been significant headway in getting political attention and support for the hunger strikers. Two Indian parliamentarians (MPs) from the southern states where most of the workers come from will visit the workers in Washington DC next week. They are Mr. S.K. Kharaventhan, from Tamil Nadu and Mr. Sebastian Paul, from Kerala. The Indian parliamentary calendar resumes in July, and the workers are asking that the two MPs raise the issue of human trafficking in the Indian Parliament then.

National Day of Action - June 11

Jobs with Justice, together with other national allies supporting the hunger strike will carry out solidarity actions in more than 10 cities across the country on June 11. The workers will rally outside the Department of Justice on that day, and allies in other cities will rally at federal buildings to demand the Attorney General grant them the legal status they need to participate in the investigation into human trafficking. If you are planning a local action, please report it to Krista Lee Hanson at so the workers can report all the actions at the Washington DC press conference. Also look for updated materials on June 11 National Day of Action on the Jobs with Justice web site this weekend.

If you are in Washington DC or can come on June 11 - come out at noon to join the main rally at the Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

Day 15 - May 28, 2008

Update

Today is Day Fifteen of the hunger strike, and it is Paul Konar's 54th Birthday. Of all the extraordinary strength and bravery shown by the Indian labor trafficking survivors now on Day 15 of a hunger strike for justice in Washington, DC, no one has been more inspiring than Mr. Paul Konar. Paul is a 53 year-old father of three daughters who supported a large extended family in his home state of Kerala before he - like more than 550 of his countrymen - was cheated out of $20,000 with false promises of an American Dream and received a temporary 10-month guest worker visa instead.

Paul is stronger on Day 15 than he was on Day 2. In getting ready to celebrate his birthday, Paul said "I want a bottle of water with a birthday candle on top. Everyone else should have a great party, and I will stay on the hunger strike with God's help." Please take a moment to write Paul a birthday greeting and message of support at .

Yesterday Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen refused to visit the hunger strikers only steps from his door, dismissing their struggle for the right to participate in an official human trafficking investigation as "politics." "Ambassador Sen said that he refused to visit these men who are starving for justice because he 'couldn't get involved in politics,'" said Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity who met with the ambassador Tuesday. "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics?'" Meanwhile, the workers are building support around the country for their demands, visiting congress themselves and gaining support from ally organizations in the task of educating congress about their fight for dignity and pushing for their support. This week is a critical week for grassroots supporters to call and pressure Congressional Representatives and Senators to sign onto the letter calling for continued presence in the U.S. for the workers.

Call-in Script for Congress

The workers are asking allies to call or visit local congressional offices this week while congress is in recess and Representatives are in their home districts. Jobs with Justice coalitions - and other workers rights activists around the country - can play a critical solidarity role to the hunger strikers by organizing a local push on congressional offices to sign onto the letter to the Department of Justice. Representatives are much more likely to sign onto this letter if they hear from constituents that it is important to us. This letter is a key element of the workers demands - it will help push the Department of Justice to move forward in the investigation of Signal International and grant the workers the visa status they need to participate in the investigation.

You can get a call-in script and outline for meetings from Krista L. Hanson at .

New on-line donation site

The hunger strikers are gratefully accepting all kinds of support, including financial support. There is now an online site to give directly to the hunger strike, at http://www.neworleansworkerjustice.org/contribute.htm.

Day 10 - May 23, 2008

Update

Today is Day Ten of the hunger strike. On Wednesday, six more of the Indian guestworkers from the Gulf Coast joined the hunger strike, pledging to push forward in their demand that they be granted continued presence in the U.S. so they can fight for justice in their case of human trafficking.

On the morning of May 21 Christopher Glory, one of the original five hunger strikers was hospitalized for dehydration; Thursday three more of the original five - Murugan Kandhasamy, Sony Sulekha, and Kauchuru Dhananjaya - were also hospitalized and given re-hydration fluids. Paul Konar remains on hunger strike on day 10 and is in good spirits. On Wednesday Mr. Konar was accompanied by other workers and allies in meetings to ask Congressional Representatives to take immediate action in support of the workers.

Yesterday the workers had an incredibly successful meeting with Rep. Denis Kucinich. Rep. Kucinich expressed deep concern for the workers' case and agreed to hold Congressional hearings into the abuses of guest worker in the Gulf Coast, to sponsor a sign-on letter to the Department of Justice calling for the workers to be granted continued presence, and to visit all of the hunger strikers.

In India

The solidarity fast in India coordinated by Jobs with Justice and other Indian allies gained much media coverage in the Indian press. The 15 family members fasting were able to expose this first ever documented case of modern day licensed labor trafficking between US and India. They are calling on the Minister of Oversees Indian Affairs to intervene on behalf of their family members. So far the Indian Ambassador has met with the workers but taken no other public action to help move their case forward.

Day 8 - May 21, 2008

Today is Day Eight of the water-only hunger strike by the Indian guest workers protesting the labor abuses of Signal International in the Gulf Coast.

Today 10 more workers will join the current five hunger strikers during a noon rally in front of the Capitol. The workers will deliver invitations for briefing at the site of the hunger strike to Sens. Mikulski and Greg, as well as pleas for support to House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS).

Speaking at the rally will be Free the Slaves president Kevin Bales, Amado Uno of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, and other community and faith allies.

The hunger strikers will also be joined by Jobs With Justice coalitions across the country where community activists and leaders will fast, petition, and educate their communities about the hunger strike. affiliates in Washington, DC; Providence, RI; Buffalo, NY; and Rickmond, VA will carry out 24-hour solidarity fasts on Wednesday in support of the workers.

The workers are demanding Continued Presence under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act so they can safely participate in the investigation, as well as Congressional hearings into the rampant abuses of the guest worker visa program that have turned it into a legal sanction for forced labor.

Day 6 - May 19, 2008

Today is Day Six of the water-only hunger strike by five Indian guest workers on behalf of over 550 of their countrymen who are survivors of a US-Indian labor trafficking ring. Over the past six days they've baked in the sun in view of the White House and been pelted by rainstorms under a statue of Mahatma Gandhi

On Saturday, May 17, hundreds of American visitors who lined up outside the Indian Embassy for its first-ever official cultural day were met with the sight of Indian hunger strikers growing weak on the fourth day of a fast to protest their government's failure to support their quest for justice against a US-Indian labor trafficking ring. The workers chanted: "Lift up your voices--we are one!" and carried signs reading: "As you feast, we starve" and "Indian government, help your people!"--even while caterers carried steaming trays of food through the embassy doors. Although the embassy officials did not come out to visit the strikers, many of the visitors stopped to talk with the workers and put on stickers supporting the strike to wear into the embassy.

The hunger strike will remain at the embassy's doorstep until Tuesday, May 20, when the location shifts to the Capitol Reflecting Pool (3rd St between Maryland and Pennsylvania Ave, NW). On May 21, the number of hunger strikers will double. Jobs with Justice coalitions across the country, together with many other labor and faith allies, have committed to doing solidarity actions on May 21 to help raise the profile of the workers' courageous struggle. The workers' family members in India will also hold a solidarity fast on Wednesday, linking the struggle internationally.

The workers are demanding Continued Presence under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act so they can safely participate in the investigation, as well as Congressional hearings into the rampant abuses of the guest worker visa program that have turned it into a legal sanction for forced labor.

Day 3 - May 16, 2008

Today the hunger strikers enter their third day. They remain strong and determined, despite the physical challenges of not eating.

On Wednesday, May 14, five workers launched their water-only hunger strike in Lafayette Park, in view of the White House. The workers represent the demands of a group of Indian guest workers who broke an 18-month US-Indian labor trafficking chain earlier this year. They are demanding:

• Continued presence in the U.S - the right to participate in a criminal trafficking investigation into their former employer, Northrop Grumman subcontractor Signal International, and US and Indian recruiters.
• Congressional hearings into abuses of the guest worker visa program in the US Gulf Coast
• Concrete action from the Indian government to protect future Indian workers.

Jobs with Justice helped launch the hunger strike with an emotional rally of support, with representatives from the AFL-CIO, the Metal Trades, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Hip Hop Caucus, the Low Wage Worker Coalition, and many other allies.

For pictures, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolaworkerscenter/
For the workers' blog, see: http://nolaworkerscenter.wordpress.com/