|
|
ILC INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER 172 A dossier of weekly information published by the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples February 28, 2006 INTRODUCTION: This issue is basically devoted to a report on the Berlin Conference held on February 25 and 26, 2006. There were 200 delegates from 15 countries: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. There were highly informative debates (which we will eventually publish in their entirety) and important decisions made. The conference adopted an "Address to the workers and peoples" which we publish in its entirety. Its opening paragraph reads as follows: "We are labour activists seeking to defend to all of the social gains won in the post-war period in each one of our countries; We are trade unionists, citizens, and local representatives engaged in the fight to defend all of the segments of political democracy secured by our peoples in each and every one of our countries; We held a European Conference in Berlin on February 25th and 26th and, as a result of our debates, have decided to make a formal address to all workers, all citizens, and to all of the peoples of Europe." The Address concludes in these terms: 'This is the address that we ask you to discuss. There is a debate in every country on all the issues that are raised in this address.We ask the questions: Are the facts mentioned here true, or not? Are their consequences a reality in our countries, or not? Is it possible to advance towards a free union of peoples and of free European nations without breaking with the European Union? That is what we propose to discuss as openly as possible in a regular bulletin with the objective of creating in Europe, on this basis, a 'European Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples'." We also publish a motion on page 8 in support of the Swiss workers on strike at La Boillat and an appeal to create a hardship fund in support of the jailed trade union miners in Romania, both adopted at the conference. A recent decision taken by the regional federal tribunal in Brasilia (TRF) to re-open the popular action of 1997 (at the initiative of federal deputy Clair PT-PR) against the privatisation of the Valley of Rio Doce (CVRD) Company clears the way for returning the CRVD to the public patrimony. The company was privatised in 1997 during the Cardoso government. This requires a political decision by the Lula government and a national campaign that is already under way. Our correspondent from Nigeria writes about this so-called 'poor' country in the grips of the avian flu: "Toward the end of the 90's, the health systems of most sub-Saharan countries had collapsed." This was due to pressure by the IMF and the World Bank to obtain payment of the debt. Why should one be surprised by this disastrous scenario, feared by the experts, in a country that is Africa's leading producer of chickens? Subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter ----- TABLE OF CONTENTS: Pg. 1: Introduction Subscriptions **********
Re-nationalization of Valley of Rio Doce company A recent decision taken by the regional federal tribunal in Brasilia (TRF) to re-open the popular action of 1997 (at the initiative of federal deputy Clair PT-PR) against the privatisation of the Valley of Rio Doce (CVRD) Company clears the way for returning the CRVD to the public patrimony. The company was privatised in 1997 during the Cardoso government. This requires a political decision by the Lula government and a national campaign that is already under way. 1997- The privatisation The Valley of Rio Doce company was sold in 1997 for 3.3 million reales. Independent studies at the time estimated the value of the company at 100 million reales. When it was privatised, the company was one of the largest in Brazil, and was the world's largest exporter of iron ore. It consisted of a complex of 34 companies including those that were directly controlled or sub-contracted by it and two railroads. Before its privatisation it earned 34.7 billions. With the privatization uranium reserves were sold and mineral exploration rights were ceded along the border. (Proprietorship was limited to the Union since the radioactive material was used for nuclear research). In 1997, when a popular uprising developed in the country rejecting Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC), on of its banners was the fight against the privatisation of Rio Doce. After the historic march of the MST to Brasilia in April of that year, Joao Pedro Stedelli, leader of the MST (Landless Movement) had sent the president 20,000 signatures for the defense of Rio Doce, gathered by the movement in preparation of the National Fight Day of May 27, 1997. This day was supported by O'Trabalho newspaper of the PT, the Brazilian section of the IV International. O'Trabalho in it issue No. 414 (April 30, 1997) reported on the signatures that were sent wrapped in the Brazilian flag. Throughout the country there were demonstrations saying "No to privatisation." The will to defend national sovereignty expressed in the fight to "oust FHC" in defense of Rio Doce, against the policy of privatisations, a will that was manifest in the 2002 vote for Lula, is again manifest in the beginning campaign throughout the country after the decision taken in Brasilia. Congresswoman Clair, "informed President Lula and Minister Dilma Roussef of the legal system to question the Rio Doce process and the commitment of social movements to fight for renationalization." (Excerpts from the CUT site). Antonio Carlos Spis, oil leader of the National Executive of the CUT said, "It is time to increase the pressure so that justice can be made to guarantee that the rich patrimony of the Brazilian people be retaken by the State and that its benefits be canalised towards improvement of the peoples' quality of life." (Excerpt from CUT site). This will to recuperate the Rio Doce and the entire national heritage sold through privatisations is manifest in a unanimous fashion at all the meetings held. In Parana, the campaign includes the abrogation of the privatisation of railroads and the defense of oil reserves in the country. The president of the oil workers trade union of Para and Santa Catarina, Anselmo Ernesto Ruoso Jr. said, "the objective is to pressure the government to undo the nonsense of the FHC dynasty. We fight for the re-nationalization of Rio Doce and at least for its reversal in public accounts." Following a meeting in the legislative assembly in Sao Paulo, at the initiative of Congressman of the PT, Renato Simoes, diverse trade unions movements and legislators confirmed their will to mobilise in order to demand Lula the reversal of Rio Doce and to lean on this fight for other conquests. A delegation from occupied factories joined the effort for the constitution of a committee and the holding of a public meeting demanding along with the re-nationalization of Rio Doce, the nationalization of the occupied factories. The concerns of the delegation of representatives of the oil workers trade union were to express in Spis' speech what he said, "the government should not only take over Rio Dolce, but it must stop the Petrobas sell off." Another oil leader concluded that this fight is for the control of the country's national resources, as the Bolivian workers who are fighting for the nationalization of their hydrocarbon resources. He is correct in saying that the fight for the renationalization of Rio Doce will be present in the preparations for the second continental meeting for the nationalization of oil and gas in Bolivia, against privatisations and for the defense of national sovereignty previewed this year in Caracas. The movement widens Other states in the country are starting to hold meetings to organize demonstrations for the renationalization of Rio Doce. In Rio de Janeiro, in Pará, in Minas Gerais, leaders and activists of the labor movement are starting to take up this fight linked to a fight for the possibility of the conquest of national sovereignty. The MST has already declared its support for the campaign. The question raised this year as Lula seeks re-election according to a letter in O'Trabalho dated February 2006: what proposal will he present to the people in order to win a second term? "In order to satisfy the demands of the workers of Cipla, Interfibra, Flakso and Flakepet, nationalization of the factories, to re-nationalize Rio Doce or to privatize the routes, the CBTU, the banks and chase after the auction of Petrobas?" Like other demonstrations taking place in the country for the land, work, education health care, the campaign for the re-nationalization of Rio Doce is an indication of what the workers want now. Regarding Rio Doce, as Congresswoman Clair explained at the meeting in Sao Paulo, it suffices that the Union, that represents the accused in the process (at the time of the FHC government) "change sides" by becoming the prosecutor. It would also suffice if the Lula government does not appeal the decision of the court and takes a hand in the recuperation of Rio Doce for the nation, by taking the side for the annulment of the privatisation. This is the mandate he received in 2002, since those who today demand the re-nationalization of Rio Doce were at the forefront of the movement that carried him into office. - Correspondent ----- Investments before privatisation: Carajas Complex: 5 million dollars ********** Berlin European Conference Nearly 200 delegates from 15 countries were united on the 25th and 26th February 2006 in Berlin for a European conference at the initiative of German activists and trade unionists and of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples. The final address launched at the conference sets "the objective to form a European Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples in Europe." "This European Liaison Committee is in no way designed to compete with other existing organisations whether, national or international. Everyone of us has his or her own affiliation, his or her own commitments. They must all be respected." In his reply to the discussion, Daniel Gluckstein summarized this proposal: "The decision to set up a 'European Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples' means that we are not alone, isolated, country by country. This is not just a struggle to bring our country out of the European Union. It is a struggle on the full European level to provide a solution for all the workers and peoples of Europe. This is the issue ahead." Effectively, the discussion produced a common point of agreement: We will lose everything if we remain within the framework of the European Union, with its directives and its policies. All the facts produced during the discussion have illustrated the veritable wave of destruction organised by the European Union, which "by destroying the industrial and agricultural bases in our countries, and by undermining the foundations of the sovereignty of our nations, poses the most serious threat to all the countries of the continent" -- as stated in the final address. 41 delegates contributed to this discussion, introduced by three speakers: Gotthart Krupp from Germany (member of the SPD, of the Berlin SPD workers commission's executive board and of the executive board of Ver.Di in Berlin), Jacim Milunovic, from ex-Yugoslavia( executive committee of the trade union "Independence," federation of the food-processing, restaurant, and tourist industries, and Daniel Gluckstein, National Secretary of the Workers Party (France) and coordinator of the International Liaison Committee. The final address, submitted for endorsement, has already been endorsed by 165 delegates at the conference. Countries represented: Belgium The Decisions: -- With the address which as been endorsed by the participants, the
conference as decided to set up "European Liaison Committee of
Workers and Peoples." Address to the workers and peoples of Europe "We are labour activists seeking to defend to all of the social gains won in the post-war period in each one of our countries; We are trade unionists, citizens, and local representatives engaged in the fight to defend all of the segments of political democracy secured by our peoples in each and every one of our countries; We held a European Conference in Berlin on February 25th and 26th and, as a result of our debates, have decided to make a formal address to all workers, all citizens, and to all of the peoples of Europe. Sixty years after the end of the war -- which for the second time within the lapse of a century had ravaged and destroyed the continent, plunging our peoples into destitution and horror -- the hopes for peace security and fraternity which have been a permanent motivation in each of our countries are now confronted with new and terrible threats. From every corner, we are repeatedly told, and in an increasingly urgent manner, that the European Union has brought us unity, peace and prosperity. There seems to be an almost desperate attempt to take the steam out of the movement developing in each of our countries, and which materialised in an impressive way in France on May 29th and in the Netherlands on the 1st of June last year when the French and Dutch people said "NO" to the European "Constitution." The reality forces us to say, based on the facts gathered from our 15 countries, that exactly the opposite is underway, with the destruction of the industrial and agricultural bases in our countries and the undermining of the sovereignty of our nations, producing the most serious threats to all of the countries of this continent. The policies of Brussels, of the European Union and of all its institutions have gathered speed since the Maastricht Treaty came into effect in 1993, creating first an historically unprecedented tidal wave of restructuring-outsourcing and layoffs. European governments are strictly forbidden by Brussels to take measures to oppose this destruction, by virtue of the Maastricht Treaty, which bans any State from using public money to help ailing industries. To give just one example: The bosses of the German steel industry have recently threatened unions with the transfer abroad (offshoring) of 400,000 jobs if they do not accept their demands to deregulate and to reduce labour costs. In the name of the enlargement of the "Union" to 25 countries, industrialists receive subsidies to relocate their factories to Eastern Europe where they can impose semi-slave conditions to exploit the workers of these countries who suffer from unemployment as a result of the privatisation and dismantling of their State factories, policies imposed as part of the conditions to join the European Union. Is this their Europe? Where is this "Europe of Peace and Fraternity" which they dare to talk of, when this "restructuring" -- resulting from the implementation of treaties and decisions of European Summits and the European Central Bank; and the thousands of directives which governments are ordered to implement -- only brings about an unheard-of increase in unemployment and a savage competition between manufacturers from east to west, and from north to south, of the continent? The policy of the European Union is the total deregulation of the labour market, imposed on all of the governments of Europe via directives which have the sole objective of providing a work force deprived of any rights, to be exploited without limit by capital to the benefit of financial speculators and American pension funds. It is an obligation, for example, for all governments to immediately implement the guidelines for employment which impose "the flexibility of the labour market." No collective bargaining agreements, no statutes, can resist this treatment for very long, as witnessed by the reports during this conference by trade unionists, especially from Germany, France, Denmark, Britain ... The policy of the European Union, in the name of respecting the principle of "free and unbiased competition", means the privatisation of all public services, of postal services, of electricity production and distribution, of transport, as is demanded by directives 2002/39/CE, 2003/54/CE, 2001/12-13-14/CEO. The policy of the European Union amounts to the destruction of all systems of social security, pension schemes in order to conform with the Stability Pact. It means the privatisation of all public hospitals, in Great Britain, in Italy, in Germany, in France. ... And, as if this tidal wave of destruction affecting all the bases of civilised life across the whole continent were not enough, Brussels orders the disintegration of national States in an attempt to prevent the resistance from organising based in this same national framework. In France, the regionalisation is used to destroy the unity of the Republic in order to liberate the State from its obligations to maintain public services, education and healthcare for its citizens. In Germany, there is the reform of the federal state, aimed at exploding the law on financial compensation, which obliges the State to ensure equal access of all citizens to the same social rights in all of the Länder. This is followed by the dismembering of the Italian Republic into 20 little Italies, and the reform of autonomies in Spain. ... For the European Union it is a question of banning any expression of sovereignty of nations in order to isolate each region, each city, each commune, and to directly submit them to the iron boot of the 3% limit of public deficit dictated by the "Stability Pact" -- thereby forcing them to privatise everything that can be privatized and to abandon the rest. This is it, their Europe? We all remember the images of the fields of ruins left by the war and the efforts made by all of our peoples for the reconstruction. Our comrades from the Balkans attending the Conference; are they not right to ask the question?: "The dislocation of our Yugoslav Federation was a disaster organised with the pillage and destruction of our factories,of our public services, paving the way for the provocations and the fratricidal fights, in the name of the defence of so-called ethnic interests, which led to an endless misery for the people. Is not this disaster embedded in the development of the senseless policy of destruction of all the labour gains, of all the infrastructures, to the sole benefit of international financial capital, and of the speculation which destroys all of the productive forces?" The policy of Brussels, the implementation of its treaties (Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice), of the decisions of its Summits (Lisbon, Barcelona ... ) of the European Commission's directives, means the Balkanisation of the whole continent. It means a threat to see the multiplication, regardless of the rights of nations and peoples to decide in a sovereign way their own fates, of Kosovo-like protectorates, under military occupation by American and United Nation troops, delivered up to mafias entrusted with the mission of terminating State ownership and to give preference to the "economy of the market place." In their relentless drive for profit, the international speculators, especially American, demand the destruction of European nations with the permanent violation of the peoples' sovereignty, the foundation of political democracy. The European Union is the exact opposite of the free union of peoples and of free nations of Europe that we have all aspired to for generations. It is the exact opposite of a rational organisation of production and exchanges devised to meet the needs of the vast majority of our peoples, with jobs for everyone respecting the rights won by workers' struggles over more than a century, to safeguard each and all against illness within the framework of a system of solidarity constructed in each one of our countries. Let them not tell us that, without the framework of the European Union, Europe would be nothing but a patchwork of isolated nations subjected to the harsh law of what they coin "globalisation", but which should be given its rightful name: the domination of the world by American imperialism. Let them not tell us that there can only be a future within the framework of the European Union. Let them not tell us -- as do those in the European Left Party or as does John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation -- that the solution is to be found in a "reformed European Union," or in a "rewritten European Constitution," or in a "democratised European Central Bank." That is all a lie! The Europe of peoples, the free union of Europe's free peoples can only be constructed after a rupture with all of the institutions of the European Union, which are instruments entirely in the service of multinational corporations, of financial speculators and pension funds dominated by American corporations. The free union of Europe's free peoples can only be built with a total rupture with the European Central Bank, a subsidiary instrument of the American Federal Reserve, whose function is to ensure the business expansion of major American financial groups in a world market completely saturated and crisis-ridden. A free union of peoples and of free European nations, capable of standing up to the demands of major international corporations and to the awful law imposed on the whole world by American imperialism, can only emerge from the force, and the legitimacy, coming with a free association of States and of nations freed from the grip of capital. Such a free union will arise when the peoples of the entire European continent exercise their full and all-encompassing sovereignty -- a sovereignty marked by the winning back of all of the social gains, hallmark of Europe in the world since the war. The immediate future of the peoples and of the nations of Europe is in danger. Together, our peoples will know how to find a solution, to help to rebuild and modernise the productive bases in the countries to the east of the continent laid waste and plundered in the name of the principles of a "market economy," and to reinstate State ownership under the control of the workers; which is the condition for the survival of the peoples of these countries and for the realisation of the hopes born with the collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989. Together, the workers of our countries will know how to outlaw the wave of layoffs which have hit every country, and to nationalise those entreprises in the west which sack workers and delocalise, and to renationalise public services. ... Together they will know how to replace the unbridled competition used to pit worker against worker with a respect for the principles of workers' solidarity, taking support from strong independent organisations. We must at all cost preserve these organisations which until now have provided the strength of the organised workers' movement in all of our countries, across all of our continent. Together, the workers and activists will know how to liberate the trade union movements of our countries from the yoke of the ETUC, a subsidiary organisation of the institutions of the European Union, supporter of the European "Constitution" for which it had called for a "yes" vote, and an instrument used to subjugate the unions that it regroups to the decisions of the European Commission. This is the address that we ask you to discuss. There is a debate in every country on all the issues that are raised in this address. We ask the questions: Are the facts mentioned here true, or not? Are their consequences a reality in our countries, or not? Is it possible to advance towards a free union of peoples and of free
European nations without breaking with the European Union? Berlin, 26 February 2006 SIGNATORIES: Belgium: LARSIMONT Philippe, co-ordinator, Movement in defence of workers; MONSIEUR Serge, CGSP-ALR rep. (FGTB); MURET Jacqueline, teacher trade unionist; PALMANS Olivier, CGSP Telecom branch rep. SP member; RUTTIENS Henri, Jean, trade unionist SETca-FGTB; XHROUET Christophe, student. Czech Republic: CUMPELIKOVA Yveta; HUSAK Zdenek; SMOLIK Ivan; SUTORKA Jaroslav. Denmark: AASTRUP Kit, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; BRANDENBORG HANSEN Ole, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; CHRISTENSEN Kirsten Annette, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; CROSSLAN Bolette, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; HALLUM Eva, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; JOHNSON Michael, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission; SÖRENSEN Per, Popular movement against the UE trade union commission. France: ARNAUDIES Dominique, trade unionist Telecoms; ARNOLD Franck, Workers Party; AURAY Marc, trade unionist health service; AURIGNY Jacques, trade unionist; BARROIS Jean Pierre, Workers Party; BESSE Pierre, rail worker trade unionist; BOUCHET Jean-Marc, trade unionist AFPA; BRISSARD Hervé, docker, trade unionist; BRUNET Marie-Edmonde, teacher trade unionist; CAMELIN Christian, Chimical industry, trade unionist; CHARMONT Claude, teacher trade unionist; CHEVALLIER Sylvette, trade unionist higher education; CONSTANTIN Pierre, trade unionist; CROUZET Jean-Paul, teacher trade unionist; DAL POZZOLO Albert, deputy mayor of Rozerieulles (57); DEBAT Pierre, GP; DELEBARRE Michel, Chimical industry trade, unionist; DELEUZE Laurence, town councilor PS; DENIS Jean-Claude, former town councilor of Saint-Maur (94); DESTENAY Jean-Louis, tradeunionist; DOMERGUE Monique, town councilor communist (33); DORIANE Olivier, Workers Party; FAVIER Laurence, teacher trade unionist; FLEURY Christian, mayor of Bonnetable (72); FLEURY Danielle, retired postal worker; FOURCADE Fabienne, teacher trade unionist; GAUQUELIN Marc, Workers Party; GIBERT Florian, student trade unionist; GIROD Jacques, tradeunionist; GLUCKSTEIN Daniel, co-ordinator International Liaison Committee of workers and peoples, national secretary of Workers Party; GOURSAUD Bernard, mayor; GRILLET Jean, trade unionist; GROS Dominique, university professor; HENAFF Gérard, trade unionist; HOFFMANN Georges, "Réflexions" socialist review; KEISER Christel, Workers Party; KERMIN Jean-Charles, EDF-GDF trade unionist; LEMONNIER Marie-Paule, GP; MASSE Christophe, Postal worker trade unionist; PAGES Guy, wine grower, trade unionist; PARIS Jacques, teacher trade unionist; PERROT Brigitte, trade unionist; SANTINI Marcel, city transport trade union; SAVY Aimé, deputy mayor MRC of Ivry-sur-Seine (94); SCHIDLOWER Marie-Claude, ILC women's commmission; SERVEL Franck, trade unionist Toulon Arsenal; SHAPIRA Daniel, Workers Party; SIMONNIN Michèle, trade unionist; SYBELIN Yannick, trade unionist hospital; TRICHARD Norbert, teacher trade unionist; VINCENOT Dominique, ILC; YAKOWENKO Sacha, rail worker trade unionist. Germany: ADOLPH Ernst, DGB (Berlin); ALTMANN Michael, SP AfA Ver.di (Frankfurt/Main); BACHMANN Manfred, Ver.di (Berlin); BAHR Bernd, SPD, AfA, Ver.di (Berlin); BAHR Detlef, Ver.di (Berlin); BAUER Marion, IGMetall /WASG (Berlin); BECKER Heinrich, GEW (Frankfurt/Main); BESCHORNER Christof, SPD/Ver.di(Frankfurt/Main); BIRKHAHN Manfred, Ver.di (Berlin); BOULBOULLE Carla, GEW (Berlin); BRANDT Gabriele, Ver.di (Berlin); BUNZ Kerstin, Ver.di (Köln); DE NEVE Monika, Ver.di (Berlin); DÖRING Rainer, Ver.di(Berlin); Dr PETERSEN Jürgen, GEW (Berlin); DRÖGE Wolfgang, Ver.di (Berlin); ENGSTFELD Ellen, Ver.di/SPD (Köln); ENSEL Hermann, SPD/Ver.di (Köln); FAST Gisela, und FAST Bodo, Ver.di/SPD (Berlin); FÖRST Heinke, SPD AfA (Berlin); FREY Henning, SPD/GEW (Köln); FUTTERER Michael, GEW/SPD (Heilbronn); GERHOLD Karlheinz, SPD AfA (Halle); GRAHL Ute, SPD (Berlin); GÜRSTER Eva, SPD, Ver.di (Köln); GÜRSTER Julian, (Köln); HAHN Gabriele, Ver.di/SPD AfA (Chemnitz); HANSEN Annegret, Ver.di, SPD Afa (Berlin); HESSE Andreas, SPD (Bochum); HESSE Lothar, Ver.di (Wismar); KISSELS Uli, SPD (Köln); KLEIN Birgitle, GEW (Heilbronn); KOCH Andreas, Ver.di/SPD (Frankfurt/Main); KRUPP Gotthard, SPD AfA, Ver.di (Berlin); LUDWIG Barbara, GEW/SPD (Darmstadt); MEES Hans-Jürgen, Ver.di (Düsseldorf); MOHR Horst, IG BAU (Berlin); MÜLLER Jürgen, SPD (Berlin); NOACK Wilfried, SPD Ver.di (Frankfurt/Oder); OTT Lothar, GEW/SPD (Frankfurt/Main); ÖZELBISTAN Mehmet, Ver.di (Köln); PATERNOGA Paul, SPD, AfA, IGM.BRV (Siegburg); PHILIPPS Sigrid, SPD Ver.di (Berlin); PRASUHN Volker, Ver.di (Berlin); RISCH Ronny, Ver.di (Berlin); RÖSER Ingo, Ver.di (Köln); SAALMÜLLER Peter, Ver.di (Frankfurt/Main); SCHALLOCK Wolfgang, Ver.di (Metelsdorf, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern); SCHERMER GERLINDE, SPD (Berlin); SCHÖLLER Birgit, SPD/AfA (Berlin); SCHÖNE Volkmer, Ver.di, SPD AfA (Berlin); SCHÜLLER Hans, TRANSNET/SPD AfA (Berlin); SCHUSTER Anna, Ver.di (Düsseldorf); SCHUSTER HW, SPD AfA, Ver.di (Düsseldorf); SCHWEFING Günter, Ver.di (Düsseldorf); SIEWEKE Beate, SPD/Verdi (Berlin); TIMMERMANN Olaf, SPD Ver.di (Berlin); TÜRKE Peter, SPD, AfA, IGMetall (Chemnitz); UHDE Werner, IAV (Berlin); WAGNER Bernd, Ver.di (Berlin); WEBER Paul, Ver.di (Schlitz, NRW); WEISER Ulrich, (Chemitz); WEISS Dirk, SPD/IGBCE (Bochum); WEISSKIRCHEN Margit, GEW (Heidelberg); WERNECKE, Monika, Ver.di (Berlin); WOJDSCHISKI Armin, SPD/Ver.di (Heidelberg); ZUTZ Axel, SPD AFA IG BAU (Berlin). Great-Britain: CHOLEWKA Stefan, Editor "The Link." Hungary: ASZTALOS Laszlo, "Workers council" union; KURFÜS Maria, SZAM (rail workers union); PUTNOKI Ferenc, SZAM (rail workers union); TOTH Anna, "Workers council" union, Ikarus company. Italy : MONTANARI Guido, university professor, CGIL-FLC, pers. cop.; SALA Mariagrazia, teacher, CGIL-FLC,pers. cop.; VARALDO Lorenzo, teacher, Torino UIL-Executive, pers. cap. Portugal: PEREIRA Carmelinda, secretary of the POUS, elected to Constituant Assembly (1975/76); REBELO Naida, commission in defence of the gains of the april 25th Revolution. Romania: COZMA Tiberiu, trade unionist; Vasile Paul, vice-chair for the ''Emancipation of working people (AEM). Serbia-Montenegro: IMSIROVIC Pavlusko, Worker Political Alliance; MILUNOVIC Jacim, member of the executive Agriculture-Food and Tourism union "Nezavisnost." Spain: ALFONSO Josefa Maria, trade unionist CCOO; ALCOLEA Javier, member of "Informacion obrera"; BEJAR Jesus, CCOO South-Madrid; CEPEDA Francisco, trade unionist, CCOO; CERDA Isabel, Working woman commission; FERNANDEZ ASENJO, M° Jesus, trade union rep. health service - UGT; GONZALEZ Eva, Working woman commission; GONZALEZ Luis, CCOO health service; VIDAL Manuel, vice chair CENUSA CCOO branch. Switzerland: HERRANZ Antonio, trade unionist SSP health service; ANOR Alexandre, former-MP (SP); DELEY Luc, public services trade unionist, SP member; GINDRAT Michel, teacher trade unionist, SP member. Turkey: BODUR Engin, "Iscilerin Kendi Partisi" (Workers Party); FENNIBAY Dogan, "Uluslararasi isçi kardesligi" (International worker brotherwood) Ukraine: Kulik Vitali, l'Union "Borotba" secretary. I endorse this address To be returned to: EIT - ILC, 87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis -75010 Paris - France Financial support: Cheque to be made payable to CMO ***********
Avian flu: the virus in Nigeria There is real concern throughout Africa. In South Africa, Benin, Mali, Togo and Mauritania they have banned the import of chickens and by products from Nigeria. Nigeria was the leading producer of chickens in Africa. But there is concern for the rest of the world. For Professor Manuguerra, "the fact that this continent has been affected, I foresee a world pandemic within four or five years." Throughout Europe measures are being taken and one looks to the problem in Nigeria. It is a poor country among the poorest in the world. To this disastrous health situation is added a life expectancy of between 47 and 51 years, two thirds of the population are living below the absolute poverty line (less than a dollar a day), 70% of the population hang on to life via a meager agricultural subsistence, 'routes' are in an atrocious condition outside of several highways, and over 75% of Nigerians live on an informal income. Is Nigeria a poor country? * A country with 134 million inhabitants, the most populated in Africa,
with a possible considerable labor force. We look for the reasons and follow with explanations. "The Nigerian authorities have delayed in taking the necessary measures. There is no doubt that Nigerian procrastination has allowed the virus to spread." (Le Monde, February 12 and 13, 2006). Therefore, is Nigeria solely responsible? With just a couple of steps we go from "Nigeria, a poor country" to "Nigeria, a poor country and among the most corrupt." "It was in the livestock of the sports minister that the avian flue was first detected" or, "The Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, is an owner in the southern part of the country, in Otta, where he breeds ducks and ostriches." Oh, those corrupt African dictators responsible for all ills! But who put them in their place? Surreptitiously they add: "The breeders continue to sell their dead stock in order to avoid quarantine measures." (Le Figaro, February 13). Even if they receive an indemnity of 1.5 euros apiece, if is way lower than the regular price. Kindly note: they continue to sell! It's madness these ignorant blacks, but do we give them the means to do otherwise? Thousands of little vendors, must they choose to die of AIDS or tuberculosis, or the avian flu or starvation? There are many things we are not told on this occasion. IMF, World Bank, privatisation: a health care system that collapses Nigeria pays its debt. Between 1985 and 2005, it reimbursed 37 million dollars. At the same time, its debt was multiplied by two, going from 19 to 36.2 million dollars. The IMF and the World Bank have demanded and obtained 'reforms' in exchange for loans. Dr. Ibrahim Malick Sambon, regional director of the regional bureau of the WHO Africa explains the mechanism: "The plans for structural adjustment have obliged the debtor countries to adopt a series of austere economic measures .such as giving up sustainable cultivation measures destined for local consumption for the benefit of cultivation of export products. Important reduction on health care programs, education, housing, as well as massive layoffs in the public service, the privatisation of public companies. He adds, " Before the 1980's, health care, essential medication was offered for free in the district hospital, the centers for community health and other peripheral health posts. The use of essential medication has dropped (these were obtained through the public distribution system). At the end of the 1990's, the health care systems in most sub-Saharan Africa had practically collapsed." Privatizations are continuing in Nigeria. The GnP for each inhabitant was 1,000 dollars in 1970 and 320 dollars in 1993. The long maligned corrupt, especially the NGO's, did nothing except apply what the IMF and the World Bank (and the NGO's) demanded and under whose cover do they operate? Oil companies: "the Monaco syndrome" As for oil, although we do not know everything, we do know that at least those fabulous reserves are exploited principally by Chevron-Texaco, Exxon-Mobil, Shell and Total. Exxon-Mobil announced that for 2005, they had profits of six million dollars, that is to say 36.27%. Chevron-Texaco, 22.84 millions, or 30.8%. Shell, that exploits 50% of Nigerian oil, had profits of 25.3 million dollars or 37%. Total, 14 million dollars or 31%. The oil companies in Nigeria benefit from a situation called "the Monaco syndrome" of a state within a state. In the southern part of the country in the delta, where the oil wells are, there is no longer a state. There are 'zones' directly controlled by the companies. "Fortified living bases", Shell has an armed police force, special contingents that represent 20% of the total employees. The company also has 1,400 Nigerian police agents. It not only pays the wages of these 'functionaries' but it trains and arms them. They are the ones who prevent hold ups, taking of hostages or the hijacking of oil through whatever means including attacks on the villagers. All sorts of birds are carriers of a virus with possible disastrous effects on man are destroyed. But what about other viruses, the IMF plans, the World Bank, the large U.S. British, French virus, they are proven and identified in action over years to sack and destroy Africa? They cross frontiers. Unless one acts like an ostrich, nobody can believe that the 'prescriptions' of the European Union for the privatization of hospitals, of social security, of public services will not have exactly the same consequences. Let us point out that over the past few years the Nigerian people and the workers, with their trade union, the NLC, one of the oldest in Africa, have opposed privatisations through general strikes, and the increase in prices of fuel in a search for positive solutions for the peoples. In Africa, as before. - Correspondent ----- Catastrophic scenario feared by the experts "Among those with AIDS if they are infected with the virus of the classic flu, those with the avian flu will have the virus much longer in their organism, risking an increase in co-infection with H5NI virus (avian flu) which is highly pathogenic," declared Prof. Manuguerra of the Pasteur Institute. Le Figaro reports: "Catastrophic scenario feared by experts." It's true. Nigeria already has sad records: between 43 and 45% of recent cases of polio in the world. 87% of the cases in Africa. 3.5 million people infected with the HIV virus; a high increase in the cases of tuberculosis (+4% a year); malaria, nothing has escaped them. A catastrophic scenario is the order of the day as the newspapers point out: "the number of human vaccine against the principal infectious diseases are the lowest and in the absence of veterinarians, to prevent the spread of disease is a challenge; the absence of surveillance networks and veterinarians in the country makes everyone believe that the battle against animal diseases is already lost." As Lee Jon Woo, director general of the WHO (World Health Organization) said: "We do not know the effect of the virus on people whose immune system is already weakened." Even the killing and incineration of contaminated chickens, often with bare hands and a vague paper mask covering their face. **********
An appeal was launched for the creation of a hardship fund to support the imprisoned Romanian trade unionist miners at the European Conference in Berlin on February 25 and 26, 2006. We, the trade unionists of Germany, France, Spain and the Ukraine, have been fighting since 1999 for the defense of trade union rights in Romania. We demand the immediate release of Miron Cozma, Constantin Cretan, Romeo Beja, Doris Losi, Vasile Lupu and Ionel Ciontu and the repeal of accusations against them. They were sentenced and thrown in jail in violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. The families of the jailed miners found themselves in a desperate situation due to the arbitrary and illegitimate brutal activities of the Romanian authorities. The jailed miners were deprived of their civil rights including the right to care for their children. Their families were left without any support. The labor movement has always acted according to the principle that all workers, their colleagues, the trade unionists who campaign for their rights and the rights of all workers, can count in the event of persecution, on the solidarity and the support of labor organizations. In the framework of this tradition we address trade union organizations, trade union sections and trade unionists in our countries and we call on them for the creation of a hardship fund to support the imprisoned miners and their families. If everyone contributes to these funds according to their ability, we can efficiently support the families of those imprisoned and relieve our colleagues of the worries they have for the welfare of their wives and children. We propose that the funds be placed under the responsibility of trade unionists in our countries that will undertake to use the finances in the spirit of the donors and to account publicly within their trade unions for these funds. I propose, in the name of my organization, that we make a donation to these funds. ------ SWITZERLAND-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE A resolution to support the workers at La Boillat (Switzerland) who are on strike as registered at the Berlin Conference. In Berlin, in the framework of the European Conference for labor rights, activists engaged in the defense of social conquests and democracy have taken note of the fight of the workers at La Boillat (Swissmetal) against an attempt to liquidate their company by the multinationals. One thing is quite clear to the workers at Swissmetal: La Boillat is the jewel of the industry in this region. It is very beneficial. Nothing justifies the destruction of this production tool that would mean, for the workers and their families, the de-industrialization already known throughout the European Union. The workers with their trade union have countered with a strike that has lasted over 30 days. Negotiations continue in a difficult situation. That is why the Conference salutes your fight and your determination to maintain jobs and the satisfaction of your demands. The Conference salutes the legitimate fight of workers and peoples against social and economic ruin.
|
Open World Conference of Workers