Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Berlin Conference Report Back
- Introduction
- A few facts about the conference
- Welcoming remarks from German trade unionists
- Thank you letters from recipients of fund drive support
- Excerpts from Introductory Report by Roger Sandri
Introduction:
The International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All
was held in Berlin, Germany, on February 22-24. It was preceded one day earlier
by the International Women's Conference to Reclaim ILO Convention 103 (on
Maternity Rights) and for the Rights of Working Women.
The International Conference Against Deregulation -- which drew 408 delegates
from 51 countries -- was held under the honorary presidency of Iqbal Majumder, a
leader of the Bangladeshi trade union movement who was assassinated on Aug. 2,
2001, and of Moises Moleiro, a longstanding freedom fighter and former
Congressperson from Venezuela who died only a few days before the Conference.
Delegates from various other countries were not able to attend on account of
visa problems. The conference size was limited to about 400 delegates for
reasons of space and logistics, though many more had requested to attend.
Special greetings from Jack Henning were read at the opening of the conference.
Henning is the Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO) and a coordinator of the OWC Continuations
Committee. Because of his
age and ailing health, he was not able to make the trip to Berlin.
In his greetings, Brother Henning stressed how "[i]t is like a dream come
true to see the movement for Global Unionism begin to materialize with the
Western Hemisphere Conference, then the Open World Conference and now with the
Berlin Conference for Labor Rights For All. ... More than ever, we must
understand that the answer to Global Capitalism is Global Unionism. We cannot
allow predatory capitalism to pit workers from one country against workers in
another country. Global Unionism is the only way to ensure the protection and
the very dignity of working people everywhere."
To attempt to do justice to the rich discussion that took place in Berlin, we
will publish a series of reports.
It should be noted, moreover, that the conference voted to transcribe and print
all the presentations to the conference in a book to be published in four
languages: English, Spanish, French and German. As soon as the book is ready,
all the information about how to order it will be made available. -- OWC
Continuations Committee
********************
A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Participating countries:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Azania/South Africa, Bangladesh, Belgium,
Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic,
Chile, Congo, Cote-d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, India, Italy, Korea,
Lebanon, Madagascar, Morrocco, Martinique, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal,
Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia,
Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia.
Presiding Committee of the Berlin Conference:
Paul Nkunzimana (Burundi); Roger Sandri, French trade unionist (retired);
Louisa Hanoune (Algeria); Daniel Gluckstein, International Liaison Committee for
a Workers' International (France); Nancy Wohlforth, Continuations Committee of
the Open World Conference (U.S.); Rubina Jamil (Pakistan); Manfred Birkhahn and
Gotthard Krupp, German Organizing Committee (Berlin, Germany)
Participants in U.S. Delegation:
Baldemar Velasquez (FLOC, Toledo, Ohio); Robert Ford (ILA, Charleston, South
Carolina); Julian Kunnie (BRC, Phoenix, Arizona); Jim Hamilton (AFT, St. Louis,
Missouri); Dana Hamilton (AFT, St. Louis, Missouri); Nancy Wohlforth (OPEIU, San
Francisco, CA); Denice Lombard (SEIU, San Francisco, CA); Mark Demming (OEA,
Oakland, CA); Mark Loy (SEIU/CSEA, San Francisco, CA); Eddie Rosario (GCIU, San
Francisco, CA); Millie Phillips (Labor Party, San Francisco, CA); Alan Benjamin
(OPEIU, San Francisco, CA); Greg Fontana (Student organizer, South San
Francisco, CA); Kristina Zinnen (OPEIU, San Francisco, CA); Denise D'Anne (SEIU,
San Francisco, CA); Dan Kaplan (AFT, Berkeley, CA); Connie White (Labor Party,
Los Angeles, CA); Brett Volkman (AFSCME, Sacramento, CA); Robert Irminger (IBU/ILWU, San Francisco, CA); Zev Kvitky
(SEIU, Palo Alto, CA); Aaron Dinwoodie (SEIU, Palo Alto, CA); Dorothy Gilles (FLOC, St.
Louis, Missouri); Paul
Germanotta (FLOC, on leave in Geneva)
CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
- Energy
President: Gabriel Gaudy (France); Vice presidents: Mark Loy (USA), R. Alves
de Oliveira (Brazil), Fazlul Hoque AKM (Bangladesh), J. Castillo More (Peru),
Nicola Scarlateanu (Romania), François Yao (Ivory Coast/Cote d'Ivoire), Uwe
Scharf (Germany)
- Education
President: Lorenza Carrettoni (Italy); Vice presidents: François Chaintron
(France), Jim Hamilton (USA), Gami N'Garmadjal (Chad), Norbert Gbikpi-Benissan
(Togo), Heiner Becker (Germany)
- University & Youth
President: Erwin Salazar (Peru); Vice presidents: Sue Wicks (England), Dan
Kaplan (USA), Paul Nkunzimana (Burundi), Henrik Lange (Germany)
- Immigrant Workers
President: Hans-Werner Schuster (Germany); Vice presidents: Haria Hakan
Mahadevan (India), Vitaly Kulik (Ukraine), Ramiro Miceli Maza (Mexico), Baldemar
Velasquez (USA), Volkmar Schöne (Germany)
- AIDS
President: Philippine Makoma Lekalakala (South Africa/Azania); Vice
presidents: Jean-Claude Roujeau (France), Claude Améganvi (Togo), Patrice
Zakaria (Central African Republic), Misa Boïto (Brazil), Flan Zran Senan (Ivory
Coast/Cote d'Ivoire)
- Democracitic Rights and Trade Union Independence
President: Tolé Sagnon (Burkina Faso); Vice presidents: Rubina Jamil (Pakistán), Victor Fabert
(Guadaloupe), Eduardo Greenhalgh (Brazil), Denis
Langlet (France), Manfred Birkhahn (Germany)
- Privatization of Public Services: Urban transportation, railways, water,
telecommunications, post office
President: Nambiath Vasudevan (India); Vice presidents: Shi Kwa (Korea),
Fazal E Wahid (Pakistan), Luis Messina (Chile), Silver Bengt (Sweden), Louisa
Hanoune (Algeria), Gaston Azoua (Benin), Pierre Besse (France), Klaus Schüller
(Germany)
- Health and Social Security
President: Nancy Wohlforth (USA); Vice presidents: Luis González (Spain),
François Guérin (France), Bodo Fast (Germany)
- ILO Conventions and Labor Rights
President: José Miguel Villa (Spain); Vice presidents: Joao Vacari Neto (Brazil), Anton Markus
(Sri Lanka), Evgueni Kozlov (Russia), Marian Tudor (Romania), Marie-Edmonde Brunet
(France), K-H. Gerhold (Germany)
- FTAA
In addition, a workshop on the FTAA was added to the program under the
responsibility of Julio Turra (Brazil), Luis Vasquez (Mexico), Jacqueline
Petitot (Guadeloupe), and Ed Rosario (USA).
Working Groups
Also, there were a series of mealtime working group meetings. For example,
there was a youth meeting organized by the Spanish university students in the
delegation. Last November, there were mobilizations of 350,000 to 400,000
university students in Madrid and across Spain to demand a halt to the Aznar
government's university privatization scheme. They are planning a big
international youth conference in Madrid next October.
********************
Welcoming Remarks by German Trade Unionists
The Berlin Conference was opened by Manfred Birkahn, a member of the German
Organizing Committee who is an officer of the Ver.di union federation in Berlin.
He said, "We are here in Berlin, where, 10 years ago, the Wall fell.
Whatever point of view we may have on this matter, we are all confronted today
with an offensive aimed at imposing policies contrary to those for which the
people of Berlin voted when they elected their new government. This is one more
reason why we have to exchange points of view so that we can assist each other
in our struggles."
Susanne Stumpenhusen, president de Ver.di in the Berlin region, greeted the
conference. In her brief speech, she underlined the many issues around which the
union movement is being compelled to confront the new regional government.
"The new 'red-red' government," she said, "has just announced its
new program. It calls for wage cuts and drastic budget cuts for social
expenditures."
"We are not responsible for the bankruptcy of the Berlin government,"
Stumpenhusen continued, "but no one is making those in charge accountable
for their actions. A Social State, a Welfare State, is not one based on charity.
Working people have rights, which should be respected. Charity or entitlements
can be removed at whim. We, trade unionists in Berlin, cannot and will not
accept policies that trample upon our social rights."
Bernd Rissmann, vice president of the DGB union federation of the Land of
Berlin-Brandeburg, brought greetings from his union: "One could be led to
believe that the German capital would be spared from this wave of deregulation.
Well that is not the case. Deregulation has been unleashed upon us with full
force. It is very appropriate that this conference should be held here in Berlin."
********************
Thanks to Your Help, We Made Our Fund Drive!
Dear Friends:
On behalf of the OWC Continuations Committee, the San Francisco Labor Council,
and the Berlin Conference Organizing Committee, we would like to thank publicly
everyone who contributed so generously to the Berlin Travel Fund.
Thanks to your help, we were able to raise $5,365 to subsidize the travel and
lodging expenses of trade unionists from Cuba, Burundi, Bangladesh and the
United States (FLOC and ILA Local 1422 in Charleston, S.C.). These funds made it
possible for these unionists to join together in Berlin with unionists from 51
countries to build a common fightback against privatization/deregulation and in
defense of labor rights for all.
Thanks again to everyone who sent a donation, and looking forward to working
with all of you in the future in our joint efforts to reach out across borders
to promote labor rights.
In Solidarity,
Alan Benjamin and Ed Rosario
For the OWC Continuations Committee
-----
Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters:
I would like to express my gratitude for the support given to make my recent
trip to Berlin possible. As you all are probably aware, our fight to organize in
the Deep South with the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. has placed an enormous financial
burden on our union. Without your help, I would not have been able to attend
this important conference against privatization and deregulation.
It was an important trip because of the international solidarity that we were
able to shore up for our campaign in the South. The invaluable contacts with the
Indian and Sri Lankan trade unions, with the support of the Longshoremen Unions,
could possibly lead to an international action to impede the movement of
cucumbers from those countries to the United States.
This would be an important signal to those bastions of anti-union, right-to-work
institutions like the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. and their partners.
My thanks to all of those who gave of their finances, and I am grateful for your
expression of solidarity.
Hasta La Victoria!
Baldemar Velasquez
President, FLOC
-----
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I would like to thank you for sponsoring me at the Open World Conference in
Berlin. It was an enjoyable, educational, and enlightening experience. On behalf
of the members of I.L.A. Local 1422 and the Charleston 5, I thank you for all
your support.
Thanks a million!
Robert J. Ford
Vice President
I.L.A. 1422
Charleston, S.C.
********************
Excerpts from Conference Introductory Report by Roger Sandri
[Note: Roger Sandri, a retired trade union leader from France, was asked by
the German Organizing Committee and the OWC Continuations Committee to give the
opening presentation to the Conference on behalf of the International Liaison
Committee (ILC). Following are brief excerpts that summarize the main themes of
Sandri's introductory statement.]
The common aim of this conference is to develop lines of action that can allow
us all, wherever we may be, to counter the reactionary offensive waged by Global
Capitalism -- an offensive that is aimed at undermining all the gains made by
working people the world over as Global Capitalism sets forth to increase the
exploitation of the labor force.
In the new world situation, predominantly U.S.-owned multinational corporations
are imposing their law the world over, including on every industrialized country. The monetary primacy of the
U.S. dollar, which is used everywhere as
the global unit of accounting, reinforces the dominant role of the U.S. economic
and financial structures that act on behalf of the multinational corporations.
Every currency, including the newly created Euro is indexed, de jure or de
facto, on the U.S. dollar.
Drive to lower labor costs
The savage competition among the leading capitalist powers, resulting from
the crisis in consumer purchasing power, compels them to put pressure on the
international financial institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF,
the OECD and the European Union to lower production costs -- first and foremost
the labor costs.
Hence, long-term or permanent-employment work contracts, codified by Labor Codes
and collective-bargaining agreements, are gradually being replaced with
short-term or part-time contracts without any rights or guarantees. It is now
the era of the individualized -- as opposed to -- collective contracts.
Lowering production costs translates into the destruction of jobs; permanent
restructuring; the closure of departments, factories and companies; and the
relocation of production, when possible, to so-called "low-wage,
low-cost" countries.
As for work schedules, most often these are left entirely at the discretion of
the employer. Contracting-out has become the norm for the multinational
corporations in particular.
At the same time, the annualization of working hours is becoming the rule,
thereby eliminating any notion of overtime pay, as working hours are being
determined according to the demands and exigencies of production, hence the
market.
In France, the fraudulent "35-hour workweek" has mainly benefited the
bosses, who have been subsidized generously by the State to ensure the success
of the operation. The employers now also enjoy total freedom in adapting working
hours to their needs. By dropping the weekly workweek benchmark, annualization
removes the notion of a collective work schedule in favor of an individual
schedule.
Today, public services as well as collective social protection systems are being
assaulted by the global economy as part of the "liberal" offensive
promoted by the international financial institutions and all those working in
their service.
The privatization of public services is being accompanied by the dislocation of
statutes governing state employees, resulting in a dramatic worsening of
services. These disastrous consequences for the service users are obvious. In
Great Britain, for example, the collapse of the railways following privatization
has produced dozens of accidents and incidents involving the loss of life.
Dismantling Social Security
In France, as in several other European countries, the Social Security
system [note: this system covers both retirement and all healthcare expenses,
cradle to grave--ed.] has not escaped the threat of privatization, a maneuver
encouraged by governments acting at the behest of the European Union, which has
become the direct agent of globalization.
Under pressure from the international financial markets, there is a drive to
dismantle the collectively-funded Social Security systems across Europe through
the introduction of private pension funds and stock market capitalization
schemes. Thus each individual would receive a minimum social income from the
State, with the supplemental coverage having to be paid out of pocket through
individual investment plans. We would thus see the creation of a multi-tiered
social protection system, thereby increasing social inequality.
Already in the industrialized countries, there is a marked tendency toward
pushing back the age of retirement. In France, the qualifying period of pension
contributions linked to retirement age has increased from 37.5 to 40 years.
"Civil Society" vs. Class Independence
In this new global restructuring, an increasingly important role is being
assigned to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The NGOs most often fulfill a
role of accompanying the globalization policies promoted by the multinational
corporations and international financial institutions.
In 1997, an international meeting was held in Washington with the participation
of 50 international NGOs. The purpose of the meeting was to explore how the
World Bank and the NGOs could cooperate to facilitate privatization and to
introduce closer cooperation between "civil society" and the State in
that privatization. The ILC has published extensive accounts of this meeting and
other similar ventures between the World Bank and the NGOs.
Working people, ever since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th
century, have organized together to defend their specific interests
collectively, constantly acting to this end on the basis of class. In building
their own organizations, they have quite naturally taken into account the
traditions and political, economic and social situations in each country.
Today, this notion of a society divided into social classes with antagonistic
interests is being challenged by all the new converts to the notion of a
"civil society" that is constituted essentially as a homogeneous bloc.
This notion, promoted first and foremost by the ideologues of the international
financial institutions of globalization, is aimed at coopting the international
labor movement into accepting and implementing their reactionary offensive.
The fact is that society under capitalism remains divided into social classes
with interests that are diametrically opposed. "Civil society" has not
supplanted "class society." There is still a tiny handful of those who
exploit, on the one hand, and the vast majority of those who are exploited, on
the other.
The opposition between the forces of capital and labor has fueled an
increasingly conscious struggle, leading to the emergence of independent trade
unions acting for the defense of interests of the workers -- that is, class
interests.
Only dictatorships and totalitarian regimes have sought to transcend these
natural contradictions in interests, casting individuals into the "total
State" -- into a "civil society" united behind "the
Leader."
The attempt to associate capital and labor -- be it through labor-management
partnership schemes at the level of a factory, or through "Social
Charters" within reactionary institutions like the European Union -- is an
archetype of this neo-corporatist institutional doctrine.
The globalized "order" that is being prepared tends, in its political
projection, toward the construction of a "neo-totalitarianism" where
the self-proclaimed NGOs would be encouraged to play a leading role within a
so-called "participatory democracy" -- the very embodiment of a
"civil society" acting on behalf of the interests of Global Capitalism
-- whose new Mecca is now Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The forces of capital, in their dominant hegemony, understand full well that
working people the world over will not accept passively the destruction of their
jobs, rights and living and working conditions. The bosses fear a brutal and
uncontrolled reaction by the exploited masses. Hence the urgent concern of the
architects of Globalization to put into place all the parameters and
institutional structures necessary to prevent any mass response that could
challenge and present an alternative to the dominant economic and political
system.
This is the meaning of all the "roundtable" discussions, proposed
Social Charters and Social Clauses, ILO Reform proposals and other such schemes
that are emanating from the offices of the World Bank and IMF.
This is the meaning of the October 2001 declaration of the Commission of
Episcopal Conferences of the European Community -- headed by former IMF
director-general Michel Camdessus -- which announces the preparation of the
structures and composition of this "New Global Governance." Under this
proposal, the Porto Alegre model of "participatory democracy" -- which
is falsely presented today as an alternative to the globalizing Davos World
Economic Forum -- would be provided with the international institutional backing
needed to project its universal "applicability" and dimension.
Of course, for the labor organizations around the world to accept this form of
integration into the structures of Global Capitalism (which are being put into
place precisely to establish the system's hegemony) would be tantamount to
signing their own death sentence.
Hence the burning need today to defend the independence of the labor
organizations -- beginning with the trade unions.
Hence the need to reject the concept of a "civil society" wherein the
interests of the multinationals, the workers, the governments, the churches, the
NGOs and all the other social "actors" can somehow be welded together
through Global Compacts for the "common good."
Hence the need to preserve the independence of the working class itself, which
is the necessary condition for defending the gains of the workers and peasants
that are today being savagely attacked by Global Capitalism.