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A dossier of weekly information published by the
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
October 9, 2007
Issue 256
Price 0.50 Euros
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Introduction:
Europe: "No to the new European Treaty! Repeal
all the Treaties! Repeal the Maastricht
-Amsterdam Treaty! Rights and Guarantees
contained in the legislation of each country must
be defended and won back again!"
This is the opening of an appeal of 224 workers
and trade union leaders, from 15 countries of
Europe. This appeal was launched on the eve of
the summit of the heads of state that will meet
on October 18, 2007 to adopt the new treaty.
The appeal declares: "Labour activists, trade
unionists, labour leaders - some of us are
members of organisations affiliated to the
International Liaison Committee, others not - we
are all engaged in the struggle to resist the
acceleration of unprecedented attacks, sparked
off simultaneously by the governments of our
respective countries, under EU auspices, against
all the rights that preceding generations have
gained.
We address to you, our colleagues from all over
Europe, an invitation to join us in the
preparation of a European Conference that we
propose to organise in the beginning of December.
S Only one solution: repeal all the treaties!
Demand the repeal of all the treaties, say "No""
to the new treaty, it is on this ground and this
only, that unity of all workers and their
organisations can be sealed, at the level of each
country, of the whole of Europe, in a single
front to reconquer the democratic prerogatives
founded on the sovereignty of peoples."
Asia: The All Pakistan Trade Union Federation
(APTUF) has called for a Asian Conference of
delegates of anti-imperialist and working-class
organizations of the Indian sub-continent to
discuss how to face the challenges facing these
peoples - wars, attacks on the right to work and
on workers' conquests, the dismantling of public
services, generalized poverty and the appearance
of new Special Economic Zones, the attacks
against the very existence of trade unions, the
growing threat to union independence in the name
of "world governance," and corporate social
responsibility. We are publishing a contribution
by Roger Sandri.
Ukraine: A Ukrainian reader wrote us to note a
phenomenon ignored by all the commentators: two
million electors voted against all the candidates.
Subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter!
-----
Table of Contents
p.1: Introduction
p.2: Asia: The Mumbai Conference of January 2008
p.3-4-5-6-7: Europe: No to the European Treaty!
p.8: Ukraine: Two million voted "against all"
-----
Contact :
Informations internationales
Entente internationale des travailleurs et des peuples,
87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis -75010 Paris - France
Tel : (33 1) 48 01 88 28
E.mail : eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com - Site : www.eit-ilc.org
***********************
ASIA
Asian Conference in Mumbai (Bombay), India
January 19-20, 2008
By Roger Sandri
The All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF)
has called for a Asian Conference of delegates of
anti-imperialist and working-class organizations
of the Indian sub-continent to discuss how to
face the challenges facing these peoples - wars,
attacks on the right to work and on workers'
conquests, the dismantling of public services,
generalized poverty and the appearance of new
Special Economic Zones, the attacks against the
very existence of trade unions, the growing
threat to union independence in the name of
"world governance," and corporate social
responsibility.
This appeal has been responded to favorably by
numerous organizations of the region. As ILC
International Newsletter Issue 245 (July 2007)
explains, the questions of the peace and unity of
nations become more urgent every day.
The organizations that issued the appeal
underlined the critical situation in the region:
- Pakistan is threatened with a profound
generalized crisis that threatens the very
existence of the country. Democratic rights are
under constant attack by the absolutist
government, which attacks union rights, the right
to strike, and freely negotiated collective
bargaining contracts.
- In Bangladesh, on the eve of the general
elections scheduled for January 2007, a de-facto
military coup took place, with the open support
of American imperialism and the United Nations.
The government born of the coup proceeded to
prohibit political and union activities and is
implementing a program to privatize the banks,
the ports of Chittagong, and the national air
company, resulting in thousands of lay-offs. At
the same time, the wage freeze and inflation
worsen the misery for the majority of the
population.
- In India, there is competition between
different states, nourished and organized by
multinational corporations with the goal of
creating the best conditions for the employers
and foreign investors, leading to the worst forms
of exploitation. There is also the multiplication
of the Special Economic Zones where the rights of
workers are thrown out, while the land is
confiscated from the peasants, all in the
interests of international speculation and the
local exploiters.
- In Sri Lanka, American imperialism has profited
from the tsunami by strengthening its military
presence, while everything is being done to
stimulate an armed conflict between the Sinhalese
and the Tamils, like we saw in Central Europe
through the dismantling of Yugoslavia.
- China, more and more, is becoming integrated
into globalization and the global economy and is
becoming covered with free trade zones ("special
zones") where the law of the jungle dominates
over social relations, with the complicity of the
Chinese government linked to world imperialism
and, most of all, American imperialism.
Special Economic Zones, one of the features of
the "Washington Consensus," exist on all
continents and, in the first place, in the
developing countries, with the complicity of the
NGOs which aim to substitute themselves for
public services and for the union organizations
that act on a class terrain.
-----
Delegates from 26 countries met on the initiative
of the ILC on June 9 in Geneva at the 14th
Conference in Defense of the ILO Conventions and
Trade Union Independence.
The organizations present discussed the danger
that threatened the ILO, as well as the 187
tri-partite conventions that codify workers'
rights in the framework of the independence of
trade unions. Based on the discussions, the
delegates decided to launch, "An appeal to the
unionists of the world":
"The International Labor Organization is in
danger. There is an offensive against all
workers' right across the world. It is up to the
workers' movement, which has struggled for the
ratification and implementation of the ILO
conventions, to raise the banner of the defense
of the ILO system of 187 norms."
The appeal is the framework for the initiative of
the APTUF of Pakistan to call for an Asian
Conference on January 19-20, 2008.
Let us recall that the ILO's norms system, based
on 187 conventions, was the basis for the social
legislation in the industrialized democracies.
They are a point of leverage for all the trade
unions built to fight for political freedom and
freedom from all forms of exploitation.
To argue that social emancipation has reached its
limits is a lie that in no way reflects reality.
Economic liberalism, and its political
expression, imperialism, is today controlled by
the multinational corporations which impose their
dictates on all the institutions of
globalization, namely the World Bank, the IMF,
the WTO, the U.N., and, today, the ILO, which let
us recall, acts as a specialized institution of
the U.N.
It is not an accident that since 1998, the ILO
has been transforming into a "think tank," at the
service of the global economy.
Issue 239 (June 12, 2007) of the ILC
International Newsletter analyzed this new
orientation: "The very existence of the ILO is
threatened. During the 96th annual conference, an
institutional reform of the ILO was proposed. It
was presented as a question of 'governance.' What
is this about? The normative system is based on
the 187 conventions, elaborated since 1919 in the
framework of the tri-partite system. Once these
conventions are ratified by states they must be
transcribed into national laws. A Commission on
Norms is in charge of verifying their
implementation every year. In each country, the
trade unions can lean on the conventions as a
point of leverage in their own country and demand
their ratification and implementation if they
have already been ratified."
It is clear that the normative system does not
conform to the plans of the global economy and
the ultra-liberal doctrine upon which it is
based. This is what Bill Clinton, when he was
President of the U.S., argued in his speech to
the General Assembly of the ILO in June 1998.
That it why there is nothing shocking about the
institutional reform plan of the ILO, which would
lead it to abandon is current role and be
transformed into a "think-tank" mandated to guide
and codify "single thought" on a world level.
This orientation is not a surprise. The U.N.
Conference in Copenhagen (Denmark) already
charted the path - as we explained in the
Workers' Conference in Banska Bistrica (Slovakia)
in 1995.
The countries of Asia are under attack by
imperialism and the multinational corporations.
The Asian Conference in Mumbai (Bombay) on
January 19 and 20, 2008, is more urgent than
ever. We will return to this subject.
Roger Sandri
October 1, 2007
********************
EUROPEAN APPEAL
No to the new European Treaty!
Repeal all the Treaties!
Repeal the Maastricht -Amsterdam Treaty!
Rights and Guarantees contained in the legislation
of each country must be defended and won back again!
Labour activists, trade unionists, labour leaders
- some of us are members of organisations
affiliated to the International Liaison
Committee, others not - we are all engaged in the
struggle to resist the acceleration of
unprecedented attacks, sparked off simultaneously
by the governments of our respective countries,
under EU auspices, against all the rights that
preceding generations have gained.
We address to you, our colleagues from all over
Europe, an invitation to join us in the
preparation of a European Conference that we
propose to organise in the beginning of December.
The Portuguese presidency of the EU will have had
our governments adopt the "simplified treaty", a
pure and simple replay of the treaty thrown out
by the French and Dutch peoples, two years ago. A
treaty, which in reproducing the entire
destructive content of the preceding treaties,
aims at giving more power to the EU presidency
and giving it practically total institutional
independence in relation to the different
peoples. For the European Union it is a question
of a total overhaul of existing labour relations,
the "reforms" engaged must be carried through, it
is urgent to put an end to all this Labour
Legislation, all statutes, all systems of
collective bargaining.
The treaty is to be submitted to ratification in
each country as from January 2008 in total
violation of the will expressed by the French and
Dutch peoples, of the strong opposition expressed
in the trade union movement, particularly in
Greta Britain and Portugal etc and behind the
backs of other peoples deprived of the most
elementary information on this treaty.
It is question of extreme urgency!
We put to you this proposal to organise this
conference, so that we decide together what we
can undertake in a coordinated manner, in the
brief delay ascribed to us. Let us get organised
so that the voices of the ever-mounting numbers
in our countries can be heard to say what they
want: Enough of destruction! We reject the
complete, fundamental upheaval that the EU has
decided to organise in its total submission to
the demands of financial markets and to decisions
of the American Federal Reserve.
Break with the European Union, so as to open up
the way to fraternal collaboration between the
workers and peoples of Europe, so as to build a
future of peace, of work founded on the defence
of all social conquests won over by the working
class of our countries, for a free union of
peoples and of free nations of Europe.
And to introduce this discussion, let one
question be raised straight away: is the tragedy
which has just struck Greece, a simple question
of fatality or rather the inevitable consequence
of "structural adjustment" dictated by the
Stability Pact?
Inevitable, the tragedy that has just struck Greece?
184 000 hectares of land burnt up in two days, in
the heart of European civilisation.63 dead,
hundreds of villages destroyed, 2 000 buildings
burnt down, 40 000 head of cattle burnt in the
Peloponnesus alone.
Half the territory of the Elide county ravaged
and 250 000 olive trees destroyed in the
neighbouring county of Massena. Even the Olympus
site was under threat from flames for several
daysS
How is it possible not to share the immense anger
of the Greek people who accuse the government of
having abandoned them in villages encircled by
fire, with no firemen, no means of evacuation,
with no information.
An accusation, confirmed by experts who also
denounce the Greek State: "in a country covered
with forests at more than 45%, the forest
services received in June very insufficient funds
for clearing undergrowth", underlining the
ridiculous number of firemen (17 000 of whom 5
500 are seasonal and badly trained ), the lack of
material, coordination and no fleet of fire
fighting planes. (canadairs).
How can this have happened?
Cruel irony of fate. It is Costas Caramanlis the
Prime Minister himself who answered this question
the 17th August last, precisely ten days before
the start of the great fire. As he solicited a
new mandate for after the early elections he was
calling for the 16th September, he triumphantly
announced: "we want to be able to pursue change
and the reforms (..) we must advance more
quickly". He praised himself on having satisfied
EU conditions and on having lowered the public
deficit from 5.5% to 2.6% in one year.
It would be difficult to explain in more concise
fashion why there were no firemen, no plans for
the upkeep or the clearing of undergrowth and
therefore why 63 villagers died sacrificed, and
tens of thousand others lost everything.
Doesn't this Greek tragedy prefigure the
immediate chaos that EU conditions promise all
peoples submitted to them?
Where is the person who was not revolted by the
effrontery of EU representatives shamelessly
discussing after the disaster the question of, "
EU capacity to react sufficiently quickly (S)
when fires are so close together" and of " the
possibility of creating crisis modules"?
Are we not founded in recalling that it is the
European Union which dictated day after day to
the Greek government, the policy which led to
this catastrophe? You can judge for yourselves:
- The 28th January 2004, reviewing the measures
taken by the Greek government to conform to the
"Stability Pact on Growth" adopted by the
Amsterdam European Council in June 1997, the
European Commission rebuked Greece: "The
objective fixed by the budget and the former
actualisation of the stability programme aimed at
lowering the public administration deficit to
0.9% of GDP has not been attained."
- The 24th June 2004: " The European Commission
recommends that the Council adopt a decision
establishing the existence of an excess deficit
and that it address recommendations to the Greek
authorities in order to put an end to this
situation (S) before the 5th November 2004."
- The 22nd December 2004: "The EC drew the
conclusion (S) that the draft budget for 2005
adopts the objective of a 2.8% deficit for public
administrations, but the measures proposed do not
appear to be sufficient for bringing the deficit
down under the 3% limit for 2005 (...) The EC
recommends that the Council decide that no action
followed by any effect has been undertaken to
correct the excess deficit."
- The 16th May 2007, a few weeks from the
tragedy, the EC at last took into account the
"efforts" made by the Greek government. It
decided "to recommend that the Council put an end
to the procedure concerning excess deficits for
Germany, Greece and Malta" while fixing the next
objectives for "reforms", recalling that: " as
for the future (S) taking into account the
expected increase in spending due to the ageing
of the population, it is essential that Germany,
Malta and especially Greece improve the long term
viability of their public finance".
63 dead. There were no firemen, no plan for
evacuation after weeks of a heat wave, in a
country deprived, thanks to the EU, of a public
service worthy of the name, ensuring the upkeep
of forests in regions where the disappearance of
a peasant economy makes the land fragile.! All
that after 26 years of belonging to the European
Union!
Faced with these facts, who would dare claim that
it is unfair to solemnly accuse the EU, with its
"structural adjustment " policy, its "stability
pact for growth", of carrying all the
responsibility for this tragedy.?
And in the meantime, the European Central Bank,
uncompromising superintendent of member States'
public deficit, high up on its dominant
institutional pedestal where the treaties have
placed it, was busy injecting the financial
markets with 250 billion Euros (in reality much
more), under direct orders from Bush-Bernanke
(President of the FED), so that speculators did
not lose their bets.
As for EU States, who cut back public expenditure
every day, getting rid of tens of thousands of
teacher jobs, of hospital staff in order to
conform to Stability Pact conditions, they were
also injecting tens of billions more into bank
circuits.
What European country can say it is spared?
What country of the European Union or about to
join the EU, can say that it is spared by the
infernal machine that the Maastricht-Amsterdam
Treaty, the Stability Pact for growth, the ECB
decisions form, machine that the Brussels
European Commission operates?
What country is not confronted, in the immediate
- whatever the political colour of its government
- with a "reform" transposing directly into
national legislation an EU directive, whether it
be on pension "reform", on prolonging the minimum
age for retirement, sometimes up till 67, as in
Germany, on the "reform" of the social protection
system, on the civil service "reform ", on the
"reform" of the labour market, on accelerated
privatisation of all public services: transport,
gas, electricity, hospitals, universities S.?
The application in a country like Germany, the
most powerful industrialised country of Europe,
of the Hertz laws, strict transposition of
directive lines on jobs advocating that "social
expenditure be activated", has made the number of
children living under the poverty level jump to
2.6 millions. Soup-kitchens, organised in East
Berlin quarters for children and their mothers S
hallucinating percentages of children living
under the poverty level and not disposing of a
vital minimum in the Eastern Länders (counties).
All this at the same moment as the KfW ( Public
Reconstruction Bank) and the National Saving
Accounts were busy injecting more than 25 billion
Euros, taken out of public funds, to save the
Bank of the Saxe Land (Saxe county), implicated
in speculative operations buying up sub primes.
Where are we heading? German workers, the
unemployed, mothers and children sacrificed to
save the bets on operations engaged on the
American financial market. All Europe has to pay,
these gentlemen tell us, right up to the point of
total dislocation and chaos if need be!
Who can claim to be spared?
- Portugal? Who is forced by the EC, like
Greece, to lower its public deficit from 6% to
3,9% in one year and ordered to put an immediate
end to all civil service.
- Spain? Under pressure to apply "the May 2006
agreement on precarious jobs" which anticipated
the EC communication of the 27th June 2007 on "
flexi security", generalising precarious jobs and
undermining all rules and legislation protecting
workers from redundancy.
- Italy? Forced to catch up, because it is behind
hand, on the question of the minimum age for
retirement, which the Prodi government has just
passed from 57 to 58 for 2008 and to 60 years old
for 2009, 61 for 2011 and 62 for 2013: and to
organise new attacks in every sector with the
Budget, privatisation and an increase of
precarious situations.
- Switzerland? Where the policy aimed at joining
the EU increases "wage dumping" and the extension
of precarious jobs. It is in the name of EU
directives that in this country, which is not yet
an EU member, public services are dismantled and
privatised (the Postal Service,
Telecommunications, CFT, social insurance health
system).
- Belgium? Where so-called "ethnic conflicts"
between the Flemish and Walloons are artificially
fuelled in order to dynamite the whole edifice of
social conquests of the Belgian working class,
beginning with the Social Protection system.
- France? Where all the Press announces in
headlines at the beginning of this month of
September "The hour of great reforms": labour
contracts, retirement pensionsS"
- Great Britain? Where the application of
Stability Pact conditions entails the liquidation
of the National Health Service, the Post Office,
public housing, taken over by public-private
partnerships.
What will be left of all the nations and peoples
of Europe? What will become of the peoples of
Eastern Europe, for whom joining the EU was
supposed to open up a radiant future on the ruins
of social, collective ownership.
- Poland? Ordered by the EC, in the name of the
Maastricht Treaty principle of "free and unbiased
competition ", to close down most of the ship
yards in Gdansk, provoking anger and
demonstrations, in particular before the EU seat
in Brussels.
- Czech republic? Summoned to get its parliament
to adopt a law on "economic reforms", aimed at
"reducing expenditure in the health and pensions
sectors so as to reduce the public deficit,
preparing the country for the Euro (S) the
government aims to lower the deficit to 3.2% next
year in order to get under the 3% limit,
condition demanded by the EU treaty" (The Tribune
dated 22/08/07)
- Rumania? Where under pressure from the EU,
trade unionists are still imprisoned, simply for
having accomplished their mandate and this just
for the purpose of increasing pressure on unions
or any form of independent labour organisation.
Even in countries where the question of joining
the EU sparks off animated debate among
representatives of EU States, the destructive
policies of the Stability Pact are already at
work.
- In Turkey, the "reform" bill on the social
protection and health system has been voted and
will be applicable as from the beginning of 2008.
Measures introducing regional organisation are
already in place among them that of Appeal
Courts. Minimum wages varying according to the
region are also on the agenda. The counter reform
of the public service is on the agenda. There are
two elements in this reform; 1) to do away with
job security; 2) to break up the public service
on a regional basis.
Where are the Maastricht Treaty rules likely to
lead in Poland, Hungary, Czechi, Slovakia,
Rumania, rules that are totally tuned to
satisfying the demands of the capitalist system
founded on private ownership of the means of
production, embodied by financial markets in the
process of putrefaction?
- to an even more brutal collapse than that
which has undermined the 15 European States for
decades: massive emigration of young people;
populations of "useless Europe" being purely and
simply abandoned, as has been the case of the old
aged in Greek villages; nations being dislocated;
so-called "ethnic" conflicts, like those that
ravaged the Balkans with the sole aim of
dislocating the Yugoslav Federation in order to
pillage its riches, privatise its industry and
make unemployment soar so as to attain labour
costs comparable with those of Asia.
- to even larger waves of emigration, caused by
the pillage of whole continents and used to lower
labour costs even more, to increase exploitation,
to get rid of more jobs, to reduce to a state of
slavery thousands and thousands of immigrant
workers.
Is it possible to accept this?
Our answer is No.
We are on the side of workers and peoples not of
financial markets. We stand on the side of Greek
villagers abandoned because they are not a source
of profit.
We are on the side of German children plunged
into misery, in order to comply with the
conditions of a "balanced" budget dictated by the
EU to the Great Coalition government.
We are on the side of the ship yard workers in
Gdansk who defend their jobs, on the side of
Czech workers who reject the Bill on "economic
reforms".
We are on the side of Balkan activists who have called for a meeting
in
Cacak (Serbia) on the 28th October, against
privatisation and for a return to the unity of
Yugoslavia.
"Simplified" or not, we say No to the new treaty
which aims at giving more power to the European
Presidency, at speeding up "reforms" and
destruction so that the continent falls into a
state of chaos.
Don't let them tell us, as the ETUC does, who
saluted the new treaty and claims to speak in the
name of our union confederations, that the
"Fundamental Rights Charter" would protect us
from disaster; from the word go it has always
considered as valid all the treaties founding the
EU.
Don't let them tell us that this Charter would
protect us from the new treaty, which gives still
more power to the supranational mechanism, for
imposing on peoples and their subsidiary
governments
a speeded up application of "reforms". In the
first ranks of these "reforms", figure to-day in
everyone of our countries, the "reform" of the
labour market with the setting up of a "flexi
security" system on the ruins of all existing
regulation. A "reform " with incalculable
consequences, that the EU wants at all price to
associate our trade union organisations with; our
organisations which were built up precisely, in
the struggle for wresting regulations and
guarantees from capitalist arbitrariness.
Only one solution: repeal all the treaties!
Demand the repeal of all the treaties, say "No"
to the new treaty, it is on this ground and this
only, that unity of all workers and their
organisations can be sealed, at the level of each
country, of the whole of Europe, in a single
front to re conquer the democratic prerogatives
founded on the sovereignty of peoples.
It is on this ground and this only that we shall
preserve the existence of our trade union
organisations and give them back all their place.
It is to establish the bases for a campaign in
common, in each of our countries as in the whole
of Europe, in favour of "No to the new treaty"
that we invite you to prepare the conference we
are calling for the beginning of December.
With this aim in mind, we ask all those who share
the outlines of our appreciation to join us in
this appeal and to meet up in order to prepare
this campaign, using the method of a survey which
we propose to organise in each country, as we did
in the beginning of 2007 to prepare the common
delegation to the EU institutions against the
privatisation-destruction process of our public
health systems.
I endorse this appeal
Name:
Organisation:
Address:
Email:
I sign in the following capacity:
Bulletin à retourner à: Entente européenne des
travailleurs et des peuples,
87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75010_Paris
Mail: entente-europeenne-des-travailleurs@orange.fr
-----
Initial Signers
Germany: Birkhahn Manfred, ver.di, former
secretary of the Union of commerce workers,
Berlin;Boulboulle Carla, SPD, member of the
editorial board of SOPODE, Berlin; Brandt
Gabriele, ver.di,.workers' council, Berlin;
Döring Rainer, ver.di.- member of the executive
body of the Berlin sector, Chairman of the trade
union delegates of Public Transports of
Berlin;Eisner Udo, IG Metall, Berlin; Fast Bodo,
SPD, ver.di, Former secreatary of the Union of
commerce workers, Berlin;Fast Gisela, SPD,
ver.di, Berlin; Feili ling Claudia, SPD labour
commission, ver.di,.Berlin; Freitag Gerd, ver.di,
shop-steward of the Union of commerce workers
Berlin; Hahn Gaby, SPD, member of the executive
body of the labour commission of Chemnitz and
shop-steward; Hesse Lothar, ver.di, former
secretary of the Mecklenburg- Vorpommern Union;
Kissels Uli, SPD, Cologne; Klaus Mehren, Chairman
of the SPD labour commission of the Bonn
constituency section. Klute Alex, ver.di, Berlin;
Krupp Gotthard, SPD, member of the Berlin SPD
labour commission; Lätsch Winfried, clerical
workers' union, Berlin; Matzke Cornelia, ver.di,
former MP for Saxony; Mees Hans-Jürgen,
ver.di,.member of the executive body for the
healthcare sector; Müller Jürgen, SPD, Berlin;
Paternoga Paul, SPD, SPD labour commission
chairman of the workers' council IG Metall in
Siegburg; Prasuhn Volker olker, SPD, labour
commission, ver.di,.Berlin; Röser Ingo, ver.di,
shop-steward. Cologne; Schüller Klaus, SPD,
chairman of Thüringer labour commission and
secretary of the DGB, Thüringer; Schuster
H.W,SPD, chairman of the sub-section of the SPD
labour commission of Düsseldorf, ver.di; Siewecke
Beate, executive member of the SPD labour
commission constituency section of Düsseldorf,
ver.di; Steinebach Inge, member of the regional
executive body of the SPD labour commission
Vorstand NR NRW, ver.di; Stollenberg Peter, SPD
labour commission Mönchengladbach; Wagner Bernd,
agner ver.di, Berlin; Weigteigt Charlotte, IG
Metall, Berlin; Weigteigt Hans,
ver.di,.Berlin;Weisseiss Dirk, SPD, union of
miners, chemistry and energy workers Bochum;
Wenter Brigitte, SPD labour commission,
Düsseldorf union of policemen; Wernecke Manfred,
ver.di, Berlin; Wernecke Monika,ver.di, delegate
of the women's commission, Berlin; Zutz Axel,
SPD, executive member of the SPD labour
commission of Berlin and member of the builders'
union, Berlin.
Belgium:
Giarrocco Roberto, CGSP-FGTB clerical workers' shop-steward Verviers;
Hardy Jose, CGSP- FGTB shop-steward ministry
workers sector; Larsimont Philippe, coordinator
of the MDT, (Movement of Defence of Workers);
Polis Eric, CGSP-FGTB shop-steward, Verviers;
Ruggieri Antoine, former fulltime FGTB steel
workers union official, chairman of the committee
of metal workers pensioners Liège; Ruttiens Henri
Jean, full time official SET ETC BHV industrial
sector.
Spain:
Aguilera Raul, UGT shop-steward, Sabadell
municipality; Almela Jose, member of the UGT
metal and building workers of Castellon; Bayarri
Pepe, UGT activist; Savings Bank Madrid; Bejar
Jesus, member of the executive committee of the
south zone of CCOO labour commission Madrid;
Calzada Josep, UGT activist; Savings Bank union,
Barcelona; Castello Mayo Marina, CCOO delegate
Pearson factory; Cepeda Francisco, member of the
building, transports and printing union, CCOO,
Seville; Chacon Carmen, trade unionist, CCOO;
Cima Fernandez, Jose Manuel Manuel, steel worker,
CCOO, secretary of the Thyssen-Krupp Airport
Systems shop-stewards; Cuadrado Daniel, textile
workers union member, CCOO Asturias; De La Torre
Luis, UGT shop-steward, head of the Catalonian
healthcare institute of the Western Vallès zone;
Dominguez Jose Fransisco, UGT University teachers
union; Dominguez Raul, commerce and hotel workers
union, Seville CCOO; Figueroa Francisco,
secretary of the trade union section of the
department sector of Seville CCOO; Frey Cesar
Manuel, artist, Asturias; Garcia Ana Isabel,
CCOO, Asturias; Gonzales Mendoza Miguel, UGT
teachers union; Gonzalez Luis, general secretary
of healthcare workers of Seville, CCOO; Hellin
Julio, member of the executive committee of the
south zone of labour commission Madrid, CCOO,
CASAEADS union; Herrando Joaquim, UGT metal
workers and builders union of Castellon; Just Lid
idia, UGT activist-General Council Barcelona;
Maria Perez Jesus, UGT Chemistry workers Union
Biscay; Martinez Natalio, UGT shop steward;
Tarrasa hospital; Munoz Francisco, member of the
executive committee of the Madrid region section,
CCOO; Munoz Palmira, member of the workers
council of the healthcare Valencia workers,
FSP-UGT; Ocana Jose Manuel, UGT bank workers
union, BBVA; Ortega Blas, UGT public service
workers union, Valencia; Pozo Josep A., UGT,
secretary of the Sabadell town council workers
shop-stewards; Ramirez Francisca, metal workers
and builders union, CCOO, Castellon; Sanchez
Alvarez Jose, member of the executive commission
of the Leganes UGT public service workers;
Sanchez Collado Enrique, UGT metal workers and
builders union, Castellon;Sanchez Martin Jose
Luis Luis, trade unionist CCOO, Madrid
underground railway worker; Santos Sergio,
secretary of youth and social action of the
Seville district union of CCOO; Serrano Manuel,
UGT metal workers and builders union Castellon;
Vega Aida, CGT postal workers shop-steward,
Asturias.
France:
Alliot Marie-José, general practioner; Amo
Michèle, EDF (electrical utility worker) trade
unionist; Aurigny Jacques, teacher, trade
unionist (Paris); Bara Jacky, teacher trade
unionist (Deux Sèvres); Barbier Paul, teacher,
trade unionist (Maine et Loire); Bertaux Jacques,
hospital worker trade unionist (Jura); Bizien
Alec, Medecine Professor; Bui Anh Tuan: G.P.;
Chabernaud Jean-Louis, G.P.; Cocorullo Michel,
trade unionist (Charente Maritime); Debat
Martine, G.P; Debat Pierre, G.P; Delalondre
Clarisse, EDF (electrical utility worker) trade
unionist (Paris); Delon J., G.P.; Desnojean
Gilles, trade unionist (Saone et Loire); Doguet
Mh., psychiatrist; Domergue Monique, PCF (French
Communist Party) Municipal councillor, trade
unionist (Gironde); Dubois Jean-Paul, public
service trade unionist (Val de Marne); Durand
Francis, Trade unionist (Haute Savoie); Dutheil
Daniel, hospital worker, trade unioinist (Hauts
de Seine); Dzio Dziomba psychoanalyst;Fourcade
Fabienne, teacher, trade unionist (Gard);Gadea
Didier, vine grower (Hérault);Gavelle Jean-Luc,
EDF (electrical utility worker) trade
unionist;Gluckstein Daniel, national secretary of
the Workers'; Gobert Frederic, teacher (Ardèche);
Goursaud Bernard, Mayor of Brie-sous-Matha
(Charente Maritime); Grandazzi François, trade
unionist, free thinker, former member of the
National Economic and Social Council (Oise);Hobel
Jean-Louis, university trade unionist (Bas
Rhin);Hoffmann Georges, review Réflexions (Bas
Rhin); Jeanneney Pierre, mayor of Lalande-en-Son
(Oise); Jeannin Daniel, mayor of Montenois
(Doubs); Keiser Christel, European Liaison
Committee of Workers; Kote Abdoulaye, trade
unionist; Lagier M., G.P. trade unionist;
Lemonnier Marie-Paule, G.P.; Lesouple Chantal,
G.P.;Livartowski François, syndicaliste (Seine St
Denis); Ludi Jacky, mayor of Millery (Côte d'Or);
Markun Jean, trade unionist, iron mines
(Moselle); Miller Hugues, Public service workers
trade unionist (Moselle); Olivier Paul, Municipal
Councillor of Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire (Indre et
Loire);Pages Guy, vine grower (Hérault); Paraire
François, G.P.; Perou, psychologist; Rignac
Jean-Paul, EDF (electrical utility worker) trade
unionist (Seine et Marne); Rouet Jean-Jacques,
Municipal councillor of Fondettes (Indre et
Loire); Sadoul Pierre, psychiatrist; Salvaing
Pierrette, G.P.; Savy Aimé, deputy mayor of
Ivry-sur Seine (Seine et Marne); Schivardi
Gerard, general councillor,mayor of Mailhac
(Aude); Schmit Gerard, trade unionist, retired
iron miner (Meurthe et Moselle); Schmitt Arsène,
trade unionist, transborder worker (Meurthe et
Moselle ); Sifflet Patrice, trade unionist,
national official of co-operatives; Terrien
Katell, unemployed (Finistère); Tominez G
ominez., G.P.; Trolle Daniel, Municipal
councillor of Montlouis-sur-Loire (Indre et
Loire);Venet Cyril, G.P¨..
Hungary:
Siray Ida.
Italy:
Adduci Nicola, teacher, Turin; Algostino
Alessandra, professor of constitutional law
University of Turin; Ascoli Davide, researcher at
the University of Turin; Aurora Fulvio,
G.P.,Milan; Bellini Natalino, factory worker,
Turin; Croce Ugo, Editor of the monthly "Tribuna
Libera"; Daniele Gabriella, RSA CGIL -Commerce
official, Turin;Defeudis Rita, clerical worker,
Milan; Grazia Sala Maria, CGIL-primary education
shop steward; Guglieri Gianni, UIL- UIL Chemistry
shop steward, Turin; Messina Paolo,
CGIL-Chemistry shop-steward, Turin; Montanari
Guido, professor at the polythechnics University
Turin, member of CGIL; Roberti Roberta, primary
school teacher, Parma, executive member of the
national leadership of CGIL- primary education;
Roseo Marcella, teacher, Turin; Spolettini
Rosarina, teacher, Turin; Totaro Beppe, clerical
worker, Milan; Varaldo Lorenzo, teacher,
executive member of the leadership of UIL-primary
education, Turin; Ventre anna, teacher, Turin.
Portugal:
Amaral Vitor, former member of the Association of
Lisbon University workers; Jorge Costa Rui, PS
(Socialist Party) member, sociologist; Pagarete
Joaquim, member of the teachers' commission of
FEN PROF-CGTP, Lisbon; Santana Henriques Jose,
member of the workers' council of "Cercle de
lecteurs" (readers circle) firm; Santos Rui, vice
chairman of the congress of l'UGT, SP member;
Torres Jorge, member de la workers' council of
UNOR firm.
Czech Republic:
Tesar Jan, editor of "Bulletin EET-EIT".
Romania:
Adina Pandele, Association for the emancipation
of workers; Boroiu Nicolae, law adviser;
Constantin Niculaie, Social Tribune; Grigore
Daniel, unionist; LunguIon, pensioner; Tudor
Aura-Milena, student; Tudor Marian, chairman of
the Association for the emancipation of workers.
Serbia:
Imsirovic Pavlusko, Worker Policy Alliance;
Komanovic Nebojsa, Worker Policy
Alliance;Milunovic Jacim, member of the executive
committee of the "Nezavisnost" union of
agricultural, food and hotel workers;
Perovic Miodrag, "Nezavisnost" union of agricultural, food
and hotel workers
Sweden:
Gustafsson Jan-Erik, ST public service workers
union -, Chairman of the Popular Movement for the
"NO" to the European Union
UK
Calderon John UNISON ( pc), Law Malcolm
University of York UCU ( pc), Mott Henry
TTGWU-UNITE ( pc), Phillips Nick BECTU ( pc),
Peters Helen Open University UCU ( pc), Keith
Cross London,Daniels Gerry UCU ( pc), Richardson
Tony BFAWU, Wakefield Trades Council ( pc),
Jeffrey Boss UCU ( pc)
*********************
ITALY
The FIOM is right! No to the July 23 agreement!
We must defeat Prodi's counter-reform!
The FIOM (the metalworkers federation of the CGIL
union confederation) has called for a No vote
A few months ago, the Prodi government announced
a new counter-reform of the pensions.
Last July 23, an agreement was reached. It
planned for, beginning on January 1, 2008, the
retirement age to go from 57 to 58 years, with 35
years of payments.
Beginning in 2009, a "quota" will be set up: 59
years and 36 years of payment or 60 years and 35
years of payment. In 2013, you will need to be 61
years old and have 36 years of payments.
After this agreement, the leaders of the union
federations called for a referendum in the
workplaces. The FIOM, the powerful metalworkers
federation of the CGIL, called for a NO vote.
We interviewed Lorenzo Varaldo, union activist and ILC correspondent.
ILC: What is the situation with Prodi's counter-reform of the pensions?
LV: On July 23, an agreement was signed between
the government, the Confidustria (the bosses
federation), and the leaders of the three union
confederations. This agreement goes even further
than the Maroni aw and all the "reforms" of past
years.
The agreement is a new blow against the unions,
their independence, and their very existence. The
European Commission approved of this agreement
and concluded: "Now it is time to go all the way."
ILC: The FIOM, the metalworkers federation, one
of the most important federations of the CGIL,
has taken a position against this agreement. What
is the significance of this position?
LV: This is the first time in its history that
the FIOM has voted against a union agreement
signed by the heads of the confederation. This is
a historic event, which, as the journalists have
explained, "has shaken the government and is a
serious test for an already weak executive."
As we said in our newspaper, Tribuna Libera:
There is no doubt that the FIOM is right! No to
the July 23 agreement!
The La Stampa newspaper writes: "The 'blue
alliance' (the workers) felt that something
wasn't right. S The delegates of the body, most
from the FIOM, took a position against the
reform." One worker declared, "The 'quotas' are a
lie because in any case the minimum retirement
age in 2010 will be 60 years. This is a swindle;
they are going to make me work 40 years."
ILC: And now?
LV: Everywhere there are assemblies to present
the agreement. The position of the FIOM has had a
big echo and in the assemblies the majority have
called for a No vote.
In Mirafiori, the Fiat of Turin, the leaders who
have sought to justify the agreement were
whistled down by the workers, while those who
defended the No were applauded. Il Corriere, on
October 1, quoted some workers after the Fiat
assembly: "Under another government, the unions
would have mobilized"; "the unions have not done
their duty. There were three million of us in
Rome against Article 18; it is necessary to do
the same thing."
The Corriere concludes: "Of course, the leaders
aim to justify their position by saying, 'It is
not a good agreement, but it must be accepted
because otherwise the Maroni law will be
implemented.' But, in general, there is protest
and there is applause every time someone says:
'The union cannot concern itself with the problem
of the government, with the problem of whether
the government falls or not. The union should
remain independent. It should fight against a
left-wing government just like it fights against
a right-wing one."
The leaders of the confederations have thus
called a referendum for the workers, which will
take place from October 8 to 10. The unions
signed the agreement then they called a
referendum. This is undermining the duties of the
unions and the union members. This is an
operation to "justify" the agreement, to
legitimize it and to silence all those who oppose
it. They threaten, "If the yes doesn't pass, then
the government will fall and Berlusconi will
return."
Everything has been set up to favor the Yes.
Prodi has already declared that the agreement
will be presented to Parliament. Montezemolo, of
Confindustria, declared that nothing can be
changed. Cremaschi, leader of the FIOM, has
already declared that there are irregularities.
There is no control over the ballots, everybody
can vote as many times as they want.
Nevertheless, there is a crisis. Prodi, Fassino,
Epifani (general secretary of the CGIL) must go
on the radio and television every day. It is an
unprecedented propaganda offensive.
ILC: What are the parties of the "radical left"
and the "left of the left," which are all members
of the Unione coalition and the Prodi government,
doing?
LV: The Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) and
the Italian Communist Party say: We are for
"modifying" this agreement with Parliament. They
have not openly taken a position against the
agreement; they are "critical." La Stampa, for
example, wrote that Giordano (the general
secretary of the PRC) "is not spreading the news
(of the No of the FIOM)." The "radical left" has
called for a demonstration on October 20 to
"change the policies of the government." But La
Stampa writes: "The protest must succeed, but not
too much, because if it goes too wellS that would
be a serious blow against the government and none
of the organizers wants this."
The "left of the left" of Sinistra Critica (the
sister organization of the French LCR) has taken
a position against the agreement but has not
called for the unity of the workers and the
unions. They have taken a position against the
unions, particularly the CGIL. On their website
and in their articles, there is not one word
about the position of the FIOM, which is a very
important point of leverage. They support a
"general" strike called by the Cobas
(coordination of base unions against the
confederations) on November 9, which is a strike
of division. They are going to lay the blame for
what will happen on the workers.
ILC: What is the solution to the crisis?
LV: Whatever obstacles there might be, the
working class, from the North to the South, wants
to preserve its pensions. Everywhere, we are
calling for a No vote, for the victory of the No.
Five days ago, the government presented a law on
finances (with a 2.2% deficit!) with new budget
cuts for schools, health, and new reductions in
"labor costs," all while giving new exemptions to
the bosses.
And, immediately, the unions were obliged to call
a general strike in the public sector because
there is not enough money for the wage increases
the government promised. The same Epifani, who
calls for a Yes in the referendum, declared:
"This is inevitable, we cannot not strike in this
situation."
In our leaflets and our newspaper we demonstrated
that all these measures are dictated by the
European Union. So we pose a question: Isn't a
government that breaks with the European Union
needed?
We've built a "Committee of Correspondence for a
Workers' Policy," to discuss these questions and
to organize ourselves. We have already received
many signatures on the appeal against the new
treaty of the European Union in Turin, Milan,
Bologne, from different unionists and activists
from different political traditions.
***********************
UKRAINE
Concerning the electionsS
Two million votes "against them all"
The Facts
In the legislative elections that just took place
in Ukraine, the European and American press
greeted the victory of the "forces of the Orange
revolution." (1)
These elections, which took place in a context of
an economic, social, and political crisis, were
marked by an abstention rate of close to 40%.
Of the 6 out of 10 voters who actually voted,
their votes were split between the parties which
participated in the "Orange Revolution" of
November 2004 (the party of President
Louchtchenko received 15% and the party of the
former prime minister Ioulia Timochenko received
32%) and the "pro-Russian" parties (the Regions
Party of the current Prime Minister Ianoukovitch
received 31% and the Communist Party of Ukraine
received 5%).
Only ten days before the elections, a summit
between the European Union and Ukraine took
place. Let us recall that Ukraine signed several
"partnership" agreements with the European Union
and it is because of these agreements that the
former Labor Code from the Soviet era (which, for
example, prohibited any layoffs without the
agreement of the union) was liquidated.
On the eve of the summit, the president of the
European Commission, Barroso, declared: "Ukraine
will have to meet important challenges to create
the political and constitutional stability need
for the successful implementation of its economic
and political reforms." All, "orange" and "blues"
agree to deepen the co-operation with the
European Union and to deepen the policies of
privatization.
What nobody mentions, as reveals our
correspondent below, is that two million
Ukrainian citizens checked off "I vote against
all" (all the candidates) as their official
choice, which in Ukraine is an official ballot
option.
-----
Endnotes
(1)The "Orange Revolution" took place when
Mafioso clans supported by the United States and
the European Union leaned on mass demonstrations
against corruption to take power from another
Mafioso clan, more linked to Putin and Russia.
Both sides implement privatization and try to
oppose the Eastern Russian-speaking region to the
Western region, where most people speak Ukrainian.
------
Correspondence
"They came consciously to vote 'against all'"
A Ukrainian reader wrote us to note a phenomenon
ignored by all the commentators: two million
electors voted against all the candidates.
They came consciously to vote 'against all.' They
are not in agreement with the program of any of
these so-called parties and do not believe in any
of their promises.
The media cannot tell the truth - that , in the
countries of the European Union and a whole
series of developed countries, this option to
vote "against all" does not exist, which is very
nice for the capitalists.
They say there were abstentions and that's all.
But we can abstain voluntarily and in good
conscious. In your cases, it is not possible for
people to express on the ballot that they are
discontent with those in power and their policies.
For my part, I think we have more democracy
because of this option. Thus the functionaries of
the European Union demand that we get rid of this
option in the future.
What right to they have to tell us to do anything?
Many of those close to me and my friends and
peers voted against all. Among the students there
are heated discussions. If the European Union
pressures our country, we will send a letter of
protest to the European Commission."
And in RussiaS
On September 6, 2006, the Russian Duma voted to
get rid of the "against all" ballot option.
The draft law was put forward by Vladimir
Pliguine, a MP of Russian United (Putin's party),
who explained: "The electoral law must allow for
the formation of the efficient organs of power. S
For the citizens with inclinations to protest,
there are means of information, recourse, and the
right to assembly and demonstrate" and recalled
bitterly that, "in 2005 alone, there were 30
elections that were null because there were more
'against all" votes than for any candidate."
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