The General Workers Union of Timor-Leste met with the US Mission and successfully settled the dispute about the unfair dismissal of Mario Baretto and their subsequent claim that their national staff cannot join a union.
The Embassy advised that they had mistakenly stated their policy and affirmed their staff's right to join a union:
The US Embassy seeks to be a model employer and respects workers and the role of unions in representing workers. The Administration has been a strong international supporter of labour rights and we want to maintain an open relationship with the unions and labor rights advocates here in Timor-Leste.
The Embassy also confirmed that they seek to be fully compliant with local labour laws and resolved Mr Baretto's dismissal consistent with the Labour Code of Timor-Leste.
The General Workers Union of Timor-Leste and the Trade Union Confederation of Timor-Leste would like to thank all those individuals and organisations that supported Mr Baretto and Timorese workers by writing to the Ambassador
http://www.apheda.org.au/news/1291681920_26143.htmlextract advice apheda web site
NB thanks to all that joined in with the letter writting campaign
