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A dossier of weekly information published by the January 1, 2008
----- Introduction Pakistan: After the Death of Benazir Bhutto, what is the situation in Pakistan? On Thursday, December 27, less than 15 days before the general elections, Benazir Bhutto, leader of one of the main political parties in Pakistan, was assassinated following an electoral rally. On an international level, all the media speak of the risk of chaos, of the break-up of the country. The first images have made it on to the TV screens: images of rage, of indignation. The activists in Pakistan who participate in the activities of the ILC suggested that a press review be published in the newsletter of the ILC. On January 19 and 20, 2008, in Mumbai (India), an Asian Conference for Peace, National Sovereignty, and the Independence of the Workers' Movement Faced with World Governance will take place. The initiative for this conference was taken by the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF). Since then, an organizing committee of the conference was formed, composed of representatives of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the ILC. Delegates from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Afghanistan, and the Philippines have announced they will participate. Germany: Lothar Hesse is the former secretary of the Ver.di union in the Lander of Mecklebourg-Pomerania. As part of around 50 labor activists and leaders from Germany, he will participate in the European Workers Conference that will take place in Paris, on February 2 and 3. In an interview with us, he warns his union brothers and sisters throughout Europe of the threats against the right to strike, a right which, in his opinion, is contradictory with the policies of the European Union. Bolivia: In Santa Cruz, on Saturday, December 15, violent confrontations took place between thousands of peasants and the partisans of "autonomy." Throughout the country, mass demonstrations were organized to say NO to the secession of four departments of the "Half Moon" (Media Luna), Tarija, Pando, and Santa Cruz, which account for more than 67% of the GDP. We are publishing a declaration of La Chispa.
The ILC International Newsletter, in 2008, aims to continue its role of distributing news and promoting discussion with the goal of aiding the struggle for peace, democracy, and national sovereignty, workers' rights and the independence of trade unions. We will publish the reports of the conferences in which the ILC participates, and the contributions and documents sent to us. To support the ILC, subscribe to the ILC International Newsletter! ----- Table of Contents p. 1 : Introduction ----- Contact Informations internationales ----- EUROPEAN WORKERS CONFERENCE February 2-3, 2008, Paris "No to the new European treaty!" The proposal to have next February a European Workers' Conference was launched last September by the initiators of the appeal, "No to the new European treaty." The purpose is to bring together, on the basis of an investigation done in each country concerning the policies of the European Union, labor activists of all tendencies who fight in their countries against the offensive to impose on the people a "new" European treaty that takes up and worsens the European "Constitution" that was rejected two years ago by the workers and peoples. The European Workers' Conference will take place in Paris on February 1,2, and 3, 2008. A bulletin is published each month through the form of a special issue of the ILC International Newsletter. The first issue has already appeared. This issue can be received by subscribing to the ILC International Newsletter or writing to entente-europeenne-des-travailleurs@orange.fr **********************
"The right to strike and the demands of the European Union are irreconcilable": An interview with Lothar Hesse, a German union leader Lothar Hesse is the former secretary of the Ver.di union in the Lander of Mecklebourg-Pomerania. As part of around 50 labor activists and leaders from Germany, he will participate in the European Workers Conference that will take place in Paris, on February 2 and 3. In an interview with us, he warns his union brothers and sisters throughout Europe of the threats against the right to strike, a right which, in his opinion, is contradictory with the policies of the European Union. ILC: With other German activists, you are going to participate in the European Conference for the No to the Lisbon treaty, on February 2 and 3, 2008 in Paris. What are you hoping from this conference? LH: This is the second European Workers Conference that I have attended; the first was in February 2006 in Berlin. I am hoping this will be a step forward in the construction of our common fightback against the policies of the European Union, which is destroying our union contracts, pauperizing the workers and peoples of Europe, promoting unemployment and chaos, and dismantling democracy. There is an urgent need to realize the European Workers Alliance. Let me give you an example. The European Court of Justice, last December 11 and 18, issued two edicts that attack the rights of unions to mobilize and strike. Once again, this shows that the right to strike and the policies of the European are irreconcilable. ILC: Can you explain more? LH: For example, the Finish ferry-boat company, Viking Line, projects "changing home" of a boat that goes from Finland to Estonia. The workers on the boat would, instead of being covered by the laws and collective contracts of Finland, be under the jurisdiction of Estonia, which is less favorable, with worse wages, etc. We are very familiar with this practice, a means to undermine the collective contracts. This happens, for example, through out-sourcing production to countries with low wages, countries that are often given subsidies by the Commission of the European Union. In March 2005, the Finnish arms company tried, through a "change in home" to smash the collective contract of the sailors and impose poverty wages. The resolute struggle of the Polish and Germany sailors was successful in preventing this measure between Germany and Finland. The European Conference in Madrid in May 2005 gave its solidarity to this struggle. Now, the Finish FSU union has threatened to strike if the Finish working conditions are not maintained. However, the European Court of Justice, in its December 11 ruling, affirmed that the mobilization measures taken by the FSU are an attack on the "freedom of installation" of the Viking Line. Thus, a FSU strike is against a "fundamental liberty." The Court formally recognizes, of course, the right to strike, but this right is not given priority over the "socio-political objectives" legitimized by the treaty of the Commission. Article 43 of the treaty, concerning the right to installation, prohibits a limitation of the "free installation." Moreover, this article was repeated in the new treaty, which in reality is not particularly new. The European Court of Justice thus restricts the fundamental right to strike and take union struggle measures in defense of the interests of the workers. The right to independent unions and to strike is a basis of democracy. ILC: So this edict, in your opinion, shows that the right to strike and the demands and policies of the European Union are incompatible? LH: Let us recall the strikes of the French and Spanish truck-drivers in 1997. According to the interpretation of the Commission of the European Union, the truck-drivers, through their strike, were threatening "the free circulation of goods" and "the open domestic market." They threatened the unions with having to pay compensation for the losses of the strike. Already in this epoch, the Commission of the European Union had a clear position on the right to strike. This anti-worker policy of the European Union is more and more taking root, including in the new laws of the European Court of Justice. Through this edict, is the European Union creating the conditions to ban the measures of struggle against the delocalization of companies and social and wage dumping? ILC: Do you see consequences for Germany? LH: Take the strike of the railway conductors, who are fighting with great determination against the wage cuts and the deterioration of their working conditions. Such a strike could lead to important restrictions on free circulation in Europe and thus is not admissible, according to the judgment of the European Court, which subordinates the struggle measures to "proportional control." In Germany, as in other European countries, up until the moment, a
strike cannot be prohibited based on the content of the demands or based
on the effects of the strike. Now this could radically change. Thus,
this summer, the Nuremberg Labor Tribunal tried to ban the strike of
the locomotive conductors in the name of "proportionality,"
because this strike would create losses for the national economy. LH: At the time, the president of the DGB, Sommer, affirmed: "The unions will defend, with all means, the right to strike guaranteed by the Constitution, against all those who want to limit it." In light of the judgment of the European Court of Justice, all the unions, in my opinion, throughout Europe, are obliged to the defend their right to union actions and their very right to exist. This also requires a mobilization of workers against the Lisbon treaty, which poses the framework of this edict. ILC: On December 18, the European Court of Justice issued another decree also restricting the right to strike. Can you tell us more about this subject? LH: In this case, there was a Lettish construction company, Laval, which controls several construction sites in Sweden and has the construction workers paid a special lower wage. A Swedish union blocked all the sites of Laval to fight for higher wages. Here again, the European Court of Justice formally upheld the right to take collective actions. But the real value given to this right was then expressed when the priority was given to the "freedom of the granting of services," which according to the Lisbon treaty, annuls the right to strike. At the European Conference we should discuss how we can fight together in Germany, France, or Hungary, to prevent the destruction of collective bargaining contracts and wage dumping and to defend the existence of our independent trade unions. ----- The European Central Bank (ECB) dares to speak about "too high" wages in Germany In the beginning of December, the president of the ECB, Trichet, argued against the wage demands that supposedly prevent the creation of jobs. What is our response? For more than 10 years, the workers of Germany have undergone real wage losses as well as a deterioration of their working conditions, deregulation, etc. The dismantling of collective union contracts has reached intolerable levels. We are seeing in Germany a truly impressive wave of struggle and strikes. In the steel-yards, the workers are demanding a 8% wage increase; the same goes for the workers in public services. In the retail trades, there is an unprecedented strike movement. This same Trichet, who dares to talk about too high wages, did not hesitate in recent moths, with all the other banks, to give 400 billion dollars to the financial markets to dam up the financial crisis and feed more speculation. But who pays the price? The prices, above all for basis goods and energy, have risen sharply. The ECB wants to impose on the public budget even harsher "austerity programs." This is a declaration of war on all European workers. In Germany, unionists and Social-Democrats have taken an initiative, which I support, for an Open Letter to the MPs of the Bundestag: "Vote against the Lisbon treaty!" In other countries, our brothers and sisters are fighting for a referendum to say "No" to the new treaty. We, workers, European unionists, should forge unity for the break with the policies of the European Union, for the victory of the No on the Lisbon treaty. In the European Conference, we can make an important step in this direction. *************************
Mineworkers, peasants, students, and the people of Bolivia are mobilizing to defend the unity of the nation: Demonstrations are taking place throughout the country against the unilateral declaration of autonomy by the secessionist oligarchies in four departments ... In Santa Cruz, on Saturday, December 15, violent confrontations took place between thousands of peasants and the partisans of "autonomy." Throughout the country, mass demonstrations were organized to say no to the secession of four departments of the "Half Moon" (Media Luna), Tarija, Pando, and Santa Cruz, which account for more than 67% of the country's GDP. The main plaza in the town of Santa Rosa de Sara, in the North of Santa Cruz, was transformed into a battlefield between the "autonomists," who are pushing for the break-up of the Bolivian nation, and thousands of peasants of the Choré Forest Reserve, who organized a rally in defense of the unity of the nation and the Constituent Assembly. "We only wanted to organize a march to the central plaza to celebrate the adoption of the new Constitution and to express our support for President Morales, but the 'civics' (the autonomists) brutally attacked us," explained a peasant leader, René Ortiz, to the El Deber newspaper in Santa Cruz. The police only intervened to establish order after four hours of confrontation. "We are already autonomous," yelled the secessionists. "United and sovereign Bolivia!" countered the peasants. The decision of the four richest regions of Bolivia to push forward with their autonomy plans has lit a powder-keg of social conflict.
The next day, the Autonomist Assembly of the department of Santa Cruz officially presented its draft "autonomous statute", which foresees a Legislative Assembly with power over the distribution of land - a key point of the statute for the big landowners, who refuse to see their land distributed to the peasants and indigenous peoples - and over taxes, particularly concerning the hydrocarbons, the main resource of the region. (Among other policies, the oligarchies refuse, of course, to have the profits of the oil and gas go to the creation of a social solidarity fund, a decision just passed by the Morales government.) "The pretext of autonomy is used to divide the country, but we will not permit any division of Bolivia," warned President Morales, repeating his declaration the night before that he is counting on "the people" to guarantee "the unity of the country." Rallies to oppose this offensive by the oligarchies -- which everybody knows is backed by the U.S. Embassy, at whose behest the EU delegation is also acting -- took place on Saturday. With the other popular organizations, the COB trade union federation, the neighborhood councils, the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (Cidob) all organized mass meetings throughout the country.
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The agents of imperialism look for provocations and divisions between Bolivians. They will not cease to push for their objectives. The people must take to the streets to defend the unity of the country in the face of the division threats pushed for by the oligarchies. In this context, we applaud the mobilization on December 6 called by the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB) in most of the departments of the country in defense of the revolutionary process, in the face of the constant attacks of the oligarchies that aim to destroy Bolivia through the implementation of the autonomies. This is a positive step for the recuperation of the forces of the workers' and popular movement. The urgent task of the COB is to call for the widest Anti-Imperialist United Front. It should call on the government, the members of the Constituent Assembly, and all the sectors that raise the banner of the interests of Bolivians and the October Agenda to fight together to smash the oligarchies, encrusted in the civic committees and prefectures. All together against the oligarchies, the servants of imperialism! The COB can and must call a National Summit, following the initiative of the Departmental Workers Central (COD) of Cochabamba, which organized on December 13 a Popular Summit to "determine the line of the political, economic, and social struggle in the face of the eternal usurpers of this poor country," in the words of the executive director of the COD of Cochabamba. Brothers and Sisters: Bolivia is on the verge of a confrontation between Bolivians. Only the united action of the people can prevent this. The oligarchies have radicalized their actions and count on the support of the USA and the big media. The youth, the workers, the peasants, their organizations, and the people only have the strength of mobilization to prevent the division/destruction of Bolivia. In recent weeks, we have seen how in various corners of Bolivia, particularly in the departments controlled by the oligarchy, the peasants, neighborhood committees, and most oppressed sectors have mobilized against the oligarchies that aim to bring about a civil war. The way to smash these reactionary forces is through the deepening of the revolutionary process, with the realization of structural measures for the benefit of Bolivians: the nationalization of all the privatized sectors and the distribution of the land of the latifundios to the poor peasants. Though the oligarchies attack every movement that goes against their interests, they cannot silence the people. The people will not permit a dismembered nation. Last week a demonstration of thousands of peasants and the poor of Santa Cruz took place in rejection of the declaration of civil disobedience by the civics of the so-called "Half Moon." The march supported the "process of change." In the words of the top leader of the Coordination of Ethnic Peoples of Santa Cruz (CCPPESS), "We are tired of these civics who announce civil resistance and an autonomic statute, these groups in power that only and use the media to cover up the reality in this department."
Recently, 165 members of the Constituent Assembly, from 10 political forces, approved the new Constitution. Now the oligarchies say this is illegal because the right-wing did not participate. They also say it is illegal for the land to return to its rightful owners, the indigenous peoples. Marincovick, the president of the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz, has presented a veto to the expropriation of 12,000 hectares of land and its distribution to the Guarayos peasants, a measure passed by the Minister of Agrarian and Labor Development, Susana Rivero. But the people must go even further! Expropriate all the latifundios!
The time is now. For a Anti-Imperialist United Front! *************************
International Tribunal on Katrina: A Petition Addressed to President Bush and the U.S. Congress The International Tribunal of Katrina took place from August 28 to September 2, 2007, at the initiative of the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund, to judge the crimes of the government of the United States during and after the hurricane. We are publishing the petition being circulated in the United States, addressed to President Bush and the Congress of the United States.
Whereas between August 29, 2007 and September 2, 2007, a Tribunal of 17 esteemed jurists from 10 countries, including Algeria, Brazil, France, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, South Africa, Venezuela, and the United States, convened in New Orleans to hear testimony by experts and survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; Whereas after considering the testimony and evidence, the jurists issued preliminary findings that the US government committed crimes against humanity by its failure to maintain functional levees that should have protected the City of New Orleans from flooding. Whereas, the jurists made the following additional preliminary findings. The federal government is guilty of violating these human rights: to life, human dignity and recognition of persons; to be free from racial discrimination, especially at the hands of law enforcement personnel and vigilantes; to the right to return, to resettlement and reintegration of internally displaced people; to be free from degrading treatment and punishment; right to freedom of movement; to adequate housing; to education; to vote and participate in governance; to fair trial, liberty and security of persons and right to equal protection under law. All these violations had a disproportionate devastating impact with respect to race and gender.
----- We are also publishing an article by Alan Benjamin, published The Organizer, the newspaper of the American activists that participate in the activities of the ILC. International Tribunal on Katrina Exposes Complicity of Democratic Party By ALAN BENJAMIN On Aug. 28-Sept. 2, 2007, more than 800 people gathered in New Orleans to participate in the International Tribunal on Katrina, which was held at the initiative of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund-Oversight Committee (PHRF-OC) to judge the crimes of the U.S. government before, during, and after the storm. The Tribunal heard nearly 30 hours of testimony. At the conclusion of the Tribunal, Jill Soffiyah Eliah, chief judge of the Tribunal, issued a preliminary finding that found U.S. President George Bush, Louisiana Democratic Party Governor Kathleen Blanco, and Democratic Party Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin responsible for committing crimes against humanity. The preliminary findings detailed how the U.S. government at the federal, state and local levels carried out ethnic cleansing, genocide and other violations against the Black people and the poor of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
McKinney told the opening rally: "The New Orleans Times Picayune reported recently that Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats toured New Orleans, including the Lower Ninth Ward. They 'signaled that the federal largesse would have limits.' One Louisiana Democrat indicated that they were here to 'differentiate the needs from the wants.' "However, the Democratic Congress has failed to differentiate
Bush administration needs from its wants and has granted the administration
legalized spying on the American people; funding for the surge and the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and maneuvering room to do all this and
more by taking impeachment off the table." The testimonies and the statements by the prosecuting team established the direct responsibility of the Democrats at all levels in this system-made tragedy. Below is a brief sample of what was said in this regard: - The bipartisan war in Iraq and Afghanistan siphoned away funding for the repair of the levees or for National Guard personnel and equipment that was needed to rescue the survivors.
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After the Death of Benazir Bhutto: What is the situation in Pakistan? The activists in Pakistan who participate in the activities of the ILC suggested that a press review be published in the newsletter of the ILC. Here we are reproducing the press review published this week in the newspaper of the Workers Party in France, Labor News. On Thursday, December 27, less than 15 days before the general elections, Benazir Bhutto, leader of one of the main political parties in Pakistan, was assassinated following an electoral rally. On an international level, all the media speak of the risk of chaos, of the break up of the country. All the governments condemn the attack. The first images have made it on to the TV screens: images of rage, of indignation. Friday, December 28: The Army and Police are authorized to "shoot on sight" the demonstrators What has led the country "to the brink of explosion," as writes Le Figaro (December 31, 2007)? The title of the daily Les Echos sets the tone: "The assassination of Benazir Bhutto hits a strategic region." Pakistan has crucial role in the "war against terror" and the consequences of its crisis threaten to destabilize the region. But before we take a look at how the French and international press have covered the event, let us not forget the significance of this text for millions of Pakistanis, workers, peasants, intellectuals, lawyers, and judges, who for weeks have fought for their rights, under the state of emergency, making their political and social demands known. It is this voice of the Pakistani people that is expressed through the declaration of the APTUF, published in the hours following the assassination. "Today, December 27, 2007, our people are dumbfounded. Violence and death have struck once again our country. All those who form the people of Pakistan want peace, they want to live without violence, without war." The White House repeated, after the assassination, that Musharraf is a "close ally." This declaration was addressed to the nation to denounce the attack on Bhutto as "the work of terrorists who we are war with." What the Pakistani people have affirmed in recent weeks is that they want to live, they want peace and democracy. What is the source of the chaos threatening the country? The American Policy On December 23, an article by AFP cited Condoleezza Rice, Secretary
of State of Bush: "Musharraf remains a good ally." The article
adds that, "Washington has given US$10 billion in aid to Pakistan
to fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan." The
International Herald Tribune (December 28) repeats this: "The Bush
administration has supported the anti-democratic regime of Musharraf,
using the country as a bulwark against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and,
more and more, in Pakistan itself." The American policy has led the war in Afghanistan to spill into Pakistan, as the International Herald Tribune notes, leading to the dislocation of the country. The Pakistani army has engaged in real battles in Baluchistan, Warzistan, in the border regions with Afghanistan, and even in the center of the country, in the Swat province (a region that the U.S. armed forces have argued should become "independent" in the framework of the Greater Middle East) The pretext of the "war on terror" masks very specific economic and financial interests. "The vast reserves of Pakistan in gas and oil are mostly found in the province of Baluchistan," (1) notes professor Chossudowsky, in an article published on December 30, 2007, by the Global Research Institute, titled "The Destabilization of Pakistan." It continues: "The paths of the pipelines (in this region) are considered to be strategic for the American-British alliance." Thus, the chaos threatening Pakistan today is largely "made in America." What role did the U.S. want Bhutto to play? The Financial Times (December 28) writes that with the death of Benazir Bhutto, "the U.S. is deprived of their best hope to build a civilian façade for the unpopular regime of Musharraf." Le Monde (December 29) explains the same in the following terms: "The (United States) had negotiated a sharing of power between Musharraf, ex-military dictator, and Bhutto. She could have given a democratic veneer to an alliance whose main task, from the U.S. viewpoint, would be to fight against armed Islamic terrorism." And now? And now, in all the country, protest demonstrations against the assassination of Bhutto demonstrate that the rage of the people is directed against the government. The Musharraf government, for its part, has denounced Al-Qaeda. But the same article cites a Pakistani political expert, who declares: "In the last analysis, it is the government that is responsible. I do not think the people will accept the argument blaming the terrorists. Š The assassination obliges attention to be focused on the military services, which Bhutto has criticized for a long time." In these conditions, will the elections called for January 8 take place? At first, Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the second big opposition party, called for a boycott, declaring: "If the government maintains the date of the elections, this would lead us to self-destruction, not only of the government, but of the country." Then, Condoleezza Rice called on the leaders of the Bhutto's party, the PPP, to demand they do not boycott the elections. The leadership of the PP met and announced it would participate in the elections and called for the date of January 8 to be maintained. Sharif came around to this position. The spokesperson of the White House also announced, that "the U.S. administration was in dialogue with Ashfa Kiyani, the successor of Musharraf as head of the military, in order to guarantee security."
----- Endnotes 1) The estimated gas reserves in Pakistan are 25.1 bullion cubic feet; 19 billion are found in the Baluchistan province, where one of the centers of "anti-terrorist" military operations." ----- APTUF Statement December 27, 2007 The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) informs all its correspondents and all labor and democratic organizations the world over of the emergency statement made public by the All Pakistan Trade Unions Federation today, December 27, 2007. APTUF Emergency statement The People of Pakistan Want Peace Today, December 27, 2007, our people are dumbfounded. Violence and death have struck once again our country. All those who form the people of Pakistan want peace, they want to live without violence, without war. Today, violence struck again. The murder of Benazir Bhutto, when the campaign for the upcoming elections was starting, is a blow against democracy, against peace, against national sovereignty. This violence does not come from the Pakistani people. These are critical times. We proclaim once again that a solution can only come from Pakistan, provided by the Pakistani people themselves, united in all its components. APTUF, which constantly has called for a united action for peace, stands against all violence and all foreign intervention in our country. Those who sponsor these attacks have aims that have nothing to do with the people of Pakistan, their well-being and sovereignty. The Pakistani people want peace. Those who are throwing our country into chaos and violent confrontations, are developing a war logic in our country and in the whole region. The Pakistani people want peace. We call upon all components of the people of Pakistan to unite for peace and democracy, to find together the means by which, in the framework of democracy, will be found the way to ensure peace and to safeguard the country. Lahore, December 27, 2007
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Open World Conference of Workers