Tibetan Protests No Excuse for Violence

Joint statement of Gerry Hudson, executive vice president of SEIU and Jigme Ugen, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota

WASHINGTON, DC-Gerry Hudson, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Jigme Ugen, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare issued the following statement today:

"Over the past few weeks, those of us engaged in the work of social justice have watched with dismay as long-simmering tensions between Tibet and China have boiled over into escalating violence.

"The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), as an international union representing more than 600 Tibetan Americans and as an organization committed to human dignity and justice for all, calls on the Chinese government to show restraint and reject outright tactics of oppression in its response to protests in Tibet.

"We call on the Chinese government to show respect for human rights in Tibet, with regard both to current detainees and future protests. Furthermore, we hope that China will address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama."

Gerry Hudson, executive vice president of SEIU, leads the work of the union's Long Term Care Division, which represents nearly 500,000 nursing home and home care workers nationwide. He is renowned for his work on environmental justice, and he continues to lead SEIU's efforts to win quality, affordable healthcare for all, immigration reform, and other major initiatives by strengthening the union's partnerships and alliances with community groups.

Jigme Ugen, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, was the first Tibetan American elected to office in the U.S. labor movement. Jigme has a lifelong commitment to organizing from the fight for a Free Tibet, to healthcare workers, to the 2002 campaign for the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN).

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