Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Report from Meeting of May 10, 2001
Joint Meeting of the Continuations Committee of the Open World Conference In Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (February 2000)
And
The Preparatory
Committee of the Berlin Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor
Rights For All (February 2002):
Contents
1. Origin of this Joint Meeting on May 10th
2. Progress Report on the Preparation of the Berlin Conference
3. The Ongoing Disastrous Effects of Deregulation the World Over
4. Points of Support to Build the Workers' Fightback
6. Mandates to OWC Continuations Committee and German Preparatory Committee members
Attachments
1) Bill of Rights for Immigrant and Migrant Communities
(submitted by FLOC
President Baldemar Velasquez)
2) Communiqué of the Working Women's Commission of the International Liaison
Committee for a Workers' International (ILC)
3) Statement Adopted at Social Democratic
Activists' Meeting, Stockholm,
February 24th 2001
On May 10, 2001, the Continuations Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democracy
(OWC) met in San Francisco, together with two representatives from the German Preparatory Committee of the International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For
All, which will be held February 21-24, 2002, in Berlin, Germany. The two German representatives present at the meeting were Gotthard Krupp and Klaus
Schüller.
1. Origin of this Joint Meeting on May 10th
At its meeting last September 22, 2000, the OWC Continuations Committee was informed of an appeal issued by trade union leaders and activists from 33
countries, who had met in Geneva in June 2000 at the initiative of the International Liaison Committee for a
Workers' International (ILC) at the Seventh Session of the Trade Union Conference to Defend the ILO
Conventions. Their appeal called for convening an international conference against
deregulation.
The Appeal issued by the trade union gathering in Geneva stated in
part:
"Throughout the world, workers and youth are facing policies of deregulation which threaten in every area the collective rights and guarantees won by the workers and their organizations during decades of
struggle. Throughout the world, workers and youth are facing policies aimed at replacing collective rights with individual
'rights'. ...
" [C]ollective rights are currently being threatened at the national
level, resulting in the repeal of the labor codes, collective-bargaining agreements and statutes which guarantee the collective rights of the working class in each
country. National master agreements are being replaced with workplace agreements, and collective conventions are being replaced with 'individual
conventions'. ...
"The working class was constituted historically as an organized class through the building of
workers' institutions -- workers' organizations, collective-bargaining
agreements, statutes, social protection systems, etc. -- which unite each worker into a
whole, forming a class welded together by its collective rights and guarantees. As soon as the individualization of rights begins to replace collective
rights, the destruction of those same rights is put on the agenda. ...
"This is why we -- the
undersigned, workers and activists from all backgrounds coming from countries around the world -- hereby
assert: It is impossible for workers' organizations to accept such a threat to our collective
rights. Nor we can we allow so-called 'roundtable' social dialogues’ and 'consultations'’ to take
place, for their only goal is to co-opt workers' organizations into the very process of dismantling our collective
rights.
"We cannot allow this to take place for it would mean that labor organizations would be direct participants in the dismantling of the collective legal framework of the working
class, and in this sense would be helping to undermine their own existence. ...
"There is therefore an urgent need to organize the struggle against deregulation and in defense of labor rights for all on an international
scale. ...
"In continuity with the Open World Workers Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic
rights, held in San Francisco in February 2000, we propose to organize an International Conference Against Deregulation and in Defense of Labor
Rights. ..."
The OWC Continuations Committee meeting of September 22nd asserted that the objectives of such a conference were in full continuity with the decisions taken at the OWC in February 2000. It concurred that there is an urgent need to launch a genuine international campaign against
deregulation/privatization and for the defense of the rights and gains of workers
worldwide.
On December 10, 2000, a meeting of the OWC Continuations Committee held in Washington, D.C., read and discussed an Appeal issued by German trade unionists at the conclusion of their meetings in late
November. That Appeal called on working people the world over to participate in an International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For
All, to be held in Berlin, Germany, on February 21-24, 2002.
The OWC Continuations
Committee, having heard the report and reviewed the Appeal of the German trade
unionists, agreed to sponsor this international conference and to constitute a joint Berlin Conference Organizing Committee together with the German signatories of the
Appeal. The December 10th meeting, moreover, called on working people in the United States and throughout the world to build this international conference actively through a broad outreach campaign aimed at ensuring the presence in Berlin of large and representative delegations of trade unionists and activists from all
continents.
This, therefore, is the origin of the joint meeting of the OWC Continuations Committee and representatives of the German Preparatory Committee of the Berlin Conference on May 10, 2001.
2. Progress Report on the Preparation of the Berlin Conference
The German representatives of the Berlin Conference Preparatory Committee informed the meeting of the status of the organization of the
conference. Many of the major technical questions regarding the conference are in the process of being
resolved: (1) A contract with a hotel (where delegates will stay and where the conference room and break-out rooms are
located) in Berlin has been signed. (2) Three issues of a Conference Preparatory Bulletin have been published in
German; the first of which was translated into several languages. (3) A press conference was held to inform the German public of the
conference. (4) More than 80 trade unionists and activists from across Germany have already
registered, providing the 35-person Preparatory Committee (mainly based in
Berlin) with much of the seed money to begin raising funds and organizing the
outreach. The Preparatory Committee includes officers of the bank workers', public
service, and teachers’ unions, among others, as well as officials of the Social Democratic
Party. An international conference registration form will be forthcoming in the coming
weeks.
The International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All will begin at 10 a.m. on
Friday, February 22nd and will conclude on Sunday, February 24th at 4 p.m. The conference cost per delegate for the three days
(including room for two nights, all meals through Sunday lunch, and the conference registration fee to cover all conference logistical
expenses) is 750 DM (German Marks), or 383.47 Euro (this is roughly US$350). An arrangement has been made with the conference that delegates wishing to remain extra nights at the hotel can do so for 50 DM
(or roughly US$25) per person.
The International Women's Conference For the Reconquest of ILO Convention 103 and For the Defense of the Rights of Working Women will be held at the same hotel in Berlin on
Thursday, February 21st, beginning at 10 a.m. The costs for participation in this conference have yet to be
determined, and will be sent out shortly.
*****
The correspondence received thus far by the OWC Continuations Committee at the S.F. Labor
Council, as well as by the Preparatory Committee in Germany and the International Liaison Committee in Paris, reveals that as of today the Berlin Conference has been supported enthusiastically by trade
unions, trade union members and labor activists in 44 countries.
In the Western
Hemisphere: The conference is being organized actively in Brazil (a national trade union conference will be held June 23 to prepare the Berlin Conference and to build opposition to the Free Trade Area of the
Americas), Chile, Ecuador, Mexico (more than 150 trade unionists met in Chiapas and voted to support the Berlin
Conference, and on May 26-27, a Trinational Conference Against Deregulation, Privatization and
"Free Trade" will be held in Mexico), Peru (the CGTP trade union federation will be sending a delegation to
Berlin), United States (see below), and Venezuela.
In Asia: The conference is being organized actively in Bangladesh
(the National Workers Federation of Bangladesh will send three delegates, two of whom will also be participating in the International Women’s Conference that will be held February 21, on the eve of the Berlin Conference Against
Deregulation), China (the Berlin Conference preparatory committee was invited to meet with a coalition of trade union organizations based in Hong
Kong, including the HKCTU, which is affiliated with the ICFTU; and independent trade unionists and labor activists sent a contribution to the Berlin Conference on the consequences of the
China/WTO agreement on the Chinese workers), Korea (the Democratic Workers Party and the Metalworkers Federation of the KCTU have invited the German Preparatory Committee to meet with
them), India, Indonesia (the SBSI trade union federation has already designated a representative for the
conference), Pakistan (a National Organizing Committee of trade union representatives has been
established), and Sri Lanka.
In Europe: The conference is being organized actively in
Austria, Belgium (the first delegates were designated in the metalworkers’ sector), France
(demonstrations against deregulation were held October 21 in 23 cities across the
country, bringing together 10,000 workers and activists in the framework of the preparation of the Berlin
Conference), Germany (the first 80 delegates have been designated, and the Preparatory Committee has brought together officials from the trade union movement and from the Social Democratic Party at all
levels), Great Britain (Tony Benn, Member of Parliament has endorsed the
conference, as has the Firemen's British Union, among many others), Italy, Portugal,
Romania, Russia, Spain (120 trade union officials have constituted a Berlin Conference Organizing
Committee), Switzerland (a conference organizing committee has been set up, and the Congress of the Geneva Socialist Party has issued an appeal for a national conference against
deregulation), and Sweden (a Committee of Social Democrats For Public Services -- SOS -- was set
up, and 16 members of parliament of the Socialist Party have signed their
declaration; SOS is promoting the Berlin Conference).
In Africa: The conference is being organized actively on a continental level with the support of the All-African Organization of Mines, Metal,
Energy, Chemical and Allied Trade Union. On a country-by-country level, the conference is being organized in Algeria
(the UGTA trade union federation supports the conference), Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Comores, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Republic of
Mauritius, La Reunion, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Ruanda, Senegal, Chad, Togo, and South
Africa/Azania.
3. The Ongoing Disastrous Effects of Deregulation the World Over
Since the Appeal for the International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All was issued last
December, working people on all continents have witnessed one catastrophe after another as a direct result of the international drive to deregulate and privatize that has been promoted by the multinational
corporations, the international financial institutions and the governments in their
service.
This so-called "globalization" is being organized consciously by the
WTO, World Bank, IMF and their ilk; it is not an "objective process beyond our
control" and about which working people can do nothing -- as we are told
incessantly. It is a process, moreover, that is inherently contradictory with the rights and gains made by working people and their organizations -- principally the unions -- through bitter
struggles. "Free trade" -- by its very nature -- is diametrically opposed to workers’
rights, social standards, and environmental protections. We are constantly told that
"there is no alternative to globalization." This is not true. There is an
alternative: It is the steadfast defense of all past gains, as a pre-condition to winning new
gains. It is the intransigent defense of trade union independence and democratic
rights.
Below are just a few examples of what is unfolding daily on every continent -- in
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere:
o The May 10th meeting was held in the state of
California, which has been rocked every day by rolling blackouts and huge energy-cost
increases. The trade union movement and workers across the state have stated without reservations that this disastrous situation is the direct result of the deregulation measures enacted in 1997. More than
ever, this has placed on the agenda the need to bring the energy industry back to its rightful place as a public service – under the slogan
"Public Power Now!"
o The continued railway catastrophes in Great
Britain, as well, are not a random or unforeseen event. As the British railworkers have
stated, these tragedies are the direct result of the measures of deregulation of the transportation industry that have swept Great Britain and the rest of Europe with such dire
consequences.
o On the entire European continent, the measures taken in the name of
"European harmonization" are undermining in every country the systems of
healthcare, Social Security, retirement, as well as the Labor Codes, collective-bargaining
agreements, etc. One of the most blatant examples of this onslaught is the new law in
France, issued as a result of a European Union directive, to reintroduce child labor in France as of the age of 13.
o The collapse earlier this year of the P-36 oil platform off the coast of
Brazil, which killed 11 oil workers, is the direct result of the deregulation measures enacted by the Cardoso government with the aim of preparing the privatization of the national oil
corporation, Petrobras. The CUT trade union federation placed the onus for this catastrophe directly on the shoulders of the Cardoso government and strongly condemned the measures that have replaced union labor with a part-time labor force.
o The dramatic proliferation of child labor in China was brought to world attention earlier this year when 42 children in a rural town were killed when an explosion occurred in a public-school classroom where children were assembling fireworks outsourced by large industrial
concerns.
o The plight of millions of people in Africa infected with the HIV virus was further aggravated by the decision of the World Trade Organization
(WTO) to block the sale of AIDS medicine to the continent.
4. Points of Support to Build the
Workers' Fightback
The
correspondence received thus far by the OWC Continuations Committee and the
Germany Preparatory Committee reveal a whole host of initiatives taken by broad
sectors of the labor movement internationally in opposition to these policies of
deregulation/privatization.
Without a doubt, the pressures on the trade
unions to accept and accompany this corporate-led onslaught are immense.
Everywhere, the question is posed: Should the unions accept and accompany these
anti-worker policies, or should they resist and organize the fightback?
Among
the letters received by the Conference organizers one can find the following
information:
o From Algeria: The Algerian delegates who participated in
the OWC in San Francisco inform us that the UGTA trade union federation --
despite the extremely difficult conditions facing that country -- organized
recently a general strike that brought together all workers in Algeria against
the policies of deregulation/privatization.
o From India: N. Vasudevan,
who was present in San Francisco, informs us that in the state of Maharastra in
India (whose regional capital is Bombay), the general strike at the end of April
called in unison by all the trade union federations brought out 12 million
workers in a mass mobilization against privatization, and for the defense of the
Labor Code threatened by the government under orders from the IMF.
o From
Quebec: More than 40,000 trade unionists and activists participated in a massive
demonstration last April organized by the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labor
Congress, among others, to oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and
its disastrous consequences for all working people across the hemisphere.
o
From Russia: The railworkers of St. Petersburg (Leningrad) decided, in relation
to the Berlin Conference, to convene next September an International Conference
of Railworkers Against Privatizations of the national rail systems.
o
From Africa: Trade union federations in more than 10 countries have issued a
joint declaration opposing the pure and simple liquidation of Air Africa.
Moreover, a letter from Lybon Mabasa, who gave a report to the OWC in San
Francisco on behalf of the International Tribunal on Africa, informs us that a
massive endorsement campaign is under way across the African continent in
support of an Open Letter to Kofi Annan on the basis of the conclusions of the
International Tribunal on Africa. Mabasa’s letter mentions that Kofi Annan
will preside a "World Conference Against Racism" in Durban, South
Africa on Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 2001, and that the preparatory text for this World
Conference explains: "The globalization process underway is a powerful and
dynamic force that will promote development and full prosperity, which is our
aim but which process we will have to control." Mabasa continues: "As
for us, we can establish the link between 'racism, xenophobia and associated
intolerance’' and the generalized deregulation at the heart of the
globalization process launched by the IMF, World Bank and the European Union." On this
basis, Mabasa reports that a Conference will be held in
South Africa on August 29 under the aegis of the Permanent Committee of the
International Tribunal on Africa, which will designate a delegation demanding to
be received by Kofi Annan. In addition, this conference will demand the freedom
of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
o From Bangladesh: Tafazzul Hussain, president of the
National Workers Federation of Bangladesh who attended the OWC, sent us a joint
statement issued by Indian and Bangladeshi trade unionists opposing the mounting
clashes and saber-rattling between their two countries. The joint statement
calls for a common struggle for peace and against the plans of deregulation/privatization that are implemented in both
countries; war being one
means to turn the attention of workers away from the immediate problems they
face day to day.
o From the United States: U.S. members of the OWC
Continuations Committee sent out an Open Letter to working people the world over
to inform them of the statement issued in February by the Executive Council of
the AFL-CIO in opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Their letter
states, in part:
"Last February 14, the AFL-CIO's national executive
council adopted a statement in opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA), a 'free trade'’ agreement that would extend the devastation of NAFTA
throughout the entire Western Hemisphere by the year 2005, if not sooner.
"We
think it is important for labor officials, union activists, and supporters of
labor rights the world over to have a copy of this text, which we believe can
serve as a lever to organize opposition to these 'free trade' pacts not only in
the Americas but on an international scale.
"The AFL-CIO national
executive council calls 'for a rejection of the current FTAA and for a new
direction in the negotiations -- away from the failed NAFTA model of corporate
privilege and toward a new hemispheric model that prioritizes equitable,
democratic, and sustainable development'."
The AFL-CIO statement
denounces NAFTA in sharp terms:
"[B]y all indications, the FTAA is
being modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- a model that, in our
view, has utterly failed to deliver the promised benefits to
ordinary citizens in any of the three North American countries. NAFTA's main
outcome has been to strengthen the clout and bargaining power of multinational
corporations, to limit the scope of governments to regulate in the public
interest, and to force workers into more direct competition with each other --
reinforcing the downward pressure on their living standards, while assuring them
fewer rights and protections."
On this basis, the OWC Continuations
Committee members called on workers in the United States, Mexico, and Canada to
support both the Berlin Conference and the Trinational Conference Against
Deregulation, Privatization and "Free Trade" — which will be held in
Mexico City on May 26-27, 2001.
o From Germany: Having been contacted by
OWC Continuations Committee member Daniel Gluckstein, as per the mandate of the
September 22nd committee meeting, Oskar Lafontaine, former SPD Minister of
Finance of Germany, sent a letter to inform the organizers of the Berlin
Conference that he supports the aims of the conference. The letter from
Lafontaine states:
"Dear Mr. Gluckstein:
"Oskar
Lafontaine thanks you for your letter. In all the interviews that he grants, as
well as in all his writings and his televised speeches, he is advocating what
you advocate in your conference appeal. He wishes you full success with your
efforts and sends his warmest greetings."
Also reported from Germany: The first National Conference Against Deregulation took place in
February 2001. Conference delegates decided to carry out a series of national
initiatives against the first attempts to privatize the pension plans, and
against the attempts to privatize public education and health services -- all of
which are being demanding by the European Union. These privatization attempts
are contrary to the German Constitution, which guarantee public services. A
meeting in Halle [former East Germany] issued a declaration calling for
"the social unity of Germany." The text has been signed by leaders of
the unions at all levels, as well as by officials and members of the SPD and
members of parliament. The declaration will be published in the next bulletin of
the German Preparatory Committee.
o From Mexico: Humberto Brizuela, who
was a delegate to the OWC in San Francisco, reports that trade union officials
and activists across Mexico are organizing the Trinational Conference Against
Deregulation, "Free Trade" and Privatization -- which will take place
in Mexico City on May 26-27, 2001. This conference is being organized widely --
particularly among unionists in the energy sector, who have mobilized time and
again against the proposals to privatize the national oil and electrical
utilities industries.
o From Baldemar Velasquez in the U.S. (OWC
Continuations Committee member and president of FLOC/AFL-CIO, who was unable to
participate in the May 10th meeting): Brother Velasquez's letter calls on
supporters of labor rights across the United States and internationally to
support a National Mobilization around Juneteenth, the celebration of
Emancipation Day in the South. FLOC and Black Workers for Justice are calling
for a day of freedom, with a massive rally at the State Capitol building in
Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday, June 16th. They are calling for workers'
rights to organize unions (Boycott Mt. Olive Pickles! Support the right of
public employees to organize!), an end to racial profiling and police misconduct, amnesty for undocumented
workers, a living wage for all workers, and
reparations for African Americans and Mexican Braceros.
Velasquez's
letter also calls on supporters of labor and immigrant rights in the United
States and beyond to build support for a proposed "Bill of Rights for
Immigrant and Migrant Communities." [See attached text of this Bill of
Rights in Part 3 of this OWC Report.]
o From Julio Turra in Brazil (delegate to the OWC in San Francisco and member of the Executive Council of the
CUT trade union federation): Brother Turra reports on the discussion that took
place at the Convention of the ORIT [the Western Hemisphere branch of the ICFTU], which was held April 23-26, 2001, in Washington, D.C. Turra
writes:
"One
of the main discussions involved the attitude that the trade union movement of
the hemisphere should adopt in relation to the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Some delegations presented the idea according to which it is useless and
hopeless to fight FTAA; no matter what we do, they said, the FTAA will prevail.
Other delegations -- particularly the AFL-CIO of the United States, the CLC of
Canada, the CUT of Brazil and the CGT of Argentina -- presented a different
point of view. Their view was expressed in a draft resolution where one can read
the following (text translated from the Portuguese):
"'Our
experience with the free trade agreements, on an international and regional
level, is that the positive consequences that were promised never became a
reality. On the contrary, the result was to increase the purchasing power of the
multinational corporations, to limit the capacity of the governments to regulate
in favor of the public interest, to destroy the environment, and to reduce the
standard of living, the rights and the social protections of the workers. In
particular, the clauses regarding the liberalization of investments have led to
undermine the sovereignty of our nations and have resulted in a vast increase in
unemployment. To continue in this direction, the current negotiations of the
FTAA could only conclude in an agreement undermining the rights of the workers,
the environmental protections and democracy, thereby increasing inequalities
throughout the hemisphere and limiting the capacity of the states to regulate
their social policies. We oppose vigorously the continuation of the FTAA
negotiations'."
Brother Turra explains that, on the basis of this
draft resolution, a proposal was made to the ORIT convention to organize an
International Day of Struggle Against the Current Model of FTAA and calling for
popular referenda across the continent to continue to build opposition to FTAA.
Turra continues,
"The draft resolution was not adopted at the ORIT
Convention. Its adoption has been referred to the next Executive Committee
meeting of the ORIT next June, which henceforth will be presided by Linda
Chavez-Thompson of the AFL-CIO in the United States. I have sought to relay this
information to you post-haste because the debate that took place at the ORIT
convention raises many of the questions that were taken up at the Open World
Conference and which are central questions confronting working people and their
unions on all continents and in all countries: Must we renounce the independence
of the trade unions, in the name of globalization and regional treaties -- or
must we not stand strong in defense of trade union independence, which goes hand
in hand with the defense of workers' interests, with the national frameworks
within which workers’ rights were won, and with the very sovereignty of our
nations in the face of the onslaught by Global Capitalism? Isn't this, in fact,
what true internationalism is all about?"
o From Switzerland: A
letter of invitation was sent to a conference that will be held in Geneva on
June 17 in defense of the independence of the trade union organizations and in
defense of the ILO Conventions. This conference will be held, as it has been
annually, at the same time as the Annual Assembly of the ILO. [See attached text
of Appeal in forthcoming OWC posting; translation is in process.]
o From
the Working Women's Commission of the International Liaison Committee: A
communiqué was sent to the organizers of the Berlin Conference with a full
report on the efforts under way to build the International Women’s Conference
of February 21, 2000 — on the eve of the International Conference Against
Deregulation in Berlin. [See attached of Communiqué in Part 3 of this OWC
Report.]
5. Tasks and Perspectives
All the reports that
were submitted to the May 10th joint meeting of the OWC Continuations Committee
and the Germany Preparatory Committee demonstrate that in the current
international situation -- which continues to be extremely difficult for working
people -- points of support can be found everywhere to organize the fightback on
a national and international level against the policies of deregulation/privatization, which threaten with destruction not only the rights
of the workers and their conditions of existence, but also the independence of
their organizations and democracy itself.
The information we received
about the Convention of the ORIT, in this sense, has an international dimension.
The problems posed to workers in the Western Hemisphere in relation to the FTAA
are the same problems, under different forms, posed to European workers in
relation to the European Union. This is true for all continents and all
countries.
We, gathered at the May 10th meeting, believe that more than
ever it is necessary to ensure the success of the Berlin Conference Against
Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All. A successful Berlin Conference will
be a boost to all workers and activists worldwide who have taken up the fight
against the brutal onslaught of Global Capitalism. It will strengthen their
resolve and at the same time provide the organizational means to deepen the
fightback.
We call upon workers in every country to designate their
representatives to the Berlin Conference as soon as possible and to raise the
money that will be needed to ensure the success of this ambitious undertaking.
We
call on working people in every country to participate in the initiatives and
campaigns aimed at preparing the Berlin Conference. Specifically, we urge
support for the Special Session of the International Tribunal Against Child
Labor in France on May 19, the Trinational Conference in Mexico City, the
Tribunal Against those Responsible for the oil platform catastrophe in Brazil,
the Independent Trade Union Conference in Geneva, the Open Letter to Kofi Annan
and the August 29th Conference in South Africa, the June 23 Trade Union
Conference Against the FTAA in Brazil, and the International Women's Conference,
among others.
6. Mandates to OWC Continuations Committee and German Preparatory Committee members
o
Patrick Hebert and Klaus Schüller are mandated to write an Open Letter to
European Trade Unionists that will report on the decision of the AFL-CIO to
oppose the FTAA, as well as on the recent discussions of the ORIT-ICFTU Congress
held recently in Washington, D.C. This letter is important insofar as the issues
touched upon in this discussion are germane to all the central questions
confronting working people, and trade unionists in particular, across Europe.
o
The German and French unionists will pay special attention to building the
Berlin Conference throughout Eastern Europe.
o A mass rally to build the
Berlin Conference will be held in October in Paris, France. Nancy Wohlforth is
mandated to represent the OWC Continuations Committee at the Paris rally. Walter
Johnson noted that she will also be representing the San Francisco Labor Council
in this work. Special meetings will be organized at this time to build support
for the International Women's Conference of February 21, 2002.
o Nancy
Wohlforth and Mya Shone are assigned to build wide support for the International
Women's Conference in the United States.
o Nancy Wohlforth and Carla
Boulboullé of the German Preparatory Committee are assigned to write a letter
to the German government to insist that visas are granted to women from the
poorer countries who wish to participate in the International Women's Conference. They will also send the letters of invitation to this conference to
help the delegates obtain visas.
o Walter Johnson, Eddie Rosario, and
Daniel Gluckstein are assigned to answer the proposal made by a coalition of
Hong Kong organizations, including the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions,
to meet with the organizers of the Berlin Conference.
o Patrick Hebert is
assigned to represent the OWC Continuations Committee at the June meeting of
unionists in defense of the ILO Conventions in Geneva.
o Gotthard Krupp
and Klaus Schüller are assigned to meet with the Swiss Socialist Party of
Geneva to study the possibilities of common actions against the deregulation
measures.
o Baldemar Velasquez is assigned to send greetings to the
Special Session of the International Tribunal on Child Labor, held in Paris,
France on May 19.
o Alan Benjamin is assigned to contact the oil workers
union in the United States (PACE) to request that greetings be sent to the
Tribunal judging those responsible for the catastrophe of the P-36 oil platform
in Brazil.
o Daniel Gluckstein is assigned to represent the OWC
Continuations Committee at the upcoming meetings of African trade unionists in
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and South Africa.
o Eddie Rosario and Alan
Benjamin are assigned to represent the OWC Continuations Committee at the
Trinational Conference in Mexico City on May 26-27.
o The German
Preparatory Committee will send out a letter to all unionists and activists
building the Berlin Conference to urge them to fill out the questionnaires on
the conditions of deregulation/privatization in their countries and the response
of the trade unions. These reports will be assembled in a White Paper for all
conference participants. Alan Benjamin, Daniel Gluckstein, and Gotthard Krupp
are assigned to ensure the translation of the White Paper and all Conference
Preparation Bulletins in the main conference languages.
---
(Participants
in the May 10th Meeting were the following: From the Germany Preparatory
Committee: Gotthard Krupp and Klaus Schüller. From the OWC Continuations
Committee: Jack Henning, Walter Johnson, Daniel Gluckstein, Patrick Hebert,
Nancy Wohlforth, Ed Rosario, Mya Shone and Alan Benjamin. Excused absent for
reasons of work: Baldemar Velasquez and Frank Martin Del Campo.)
(continued report back on May 10
Joint Meeting of OWC Continuations Committee and German Preparatory Committee of
February 2002 Berlin Conference)
ATTACHMENTS IN THIS POSTING:
No. 1) Bill of Rights for Immigrant and Migrant Communities (submitted by
FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez)
No. 2) Communiqué of the Working Women's Commission of the International
Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC)
No. 3) Statement Adopted at Social Democratic Activists' Meeting, Stockholm,
February 24th 2001
******************
No. 1) Bill of Rights for Immigrant and Migrant Communities
(submitted by FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez)
Because immigrants and migrants from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin
America and the Pacific Islands have played a major role in building this
country, along with people from Africa who were kidnapped and brought here as
slaves and the indigenous peoples of the Americas;
Because U.S. immigration policy makes it easy for employers to exploit immigrant
workers, separates families, makes women vulnerable to sexual abuse, limits
access to employment for all and access to education for young people, and
excludes immigrant voices from the decisions that affect their lives;
Because immigrants are particularly vulnerable to discrimination based on race,
ethnicity, national origin, gender and sexuality;
Because all citizens of all countries have rights and deserve to be treated like
human beings, not criminals;
Therefore, we declare this Bill of Rights for Immigrant and Migrant Communities,
which includes:
- The right to participate in the public life of the communities we live in
through a comprehensive and continuing legalization program that includes the
right to permanent residence;
- The right to reunify divided families, through an expansion of the family visa
program, streamlining of the application process, and elimination of the INS
backlog;
- The right to work free from exploitation and unsafe working conditions,
including an end to contract labor, employer sanctions and workplace enforcement
programs; and the right to form unions that will work to improve wages and
working conditions;
- The right to educational opportunities, including access to higher education,
for our youth, who are the future of our communities;
- The right to equal access to the government benefits we all support with our
taxes, including driver's licenses;
- The right to due process in legal proceedings and fair political asylum and
deportation processes;
- The right to safe, humane and demilitarized borders.
********************
No. 2) Communiqué of the Working Women's Commission of the International
Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC)
* Report on March 8th, 2001 : International Day of Mobilisation
* Status Reports on Preparation of the February 21, 2002, International Women's
Conference For Restoring ILO Convention 103 and For the Defence of Working
Women's Rights
The "International Women's Conference for Restoring ILO Convention 103,
for the Defence of Working Women's Rights" will take place on February 21,
2002, on the eve of the International Conference Against Deregulation in Berlin.
Women, trade unionists, and activists worldwide have issued a letter of
invitation to this conference. Among them are members of the German Preparatory
Committee of the Conference; Nancy Wohlforth, member of the Continuations
Committee of the San Francisco Open World Conference; and members of the Working
Women's Commission of the ILC.
They proposed to make March 8th, 2001, a day of international mobilisation
preparing the international women's conference.
For all those who are working to build this international conference, we publish
here excerpts from the letters we received regarding the first delegations being
prepared and accounts of the actions on March 8th.
+++++
Germany:
" We will all meet in Berlin "
"The modification of ILO convention 103 protecting working women's rights
is a social setback we cannot accept. In my country, Schröder's government
supported this modification. To justify this stance, he explained that in German
law there is no ban on laying off pregnant women. But this government, just as
the conservative government before it, did nothing to integrate this ban on
pregnant women's layoffs into the German laws as stipulated by ILO Convention
103. We fight for obtaining this. Resolutions to that end were adopted by the
national convention of the OTV trade union (public services) and other trade
union leaderships.
Trade union women activists organised meetings to publicise broadly the
invitation for the international conference of working women. We prepare this
way the big gathering of 2002 in Berlin. We will have the occasion to exchange
experiences and decide upon common initiatives against the destructive policies
of deregulation and in defence of women's rights"
-- Carla Boulboulé, member of the German preparatory committee of the Berlin
conference
+++++
Spain:
" Repeal the reform of the Labour Code"
Fighting for women's rights means fighting for equal rights for all. Bosses and
governments talk about equality between men and women as a pretext to destroy
working men's and women's gains. Equality in the framework of deregulation means
distributing poverty and competition between men and women.
We made of March 8 a day of struggle against the reform of our Labour Code. We
in Spain are ready to answer the call of the dozens of German trade unionists
for an international conference in Berlin in February 2002, by sending a
delegation which will transmit our inquiry on the situation of women. To that
end we have set up a commission of women for the defence of the right to work,
maternity rights, against deregulation.
The government wants to impose a "part-time contract" that would allow
bosses to give you a job without precise work hours, and a total flexibility of
the work day. The government repeatedly explained that this contract concerned
women first of all. This means the proposed law will deprive women of the rights
that collective bargaining conventions give all workers. It will submit women to
the whim and mercy of the bosses.
On March 8 we called upon the trade union leaders: "We working women don't
accept this reform of the labour code." All these reforms lead to a growing
discrimination against women at work: casual jobs, part-time jobs, lower wages
Š We working women won't accept this! No worker can accept this. We call upon
the leaders of the CCOO and UGT: " Comrades, you cannot accept this law!
Call upon all workers, upon all working women first of all, to organise a
general strike!"
+++++
Bangladesh:
" Our fight for women's trade union rights has an international
scope"
Several women's organisations, one of them linked to the Bangladesh Workers
National Federation, organised a rally in Dacca on March 12th (as March 8th was
in a holiday period).
Women's situation in Bangladesh is terrible. Nearly two million women are
working in the textile industry sector and are treated as slaves. They have no
trade union rights: Those who try to set up a trade union are immediately laid
off. They work up to sixteen hours a day, with no overtime hours paid.
Thousands of women beside are exploited in the worst conditions in foreign firms, especially Korean
ones, in the Special Economic Zones. In the name of deregulation, unlimited night work for women has become the
rule, in spite of laws. Sexual harassment by management is commonplace. ...
Moreover, women in Bangladesh are the victims of discrimination through a whole
series of nationwide laws.
Our fight for the repeal of these laws, for the defence of trade union rights,
is not a national struggle; it is part of the international struggle of working
women and the world labour movement.
-- Nargish Aktherbanu, Women's Commission of the Bangladesh Workers National
Federation
+++++
Pakistan:
The Working Women Organisation (WWO), linked to the All Pakistan Trade
Unions Federation (APTUF), organised on February 12th, 2001, a gathering to
celebrate the International Women's Day.
February 12th has been National Women's Day in Pakistan since 1983. Every year
on February 12th, demonstrations and meetings against discriminatory laws are
organised. The Working Women Organisation held a meeting which regrouped over
2000 women, children and workers in the town of Siaklet on February 12th, 2001.
Rubina Jamil, president of the WWO, presided the meeting. Gulzar Chaudry,
General secretary of the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, brought the
support of his federation to the struggle for equal rights for all.
Rubina Jamil underlined the increase in the daily violence against women in the
country. 80% of women don't benefit from the protections included in labour laws. Many are employed on short-term contracts or casual jobs under control of
sub-contracting agencies. These women work over twelve hours a day, and most of
the time they receive wages under the minimum wage (35 US dollars a month).
More generally, health, education and employment conditions are deteriorating
throughout the country.
Privatisation measures have led to the multiplication of redundancies,
especially in the public sector. Men and women must fight together against the
policies implemented by the government under orders of the international
financial institutions.
The assembly voted a series of demands, including:
* abrogation of all discrimination laws against women ;
* minimum wage of 115 dollars for all ;
* Stop privatisation ! Stop lay offs !
* Defence of ILO convention 103.
The WWO considers that the national demonstration of February 12 is a step
forward toward the preparation of the international day of March 8th. A national
preparation committee for the Berlin conference was set up, Rubina Jamil will
participate in the International Women's Conference.
+++++
Brazil:
" We ask to be received
by the federal government "
Sao Paulo - Brazil's federal government, "for lack of time," did not
answer our demand for a meeting on March 8th sent by the Brazilian delegates to
the Geneva international conference of June 2000 "in defence of ILO
conventions."
The Brazilian government has ratified ILO Convention 103. But it intends to
reduce the 17 weeks maternity leave existing in Brazil, by modifying Article 7
of the Constitution guaranteeing workers rights - among them maternity rights.
The government proposes that henceforth negotiations of our rights should take
place between each firm and its workers, thereby doing away with the rights
defined by the Constitution. We don't accept this!
Tens of thousands of signatures were gathered throughout the country "in
defence of ILO convention 103 and the law on maternity rights". March 8 was
a day of mobilisation around that issue.
(Excerpts from O Trabalho newspaper)
+++++
Ecuador:
" 150 women gathered "
We held actions in Quito, organised by the International Working Women's
Commission in Ecuador, in coordination with the Political Co-ordination of Women. The actions included a debate and a forum involving representatives of
trade unions and popular associations.
Our criteria: Women must organise to have the necessary strength to progress.
Ecuador ratified ILO conventions in 1962, and transcribed these rights into
Ecuador's Labour Code.
For the implementation of the ILO Convention 103, we have published a booklet
recalling the rights the rights defined by the Ecuadoran Labour code, and
explaining why there was an international campaign on ILO Convention 103, on the
basis of the Geneva decision "never to renounce."
We were 150 gathered in a rally on March 8: teachers, employees of the social
security system, of the health sector, of local public services. In the
conditions we live in our country, this was an important event.
-- Yolanda Anazco H, Member of the International working women's commission
+++++
France:
«Maternity leave in danger»
Meetings called by the Workers Party took place in Paris and through French
cities on March 8, to celebrate International Women's Day. A central focus of
these events was the preparation of the International conference against
deregulation in Berlin and the International women's conference, which will
precede it.
Physicians, pediatricians, gynaecologists, health care workers, but also youth
and labour activists denounced the attacks of the government against the rights
won in France over the last century.
These meetings had been prepared by the ILC, the Workers Party, and thousands of
women, men, physicians, trade unionists and political leaders of all opinions to
defend ILO convention 103.
For several months, delegations were organised to the MPs and governments to
tell them: "Do not vote for the restoration of night work for women in
industry, do not vote the law authorising the government to impose by decree 50
European directives, and among them directive 92-85 on pregnant women and
directive 94-33 allowing child labour at 13!"
After the vote of this law on December 2000, 150 women, physicians, celebrities,
trade unionists, political leaders of all opinions, launched an appeal
"Maternity rights are threatened, let us defend them ! "
This appeal followed a contribution sent by Professor Papiernik, a well-known
specialist in that field, "concerning the importance of maternity leave to
prevent premature births". This contribution showed how important were
maternity rights, as a product of the fight of the labour movement linked with
that of the physicians. As he said, this system founded upon solidarity allowed
French working women to deliver babies "in as good a shape at birth as
those of the bourgeois women", and as a consequence the premature birth
rate in France was one of the lowest in the world.
The Plural Left government jeopardises this protection of pregnant women because
it submits itself to the Maastricht European Treaty. It dared to modify our
Labour code by doing away with compulsory school until 16 and authorising child
labour at 13.
The participants in the meeting decided to call upon Mr. Chirac, President of
the Republic, and Mr. Jospin, Prime Minister, to ask them to receive a
delegation. They demanded: Repeal the decree adapting in France the European
directives! Repeal the decree authorising child labour! Repeal the draft law
authorising night work for women in industry.
A proposal was made in the Paris rally to hold a special session of the
International Tribunal against Child labour in France, to denounce the
legalisation of child labour and impose respect of compulsory school age.
An appeal to that end has been signed by trade unionists, teachers, physicians,
political leaders, and a first session of this tribunal will be held on May 19th
in Paris. The verdict will be transmitted to the international Berlin Conference.
Following these March 8 rallies, the first delegates to the Berlin conference
and International women's conference were elected.
+++++
Palestine greetings to the Paris rally of March 8th organised by the
Workers Party
"Dear friends, thanks for your care and solidarity. We send you the
declaration of our organisation, the Palestinian Working Women Society (FWWS),
on the occasion of March 8th. Please receive our support for your struggle for
justice and peace and for the well-being of women and children, especially that
of working women. We will keep you informed of our action among working women.
We send to all our love and roses from Palestine."
-- Palestinian Working Women Society
+++++
United States:
(The invitation to the international women conference is being circulated
widely. Ed Rosario, member of the Continuations Committee of the San Francisco
Open World Conference, sent us a contribution titled " For the defence of
women's rights.")
The austerity being imposed around the world upon women has been devastating. Women are the fastest growing segment among the ranks of the
impoverished. Women who are at the head of a single-family are almost always
among the poorest families. Women still make little more than half the money men
make for the same work.
And in the United States, women still do not have the Equal Rights Amendment to
protect and guarantee their rights. The rights of women to control their own
bodies are under constant attack by right-wing reactionaries, who are empowered
by the bosses and by governments of all political stripes.
And the assault on working women is only going to get worse. On the chopping
block is the whole system of Conventions of the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), which have codified workers' rights toe world over. The
employers and governments in their service want to empty these Conventions of
all content, in the name of the ideology of "globalisation" which
considers that markets must be free from all regulations. Employers wan these
ILO Conventions to be more supple, not compulsory; in fact, they want to reform
the ILO itself and make it a subsidiary of the WTO.
Just look at what happened to ILO Convention 138, which calls for the abolition
of child labour. It was replaced with a new so-called Convention that simply
calls for an end to the "worst forms of child labour". In keeping with
this "revision", governments around the world (such as the French
government) are modifying their own legislation to permit child labour as of the
age of 13.
And then last year, ILO Convention 103, which protects women's maternity rights,
was overturned. Employers everywhere praised the decision. Now they can push for
revisions in national laws that would enable them to fire pregnant women workers
at whim.
The U.S. "model"
The mainstream media always present the United States as the model which other
nations around the globe should follow. But what king of model is this ? Is it a
model for labour rights ? Hardly . The United States is one of the greatest
violators of labour rights anywhere in the world. It has one of the worst
records for ratifying ILO Conventions, according to the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
The only example offered by the United states today is what has been called
"the race to the bottom" where employers, in their speculative and
cost-cutting frenzy, are hell-bent o removing all "barriers" to their
drive for ever-greater profits.
We in the United State must elevate our benchmark to the standards that exist in
countries that have implemented the conditions of the original ILO Convention
103. Just as stipulated in ILO Convention 103, we, too, must have :
* A minimum maternity leave of 12 weeks, of which 6 are mandatory postnatal
leave, for all categories of women employees;
* Absolute prohibition against layoffs during maternity leave;
* At least 2/3 woman's previous wage, to be remunerated by social insurance or
public welfare, during a woman's maternity leave:
* Medical care and services, to be provided by skilled personal.
It is not enough for working families to have the unpaid maternity leave that
President Clinton had proposed. This is the bottom-of-the-barrel
"standard" to which the revised version of ILO convention 103 will
steer all nations.
We must fight for the preservation of the original version of ILO Convention
103, and we must ensure that the rights contained therein are signed into law in
every nation. For what is at stake are the lives of millions of women the world
over.
Defend and Expand Past Gains
Why have the Conventions codifying the international protections for women and
children been selected first for revision? It is because the employers and
governments view women and children as expendable; they are considered the weak
link.
The employers and governments have made it clear that they do not want to see
the gains made by workers' organisations take permanent root in a capitalist
society
At best, these gains were to be temporary arrangements until the time was ripe
to overturn them. A clear exam-ple of this today in a slightly different arena
is the experience in the United States with the gains of the Civil rights Act of
1964, which are being trampled upon - as was demonstrated clearly in the
November 2000 elections.
Our gains as a working class must be defended and fully implemented. We must
mobilise to expand our gains - not renounce or compromise our
collective-bargaining rights, our civil and human rights, just because employers
and governments deem them "outdated and rigid."
If we fail to defend our past gains, however limited they may be in some causes,
the ruling class will continue to push us back to the times of barbarism.
Organising this fight back is the goal of the International Women's Conference,
to be held in Berlin, Germany, in February 2002. This gathering aims to build a
movement world-wide to restore ILO Convention 103, to ban all forms of sweatshop
labour that over-exploits women in "free trade zones" on all
continents, to protect women's rights to choose - and the list goes on.
It is for all these reasons that all of us, men and women, must stand shoulder
to shoulder and work together to ensure both the success of the international
Women's Conference of February 2002 and that of all the campaigns that will flow
from its deliberations.
(Ed Rosario is a member of the Continuations Committee of the Open World
Conference in Defence of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights).
+++++
Letter of invitation to the International Women's Conference in Berlin
(Excerpts)
We, the undersigned, are women activists and trade unionists. We are sending
this letter to working women, trade unionists and women's organizations the
world over to invite you to participate to an International Women's Conference
one day prior to the International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor
Rights For All, which will take place in Berlin, Germany, in February 2002.
In February 2000, an Open World Conference (OWC) in Defense of Trade Union
Independence and Democratic Rights took place in San Francisco. It was called by
the San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), the Continuations of the Western
Hemisphere Workers' Conference Against NAFTA and Privatizations (WHC), and the
International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International (ILC). It brought
together 560 delegates coming from 60 countries. Among its many decisions, the
Open World Conference decided to organize an international campaign for the
defense of ILO Convention 103, which protects working women's rights.
An International Conference in Defense of ILO Convention 103 (on maternity
rights) and All ILO Conventions was held in June 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The delegates to this conference proposed to convene an International Women's
Conference for the reinstatement of ILO Convention 103 and in defense of the
rights of all working women.
At its meeting on September 22, 2000, the OWC Continuations Committee agreed to
respond positively to the invitation issued by the trade unionists and activists
gathered in Geneva to co-sponsor an International Conference Against
Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All. It also agreed to support and build
the International Women's Conference, slated to take place immediately prior to
the International Conference Against Deregulation.
On November 27, trade unionists from Germany adopted an invitation letter
proposing to hold this conference in Berlin in February 2002 and to act as its
Preparatory Committee. ...
We, the undersigned, are women, activists, rank-and-file trade unionists and
trade union leaders. We participated in the international campaign in over 60
countries for the defense of ILO Convention 103 protecting maternity rights.
Therefore we say "yes" to this proposal to convene an International
Women's Conference and hereby agree to build the conference in all of our
countries to ensure that it is truly an international event.
The Employers Group of the International Labor Organization (ILO) has declared
that the revision of ILO Convention 103 was, in their eyes, a touchstone to
prepare the revision of all ILO conventions, and this is true indeed. The
modification of ILO conventions concerning social security systems is on the
agenda of the next session of the ILO. And we know that the revision of these
conventions will be a threat, first of all against working women.
First endorsers of the Letter of invitation:
Algeria: HANOUNE Louisa, MP, Workers Party - Bangladesh: AKHTAR Nargish -
SHAMIMARA (Miss). - Brazil: BOITO Misa, member of the PT national leadership -
CAMARGO Luciane, leader of the teacher trade union, Sao Paulo suburbs - DE
ALMEIDA Hélicia, deputy-president of the CUT of Brasilia - PARDI Bia, member of
the PT Executive Commission, Sao Paulo - Ecuador: ANAZCO HIDALGO Yolanda,
International commission for the defence of ILO convention 103 - GOMEZ Cecilia,
Permanent committee for the defence of women's rights - France: BRUNET
Marie-Edmonde, teacher trade unionist - DELÉPINE Nicole, paediatrician
canceroligist - JEANMAIRE Gisèle, gynaecologist , - SCHIDLOWER Marie-Claude, PT
- SIMMONIN Michèle, trade unionist, member of the delegation to the San
Francisco conference - STAGLIANO Marie, in charge of the Working Women
Commission of the Workers Party (PT) - Gabon: CHATARD Solange Annie - NDOMBI
MAYOUNGON Ursule - Germany: BETTINA SPD, GEW teacher trade union; Gabi y, SPD,
OTV. - BÖHM Heike, OTV trade union - BOULBOULLÉ Carla, former MP,
North-Rhine-Westphalia - HAUPTMANN Tina, SPD, former MP, Kreistag, HBV
trade-union - HOFFMANN Karin, SPD, OTV - MATZKE Cornelia, former MP, Saxe -
MENZEL-HUNKEL Maxi, SPD local leader and deputy secretary of the workers
commission, member of the women commission of the OTV-DGB trade union - SCHEMER
Gerlinde, SPD former MP, Berlin - STEINEBACH Inge, SPD local leader and deputy
secretary of the workers commission, HBV trade union - Great Britain: ARCHER
Winnifred, Dr Alyson Pollock, physician - CREIGHAM Kevin, President of the AFA
United Airlines (ground employees) - MAC NALY Doreen, Liverpool Women of the
Waterfront (dockers' wives) - NIGHT Vicky, Women commission leader, Great
Britain Firemen Trade Union - OSAMOR Martha, TUC (TUC Race Relations Committee)
- PETERS Helen, university professor, trade unionist (NATPHE) - Greece: ASTERIOU
Hélène - Korea: KIM Johee, in charge of international affairs for the Korean
Federation of Steelworkers - Pakistan: JAMIL Rubina, secretary of the All
Pakistan Trade Unions Federation (APTUF) and leader of the Working Women
Organisation (WWO) - Portugal: PEREIRA Carmelinda, teacher - Philippines: KMU -
Républic of Mauritius : DE RUISSEAU Marjorie, Women commission leader,
Federation of Progressive Union - Spain: ALONSO Carmen, UGT trade unionist,
Justice ministry, Extramadur - CERDÁ Isabel, UGT trade unionist, Post office,
Madrid - MARTÍNEZ Francisca, CCOO trade unionist, building industry, Valencia -
MARTÍNEZ Yolanda, CCOO trade unionist, Public sector, Madrid - Togo: KODJ
Adjova Rosaline, trade unionist, teacher - USA : WOHLFORTH Nancy, trade unionist
, continuation committee of the San Francisco conference.
********************
No. 3) Statement adopted at Social Democratic
activists' meeting, Stockholm,
February 24th 2001
[Note: Below is the statement adopted at the Social-Democratic
actvists' meeting of February 24 in Stockholm. The meeting brought together
deputies, city councillors, trade union leaders, leaders of the youth
organisation, among others. In a slightly modified form, this statement has been
published in the weekly of the LO trade union confederation, signed by 16
Social-Democratic deputies, among others. (You can find the names and titles (in
Swedish), as well as a picture of the LO-article, at:
http://members01.chello.se/obs/lodebapr.html)]
STOP PRIVATIZATION!
Social democrats from the whole country, at all levels in the party, have
met today to gather strength behind our demands for stopping privatization and
profit interests within collectively financed sectors such as those of education, social
services, and public transportation.
We have today heard many examples of how privatization policies are dissolving
public sector programs. Within old age care, scandals have followed on the heels
of contracting out to private entrepeneurs. Within public transportation, the
same policies have led to cancelled train departures, undermined job safety,
personnel flight, and deteriorating work environments. Already today, an
increasing share of access to medical services is becoming dependent on whether
patients can afford to pay. In Stockholm, municipal hospitals will soon be
involved in the biggest bidding wave ever seen in the world, in accordance with
decisions made by the right-wing-dominated city council.
Privatization policies will lead to increasing segregation and class
inequalities. When private schools are favoritized, at the same time as the
resources available to public schools are increasingly depleted, children will
be treated differently according to their background already in their first
years at primary school. In many private schools, students are organized into
groups by study results obtained, in so-called "fast track" and
"slow track" classes. For the good of all children, a unified school
system is necessary.
Privatization and competitive bidding are also effective instruments for setting
working conditions and social benefits under systematic downward pressure.
Pensions, vacation days, working hours, types of employment contracts offered,
freedom of expression and speech on the job, personnel density, and many aspects
of the work environment are all potentially affected for the worse. Permanent
employment contracts are but a memory for many, and "contractual
dumping" practices explain a considerable part of the personnel flight and
repeated organizational crises which continually afflict the educational sector,
social care services, and public transportation.
We are social democrats who have committed ourselves to political activism
within the labor movement to further moves towards greater social justice,
equality, and developed democracy. We are fighting for the chance to make
collective social services work. In order to actualize the potential of workers
in these jobs, it is necessary to bring the recurring threats of cutbacks,
collective dismissals and worsening work conditions to a standstill. In order
for genuine freedoms to be available to all, public management of social
services must be maintained, developed and strengthened. Private profit
interests must be excluded from publicly financed services. Marketizations and
selling off of public services must cease, and re-democratization take place at
the expense of international capital interests.
We can conclude that we are not alone-the same problems exist in all of Europe.
International regulations and economic policy coordination within the European
Union have not strengthened the hand of the public sector against the market.
Further, the resistance to these trends is not limited to Sweden. Many social
democrats over all of Europe are today fighting in order to bring back on to the
policy agenda a genuinely social democratic politics, a strong public sector
with sufficient resources, and protective work regulations for all.
We demand a stop to continued competitive bidding on public services, to
privatization, and to deregulation.
We are of the opinion that there are basic problems with the recently presented
new party program draft to be discussed at the next party congress in November
of 2001. In the proposal, the public sector is not mentioned by name a single
time, and the notion of collective responsibility is replaced by phrases like
"a redistribution of life opportunities" and "equality in
diversity". In practice, these phrases open the way for nothing less than
continued privatization and competition. They are, however, useless for those of
us who strive to realize the concrete steps towards greater social justice which
a strong public sector gives possibilities to reach.
In addition, the new draft program runs the risk of critically weakening the
labor movement in its entirety. The very possibility of a democratic and
socialist society is excluded from the very possibility of discussion. The
political goals to put power over economic production and distribution into the
hands of the whole people are replaced by a ostensibly realist policy of
pandering to the market, in a time when resistance to marketization is growing,
in Sweden and throughout the world.
It is therefore necessary that the party congress of 2001 be made into a point
of departure for re-capturing the confidence of all those who expect a politics
of radical egalitarianism from us. Such a truly new politics of justice should
aim to reduce the class inequalities which cut through Sweden of today, by
taking a clear stand against the dissolution of the public sector.
We call upon all social democrats to rally to our cause, and to actively resist
privatization policies at all levels where they are advanced, internationally,
nationally as well as locally. We also declare our support for all party
organizations, labor union organizations, and individual citizens who take
initiatives to stop ongoing privatization.
Contact persons:
Annika Gyllfors, Tvärfackliga (s) tel 073 600 1916 - Eero Carroll, (s) Ängby
tel 37 01 93 -
Karin Gustafsson, chairman SSU-Stockholm tel 070 - 810 52
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