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ILC INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 145
A dossier of weekly information published by the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
August 16, 2005
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To contact us:
ILC International Newsletter
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
87, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010 Paris, France
PRESENTATION:
In this issue we publish an interview with Miron Cozma, Romanian
trade union leader, who spent eight years in prison and was finally
released in June 2005 after a vigorous campaign in which the ILC figured
prominently.
Bush must bring the troops back home immediately!
This is the cry of a mother whose son was killed in Iraq and who is
camping out opposite George Bush's ranch, joined by an association of
mothers' whose sons have been killed and veterans of the Vietnam War.
This is happening while polls indicate that the U.S. public is
increasingly opposed to the occupation of Iraq by the U.S. army.
We publish below the fourth part of Roger Sandri's report on the debate
that arose during the World Conference in Madrid in March 2005 and the
meeting on June 12, 2005 in Geneva in regard to important upcoming
international events -- namely, the General Assembly of the UN
Millennium 5, the summit of the WTO in Hong Kong, the General Assembly
of the UN on the eve of the Social Forum in Porto Alegre, the Congress
that has on its agenda the proclamation of a new world trade union
organization that will evolve from the fusion between the ICFTU and the
WCL.
There is also in this issue "an appeal for the second Caribbean
Conference for the sovereignty of the peoples and independence of trade
unions," as well as a report from China.
Serge Goulart, coordinator of the Council of occupied factories in
Joinville, Brazil sent us his report following the international
campaign against the threat of jail terms and closure of occupied
factories.
Next week we will publish a report and the documents adopted during the
"International Conference for the nationalization of hydrocarbons
in Bolivia, against privatisations and for the defense of the national
sovereignty of our peoples," that met in La Paz on August 12
through 14, 2005.
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Now that the holidays are over and people are returning to work, we
invite you to renew your subscription to the ILC International
Newsletter or subscribe to it. The ILC needs your support.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Pg. 1.: Presentation
Pg. 2.: The United States
Pg. 3.: Interview with Miron Cozma
Pg. 4, 5.: "The Reform of the UN" by Roger Sandri (4th
part)
Pg. 6.: Caribbean: Call for the 2nd Caribbean Conferece
Pg. 7.: China: excerpts from the "Information Letter"
of the International Inquiry Commission of the democratic labor movement
against repression in China
Pg. 8.: Brazil: a report from Serge Goulart, coordinator of the
Council of occupied factories
Subscriptions
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UNITED STATES
"Bush must bring the troops home immediately!"
(Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq)
"I want him (Bush) to stop using the sacrifice of my son to
justify this killing Š He must bring the troops home immediately."
This is a mother's cry. It is Cindy Sheehan's appeal, mother of
Casey, a U.S. soldier who was killed five days after his arrival in
Iraq, at the early age of 25. This woman is presently camped outside
George W. Bush's holiday ranch in Crawford, Texas. She has been joined
by associations of mothers of soldiers who have been killed, as well as
veterans of the Vietnam War. Les Echos, a daily newspaper in France,
asked the following in its August 18 issue: "In the United
States the mother of a U.S. soldier fallen in Iraq is personally
challenging George W. Bush. This is neither illegitimate nor new, but
this time the dye is cast. Is it because an invisible threshold of
tolerance has been reached (there are close to 2,000 dead)?" The
picture portrayed by opinion polls show that the U.S. people are
increasingly against the occupation of Iraq by the U.S. Army."
A mother's anger
Although he did not deign to meet her, Bush nevertheless was obliged
to answer her indirectly: "It is very important for our citizens
whatever their political opinions, to understand that our mission is
vital."
Vital? Certainly not for the 1,850 young North Americans (official
count) who gave their lives in this conflict! Even more cynical, Bush
adds, "I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She believes strongly in
her ideas and she has the right to say what she thinks. This is America,
and she is entitled to her opinions."
But Bush's words have not lessened Cindy Sheehan's determination
and, behind her, an ever-growing number of U.S. citizens: "We
are insulted when people like Bush say that America must stay the course
in Iraq to honor the sacrifices of our children. Not a single drop of
blood should be spilled on lies and deceptions."
A frightening balance sheet
Behind what is becoming a national affair, there is a veritable
political crisis slamming the Bush administration. The conflict in Iraq
is seriously bogged down. Despite triumphal declarations by Bush
"on the control of the country by Iraqi authorities,"
(Washington Post) they are forced to admit that the occupation of Iraq
has caused the death of nearly 2,000 young people in U.S. uniform and
thousands of Iraqi citizens. On campuses, U.S. youth are starting to
rebel against the army recruiters.
No one dares to raise the issue of the supposed reconstruction of Iraq,
which was still a consideration several months ago, with unemployment
rates calculated at 50% to 65% and more than six million residents of
Baghdad living without electricity. A recent official declaration by the
United States estimates that the society offered Iraqis is not "a
model of democracy or security." Even Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Defense
Secretary, is forced to take into account and cautiously declare,
"Our objective is to reduce our forces as the Iraqi security forces
are developed." But the demands of the oil magnates are not far off
and Rumsfled is already pointing the finger at Iran and Syria as the
next U.S. targets.
A new "Constitution" for Iraq to divide the country
One of the indications of this crisis is the urgency with which Bush
is pressuring the pretended Iraqi "government" to produce a
new "Constitution" before the country breaks up since it
provides separate zones of influence for the different factions. Those
who are drafting this project are fighting over control of oil resources
where the control and benefits will naturally fall into the hands of
North American companies.
To lay ones' hands on the oil goldmine
Three years after the invasion, without further pretexts, they are
there to lay their hands on the oil goldmine of the region. Let us
remember that Bush and the principal figures in his administration are
directly derived from the board of directors of North American oil
companies and over the last few weeks the price of a barrel of oil has
artificially reached the modest sum of $66 dollars on the market.
Already the U.S. press has revealed that the Pentagon officials estimate
that the revenue from Iraqi oil will pay for part of the expenses of the
occupation. This is just fodder for the political crisis. The Washington
Post speaks of "a chasm between the initial objectives of the U.S.
administration and reality 28 months later." Wayne White, former
head of the U.S. Secret Services in Iraq, has admitted that they are
"unachievable."
Camped out with Cindy Sheehan and making reference to the exceptions
taken by Bush and his administration after 9/11 (1) a veteran of the
Vietnam War accuses him: "Bush told us we are in Iraq to give them
democracy and freedom, but they are taking our own democracy and our own
freedom." More than ever, along with the mothers of soldiers: we
demand the immediate and unconditional return of the U.S. troops in
Iraq!
(1) Exceptional measures such as those contained in the Patriot Act,
that restricts the democratic freedoms snatched over 200 years ago by
the U.S. revolution and the trade union right, for example, in ports
classified as "zones of national security."
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"The Iraqi Constitution at the bottom of the well"
(Jeune Afrique-L'Intelligent)
What is this Iraqi "Constitution" and why does Bush
pressure the Iraqi "government" to adopt it on the double in
the framework of the plan for a "Greater Middle East"?
Jeune-Afrique-L'Intelligent (August 7 through 13, 2005) offers food for
thought: "The oil powers are preparing to set foot on what
constitutes perhaps the largest oil reserves in the world, as of the
return to civilian peace and the rehabilitation of the infrastructures.
If the various communities of the country agree on the division of
resources and powerŠ"
In an ironic comment on "the Constitution at the bottom of the
well," the reporter insists on the institutionalisation of the
complete break-up of the country: "The Kurdish ministers of the
Jaafari government have accepted to take up their posts only on
condition that when they take the oath it will be done in the name of a
"federal Iraq" and not just Iraq. The authorities of the Iraqi
Kurdistan have already turned a deaf ear on its constituents by signing
exploration and production contracts with small foreign companies
without consultation with the central government."
Giving us an idea of the real powers this pretended Constituent Assembly
possesses, resulting from elections organized by the U.S. occupation,
the newspaper continues: "The authorities of Basra, leaning on this
jurisprudence hope to do the same. The central Euphrates region was in
its way and why not NinevehŠ" Iraq torn to shreds by overlords who
control the clans. Why? The newspaper concludes: "The Constitution
will give a judicial and organizational framework to the oil
sector."
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ROMANIA
An interview with Miron Cozma
Introduction
Miron Cozma spent eight years in prison in a period since 1990
during which the governments of Iliescu (1), Constantinescu (2) and
Basescu (3) succeeded each other. How can one explain their
determination to keep him in prison for so many years?
It is evident that all tried to control him, seeing a leader with a
great influence on workers through a network of very strong trade union
organizations, founded on strong commitment of its members, ensuring the
financial independence of their organizations with important
contributions.
Miron Cozma was the leader of the miners' organization of the Valley of
the Jui, but also coordinated two national trade union organizations:
the Confederation of mining trade unions of Romania and the
Sainte-Barbara Convention. This convention grouped together three trade
union federations on a national level, from which the Meridian
confederation was issued.
This network of organizations covered over 75% of Romania. In Timisoara,
for example, through the departmental alliance of trade unions, Miron
Cozma coordinated the commercial trade unions, that of the beer factory,
civil and industrial construction, etc; on a national level, the
railroad trade unions with the exception of the Brasov trade union, were
members of this organization along with the Bucharest subway,
construction workers and the health care trade unions.
This represented over one million and a half members (4). A strong trade
union movement constituted on the basis of a social platform that, for
example, included the constitution of a trade union savings fund.
Miron Cozma was released from prison on June 14, 2005 after a fierce
campaign in which the ILC was heavily involved.
Interview by Florin Constantin
Notes
(1) Ion Illiescu, social democrat leaders, president of Romania from
1990 to 1996 and from 2000 to 2004.
(2) Emil Constantinescu, politician of the right, President of Romania
from 1996 through 2000.
(3) Traian Basescu, center-right politician, elected president of
Romania in 2004.
(4) In Romania, the rate of trade unionism has always been strong in the
industrial and public sectors. This is the importance of trade unions
coordinated by Miron Cozma that chose him as the representative of
Romanian workers before the ILO in 1994 and 1995.
Interview: Why this relentless persecution of you?
I used to visit people at work in order to find out what their real
problems were. That is why they appreciated me. Our trade union had
planned to create a TV network. But nowadays, the public television that
broadcasts in the Valley of Jui is done via rented relays that belong to
the miners' trade union. This is what frightens politicians. They have
tried to make me all sorts of offers, even suggesting they would appoint
me as Interior Minister (5) and many other proposals, including
financial. But I refused.
I am convinced that free trade unions can exist in Romania, democratic
trade unions that are not subject to political pressures. I had been
criticized for supporting Illiescu's regime. This is not true. The
Illiescu regime is the one that fabricated my penal dossier in 1992, for
the events of 1991 when I demanded the resignation of the government
because of the atrocities committed at the time. 46 miners were wounded.
People died at the time; it was not the miners or myself who killed
them. I refused all commitments. I did not want to betray those who
elected me and who had confidence in me. This was the start of the war
of penal dossiers. They fabricated dossiers for all sorts of reasons.
All political regimes after 1990 have used my name. Moreover, Illiescu
used it in his electoral campaign and gained votes in 2000 while I was
in prison. He said he would release me while I was in prison because of
the dossier fabricated by his people.
Subsequently you were criticized for your political liaison with the
Grand Romanian Party
I repeat, I have always believed in the idea of a free trade
unionism, not subject to politics. Vadim Tudor (6), president of that
xenophobic and extremist party, declared that once he was in power he
would release me. There was much speculation. "Cozma is a member of
the PRM, he is towing the PRM, etc." It is not my fault that after
I was jailed, my lawyer became a PRM senator. The miners were strong
because they were united and there were no ethnic difference. We have
never been considered Romanians, Gypsies, Hungarians, Jews, Germans or
other nationalities. We were always above all miners, brothers in work,
there under the earth. I can't be xenophobic, I can't be an extremist,
and I cannot be associated with someone like Corneliu Vadim Tudor. But
the political class in order to discredit me, especially abroad, used
Tudor's declarations.
You have paid dearly for your principles
I don't know how many Romanians would have accepted to go to prison
in support of their principles. Even if I have spent eight years in
prison my principles are unchanged. I formulated these principles in the
70's in the years when in Romania, the miners were demonstrating against
Ceausescu and in which I participated. Perhaps the extremely corrupt
political class that wanted to see me jailed, feared that I would apply
these principles on a political plane and see the trade unions that I
led constitute a party linked to trade unions.
In Europe there are many parties linked to trade unions. Nevertheless I
did not want to take this road. After eight years in prison I have
decided to support the creation of a party. Not because I want to take
revenge politically but since leaving prison, day after day, the people
I meet ask me to help them find a solution to their situation. People
ask me not to abandon them, to continue to fight.
Would a political party be a solution?
Yes, but only if we speak of a party for those that are poor and
numerous. All existing parties are founded on private or group
interests. They are corrupt. Public funds are used to satisfy these
interests and never get to where it is needed and there is much poverty.
The same thing happens with European Community funds. Article 43 of the
Romanian Constitution foresees that the state is obliged to guarantee
the people a decent standard of living. That is why I have fought and
will continue fighting, because up to the present this has not been
realized. In reality there has been generalized pillaging, pyramidal
financial games and bank failures. Always for the benefit of
politicians. Meanwhile the people continue to wait, and I have realized
there is a need for a party for them, a workers' party.
We are all sons of workers. I began as a worker, an unqualified worker,
and then I worked my way up the ladder until I became an engineer in
1977. I want this clearly known: the workers' party that we want to
create in Romania will be in line with the principles of the platform of
the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples. I will
continue to consult with my brothers in this organization, from
different countries, to find the best formula, starting with the
interests of Romanian workers and those of the whole world. This beyond
the respect I will always have to ILC activists the rest of my life. I
would like to thank the ILC and my comrades who support it. I
sent them a message when I was released to tell them they are more than
my comrades they are really my brothers, because they have been by my
side during my worst moments.
People I never met, veritable strangers, were not misled by the Romanian
media offensive against me. They meticulously analysed the facts, noted
that all I had done was my duty, respecting my trade union's mandate. I
want to thank them and I hope to do this directly through my activities.
I would like to go everywhere that campaigns were carried out in my
favor in order to publicly explain what I have suffered in jail, while
my brothers in the labor movement were by my side and to show them they
were not wrong to do this.
What will happen on September 12, at the end of the trial regarding
the events of 1999? Do you think you could be jailed again?
In Romania, everything is possible. If they dared bring up the
affair of the recovery of money from the Camaratu (7) brothers, with
whom I have no connection, in order to arrest me after my pardon was
revoked in December 2004, then they are capable of anything. I have
already received an 18-year sentence for ridiculous accusations
regarding the events of 1991. Besides the accusation that I usurped
state powers, I was also sentenced for infractions linked to railroad
operations, sentences which can only be applied to railroad workers.
I was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "false signalling."
I also got 12 years for "non-accomplishment of work duties."
They also added ten more years for "having been drunk on the
job." It is really ridiculous. What kind of justice is this? But if
the law is applied I do not fear September 12. I consider myself
innocent of the events that took place in January 1999. I can prove that
these events by politicians in order to show the IMF and the World Bank
the problems in Romania and ask them for money at the start of the
budgetary year.
This trial was submitted to the High Court of Justice (8) through a
recourse introduced by my colleagues and myself. The Appeals Court
sentenced me to ten years and my colleagues Constantin Cretan, Romeo
Beja, Dorin Lois, Vasile Lupu and Ionel Ciontu to five years each. Since
the prosecution did not introduce its recourse, I cannot be sentenced to
more than ten years. Furthermore, as these are acts similar to those for
which I was sentenced to 18 years, the one about usurping the power of
the state, according to Romanian law, these sentences should be fused to
the highest sentence, that is to say eighteen years, for which I was
pardoned. Even if the ten-year sentence stands, I have already spent
eight years in prison, over two thirds of the sentence, which gives me
the right to conditional freedom. So they can do what they want, even
apply the whole sentence because, as I told you, In Romania anything is
possible.
What is the situation of your colleagues?
Their situation is very grave. If my colleagues are not acquitted,
if they do not change the charge of "having usurped the power of
the state" to "disturbing the public order," for which
there exists a pardon decree, they will end up in prison. They have not
been jailed thus far and this will be very hard on them. Romanian
prisons are very hard. That is why I am asking my colleagues and my
brothers in the ILC to support them. It is they who really need support
at this time.
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Notes:
(5) This practice is widely spread in Romania. The leader of the largest
Romanian trade union confederation, the CNSLR, Victor Ciorbea, became
prime minister in 1977. Miron Mitrea, who succeeded him as leader, after
the transformation of this federation into CNSLR-Fratia, later became
the Minister for Transportation.
(6) Corneliu Vadim Tudor, president of the Grand Romanian Party (PRM)
came in second at the presidential election of 2000.
(7) Nutzu and Sile Camaratu, notorious leaders of the gypsy mafia.
(8) The new name for the Supreme Court of Justice.
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The UN Reform: A Report by Roger Sandri (fourth part)
Toward a globalized world order
Without a doubt, the next General Assembly of the UN that has on its
agenda Millennium 5, will be oriented towards "world
governance" which I have already mentioned in my previous articles.
Many elements must be taken into consideration in restructuring. From a
political point of view, the UN will widen the permanent Security
Council to include other members, especially Africans and Latin
Americans.
The Bush administration is carefully watching the future composition
of the Security Council, attempting to maintain a strong pressure in
order to influence the decisions that might detrimental to U.S.
interests.
In the social area, on September 2005 the UN General Assembly will hold
its Millennium+5 meeting dedicated to the fight against poverty
throughout the world.
In December 2005, the WTO will be holding a summit meeting in Hong Kong.
The UN General Assembly will meet during the same month after the WTO
summit.
Later, in January 2006 on the eve of the Social Forum in Porto Alegre, a
congress proclaiming a new international trade union organization, with
the fusion of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
and the World Confederation of Labor (WCL).
The calendar has been set, barring changes, and it is not insipid. It is
a well-planned progression that could have incalculable consequences on
the future of the international labor movement and on affiliated
organizations.
At the last general assembly of the ILO, I had the opportunity to
express myself in a paper titled: : "The ILO at the
crossroads." This event should be taken into account in a global
analysis. For the first time in its history, the Director General gave a
brief report on activities and perspectives, limiting himself to an
ambiguous declaration called "Introduction to the debate."
Also the planned UN reform, even though the subject seems less important
than the modification of the Security Council, should refer to the
reform of the Economic and Social Council for the installation of a
permanent group. The ILO and the new Economic and Social Council could
be considered as superimposed and enter into a new restructure. Let us
remember that the ILO is an institution of the UN.
It is necessary to remember than on the occasion of the Porto Alegre
Forum in 2001, the organizations defined the four large axis on which
they propose to base their actions:
a) The production of wealth
b) Access to wealth
c) Strengthening civil society
d) Political and ethic power for the new society
Even if the first two elements do not veer from the usual paths, and
besides the means that must be applied to control the effects in the
class wars and on behalf of the labor force, the other two elements fit
perfectly in the concept of a "new governance," fusing general
and special interests in the melting pot of civil society.
This definition leads to a form of structured and institutionalised
super nationality, in the form of a world super state acting as the
expression of global economy.
This new "world governance" is miles from the democratic
concepts based on pluralism.
In an article published in Le Monde diplomatique of April 2001, Claude
Nicolet writes, starting from a simple European example:
"In reference to the transfer of sovereignty towards European
requests, the Republic has no basic objections. By nature it can only
tend towards the universal, the nation being the necessary frame
although not necessarily definitive. It has one condition: these
possible transfers must lead to reconstruction, on a European level, of
a request for democratic political sovereignty able to ensure authority
that it will benefit from the same character of legitimacy, the same
regulatory functions and the same capacity of resistance in reference to
special interests, up to the present recognized in the national
state."
As far as I am concerned I consider that in a system based on the
method of capitalist production that regulates social and political
relations, only the national framework can safeguard the democratic
norms in force, particularly, the freedom to organize, demand and
reject.
The negative vote of May 29, 2005 naturally expressed the commitment of
the people to these democratic norms in opposition to the
"economic"??? environment.
Prolonging the globalist structure, encouraged by transnational
societies that have the real political power on a world scale and on the
institutions of globalism, in issue No. 72 of the magazine Maniere de
voir, Daniel Bell points out the contradictory role of the state in the
world of inter-planetary dependence. He writes:
"The national state has become too small for the great problems
and too big for the small problems. In economic terms, the companies
search for regional or transnational establishment, spreading their
capital or often, their factories where the comparative advantages are
greater. In sociological terms the technical groups and others want more
direct control on the decisions that concern them and want to reduce the
government to more controllable portions. Finally, according to the
Trilateral Commission, the world center of the multinational complex, a
stronger state is needed, even more powerful on an international scale
and more decentralized on a national scale."
For us, we recall that the balance of the opposites is naturally
opposed to the global project, always maintaining the need of human
societies for a closely shared life project. It is our opinion of
political democracy, expressed by the parties.
From this point of view, it is absolutely the national framework that is
the most secure since it is the only one based on political sovereignty,
which the globalist and supranationals do not guarantee, promoting a
neo-totalitarianism.
The new world trade union organization
Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in his report for the next general
assemblies of the UN, writes:
"The sates, however, cannot do the job alone. Civil society as
well as the private sector occupy and increasingly larger and more
important place in the space formerly reserved to the states and is
therefore evident that the announced objectives cannot be achieved
without its total participation."
In this proposal, participative democracy takes the place of
democratic policy. Labor trade unionism has an ample place having been
conferred new responsibilities by the ensemble of society.
As we know, there are two organizations in organized structures on an
international level: the ICFTU and the WCL. These two organizations
decided to scrap each other in order to give birth, in January 2006, on
the eve of the Social Forum of Porto Alegre (it is not gratuitous), a
new world trade union organization.
The 18th World Congress of the ICFTU was held in Miyazaki, Japan on
December 5 through 10, 2004. The title of their final resolution is:
"Globalize solidarity. Build a world trade union movement for
the future."
However this resolution brings up numerous questions: "On
the other hand the congress recognizes the urgent need to obtain
political and public support for our policies, developing a project for
a trade union policy to address globalization."
This confirms the will of the ICFTU in the framework of another
organization, to totally commit itself on the path of integration into
globalization and thereby rejecting the principles of internationalism,
transforming itself into a "trade union-party" involved in
world governance.
I have already spoken on the subject in the pages of Informations
Ouvrieres. Later, a new event arose, with harsh consequences. It is
about the break produced in the AFL-CIO. Three large trade unions leave
the united trade union confederation. Our U.S. comrades have informed us
that they foresaw the break-up. The breakaway group agrees on a position
that tends to transform the trade union into an association that
surpasses the defense of the special interests of the employees by
assuming the problems of society as in the manner of an NGO.
What has just happened with the AFL-CIO is most surely a premonition of
the path chosen by the future worldwide trade union organization.
On a structural level and the consequences that could derive from it for
the affiliated national organizations, we can refer to the information
broadcast in the year 2000 by the ICFTU. The intention to apply
reunification to international trade unionism already existed which must
have the organic unity of the ensemble of the national affiliated
organizations.
The restructuring movement already produced in the International Trade
Union Federations (ITUF a new name for the SPI) also promote the organic
unity of its members.
The report on the policy for action adopted by the IMF up to 2009
foresees, along with the UNI, a territorial redefinition that surpasses
the nation states with the creation of new geographical spaces. In this
project and this space, the IMF only one unique organization affiliated
and mandated.
On a world scale will the new redefinition break the national labor
confederations in favor of structures that will federate the united
international trade union federations?
The financial problems are not absent from the initial thought and the
decisions that will be taken in consequence. It is probable that the IMF,
the World Bank and the European Union, as do all globalized industries
in order to finance the NGO's, will be ready to financially support an
"accompanying trade unionism."
What will happen to the independence of the trade union movement with
respect to the powers, whichever they are? We would then be involved
with a strategy for integration on a worldwide level that denies class
wars, trade unionism, social movements, converting itself into the
transmission belt of the new "world governance."
The reform of the UN naturally includes all the subjects cited, that are
far from being exhaustive.
The global scheme to which international trade unionism is agreeing in
its strategy of accompaniment with the capitalist power, on the contrary
confirms and reinforces the vigilant role played by the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples in its reply role.
To globalization, we oppose internationalism.
In conclusion I will cite the former deputy André Bellon (1) placing
internationalism and globalization in opposition, recalling the
principles of the former in its democratic and pacifist conception,
without in any case denying neither the national nor the individual:
"On the contrary, globalization dilutes the individual in the
multitude and the struggles in the great magma of contradictions. Unable
to act in a world that escapes all political control, some modern
leftist thinkers utilize the concept of alter-globalization for the
purpose of discarding internationalism. It is necessary to beware of the
risks of these evolutions. The control of language, we repeat, is a
fundamental element of freedom."
(1) André Bellon, Why I am not an alter-globalist. In praise of
anti-globalization. Ed. Mille et une nuits
**********
CARIBBEAN
Call for the 2nd Caribbean Conference for the sovereignty of the
peoples and independence of trade unions, to be held December 16 and 17,
2005 in Guadeloupe.
In December 12 and 13, 2002 thirteen organization representing nine
countries met at the "Caribbean Conference Against Deregulation,
For the Defense and Reconquest of Labor Rights, for the Independence of
Trade Unions, Against the FTAA and the Free Trade Agreements" that
ruin the economy of small countries, already under-developed by three
centuries of colonization, for the right of the Caribbean peoples to
self determination.
Three years later, as is happening throughout the world, under the thumb
of the transnational corporations, agricultural exploitation,
unemployment, layoffs, destruction of public services, privatizations,
and an increase in delinquency, drugs and prostitution, the situation of
the workers and peoples of the Caribbean has greatly degenerated.
Above all there is an escalation in the threats against national
sovereignty and the independence of trade unions.
In February 2004, the elected president of Haiti, Betrand Aristide,
was kidnapped. The CARICOM countries that characterized this "as a
dangerous precedent for the entire region" condemned this
kidnapping. Then the first Black republic in the world was occupied by
UN troops under Brazilian command that spread death and desolation. We
also witnesses a succession of attempts at coup d'états, orchestrated
by the U.S.A., in order to overthrow the elected president of Venezuela,
Hugo Chavez. The people of Venezuela, strongly organized around their
new independent trade union organization, the National Union of Workers
(UNT), have been able to prevent this up to the present.
We have witnessed an increase in repression against the principal
Guadeloupan trade union, the UGTG, co-organizer of the previous
Caribbean Conference. One of its leaders, Michel Madassamy was kidnapped
by hooded met sent by the French government and later jailed. The strong
mobilization of the Guadeloupan peoples supported by an international
campaign organized by the International Liaison Committee of Workers and
Peoples, obtained his release. Repression against the UGTG continues.
Increasingly, the most pernicious and subtle weapon is being used,
which consists in associating the trade unions to capitalist plans
In November 2001 a "Commission on the social dimension of
globalization" was created at the International Labor Organization
(ILO) whose objective was and remains to implement "a new world
governance" bringing together "governments, parliaments,
companies, members of civil society, trade union organizations, and
international organizations."
In the report presented in June 2004 at the 92nd Assembly of the ILO,
this commission indicated it had met with the IMF, the World Bank, the
WTO, the European Commission and the Bretton Woods group. This same
report was discussed during the congress of the ICFTU (International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions in December 2004, where the fusion
between the ICFTU and the World Labor Confederation (WLC) was decided.
It was also the subject of discussion at the world trade union forum
that preceded the World Social Forum in January 2005.
A proposal was made that the next meeting of the World Social Forum (WSF)
in 2006 would be the constituent congress of the new world federation.
The WSF is planned for January 2006 in Caracas.
Another date emanating from the World Social Forum will be the Caribbean
Social Forum, the first of its kind, planned for Martinique in July
2006. Its initial budget (later revised) was of five million euros, 1/3
financed by the French government, 1/3 by the European Union and 1/3 by
local Martinique groups. The organizers are in constant communication
with the French government that has declared the objectives in keeping
with its policies, especially regional cooperation. This government,
rejected by the French people on May 29, 2005 during the referendum on
the draft of the European Constitution, continues nonetheless to apply
the policies of capitalists and the European Union, and supervises all
the stages of the Caribbean Forum project.
Is it possible to defend the workers' and peoples' interests hand in
hand with those that daily reveal themselves as the worst enemies of the
workers and the sovereignty of the peoples?
Are the workers a positive balance sheet to draw different experiences
from a Capital-Labor association, pretending to replace a class struggle
trade union with a so-called "protest" trade unionism" at
the service of the interests of governments and capitalist companies?"
Have the peoples a positive balance sheet from the interventions of
foreign powers and military occupations under cover of the UN?
Can they draw a positive balance sheet from the experiences of resisting
foreign intervention?
This is what is on the agenda of the 2nd Caribbean Conference for the
sovereignty of the peoples and for the independence of trade unions that
will be held December 16 and 17 in Guadeloupe on the basis of
self-financing by each delegation.
The undersigned organizations invite you to participate in this
conference and submit questions to the debate on the democratic labor
movement of the Caribbean.
It is about reinforcing the cooperation between the peoples and
especially among the workers of the Caribbean, starting from our common
cultural bases and our shared origins. It is through free discussion, on
a base of indisputable facts that together we can find positive
solutions to the problems that plague us.
First signatories:
Dominica: National Workers Union (NWU); Dominica Trade Union (DTU).
Guadeloupe: Union Générale des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe (UGTG);
Travayè é Péyizan.
Haïti : Organisation Générale Indépendante des Travailleurs
Haïtiens (OGITH) ; Confédération Générale des Travailleurs Haïtiens
(CGTH)
Martinique: Alliance Ouvrière et Paysanne (AOP
This appeal has the support of the International Liaison Committee of
Workers and Peoples. Adopted in Roseau, Dominique on July 30, 2005
*******************
CHINA
"The workers have the right to refuse to descend into dangerous
mine
shafts without the fear of being laid off"
A report from Cai Chongguo, representative of the China Labour Bulletin
in France.
Defense of miners against catastrophes. A fire damp explosion on
July 12 in an illegal mine in the province of Shanxi: 19 dead. Xinhua,
the official news agency reported on the results of the investigation on
July 14: the balance sheet is of 36 dead, but in order to avoid paying
indemnity to the families, 17 miners' bodies were evacuated to another
province! Who cares about the fate of migrant workers? An explosion in a
mine in the province of Xinjiang on July 11: 83 dead. The director of
Safety at work said that overproduction lead to an unusual concentration
of gas in the mineshafts. On July 19 there was a fire damp explosion in
a Shanxi mine: 26 dead. Cai Chongguo, an exiled activist living in
France since 1989 who represents the China Labour Bulletin in this
country, sent the commission a long analysis of the situation in the
mines and that of the miners as well as proposals he believe would
prevent this infernal spiral of accidents.
The mines: analysis and proposals by Cai Chongguo
Undoubtedly the number of accidents in the mines is not decreasing.
Despite new safety regulations, reports, conference and the intervention
of the prime minister the central authorities seem powerless. Why?
"According to a report published in December 2004 by the safety
observer in state mines, coal production had been programmed to produce
1.95 millions tons but the Chinese mines can only produce 1.2 million
tons safely. The application of instructions from Hu Jintao (secretary
general of the PC and president of the republic) would lead to decrease
production to 700,000 tons. During a period of high demand and increased
prices, the result is predictable: the price of coal zoomed up.
The production of mid-size and large state mines will decrease in the
name of security, leading to an increase in illegal mines. Unscrupulous
private owners offer wine to the locals and therefore more miners
plunged into tragedy. It is a vicious circle that began long ago, in
which the government played an active role. The leaders still thinking
in the framework of a planned economy that China abandoned in this
era-at each level of government (town, country, province) they look for
a rapid economic growth and the central government is not longer able to
control the offer and demand of energy. It should know since if
privatised the small and mid-sized state mines and those that were owned
collectively."
How can you break this vicious circle when we see the local groups
cover all breaches of the law by owners of small mines (sometimes they
themselves are owners) in order to obtain part of the monstrous profits
gained from over exploitation of miners?
Cai Chongguo considers that the first objective is to lower prices,
by increasing production in state mines once safety measures have
improved and in agreeing to close all mines in a region where there is
one accident. A further three measures: firstly low coast bank loans for
investment in safety in state mines; an increase in the wages and social
security of the miners to avoid a high rate of rotation of personnel.
Then, for the mines that are not the property of the state, a rigorous
evaluation of safety criteria and an end to the stupid policy that
consists in closing 100 mines for 100 days when an accident happens at
one of them. Change the regulation that wants local governments to have
the power to stop production as well as the power to start up production
after safety measures are applied.
All this is accompanied by the participation of workers in management
and control of safety measures in state companies as well as
institutionalisation of relations between organized miners and the local
trade unions, the local safety at work bureaus and the media. "At
present the government does not authorize the workers of organize
themselves in an independent fashion and participate in safety control;
then in the case where the will of management is contrary to that of the
workers, it is management who carries the day."
Two conditions are essential for safety: "Firstly a
clear mandate from the government recognizing the worker organizations,
but that also ensures that the workers have the right to refuse to
descend into dangerous mine shafts without fear of being laid off.
Furthermore that the workers have the possibility of choosing their own
delegates, regardless of the name of the organization is these two
conditions exist. It can be a trade union like the ACFTU of mines that
has close ties with the trade union federation on a county and
provincial level. The idea of allowing miners to constitute their own
organization and participated in the management and control of safety
coincides with two ACFTU campaigns over these past few years: hold
democratic trade union elections in the base trade unions and build
trade unions in industries where migrant workers are concentrated.
Consequently these proposals do not represent a threat to the ACFTU but
it could be a real point of departure for a true reform and allow the
ACFTU to more efficiently protect workers' rights."
A day's work for the price of a cup of coffee
Last June 7 General Motors announced the downsizing of 25,000 jobs
in the United States by 2008 and the dismantling of the health benefits
for the families of workers and pensioners. From now through 2008
personnel in the United States would be reduced to 86,000 in 2008, from
180,000 in 2003 and 260,000 in 1991.
Five days before on June 2, General Motors (GM) announced that SGM , the
Chinese company 1/3 owned by GM along with the Chinese automobile make
SAIC, would re-purchase a factory near Qingdao. Last August, they had
already acquired a factory in Shenyang to manufacture industrial
vehicles. Furthermore foundation for another factory to manufacture
motors was laid in the autonomous region of Guangxi that will cost 3,200
million yens (320 million euros). In China, in fact, GM sales are
increasing thanks to the two 100%-owned factories and its seven co-owned
companies (33% and 51%).
Why pay U.S. workers with a bare minimum of trade union agreements $25
dollars an hour (wage in 2003) when by establishing themselves in China
they can employ cheap labor and consequently pay shareholders immense
dividends? We recently wrote at an assembly of their equipment
manufacturers and suppliers in the United States in 2003 when the Vice
President for purchasing at GM said: "This is the price we pay
for electrical cables in China. Those who want to do business with GM
must charge these prices." Ken Sa, an equipment manufacturer
from Michigan, then moved to China. A reporter wrote in the Detroit
News: "The Chinese workers made more mistakes than those at the
Michigan factory but they did something that the U.S. workers could not
have done: work an entire day for the price of a cup of coffee at
Starbucks."
Where lies the reality of these figures? A leader of the Canadian
trade union of automobile workers visited three Chinese automobile
factories in 2004. According to his testimony published in International
Union Rights, this last winter, the SGM factory in Shangle, jointly
owned by GM and Shangai Automotive, employs 5,500 workers to whom they
pay between 2,200 and 2,500 yens a month (220 to 250 euros) that is to
say four or five times that paid by SMIC in Shanghai. These are higher
than the miserable wages paid by private companies in Guangdong and the
special economic zones, aside from the fact that contributions and
participation in benefits doubled the wages in 2003 and food and
transportation are free. All this still costs far below those of U.S.
factories. But the race towards lower costs, allows us to note that in
Tianjin the same workers at Tianjin Toyota (a company owned by Toyota
and China FAW) only earns 1,500 yean (150 euros) a month, which works
out to a medium wage.
Although this reporter for the International Herald Tribune, June 29 was
not methodical in his comparisons, he underlines the difference in
wages: around $1.50 an hour at the Honda factory in Guangzhou versus $55
an hour for the U.S. worker. How to obtain the highest benefit? To pose
the question in these terms is to answer it.
********************
BRAZIL
A letter from Serge Goulart (Coordinator of the Occupied Factories
Council)
Joinville, August 10, 2005-08-22
Dear comrades:
I wish to advise you about the important victory we obtained in our
fight against the closure of occupied factories and against the threats
of imprisonment.
As you will recall, in our letter of June 18, 2005 we wrote:
"We are appealing to the ILC for these reasons, so that through
your contacts with international labor organizations you can propose an
international campaign in support of the just struggle undertaken by the
workers at Cipla, Interfibra, Flasko, Flakepet and Profiplast in order
for the Lula government to nationalize the occupied factories.
"At this time, when an unusual wave of judicial procedures,
developed by the Lula government's ministries are threatening to close
the factories and jail the leaders of this movement, it is necessary for
the international labor movement to take immediate action to help those
resisting this destructive pressure, that is the direct consequence of
the harmful actions of imperialism, that destroys nations, living
conditions, work and the existence of peoples."
The national and international campaign already carried out has been
without a doubt, the decisive elements that allows us to announce that
on July 14, 2005 we have reached an agreement with the district attorney
of the Treasury Department and with the Ministry of National Security
(that want payment for the debts of previous owners of the occupied
factories). This agreement suspends for six months, any threat to legal
closure of the factories, as well as threats of prison that hang over me
as the coordinator of the council of occupied factories.
This is a partial victory, somewhat limited, but is the result of our
national and international struggle that permits us a six-month breather
in order to increase our pressure on the Lula government to demand the
nationalization of the factories as the only solution compatible with
the maintenance of all the jobs in a lasting fashion.
Your international campaign, your letters, your motions, your
delegations before embassies throughout the world had, without a doubt,
an important impact in order to obtain this agreement. That is why I
thank you for your solidarity in the name of the thousands of workers
and their families who need these factories to be operational in order
to survive.
For us as well, it was important to announce this victory at a public
meeting in the presence of thousands of workers, at Joinville's center
in which one of the principal speakers was comrade Jean-Pierre Raffi, of
the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples aside from
the trade unionists and parliamentarians from the different cities in
Santa Catarina.
I wish to call everyone's attention to the fact that the same questions
will arise in six months if we are unable to impose our demands. We will
continue our struggle, counting on your international solidarity.
Fraternal greetings.
Serge Goulart
Coordinator of the Council for Occupied Factories
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