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Intern@tional Information n°57December 16th, 2003 Contents: * Presentation * International Campaign in Irak * Asian Bulletin : · Statement of Mumbai Conference 6-7 December 2003 · Fraternal Letter to the Chinese Working people · In support of the Chittagong National Convention to save the port
PRESENTATION The Asian conference took place in Mumbai, India, December 6 and 7. The International Liaison Committee participated in that conference. After a long debate, the delegates estimated that given the danger of NGOisation and of “civil society” to the labor movement, it would be beneficial to unite the efforts of those who fight to defend the labor movement and right of workers to have their own organizations. To so proceed, they constituted a liaison bureau, and believe they can regularly fill four pages of this newsletter. Two months ago, the European conference in defense of labor organizations had also decided they could publish four pages every other week in our newsletter. Thus today we have reached a new stage in the effort to circulate information at an international level about the fight for workers rights, for the defense of the sovereignty of nations, and for peace. Besides, the news coming from Baghdad show that, whereas before this was simply a need, today it is an imperative task.
Iraq: The Conference of the Workers Councils and Trade Unions ended successfully in Baghdad After 7 Months of difficult and constant works and activities of the Preparatory Committee for Establishing Workers' Councils and Trade Unions and after the extend of the activities on a wide broad in Iraq and the gathering of more worker `s leaders and trade unionists around the preparatory committee and establishments of many trade unions and workers councils in Iraq and in an encouraged environment the first conference of the trade unions and councils have been organised in Baghdad on 8.12.2003. The 7 hours of perfect discussion about the main Agenda and subjects of the conference , it has been decided about the platform of the urgent demands of workers , Endorsing a draft of a labour law and putting it forth as the proposal of the labour law , the general principle of the Union's internal program; and election of the Union's leadership board .After these efficient debate , the attendees have decided to cancel the preparatory committee and announce the establishment of the workers councils and Trade unions in Iraq. The mains discussions of this conference were about the intensely rooted difficulties and demands of the working class and suggestion of transparent perspectives to respond to these demands of the working class in Iraq and bright perspectives for the activity of the these trade unions. The most important and interesting aspect of this conference was the participation of the working leaders and representatives of workers from the southern of Iraq -Basra to its Northern- Suleimania. Also the representatives of the workers and the union of unemployed-UUI in Kerkuk, Nassiriya, Rumadi, Hila, Kut, Samawa and Baghdad were among the participants in this conference. This conference was obvious and efficient occasion that the Iraqi workers did not accept the division of their ranks according to racial, national, tribal or religious identities. And it showed that the workers are prepared to reunite their ranks despite the political divisions and the efforts of the right wings to divide the society according to religious and national identity. While the political forces and anti-workers groups of the right wings in Iraq oppose each other to obtain more power and position, the workers in Iraq announcing the unity of their lines and announcing their free and independent workers council's and trade unions. Workers Council and Trade Unions in Iraq (WCUI) Bagdad, 10 th December 2003
For peace and solidarity between peoplesFor the right of Asian Workers to organize CONFERENCE FACTSOn December 6/7 2003 a conference sponsored by the ILC took place in Mumbay (India.). The conference had as a purpose the defense of the rights of the working masses, the defense of their organization’s rights, for the defense of the national sovereignty, for the integrity of nations and states, for solidarity among the peoples of the continent. From India 85 delegates came from regions such as Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Dehli, Nagpur, Goa, Murabadad, Bharuch. Also from Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong), and Pakistan (Lahore). Present were also delegates from France, the USA, and Azania. Solidarity messages and greetings came from, The Philippines, Afghanistan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. In its session the conference accomplished the following:
For India Inde : Y.V. Chavan, N. Vasudevan, M.A. Patil, D. Thankappan, (Mumbai) ; Shyam Shinde (Chiplun, Maharashtra); V. Chandra (Nagpur, Maharashtra), M. Subbu, Sujata Mody (Chennai), Subhash Naik George (Goa); C.K. Sanyal (Kolkata), Shashidharan (Delhi) Trade Union Solidarity Comittee (TUSC). Bangladesh : Badruddoza Chowdhury, Tafazzul Hussain, Shariat Ullah, Saleha Sattar. Bangladesh National Workers Federation ( BNWF). Pakistan : Gulzar Ahmed Chudhary, Ms. Rubina Jamil, Nasir Gulzar, Yasir Gulzar. All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF). ILC. Inde : Nanbiath VASUDEVAN, Joint Convenor, TUSC, 6, Neelkanth Apartments, Gokuldas Pasta Rd, Dadar E. Mumbai 4000014 Inde Tel : 24102252 or 24150750 - Fax 24150750 – E-mail :<aibef@vsnl.net> ou bien : aibef@yahoo.com Bangladesh : Hussain TAFAZZUL, President, BANGLADESH JATIYO SRAMIK FEDERATION (Bangladesh National Workers Federation), 15 A. Purana Paltan (3rd floor), Dhaka-1000. Bangladesh Tel : 8802-9559093 - Fax. 8802-8312358 E-Mail : thussain@citechco.net Pakistan : Gulzar CHUDHARY, General Secretary, APTUF, 14 N, Industrial Area, Gulberg, Lahore, Pakistan - Tel : 92-42-6686382/6686519 E-mail : aptuf@brain.net.pk - ILC : Parti des travailleurs, 87, rue du Faubourg-St-Denis, 75010 Paris, France Tel : (331) 48 01 88 28 fax : (331) 48 01 88 36 E-mail: eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com Statement of the Mumbai Conference 6th-7th December, 2003 We have met in a conference in Mumbai on the 6th-7th December, 2003 a conference in defence of the rights of the working masses and of their organisations, in defence of national sovereignty and unity of nations and states, of peace and solidarity between the people of the continent. 85 Delegates from different parts of India (Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Delhi, Nagpur, Goa, Muradabad, Bharuch), Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong), Pakistan (Lahore), France, United States and South Africa/Azania took part. We had received support and messages from Philippines, Afghanistan, South Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka. At a time when everywhere world imperialism and its tools the IMF and the World Bank attempt to pit one against other the people in the name of ethnic or religious differences, to organise war and massacres those who took part wish to salute the fact that in the conference held in Mumbai, workers and working class organisations of India, Bangladesh & Pakistan came together to say beyond the borders: NO! to WAR - common defence of working class rights and gains made in each country, defence of independence of class organisations. Altogether we adopted unanimously this statement. In the Appeal which was issued for the conference by Trade Union Solidarity Committee, Mumbai, National Federation of Workers, Dhaka (Bangladesh), All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, Pakistan, ILC, we stated: “Our starting point should be the interests of the working masses and therefore the unconditional defence of the gains and rights secured by the working class in each country. To defend these past gains, to consolidate the resistance and to fight back the working class needs more than ever its own organisations, and especially its trade unions. Trade unions are working class organisations, built by the workers in the class struggle. Their function is to defend the workers against exploitation. They cannot face up to that task if in one way or another they dissolve themselves in the so-called “civil society”. Trade unions are a main weapon of the working class in its struggle against exploitation. Only that defence can give a solid basis to the struggle for democracy and social justice and therefore to a genuine struggle for national sovereignty and independence.” A discussion took place. Is there any reason which could justify that the labor movement gives up its long-lasting struggle on the basis of class interests of the workers? It is a fact that the situation is difficult and there are pressures to have the trade unions renounce to act as trade unions and be co-opted to the government policies. De-industrialisation process weakens the basis on which trade unions operate. In the same time consensus emerged in our conference that everywhere the people try to fight back and a delegate who referred to the uprising of the Iraqian people against American occupation concluded by saying “the game is not ended, the struggle of the people is going on, it can overcome if we organise”. Together beyond our diverse positions on other matters, we have answered : the labour movement exists and must preserve its independence as such. Workers have their own specific interests and they are entitled to have their own organisations. - We have listened to the delegates from Chittagong who explained how the port of Chittagong which belongs to the Bangladeshi people and which is useful for all the countries of the area must not be privatised, sold to the American multinational SSA. It is the same multinational and the one, which today controls the Iraqian harbours under the supervision of the American army. We heard other delegates from the Bangladesh, explain how 12 organisations from Chittagong met and constituted a Defence Committee of port workers under the slogan “Chittagong is not for sale! The country is not for sale”. A National Convention in defence of Chittagong will take place at the beginning of 2004. It is the task of the labour movement through its struggle against privatisations to defend the sovereignty of the nation. - We heard delegates from India who spoke about the large scale downsizing and closures taking place in different sectors of industry like Textile, Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals etc. Speaking about the state of affairs in the pharmaceutical sector, a delegate said that about 40000 jobs have been lost in that sector in the last 5 years and the employers are openly declaring about the success of deunionisation by Piramal controlled Nicholas Laboratories in India in total violation of ILO conventions. All these demonstrate that what is first and foremost at stake is the existence of trade unions and security of employment. - We heard also about two workers of the Indian conglomerate, Tata, burning themselves in front of the company because of the refusal by the employer to make workers permanent in spite of their serving the organisation over 15-20 years. We heard the rampant use of cheap contract labour in power sector and the miserable plight of 5,000 workers in a company known as BSES in Mumbai, owned by Ambani’s Reliance group. In India an unprecedented wave of privatisations is growing day after day. The very fabric of industry in India is being torn apart. After the destruction of the manufacturing sector, the new targets are vital public services, financial services, communications, energy. The existing labour laws — and especially the section of those laws which protects to a certain extent the rights of the workers in relation to lay-offs, retrenchment and closure are under attack. The fight back of the workers regrouped around the trade union movement, achieving on this point the unity of all the main trade unions has up to now prevented the destruction of those legal barriers to over exploitation. In the present economic scenario, globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation policy had forced hundreds and thousands of workers working in textiles, engineering, pharmaceuticals, chemical, industry, etc., to loose their jobs and live in starvation. Conditions of unorganised workers constituting 92% of the total workers in India is continually put to innumerable hardships often they work under bonded and forced Labour conditions without having any social security measures. The workers of the unorganised sector are entitled to the same laws, regulation of employment, minimum wages, health services, education, pension like all workers in the organised sector. All workers must benefit from the same rights. The struggles of the workers of the unorganised sector is part of the struggle of the whole working class for the defence of the labour force, for the organisation of all workers. This Asian Conference feels, that the trade unions have a historical role in this respect. The Conference took note of the feelings expressed by the delegates on the pitiable conditions of the unorganised labour force and felt the need to integrate them to the Trade Union movement to create a more vibrant and electrifying movement of the working class. Therefore, it is the ability of the working class to organise and to fight, which has become the target. After the recent strike of the Tamil Nadu State government employees for their rights and against their arbitrary dismissals, the Supreme Court of India ruled that employees in the public services have “no right — fundamental, legal, moral or equitable”, to go on strike. - We heard the delegates of Pakistan who explained how the trade unions were threatened and harassed by the government, how the laws on collective bargaining are being trampled upon.In Pakistan majority of workers have no right to form unions and to collective bargaining. If a union activist has been dismissed from service due to trade union activities he can go to the court but the court has no right to order reinstatement and the court can only grant him 20 or 31 months wages. Bonded and forced labour is a big curse widely prevailing in Asia. Conference representatives resolved to fight for the end of bonded and forced labour in Asia and against child labour for the implementation of the relevant ILO conventions. ● We heard in that conference coming from the labour movement the assessment that the workers and the people in India, Pakistan and in Bangladesh are opposed to war and are ready to struggle together for peace and fraternity between people. - We heard that women constitute 50 percent of the working population but, 9 out of 10 women are still in the unorganised sector. Even those in organised industry, such as textiles, mines and pharma are faced with job losses. Whenever retrenchments are made, the first victim is women workers. In this situation the Asia Conference affirms the need to bring women into TUs, to strive for their identity, dignity and self-respect at home, and at the work place. It is the historical role of TUs as democratic orgaisations to work for equality and full development of working class women. - We heard the delegate from South Africa/Azania who explained that in spite of the fact that the Constitution now negates apartheid a huge majority of industrial wealth was still in the hands of 7 white families heading major enterprises. He also underlined that the land was still occupied by those who stole it from the African people and has not been returned yet to its legitimate owners, the Black farmers. No democracy is possible until that question is solved. In those conditions, to try to give a “black face” to an economy that is in fact dominated by a white minority, there is propaganda about so-called “Black economic empowerment”. However, this does not build any factories nor does it create any jobs. The only thing it does is to make sure that the white business maximizes profits in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). - We heard the representative of the Trade Union Coalition US Labour Against War who explained how Bush war in Iraq was also an internal war against the American Workers. He informed the conference about the huge demonstrations against the war which took place in the US. He informed about the Trade Union delegation which went into Iraq and the campaign about occupation and for the workers rights in Iraq and the preparation of a delegation to ILOs office. It was reported that the US occupation authority still enforces a decree of the previous regime prohibiting unions and collective bargaining in the public sector and state enterprises. ● We heard the delegates from France, mandated by the European Conference in defence of the independence of the trade unions who explained how the so-called European Constitution aims at dismantling the nations to destroy all the workers gains and rights which have been achieved in the framework of different nations. Against the will of the people and workers of Europe, in the name of European constitution and its fictional European Parliament attempts are being made to smuggle into European countries labour codes favouring bosses and co-opting trade unions into position of compromise. The European institutions and those who support them want to co-opt the working class organisations to the implementation of those plans. The conclusion we draw from those debates is to launch a clear appeal to all working class organisations in Asia and beyond Asia. The Labour movement has the right to exist as such. The interests of the workers and of the bosses are contradictory. The working class exists only through its organisation. Everywhere the workers are entitled to have their own organisations built by the workers independent from all states and imperialist international institutions and bodies. The aim of our conference is to help in that struggle. Aware of the fact that the defence of working class organisations is vital to the defence of humanity and civilization, we took our responsibilities: we called and held the Mumbai Conference. We are fully conscious that the broadest unity is necessary to fight back the onslaught against our rights, against the independence of our union. It is not in opposition on in competition with any initiative taken on an independent class basis. Therefore, the unanimous will of this conference is that all the organisations of the workers movement take together a broad initiative along the lines of the defence of class independence, defence of trade union right, defence of independent of nation, sovereignty to the people. In conclusion the conference took the following decisions. - To help in the struggle to defend the labour movement to form a liaison bureau of working class organisations. We decide to publish on a monthly basis a 4 page bulletin which would be inserted in the ILC Information Bulletin so as to publicize the resistance of the labour movement. - Conscious of the importance of the defence of the gains and conquest of the Chinese workers, of the defence of the unity and sovereignty of the Chinese nation the conference decided to address a fraternal letter to the Chinese working people. To implement the decisions of the conference a liaison bureau was formed comprising: India :Y.V. Chavan, N. Vasudevan, M.A. Patil, D. Thankappan, (Mumbai) ; Shyam Shinde (Chiplun, Maharashtra); V. Chandra (Nagpur, Maharashtra), M. Subbu, Sujata Mody (Chennai), Subhash Naik George (Goa); C.K. Sanyal (Kolkata), Shashidharan (Delhi) Bangladesh: Badruddoza Chowdhury, Tafazzul Hussain, Shariat Ullah, Ms. Saleha Sattar; Pakistan: Gulzar Ahmed Choudhary, Ms. Rubina Jamil, Nasir Gulzar, Yasir Gulzar. Trade Union Solidarity Committee (Mumbai), India National Federation of the Workers of Bangladesh, (Dhaka) Bangladesh All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, (APTUF) PakistanInternational Liaison CommitteeFurther, the Mumbai conference of December 6 and 7, 2003:
I endorse publicly the statement of the Mumbai conference: yes / no on a personal capacity : yes / no in the name of my organisation : yes / no Name : ……………………………………………….…….. Surname: …………………………………. Organisation: ………………………………………………………………………………………………. Address:: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ZIP : ………………………….. Town : ………………………………. Country :………………………. Email address: …………………………………. Fax : ………………………………………………….. I wish to be a correspondent of the bureau of liaison : yes / no
Fraternal Letter to the Chinese Working people December 7, 2003 Dear Brothers and Sisters, We send you our fraternal greetings. We are meeting in a conference of Workers Delegates of all Asia in defence of national sovereignty and unity of nations and states, of peace and solidarity between the people of the continent held in Mumbai, India on the 6th and 7th of December 2003. Trade Unionists and activists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, France, USA, South Africa have been discussing the situation created by the general onslaught against rights, jobs, living conditions and sovereignty and unity of all countries in the world. All of us felt the need to write to you to exchange information so to organise our common struggle. Since September 11, 2001, in the name of a “Never Ending War” against Terrorism. Asia has been a main target of the attacks of the Americans government and multinationals. The invasion and the military occupation of Afghanistan followed by the invasion and occupation of Iraq has meant a tightening grip of American Imperialism on the whole of Asia. China, the Chinese people, the Chinese workers have been at the center of that attack. Brothers & Sisters, You are aware of the great expectations for all the people of Asia which developed as a result of the Chinese revolution in 1949. We want you to know that we are on your side when you oppose the attempts of the American Government and the multinationals to impose their law. In spite of all that has happened since and the need therefore to discuss freely the balance sheet, it remains for all the people of Asia and beyond that the 1949 revolution showed that it was possible to break the imperialist domination and to give hope for all the people. Now the attacks are at all levels. At the level of economy, imperialism is calling for the destruction of the State Sector in the name of “market economy”. When the United States was moving to a war against Iraq, Colin Powell the American State Secretary said, “that China has to totally respect the WTO rules”. We are all aware through our bitter experience of the dramatic consequence for our people and the workers of implementing WTO requirements. At a military level, China is surrounded now by American military bases and Pentagon has listed China among the countries which would be target of a preemptive nuclear strike. What capitalism is aiming at would be the greatest privatisation in the world leading in fact to the destruction of Chinese economy, to the dismantlement of the Chinese nation. Brothers & Sisters, As we fight against privatisation in our own countries we are on your side when you defend the social property of the main industrial branches of production by defending your jobs, by requiring that your wages be paid, by defending your right to pensions. We know that you are fighting back around those issues, that there are strikes and demonstrations. We are on your side. The Chinese workers have the full legitimate right to organise to defend themselves. There is no reason, no arguments that can justify the fact that the Chinese people and workers should accept that state enterprises which belonged to the Chinese people be sold out to foreign investors and private speculators. If one listens to the main medias in our countries one will hear the enthusiastic shouts about the fact that the China today is the engine which pulls along the world’s economy and that it has become the “workshop” of the world. China is now the privileged destination of foreign investment. Billions of dollars are invested in order to reap a fast profit by the over exploitation of the Chinese workers; funds which would disappears as fast as they came as was shown by the experience of South Korea and other Asian countries in 1997. 84% of that investment goes to one part of China creating the basis for the explosion of the country. China has become a favourite zone of outsourcing of imperialist powers because of its “low labour costs”. In other words this position is based on the worst attacks against the Chinese working class. For instance the media informs that a huge American multinational Wal-Mart is now present in China and that it is banning the existence of any trade union in its enterprises, saying that was their rule. Indeed, in the United States, Wal-Mart destroyed the trade unions. It is also known for having violated more than a thousand nine hundred and fifty six times the American laws on Child Labour and in 28 different states it has been charged for not having paid over time wages to workers. Who could accept that in the name of the WTO agreement that firm and others could have the right to act in that way with the Chinese workers? It has been made public recently that the Chinese authorities were studying the possibility of opening the purchase of land by foreign investors in spite of the fact that the Chinese Constitution states, that Chinese land is, an inalienable property of the Chinese people. The laws which were enacted after 1949 revolution gave pregnant women workers the guarantee that their wages and the medical expenses would be covered by the enterprise for which they work. But now it is said that because of the needs of market economy such a guarantee should be eliminated. No one can accept that the rights of the Chinese women be trampled upon because of the requirements of the WTO. In our conference we discussed the ways and means to organise the fight back of the working class. We were all conscious that your fight to defend your jobs against the destructive consequences of privatization was essential for our own struggle. If we write to you it is because we regard that your struggle to defend the very existence of China as a united and sovereign nation, your struggle to defend your existence is fully legitimate. The dismantlement of the Chinese nation would have terrible consequences for all our continent. Today Sri Lanka is threatened by a division of that country. In Indonesia and in the Philippines there are moves to carve up the country in relation with oil and gas resources. The conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is used against the interests of the Pakistani and the Indian people. In the same time American imperialism increases its pressures and strengthens its position in India and in Pakistan. Bangladesh is threatened with division of the nation. To defend the unity of the Chinese nation is to defend unity and sovereignty of all our nations. By acting to defend your rights you stand up to defend the very basis of China sovereignty. You defend the Chinese agriculture which is threatened by a major disaster and you are also protecting the state enterprises sector. By doing so you are fighting for what was at stake in the great Chinese revolution in 1949, you are fighting to preserve the existence of China as a united and sovereign nation which cannot be separated from the conquest and the existence of the Chinese revolution. It is in that spirit that we send you our warmest greetings and we hope that this will be the beginning of an exchange on the consequences of privatisation and the struggle to fight back in China and in our countries. Our conference decided unanimously to form a delegation which would go to China with the mandate to discuss with you, to enquire about the situation and to report to the Asian Labour Organisations. This letter was unanimously supported by the Conference and gave mandate to those who called the conference to issue it. Trade Union Solidarity Committee, (Mumbai), India National Federation of the Workers of Bangladesh, (Dhaka) Bangladesh All Pakistan Trade Union Federation, (APTUF) Pakistan International Liaison Committee
APPEAL IN SUPPORT OF THE CHITTAGONG NATIONAL CONVENTION TO SAVE THE PORT The harbor of Chittagong is the lifeline of Bangladesh. It is also essential for trade in all the region. 50,000 port workers directly depend on the harbor activities. But many more working class families depend on the existence of the harbor, which is today a state enterprise under the control of the Chittagong Port Authority. The disappearance of Chittagong would therefore spell disaster not only for the Chittagong people but in the whole of Bangladesh. Today, the Bangladeshi government has reached a decision to privatise the Port of Chittagong. What does that mean? The American company Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) will establish a new harbor with a new modern terminal. The main center of communication and trade with the outside world of Bangladesh is therefore supposed to be the private property of an American multinational which will be free to hire, dismiss and impose its rules to Bangladeshi workers. No job will be secure. The previous collective contracts will no longer operate. When one is aware of the record of SSA in the U.S.A. and worldwide, Bangladeshi workers can fear the worst. SSA was the main roadblock in the negotiations between International Long shore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) West Coast Dockers and the Pacific Maritime Association. Last spring, during contract negotiations, SSA promoted an agenda that sought to move as much work away from unions as possible. SSA has systematically moved several hundred ILWU jobs off the West Cost docks in recent years. On April 7, 2003, nine longshoremen were shot by so-called non-lethal bullets at the Port of Oakland by the Oakland police. This unprovoked attack took place while peaceful demonstrators were protesting the profiteering from the war on Iraq by shipping firms such as SSA. Several demonstrators were also injured. The port workers at the Port of Chittagong, the population of Chittagong, and the people of Bangladesh oppose the takeover of a port which belongs to the people of Bangladesh. At the initiative of the port workers' trade union, a broad committee uniting representatives of several organizations is calling for a national convention under the demands: The country is not for sale! Chittagong is not for sale!That is why after meeting at the Mumbai Asian Conference on December 6-7, 2003, we jointly call upon the world trade union movement, all international confederations and federations, all trade unions in each country and especially the port workers and long shore unions to support the struggle of the Chittagong workers and to support the national convention in defence of the harbor against privatisation and SSA. We call for the building of an international labor committee to support the Chittagong convention and its preparations. SHARIAT ULLAH General Secretary Chittagong Port Workers' Union Room# 129, PAB P.O. Bandar, Chittagong Bangladesh - Email – thussain@citechco.net CLARENCE THOMAS ILWU - LOCAL 10 SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco, California USA – 94133 Fax. - 1 (415) 441- 0610
United States: An anti-labor Line in the (by David Bacon)(David Bacon is a labor journalist and photographer. His forthcoming book is "NAFTA's Children." This article appeared in the November 9, 2003, issue of the Los Angeles Times.) “BAGHDAD -- For most Iraqis, oil used to seem like a blessing. It raised their standard of living during the 1960s to near-First World levels. Then it began to seem more like a curse, financing war and a brutal dictatorship. It was oil, many believe, that drew the covetous attention of foreign powers, most recently the United States. Now, for some Iraqis, oil is simply a commodity their children sell by the roadside to passing cars, the way poor farmers in the San Joaquin Valley once sold peaches and strawberries at highway fruit stands. At the Al Daura refinery on the outskirts of Baghdad -- one of three such huge installations in Iraq -- the plant manager knows workers can't live on their salaries, which average $60 per month, so to keep them working he gives them oil, which their children hawk daily outside the plant. Before the war, workers received bonuses, profit-sharing and food and housing allowances to supplement their small incomes. Now, although salaries remain the same, that additional income has been eliminated by U.S. occupation authorities. In plants and factories all over Iraq, workers are quickly organizing unions. They want better wages. They want shorter hours (workers at the refinery and elsewhere often work 11- and 13-hour shifts without additional pay). They want safety shoes, goggles, masks and other protective gear. Most of all, they want a voice in the future of their jobs. But in their quest for what they see as simple fairness in the workplace, they are encountering a determined foe: the Coalition Provisional Authority. Whenever the new unions try to talk with the managers or ministries that operate the plants, they're told that a law passed by Saddam Hussein in 1987 is still being enforced by the CPA. This law says that workers in state-owned enterprises (where the majority of Iraqis work) have no right to form unions or to bargain for contracts. The law violates at least two conventions of the United Nations' International Labor Organization. But on June 5, CPA chief L. Paul Bremer III backed up this decree with another that Iraqi union activists say bans strikes and demonstrations that would disrupt economic activity. U.S. funding in Iraq seems primarily focused on two things -- an overwhelming military presence and the transformation of the Iraqi economy from one in which the bulk of industry is state-owned to one in which it is in private hands. Both are key parts of a plan to make the country attractive to foreign investors, who, Bremer seems to feel, might find the presence of unions a disincentive to investment. And nothing can stand in the way of privatization. In an Oct. 8 phone press conference, Thomas Foley, director for private-sector development for the CPA, announced a list of the first Iraqi state enterprises to be sold off, including cement and fertilizer plants, phosphate and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories and the country's airline. On Sept. 19, the authority published Order No. 39, which permits 100% foreign ownership of businesses except for the oil industry, and allows businesses to send their profits outside the country. Iraqi workers view the prospect of privatizing their workplaces with dread, fearing the sell-off will bring massive layoffs in order to maximize profits. Al Daura's manager, Dathar Al-Kashab, predicted that with privatization, "I'll have to fire 1,500 [of the refinery's 3,000] workers. In America, when a company lays people off, there's unemployment insurance, and they won't die from hunger. If I dismiss employees now, I'm killing them and their families." Outside the gates, the unemployed go hungry and even homeless. Some 70% of Iraqi workers have no jobs. Though Congress may have appropriated billions for "reconstruction," Nuri Jafer, the deputy minister of labor and social affairs, says he can find "no country willing to fund our plans" for a minimal system of unemployment benefits. Reconstruction itself is invisible on the streets. Work may be proceeding on the pipelines and ports necessary to get oil exports restarted, but huge piles of the war's rubble lie untouched. Fledgling unions, although in a precarious position, are moving forward energetically. One, the Workers Democratic Trade Union Federation, is being organized by labor activists driven underground or into exile in 1977 when Saddam Hussein banned real unions and executed many leaders. Now the federation has set up unions in the country's main industries, including oil refineries like Al Daura. Basra already has a central labor council, and workers there have mounted protests. Another group, the Workers Unions and Councils, helped workers elect committees in factories like the State Leather Industry plant, a huge shoe factory, and the Mamoun Vegetable Oil enterprise. Both factories are candidates for privatization. This union also backed Baghdad's Union of the Unemployed when it organized demonstrations in front of the CPA offices, demanding jobs and unemployment benefits — hardly things the U.S. should stand against. But U.S. zeal to privatize Iraq -- in the process bringing in a host of American companies -- seems to trump labor rights, jobs and the welfare of working families. At one recent international conference, ExxonMobil, Delta Airlines and the American Hospital Group all expressed interest in purchasing Iraqi concerns, while Bechtel, Halliburton and Fluor Corp. are among many already operating in Iraq under no-bid contracts. Meanwhile, the CPA is holding down the wages of Iraqi workers. One woman sewing shoes at the state leather factory said she struggled to support six family members on her CPA-set emergency payment. "The prices of food and clothing are going up rapidly, and the salary is very low. We work hard, and I've been here 10 years. I have to have a raise," she said. But that requires the CPA's permission. "When we talked to the manager, he told us he had to talk to the Oil Ministry, which had to talk to the Finance Ministry, which had to get permission from the coalition forces," said Detrala Beshab, president of Al Daura refinery's new union. Iraq's new labor movement is determined to stop the work site sell-off, the loss of jobs and the prohibition of unions and strikes, which may increase conflict with the CPA. Instead of trying to ban labor activity, the U.S. must respect the labor rights guaranteed under international law. Unions, after all, are an important part of America's democratic tradition. As Majeed Sahib Kreem, general secretary of the union at the vegetable oil plant, said recently, "a major reason for our existence is to eliminate the laws issued by the Baath regime.”
Morocco : “For an independent policy in favor of the working class demands and the independence of the Nation” EDITORIAL OF “TRIBUNE DES TRAVAILLEURS” MOROCCAN LINKED TO THE ILCIn early December, Collin Powell the American Secretary of State, paid an official visit to Morocco. His aim was to meet with Moroccan authorities to discuss the latest developments in the middle east, to ensure Morocco’s participation in the “anti-terrorist struggle,” and to advance the bilateral free trade pact between Morocco and the US, predicted to be in force in early 2005. This visit reinforced the status quo of the Maghreb region and of the Middle East. Following the war and occupation of Iraq, as well as the latest developments in Palestine, American diplomacy demand the Moroccan regime play the role it is supposed to play in contributing to the liquidation of the Palestinian revolution. The US military presence doubled after this visit, along with the insistence of US imperialism to turn the Baker Plan II, into the only solution to the conflict of the Sahara. Along with the menace of the continuation of the policies which will destroy Moroccan industry and Moroccan agriculture upon the onset of the economic partnership with the US. Along with this visit, repression increased against democratic and labor freedoms. Striking students seeking to reserve a public University were detained. So were the unemployed, workers, public employees, even journalists. An unprecedented attack is taking place again the social gains of workers. The countereform of social security, loss of purchasing power because of prices going up, massive unemployment. All of this while the service of the foreign debt takes up 11.4 billions of Dinars, or 8,06% of the years` budget. Of the 30,000 public employees retiring this year, only 7000 were replaced! Aren’t these policies the root of the disaster afflicting the youth of this country (drugs, prostitution, crime, and undocumented immigration which continues to kill youth in the Mediterranean)? Can one, with these policies, defend the unity and sovereignty of the nation from the plans of imperialism? These policies compound and impose upon the workers and the nation new burdens. They threaten to bury the nation with their kowtowing to the multinationals and international institutions. Workers and the youth attempt to use their unions to resist these policies. In spite of the maneuvers of the trade union bureaucracy and the political apparatuses, a series of strikes and demonstrations have taken place recently. (Mines, health, education, technicians, engineers, and the private sector). In order for the workers and the nation to better face this disastrous situation, shouldn’t we build an independent political organization favorable to the working class and the nation? Don’t we need such organization to help the workers and youth of this country advance towards emancipation, emancipation requiring before anything, to defend the undivided unity and sovereignty of the nation? To get closer to his objective of building an independent Workers Party in Morocco, we present to you this bulletin Tribune des Travailleurs (The Worker’s Tribune), so as to enrich the discussion among trade-unionists and militants from all political tendencies in the workers movement. Turn Worker’s Tribune into a tool of resistance!
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Open World Conference of Workers