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ILC
INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 69
A dossier
of weekly information published by the International Liaison Committee
of Workers and Peoples
March 9th, 2004
******************
PRESENTATION
Just a few days before the anniversary of the launching of the U.S.
war against the Iraqi people by the government of the United States and
its allies, the landing of the American Special Forces in Haiti poses a
grave threat to the peoples of the region.
Behind this occupation stands Washington's desire to impose through
"free trade" agreements such as the FTAA their control over
the entire region so as to be able to exploit the workers and the
peoples of the whole Caribbean zone and Latin America -- just as it has
imposed its control through iron and fire on the Iraqi people and
delivered the country to over-exploitation and plundering by U.S.
multinationals.
Already, nearby Venezuela with its immense oil reserves is directly
threatened.
More than ever, the fight against war and exploitation, for the rights
of people to self-determination, for the defense and building of
independent labor organizations is on the agenda.
The International Liaison Committee takes its place in this fight.
Support the ongoing struggles and campaigns of the ILC!
Subscribe to ILC International Newsletter
*********************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
p. 1: Presentation
p. 2: American landing in Haiti: Venezuela threatened
- Campaign for labor rights in Iraq
p. 3: Earthquake. Call to the ILC and solidarity. Morocco
p. 4, 5: Letter of invitation to the international meeting of the
Revolutionary Youth International (August 28- 31, 2004)
- Youth Newspapers (United States, France, Algeria)
p. 6; Workers strike against the ban on the right to strike, India
Demonstration against the government's anti-labor policies, Pakistan
p. 7: "For a single and indivisible Algeria" Program of Louisa
Hanoune to the presidency of the Republic (continuation) Algeria
p. 8: Fight of the CGT-Liberte trade union in defense of Beatrice Mengue,
Cameroon
- Subscriptions
To contact us:
ILC International Newsletter
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
87, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010 Paris, France
Tel: (33 1) 48 01 88 28 e-mail: eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com
********************
U.S. Landing in Haiti: Venezuela threatened
"This is a new chapter in the history of this country,"
declared U.S. President, George W. Bush, who promises Haitians the
establishment of "democracy." But what have he and his
democratic predecessor, Bill Clinton, done after so many years in the
realm of "democracy"?
Is it necessary to recall that it was the bayonets of 20,000 American
marines, sent by Bill Clinton, that reinstated Aristide in 1994?
First Clinton, then Bush supported Aristide during all these years as a
rope supports a hanged man, always demanding more and more in the name
of debt repayment and the "market economy." These are dictates
to which all governments have submitted, including Aristide's. As a
result of these IMF-World Bank policies imposed by Washington, Haiti --
already one of the poorest countries in the world, a country bled by the
bloody dictatorship of Duvalier, and "supported" without
reserve by Washington, France and the "international
community" -- has reached a level of poverty summarized in these
brutal statistics: 80% of the eight million Haitians live under the
poverty line with less than a dollar per day; 65% are illiterate, 70%
don't have access to health care, a man's life expectancy is 49 years
and a woman's 56 years. The child death rate is 70%.
For Washington, this is a first step towards imposing the "iron
heel" of U.S. capital in this region.
A first step behind which we see the fate that Washington would like to
reserve for nearby Venezuela, with its rich oil reserves that offer an
even greater stake than Haiti.
The United States government, which has made two attempts to get rid of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has increased its threats by invoking
the argument of supposed attacks against the United States being
prepared off the coast of Venezuela, attacks that could well be the
"script" desired by the U.S.-financed "opposition"
You can read below the communiqué of the General Union of Workers of
Guadelouope (UGTG) about the dramatic situation in Haiti and the entire
Caribbean region.
-- Excerpted from the newspaper Informations Ouvrieres-France
***********************
Communique from the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe (UGTG)
regarding the situation in Haiti
In 1991, a U.S.-backed coup d'etat by Raoul Cedras removed
Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. Three years later, in 1994, the same
forces that removed Aristide from office reinstated him in the
presidency. Now, on Sunday, February 29, 2004, Aristide has chased out
of the presidency of Haiti with the active participation of 20,000 U.S.
Marines, leaving behind a chaotic situation.
In the context of capitalist globalization, synonymous with unhealthy
enrichment, and through corruption and the use of youth who are victims
of unemployment, the power of Lavalas contributed to Aristide's
downfall.
Our very own Messrs. Chevry, Lurel, Mitel, Desplan and other employers
adept at these very same practices of corruption and enrichment need not
be concerned, protected as they are by their France and their Europe,
which cloak them with their media, their justice, their police and their
military.
After having flooded us with the commentaries, articles, and pictures
from their media, French and American imperialism have landed their
troops to continue the work of impoverishing Haiti (increased debt,
occupation, embargo) and continued by the NGOs the IMF and the World
Bank - all of them organisms in the pay of the European Union and
American imperialism that want to impose the FTAA through limitless
exploitation of countries, workers and peoples of the Caribbean and
Latin America.
The people and workers of Haiti, worthy heirs of Toussaint Louverture,
of Dessalines and other fighters for independence, will know how to foil
the invaders' plans and continue to build their country.
The UGTG offers its total support to the people and workers of Haiti who
are up against the appetites of capitalists and U.S. imperialism. It
calls for all the trade unions of Guadeloupe and the Caribbean to a
meeting in order to take the necessary initiatives. Defend the workers
and the people of Haiti, is to defend ourselves.
Point-a-Pitre
March 1, 2004
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs
***********************
International Campaign Against the Occupation and for Labor Rights in
Iraq
Background:
June 14, 2003: During a meeting in Geneva an appeal was launched
'against the occupation and for labor rights in Iraq' by:
* International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC)
* US Labor Against the War (USLAW)
* The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU)
June 15, 2003: The 12th annual meeting for the defense of ILO
conventions registered this initiative.
July: the report drafted by USLAW on American multinationals that have
installed themselves in Iraq was translated into Arabic and French.
October 3 - 10, 2003: An independent delegation went to Iraq in
representation of the campaign 'against the occupation and for labor
rights in Iraq'. They met with labor organizations that wanted to
organize and publish an international report alerting union movements
around the world.
October 24, 25, & 26: The Lational Labor Assembly for Peace held in
Chicago, USA, at the initiative of USLAW, decided to start a campaign to
inform the US congress on the violation of union rights in occupied
Iraq.
November 17 2003: An appeal was launched to organize an international
delegation to the ILO's headquarters in order to demand an inquiry by
the ILO into the situation of the rights of workers in Iraq.
January 15, 2004: A request for a meeting was addressed to Mr. Juan
Somavia, Director General of the International Labor Bureau requesting
that he receive the delegation on March 15th.
-----------
The newspaper of the Union of Unemployed of Iraq (UUI) publishes its
platform of demands:
For a Labor Code Ensuring Social Progress
Our demands:
1. Total and unconditional freedom to organize
2. Total and unconditional freedom to strike. The right to strike must
not require previous authorization from the state or any other
authority. Wages must be authorized throughout the strike. The striking
workers must have access to the media. Any ban on a strike because of a
state of emergency or attack on the security of the state must be
illegal.
3. A ban on replacing striking workers by persons not belonging to the
enterprise, the armed forces or the police.
4. Recognition of May 1 as international workers' day. May 1 must be a
holiday.
5. National negotiations for a yearly increase in wages.
6. Equal pay for equal work for men and women.
7. Creation of unemployment insurance indexed over the last salary
received for all unemployed over 16 years of age. Creation of disability
insurance.
8. Application of international norms for health and security. Creation
of a national organism of medical insurance financed jointly by
employers and the state, but independent from the employers.
Appeal published in The Voice of Iraqi Workers, newspaper of the
UUI
********************
MOROCCO
Earthquake in Morocco: hundreds of victims, thousands of homeless
people
Hundreds of deaths, over 400 injured, 30,000 people without shelter,
whole villages wiped off the map. This is the result of the earthquake
of a magnitude of 6.5 (the strongest ever recorded in this country) that
shook Al-Hoceima, on the night of February 23-24 at 2.30 a.m.. The
failure of the whole system was revealed. We publish a correspondent's
appeal:
Natural disaster, political disaster
One cannot prevent a natural phenomenon", explained the
Moroccan authorities on the day after the earthquake that hit a whole
region of Morocco. Of course, but they didn't to anything to attenuate
its effects. The region populated by hundreds of thousands of
inhabitants has long been known for its seismic activity. It has
suffered several earthquakes the last of which took place on May 26,
1994 (of a magnitude of 5.6) that killed 14 people and destroyed most of
the dwellings.
What did the government do to remedy this situation?
In the region of Beni Abdellah, 30 kms from the city, all the homes that
were destroyed on February 24 (where many deaths had been recorded) had
already been damaged in 1994, but the authorities did not help the
villagers to rebuild their homes.
Hassan B. lost part of his home in 1994 but he only received1,000 dinars
(about 100 dollars), not enough to rebuild his home -- and he was
obliged to stay in his former shelter. It is there he and his entire
family lost their lives on February 24.
Mohamed Ziani didn't receive anything in 1994, and he has just lost his
entire family (wife and six children). As for Abderrahim A., when he
asked for help in 1994, he was told he could not receive anything unless
his home was completely destroyed. On February 24, he lost his 5
children.
Let us add that in Al-Hoceima, there is one doctor for 3,300 inhabitants
(one of the lowest rates in the country). The hospital has 400 beds and
only two ambulances. In Imzouren, the most heavily damaged, there are
only 3 doctors for 30,000 inhabitants! There is an almost total absence
of the means to save people buried under the debris as well as medical
specialists who can face this type of disaster.
Now, one week after the disaster, hundreds of families spend the night
without any shelter (tents, blankets ...) even though this tragic event
has elicited a powerful national and international solidarity campaign.
Help has arrived from many cities around the country (Casablanca, Rabat,
Fez...) but the authorities have not as yet distributed this aid to the
disaster victims, without discrimination or voter preference. This
behavior provoked strong demonstrations in Al-Hoceima and various
villages demanding the authorities help the disaster victims. That they
at least give them tents, medication ... that they punish middlemen who
benefit from this by increasing prices and speculation. That they adopt
a national emergency plan to help the damaged region.
Y.Lamin
March 1, 2004
--------
The ILC has been solicited by the Secretary General of the Teachers
Federation of Morocco (province of Al-Hoceima)
Appeal of the National Teachers' Federation (Province of Al-Hoceima)
to the ILC
"We, the local bureau of the National Teachers Federation FNE-Moroccan
Trade Union of Al-Hoceima, address this urgent appeal to the
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples and to all the
activists and those responsible for the workers' and international trade
unions to bring us, according to their posibilities, urgently needed
assistance to help the victims and families of teachers and workers.
If we stretch out our hand to ask you for this, it is because we know in
advance that your morals and your conscience, as well as those of all
workers all over the world, are with their comrade workers and trade
unionists of Al-Hoceima in this critical situation.
Dozens of our families are living at this time without shelter, without
medication, and even without food or other sustenance.
-- Khaled El-Ajbari
Secretary General of the National Teachers Federation of the Province of
Al-Hoceima, Morocco
-----
Reply from the ILC:
In reply to the above letter, the ILC issues the following appeal to
all its affiliates and supporters the world over:
Appeal by the International Liaison Committee for solidarity with the
workers and people of Morocco.
After the earthquake that shook the province of Al-Hoceima, in the
north-east of Morocco, causing the death of 571 inhabitants and more
than 400 injured and destroying thousands of dwellings, we received the
call of the National Teachers Federation of the Moroccan Trade Union (FNE-UMT)
in the province of Al-Hoceima, as noted above.
The ILC considers it its duty to answer this call positively.
We call on all affiliates and supporters of the ILC to please send your
donations directly to the account of FNE-UMT ;
Bank Account n0 0500 12 000001557 (agency BMCE-Hoceima, in the name of
Khaled El-Ajbari)
or to the account of the ILC : CMO-Morocco).
Bank transfers (IBAN) (mention Morocco) :
FR76 3093 8000 34000 5122 7000 317 - LUBPFRPP
*********************
Letter of Invitation to the International Meeting of Revolutionary
Youth International (RYI) -- August 28-31, 2004 -- Paris, France
We, who have begun to organize Revolution Youth groups across
France, invite you to participate in the international meeting we are
organizing on August 28-31 in Paris together with youth in other
countries who are building the Revolutionary Youth International (RYI).
We are organizing this gathering for the purpose of answering one
question for youth all over the world: Are we right to say that the
collapse of the capitalist system is becoming more and more widespread;
that this system cannot be improved, that it is necessary to organize to
overthrow it?
Today in France, according to statistics of the European Union, two
million children live under the poverty line. But isn't it this same
European Union that is compelling all the workers and youth of Europe to
bow to its directives, restoring night work for women in industry, as
well as work for children aged 13 -- while also overturning all the
rights that previous generations conquered: access for all to education,
social security, equal national diplomas for all, the right to a real
job with a real salary?
Yet everywhere they have wanted to destroy our rights and jobs, the
youth have shown that we are not about to accept this fate.
In Bolivia, the youth mobilized with the workers to defend their main
source of national wealth -- their natural gas -- against privatization
and depredation by the U.S. multinationals. And throughout the continent
of the Americas, opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) is growing.
In Europe, students have demonstrated in England, Germany and France
against the destructive consequences of what has been called "the
European Space of Higher Education" put in place by the European
Union. Youth, by the hundreds of thousands, have taken to the streets to
demand an end to the massacre of the Iraqi people and the occupation of
Iraq, as well as the immediate withdrawal of all U.S., Spanish, British
and other troops from Iraq!
The American section of the RYI has issued a call for youth around the
world to demonstrate on March 20. Their appeal states, in part:
"U.S imperialism has declared an 'endless war' on the peoples of
the world. Likewise, our struggle must be international and must
challenge the U.S. government's military, social, and economic war
against humanity.
"Our struggle is that of the students in France, Germany, and
Britain who are on strike to defend free public education against the
plans of the European Union.
"Our struggle is that of the African youth and workers who are
fighting against the barbaric foreign debt imposed by the IMF and World
Bank.
"Our struggle is that of the Israeli 'Refuseniks' who refuse to
take part in the oppression of the Palestinian people, just as it is
that of the Palestinian youth fighting for self-determination!
"Our struggle is that of the Brazilian youth who have issued a call
to youth across the Americas to demonstrate against the occupation of
Iraq as well as against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) on
March 20th."
Our struggle must therefore be international.
However, some say that to resist it is necessary to take part in the
various Social Forums taking place around the world. We in the
Revolutionary Youth International do not confuse, nor do we identify,
the organizers of these Social Forums with the thousands of youth who go
there because they seek a means to resist and fight back.
But we submit the following question to a broad discussion: Is it
possible to defend our rights and to stop this barbarism while sitting
alongside, in the very same room, with employers, government ministers,
leading representatives of all religions -- in a word, alongside those
very same people who are responsible for this drastic situation facing
youth and working people worldwide? Aren't the interests of such people
diametrically opposed to the interests of youth and workers? How could
it be possible to find common solutions with them?
We say: We have everything to defend and to win, provided that all over
the world the youth organize themselves in an independent manner, and
that they join the RYI to fight and overthrow the capitalist system -- a
system which, far from ensuring the survival of humanity, is only
leading it down the road to barbarism.
This is why we are organizing an international meeting in Paris to help
youth throughout the world to unite and stand up against these
executioners.
Already youth activists from the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Africa,
and Asia -- as well as youth from Spain, Germany and the Ukraine -- have
let us know that they will be present at this international youth
meeting in Paris. Let us know if you have any questions you would like
to see discussed at this meeting. Send us any proposals for campaigns
you would like to see the RYI take up.
Participate in this international meeting!
Join the RYI!
-----
Registration form for the international meeting of the RYI
(August 28-31, 2004 - Paris, France)
Name:
Address:
City/Country/Zip Code:
Organization:
Telephone:
E-mail:
---
[ ] I wish to participate in the international meeting. Send me more
information.
[ ] I cannot attend, but I pledge ____ euros to defray the cost of
putting on this gathering.
[ ] I will send a check for ___ euros/dollars to reserve my spot at the
meeting.
Mail to: Jeunesse Revolution,
87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis 75010 Paris
Tel : 01 48 01 88 27
******************
Youth Expressions, A Bulletin of the Revolutionary Youth of Algeria
(bilingual edition)
Table of contents:
p. 1 Editorial
p. 2, 3 & 4. Academic reforms.
-A text project to forbid the free and independent organization of
students
- A petition for a national campaign against privatization and the
selling off of public education.
- Private school, the galley of diplomas
p. 5: Unemployment, drugs an
assured future!
p. 6: Exploitation of the work force
-STFA "Turkish society," a good example
- child labor
p. 7: Women's rights
p. 8: International:
Mobilization of French youth against European directives depriving 180
0D0 unemployed of their allowance.
------
Editorial
There is one event that marked the lives of peoples and youth of our
entire planet during 2003; it is the war against Iraq, literally on its
way to disappearance as a nation and a state.
This war, which has cost hundreds of millions of dollars - all drawn
from the flesh of American workers, from their healthcare, education and
university budgets - witnessed the mobilization of millions of workers
and youngsters against the U.S. government and governments that
supported the war.
It is henceforth the iron heel that the United States wants to impose on
all states and all nations regardless of the costs to their peoples and
workers, and their youth.
Yes, all countries are or will be on the U.S.'s administration list as
long as their people and their workers defend the wealth and their
conquests against the dictates of international finance capital.
Wasn't it oil and gas that fueled in our own country of Algeria a
low-intensity war that has lasted already 12 years? Isn't this the
reason our nation is threatened with dislocation today?
Presidential dictates, voted by the majority to the National Popular
Assembly, have instituted private schools at all levels of education;
generalized the "export zones"; introduced "academic
reforms" at the university level; and promoted the regionalization
of national diplomas. All this will contribute directly to the
dismantling of the Algerian Republic.
More than 50,000 children were not registered in school this year, and
thousands of new graduates and students cannot find places in
institutions of higher learning, and thousands of unemployed graduates
work in conditions close to slavery for wages equivalent to one third of
the guaranteed minimum wage (SMIG).
Is this a tragedy? Can't we do something about it since we, the Algerian
youth, represent 70% of the population?
We young militants of the Workers Party have reached the following
conclusions: resistance exists among youth as well as among workers.
What the youth lack is a framework that unifies and reinforces their
struggles: a youth organization. An organization of the youth of the
Workers Party, open to all young workers and students who want to lead
this fight with us.
This bulletin promotes the discussion on this matter as well as all
others that concern youth and the future of the nation.
Now, it is your turn to speak. Let us hear from you.
-- The Editor
----------
To speak of the situation of Algerian youth, is to speak also of the
situation of street youth. I would like to speak about that since I am
one of them.
First, I find that the majority of youth spend their days or simply
their "youth" on the streets. I am a university graduate -- an
accountant -- and I am unemployed. When I was a teen-ager I had a lot of
dreams, and I promised myself to achieve them. Briefly, I would get a
degree, a job, a salary, a home, a little car, practice sports, love a
woman, get married, have children, go to the beach on holidays, travel
from time to time and of course, help my family and friends. I believed
it was enough to be serious and work. But the only thing I obtained was
my "degree". I haven't moved beyond that, or put another way,
I have fallen behind.
I spend my days outdoors in the neighborhood -- like the majority of my
friends. I have tried to find work but have found nothing, and so I am
dependent on my family. I am a 28-year-old burden on my family,
sometimes I don't feel like eating or sleeping, and I feel bad.
With my friends we have dark ideas, we dream of fleeing abroad, but we
don't even have the carfare to go and watch a soccer match. It's a
vicious circle, always the same, but the hardest thing of all is the pit
of oblivion that all youth in distress aspire to: drugs. It is there, it
watches us all the time, it's on sale everywhere, it is the only thing
that is interested in us, that never forgets us. I know a lot of buddies
who take drugs, they say it permits them to stay in the group, to
escape. I don't know if this is true, I only know they have changed,
that they are more unbalanced and I confess I am afraid that I will be
trapped one day.
But I don't want this to happen to me as I still hold to my dreams and I
would like to do something to make them come true. Letting me express
myself in your publication makes me feel more alive, more optimistic
because I feel I am speaking to many youth like myself who might
understand me well. I will make every effort to be able to buy this
publication and show it to my buddies. I thank you very much, good luck
and until next week.
********************
INDIA
The workers of India on strike against the ban on the right to
strike
On February 24, 2004 50 million people participated in the national
strike to ask the Supreme Court to review its ban on the right to strike
and for the government to annul its economic policies. Employees of the
federal and state governments struck in spite of the Supreme Court's
declaration in August 2003, contesting the right of public service
employees the "fundamental, legal and equitable right to start a
strike." The employees of the government of the State of Tamil Nadu
didn't join the strike. The Supreme Court had handed down its opinion
following the strike by 12 million employees of the Tamil Nadu
government asking for payment of all their benefits, retirement,
allowances, etc., which had been unpaid by the government on the pretext
that the State was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The call to strike had been made jointly by the AITUC (All India Trade
Union Congress), the CITU (Center of Indian Trade Unions), the AICCTU
(All India Coordination Centers of Trade Unions), the UTUC (United Trade
Union Congress), United Trade Union Congress (Lenin Path) and supported
by a number of national federations representing government workers, and
the public and private sectors.
Two national federations -- the INTUC (Indian National Trade Union
Congress) and the BMS (Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh) -- that have political
ties with the congress and the Bhartiya Janata party respectively as
well as the HMS (Hind Mazdoor Sabha) another large federation which did
not issue a call to strike.
The financial sector was affected because banks and insurance company
employees participated in the strike.
The railway service experienced many interruptions. The harbor
activities in several states, particularly in Kolkata and Kolchi were
severely affected; no flights left Kolkata.
The oil facilities were also affected. Workers on plantations, in
coalmines and the steel industry participated massively in the strike.
Over a million and a half defense workers supported the strike. Postal
service was disrupted. According to our information some strikers were
arrested and attacked by the police.
This strike was the magnificent expression of the resistance of the
Indian working class to the openly unpopular government policies and the
Supreme Court's decision to ban the right to strike.
N. Vasudevan (AIBEF)
Friday, February 27, 2004
********************
PAKISTAN
Demonstration on February 10, 2004 by Pakistani workers against the
anti-worker policies of the government
The Pakistani working class is permanently confronted with the attacks
on workers' rights. The right of association, expression to demonstrate
and the right to strike are fundamental rights of workers as well as
those of any citizen. These rights have been systematically ignored.
The process of privatization entailed a general restructuring of work
with an increasing transfer of jobs from the public sector t the private
sector. Even the simple change of ownership of a business means a change
in the working conditions for the workers: often it is a reduction or
even a total loss of their social security.
In Pakistan because of the unstable situation, there are no new
enterprises which prejudices the workers. In the name of the
anti-terrorist fight, the police of the ISI can detain you at any
moment, even though the person may be exercising his trade union
activity. The APTUF organized a demonstration in Lahore on February 10,
2004 against the anti-labor laws, unemployment, privatizations,
inflation and layoffs.
Thousands of workers participated in the demonstration with placards and
streamers carrying messages denouncing government policies, anti-labor
laws and clamoring for the laws that protect workers. The anger of the
demonstrators was evident; the workers and their organizations wanted to
demonstrate in the streets but a legal disposition of the government,
Section 144, allowed the police force to immobilize the demonstration
and to stop its taking place as planned.
During the demonstration federal representatives Guizar Ahmed Chudhary,
Secretary General, Fazl el-Wahid, Aima Mahmood and Shabbir Hussain Shah
expressed their points of view; the demonstrators were hostile to their
bosses and denounced the government's anti-labor policies.
Guizar Ahmed Chudhary expressed his deep preoccupation about the IRO
2002 (Industrial Relations Ordnance 2002) and demanded the government
reject it. He explained how the IRO 2002 questions union rights, the
right to collective bargaining, the right to speech and the right to
strike; he showed how the IRO 2002 favors employers and opposes
conventions 87 and 98 of the ILO. He also recalled that the government
doesn't exercise any control on the price of basic commodities, which
added to unemployment, poverty, the lowering of wages, renders living
conditions increasingly difficult for the majority of the population.
He was pleased with the renewal of talks between India and Pakistan. He
urged the governments of the two countries to stop their arms race and
to advance towards the restoration of peace. He also declared that
weapons of mass destruction should be destroyed all over the world.
He indicated to the workers that in a country that pretends to be
democratic, the railroads are under military control and the management
of this public service does not allow its employees to exercise any
union activity. He saluted the workers who, despite the dramatic
situation in which they find themselves, they continue their struggles
against discrimination and inequality.
Aima Mahmood insisted on the attacks in which the victims are bank
employees; the employers of this sector are not only reducing union
activities, but they have suspended the benefits obtained by elderly
workers, such as exemption from payment for certain services such as
pensions and the access to health care. He called the leaders of the
banking sector unions to hold a national convention and define a
strategy for a fight to restore these benefits.
Rubina Jamil insisted that in spite of the government's declarations
that pretend to improve the fate of workers and the Pakistani people,
the situation is deteriorating; women who work in the clothing industry
are faced with enormous problems, lowering of their wages, work that is
totally casual.does not give them any right to work. They also face
violence and sexual harassment in the workplace. They are not protected
by labor laws, and are not entitled to maternity leave or social
security. She again insisted on the importance of encouraging women
workers to participate in trade union activities and to organize
themselves in trade unions.
Rubina Jamil asked the government to take all measures necessary so that
conventions 87, 98, 100 and 111 of the ILO are respected in all branches
of industry. She also criticized the government's neglect of inspections
in factories and businesses, who favor the increase in pressures
exercised on workers and allowing employers not to provide information
on the real situation of workers in their workplace, signals the failure
of the government's policies on the subject.
Guizar Chudhary announced that the APTUF had decided to launch a
national campaign so that the country's laws conform to the ILO's
conventions.
* Immediate rejection by the government of the IRO 2002
* Government should organize a meeting between workers' representatives,
employers and the government in order to set up labor laws in all
industrial and commercial enterprises.
* Ensure the agricultural sector benefits from these same laws; take
immediate measures to reopen all enterprises that had closed in order to
advance in the solution to unemployment.
* Protect women against domestic and social violence.
* Apply all ILO conventions
( A maximum of three months in which to render judgments in labor
conflicts.
Rubina Jamil APTUF
February 27, 2004
*********************
ALGERIA
We publish the electoral program of Louisa Hanoune, candidate of the
Workers Party to the presidential elections on April 8, 2004 (see issues
67 and 68).
Aren't we justified then in defense of our survival, to fight this
monstrous system that threatens to drag humanity into barbarism? Aren't
we justified to defend the Algerian nation?
Who can pretend indifference in the face of the atrocities inflicted on
the Palestinian people since 1948 and the dangers facing the Middle East
in relation to the Palestinian and Iraqi tragedies, and by direct
implication could not save the countries of the Mahgreb who share the
fate of the African people menaced by physical disappearance by the
conflicts, the pandemics and famine?
Is it not our duty to join our voices to those of the men and women of
conscience who, around the world, defend the inalienable right of the
return home of Palestinian refugees, the right of the Palestinian and
Iraqi people to self-determination?
I address all Algerian workers,
Warning! Warning!
The Algeria where you built factories and the infrastructure through
titanic efforts, the Algeria where you make the economic machine run
thanks to the sweat on your brow, in ever increasing dangerous
conditions. Workers, technicians, civil servants, functionaries, you
know the disintegration of the Republic through regionalization and
communitarianism brings about the liquidation of the national status and
the national norms and guarantees of labor. That would create a work
force at the mercy of individual contracts of pre-determined duration,
and forbidding trade union activity.
Warning! Warning!
The unity of workers is in danger
To put in operation this process threatens the unity of workers that is
their principal gain, their strength, their means of defense against the
ferocious offensive, which through agreements with the WTO, in
association with the EU and the Eizenstat project targets their very
survival. Isn't it obvious what is at stake, the national conquests of
workers, national legislation, national trade union organization, the
national statute of public functions, the guaranteed minimum wage, the
right to health care and public education? That is to say the very basis
of workers' unity and consequently, the unity of the Republic?
Who is interested in the breakup of the workers' unity on ethnic,
regional and tribal basis?
Not the Algerian workers and their families, their linguistic components
mixed up. Because the destruction of the workers would facilitate the
destruction of their social protection, the liquidation of businesses
and public services, all the gains obtained through the struggles of the
Algerian people for national independence. Then the multinationals and
the mafia that would profit from the social and human disaster, to rob
the riches of our country, the reduce labor relations to ferocious
exploitation, including children, to slavery conditions in the open
zones removed from the application of national legislation.
Warning! Warning!
The Algerian Republic is in danger.
The reform project of the structures and missions of the Statee where
the order of the day coincides with the signature of the agreement of
January 22-23, 2004, which foresees the creation of autonomous
"regions" by the regroupment/dissolution of the wilayas and
recommends a new cutting administrative...on the basis of
"community affinity". This means the liquidation of the very
bases of the Republic, of equality between all its citizens.
This "reform" is in absolute contradiction with articles 1 and
13 of the constitution that proclaims:
- "Algeria is a Democratic and Popular Republic. It is single and
indivisible."
- On no account can one abandon or alienate part of the national
territory.
The reform of structures and missions ... of the State would destroy the
national unity that the continuity of the Republic requires, while ....
the emergence of rich and useful regions and communities, delivered into
the hands of local mafias and predatory foreigners, and poorer regions
and communities left to violence and destruction. It would destroy local
democracy by the introduction of "participatory democracy"
which dissolves the mandate of those locally elected in the "civil
society" auto-proclaimed and by the inter-community ... forced with
the goal of generalizing the disengagement from the State to restrict
social expenses.....
But who would profit from the dismemberment of the Republic? Not the
civil servants who would lose their permanent jobs, not the population
who would be deprived of access of public health services, free
education, postal services...these having been replaced by privatized
general services.
Finally, is this a programmed death of the Algerian state through the
destruction of its social missions based on the positive ties between
citizens the links between the citizens of all Algeria?
Warning! Warning!
The territorial integrity of the country is in danger.
The imminent dangers that threaten our country through regionalization,
communitariansim, perilling its integrity and that of its children by
the partition of our national integrity making it the order of the day
to nationalize agricultural lands, implying the return of the honni of
khamassa sytem, which the Algerian revolution had abolished.
Who can accept the return of the colonists? The sacrifice of 1.5 million
Algerians for their land and liberty forbids the defeat of one of the
most grandiose gains in the struggle of the Algerian people,
materializing the unity and continuity of the Republic.
It is necessary to stop this massacre, not to break the thread of
continuity... The Algerian land must remain whole, the collective
property of the nation. In the name of the Workers Party I address all
historic leaders of the Algerian revolution, to all those who arms in
hand fought to free Algeria, who conducted the glorious fight of the
Algerian people to recover their land, their liberty and their dignity:
can we let our country sink?
Is this why the Algerian people underwent so many sacrifices? No!
Algeria must live! The national must live!
Warning! Warning!
In the name of the Party of Workers, I address all Algerians, all
parties, all trade unions, all constituted bodies, all the live forces
of the nation: let us organize the rescue of our country! Let us unite
our efforts in respect of our political sympathies and opinions to stop
this escalation. There is still time.
Our country must not sink.
We cannot deny there are problems. They are numerous and complex. But if
we can conserve the national framework,, that the will of all is
expressed, the national Algerian solutions can be attained.
From the point of view of democracy, it is up to the nation itself to
resolve the problems it faces. The solutions exist...It is possible...
It is possible to settle the political problems generated by the crisis
that for the past 12 years, gnawed at our country.: that of the
disappeared, the detained, the liberties. The problems arising out of
the tragic events in 2001, followed by the institutional crisis arose in
2003.
It is possible to gather in a national Algerian congress the parties,
institutions, constituted bodies, influential personalities, to find a
positive way for the Algerian people so that they can all commit to
leading Algeria out of the violent impasse,, in other words restore
peace, guarantee daily bread and dignity for all.
It is about deactivating all the time bombs that threaten the unity of
the nation and the whole region by decreeing Tamazight, national and
official language, ordering the payment and increase of wages and
pensions, the necessary audacious measures so that Algerians can work,
eat, send their children to school, take care of them...
(To be completed in the next issue)
**********************
CAMEROON
Situation of comrade Mengue Biatric in regard to the trade union
fight of the CGT-Liberte
The state controlled railroads of Cameroon were privatized (placed in
concession) on April 1, 1999 to the profit of the Bollori group (SAGA)
and COMAZAR (Spornet), a Belgian-South African consortium. Before and
during the process of privatization the railroad s trad unions took an
active part in the defense of the rights and interests of the workers,
characterized by numerous strikes of which several were victorious.
Since privatization, the management of the new company has established a
plan of persecution and harassment of trade union leaders and activists
in order to eliminate the free and independent trade union movement in
this enterprise. This is how certain trade union leaders were corrupted,
of anti-statuary mutations, abusive layoffs and reduction of
qualifications. It should be noted that the trade union activists of
Mfoundi Rairoad, the head of which is Benont Essiga, were the worst hit
by these coercive measures.
In January 2003, Benont Essiga was laid off forcefully (the matter is
still pending the inspection.
On March 7, 2003, comrade Mengue Biatrice, wife of Bjnoit Essiga, was
order to leave her work and "stay home" without any
explanation being given.
On March 11, 2003 the comrade was transferred to the interior of the
country, that is to say over 300kms from her conjugal residence.
March 19, 2003 Mengue Biatrice is forcefully dismissed for refusing to
go to her new work station (layoff intervened in violation of the
personnel statutes of the enterprise.)
During the same month, Benont Essiga is jailed.
April 17, 2003, comrade Mengue is apprehended for the first time in her
home by police in civilian clothes with a search order, on a complaint
brought about by her ex-employer Camrail and jailed.
April 23, 2003 comrade Benont Essiga is arrested during a visit to his
wife Mengue at the Camrail jail.
April 25, 2003 Mengue is freed while Essiga and another comrade Emmanuel
Ekoman are sent to the jail in Mbalmayo, situated 70kms from their place
of residence on orders from the prosecutor's office of another locality.
May 13, 2003 comrades Essiga and Ekoman and released on provisional
liberty thanks to international support (ICFTU, ILC).
June 2003, Breakin at the office of the trade union at the instigation
of the Camrail management (the police raised a verbal report ).
July 10, 2003, comrade Mengue is re-arrested and jailed in Yaoundi (Kondegui)
where she is being held in temporary detention at this time.
In the meantime, five workers members of the Mfoundi Railway trade union
were laid off for interfereing with the night violation of the local
trade union. Despite the questioning by the administrator of Camrail by
the provincial work delegate...seized by the trade union and the
workers, nothing helped.
August 18, 2003, 12 railroad workers charged with conspiracy to murder,
dangerous activities, destruction and light injuries, were released
except for Essiga who is sent back to court for the same reason the
other were......
September 11, 2003 at the instigation of public powers and the
confession of the comrades, three comrades of the CGT-Liberte (submitted
to power) ask comrade Essiga to resign from his post as president of the
CGT-Liberte. The reason given is the authority that contacted them told
them that the central trade union would not obtain the its certificate
of registration in the court of trade unions if Essiga was their leader.
Since this date, our confederation finds a destabilization of its organs
and processes which for the time being ended up in a breakup provoked by
the above-mentioned comrades. The fight is henceforth internal for the
recomposition of a strong and free and independent which thanks to our
disagreements diverted us from our role to defend the rights and
interests of workers and also weakens us.
The will of public powers if to avoid the emergence of a central trade
union which is not subject to it is clear, the demotion of Essiga was
part of this strategy. We must emphasize, this power is afraid that
working class and its organizations do not arise in the class struggles
to come in our country.
For the time being, the need for international solidarity is imperious
for us in order to put a stop to the destruction of the working class.
This fraternity is a vital necessity for Cameroon's trade union movement
and people particularly singled out by repression considering the
weakness of our internal mobilization, ruined by an environment marked
by fear where arbitrairiness has the upper hand, and the failure to
respect human rights, the misery delibertately maintained...
- Correspondent
(See issues 65 (p.6) and 66 (p.7) of ILC International Newsletter)
Increase your support.
Telegrams, fax, mail.
M. Paul Biya
President of the Republic of Cameroon
Presidential Palace
Yaounde (Cameroon)
Fax : (237) 222 08 70
Minister in charge of Justice, Garde des Sceaux
Fax : (237) 223 00 05
M. Nkili Robert
Minister of Employment, Work and Social Security
Fax : (237) 223 09 40
Embassy of Cameroon in France
73, rue d'Auteuil - 75016 Paris Fax : 01 46 51 24 52
********************
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