DC Brunei Action Joins Global Protest
Friday, June 27, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Chanting “We’re gonna beat beat back
the Sultan!” dozens of labor and LGBT
activists took to the quiet street in front of
the Brunei embassy at noon on Friday as part of
a global day of action in dozens of cities
around the world. The protests targeted
Brunei’s union-busting and human rights
violations, including the 2009 firing of
unionized workers at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los
Angeles, owned by the Sultan of Brunei’s
investment agency. “The Sultan is trying to
take us back to the third century,” said one
demonstrator Friday, noting that Brunei has
adopted a new penal code that punishes and
targets women, LGBT people, and religious
minorities. Rainbow pride flags fluttered in
the warm midday breeze amid the Unite Here
Local 25 placards and chants of “What do we
want? Justice? When do we want it? Now!”
Amnesty International says the new code
“makes a mockery of the country’s
international human rights commitments and must
be revoked immediately.” Earlier this month,
Pride at Work and several other prominent
national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) equality organizations
released a joint letter to President Obama
demanding that the US cease further
negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) free trade agreement with Brunei.
- report/photos by Chris
Garlock/Union City