A number of trade unionists were also obliged to sign statements disclaiming the existence of the SLOMR. At the same time, the authorities launched a campaign of slander and harsh threats designed to destroy the union. After he arrived in Germany, Gibson became the speaker of the SLOMR in the West. Together with a group of Romanian dissidents from France and Switzerland, he informed the World Confederation of Labour in Brussels and the United Nations' International Labour Organization about the free trade union movement in Romania and about the human rights violations. The support group was able to convince both organisations to post a complaint against the regime in Bucharest.