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ILC INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 141A dossier of weekly information published by the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples July 19,2005 Introduction: In this issue we are publishing, in the central pages of the ILC International Newsletter, news about the situation in Germany, based on a press review. We are publishing an interview with activists who participated in a national conference on June 25 in Berlin. The conference adopted an appeal for a European conference, to take place in Berlin this November. The appeal begins: " We are at a turning point in our history, a turning point for Germany, and a turning point for the people of Europe." We also bring your attention to the contribution by Jacques Paris - a French unionist - to the 12th International Conference In Defense of the ILO Conventions and Trade Union Independence that took place in Geneva on June 2005. The article explains the vicious cycle of deregulation concerning child labor. We are printing the speech by Tafazzul Hussain, the secretary of the Bangladesh Workers' Federation. Hussain explains: "We are here today to save the ILO Conventions and to call on the world workers' movement to save the conventions of the ILO and the ILO itself." The campaign against the war in Iraq continues. The joint declaration of the Iraqi workers' movement and the United States union coalition USLAW affirms: "The occupation is the main obstacle to peace, stability, and the reconstruction of Iraq. The occupation is the problem - not the solution." In a continent ravaged by war, epidemics, Structural Adjustment Plans, and the consequences of the debt, the African working class exists and resists this destructive drive. The message of support from the SOPA for the strike call launched by COSATU is proof. The ILC International Newsletter needs your support, your subscription, and your re-subscription. In our next issue, we will publish the continuation of Roger Sandri's analysis of the United Nations and the continuation of the articles on Great Britain ("The Blair 'miracle' and reality"). ******************** Table of Contents: p. 1: Introduction ********************
Geneva June 12 12th meeting of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) "In Defence of the ILO Conventions and Trade Union Independence" Contribution On the theme of the report concerning youth employment, submitted for discussion at the 93rd session of the International Labour Conference Following on from the report of the commission studying the social dimension of globalisation On the agenda of the 93rd session of the International Labour Conference, a general discussion about youth employment is scheduled. A report has been prepared, with the title: "Youth: Paths to decent work". Its aim is to be a sort of "forecast" and it "makes a list of strategies and tools which could be improved upon and made use of in future documents to be elaborated and/or used by the ILO regarding youth work". According to the presentation of this report, as it appears in the agenda, it falls within an "integrated approach". How that is to be understood is made clear by the report itself. Straight away in Point 1 of the report, we can read: "The ILO is playing a leading international role in the employment of young people, in the framework of the United Nations Secretary-General's Youth Employment Network and the 2002 United Nations General Assembly resolution on 'Promoting youth employment'. It is also committed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (Š)" (MDG) The report also states: "The recent report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation reiterates the objectives of the Decent Work Agenda" (Point 195). It should be recalled that the Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000, in which framework the report partnered by all the big international institutions (UN, IMF, WTO, European Union, and also a large number of heads of State), under the slogan of "fighting poverty", wants to promote a reform of the UN, in the name of the "new world governance", which would give an institutionalised place to so-called "civil society" as opposed to the Nation States. They also want to create global "partnerships", so as to get globalisation and its consequences accepted. For example, in his report during the 59th session of the UN, Kofi Annan said: "Civil society is an essential partner with a view to supplying to poor people all the services envisaged in the Millennium development objectives." As for the Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, constituted under the aegis of the ILO in 2001, it has brought up some "recommendations for a just and integrating globalisation", which it considers "should be implemented with all the different actors: "government, parliamentarians, businesses, civil society organisations, international organisations". The report stresses "the inability to move to good governance without eradicating the worst forms of poverty and providing work for poor youth, in a given time frame." (Point 76). Scarcely an ambitious objective in a world whose technical resources, nobody will deny, could enable all humanity to have its needs satisfied! As for the Youth Employment Network (YEN), the report tells us that it "was established in 2001 to give effect to the global commitment of 'developing and implementing strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work', resolved in the United Nations Millennium Declaration in 2000. A partnership formed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the ILO Director-General Juan Somavia and World Bank President James Wolfensohn, the YEN is the first global alliance under the umbrella of the ILO's Global Employment Agenda. It brings together policy-makers, employers and workers, young people and other stakeholders to pool their skills, experience and knowledge in an attempt to find new, durable policy and programme solutions to the youth employment challenge." It is thus a prototype of the partnerships that the "new governance" is planning to make widespread. It is specified that the Youth Employment Network has "developed policy recommendations on youth employment policy ('Roadmap') in four areas - employability, equal opportunities, entrepreneurship and employment creation (known as the four Es)". Instead of remaining within the logic of the standards of the ILO Conventions, they are thus appealing to the "goodwill" of the different national and international partners to join together in this attempt, within the framework of a common viewpoint. A recent example of the "integrated approach" presented in this report can be found in the document published by "Trade Union World", the newspaper of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), currently to be merged with the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), with the title "Young and Vulnerable: meeting the challenge of youth employment", in May 2005: "The Global Call to Action is an alliance of NGOs, international networks, trade unions, religious groups and other civil society organisations which have agreed to undertake joint action and mobilisation at key times in 2005. They plan to link actions symbolically by the wearing of a white band. (Š) They are united in demanding trade justice, debt cancellation, an increase in aid, and national efforts to reduce poverty." Let's recall that this "global action" was launched at Porto Alegre's Social Forum in January 2005. The report is dramatic The figures given in the ILO report are no less than an indictment against the adjustment policies carried out for over 20 years now: "Globally, less than half the youth available for work had jobs in 2004" "The vast majority of world's youth work in the informal economy. In Africa, 93 per cent of all new jobs and in Latin America almost all newly created jobs (for young labour market entrants) are in the informal economy." "An estimated 59 million young people aged 15 to 18 years are in hazardous forms of work worldwide." "In the European Union in 1995, 35 per cent of employees under the age of 25 had short-term contracts" (Point 44) "238 million young people are living on US$1 a day; some 462 million young people are living on less than US$2 a day; and over 160 million youth are undernourished" (Point 75 - sources given in footnote 57) "Young people are also involved in armed conflict, with estimates indicating a total of more than 300,000 child soldiers" (Point 86) "An estimated 11.8 million young people aged 15 to 24 are living with HIV/AIDS" (Point 91) "An estimated 13 million AIDS orphans worldwide are growing up without any responsible adult" (Point 93) To all that must be added, for tens of millions of children, the non-respect of the Convention no. 138: Minimum Age Convention, 1973, which prohibits setting a minimum age for entry into regular work before the end of compulsory schooling. According to the report, "slow growth of the formal economy is particularly responsible for the high rate of youth unemploymentŠ In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, stabilization and structural adjustment measures implemented over the 1980s and the 1990s have been ineffective in most countries in raising investment and economic growth." (Point 19) "Macroeconomic policies, which were often constrained to focus only on the goals of macroeconomic stability and adjustment during the past two decades, yielded inadequate economic growth, had limited action on poverty reduction and employment generation." (Point 225) In reality, isn't it the "formal economy" which has been destroyed by globalisation and along with that, millions of human beings who are threatened with destruction? Tens of thousands of businesses have closed down, regulations have been repealed, jobs destroyed, and publics services privatised or suppressed. Thus millions of young people are deprived of education and jobs, doomed to hunger and sickness, without any future. Is such a situation unavoidable? Certainly not. A reminder of the existing conventions A hallmark of civilisation is the ability to protect the more vulnerable by fixing rules and then making sure they are applied. Point 137 of the report recalls that "The rights of young persons are assured in national labour law (including provisions on remuneration, recruitment and dismissal procedures, occupational safety and health among other matters); employment protection legislation (covering working time and hours, social security and unfair dismissal among other matters) and in minimum wage regulations. (Š) The implementation of these laws is essential to assuring the rights of young workers and the quality of their working conditions. Thus the role of the labour inspectorate is vital. The Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) was ratified by 134 countries (the protocol of 1995 to the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) was ratified by ten countries). In many developing countries, however, labour inspection is at an early stage of development." Then comes the list of the ratification of conventions relative to youth employment. After that, one might expect there to be a vigorous appeal for a campaign to convince States to ratify all the different conventions. This is not done at all. And we have some reason to be worried about what will subsequently be done. For indeed, we go on to read: "The specific aspects of these Conventions and other instruments relevant to youth employment have never been the focus of a campaign of implementation where youth are concerned and, indeed, some of these Conventions are not yet widely ratified. (Š). It should be noted in this context that there is a proposal before the Governing Body to give preliminary consideration to revising all the instruments covering night work and medical examination, following the review of standards concluded in 2002." (Point 202) Is it to be feared that the existing standards will be lowered? The spiral of deregulation The report reminds us that as far as standards are concerned, it is up to the ILO to "ensure universal respect for" "fundamental principles and rights at work" (Point 201). The preparatory contribution for this meeting, drawn up by R. Sandri, reminds us that "since 1998 the constraining aspects of the system of conventions is gradually being replaced by the so-called 'Charter' of fundamental rights (Š) in the form of simple, non-coercive recommendations". A certain number of other questions still need to be emphasized. It is said for example that "The dichotomy between employment and unemployment has lost much of its meaning, where few have regular employment and unemployment is a meaningless concept because most youth do not have the option of social security benefits." (Point 45) That is a dangerous statement: Let's not forget that in France, for instance, Mr. Boissonnat and Mr. Camdessus (the latter being a former president of the IMF) are developing the argument that instead of separating the notions of being employed under a regular contract and periods of unemployment, these should be substituted by the notion of activity contracts, within which the employee would alternate periods of work, training, unemployment, etc. and would be able to be exploited at will. That also opens the door to suppressing all entitlement to unemployment benefit: under cover of "activating passive expense" or "active policy" on the labour market, they can thus put a stop to unemployment benefit if the unemployed person does not accept an "activity", which could be just any sort of work whatsoever, just as long as it has been proposed. One can also read that: "alternative policy approaches within Europe show that employment and social protection policies can support flexibility for firms while ensuring income and broader social security to workers at the societal level. The ILO has responded to the flexibilization debate and concerns by launching a new project entitled 'Flexicurity'." (Point 233). The example of the European Union clearly shows the meaning of "flexicurity": the "employment guidelines" can be resumed as a frantic attempt made by governments and businesses to reduce labour costs and put back in the balance social protection (pensions, health cover, etc.). In France, for example, the measures mentioned in the report (Point 138), among which the so-called law on social cohesion, are directed totally against work contracts. The "contract for insertion into social life", for example, does not give entitlement to a salary, but to an allowance, enabling them to force upon youth an "insertion project" whose content is totally discretionary and can mean using a young person to fill in any gap, here or there, as per the needs of the local labour market. The rejection of the project for a "European Constitution" in the referendums just held in France and in the Netherlands is also the rejection of this policy of deregulation. As far as education and qualifications are concerned, one reads that "the universal right to education is pledged in the Millennium Declaration and the UNESCO Education for All Initiative. (Š) Many countries have to change their investment priorities in favour of basic education." But also that "initiatives destined to boost literacy and numeracy and basic education for young people (e.g. non-formal and informal learning, distance learning and adult literacy programmes) can supplement national efforts to reach the MDG targets" (Point 247). Informal education will thus have to complement formal education, just as informal work is replacing work coming under a statute or a collective agreement: it will thus not simply be public-funded schooling. We know how that takes place, with an ever-increasing role handed over to the NGOs, thousands of millions of children simply don't go to school. As for "training throughout a lifetime", with the aim of maintaining people's "employability" from the youngest possible age onwards, that's to say the ability to look for work and to accept it if there is any, that looks more and more like an arm for ever more flexibility and individualisation, without providing any guarantees to the worker. May we point out that the Ministers of Labour of the G8, when they met up last March and put on their agenda "decent work for youth", didn't fail to firmly recommend the pursuit of the "structural reforms" of the labour market and "lifelong" training considering, too, that the employment rate of older people ought to be similar to that of the active population as a whole. The reduction of labour costs has its own logic, which certainly is not that of making it easier for young people to get a work contract! It is specified yet again that the State cannot do without the cooperation of the "social partners": "Involving the social partners in the design and realization of policy can have several advantages. It releases government from the role of sole actor; spreads responsibility; furthers joint responsibility; and enhances the quality and efficiency of decision-making by drawing on the knowledge, expertise and experience of the social partners." (Point 99). To conclude: The analysis of this report, does it not demonstrate how totally necessary and urgent it is to fight in defence of all the existing ILO conventions and of the independence of labour organisations? June 4th, 2005 ********************
"Never before has a social-democrat chancellor worked with so much energy for the decline of his party." -- Die Zeit. The facts On July 1st, Chancellor Schröder obtained - as he had desired (1) - a no-confidence vote from the Bundestag. Probably, president Horst Köhler (2), would then authorize the dissolution on Friday and the convening for anticipated elections on September 18. The result of this election would leave nothing to doubt. The newspaper Die Zeit (June 16), reporting on the chain of events after the collapse of the SPD following the May 22 elections in Rhenanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, asked: "Rarely has the SPD had the opportunity to rejoice about its chancellors and their success. But never has a social.-democrat chancellor worked with such fervor for the decline of his party. The SPD will lose its power. One could consider that what is presently happening with the social-democrats and the leader of the country is a form of political insanity. Is there an explanation for the political decline that has taken over the social-democrats since May 22?" Die Zeit asks, although they know the answer has little to do with political insanity: "In the Autumn of 1998 when the SPD regained power, it was not ready to face the central question of reforms, otherwise Schröder would not have waited until March 2003 to start his political Agenda 2010 on which he has hit a snag on now." The cowardly word was dropped at the beginning of the crisis, there is a 'stumbling block' on the policy of reform. There is a clear rejection of the policy of counter-reform, implemented by Schröder under orders from the European Union, expressed by the working class in the very heart of the historical bastion of the SPD, last May 22 in Rhenanie-du-Nord-Westphalie (3). A rejection that is reinforced by the results on May 29 in France. It is from this moment that all the political and institutional machinery broke down, the situation in Germany mirroring what is starting to develop throughout Europe. It is the only explanation for the incredible brutality with which Schröder decided to subject his party to this dictates. He knows that the SPD, despite the haemorrhage of its activists, is still the traditional party of the German working class. One must quickly prevent any appearance of resistance in its central core and provoke the greatest disarray possible, in order to hand over to the CDU-CSU in the best possible conditions of what he calls 'the reforms.' But it's not about a classic alternative under the present circumstances. On the one hand capital wants to proceed faster and further on the road to generalized deregulation. On the other, there is concern on the capacity of the CDU-CSU to be able to accomplish on its own what Schröder - who has dealt the working class terrible blows - has been unable to achieve during his term. Le Figaro summed up the situation in these terms: "If the majority of Germans want to change their government, they may hesitate to elect one that would demand greater sacrifices than the outgoing one." Everything is there. While Germany, sixteen years after unification and with the experience of the 18 million inhabitants of Länder in the East that "the widening" of the European Union to countries dominated by state property, combines more than ever the aspirations of the workers in Eastern and Western Europe. (1) The day after the electoral disaster experienced by the SPD on May 22, in Rhenanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, Schröder exclaimed: "We must continue!" and announced the convening of general elections in Autumn. (2) The chancellor does not have the power to dissolve. He must obtain a vote of no confidence of the Parliament, within the limits of constitutional legality. The president has 21 days to approve. (3) On May 22, the SPD lost its majority in the Parliament of Rhenanie-du-Nord-Westphalie that it had held since 1966. ----- Call for an European Conference in Berlin in November 2005: "We are at a crossroads in our history, a crossroads for Germany, a crossroads for all the people of Europe" A national conference was organized on June 25 in Berlin. Social-democrat activists or ex-social-democrats, trade unionists, which were reacting again to the blow perpetrated by Schröder against the SPD following the disaster of May 22 in Rhenanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, convoked it on the basis of an appeal. Eighty delegates from throughout Germany attended this conference. The largest discussion centered on the profound indignation of the labor base of the SPD in view of the disgraceful policy of the leaders of the party. It reported on the resistance, totally ignored by the press that is expressed under various guises in the structures of the SPD, notably in the form of presentation of candidates opposed to official candidates for the September 18 elections. It is at this meeting that the initiative to call for a European Conference in Berlin next November was taken. --- Interview in the Press In your appeal you write: "The country is on the edge of an abyss" It is not a stylistic term. Imagine the consequences of the Hartz IV law in a country like Germany. It limits social security for the unemployed after 12 months, in a country where there are five million unemployed. Misery is rising everywhere including in the very center of Berlin. Add the Hartz IV law to the health reform where one must now pay out of one's own pocket for patients and you have a situation where increasingly families are unable to afford health care. According to official statistics, there has been a 15 to 16% reduction in doctor's visits in the working class neighborhoods of the capital. Not to mention the dismantlement of industry, the relocations that are increasing and become a central factor in the blackmail to destroy collective bargaining that are the base of all social relations in Germany since the war. How did you come up with the idea of a European Conference? It is hard not to establish a link between what has happened to us on May 22, and that, which happened in France on May 29. At the time we met, Blair, newly installed in the presidency of the European Union, made a speech where he drew from Schröder's style the lessons of the French and Dutch No. Despite the will of the people he said: "We continue! Faster and further! There is no alternative!" It seemed vital to register our struggle in the framework of the movement that is coursing through Europe against European institutions, and to lean on the hope of those who will support of the tremendous rejection of the European Constitution. Back to Schröder That Schröder dares to pretend he is a social-democrat is incredible, we must get rid of him and his team. He is the one who prepared the return to the affairs of the CDU-CSU. But that does not lead us to confuse the CDU-CSU with the SPD, despite the disgracefully treacherous policy of a Schröder. The bourgeoisie and the working class have contradictory interests. The working class needs organizations, parties, and trade unions. We refuse to join forces with a party that has stolen the principal conquests of the working class. We refuse to leave the field open to Schröder and his henchmen. We are not prepared to let go. What about Oskar Lafontaine? How are we to understand Oskar Lafontaine who has on several occasions, rejected Schröder's attempts to speak on behalf of the SPD and its tradition? He abandoned the field and left the SPD to form a coalition with the heirs of the PDS of the SED (1) at this difficult time. Where is he going? In this appeal you recall the fall the wall in 1989 Sixteen years ago, the wall fell. We wanted unity, we wanted liberty. And what did we get? We saw Kohl, his government, capital, close our factories with the help of the ex-nomenclature of the SED, with the approval of the European Union. They closed our state enterprises in the sacred name of a market economy that is today condemning al public services in the West. This is the result: 22% of unemployed in Länder de l'Est! Seven years ago we got rid of Kohl, but Schröder has violated the mandate of the people and he has pursued Kohl's policy, the one dictated by the European Union. You emphasize that immigrants from the East are moving to the West in Germany Yes, our children cannot find work in our towns. They leave. In Länder de l'Est they have lost two million inhabitants out of 17 million in 1989. A town like Hoyerswerda (Saxe) went from 75,000 inhabitants to 44,500. What's next? They have closed the factories; only public services are left and they want to close. The youth are leaving; they are finding new forms of precarious employment that are becoming common throughout Germany. This doesn't just concern the East or the West. The lower number of childbirths justifies the closure of day care centers that drove us to the West. We have economic housing, furnished by the state. They sell them and destroy them. The crisis in housing explodes. The youth that stay are forced to become indebted to the banks. This is leading to dramas. You insist that your appeal is addressed to the workers of Europe from the East as well as the West. With the widening of Europe to include the East, they want to lace us under direct pressure of the competition of cheap labor in order to break with collective bargaining and all the rights gained by the workers here in Germany. They attempt to set us up against the Poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Baltics, the Ukranians. Who do they take us for? As if we had not experienced on a German scale what they want to do on a colossal scale. They have undertaken the destruction of the East in order to attempt to destroy jobs throughout Germany. We must stop this. That is why we are setting off an alarm. We say: Re-establish the state organizations in Germany, that in the East, were in charge of housing, hospitals, retirement homes and day care centers. It is a question of survival. We say: Return the hospitals and clinics that were privatised in the West to the public sector. Stop all privatisation of public services. Stop layoffs and relocations in industry. Fully re-establish collective bargaining. When I hear that the European Constitution is organizing the closure of steel works and energy factories in the Czech Republic and Poland I say: let us unite against this, for a break with the European Union and all its institutions. That is the meaning of our appeal for a European conference. (1) The SED was the party of the Stalinist nomenclature in power in the German Democratic Republic (RDA) until 1989. ********************
Speech by Tafazzul Hussain, secretary of the Bangladesh Workers' Federation Comrades - This is the 12th conference of the ILC in defense of the ILO and its conventions. We are here to save the ILO Conventions and to call on the world workers movement to save the conventions of the ILO and the ILO itself. Everything develops. The only things that isn't developing (and is even getting worse) are the working conditions and living conditions of workers which are getting worse day by day. Therefore, as representatives of the working class, we must think for ourselves to determine how to save ourselves. The ILO was founded in 1919, well before the creation of the UN. It is the product of struggles, battles, and sacrifices by the working class. But today the ILO and its norms are threatened with destruction. The ILO had elaborated numerous conventions on different dates, and the member-states have ratified a certain number of them. It is a voluntary act. But the 185 conventions of the ILO are flagrantly violated in all countries by the multinationals, employers, and bourgeoisies. The ILO should protect workers. The system of the ILO allows the filing of complaints for violations of the Conventions. Bangladesh has filed two complaints. We received a response for one of the two - which concerned the violation of Conventions 87 and 98, the violation of the freedom to organize in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ). These EPZ are a state within a state. These are zones where the authority of the government ceases to be valid. In these zones, there are only the multinationals which invest to make superprofits at the expense of the workers of the country. The government has no authority in these zones. The government cedes authority to the investors, but there is no labor code or union rights. There is complete freedom for the investors to exploit. In Bangladesh, the law concerning the EPZ prohibits the creation of unions in these zones. Millions of workers work in these EPZ. There are seven EPZ in Bangladesh. Each one has hundreds and thousands of workers, mostly women. They prefer to hire women because they are easier to exploit and have no union rights. In our fight in our country for the restoration of union rights in the EPZ, we have come up against international pressure. To finish, the government has given certain rights. Six months ago, the government passed a law authorizing the workers to create a sort of "mutual aid committees" that will be authorized, in October 2006, to create a sort of "work organization" - but not unions. In Bangladesh, we have valid labor laws: the constitutional law, the law on recruitment, the law on companies, the ordinance on industrial relations, which govern the unions. But these laws do not apply to the EPZ. Conventions 87 and 98 were ratified by the government of Bangladesh. We therefore registered a complaint. We received a letter from the General Director of the Commission on Trade Union Freedoms, which stated that our complaint would be considered during the first session of the Assembly of the ILO and that a decision would be made. We do not know what will happen. I mentioned that there has been a daily drop in working and living conditions. The cost of living has constantly risen. In our country, a worker makes 10 Euros per month - that's the minimum wage, 560 takas. Nobody believes me when I tell them that. When we fight to raise salaries, they pressure us and say: "Wages shouldn't be raised or else we won't stay competitive." Paying salaries of 10,20, or 30 Euros a month, what could make us less competitive? This is what we tell the government representatives. This government is (very politely) prostrate in front of the financial organizations and their dictates. A catastrophe just took place in Bangladesh - the accident in the Naxil factory. In the past two years, there have been hundreds of incidents, fires, disasters, and building collapses. But nobody cares because there is a plethora of workers - losing a few hundred is not the end of the world. Nobody worries about it. The government of Bangladesh has not ratified the Conventions on job safety. Thus, we could easily file complaints about these accidents, but they wouldn't be considered because the Conventions were not ratified by the government. But as a union, we take up our responsibility to the workers. The ILC has organized these conferences in Geneva for the past 12 years. There are a lot of international organizations that talk about "union globalization." They claim to represent the workers and the working class. To they take up their responsibilities? Do they warn the workers that the ILO conventions and the ILO itself are on the brink of destruction? Do they ask, 'What must we do to save the ILO'? No. To the contrary, they take the side of the multinationals, the WTO, the IMF and their dictates. So who do they serve? They should represent the working class. They should help save the working class. Nevertheless, the examples of the destruction of the ILO Conventions are multiplying. Convention 103 was destroyed. Convention 138 on child labor was destroyed and replaced by Convention 182, which actually legalizes child labor. Last month two 14-year-old boys were crushed by the collapse of 3-ton carpet rolls in a factory. Is that a dangerous job? Convention 182 says that "dangerous jobs" must be prohibited. But who defines whether a job is dangerous or not? In the last few months, five factories have collapsed, and a 15-year-old boy died before even receiving his first pay check. Who is going to say whether a job is dangerous? If one sticks to Convention 182 - which was adopted under the pressure of President Clinton, who personally came to defend it in at the ILO - it was an accident. It was a shock to see Convention 138 replaced in Geneva in favor of Convention 182 that states that child labor is legitimate. But as you know, there are hundreds and thousands of children who work in agriculture for example in California. They work with dangerous insecticides and pesticides. It is a dangerous job. With Convention 182, they are making the use of child labor legitimate. At the same time, the ILO launched a campaign to "end child labor." The ILO has given millions of dollars to unions for this campaign. It's funny: It's as if I had an injured head, and they offer me an operation on my leg. Through the destruction of factories and privatisation, jobs are disappearing - hundreds of thousands and millions of workers are losing their jobs. To survive, they push their children to work. If my wife and I lose our jobs, how can we survive? In some countries, for reasons of survival, certain people sell their children in order to feed the brothers, sisters, and parents. So on the one hand they destroy jobs, and on the other they cover that up with a program to end child labor. They are trying to bribe the unions so that they get into line. There is another process underway today. The ILO is in the process of organizing all sorts of conferences and monthly meetings to discuss with unions their transformation into "co-operative societies," with the participation of the big NGOs. In Bangladesh, Prad and Jamin are big NGOs which make billions of dollars a year - these are the NGOs associated with this initiative. They propose to the union federations that they launch co-operative societies in order to generate profits. You can imagine! The unions would lose their independence. They would lose their activists if they accept money from the NGOs, the World Bank, and the IMF through the medium of the ILO. We want to draw your attention to the way that the ILO is used to intimidate or attract the workers and the unions and to make them lose sight of militant actions and workers' rights. This is what is going on. Concerning accidents and catastrophes, last month a nine-story building collapsed in Bangladesh. There were 470 workers working in the middle of the night, at 1:30AM. Only 110 survived. Seventy-three bodies have been found. And the rest? They're unaccounted for. Unfortunately, the sons and daughters had no certificates of hire or identity cards. The parents can't say: My son, daughter, wife, or mother is under the rubble. Nobody can do so because they didn't have papers. In the Export Processing Zones, the law states that only those who have worked for over three years can create a work association. Three years - in other words, a stable employment. But no worker has a stable employment. No worker has a certificate of hire. How can they prove that they've worked for three years? This is what is going on. Today, we must save the ILO Conventions in order to save the ILO itself. Our task today is to save the ILO and the ILO Conventions. The ILO is in the process of being absorbed by the WTO, the corporations, and the bosses. They are united to spread their dictates throughout the world. We must defend our own interests and save the ILO. Thank you for your attention. ********************
Joint Statement by Leaders of Iraq's Labor Movement and U.S. Labor Against the War At the invitation of U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), a delegation of six Iraqi labor leaders representing three of the country's major labor organizations toured the United States between June 10 and June 26, 2005. The six Iraqi unionists were Falah Alwan (Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq), Hassan Juma'a Awad Al Asade (General Union of Oil Employees), Adnan Rashed al Saffar (Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions); Amjad Ali Aljawhary (FWCUI), Faleh Abbood Umara (GUOE) and Abed Sekhi (IFTU). They visited 26 cities, attended over 70 events and 10 press conferences, met with thousands of working people, union leaders, members of U.S. Congress and other public officials, religious and. community leaders, and antiwar and other social justice activists. Through over 40 interviews and articles in the media, their message reached hundreds of thousands more. At the conclusion of the tour, the FWCUI, the IFTU, the GUOE, and USLAW signed a joint unity statement focusing on opposition to the occupation of Iraq, opposition to privatization, and the need to build a strong, free, and democratic trade union movement in Iraq and worldwide. Below are excerpts from this Joint Declaration --- We, the representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), the General Union of Oil Employees (GUOE), and U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW) issue this statement at the conclusion of an historic 25-city tour by leaders of the three Iraqi labor organizations in the United States. We speak in the spirit of international solidarity and respect for labor rights around the world. We speak in the spirit of opposition to war and occupation and for the right of self-determination of nations and peoples. The principal obstacle to peace, stability, and the reconstruction of Iraq is the occupation. The occupation is the problem, not the solution. Iraqi sovereignty and independence must be restored. The occupation must end in all its forms, including military bases and economic domination. The war was fought for oil and regional domination, in violation of international law, justified by lies and deception without consultation with the Iraqi people. The occupation has been a catastrophe for both our peoples. We believe it is the best interest of both our peoples for the war and occupation to end and for the Iraqi people to determine for themselves their future and the kind and extent of international aid and cooperation that suits their needs and serves the interests of the Iraqi people. The national wealth and resources of Iraq belong to the Iraqi people. We are united in our opposition to the imposition of privatization of the Iraqi economy by the occupation, the IMF, the World Bank, foreign powers and any force that takes away the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own economic future. We call for the cancellation of Saddam's massive foreign debt by the IMF and other international lenders without any conditions imposed upon the people of Iraq who suffered under the regime that was supported by these loans. The foreign debt of Iraq is the debt of a fallen dictatorship, not the debt incurred by the Iraqi people. Further, we call for the cancellation of reparations imposed as a result of wars waged by Saddam Hussein's regime, and call for the return of all Iraqi property and antiquities taken during the war and occupation. The bedrock of any democracy is a strong, free, democratic labor movement. We are united in our commitment to build strong, independent, democratic unions and to fight to improve the wages, working and living conditions of workers everywhere. We confront the same economic and corporate interests that have mounted a global assault on workers and labor rights. We demand strong labor rights in Iraq at the same time that we strive to reverse the erosion of labor rights in the United States and elsewhere around the world where they are threatened. We call for free and independent labor unions in Iraq based on internationally recognized ILO conventions guaranteeing the right to organize free of all government interference and including full equality for women workers. We condemn the continued enforcement of Saddam's decree number 150 issued in 1987 that abolished union rights for workers in the extensive Iraqi public sector and call for its immediate repeal. We commit ourselves to strengthening the bonds of solidarity and friendship between working people of our two countries and to increase communication and cooperation between our two labor movements. With the strength and solidarity of workers across the U.S., in Iraq and internationally, we are confident that we can build a just and democratic future for labor in Iraq, the U.S., and around the world. June 26, 2005 ********************
SOPA's message of support to COSATU's call for Strike Action [Note: The Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA) is a party linked to the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples; COSATU is the largest trade union federation in Azania/South Africa.] Dear Comrades The Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA) supports and salutes the Congress of South African trade Unions (COSATU) on its courageous mobilization for protest and strike action on the 27th of June 2005. This demonstration by the working class of its force, expressing its deep-going rejection of policies that urges for the implementation of anti-worker measures and thereby creates unemployment and poverty, is supported by SOPA. This call for protest and strike action is a courageous demonstration that the working class has not been defeated and major struggles lie before us. The working class is today going through tough times. The black working class in particular, is receiving blows, notably from the leaders they themselves brought to power and who are now betraying their mandate, focusing their onslaught in order to destroy the black working class they claim to represent. For SOPA, this calls for a perspective, an orientation that brings out the terrible situation the youth and workers of our country is submitted to and is facing today. This is why the President of SOPA has not only indicated willingness to deliver SOPA's message of support personally at the Library Gardens, but has also called on SOPA members to join the strike action. SOPA agrees with COSATU that the working class cannot accept that the labour market and labour costs must be adapted and become flexible to the level determined by the world markets. Does deregulation of the labour market not force workers and young people to bear the exploitation and poverty organized by the capitalists who, to safeguard their privileges and profits, always grab for more? But the working class refuses to give up. They are seeking the ways and means, which will allow them to expropriate capital, the only way to stop mankind from sliding down to barbarism. The workers are looking towards and calling on their organizations to unite and rise to the task of creating a power structure capable of expropriating capital. Who can oppose the call for the realization of unity of workers and of their organizations? Should we not call on all organizations, representing the interests of workers to unite so that everything that is necessary for black workers to live and to survive is wrenched? Is it not necessary to join hands, to organize? SOPA has set itself no other purpose than to push forth the interests of the black working class; this also means to serve the cause of humanity. We insist that organizations willed into existence by the working class, for itself, must play their role and defend the interests of workers and the youth, the interests of those who suffer and toil. Trade Unions must stand by their role of defending the sole interests of workers and must condemn the "left wing" leaders that conjure up the conditions favouring the victory of the right wing by implementing the right wing's agenda SOPA cannot but conclude that those who suffer and toil must demand that their organizations put an end to this political agenda dictated by the US and the EU, sponsored through the IMF and World Bank; and implemented by governments at their service. Your strike action takes place a week before the meeting of the G8 countries. The so-called African leadership has hypocritically entrusted the hope for our future from the outcome of this meeting. The question that SOPA comrades are asking, can the working class expect any help from those who own the means of production and their henchmen? Can capitalists and those beholden to their agenda outline measures enabling the black working class to live and survive? The interests of those who own are radically opposed to the interests of those who suffer. Who can say otherwise? It is the imperialism of the G8 countries, led by the United States, which is the core, the driving force of the economic, political and social decay that hits the working class in every country, including the American working class in general and blacks in particular. In conclusion, we know that mankind can only emerge from the decay that is sweeping across the whole world by breaking with the rotten system of the private ownership of the means of production. Yours for socialist revolution Monwabisi Duna
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Open World Conference of Workers