ILC INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 140
A dossier of weekly information published by the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples July 12, 2005 Introduction:
In the preceding issue of the ILC International Newsletter (number
139, July 5, 2005) we published a report concerning the Millennium + 5
Summit of the United Nations (UN). It analyzed the destructive reforms
presented, among others, by Kofi Annan (general secretary of the UN) and
by Juan Somavia (general director of the International Labor Bureau).
We wrote:
"Should the workers' movement integrate itself as a component part
into the structures of 'world governance,' with the NGOs, the World
Bank, the IMF, and the WTO?
"At the World Conference of the ILC, we alerted the world labor
movement to the dangers posed to itself and to political democracy by
'world governance' and by civil society- that is, by a new supranational
totalitarianism. Š
"This debate began at the Madrid World Conference and at the Geneva
Conference. We propose to open the pages of the ILC International
Newsletter to everybody who thinks that, regardless of our differences
in opinion, this debate is crucial and the workers' movement is in need
of open discussion."
In this issue, our comrade Roger Sandri responded to this appeal with a
initial contribution (others will follow.) He writes: "For the
first time since 1945, the agenda calls for the reform of the structures
of the UN toward the implementation of a system of 'world
governance'."
The ILC International Newsletter continues the publication of the
speeches and presentations of the 12th International Conference in
Geneva, June 12, 2005
1. Hacene Djeman (general secretary of the International Confederation
of Arab Trade Unions):
"Let me turn to some more dangerous and serious issues. On the
level of the ILO, some people would like it to be linked to or under the
authority of the WTO. We are completely against this. We will never
accept it. If the ILO Conventions are in the hands of the WTO, then they
will be used for the commercial and economic spheres, and there will be
commercial embargoes and boycotts, especially of Third World products.
We will never accept it. We have always said that the International
Labor Bureau must remain autonomous and independent of the WTO."
2. Patrick Hebert (general secretary of the departmental union of Force
Ouvriere in the Loire-Atlantique, France):
"For better - or for worse, because we're speaking about the
respect of ILO norms and our own norms for functioning - the European
Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) - which is only a confederation and
should thus respect its affiliates and members - came to France in the
form of its general secretary, John Monks, to participate in one of the
'Yes' meetings with certain union organizations that are also affiliated
with the ETUC. But other organizations, in particular the one to which I
belong, did not call for the 'Yes'."
3. François Yao (general secretary of the National Union of Energy
Sector Workers of Ivory Coast):
"In essence, with this war, in the North today the gold mines are
exploited without regulation. There are also countries like Burkina Faso
which today are cocoa exporters, and thus don't produce. You see how
these resources are diverted from the normal path - it is a way of
pillaging the country."
The international campaign against the prison threats toward Serge
Goulart continues. We publish the report from the delegation that was
received at the Brazilian embassy in Paris, France.
Our comrade Hassan Cher Hared, general secretary of the Union of Post
Office Workers of Djibouti, was fired. A communiqué of the ILC makes an
appeal for unionists and activists to send letters of support with the
goal of creating a complete dossier for his defense.
Subscribe or Re-subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter!
********************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
p.1 Introduction
p.2,3 "The reform of the UN," a contribution by Roger Sandri
(Part One)
p. 4 12th Geneva Conference: Speech by Hacene Djeman
p.5 12th Geneva Conference: Speech by Patrick Hebert (FO-Loire
Atlantique, France)
p.6 12th Geneva Conference: Speech by François Yao (Synaseg, Ivory
Coast)
p.7 Brazil: Report of the delegation to the embassy in Paris, France
p.8 Djibouti: Communiqué of support for our comrade Hassan Cher Harad,
who was recently fired
********************
THE REFORM OF THE UN:
A Contribution by Roger Sandri
The second semester of 2005 and the first of 2006 will be marked by
a whole series of movements, assemblies, and congresses destined to mark
complementary steps on the road of the global economy and globalization.
The international working class and the national structures that it has
created throughout its long struggle - such as its organizations - are
directly affected by the globalization process.
It is clearer and clearer that the goal of the world capitalist powers
is to integrate the workers' organizations in order to strangle their
power to protest. This orientation is similar to a new form of
totalitarianism on a world scale.
In this structure, the collective gives way to to the individual. People
melt into a cosmopolitisazation, where class interests - as well as the
natural conflicts that arise from them, which Montesquieu called the
contradiction of interests - must be drowned inside a planetary city of
a world state, a sort of new Leviathan.
Everybody, especially the workers with their organizations that take
charge of securing their class interests, understands that a new
conception of society is in birth. If we don't stand guard, this new
conception will accelerate the barbarism we are witnessing. Isn't
the dramatic rise in profits and wealth, inversely proportional to the
rise in poverty which now affects all the so-called
"industrialized" countries?
It is in the name of economic freedom and an international world
becoming smaller and smaller as a result of real-time transfers of
information, that the political and economic sphere should,
according to some, also adapt to this cybernetics transformation.
In reality, democracy and its future are at the center of this
evolution, interpreted by the ruling class as a factor of social
mutation.
However, democracy - in the full sense of the word - means political
democracy linked to the right to free expression for political parties
so that they can freely represent the citizens and express their
societal interests through plans for society.
The free exercise of democracy is founded upon the recognition of a
society made up of social classes with antagonistic social interests.
The highest expression of this is the existence of workers'
organizations - that is, trade unions - acting to defend the specific
interests of workers as a class, independently and in the framework of
nation-states.
Let's be clear. In light of the (sometime tragic) experiences of the
past, only political democracy - that is, democracy through
representation and delegation - can guarantee this grand notion of
independence.
Globalization and the world economy (the adjective is not neutral) can
no longer accommodate this system of democracy. "Economism,"
like the "globalizing doctrine." tends to be substituted for
"politics", as in the art of governing.
Representative democracy, through mandated delegates, is today being
threatened by the globalizers and the alter-globalizers who, under the
pretext of a universal expression founded upon individuals and their
legal entity, are rejecting the existence of the nation-state as a
geographic political framework. The alternative they put forth is a
cosmopolitan and uniform world state.
In this global system, the recognition of social classes with diverging
social interests is erased. Instead we see a community of interests that
abolishes borders, with the world transformed into a planetary village.
This is the extension of the Christian and Thomist (1) notion that
formed the basis for administration in the Middle Ages, with the
corollary principle of subsidiarity.
***
The ILC Conference, which took place in Madrid from March 18-20,
discussed this situation. The debate was continued at the 12th
International Conference In Defense of the Conventions of the ILO and
Trade Union Independence, which took place on June 12 in Geneva.
All the participants at these events reaffirmed their support for the
founding principles of the workers' movement, in particular the need to
maintain and defend the class independence of the political and union
organizations which represent the interests of the working class.
In a contribution from May 24, 2005, titled "The ILO at the
Crossroads," I brought up the changes that risk upsetting the
historic mission given to the ILO since 1919: the elaboration of the
system of conventions, which would serve as the basis for all the labor
codes. This mission was put into question in 1998 through the form of a
simple formulation and the so-called "Charter of Fundamental
Rights."
The ILO, a specialized institution of the United Nations, is being led
to align itself with world liberalism. This liberalism is founded on
making social legislation (which is considered too constraining) more
flexible. This liberalism is founded on deregulation, which aims to
uproot all the so-called barriers to development and the implementation
of the economic dictates imposed by world capitalism. All this takes
place under the tutelage of American imperialism and the multilateral
system in its service - that is, the institutions of
globalizations which act as the executors of the new world order.
***
I must return to a subject that has already been raised at the Madrid
conference: the discreetly named "Washington consensus." This
charter of capitalism was written in 1990 by the IMF and by then head of
the World Bank, John Wohlfenson, under the criminal administrations of
Ronald Reagan (USA) and Margaret Thatcher (Great Britain). It must be
noted that François Camdessus played, in that era, a very important
role in the IMF as its general director. The set objectives are clear:
- Reduce the deficit in the budget;
- Prioritize reducing government expenses on infrastructure. Prioritize
spending on everything that assures an economic return rather than
public subsidies;
- Reform the tax system. Enlarge the base of contributions and lower the
highest taxes;
- Liberalize the financial markets;
- Raise the exchange rate, support exports;
- Prioritize foreign investment;
- Privatize the state companies;
- Deregulate. Increase competition in the economic sectors;
- Guarantee property rights (and patents) to promote the creation of
goods.
These "structural adjustment" policies are imposed by the IMF
and the World Bank on all countries which ask for financial help from
the big international bankers.
But they are also the policies of all the capitalists, including in
Europe. The treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice, and the European
Constitution were inspired by these policies.
It's possible to see why the developing countries - notably in the
African continent, where AIDS ravages the population and where 300
million men, women and children are in a state of dire poverty - are not
able to escape the yoke imposed by institutions of globalization, with
the help of corrupt political leaders. Both are accomplices in the
humanitarian tragedy.
Proclaimed in 1990, it is not an accident that this charter arose a year
after the fall of the Berlin Wall which ended the world bipolarity and
the Soviet experience. From that point on, world capitalism has had its
hands free to affirm its domination.
***
Nevertheless, faced with these policies and their social consequences, a
reaction from the masses is always a possibility. This is what the
people on top are scared of.
Noting the situation of social misery in which million of human beings
are submerged - particularly the workers, the peasants, the unemployed,
and the slaves of the whole world - Mr. Boutros-Ghali, former secretary
general of the UN, declared in 1995, before the World Summit in
Copenhagen: "If you are not able to find a solution to
unemployment, social disintegration, and generalized poverty in a whole
sector of the world, you risk new revolutions and new extremely serious
imbalances."
This realistic prognosis from the former general secretary of the UN ten
years ago has certainly been confirmed a bit everywhere in the world- be
it in Iraq, Venezuela, Latin America, and in general in the former
popular democracies of Eastern Europe.
Let me make myself clear: The "No" vote of the French and
Dutch people on the question of the Europe and Draft Constitution is an
element of the response predicted by Boutros-Ghali, even if this
response expresses itself in a diffused manner.
But it is due to their fear of an uncontrollable social explosion that
the General Assembly of the UN will meet next September to discuss its
"Millennium objectives," aimed to channel the inevitable
protests against the established order.
For the first time since 1945, the agenda calls for the reform of the UN
toward the implementation of a system of "world governance."
This system integrates an array of actors, notably the workers'
organizations invited to participate in a "new governance,"
which is portrayed as a win-win solution for all humanity.
This reform of the UN will no doubt have repercussions extending beyond
the historical limits of an institution born in 1945.
(To Be Continued)
Roger Sandri
(1) A reference to the Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas
(2) See ILC International Newsletter issue 133
********************
12th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
in Defense of the ILO Conventions and the Independence of Trade Unions,
Geneva, June 12, 2005
Speech by Hacène Djeman, general secretary of the International
Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU)
Greetings. I am going to try express myself in French. Daniel
brought up several themes. I would like to deal with my differences on
certain points. I'll begin with our International Confederation of Arab
Trade Unions (ICATU), which regroups all the Arab workers. I won't talk
about the political situation in our regions. You know what is currently
going on in Iraq, Palestine, Libya, and Syria and the consequences that
this situation is having on the world of labor and workers.
But I would like to explain that at our last ICATU congress we adopted
certain principles. Without them, unionism in our country would remain
very weak. The first principle is independence and autonomy. An
organization without autonomy or independence cannot have free
discussion or decision-making in the organization. Next was the
principle of democracy: A federation which is not democratic means a
dictatorship in the union sphere. It means that the union is linked to
others and cannot fulfill its mandate. Union democracy means having free
expression in all spheres. Another principle is union unity. But what
kind of union unity? Union unity to be linked to the government or the
unity of a union that is independent and which responds to the hopes of
the workers?
A union must fight for the interests of the workers. If it doesn't do
so, it is not acting as a union. Union pluralism is a right of the
workers. That doesn't mean that the unions cannot be political -
politics concerns everybody, be it on the social, economic, cultural, or
political level. It is a right for everybody and all citizens. Workers
are citizens.
Let me turn to some more dangerous and serious issues. On the level of
the ILO, some people would like it to be linked to or under the
authority of the WTO. We are completely against this. We will never
accept it. If the ILO Conventions are in the hands of the WTO, then they
will be used for the commercial and economic spheres, and there will be
commercial embargoes and boycotts, especially of Third World products.
We will never accept it. We have always said that the International
Labor Bureau should remain autonomous and independent of the WTO.
Why? Because the WTO is only for governments, but in the ILO all parties
decide together. We must also recognize that we are in a weak position.
The unions are in a weak position due to the precarity that currently
exists and due to the individual contracts which don't allow membership
in a union. If the policies of the unions continue like this, it will
mean our death. That is our point of view.
That is why we want collective contracts to be required in all domains.
We want unionism to remain and we want unions to continue to defend the
workers.
You know that there are no unions in the free trade zones. There are
millions and millions of workers in these zones in the Arab world.
I would like to return to the ICFTU/WCL fusion. We are part of this
process, but it's not a fusion, it's a new federation that has been
founded and that takes a new name. Membership is open not only to the
affiliates of the ICFTU but to all democratic and independent
organizations. As a federation we are neither affiliated to the WCL or
the ICFTU. We are an autonomous organization. But we are for a new
federation in order to be stronger because there is a real and very
strong international blockade. That is the goal.
In the past there was the Cold War (and it remains to an extent) between
the two blocs and, at the same time, the unions. Previously, unions
could be affiliated in a bloc, but now in the union movement there are
no more blocs. Unions should have a platform that responds to the
aspirations of the workers of the world.
In general, we have seen progress in the Arab world. We have built
unions in Oman and in Bahrein. We have built a union federation made up
of real militant activists who held a transparent and democratic
conference. We have begun to build workers' commissions in Saudi Arabia
and also in Qatar.
This doesn't mean that we have finished our work in defense of trade
union rights. We have many problems in the region. We are not yet
completely autonomous and independent but we have established
principles. The modification of the statutes has allowed us to advance
toward more autonomy and independence, toward workers' strikes, and
toward the right for workers to register complaints if there are
breaches in their federation. The vote in the federation is now
individual. Each can vote as they so choose.
We have made lots of progress but we also have many problems, such as
the layoffs and the closing down of companies. This has raised
unemployment, even though some claim that unemployment has been lowered.
But that isn't true. Unemployment is rising. Our path is to struggle and
to continue to struggle. I hope that we will all be united to defend the
ILO Conventions and their application, because you can't have
conventions if you don't demand their implementation. The implementation
of the Conventions is missing on a national level.
The Declaration of Fundamental Principles is not meant to defend the
workers. The convention defends the states on the economic plane. The
United States has not even ratified ILO Convention 87. Why should we
think that it will adopt the Declaration of Fundamental Principles?
And now there may be other conventions because China is becoming the
world workshop for commerce. This also constitutes a danger and not only
on a commercial level - it is also a danger for workers. I can attest to
the fact that in the Arab world textile factories are beginning to close
and there are numerous layoffs. We are in the process of facing these
new phenomenon. Thank you.
********************
12th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
in Defense of the ILO Conventions and the Independence of Trade Unions,
Geneva, June 12, 2005
Speech by Patrick Hébert, general departmental secretary of Force
Ouvriere in the Loire Atlantic (France)
I am the general secretary of the departmental Force Ouvriere union
in the Loire Atlantic, a French department. I would like to tell you
comrades that I appreciated the report that was presented to us as an
introduction to the debates. I will not return to all the issues that he
explained - the drive toward deregulation and against international
conventions; the importance of these types of meetings to try to
preserve on an international scale the constituted norms.
Naturally, these things are not abstract. The debate waged on an
international scale is also waged on a regional and national scale. In
France, like in the whole of the European Union, we have been and
continue to be confronted with the project for the European
Constitution. This constitution concentrates and constitutionalizes
deregulation and privatizations that have been steadily implemented for
a good twenty years now.
On this subject, I would like to first of all comment on the worries
that we may have on an international scale about the positions of and
the role currently played by the ICFTU or the WCL (or maybe, tomorrow,
by this new international organization). We have these same worries on a
European-wide scale - though they are at a somewhat different stage.
In this struggle of the workers and the European working classes against
the European Constitution, we run up against the governments, the
bosses, and the European Union - as is normally the case. But we are
also confronted with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
During this struggle, the ETUC has played the role of spokesman for the
European Union and tried to impose a "Yes" vote in the May 29
French referendum.
For better - or for worse, because we're speaking about the respect of
ILO norms and our own norms for functioning - the European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC) - which is only a confederation and should thus
respect its affiliates and members - came to France in the form of its
general secretary, John Monks, to participate in one of the
"Yes" meetings with certain union organizations that are also
affiliated with the ETUC. But other organizations, in particular the one
to which I belong, did not call for the "Yes."
In this context, I want to say that to impose deregulation, the ETUC has
not hesitated to flaunt our own rules for functioning. Our rules are
founded on con-federalism and therefore are founded on the respect for
the positions democratically and independently taken by the organization
affiliated with the ETUC.
I permit myself this remark because, taking into account the
international evolutions that Daniel dealt with in his report, there is
reason to have worries - if tomorrow there is a unitary federation -
about its functioning. There is reason to worry that a unitary
organization would tend to impose on its affiliated members a unitary
position, as was the case with the ETUC. Democracy means freedom, and it
also means the pluralism of ideas. This pluralism of ideas can sometimes
take the form of a pluralism of organizations.
Thus I am happy, for my part, that in France (though I'm not saying it
is a model) there are several federations. In particular, I am happy
that my federation, in the executive of the ETUC, was the only one to
vote against the draft resolution of the ETUC that called to vote
"Yes." This was, I think, a point of leverage for many other
organizations and many militants in this struggle. It was possible
because we preserved union pluralism in France and the independence of
our organization.
In spite of these adventures, the "No" overwhelmingly carried
the day, as you know. It is a considerable victory; I do not think we
have ceased to measure the consequences.
The first consequence, even if there is no direct link, was that Holland
also voted "No" a few days later. In France, the newspaper Le
Figaro - which has no reputation for being particularly progressive
- wrote on the eve of the referendum: "This May 29 is now assured a
spot in the very exclusive club of great historic dates, dates around
which hinges the fate of a country, its international role, and the
equilibrium of its institutions. There will be before May 29 and after
May 29. You have to go far back into the history of our Republic to
find a date of such intensity."
I think that this analysis is correct and I believe that what has
happened in France is a harbinger of extremely important events.
When you look at things, it is clear that the class character of the
vote is uncontestable. I don't have all the data completely memorized,
but I believe that 78% of workers voted "No," 67% of employees
voted "No," and 56% of young people between the ages of 18 and
25 voted "No." The class character of this vote is
uncontestable and is a harbinger of extremely important events in the
upcoming months.
This "No" vote is a rejection not only of the Constitution,
but also of the policies that underlies this European Constitution,
particularly deregulation in all spheres. Despite this vote, the Prime
Minister of the new government that was formed in the days that followed
- during his speech on general politics - announced for the upcoming
weeks a continuation of the policies that were rejected by the
"No," i.e. deregulation. The Prime Minister plans as a number
one priority to put into question labor contracts of a non-specified
duration. These contracts are the basis of the Labor Codes and the
collective guarantees around which the whole French system of
conventions is built (Collective Conventions or Business Agreements).
This threat is expressed through a very simple measure: the introduction
of an internship period of two years. In other words, for two years,
these workers wouldn't be covered by the collective guarantees and could
be fired at any moment. This means, for these workers, the prohibition
of the right to unionize and to collectively defend their rights.
They aim to continue these policies because they can't put into
question, in a single country, what from the point of view of the
government and the bosses on an international scale is a system of
solidarity.
The victory of the "No" in the referendum in France, by
questioning the policies implemented by the government, is setting off a
domino effect through which all the policies of deregulation on a
European scale and on an international scale are threatened. Thus, from
a certain point of view, they have no choice.
For my part, I think that even if this victory of the "No" is
essential and marks a turning point in the situation (and not only on a
national scale), it is not only through electoral means and not only
through Conventions or international meetings that we can turn around
the course of things. We must situate ourselves on the grounds of the
direct class struggle to impose a change in policies and to return to a
policy that enables the negotiation of collective guarantees for all
workers.
Without trying to read into a crystal ball, I predict that this
extremely weak government in France will have a very hard time imposing
deregulation. I think that it is extremely likely that in the next
couple of weeks, months, and very probably before the return to school,
we will see big events in the direct class struggle. I do not know what
form it will take, but it seems to me that this mocking of the electoral
result will surely have consequences on the terrain of direct union
action. Taking into account French traditions, there is the possibility
of an unlimited general strike. Maybe not, but we will see. Expect
extremely important events in France and therefore in all Europe.
********************
12th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
in Defense of the ILO Conventions and the Independence of Trade Unions,
Geneva, June 12, 2005
Speech by François Yao, general secretary of the National Union of
Energy Sector Workers (SYNASEG) of Ivory Coast
My name is François Yao. I am the general secretary of (SYNASEG)
National Union of Energy Sector Workers. I would like to say a few words
about the situation in my country and the position of my organization in
the framework of the upcoming events.
On May 1, 2005, our union disaffiliated ourselves with the union
confederation due to the violation of the principles that found
confederations, namely, the promotion of individuals in relation to the
affiliated organizations. We even launched an appeal to say that the
SYNASEG is ready, if nothing changes, to create a new confederation to
better defend the workers of Ivory Coast. I bring your attention to the
fact that due to the war, a confederation currently virtually does not
exist. The confederation has become an appendage of the party in power.
We have also decided to disaffiliate with the unions of the electricity
sector, with whom we created a collective. The reason is that our
identity was lost in relation to the end of the State/CIE contract. The
French comrades know the truth about the Bouygues group which has been
the dealer for the energy sector since 1990 and the water sector since
1990. These contracts expire next October.
To enable our organization to better defend the interests of the workers
in relation to the renegotiation of the contract, we have decided to be
alone because they have pledged their support to the employer for the
renewal of the contract.
We participated in the Parliamentary hearings on the deadly evolution
facing the African continent, which was organized by the Algerian
Workers' Party on May 14-15, 2005. We explained that the war in Ivory
Coast was not an ethnic war. We had the opportunity to say that up to
the present moment, if you go to Ivory Coast you will see - from the
North to the South - different ethnic groups mixing. The wife of the
head of the state is from the North, and the wife of the head of the
rebels is originally from the home region of the head of state. It is no
longer a religious war because if you come to Abidjan, on every Friday,
you cannot get around the city streets anymore because the Muslims have
taken over all the streets. Nevertheless, they tell us that the Muslims
are only found in the North and that the North is opposed to the South.
In the North, of course there are Catholics - but to end on this
specific point, it is necessary to note that there are more animists
than Catholics and Muslims put together.
Nor is it a war between regions. The new configuration of regions in
Ivory Coast, with the creation of revolving national holidays, has
led the North to have many infrastructures and factory concessions to
transform fruits into juice. Consequently, it is not possible to say
that today there is a difference in treatment between regions.
All these arguments are alibis to exploit the resources of the country.
In essence, with this war, in the North today the gold mines are
exploited without regulation. There are also countries like Burkina Faso
which today are cocoa exporters, and thus don't produce. You see how
these resources are diverted from the normal path - it is a way of
pillaging the country.
It must be remembered that at the side of the United Nations forces that
are usually sent in to maintain peace, there are the forces of the COM,
which have over 4,000 troops in Ivory Coast. This co-existence can only
be explained through the ambitions to seize the riches of the country.
I will finish by speaking about the situation in Ivory Coast today. At
the beginning of the month, there were massacres in the Western part of
the country, in Douokoué. In fact, the outsiders who owned plantations
and who left these lands due to the war have wanted to return to take
back their land that, in the meantime, have been taken by the locals.
Thus the outsiders attacked villages in this region.
Of course, there is the crucial question of the upcoming elections. The
Constitution was not modified but a special candidate was chosen to lead
the rebellion. If you ask me whether elections will take place in Ivory
Coast in October, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I would be tempted to
tell you that they won't take place - but nobody knows what is going to
happen. The disarmament that was supposed to have begun and be finished
by July has not really even begun.
Thus, how can you organize elections in a country divided in two, with
administration completely concentrated in the free zones? Elections must
be for the whole population. Therefore, we are facing an uncertain
situation from now to October. The electoral events are supposed to take
place between October 25 and 30.
Facing this situation we hope that everybody will make a contribution to
bring about a real peace.
********************
BRAZIL
Report on the ILC delegation to the Brazilian Embassy in Paris, July 5,
2005
In the previous issue (number 139), we published an initial list of
signatories demanding:
- End the threats to close down the occupied factories!
- End the prison threats Against Serge Goulart!
- Nationalize the occupied factories!
The International Campaign Continues:
The delegation from the ILC and some unionists was received at the
Brazilian Embassy in Paris by Mrs. Maria Laura Da Rocha, Special
counselor to the Ambassador
The delegation was made up of:
Charles Menet, unionist in metallurgy, representing the Saint Denis
Local of Force Ouvriere;
Jack Lefebvre, teacher, unionist, member of the FSU, in a personal
capacity;
Pascal Chambonnet, teacher, representing the National SNFOLC union;
Claude Mira, Force Ouvriere public service union;
William Pelletier; Force Ouvriere public service union;
Jean Pierre Barrois, representing the ILC;
The Delegation:
"We asked to be received to discuss the situation of the workers at
CIPLA and the plastic factories in Joinville. We are concerned: Since
the bosses abandoned the factories, the workers have occupied them for
many months. They demand the nationalization of the factories. The
purpose of our delegation was to support their demand. In Brazil like
France, the workers are in need of a wage. We are wage workers, we are
unionists, we know that the workers only have their labor force to sell.
Nationalization is thus a vital question for thousands of families in
this region. They demand the assurance that their wages will be
guaranteed, and that each worker will be able to provide for his wife
and their kids.
"The election of President Lula, the representative of the Workers
Party, brought immense hopes for the French workers who were very
sympathetic to his getting elected. We have the greatest respect for the
Brazilian workers and the government that they have elected, but we also
have some worries. That is why we are here.
"Lastly, we would like to bring up the situation of Mr. Serge
Goulart, the coordinator of the occupied factories. The federal judges
took positions that could lead to his arrest. We would like to get a
guarantee that nothing will be done to him."
The Embassy:
"I do not know the dossier in depth, but I will pass on an honest
report to my government.
"Maybe it's a question that concerns the state of Santa Catarina
more the federal government. Brazil is a federal state, we don't have
the same constitution as in France. Maybe the federal government that I
represent is not responsible. I must study the dossier. I think that
this concerns the state of Santa Catarina and its courts, not the
federal government."
The Delegation:
"It's on a federal level that President Lula and the PT was
elected. The workers of the companies are looking to the federal
government to intervene. They demand that President Lula, who was
elected by the workers, intervene and receive them to find a solution.
It is legitimate for the workers to demand from the government that they
elected that their demands be met. "We want a salary - what can we
do when the bosses leave and take with them the coffers.'
"It would be even less understandable not to meet their demands
when the media informs us that the government gives 6 million reals (the
equivalent of 2 million Euros) to the large land owners who do not cease
to hide their hostility to the government and the PT."
The Embassy:
"There is a minister to receive the workers, who does only this at
his office at the Palace. This is the way to have delegations received.
You know that the PT comes from the unions. Maybe they have already been
received, while we are speaking here. In any case, they will be
received. I will confirm it, a structure was created for that."
The Delegation:
"We read this morning in the newspapers that the government decided
to grant a considerable sum to the large landowners - at the same time,
he gives nothing to the factories where the workers are demanding
nationalization."
The Embassy:
"I'm going to seek information from people who follow the dossier,
and I will send you the response. There will be a dialogue, they will be
received; it's in the interest of the government, and you will be sent
our response."
The Delegation:
"Can you assure us that there will be no actions taken against Mr.
Serge Goulart?"
The Embassy:
"If the courts are concerned, the process will be very transparent
- otherwise, things would be hidden. The Brazilian courts are not
perfect, but they try to work. They do not take positions just like
that; there is the media and the pressure of public opinion. I will pass
on your demand to my government and I will let you know the
response."
July 5, 2005
********************
DJIBOUTI
We bring to your attention the fact that our comrade Hassan Cher
Hared, general secretary of the Union of Post Office Workers of
Djibouti, was fired. Please send us a copy of the letters you send on
his behalf to the indicated addresses. We would like to send a complete
dossier to our comrade.
Communiqué
We have just received the following information from the General
Secretary of the Labor Union of Djibouti (UDT).
Comrade Hassam Cher Hared - secretary of international relations and
interim president of the UDT, as well as general secretary of the Union
of Post Office Workers of Djibouti - was just fired (after being
sanctioned for a work-related matter for 8 days) by the General Director
of the Post Office. The reason given was "worsened professional
faults, abstentionism, and insubordination."
As the comminiqué that we received explains, not only are the claims of
the sanction and the firing completely unfounded, they demonstrate an
eagerness to keep a union officer from exercising his position and
fulfilling his mandate.
The communiqué continues: "The UDT and its affiliates reserve the
rights to take the necessary measures in light of this new failure by
the public powers to exercise their duties properly when they face free
and independent unions. The UDT unreservedly condemns this unwarranted
firing, which is nothing but a settling of accounts against the union.
The UDT challenges the government and calls for the pure and simple
cancellation of this premeditated sanction."
At the same time, the UDT decided to register its complaint with the
International Labor Bureau.
It is therefore urgent to call on the government of Djibouti to demand
the cancellation of the abusive and arbitrary firing which victimizes
our comrade Hassan Cher Hared.
Address your protests to:
His Excellency Ismael Omar Guelleh, president of the republic of
Djibouti
Fax: 253 35 50 49 or 253 35 01 74
Copy to:
Mr. Hilliyeh Hassan Guirreh, General Director of the Post Office of
Djibouti
Fax : 253 35 78 78
Mr. Ali Abdi Farah, minister of culture and communication, responsible
for the post office and telecommunications
Fax : 253 35 39 57
Send us copy of your protest letters to
eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com
Daniel Gluckstein,
National Secretary of the Workers Party
Coordinator of the ILC
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