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ILC
INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 78
A dossier
of weekly information published by the International Liaison Committee
for Workers and Peoples (ILC)
May 11, 2004
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To contact us:
ILC International Newsletter
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
87, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010 Paris, France
PRESENTATION:
The whole world was horrified by the photos of tortures inflicted on
Iraqi prisoners and the intolerable images of a population cast into the
streets by the attacks of tanks and bombardments. In this new situation,
we open this issue with the publication of the appeal by the coalition
of U.S. trade unions US Labor Against the War (USLAW) to put and end to
the occupation of Iraq and for the return of U.S. troops to the United
States. This declaration -- which underlines the fact that the war and
the occupation only serve to profit the U.S. multinationals that rob
Iraq of its resources, while in the United States, social programs are
wrecked and democratic liberties are undermined -- appeals to support
the labor and democratic movement in formation in Iraq and the
application of the norms of the ILO concerning the right of workers to
organize and to free negotiation.
Jeunesse Révolution (Revolution Youth in France) invites youth
to send telegrams to the U.S. Embassy against the tortures of the Iraqi
prisoners and for the withdrawal of the troops. (See page 2.)
On June 12, in Geneva, several weeks after the expansion of the European
Union and several days prior to the summit on June 17 and 18 of the
European heads of state, who have on their agenda the adoption of the
draft European "Constitution," the delegates meeting at the
European Conference of the ILC will have to answer a fundamental
question: Can one defend the social gains, the public services, without
fighting against the European directives, without fighting for the
preservation of the independence of union organizations?
In this setting we publish the report of the conference that was held at
Halle (East Germany) "for the social unity of Germany" (see
page 4), as well as documents on what is in France the formidable
conquest represented by the social security law of 1945, founded on the
deferred salary, for the defense and the reconquest of which militants
and unionists are presently in a fierce fight (see page 6) and, finally,
the editorial from La Tribune des Travailleurs (Belgium), that
calls for a united FGTB, strong and independent of the government and
the European Union at the time of the "social elections" that
concern all private sector workers (see page 5).
Finally, on pages 7 and 8, you will find the final declaration of the
conference of Mexicali (Mexico) that was held last April 24, for the
defense of the rights of workers of the maquiladoras and against the
agreement of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA-FTAA).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Presentation
USLAW appeal to put an end to the occupation and for the withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq
*Jeunesse Révolution (France) proposes sending telegrams to the
U.S. Embassy against the tortures in Iraq
European Bulletin:
- The
European Conference of June 12, 2004 in Geneva
- An
assembly of delegates members of the SPD of Schsen-Anhalt poses the
question: "How to achieve complete social unity in Germany?"
(East Germany)
- For
a united, strong and independent FGTB of the government and the
European Union (La Tribune des Travailleurs) Belgium
- What
is Social Security in France?
*Final
declaration of the conference for the defense of rights of the
maquiladora workers and the continent (April 24, 2004) Mexico
**********
US Labor Against the War (USLAW) Calls for End to Occupation, Return
of Troops
U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), a national network of 69
national, regional and local unions and other labor organizations has
issued a call for an end to the occupation of Iraq and return of all U.S.
troops to the U.S.
Citing 743 deaths and 3600 wounded among U.S. troops and the death of
more than 10,000 Iraqi civilians, the USLAW statement said, "We
call for an end now to the U.S. occupation and for all military,
political and economic authority to be transferred to the people of Iraq.
. . . We call upon all public officials and candidates for office to
oppose this war and the never-ending occupation and to support steps
that can be taken immediately to end it. . . . It is time to acknowledge
this tragic mistake and to hold to account Bush and those who prosecuted
this disastrous war."
The statement charged that "Every reason Bush gave for going to war
-- Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, Iraq collaborating with al
Qaida and it being an imminent threat to the US -- has been proven false.
. . . Our Government's senseless war and occupation in Iraq have been
met by worldwide outrage and have provoked acts of terror in retaliation.
In short, our country and the world are not safer and the crisis in Iraq
continues to deepen. Rather than a solution to terrorism, the occupation
has become the cause of continuing hardship and violence, death and
suffering. It is time to end the occupation!"
Gene Bruskin, USLAW's national spokesperson, said, "The U.S.
occupation of Iraq is in crisis. As any sensible union member knows, the
first thing to do when you find you've dug yourself into a hole is to
STOP DIGGING. The U.S. needs to find a way out of the mess that our
government has gotten us into and stop digging this country deeper into
Iraq."
Describing the war and occupation as "Bush's folly," USLAW
decried the waste of $150 billion to "pad the profit margins"
of Halliburton, Bechtel and other corporate backers of the president
while Iraqis continue to go without reliable electricity, clean water,
food and jobs and "social programs in the U.S. are being savaged,
state and local governments are being driven into fiscal crisis, and our
own democratic liberties are being eroded in the name of national
security."
Calling for a massive turnout at the polls in November, the organization
called upon the labor movement to "resoundingly reject four more
years of bravado, unilateralism, and squandering of precious lives and
the public treasury on corporate cronyism, militarism, and global
domination." It continued, "No matter who is elected U.S.
president in 2004, the anti-war movement, including its labor component,
must be prepared to challenge U.S. foreign and domestic policies that
harm our people and the peoples of the world and to hold all our elected
officials to a course of peace and social justice at home and abroad."
USLAW condemned the continuing enforcement by the Occupation Authority
of a law imposed by Saddam Hussein outlawing unions in state enterprises,
where the vast majority of Iraqis with jobs are employed. The coalition
of labor groups called for support of Iraq's emerging democratic labor
movement and observance in Iraq of International Labor Organization
standards for labor rights to organize and bargain free of government or
outside interference. The organization called the Iraqi labor movement
the most progressive secular force for a new , democratic, peaceful and
prosperous Iraq"
USLAW has established the Iraqi Labor Solidarity Fund it to provide
financial support struggling Iraqi unions. It urged union members and
labor organizations to donate generously to the fund.
-- May 3, 2004
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FRANCE
The newspaper Jeunesse Révolution invites youth to send
telegrams to the U.S. Embassy against the torture of Iraqi prisoners and
for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
Torture in Iraq
The occupation is barbaric
Down with the occupation
The British daily The Guardian headlined on April 30: "The
U.S. Army implicated in a scandal about torture." Some photographs
showed a prisoner wearing a hood with electric wires attached to his
body; other photos showed naked prisoners forced to form a human pyramid
(photos opposite); other photos show a dog attacking a prisoner and
other prisoners forced to simulate sexual acts. The origin of these
tortures perpetrated by U.S. soldiers in the Abu Ghraib jail, was
learned through officers at army headquarters. An internal report of the
U.S. headquarters recognizes that 25 deaths occurred under torture in
the U.S. Army jails in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Telegram to the U.S. Embassy in Paris:
We have just learned of the unbearable pictures of tortures and
massacres perpetrated by U.S. troops of occupation in Iraq. These
pictures recall the blackest hours of the history of the 20th century.
We are indignant, revolted, sickened by the barbarism and the savagery
that you and your government are guilty of every day in Iraq. The
occupation is barbaric!
In Spain, the magnificent mobilization of workers and youths forced the
decision to withdraw the troops.
In the United States, thousands of youth, families of soldiers and trade
unionists are calling for the immediate return of the troops!
The world is demanding: Let the Iraqi people live, withdraw your troops
immediately! Withdraw your war machine that crushes people around the
world!
The occupation is barbaric!
Withdraw all occupation troops!
Immediate punishment for those responsible for the barbaric acts against
the Iraqi people!
For peace, democracy and the rights of workers,
For the free and democratic union of the free nations of Europe
*********************************
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE
JUNE 12, 2004 IN GENEVA
Next June 12 -- at the initiative of the ILC, European trade
unionists, and militants and elected officials of the Swiss Socialist
Party -- the European Conference will be held in Geneva.
The meeting of European Workers on September 20-21, 2003, had attempted
to answer this question: "Is it true that the policy of the
European Union sets back, in all domains, the rights gained by previous
generations? Is it true that Europe is facing a process of de-industrialization,
that the pension systems, social security and health care are all being
attacked? To summarize, are we obliged to say that in all domains, the
policies of the European Union undermine directly, for those member
countries, and indirectly for the countries that are in the process of
preparing for the enlargement of the European Union, the very bases of
civilization?
The Sept. 20-21 meeting had analyzed the draft text of the European
Constitution -- "a machine to grind down the conquests and
democracy" and insisted on the necessity to fight for the
independence of labor organizations. The meeting opened the debate. We
will pursue it on June 12 in Geneva. Indeed, our conference will be held
some weeks after the enlargement of the European Union, which occurred
on May 1st, and some days before the summit of the European heads of
state on June 17 and 18 that has on its agenda the adoption of the draft
European Constitution.
The workers and the peoples of Europe, whether their country is or is
not a member of the European Union, are confronted daily by an offensive
under the aegis of the European Union, of the European Commission
without precedent, in all domains. All worker militants who will meet on
June 12, are engaged in various ways in a fight for the defense of
social gains, of public services called into question by directives from
the European Union and that constitute the foundations of democracy. In
this setting a fundamental question arises in the workers' movement in
all countries and which will be the heart of our debates: Can one defend
the social gains, the public services, conquered in the framework of
nations, without fighting the European directives; can one defend these
gains without fighting for the preservation of the independence of trade
union organizations?
In this issue of the ILC International Newsletter, we publish an account
of the conference at Halle (capital of the Land of Saxe Anhalt, in the
East) for "the Social Unity of Germany." This conference,
which gathered about one hundred delegates especially from the big
cities of the East, gave rise to a large debate and it was "with
enthusiasm that the conference designated a delegation to the European
Conference."
These German delegates will met in Geneva with militants, trade
unionists from France who are leading a fierce fight for the defense of
one of the biggest labor conquests, the Social Security (and healthcare)
Law of 1945, founded on the deferred salary: "The Social Security
is ours, it is our deferred salary, restitution of 113,7 billion
employer exemptions." At the request of many correspondents of the
ILC International Newsletter, we publish information of what exactly is
the French Social Security.
In a previous issue we had published a contribution by militants from
Belgium analyzing the European Constitution project that the European
Conference was preparing. We also publish a report from Tribune des
Travaillaeurs "for a united, strong and independent FGTB of the
government and the European Union."
Our correspondents have also informed us that the first delegates have
already been designated in Spain, in Italy at the time of April 24
Conference "on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the Liberation."
in Great Britain, in the former Yugoslavia. We will publish the
information they sent us.
The European Conference, like all initiatives of the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, is financially independent.
Help us to support it.
-----
Please inform me of the preparations
For the European Conference on June 12, 2004
In my name/the name of my organization
Surname, First name
Capacity:
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Checks to the order of CMO
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GERMANY
Presentation:
In Germany as in other member states of the European Union, we
attended a large number of official festivities on the enlargement of
the European Union in the East 15 years after the fall of the Berlin
wall. All put forward a vision of a radiant future that awaits a new
Europe "united" under the leadership of the European Union.
If the workers in Germany compared this affirmation with their own
experience in the setting of a Germany re-unified by directives of the
European Union, their conclusions are necessarily very different. It is
what came out again in Halle, capital of Land of Saxe-Anhalt (in former
East Germany) on April 17, when about one hundred delegates -- members
of the SPD and trade unionists --came from all over Germany assembled at
a "conference for the Social Unity of Germany."
They had come from the main cities of Germany, especially those of the
East: Leipzig, Halle, Chemnitz, Frankfort-on-Oder. They were the
signatories of the Manifesto of Chemnitz that had at its center the
question: "How does one really achieve the complete social unity of
Germany?"
Old Social Democratic militants, young students from Humboldt University
(Berlin), trade unionists and members of the AFA (Workers' Commission of
the SPD) -- all of them discussed the means to organize a resistance to
the devastating course imposed by the Schröder government. Below you
will find what some of them said.
The conference decided to continue to enlarge the exchange of mutual
information to use the SOPODE newspaper as its platform for it and to
constitute local correspondents in all cities represented by delegates
to the conference, who would participate in the future in the
publication of the newspaper in order to help what the majority of the
SPD expresses: to impose an indispensable change of course. It is with
enthusiasm that the conference also decided to send a delegation to the
European conference in Geneva on June 12.
-------
In Halle, capital of Land of Saxe-Anhalt (East) on April 17, about one
hundred delegates, members of the SPD and trade unionists came from all
over Germany an assembled in conference where they debated the question
"How does one really achieve complete social unity of
Germany?"
Here are several excerpts from the speeches presented at the time of the
conference. They testify to the large debate that began as well as
several of the main themes that will be evoked at the time of the 2nd
European Conference.
* Uwe Dressel, president of the Ver.di trade union in Land of
Saxe-Anhalt, drew a political balance sheet in describing the situation
in his native city of Halle:
"At the time of the big change this was a passionate time
[following the fall of the Wall to the restoration of the national
unity-editor's note] here as elsewhere in the East, with an ambiance of
new beginnings and daily changes. But it was also the time where layoffs
drove us into social insecurity. It started with the liquidation of Buna
and Leuna (1) Over 80,000 people earned their living there and 350,000
people lived in Halle. Nowadays, only 240,000 remain. Statistically,
around 10,000 migrated to what is called the green belt of Halle, in the
district of Saale. The other 100,000 left for where there is work."
* Gaby Hahn, a trade union militant in the childcare sector,
candidate for the SPD in the municipal elections for a district of
Chemnitz, one of the first signatories to the manifesto convoking the
conference in Halle, replied to Uwe Dressel:
"Nothing we have done so far has been able to change the policies
of the federal government -- not the big demonstrations of citizens and
workers with their unions, not the repeated protests to demand an end to
the measures of the Schröder government, not the resignations of social
democrats of the SPD and the electoral defeats of the SPD, not the
resolution adopted by the national convention of the AFA [SPD commission
that organizes companies, union activists, personnel delegates--editor's
note].
"Shouldn't we face reality? Aren't these the criteria of
Maastricht, the requirements of the European Union that the Länder and
the communities demand economic measures? When we took to the streets in
1989 we wanted some improvements, but wasn't the European Union part of
this already? Everything was not in ruins at home; there were all the
conditions for reconstruction. But what we have witnessed is the exact
opposite.
"With the help of the Treuhand [the federal authority charged with
privatizing everything in the ex-East Germany--editor's note] in which
dignitaries of the old regime participated the companies of East Germany
were destroyed, privatized, the right to work dismantled, the branch
national collectives called into question and massive unemployment
developed. Thus the special economic zones became a daily reality. ...
While voting SPD, one had the hope that a there would be a reversal of
this policy. This hasn't happened."
* "One thing is sure: without an alignment of the East on the West,
the social dismantling will intensify throughout Germany," said Gotthard
Krupp, "social democrat from Berlin and a member of the
leadership of the AFA of the Land of Berlin. "The Minister of
Economy, Clement and the Minister of Transportation, Stolpe, confirm
this while speaking of the creation in the East of a zone free of all
collective conventions and all trade unions that leaves nothing in
doubt: this will be the signal for the "structural renovation"
of all Germany.
* Thilo Wetzel, who re-founded the SPD in the former East Germany
in 1989 declared: "I joined the SPD because their objectives were
those that corresponded best with my own ideas. All those here will be
in agreement with me: I say, we have big problems. We already have a
broken relationship with our own party. As for me, I won't leave the
party because I find there are already hundreds and thousands that need
us very badly here!"
* There were many who agreed with this, for instance Günther Jikeli,
a social democrat from Cologne said: "Our local section was
massively attacked by the bureau of the sub-district. The majority
decisions of the general assemblies of the section, particularly
concerning the candidates to be presented for the municipal elections
were ignored. The conflict finally culminated in the dissolution of the
section."
Thereupon he appealed to defend the internal democracy of the party and
lean on the workers and citizens to impose a change in the course of
policies: "Then we will have a new, strong SPD!"
* Rene Jung, vice president of the Jusos (socialist youth) from
Thuringia, informed the participants to the conference that he was
present against the opinion of the president of the SPD of Land. He
added: " I am proud to be here." His proposal: "We must
continue this conference and hold a new session in the fall."
Correspondent
(1) The two principal industrial areas next to Halle.
**********
BELGIUM
For a United FGTB (General Federation of Belgian Workers), strong and
independent of the government and the European Union
Vote FGTB in the social elections!
Editorial from La Tribune des Travailleurs, No. 114 of March 29,
2004 newspaper of the Movement in Defense of workers (MDT), member of
the European Workers Alliance (AET) and the International Liaison
Committee (ILC)
Since the constitution of the second Verhofstadt government, one
notes an acceleration of social regression measures required by the
European Union. Despite a lot of difficulties about which we will return
to later, this policy came up against the resistance of the working
class. The establishment of title services after the conference "on
employment" organized by the government faced sharp protests in the
FGTB and local demonstrations by workers of the ALE. The measures
against work-related injuries provoked an official protest from the
president of the headquarters of the FGTB and a demonstration in
Brussels. The Vandenbroucke Plan against the unemployed produced violent
reactions from regional FGTBs, demonstrations by unemployed and an
important demonstration in Namur organized by the Walloon FGTB.
From the conference on employment by Mia de Vits
It is this resistance, even deeper, that has driven Mia de Vits to
resign from the presidency of the FGTB in order to head the list of the
SRA for the European elections. Why?
The crisis that shook the FGTB and led to the departure of Mia de Vits
began precisely with the supposed "conference on employment"
organized by the Verhofstadt-Onkelinx government. The objective of this
conference was to associate the trade unions into the government's
policies. This is policy of profound social regression that we detailed
in issue No. 108 of this newspaper.
Le Soir (September 1, 2003) had questioned the Prime Minister on
the risks he was taking in convening this conference. It asked
Verhofstadt: "If the employers and the trade unions don't agree on
the conference on employment? If they choose confrontation? All your
plans would collapse"
Verhofstadt answered: "It won't happen. Everyone is conscious of
the need for these measures. I had contacts with Mr. Vansteenkiste
(FEB), Mr. Cortebeeck (CSQ), Madam De Vits (FGTB) all are leaving.
Some taboos fell at the time of the governmental negotiation."
This meant that Mia de Vits was associated with the negotiations for the
formation of the government and that she was engaged in making the
"taboos" fall without a mandate from the FGTB.
The president of the FGTB provoked a crisis in her organization because
her quest for power triggered communal conflicts, in order to
subordinate the union federal to the government, and make it an
instrument of its policies. This was one of the major elements of the
difficulties encountered by the workers and the FGTB on all levels to
mobilize against the social regression that ensued from the
"conference on employment."
Mia de Vits left the presidency of the FGTB while accusing the Walloon
wing publicly of obstructing her policies. This is a scandalous attitude
on behalf of a chairwoman since such proposals cannot but have the
object of feeding a communal crisis in the FGTB to push it into a
schism, and that on the eve of social elections!
The mandate received from the workers
Mia de Vits violated the mandate she received from the congress that
had nominated her president of the FGTB, a simple and clear mandate
evident to all: defend the material and moral interest of all members,
of the entire country.
Mia de Vits should have left because she came up against the resistance
of the workers and the social security beneficiaries, replaced by union
delegates, secretaries, and leaders of the FGTB. Today the testimonies
flow from all sides in the FGTB to confirm the will to preserve its
unity. Certainly we live in difficult times. But the events that have
just taken place in Spain show that all is still possible.
If one analyzes how, in several days the working class and youth of
Spain chased out the Aznar government, one can note that at the starting
point of all mobilizations there was the fact that despite communal
problems that existed in Spain (with far more serious consequences than
here), there are always trade unions that represent all the workers of
Spain, those that organized meetings in all companies following the day
of the attacks that bloodied the youth and the working class of that
country.
The social elections
In a few weeks' time in Belgium, social elections will take place
for all workers of the private sector. No one would think of denying
that in the CSC good delegates, honest and devoted as those in the FGTB.
But it is impossible to deny that in the social history of our country
(of the fight for universal suffrage up to the royal question in 1950,
the strikes of 1960, the struggle against the Martens-Gol in the 1980's,
against globalization in the 1990's) it was always from the FGTB that
resistance came, it was always its strength that allowed the unity of
the working class of the whole country. That was never the case of the
CSC, because the doctrinal basis of the CSC remains corporativism,
whereas the FGTB claims responsibility for the class struggle. (1).
That is why we call all workers to vote FGTB in the next social
elections, to defend its unity, its strength and independence from the
government and the European Union. It is the only way that those who
pretend to speak in the name of the working class are forced by the
strength and independence of the FGTB to respect their mandate or in its
absence, that they are replaced by those that workers and their
representatives in their organizations are judged more capable.
La Tribune des Travailleurs
(1) One should note that the CSC president offered his support for the
"conference on employment" without being contested, as was De
Vits.
A petition for the unity of the FGTB
We want a combative, democratic and united FGTB!
We are militants, delegates, secretaries of the FGTB. We are for the
maintenance of a united FGTB that continues to defend the interests of
the workers of Brussels, Flanders and the Walloon. Unity makes our
strength.
We want a combative and democratic union, organized in a modern way. We
are for maximum transparency, on points of view as well as on the level
of finances.
We don't want a discussion on the structures to lead to a disguised
separation of the FGTB. The debate on the "communal
sensitivities" must be led with the object of reinforcing the
unity.
We require that democratic elections be organized to elect a new
president on the federal FGTB.
**********
FRANCE
What is the Social Security system in France?
Many correspondents in Europe, knowing of the important debate about
Social Security and the fact that the government wants to impose a
"reform" of this system, have asked us: What precisely is
Social Security in France?
We publish here documents that have appeared in Informations
Ouvrieres (Labor News) that explain what a "deferred
salary" is, and how this is the foundation of the Social Security
system enacted in 1945, as well as the scandal of the employers'
exemptions and an interview with Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary
of the PT, to the Journal du Dimanche (Sunday Journal) concerning
this question.
After 1945, and until 1991, how was Social Security financed?
Let us recall the first article of the law of 1945:
"A Social Security system is hereby instituted, destined to protect
workers and their families against risks of all nature that might reduce
or suppress their capacity to earn (a living), to cover all healthcare
expenses, to cover the expenses of motherhood and all the expenses of
the dependent family that they support."
This system has the mission to take charge of all the expenses that
salaried employees need to look after themselves, to finance the
necessary hospitals, to gather the pensions and the domestic allowances.
All expenses We insist. That was what was imposed in 1945.
How was it financed?
"The coverage offered by Social Security is ensured by
contributions based on an ensemble of remunerations and income received
by the beneficiaries of each legislation." (1st. article).
Therefore, as we can see: It was not a tax.
Pierre Laroque, one of the authors of the 1945 regulation, described the
foundations of the financing of Social Security this way:
"The Ordinance of October 4, 1945 is the base regulation, because
it established the general framework in which the institution would
operate, that is to say an obligatory system founded on employers' and
workers' contributions, and covering the complete range of social risks
that we wanted to cover."
Isn't this quite clear?
When a salaried employee earns 1 200 euros, the employer has an
obligation at the end of the month to pay more to the Union of Recovery
of the Social security and domestic allowances (URSSAF) that collects
the moneys of the institution, as well as the workers' and employers'
contributions. These sums (the contribution named "worker" and
the contribution named "employer") that are not touched by the
salaried employee, belongs to him or her and constitutes his or her
deferred salary.
When an employer hires a salaried employee, the accounting is arranged
on the basis not of "net income" but of "gross
income" to which is added the employers' contributions. This is
what the employer really pays the wage-earner.
To put it concretely, the price of any commodity when it leaves the
factory includes three parts: on the one hand, the expenses invested in
the machinery and raw materials; on the other hand, the salary paid the
workers; and finally, the profit.
When the salary increases, the profit decreases; when the employer
doesn't pay the amount of salary due the worker, his profit increases.
There are many developments regarding this question, but this is not the
object of the article.
In 1945 when the Social Security Ordinance was instituted, the working
class imposed that employers pay into the institution the contributions
representing the deferred salary, without otherwise effecting any
reduction of the employee's salary.
The employers accepted that the deferred salary would come entirely out
of their pockets, because at the end of the war, the working class said:
"We don't want to undergo misery ever again as we have in the
past."
Consequently Social Security was well enforced. It was an immense
conquest of the workers.
Consequently, with the gradual employer exemptions enacted by the
government, the authorities allow employers not to comply with the
obligations inscribed in the legislation of 1945 and places in peril the
existence of the deferred salary that was imposed on them.
The scandal of the employer exonerations
According to the Central Agency of Social Security (1) between 1992
and 2002, employers pocketed, thanks to exemption measures adopted by
successive governments, 113,7 billions of euros (that is to say 746
billion francs) (2).
Of these 113,7 billions of exemptions, 21,6 billions have never been
compensated, and have in fact decreased the Social Security coffers by
that amount.
21,6 billions of euros, that means 14 times the deficit accumulated from
2000 to 2002.
21,6 stolen billions from the insured that have not been able to be
contributed to their healthcare, their pensions and all their benefits.
As for the 92,1 billion euros, which one tells us that they have been
"compensated", who paid them?
The citizens with their taxes.
Who supports the tax? The salaried employees, that means those who
contribute to Social Security.
They have therefore paid twice! It is 113,7 billion euros that have been
stolen from the insured.
The 'Secu' is ours. It is our deferred salary.
Restitution of 113,7 billions of employee exemptions!
----
(1) ACOSS is charged since 1967, with the treasury of the whole
regime of Social Security. It centralizes all returns recovered by the
URSSAF (Union of recovery of contributions of Social Security and
domestic allowances) and the dispatch between the primary funds, the
family allowance fund, the regional funds that pay old age pensions, the
CRAMIF, the CRAM of Strasbourg, to all base organisms charged with the
disbursement of the benefits.
(2) Acoss-Stats bulletin, September 2004.
**********
Interview with Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary of the Workers
Party of France in the Journal du Dimanche (Sunday Journal)
Question:You say there is not a deficit in Social Security, is this
a provocation?
Gluckstein: Not in the least! I repeat: there is no deficit in Social
Security. It is not I who says this, but the ACOSS, the central bank of
all organisms of the Social Security. This official organism shows that
from 1992 to 2002 the exemptions granted by the state on what one
improperly calls the employers' charges rose to 113,7 billions. Only in
2003 do they announce colossal deficits every day -- 10, 12, even 14
billions. This is a sum far inferfor to the 20 billions of exemptions.
Here is another way of putting it: According to the principle of
"deferred salary" -- a foundation of the "Social Security
Act of 1945" -- the contributions made by the employers in the name
of every salaried employee belong collectively to all salaried employees
(before being restored individually to them according to their needs.)
These exemptions of social contributions are therefore a lot of money
stolen from employees. There is nothing unrealistic, quite the contrary,
to our demand that this money be restored to the workers!
Besides, the government knows this very well but it has to shout 'fire'
to install a new system that would please the private insurance
companies -- which are hell-bent on privatizing this system.
**********
MEXICO-USA
The April 24 Conference in Mexicali in Defense of the Labor Rights of
the Maquiladora Workers and Against FTAA Was a Huge Success
(Also see Issue No. 75 of the ILC International Newsletter)
Dear Supporters of the Daewoo Maquiladora workers in Mexicali:
The April 24 Conference in Mexicali in defense of the labor rights of
the maquiladora workers and against FTAA was a huge success, far beyond
anything anticipated by the conference organizers.
More than 125 participants gathered at the event, which began with a
press conference near the Civic Center in Mexicali, then spilled over
into the streets with a march to the State Building and through the
downtown thoroughfares, and then assembled at the union hall of the
State Social Security Workers Union of Issstecali (SUTI).
Among the delegates who participated in the conference from the United
States were 28 students from UC-Santa Cruz; three students and a
professor from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif; a representative of
UNITE (textile workers' union) from New York; two representatives from
UFCW locals in California (one, the president of the local in San Jose;
the other a lead organizer from Salinas); two unionists from OPEIU Local
3 and the San Francisco Labor Council, and three students/activists from
San Francisco's City College.
From Mexico, in addition to local union officials, rank-and-file members
and workers from three maquiladora plants in the Mexicali region, 10
delegates attended from the Maquiladora Support Network in Tijuana, two
maquiladora workers came from La Paz, Baja California; four unionists
came from Hermosillo, Sonora; two unionists came from Cananea, Sonora;
and three unionists came from Mexico City, including a representative
from the Continuations Committee of the Sao Paulo Anti-FTAA conference
and two top officials of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME).
In addition, an anti-sweatshop organizer from Vancouver, Canada, was in
attendance.
We will be sending you over the next week a series of postings with the
full conference report. You will be able to see that this was truly an
organizing conference in defense of the maquiladora workers and their
right to form independent unions, and in opposition to the FTAA,
beginning with opposition to the Central America Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA).
In solidarity,
Ed Rosario and Alan Benjamin
Co-Coordinators,
Open World Conference
San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
----------
FINAL MEXICALI APRIL 24 CONFERENCE RESOLUTION
International Conference in Defense of the Rights of Maquiladora Workers
and Against the FTAA
(Mexicali, BC, Mexico, April 24, 2004)
- Full respect for the rights stipulated in Mexico's Federal Labor Law
and ILO Conventions 87 and 98!
- No to FTAA-NAFTA!
- No to the War!
We -- who participated in the April 24 International Conference in
Mexicali, either in a personal capacity or delegated by our unions and
organizations in the United States, Mexico and Canada; and who were
supported by many other unions and organizations that sent greetings and
that have pledged their commitment to promote our action proposals --
hereby declare the following:
1. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has been in
effect over the past ten years in the United States, Mexico and Canada
has accelerated the liquidation of labor and social rights. During this
period in these three countries, processes of deregulation of labor
rights, and privatization and destruction of public services have been
imposed or accelerated.
In Mexico, this has meant the ruin of millions of peasants. The country
has been converted into an importer of corn, wheat and soy. This has
profoundly affected the agrarian reform, a conquest of the 1930s. A
series of attacks against the Mexican nation have been launched against
public education, healthcare, social security, oil and electric
utilities, pension systems -- and the list goes on.
NAFTA has been the institutional framework that has promoted the
proliferation and deepening of the policy of maquiladoras -- or
pass-through sweatshop industries -- in which the policy of labor
deregulation prevails, leading to long working hours, unsafe working
conditions and the systematic denial of basic labor rights.
During the past ten years, over 700,000 jobs have been lost in the
United States. The over-exploitation of migrant labor has occurred.
Labor relations in the United States have been deregulated, and
employers and the government have launched successive attacks against
union rights. Employers threaten workers with relocation of factories to
other countries if they do not accept lower wages and benefits.
2. Today, the governments have announced a move to impose the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would represent the deepening and
multiplication of NAFTA-like policies throughout the continent. The FTAA
is nothing but a planned attempt to break up the nations of our
continent; the very existence of nations is menaced. As several workers'
organizations have stated, "The FTAA is not an alliance between
peoples to serve the peoples; the FTAA is an 'alliance' of the
multinationals and the big banks against the peoples of the
continent."
Through the FTAA, the multinational corporations and the governments in
their service intend to drive down wages and working conditions for all
workers across Mexico and the rest of the Americas to the level of the
workers in the maquiladora plants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Gone
will be all labor regulations. Gone will be the conventions of the
International Labor Organization -- such as ILO Conventions 87 and 98,
which safeguard the right to form independent unions and bargain
collectively.
Through the FTAA, the multinational corporations seek to control all our
natural resources -- as is occurring in Mexico today with the attempt to
privatize electricity, to hand over our gas to the U.S. oil
conglomerates, and to liquidate the healthcare and pension systems of
the ISSSTE (Social Security Institute of State Workers) and the IMSS
(Social Security Institute of Mexico). The FTAA is the manner in which
the U.S. government's imperial war policies and destruction of nations,
best exemplified with the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq, are expressed
in the Western Hemisphere.
3. At the meeting in Miami of the Trade Ministers of 34 countries of the
Americas, the Bush administration, in agreement with the Brazilian
government, defined a new format for the FTAA. It was dubbed "FTAA
Lite" or "FTAA ŕ-la-carte" by the media. While
portrayed, falsely, as a setback for the U.S. government's drive to
impose the FTAA, the Miami Summit, in fact, gave Bush the green light to
move ahead with bilateral and regional agreements aimed at paving the
way for the full implementation of FTAA, as projected.
The CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) agreement between the
United States and Central America is one of the first expressions of the
"FTAA-ŕ-la carte." In this framework the Central American
countries would be converted into mere territories for maquilas and
sources of raw materials. The government of Costa Rica has refused to
join the CAFTA. [See full report on the fight to defeat CAFTA
below.--OWC]
Another advance of the "FTAA ŕ-la-carte" is the "North
American Energy Treaty" that is slated to be signed between Mexico
and the United States. Mexico would place at the disposal of the U.S.
multinationals cheap fuels so that companies can rake in enormous
profits as well as face the energy crisis they themselves have caused
through their speculative policies.
4. Maquiladoras are the model the FTAA will install and try to impose
throughout Mexico, Central America and the entire continent.
In the maquiladoras:
* There is no respect for basic labor rights;
* National laws and ILO conventions (87 and 98) are not respected;
* 12-hour or more work days are imposed and there are no hygiene or
security norms;
* Child labor is exploited as is women's labor.
Special mention should be made of the deaths of dozens of young women
maquiladora workers in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The tough working
conditions and family disintegration they have been subjected to have
been aggravated by these deaths.
5. Nevertheless, it is necessary to take into account that even in the
toughest conditions, the maquiladora workers are resisting this ruthless
exploitation. They have achieved small advances. Examples of this
resistance can be seen with the Han Young, Duro Bag, Garment, Pung Kook,
Industria Fronteriza and other maquiladora workers. Today the workers at
Daewoo Orion de Mexico -- encouraged by the resistance that is beginning
to take shape across Mexico, with the unions moving to the forefront of
the struggle -- are fighting for the formation of an independent union.
Their leaders have been fired with the complicity of local labor
authorities.
6. This international workers' conference in Mexicali, originally called
by union activists at the Continental Conference Against the FTAA in Sao
Paulo, Brazil on December 12-14, 2003, took note of the fact that across
the continent working people are mobilizing to defend their nations
against the plunder promoted by the corporate "free trade"
agenda. In Bolivia, working people, led by the National Federation of
Mineworkers and the Bolivian Workers Federation (COB), prevented the
sale of gas to the multinationals and toppled a president prepared to
give away a valuable resource that is the lifeblood of the Bolivian
nation. The miners are again ready to raise the strike flag to the call
of "the gas belongs to Bolivia." In Brazil, in October 2002,
over 53 million workers voted the Workers Party into the presidency of
the country with the hope of destroying the latifundios,
improving their living conditions and defending the sovereignty of the
Brazilian nation. Today these workers are demanding that this mandate be
honored. In the United States, as in many other countries, thousands of
workers and youth marched on March 20, 2004 to demand, "Bring the
Troops Home Now!" and an end to the internal war against unions and
labor rights in their country.
7. In Mexico, a powerful movement is rising up under the banner of
"The Nation Must Not Be Destroyed!" Last November 27, over
200,000 workers raised their voices in Mexico City, shouting, "Do
you get it Fox: The country is not for sale!" in a magnificent
national demonstration of the vitality of the workers' movement. That
same day thousands of workers in other cities around the country also
took to the streets. The imminent privatization of the energy industry
was brought to a halt. The fiscal reform that would have bled even more
the hardworking families was halted. Today, we are witnessing workers
from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) marching through
the streets of the country, accompanied by leaders and workers from the
Frente Sindical Mexicano (FSM) and the UNT (National Workers Union),
shouting: "Hands Off Social Security: It's Our National
Patrimony!" Everywhere, IMSS workers are stating, "We are
prepared to go on strike if the planned attacks against the IMSS workers
continue, as we know that such attacks will only embolden the government
and the bosses to move forward with their plans to destroy the public
schools and universities, Telmex, the Federal Council on Electricity
(CFE), Pemex, and more!"
That is why we who have gathered in Mexicali on April 24 have
received with great enthusiasm the proposals of the leaders of the UNT
and the FSM to prepare a nationwide general strike to defend labor
rights, social and labor institutions and the rights of workers in
general, in such a way that the entire nation can organize itself and
defend its integrity.
8. We reiterate our view that the offensive against labor rights in
Mexico, in the United States and in the rest of the countries of the
continent -- as well as the existence itself of maquiladoras -- forms
part of a general offensive against the nations of our hemisphere and
around the world, as seen with the war in Iraq. In this sense we support
the International Campaign Against the Occupation and for Labor Rights
in Iraq and its appeal for the withdrawal of all occupation forces from
Iraq, and we call for support and participation by labor activists in
the International Trade Union Meeting in Defense of ILO Conventions to
be held next June 13 in Geneva, and we will propose that this Meeting
take up the demands of maquiladora workers in Mexico.
* We insist that these ILO Conventions must be implemented, both in the
maquiladoras in Mexico and throughout the United States. Let us remember
that ILO Convention 87, concerning Freedom of Association and Protection
of the Right to Organize, states: "Workers and employers, without
distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject
only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations
of their own choosing without previous authorization." (Article 2),
and that "The public authorities shall refrain from any
interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful
exercise thereof." (Article 10)
* ILO Convention 98, concerning the Application of the Principles of the
Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively, stipulates: "Workers
shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union
discrimination in respect of their employment." (Article 1), and
"Workers' and employers' organizations shall enjoy adequate
protection against any acts of interference by each other or each
other's agents or members in their establishment, functioning or
administration." (Article 2)
9. On the basis of this resistance and these legitimate aspirations, we
agree unconditionally to defend the rights of maquiladora workers and in
particular:
- We demand the reinstatement of the workers fired from Daewoo Orion in
Mexicali, and we demand the recognition by the public authorities of the
independent union they are organizing;
- We demand the back pay and severance pay to which the workers of Flor
de Baja in Mexicali are entitled under Mexico's Federal Labor Law;
- We insist the rights stipulated in the Federal Labor Law and in ILO
Conventions 87 and 98 be duly implemented. Rights enshrined in Mexico's
Federal Labor Law and in these ILO Conventions, which Mexico has
ratified, must be respected throught the entire Mexican territory, with
no exceptions!
- We say No to FTAA-NAFTA!
- We agree to send a self-financed delegation from the Mexicali
Conference to the International Trade Union Meeting in Defense of ILO
Conventions next June 13 in Geneva, formed by one Mexican worker and one
North American worker for which we will carry out a financial campaign.
- We demand the end of the war in Iraq and the withdrawal of all
occupation forces from Iraq. No to war against peoples in any form!
- We hereby agree to promote these demands in the demonstrations that
will take place on May 1.
(Mexicali, BC, Mexico, April 24, 2004)
-----
The following unionists sent greetings to the Mexicali Conference:
- Amjad Al-Jawhary, Represantative, Federation of Worker Councils
and Trade Unions in Iraq
and The Union of Unemployed in Iraq in North America, Toronto, Canada
- Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, San Francisco Labor Council
(AFL-CIO)
- Leon Joseph, Secretary, Progress Union, Sri Lanka
- Vasudeva Nannayakkara, General Secretary, Democratic Left Front, Sri
Lanka
- Edwin D. Hill, President & Jeremiah J. O'Connor,
Secretary-Treasurer, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(Washington, DC)
- Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee.FLOC
(AFL-CIO)
- Julio Turra, National Executive Director, CUT Trade Union Federation
(Brazil)
- Jung Sikwa, Korean Metal Workers Federation, Seoul, Korea
- Brian Cormier, President, Local 525 M, GCIU, Canada
- Gerald H. Deneau, Secretary/Treasurer, Graphic Communications
International Union (Washington, DC)
- Jairo Vera K., IRJ, Quito, Ecuador
- Eduardo Rosario, President, GCIU 4N, San Francisco, California
- Jesse Colorado Swanhuyser, Coordinator, California Coalition for Fair
Trade and Human Rights
- Silvia Hernández, General Secretary, STAUAUCH, Mexico
- General Assembly of Delegates, STUNAM, Mexico
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