Open World Conference of Workers

In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights

ILC International Newsletter Number 32
June 23, 2003

Weekly information dossier published by the
International Liaison Committee -ILC,
Please contact : International Liaison Committee -ILC,
c/o Parti des travailleurs - 87, rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 7510 Paris
France
phone : (33 1) 48 01 88 28 fax : (33 1) 48 01 88 36
e-mail - eit.ilc@wanadoo.fr
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Table of Contents:

- Presentation

- Account of a Recent Trip to Occupied Iraq

- The Corporate Invasion of Iraq: Introduction to Report Published by U.S.
Labor Against the War titled, "Profile of U.S. Corporations Awarded
Contracts in U.S./British-Occupied Iraq"

- International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education
(Paris - June 14-15, 2003) -- Report and Appeal

- For a European Labour and Democratic Meeting for Peace (Paris - September
21-22, 2003)

- Subscriptions

********************

Presentation

The labor movement needs to exchange information and ideas. This was
expressed forcefully at the conference that was held on June 15th in Geneva
at the initiative of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and
Peoples (ILC).

What position should the labor movement take on the European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC)? What relations should be maintained with the European
Union? Where are their documents, their writings; where and how to proceed?

Some preliminary contributions from Belgian and French activists opened the
debate on this issue in Geneva. It must be continued, on the basis of this
exchange of information.

Also discussed was: What is the NEPAD in Africa? What attitude should the
labor movement adopt toward it?

Nobody holds the truth.

The only thing that allows us to move forward is the free discussion on the
basis of the facts.

Our bulletin, the ILC International Newsletter, wants to contribute to this
reflection, giving unionists and activists around the world the information
that they need every week.

At the same time, we propose to all that they read and become
correspondents of the ILC and participate in the writing of our bulletin,
in order to make it a true correspondence bulletin.

This is the very reason for its existence.

Throughout the summer we will publish elements of the report on the
conference in Geneva and its conclusions. Please subscribe to the ILC
International Newsletter.

********************

International Campaign for Labor Rights in Iraq

On June 14, 2003, in Geneva, representatives of US Labor Against War
(USLAW), the American labor movement against the war; representatives of
the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples and from the
International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (CISA) met and decided to
launch an "International Campaign for Labor Rights in Iraq."

The call for this international campaign was presented before the
International Conference in Defense of the Conventions of the ILO and for
Labor Rights on June 15th. This call was signed by the delegates to the
conference. It projects the organizing, at the beginning of October, of an
international labor delegation to Iraq.

The ILC International Newsletter will regularly inform its readers of the
developments of this campaign, of which they can become a part by adding
their organizational endorsements to those listed below.

We published this call in issue number 31 of  the ILC International
Newsletter. Back orders can be sent upon request.

Contact Information:

- US Labor Against War, PO BOX 153, 1718 M Street, NW Washington DC, 20036
(USA). E-mail: info@uslaboragainstwar.org

- International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, PO BOX 3225, Damascus
(Syria) Fax: 963-1144-20323. E-mail: icatu@net.sy

- International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, 87, rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris (France). Tel.: 331-4801-8828. Fax :
331-4801-8836. E-mail : eit.ilc@wanadoo.fr

--------------------

Account of a Recent Trip to Occupied Iraq

Dear Sisters and Brothers

I returned very recently from Iraq, and I wish to share with you what I
call my "travel log." As you will see, it is an account of a very tragic
situation. It begins in early May, five weeks after the war began.

Iraq -- in the aftermath of the destruction of the Iraqi central authority
-- has descended into chaos. On the road to Baghdad, the efforts made by
the Americans to reconstruct a façade of a government are betrayed by the
void left by the collapse of the government, the army and the police. Only
7,000 police responded to the appeal by the Americans for them to come back
to work for $10 per month. This measure, like so many others, died on
arrival.

The people, moreover, have been treated to a hyperinflation of 60%. There
are approximately 50, 000 U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, and they eagerly await
the arrival of more of their kind, so as to re-establish law and order. By
comparison, it took 100,000 soldiers to maintain control of Kosovo, a
country with one-tenth the population of Iraq.

"ON THE ROAD TO BAGHDAD, WHERE INSECURITY PREVAILS"

Crossing from Jordan into Iraq, it is U.S. soldiers who stamp our passports
-- a most humiliating experience. Shortly thereafter, one is swept by an
overwhelming sense of fear and danger. This sense is confirmed by the
picture of horrors one sees along the highway connecting Amman to Baghdad.

On both sides of this strategic highway, the remnants of war are visible. 
Traces of the U.S. bombings are everywhere. The carcasses of two buses once
loaded with human shields ("fedayeens," according to the Americans) line
the road.

On this road, there are daily attacks on motorists travelling from Amman.
It was on this road that the ambassadors of Greece and Ukraine were
ambushed. The attacks are particularly frequent around the city of
Fallujah, 36 miles west of Baghdad, where the attackers target the staff of
NGOs, journalists, diplomats, and lately American soldiers. For minimal
safety, people travel in convoys of 20 to 50 vehicles. All exiled Iraqis
seeking to return to their homeland are subject to draconian treatment by
the Jordanian authorities. All the passports of the émigrés are scanned and
sent to an American remote facility for inspection. The procedure takes
many hours. The Iraqi passport bureau doesn't exist anymore.

At the gates of Baghdad, on the road from the airport to downtown, one
enters the battle zone. The remains of burned-out tanks and army trucks are
everywhere. Where the government offices once stood, one finds giant mounds
of stones. The convention center, the International Exposition buildings,
the National Distribution Center, the National Congress have all been
levelled. The minarets of Al-Aadamia, Baghdad's largest mosque, were
destroyed as well. The façade of Baghdad's national museum was shelled and
destroyed.

"A STATELESS COUNTRY, OVERTAKEN BY LOOTING AND PILLAGE"

Five weeks after the onset of the war, pillage and murders are ubiquitous.
Armed gangs and militias have a chokehold on the capital. According to the
British weekly The Independent, Al Kindi Hospital alone recorded 242 deaths
during this period. Those who died are most often people who tried
defending themselves from attackers seeking to settle old scores or who
attempted to stop the looting. Those seeking to settle old scores include
former opponents of the Saddam Hussein government, who now ironically
utilize the same violent methods they once denounced. Their job is made
easier by the wide circulation of the files kept by the security apparatus
-- files looted during the destruction and pillage of the National Police
headquarters. These files reveal who arrested whom, thus fueling the
violence.

Today, three weeks after the arrival of the American troops, insecurity
mounts in Baghdad, with a daily toll of 10 dead and 150 wounded.

"THE FEELINGS OF A NATION IMMERSED IN CHAOS"

It is a hundred degrees outside and very scary.

The inhabitants of Baghdad stay at home. With electricity available only
four hours every day, there is no air conditioning. No electricity also
means that the availability of food, medications, and certain appliances is
restricted. But that is not all. There is no fuel, no gas, and no potable
water.

Thousands of the poorest people may die of hunger, and famine threatens
hundreds of thousands of children. The occupying authorities themselves say
the lack of security impedes the distribution operations.

Diarrhea is rampant among children and newborns. On May 10th, the WHO felt
compelled to disclose that cholera had returned to Basra for the first time
in almost a century. The Basra occupying authorities do nothing about it.
There are NGOs in Basra -- such as Doctors Without Borders -- providing
free health care services, yet they have been asked to leave, lest perhaps
they may interfere with the private companies having obtained contracts
from the British and the Americans to provide health-care services.

Unemployment is rampant. There is no telephone service as all phone
exchanges were destroyed. The reigning chaos allows thieves, profiteers,
and black marketeers to prosper.

An attempt at reopening the schools became a fiasco. Few student returned
to school. Parents were asked to pay for armed guards to ensure safety for
their children, albeit solely within the perimeter of the schools. Most
schools were looted, stripped of chairs and benches. The University remains
closed; the building is condemned due to the cluster bombs that fell on the
campus. The faculty complain of the lack of safety, gasoline, and any
semblance of administration.

Looting goes on without end. On May 9th, in full view of the U.S. tank
crews, the Ministry of Education and the buildings of the country's radio
and TV organizations were looted. The Iraqis told us that the personnel of
the U.S. tanks stood by and encouraged the bandits. Some said the thieves
had to pay the U.S. Army officers US$1,000 for their policy of
non-interference.

The Iraqi National Bank had 70 branches; 59 were ransacked. Its president
told us the bank lost more than US$250 million. The thieves used
jack-hammers and very sophisticated tools to loot the safes. The U.S.
troops that were in the immediate area didn't lift a finger. The Iraqi
locals believe exiled Iraqis perpetrated the looting, as well as Kuwaitis
recruited by the Americans just before the invasion.

Drivers are allowed a ration of seven gallons every three days. To get this
ration, they stand in long lines, often harassed by black marketeers.

This climate of insecurity has pushed the curfew up from 11 p.m. to 7 p.m.,
when pedestrian traffic effectively stops. Cars are rare after 9 in the
evening. Every night one can hear the endless rattling of automatic rifles.

Thus the first demand raised by people everywhere is safety. The lack of
safety has already led to a situation of anarchy; it could lead to a civil
war. Without minimal safety, all other political aspirations and demands
are meaningless. The UN Security Council passed a resolution legitimizing
the colonizers' occupation. Given the deplorable situation, even the UN had
to urge the occupation authorities to act like a government and take
responsibility for ensuring safety for the Iraqi people.

Facing anarchy, the Bush administration fired General Garner, who was
deemed incompetent. Paul Bremer, an anti-terrorist specialist, replaced
him. As soon as he arrived in Baghdad, Bremer was charged with
re-establishing law and order.

Bremer reopened the prisons, closed by Saddam several months ago. The GIs
have been ordered to arrest or kill all armed thieves or rioters. At a
press conference on May 13, the General Staff of the U.S. Army announced
the arrests of 600 thieves. The generals also confirmed the nightly
occurrence of armed attacks perpetrated by gangs of looters and religious
militias. The same day the Washington Post published news of the arrest of
several members of the pro-Iranian Al-Badr Shiites brigade. This did not
prevent Bremer, however, from blaming the Baath Party for these attacks.

In spite of the many arrests and persecution of members of the old regime,
the occupying authorities appear unable to determine the identity and
strength of the forces resisting their occupation.

"WHEN THE DEAD ARE NOT TO BE COUNTED S"

Nobody seems to know how many Iraqi people have died. Neither the Iraqi nor
the American military talk about it.  The hospitals of Baghdad admit to
have been so overwhelmed by the flow of bodies that there was no count,
only death certificates issued. Yet a casual stroll around the capital
allows one to count many a black banner. These are symbols of mourning that
hang from the façades of houses around each and every corner.

European and American human right organizations are working on producing a
final count. The Campaign for Innocent Victims of the War -- an American
group -- has 150 investigators at work. It will take them another month to
have the results, yet they already count more than 5,000 civilian Iraqi
deaths. The final figure is likely to end up around 10,000. At Nasseriya
alone the count is 1,000 dead. The shores of the Euphrates and the roadside
between Nasseriyah and Najif exhibit many mass graves containing hundreds
of bodies.

In Baghdad proper, even on the road leading to the Al-Kanal Hotel,
thousands of Arab combatants were killed. Human Rights Watch explains this
huge death toll as the result of mixed land and air attacks, unlike
Afghanistan. This gave rise to ferocious and dirty battles involving many
civilian casualties.  Moreover, Human Rights Watch says, cluster bombs were
mostly aimed at the civilian quarters.

"FROM ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PARALYSIS TO POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION: THE KEY OF SOCIAL RIGHTS FOR THE IRAQI PEOPLE"

One can easily understand the urgency of the current situation. Andrew
Natsios, an administrator with USAID, says that six to eight years will be
needed to redress the Iraqi economy.

In the aftermath of the war, millions or Iraqi workers have lost their
jobs. This dire situation has been exacerbated by the decisions taken by
Paul Bremer: Some 5 million civil servants and public employees have been
laid off because many government departments are not functioning. This is
the case of the Departments of Culture, Planning, Budget, Youth,
Agriculture, Transport, and Technology. Other Departments (Defense,
Information, Homeland Affairs) have simply been closed down altogether. To
this list of unemployed, one must also add the hundreds of thousands of
Baath Party functionaries who've lost their jobs.

In the private sector, the situation is hardly any better: The war
paralyzed all trade activity, agriculture and industry.

Massive unemployment thus provoked by the occupation authorities has led to
regular protest demonstrations, most of them organized by former public
employees who are demanding jobs and security for them and for their
families. Doctors and hospital workers have also demonstrated to demand
payment of their back wages.

On behalf of the occupation authorites, Paul Bremer has promised
unemployment benefits for civil servants who cannot go to work because of
the destruction and looting of their worksites. But very few have received
these benefits till now.

Concerning the oil sector -- the only sector to witness any real resumption
of activity -- the workers are already protesting the fact that oil
production and distribution is slipping completely out of Iraqi hands.
Workers are mobilizing to demand the election of their own administrators.

The occupation authorities say they will use oil income to promote the
country's reconstruction, but this has not prevented them from awarding all
the oil contracts to Bush's close cronies (who are certain to siphon
megaprofits back to the United States) or from hiring Filipino and other
low-paid foreign workers, including Palestinians.

Only the repair of electrical power plants and water distribution systems
are in the hands of Iraqi workers, but even these workers are staging
strikes and walkouts to protest the low wages and to demand payment of back
wages.

Given this situation, it is necessary that an international labor
delegation be able to travel to Iraq in the coming months to evaluate the
specific situation of the Iraqi workers, to determine the nature of the
help needed for a resumption of production in the country, and to assess
what will be necessary to guarantee a fair wage and decent working
conditions for the workers. Such a delegation would be called on to
investigate whether the oil resources of the country are really being
devoted to job creation and to addressing the needs of the Iraqi people.

Also, it will be necessary to monitor whether the authorities are abiding
by the union freedoms and rights enshrined in the 66 ILO conventions
ratified by previous Iraqi governments.

The Iraqi workers will need to be able to form unions of their choice --
not unions imposed upon them by the occupation authorities, which are
distributing huge sums of money to all the political organizations and
associations, including religious organizations, that supported the U.S.
war against the Iraqi people. The existence of free and genuinely
independent unions, chosen by the workers themselves, without coercion or
bribes, is central to the fight for the emancipation and self-determination
of the Iraqi people. It is a cornerstone of democracy.

--------------------

The Invasion of Iraq by the U.S.-Based Multinational Corporations

(Dossier prepared by U.S. Labor Against the War / USLAW, for the workers of
Iraq and for the international labor movement)

Executive Summary (reprinted from USLAW report)

The United States and Great Britain are now occupying powers as a
consequence of an unprovoked military invasion of Iraq. The war was
conducted in violation of established international law, treaties and the
U.N. charter, and has been condemned by an overwhelming majority of the
international community. Each justification, excuse and rationale offered
for this immoral war has proven groundless and unsupportable.

The most urgent priority now is to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi
people, to establish security and basic public services, and to quickly
organize an interim governing authority that fairly represents all elements
of Iraqi society. This will put the nation on the road to popular
governance, and should lead to the speedy withdrawal of all foreign
military forces from Iraq.

A strong, independent, free and democratic labor movement and respect for
workers and human rights must be an essential pillar of a new democratic
Iraq.  Prior to its suppression by the Hussein regime, Iraq enjoyed a
robust and broadly representative labor movement.  Its legacy provides the
seedbed for reestablishing an independent labor movement with
internationally recognized workers' rights to organize, bargain and strike.
  However, the occupying powers have invited into Iraq private corporations
with an established record of labor, environmental and human rights
violations. These corporations were chosen by the Bush administration,
which itself is considered by many as the most anti-worker, union-hostile
administration in modern U.S. history.  This does not bode well for respect
of workers rights in Iraq.

This report profiles eighteen of the most prominent U.S. corporations to
which the Bush administration has given large, highly profitable contracts
to operate in Iraq. A careful reading of the history of these companies
shows that, for the most part, they do not bring with them a commitment to
respect the rights of Iraqi workers.  They come in pursuit of profit and a
desire to control and exploit Iraq's natural resources, labor and markets.

Half or more are privately owned and therefore not required to account to
public shareholders, nor to file even the minimal financial reports
required of publicly traded corporations.  The majority is firms whose
workers have no unions; several have well-established records of hostility
toward unions and workers who seek to organize them.  Some of the largest
contracts issued by the Bush administration for work in Iraq have been
issued without competitive bidding to firms with inside connections to the
administration. Many have past and present associations with the Bush
administration through business or political relationships or elected and
appointed government positions that give them privileged access in their
dealings with the government.

The record recounted in the pages of this report is marked by cost
overruns, accounting irregularities, financial dereliction, fraud,
bankruptcy, overcharging, price-gouging, profiteering, wage-cheating,
deception, corruption, health and safety violations, worker and community
exploitation, human and labor rights abuses (including use of forced
labor), union-busting, strike-breaking, environmental contamination,
ecological irresponsibility, malpractice, criminal prosecutions, civil law
suits, privatization of public resources, collusion with dictators, trading
with regimes in violation of international sanctions, drug-running,
prostitution, excessive executive compensation, and breach of fiduciary
duty to shareholders and the public.

If photos of corporate criminals were hung on post office walls, many of
the firms identified in this report would find their profile prominently
displayed there.  U.S. Labor Against the War, a national network of unions
opposed to the war in Iraq, publishes this report as an act of solidarity
with and support for the workers and labor movement of Iraq. We hope it
will expose to public scrutiny the records of these corporate lawbreakers.
We also hope that it will be used by the international labor movement as
part of a broad effort to support the rights of Iraqi workers. We stand
ready to provide Iraq's emerging labor movement with additional details as
they become available to us.  This report, therefore, should be considered
a work-in-progress.

Acknowledgement: Original research for this report provided by Washington,
D.C. Labor Committee for Peace and Justice.

-----

The Corporate Invasion of Iraq:
Profile of U.S. Corporations Awarded Contracts in U.S./British-Occupied
Iraq

Prepared by U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)
for The Workers of Iraq and The International Labor Movement

Corporations Profiled in this Report

Halliburton
Kellogg, Brown & Root
Bechtel Group Inc
MCI WorldCom
Stevedoring Services of America
Abt Associates Incorporated
Black & Veatch Holding Company
Creative Associates Incorporated
DynCorp/Computer Sciences Corporation
Fluor Corporation
International Resource Group
Louis Berger Group
Menlo Worldwide Forwarding
Parsons Corporation
Perini Corporation
Research Triangle Institute
Skylink Air & Logistic Support
Washington Group International

[Note: You can download a copy of this 36-page report for free from the
USLAW website at www.uslaboragainstwar.org . Hard copies can be obtained --
in the United States -- for $5 from USLAW, P.O. Box 153, 1718 M St., NW,
Washington, DC 20036. Send $8 for a copy for all foreign orders.]

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The International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education was held in Paris, on June 14-15, 2003

The conference organized by the International Liaison Committee of Workers
and Peoples (ILC) against war and in defense of public education allowed
unionists from Algeria, Benin, Togo, the United States, Mexico, Peru,
Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany,
France and Switzerland to exchange information about their experiences in
the struggle against the lethal attacks on the public education systems
throughout the world.

For the international institutions -- the OECD, WTO, World Bank, IMF,
European Union, etc. -- what's involved is doing away with schools as we
now know them.

Is this an exaggeration?

At the beginning of the 21st century, 250 million children are at work --
and half of them have NEVER seen a school.

In many countries in Africa, in particular, AIDS, the multiplication of
wars, and the drastic budget cuts imposed by the payment of a
US$360-billion debt to the IMF have reduced the educational system to
shreds.

The delegate from Benin, mandated by his 25,000-member union federation to
participate in the conference, explained the system of "community education
workers": only a 9th-grade level of education required to teach elementary
school, wages of between US$25 and $60 per month, full-time secondary
teachers paid by the hour and only for the nine-month school year -- all of
them recruited among families of a local community.

In other parts of the world, even in the so-called "developed" regions, the
educational policies are moving in this direction. The delegate from the
California Federation of Teachers (100,000 members) indicated that the U.S.
budget for the first Gulf War -- US$80 billion dollars -- was financed
largely by taking $75 billion from public social spending over two years.
He noted further that the budget for the current war on Iraq, totaling more
than $200 billion dollars as of March 2003, would be financed in the same
way. The Community College system in California, for example, saw its
budget cut by 10%. Two bombers are worth more than the entire budget for
higher education in that state. The registration fees are going to double,
which could exclude from the Community College system as many as 200,000
students from low-income backgrounds.

The report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on "Horizon 2020" (educational perspectives for the coming decades)
notes that "economic, political and cultural globalization has rendered
obsolete this geographically fixed institution known as 'school'." The
report continues: "[T]hanks to new technologies, we must move toward the
establishment of network educational structures linked to local
communities." The delegate from the California Federation of Teachers
indicated that university professors have been compelled to put their
courses and preparation materials on-line, so that the university can
commercialize what is sellable.

The term "life-long education and training" was coined by the European
Union for what is, in fact, the programmed end to fixed education,
employment and retirement.

These testimonies contributed to giving the conference participants an
understanding that the processes of decentralization/privatization aren't
fundamentally about "transforming education into a commodity"; first and
foremost, they are about destroying public education as an institution on a
world scale. Only a small part of the education market -- that which deals
with solvent clients -- can be profitable for the private organizations.

When education is regionalized, as in Germany for example, it is
decentralized down to the level of the local school itself, which can then
define a third of its educational programs. In Italy, 20% of teaching time,
or 10 hours a week, are reserved for classes of a specific grade level; the
rest of the time is spent in groups of different age levels.

What is at stake in all these measures of disintegration is the destruction
of the diploma and, as such, of the possibility for the future education
worker to negotiate a salary with the employer based on
collective-bargaining contracts. The term "qualification" has been replaced
everywhere with the notion of "competencies." Several delegates from France
explained the meaning of the law of December 2001, which allows for the
validation of university diplomas based on "points" and "credits" acquired
on the basis of "association, union or family experience." Thus, the
students elected by the administration councils at the University of
Paris-Jussieu are awarded automatically one fourth of the points they need
toward their diploma.

The struggle waged by the education workers to defend education is
therefore linked to the struggle of the working class and their union
organizations to defend their conquests.

As the delegate from the California Federation of Teachers said, "The
corporatization of higher education -- with the growth of casualization,
merit pay, flexibility and contingency work -- is leading university
instructors to see themselves as workers. There is a real emergence of
unionization among the faculty in higher education in the United States."

A delegate from Portland, Oregon, explained that the workers in education
currently represent 25% of the total number of unionized members in the
United States.

The Algerian delegate, a member of the UGTA trade union federation,
explained that the entire federation mobilizes when a single one of its
sectors is attacked. During a general strike two years ago, for example,
virtually the entire public education sector of the union participated in
the strike.

The Peruvian delegate from the SUTEP education workers' union explained the
massive movement of the entire working class initiated by the strike of the
education workers. The Brazilian delegates of the CUT indicated the strong
role of the education workers in the mobilization that has begun against
the Lula government's projected reform of the retirement system.

All the French delegates highlighted the unity of the demands expressed by
the general assemblies of the National Education workers and other sectors;
namely, the defense of the National Education workers, particularly the
janitorial and support staff (TOS), which the government wants to remove
from the civil service rosters.

The agreement of all of the delegates on these questions allowed for
political clarification on the nature of the "social forums."

A delegate explained that the city of Geneva voted a hefty grant for a
"counter-summit" organized this past June 2nd for the European Social
Forum, when this same municipality has refused to heed the demands of the
unions in the city.

A French delegate cited the documents that arose from the Social Forum in
Florence, which praise all the "new forms of public services," and speak of
the need to "re-found the current public systems." He indicated that "the
unionists are not very open to these questions."

Another delegate mentioned the proposals on education formulated in the
closing speech of the Social Forum in Florence. One, in particular, states:
"The establishment of various collective spaces, among them schools, will
be places for sharing, where one can find men and women of all ages." These
are the very same formulations that one can find in the memorandum from the
European Union on life-long learning, everywhere in society, and above all,
in companies -- with schools being just one place among many for education.

It is therefore understandable how French Education Minister Luc Ferry, who
is seeking to dismantle public education in France, could feel perfectly
comfortable at the workshop on education at the World Social Forum in Porto
Alegre.

Finally, it should be remembered that the mayor of Saint-Denis [in the
suburbs of Paris], who will host the European Social Forum next October,
privatized half the public services in his region.

The interventions from the delegates from Mexico, Peru, Brazil, France,
Italy and Germany insisted on the struggle for the independence of union
organizations with respect to all the "education reform" attempts, as a
condition to defend and win union demands.

The developments that unfolded at the recent congress of the CUT trade
union federation of Brazil demonstrated that the 2,700 delegates, mandated
by 9 million members, were capable of taking their union federation into
their own hands. The decision of the CUT to demonstrate on June 11 against
the Lula government's attempt, under pressure from the IMF, to reform the
retirement system is an indication of this determination.

The conference unanimously adopted a declaration that summarizes its
conclusions: No to privatizations! Defense of the public services,
beginning with the public service of education! Money for schools, for
heath care and for all public services, not for bombs! The unity of workers
will forge the road to peace in the world!

On the basis of the work of the conference, a complete Record of Accusation
regarding the dismantling and destruction of public education on an
international scale will be published.

A conference Continuations and Correspondence Committee was established to
carry out the mandate determined by the conference participants and to
publish a liaison bulletin in three languages.

A delegation was mandated to participate in the ILC conference in Geneva on
June 15 in Defense of the ILO Conventions and for the Independence of Labor
Organizations.

Another mandated delegation, opposing the revision of ILO Convention 142
and ILO Recommendation 150 will be received in Geneva by the ILO director.
This revision is slated to be implemented in 2004. It would propose that
the axis of education should now be the "employability for life" of the
worker, on the basis of his or her individual effort toward graduation in
an informal framework (outside of school). The conference delegation will
thus alert the entire labor movement to what is at stake with this
revision, which would constitute such a serious regression for working
people.

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International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education
(Paris, June 14-15, 2003)

Declaration

The International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education
was held on June 14-15 in Paris. At the initiative of the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC), it brought together
delegates from 21 countries. After having debated, exchanged experiences
and made proposals, they decided to approve a declaration.

We are raising a cry of alarm: With the extension of war throughout the
world; with the destructive "reforms" and counter-reforms in the schools,
in healthcare, in Social Security; and with the destruction of workers' and
peoples' rights, the very basis of human civilization is threatened.

Today Iraq is occupied by the military forces of the U.S. and British
coalition. The Security Council of the UN granted these occupying forces
full powers to control the economy and the future politics of Iraq. The
protectorate imposed on the Iraqi people is based on the organization of
chaos, which, in turn, is aimed at terrorizing the population. Iraq's
national wealth is being looted, along with its cultural heritage and its
oil.

The Iraqi people are being subjected to the occupation. The country is
being subjected to breakup and dismantlement. Other countries are occupied
by imperialist armies.

All peoples are threatened by policies that are imposed everywhere through
military force, policies aimed at breaking up existing nations. It is a
global political strategy that undermines all the foundations of nations,
all the democratic and social conquests of the people -- in particular
public services, education, Labor Codes, etc. Iraq is the new "model" that
imperialism wants to impose on the world.

Indeed, the governments -- whether they opposed the war or not -- that are
subjugated by the international institutions (G-8, World Bank, IMF,
European Union, or "free-trade" agreements like the FTAA on the American
continent) implement policies of "structural reforms" and counter-reforms
that are totally directed against the rights that have been conquered by
the workers and peoples. Far from resolving the crisis, these reforms
worsen it.

What we want for the workers and the peoples of the world is peace and
justice -- not bombs and misery. We want schools, hospitals and public
services -- not war budgets. We want democracy, not domination.

This is the aspiration that tens of millions of protesters have expressed
throughout the world, for example on February 15th, with the rejection of
the war on Iraq. Now we have to continue this same struggle.

Everywhere, in all countries, the very institution of public education is
threatened. We are faced with:

* Cutbacks in public expenses, in particular those designated for public
education, which is threatened with elimination.

* Privatization, denationalization, and schools subjected to the guidelines
of the private sector or even of churches. There is a concerted effort --
promoted by the OECD, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the
European Union -- of developing a world market of education in the
framework of the General Agreement on Trade of Services (GATS). The
undermining of free and compulsory education and is becoming generalized.

* Destruction of titles and qualifications that protect youth from
super-exploitation, an aspect of the policies aimed at the reduction of
labor costs. The objective of this concept of "life-long learning" is to
replace the principle of an initial education before entry into the
workforce. With "life-long learning," the bosses could impose on workers
any job, at any age, under any conditions. With "life-long learning" 
individuals would be considered just "human resources" and their right to
education would be restricted. The workers would be subjected internally to
the demands of the companies; it is about preparing the way for
flexibility.

* Questioning of full-time education in the framework of schools for the
benefit of precarious work and the discontinuance of the knowledge that is
transmitted to new generations of young people.

* An explosion in the number of study programs and certificates for the
benefit of "non formal education" (through companies and churches) and
informal education (through life experience).

* The break-down of  personnel statutes and of the institutional framework
of the national systems of public education in the name of the policies of
decentralization.

In certain countries the public education system has been completely
destroyed (Bangladesh, Mali). In Haiti, education and all public services
have been replaced by NGOs, which have no responsibilities and are totally
unaccountable. In Mexico, where education is public, mandatory and free,
the successive budget cuts have reduced the portion dedicated to education
to 0.5% of the GDP (private investment already represents 3% of the GDP).

The application of the system of education vouchers in the United States,
whose logic is to purely and simply put an end to the public financing of
the schools, indicates clearly that the same policies are being applied
everywhere.

Child Labor: A True Disaster

Currently there are 250 million child workers (under the legal minimum
working age), in total contradiction with convention 138 of the
International Labor Organization (ILO). Half of them, that is to say 125
million children, have never seen a classroom. This situation even reaches
the developed countries. To give those children an education would cost
US$13 billion  a year. This sum is equal to the money spent on military
expenses in only four days.

According to official statistics, nearly a billion human beings are
deprived of the right to read and to write.

According to a report released in 2002 by UNESCO, 70 countries will not be
in any condition to reach the goal that was fixed at the International
Advisory Forum on Education For All that took place in Dakar in 1999: to
provide universal primary education for all ... between now and 2015.

In Defense of the Norms of the ILO

ILO Convention 142 (along with by ILO Recommendation 150), which deal with
the valuing of human resources, affirm that the signatory states will
develop complete and concerted orientation and professional training
programs. They establish that "these programs will help all people, on
equal footing and without any discrimination, to develop and use their
professional aptitudes in their own interests and according to their
aspirations."

For this reason we decided to alert labor organizations to speak out
against the proposed revision of ILO Recommendation 150, scheduled for
2004. This revision would place the axis of worker training on
"employability," individual investment of the workers (co-investment),
flexibility, informal education and privatization.

Public Education Is Not a Rescindable Right

The national public education systems, in different forms, were established
as an answer to the will of the peoples and workers to secure the right to
education. To defend the right to education and mandatory schooling today
is to defend public education, its institutional framework and personnel
statutes.

The right to education is being questioned everywhere; the public education
systems and the personnel statutes are threatened by the offensive of
privatization-liquidation. In the name of "lifelong learning" this
offensive is being developed by the IMF, the World Bank and the
international institutions that dictate their politics to all governments.

Those who tell us in the Social Forums that education is not a commodity
declare: "It is not necessary to be limited to the defense of the public
and state services, it is necessary to look for new forms of democratic
public services and the transformation of the public services to include
more participation". (Declaration of the spokesperson of the European Forum
Social of Florence -- November 2002, in the closing session).

The struggle in defense of public education can only be carried out in
total independence from the IMF, the World Bank and the international
financial institutions. This is so, because the multinationals see a market
in education of US$2.2 trillion dollars a year; a market that today largely
escapes them.

We are opposed to the privatization and dismantling of education in any
form: private teaching; subcontracting or externalization of public school
and university work to private companies, associations, or non-governmental
organizations (NGOs); transnational "free-trade" agreements;
decentralization and the fragmentation of public services; the
establishment of voucher systems and the substitution of "competencies" for
"qualifications."

For Democracy and Trade Union Independence

There must be no misunderstandings: If one really seeks to defend public
education, can it be done in the framework of Social Forums that are put on
with funding from the same governments that are doing the privatizing or
from foundations sponsored by multinational corporations (Ford Foundation),
and in the company of the same government ministers who implement the
policies with which the workers and the peoples are clashing?

In all countries the independence of union organizations, without which one
cannot speak of democracy, is threatened by those who are applying this
policy through the Social Forums. They want to transform the forums into
engines for the implementation of these anti-worker policies, integrating
and assimilating the workers and their organizations into on-governmental
organizations (NGOs).

In countries around the world, the workers are resisting. In the education
sector there have been dozens of strikes and demonstrations these past
months against the policies of privatization and destruction of public
education. In all these strikes, the workers have used their organizations
to fight back and put forward their demands.

For Peace and for Labor Rights in Iraq

A threat weighs over the peoples of the world. The military occupation is
subjecting hard-working Iraqis to merciless exploitation and the negation
of the most elementary workers' rights, under the leadership of the
multinationals that supported Bush's electoral campaign and that have
subsequently obtained the "reconstruction" contracts.

We decided to respond to the call to organize an international campaign for
the rights of the workers in Iraq, for the right to organize independent
unions and to collective negotiation, launched by the coalition of U.S.
Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the Continuations Committee of the Open
World Conference for Labor Rights For All (OWC).

We Have Formed a Correspondence and Continuations Committee

Our initiative doesn't enter into competition with any existent labor
organization. It doesn't seek to build a new organization, but rather to
establish a framework for dialogue and information exchange to better
organize the fight in defense of workers' rights and conquests, in defense
of youth and more generally, for the future of human civilization.

We decided, on the basis of the debates and contributions presented to this
conference, to publish a Record of Accusation of the dismantling and
destruction of public education on an international scale.

We decided to form a Correspondence Committee whose mandate is to guarantee
the exchange of ideas and the circulation of information through the
publication (in English, Spanish and French) of a liaison bulletin, in
continuity with the preparatory bulletin for this international conference.

No to privatizations! No to deregulation!
Defense of the public service of education!
Money for schools, healthcare and public services, not for bombs!
The unity of workers will forge the road to peace in the world!

********************


Formation of the Conference Continuations Committee

The conference decided to form a Continuations and Correspondence Committee
whose headquarters will be established in San Francisco (USA). It was
proposed that the two coordinators of this committee be Dan Kaplan (USA)
and Jacque Paris (France). The conference proposes that for each country
represented at the conference, at least one delegate will participate in
this Continuations Committee.

Germany: Michael Futterer, Heiner Becker, Hendrick Lange - Algeria:
Abdelghain Larbi-Vouamrane, Mustapha Mernache, Tahar Benhomar - Argentina:
Toni Marques - Belgium: Nadine Negleman - Benin: Assogba Innocent - Brazil:
Cleide Donizettide Olivera Rosa - Chad: Gami N'Garmadjal - Spain: Enrique
Herrero - United States: Claude Piller, Dan Kaplan - France: Hubert Raguin,
Jacques Paris, Donna Kesselman - Italy: Lorenzo Varaldo, guido Montanari -
Portugal: La Salette Silva - Switzerland: Albert Anor -Togo: Tétévi
Gbikpi-Bbénissan

The Continuations Committee will have the responsibility of editing a
correspondence bulletin, initially in three languages (French, English and
Spanish). The first bulletin will be published in September and will
include excerpts from the interventions and contributions presented at the
conference, along with two introductory reports.

Without further delay the following will be published:
- The declaration adopted by the Conference;
- The decision to form a continuations committee;
- The report from the delegation to Juan Somavia, director of the ILO,
concerning the revision of ILO Recommendation 150;
- The intervention of Amy Newell, on behalf of US Labor Against War, to the
delegates of the Conference.

The conference gives the Continuations Committee a mandate to put together
a formal accusatory document establishing the reality of the offensive to
destroy public education systems.

Initiatives Proposed:

* Preparation of public reports from the conference directed at workers and
youth.

* The conference places its work in the framework of the initiative of the
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) and mandates a
delegation to participate in the Tenth International Conference of
unionists organized in Geneva on June 15th in defense of the Conventions of
the ILO.

* The Conference decided to publicize the ILC initiative for a European
Conference that will take place next September 21st and 22nd against the
European Constitution.

* In the same way, the Conference will report on the Conference that will
be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, next December 12-13 against the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA).

* The Conference decided to link to the campaign for the liberation of a
union leader in Oaxaca (Mexico) and it demands the liberation of the union
leader and demonstrators jailed in Peru, as well as the lifting of the
state of emergency in that country.

* The Conference, after having read the message sent by Paul Nkunzimanna,
the head of the Union of University Workers of Burundi, decided to send him
a message of solidarity and to send the authorities of the university a
letter of protest against the prohibition on Nkunzimanna leaving the
country.

* The conference decided to continue the campaign undertaken by the ILC
against the "endless war" that Bush wants to impose worldwide, in
particular with respect to the countries that are directly threatened in
Africa, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

********************

For a European Labour and Democratic Meeting for Peace
(Paris - September 21-22, 2003)

The war that was launched against the Iraqi people has already upset all
the international institutions. Even in Europe, it has opened an
unprecedented crisis in the institutions of the European Union that were
the outcome of the Maastricht and Amsterdam treaties.

Through the war in Iraq, the very principle of the sovereignty of nations
was put in question, for Iraq as well as for nations the world over.

A large-scale mobilisation against war has been going on for several months
across the European continent. It is directly connected to the powerful
demonstrations against war staged in the USA itself, especially to the
actions of labour organisations regrouped in the coalition US Labor Against
the War. We can observe that this mobilisation has developed in countries
whose governments approve of and participate in the war as well as in those
countries whose governments oppose it.

We the undersigned -- political and union activists and leaders, belonging
to organisations of the labour and democratic movement -- naturally share
in this vast movement against war, in favour of the rights of peoples
therefore, in favour of democracy.

We are faced with a question: What is the future of Europe?

A new light is shed on what had previously been advertised as a peaceful
Europe. Most governments, members of the European Union or of those
would-be members sided with the coalition during the Iraqi crisis. However,
beyond the division on the issue of the war, the European Union "patched it
up" during the March 20th and 21st 2003 Brussels European Council; there,
demands as to more flexible labour, postponed retirement age, dismantled
healthcare and social protection systems, accelerated privatisation of
power production and distribution, of railways and so on were formulated.

So, in each one of our countries, the European directives, toeing the
guidelines decided on by the European Central Bank drive the governments to
shatter all the labour rights and the guarantees that had been conquered in
each country by 150 years or so of labour and democratic actions.

Through those processes, the very existence of the labour movement's
political and union organisations is being threatened. We have every reason
to fear that the announced "enlargement" will make this situation still
worse!

With due consideration to their respective commitments in the various
labour and democratic organisations they belong to, the signatories of this
call feel that, across Europe as well as across the planet, the way to
peace requires the preservation of all that was conquered in the name of
the labour movement and of democracy in each country. Some key elements
among those are Labour Codes, public services, rights and guarantees
enshrined in collective-bargaining agreements, statutes, social protection
and, retirement pensions schemes, independent trade unions.

For peace, for democracy, for the defence and preservation of those rights
and guarantees that have been wrenched thanks to the century-long struggle
of the labour and democratic movement in each country, for the free and
democratic union of Europe's free nations.

We issue this invitation to a European labour and democratic meeting for
peace, in Paris, on September 20th and 21st 2003.

(List of endorsers in next issues)

********************

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