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ILC INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 99
A dossier of weekly information published by the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
October 5, 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
PRESENTATIONS:
This week we received a report from Pakistan regarding an
assembly organized jointly by the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF),
the Working Women's Organization (WWO), and the Bonded Labor Liberation
Front (BLLF) that gathered 700 workers on September 17, 2004. The object
of the meeting was to organize a campaign for the defense of the rights
of slave workers who labor in the brick kilns and in agriculture.
The sons and daughters of the workers at the Irtych factory in Gloubokoié,
Kazakhstan, sent us a letter telling us how they are mobilizing.
A second conference was held in Ukraine in defense of the soviet
labor code and for the restoration of rights gained in October 1917.
In Iran, Guadeloupe, and Morocco, trade union
activists are fighting against employers and the government. They are
calling for international solidarity. The ILC calls on you to organize
in solidarity with them.
Lastly, there is a report on Haiti: Why such widespread disaster?
Please don't hesitate to write to us!
Support the work of the ILC
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Page 3: Pakistan: Report on the Meeting in Lahore on September 17
Page 5: Haiti: Why Such Widespread Disaster?
Page 7: Iran: Delegation of the ILC to the Embassy of Iran in
Paris
Page 8: Ukraine: Second International Conference for the Defense
of Labor Codes
Page 12: Kazakhstan: Letter from Kazakhstan: Strike at the Irtych
Factory in Gloubokoié
Page 14: Morocco: Repression Against Workers and Their Trade
Union at the Imini Mine
Page 16: Guadeloupe: Free Michel Madassamy Immediately! A
Communiqué from the UGTG
Page 18: India: A Letter from Indian Workers to US Workers
********************
Meeting of Agricultural, Industrial, and Brick Kiln Workers in
Lahore on September 17, 2004
The Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF) is a trade union working
for the development and emancipation of bonded and forced laborers
working in the brick, carpet, shoe-making, and agricultural sectors, the
majority of whom are not covered under the labor law. BLLF affiliated
with the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF).
More than 700 workers from brick, agricultural, and other industrial
sectors participated in a Workers Assembly, jointly organized by All
Pakistan Trade Union Federation, the BLLF, and the Working Women's
Organization (WWO) on September 17th, 2004 at the Freedom Campus,
Lawrence Road, in Lahore.
The three organizations are committed to struggle for a joint program
to safeguard the rights of workers, especially those in the brick kilns
and in agriculture.
A poster was published that highlighted the plight of bonded,
agricultural, and informal sector workers. Workers joined the assembly
with great zeal and enthusiasm. Large numbers of women workers and
children participated. Workers holding red flags, banners, and placards
emblazoned the demands of the brick kiln and agricultural workers,
chanted slogans energetically: "We want peace, not war,"
"Abolish anti-workers laws," "Freedom of association is
our right," "Down with capitalism," "Abolish the
child, bonded, and forced labor systems," "Implement ILO
conventions," "Implement the Supreme Court judgment,"
"Stop sexual harassment and violence against women, equal pay for
equal work," "Education for all," No to feudalism,"
"No to capitalism," "Workers united will never be
defeated," and "Long live workers unity."
Nasir Gulzar was Stage Secretary . The program started in a very
enthusiastic way with the reading of a revolutionary poem, and workers
chanting slogans against the feudal system, such as "Long live
workers unity." School children from the brick kilns acted in a
short drama, describing how feudalists and capitalists are not allowing
the schools to open in their area, because they are afraid that if the
poor children become educated and aware of their rights, they will be
easy to organize, and, at last, the workers unity will compel the
feudalists to open the schools. The adult workers appreciated and
admired the courage of these children.
Mr. Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary, General Secretary of APTUF; Ms. Ghulam
Fatima, General Secretary of BLLF; Ms. Aima Mahmood, Secretary of WWO;
Ms. Rubina Jamil, Chairperson of APTUF and President of WWO; Mr.
Mohammad Raza Kharal, President BLLF; Mr. Faisal (an attorney); and Mr.
Gulzar Masih emphasized the need for the government to implement the
judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, passed on September 18, 1988,
to eradicate bonded and forced labor in Pakistan. The speakers saluted
the hard work of the organizers who built the great assembly in this
critical situation, a time when the government has banned assembly and
protest.
Given that workers' rights have been snubbed by the employers, as well
as by the state, the speakers noted that it was shameful of the
authorities to not implement the Supreme Court judgment. Also, the
speakers described how women workers are facing enormous amounts of
violence and sexual harassment. Owners bind workers to spend their whole
lives in bad environments, not allowing them to move to other place.
They beat, harass, and kidnap them and put clutches in their bodies.
Workers are forced to more than 14 hours a day on the hottest days,
without latrines, housing, and medical facilities provided. There are
10,000 brick kilns in Punjab employing about 500,000 workers who are
facing severe aggression by the owners, but, with joint struggle,
thousands of workers and their families have been liberated from the
owners' jail. Several times there have been clashes between the owners
and the leaders of the workers, where the owners have hired goons, but
the struggle to liberate workers and provide them basic rights, such as
fair wages and dignity, will continue.
Ms. Ghulam Fatima, the General Secretary of BLLF, said that she was
threatened several times by owners and employers to stop uniting
workers, but that she is committed and determined to continue the
struggle until the workers are emancipated, and that the support of
thousands of workers has given her courage, as well as strengthening the
workers' unity. She announced that the BLLF wholeheartedly decided to
merge with APTUF and will follow the rules and regulations of APTUF. In
response, workers chanted the slogans "Long live the workers,"
and "Long live workers unity."
In the meeting, we announced that we are filing a petition to implement
the Supreme Court decision and launching a campaign for the protection
and promotion of the rights of brick kiln and agricultural workers.
Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhary said that global capitalism is attacking the
working class movement, and, due to its policies, the workers movement
is being weakened and its resources are being reduced, so it is the
responsibility of every worker to be aware of the national and
international political situation and to be united in the struggle to
overcome the capitalists' plans.
Mr. Chaudhary thanked the participants, including the women, children,
and other militants, and announced a march on the Mall. However, a heavy
police presence stopped the marchers, as the workers raised slogans
against the local administration. He emphasized that the workers need to
be united and continue their struggle against the feudal and capitalist
forces, and he condemned the Punjab government's executive order to the
Labor and Social Security Department to not inspect the factories and
urged the government of Punjab to withdraw this order. In addition, he
said that the workers uniting in struggle definitely would win fair
wages, dignity, and justice. Mr. Chaudhary announced that APTUF,
along with other trade union federations , is organizing a protest rally
on October 6, 2004, in Rawalpindi /Islamabad against the anti-workers
laws, inflation, unemployment, and workers retrenchment.
The Assembly passed following resolutions:
… The government should form a commission providing equal
representation to the brick kiln workers for the purpose of eradicating
child, bonded, and forced labor. Also, the commission should work to
rehabilitate victimized women workers and provide them justice.
… Residential colonies should be built for brick kiln and agricultural
workers that provide all necessary facilities, such as free schools,
electricity, water, sanitation, etc.
… All brick kilns should be registered under the Factory Act and there
should be a fixed minimum rate of RS 300 for making 1000 bricks.
… The workers express solidarity with the people of the Bangladesh,
due to the death and displacement of thousands people in the recent
disaster.
… A law should be formulated against sexual harassment against women
workers in the workplace.
… Equal pay for equal work should be provided to women workers in
accordance with ILO Convention 100.
… The anti-worker clauses of the Industrial Relations Ordinance should
be repealed and the ordinance made to conform to ILO Conventions.
… The workers demand that the government not allow the US to form
military bases in Pakistan. They request that trade unions around the
world put pressure on the American imperialists to withdraw their forces
from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rubina Jamil
**********
Haïti
Why such widespread disaster?
The hurricane that ravaged Haiti caused over 2,000 deaths, according
to doctors at Gonaïves in northwest Haiti. Television stations
throughout the world showed horrifying images of women, children, and
the elderly frantically searching among the dead for their relatives.
There was no doubt the hurricane was extremely violent. In other parts
of the Caribbean and in Florida in the United States, the damages are
enormous. But, how was it possible, that in Haiti, where the catastrophe
virtually wiped the country off the map, where the victims were in the
thousands-officially at the time of this writing, there were only 1,316
dead, 1,097 missing, and 3,000 injured.
The survivors, eight days after the passage of the hurricane, are living
in dire conditions. As a report from the Agence France Presse
(September 26) put it: "Thousands of residents of Gonaïves, driven
from their flooded and destroyed homes, are surviving in the most
limited conditions without basic hygieneŠover 500 people are in the
street, in the mud, amid the pestilential smell."
Somewhat further along in the report, where it describes how 400 people
had found a precarious shelter in a school, "a nurse treats a
little girl with festering wounds. A mother and her infant son,
undernourished, just lying there, visibly sick on a mattress,
awaiting the improbable arrival of a doctor."
The AFP report continues, saying, "Haiti, the poorest
country in the American continent, is also a totally destroyed
state," in order to explain the widespread disaster and the almost
total absence of the means to face it. The population has been reduced
to the most extreme misery by the policy of pillage and destruction
imposed by the IMF.
But why? Shouldn't we remember that after dozens of years, the country
has been literally pillaged by debt: for example, 21 billion dollars
each year on a budget of $400 million dollars; a debt that now amounts
to 1.25 billion dollars (three times the annual budget), after years and
years of repayment of the debt.
Shouldn't we remember the decision taken over four years ago by the
"international community" to stop pouring 500 billion dollars
in international aid and credits to Haiti?
Shouldn't we remember the intervention of United States, French, and
Canadian troops last February 29th, who succeeded in dismantling the
last existing structures on that island?
According to the AFP, Randolph Gilbert, a United Nations
representative, fomented the massive and uncontrolled deforestation
program in Haiti that has increased the devastation in Gonaïves through
mud slides and flooding in the region.
Why this deforestation? Because the Haitian people, reduced to the most
extreme poverty by the policies of pillage and destruction inflicted by
the IMF and other international institutions, had no other choice in
order to survive than to entasser sur les berges des lits de
lits de cours d'eau transformed into egouts a ciel ouvert, since
they had no other means to cook than to cut down the surrounding forestsŠthat
they have no other way to nourish themselves than by farming meager
plots snatched from the forest. Two thirds of the eight million Haitians
live under the poverty line. The annual income per person is less than
$400 dollars (that's less than one euro a day!).
"The population is in a survival mode," explains Benoît
Pierre-Michel, coordinator of civil defense operations in Gonaïves.
People are conscious of their problems, they know they shouldn't cut
firewood and burn vegetation, but they have no other source of
revenue."
Yes, the hurricane was extraordinarily strong, but the dead, the
injured, and the homeless in Gonaïves are also the victims of a
politics that has destroyed their entire national framework, pillaged
the peoples, destroyed their public services, and created conditions
that led to disaster.
**********
Iran
Delegation of the ILC to the Iranian Embassy in Paris
A delegation from the International Liaison Committee of Workers and
Peoples-(ILC)consisting of trade unionists from the Territorial Public
Services and a member of the teachers' trade union-went to the Iranian
embassy in Paris on September 22, 2004. They were received for over an
hour by the embassy's councilor and a translator.
The delegation expressed its concern and its desire to receive news
regarding the trade union representatives of the textile industry in the
region of Saghez. Borhan Divangar, Jalal Hosseini, Mohammad Abdipoor,
Mahmood Salehi, and Moshem Hakimi, as well as Esmail Khodkam and Hadi
Tanoomand, have been awaiting trial since September 20, 2004 for
carrying out trade union activities and organizing workers at their
places of employment.
The delegation, after explaining the ILC's activities in over 70
countries, described the case of these trade unionists, based on
information supplied by the Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network.
The embassy's officer explained that as far as he was concerned, "
it brings great satisfaction to learn that public opinion is interested
in my country."
The problem is the newly formed judicial system. It is part of the
cross-border conflicts. In this particular case, he indicated that,
"if this case involved the search for democracy, we would take it
into account. Democracy is a phenomenon in which we believe and that we
want to establishŠin this case, I will see to it that it is reported
and will keep you informed."
The delegation reiterated the ILC's interest in supporting trade union
rights and the right to freely constitute trade unions in accordance
with ILO Conventions 87 and 88. The delegation demanded precise
information on the fate of the trade unionists.
The embassy's councilor responded, "No trial can take place
rapidly; I have no information on this matter. Concerning this matter,
we need your helpŠyour help will help to safeguard the inalienable
rights of Iranian workers."
After thanking the embassy's representative, the delegation indicated
that it would publicize this interview. It reaffirmed its demands and
expressed the hope that the worker activists will be freed soon. In any
case, it will continue to pursue action for the respect of trade union
activity in Iran, as it does all over the world.
Paris, September 25, 2004.
**********
Ukraine
Second International Conference for the Defense of Labor Codes
On July 10 and 11, 2004 the second International Conference for the
Defense of Soviet Labor Codes and for the Reconquest of the Gains of
October 1917" was held in Kiev. Delegates from France, Russia,
Georgia, and Moldavia attended the conference.
The second conference was held in the context of the campaign for the
defense of the soviet labor codes started in Borotba around the middle
of 2003 by the Ukrainian section of the Fourth International. Hundreds
of signatures were collected and we received the support of the trade
union committees and labor organizations, and from labor organizations
in different continents. We still need this support. The defense and the
reconquest of the gains of October do not only concern Ukrainian
workers. It is the problem of the labor movement on an international
level.
The offensive against the labor legislation that has existed in the
Ukraine since 1973 and which represents one of the fundamental
"islands" of labor conquests, started on December 11, 2003
when the Ukrainian parliament (the Rada) adopted at the first reading
the government's draft for the reform of the labor code.
The most serious and dangerous aspects of this draft are, in our
opinion:
… The legal superiority of international agreements signed by the
Ukraine concerning Ukrainian labor legislation. The legislative powers
in the country are totally corrupt and practice an unconcealed
protectionism in their relations with foreign capital that will lead, on
one hand, to an adjustment of labor legislation in their own interests
and, on the other hand, to interference in the Ukraine's internal
affairs by international financial organizations and foreign
governments. This is an assault on national sovereignty.
… The diminished role of trade unions. In fact, trade unions are
reduced to the role of transmitting messages from a company's
management. The role of the trade union committees will be reduced to
the distribution of social benefits that hardly exist. The trade union
will lose control over layoffs. This will lead to an increase of
privatization of the social sphere of companies.
… The end of mandatory collective bargaining. This creates conditions
under which any form of collective protest against massive layoffs will
be nearly impossible and include the possibility that the bosses could
impose a lockout.
… The restriction of the right to strike and sanctions against the
initiators of strikes, if the court considers them illegal.
Thanks to our campaign, we have been able to demonstrate how reactionary
this draft of the labor code really is. Pursuing our campaign in the
halls of government has had positive results: deputies of the Supreme
Rada in Ukraine who are members of the Communist Party, have opposed
this governmental project, despite the position of their party.
Consequently, the governmental commission on labor legislation has
decided to delay the second reading of the draft until autumn. We know
this is not only the result of our campaign but also of the political
situation. Presidential elections will be held this October and
the powers that be do not want to contaminate the situation by
postponing the final decision until November.
Many participants at the conference declared that this little victory is
not only that of the Ukrainian working class, but of the international
movement for workers' rights. It is on these little victories that the
great victory of the international labor movement will be built.
As the delegate from Moldavia stated: "The soviet labor code in the
Ukraine is one of the conquests that, ultimately, will be among the
principal elements throughout the world in the fight for the reconquest
of the gains of October."
The majority of the former countries of the USSR have already lost their
progressive labor legislation. They have already adopted bourgeois labor
codes in Russia, in the Baltic countries, and in the Caucasus, which are
subordinated to local capitalist interests and those of the
multinationals.
It is still possible to defend our conquests. As was said at the end of
the conference: "We, the delegates to the second conference for the
defense and reconquest, call on all political forces and on the
Ukrainian labor movement to unite for the defense and reconquest of the
gains of October."
Another advance is the victory of the former trade union officers at the
Métrostroi Company. According to our comrades, the management of the
company has been led to take the workers' demands into greater
consideration. The trade union committee has won an increase in the
length of hospital stays, allowing the youngest workers to benefit from
this.
After the conference, numerous questions were raised in relation to the
situation of the international labor movement. A report was presented
outlining the work done at the European conference in Geneva and at the
international conference of the ILC that met at the time of the ILO
session, on June 11, 12, and 13, 2004.
An international delegation of worker activists from the United States
and Iraq, along with the ILC, met with officers of the ILO in order to
pose the problem of the right of Iraqi workers to constitute free trade
unions.
It must be remembered that the U.S. military administration in Iraq has
prohibited trade unions, labor demonstrations, and strikes under the
pretense of the "fight against terrorism." Worker activists
and trade unionist throughout the world have expressed their solidarity
with the Iraqi workers who are oppressed by the imperialist occupation.
The worker activists in the delegation understand the importance of the
campaign in support of the trade unions in Iraq and of the need to
pursue it in each of our countries. As a Ukrainian delegate mentioned,
the defense of the rights of trade unions in Iraq is a central question
for the labor movement in the Ukraine, because our soldiers are
participating in the occupation alongside U.S. troops.
"We must redouble our efforts to continue the campaign for the
withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Iraq, and solidarize with the
workers of El-Kouta, where thousands of unemployed workers demonstrated
against the sending of Ukrainian forces to the occupation."
The delegates discussed the questions posed to the labor movement on an
international scale and the role of the international financial
institutions, the IMF, the World Bank, the European Union, and NATO,
especially in the ex-soviet republics. Many comrades raised the matter
of the crisis of leadership of the labor movement. During his speech,
Comrade Moldavie explained: "Under the leadership of the Communist
Party, our country was plunged into destruction with massive
privatizations in industry, as well as in agricultural production.
Joining the WTO only brought a lowering of production and the
destruction of labor legislation."
..
The Russian delegates presented a report on the situation of education
and the law presented by Putin that suppresses a list of social
benefits. The accomplishments of the educational system inherited from
the Soviet Union are being attacked: there has been a drastic decrease
in jobs and many teachers are being laid off.
The French comrades reported on the campaign of the Workers' Party for
the defense and the reconquest of revolutionary gains, which, in their
country, involves the defense of social security. The question of higher
education in France was raised. The participants analyzed what the
Bologne process meant, leading to "a European harmonization of
diplomas," and, according to the French comrades, the reforms are
not about unifying educational standards, but rather the destruction of
national educational systems and diplomas.
The regionalization carried out by the European Union is leading to the
destruction of the national system of diplomas issued by French
universities. For instance, up until now. a diploma obtained in Toulouse
or Nantes had exactly the same value and allowed one to have equal
access to the same job, however, the standards dictated by the European
Union are destroying these rights.
It is up to each 'region' in France to decide on what part of the budget
will be assigned to this or that university, how many hours of education
must be cut, how many teachers can be laid off. This leads to a total
differentiation from one region to another, instead of a national and
egalitarian system for the granting of diplomas.
The delegates also raised questions concerning the situation of
education in Poland and Byelorussia, where Ukrainian comrades have
lived.
The reports showed that the reforms carried out in all these countries,
whether they are members of the European Union or not, only contribute
to the worldwide offensive against the rights of workers and their
conquests. In both Poland and Byelorussia, this is the direct
consequence of the European Union's policies.
Concerning Byelorussia, the delegates recommended that the worker
activists must get together for the defense of that country against
imperialist threats from Washington.
As a French comrade put it, we cannot be indifferent to the threats of
interference by the United States in the internal affairs of
Byelorussia, as we cannot be indifferent to the U.S. offensive against
Venezuela in response to President Chavez' decision to refuse to
privatize the public oil industry. Similarly, in Byelorussia, President
Loukachenko has refused to sell off cheaply the state industry to the
U.S., and is now facing an aggressive campaign by the U.S..
We, the worker activists and trade unionists, must rise in defense of
the workers of those countries against the dictates of Washington. It
isn't necessary to support the political and economic orientation of
Chavez or Loukachenko; we are talking about defending the independence
and sovereignty of those countries, and helping the working classes of
Venezuela and Byelorussia.
The delegates were apprised of the situation in the town of Soummy
(Ukraine), where three universities will be fused into one. The students
rebelled against this decision. A protest action began and has been
transformed into a veritable youth political movement. The participants
at the conference adopted a resolution declaring that the fusion of the
three universities was unconstitutional and demanded the withdrawal of
the presidential decree "on the constitution of a national
university in Soummy." We are rising up against:
… The assault on the collective bargaining agreements at the three
universities.
… The massive layoffs of personnel at the three universities.
… The liquidation (under pretext of 'reorganization') of the three
universities.
… The secret regulations concerning the fusion that were decided
without the participation of student and teacher organizations.
… The administrative and physical repression against those who are not
in agreement with the decision.
We demand:
… Defend the rights of the students and teachers of Soummy! No to the
destruction of the rights of the workers and students! No to the
dictates of the administration!
The Borotba union adopted its own appeal on the subject. The document
"calls on the political forces to not divert attention from the
demands of the students for their political interests." Primarily,
it is about the Victor Youchenko block "Our Ukraine" that
seeks to manipulate the students in order to profit on the eve of the
presidential elections.
(The partisans of "Our Ukraine" attempted to divert attention
from the students' demands in order to transform them into support for
their presidential electoral campaign. However, they were unsuccessful.
The students' actions in Soumy got results. On August 10, 2004, the
government annulled the decree to fuse the universities and Youckenko's
partisans weren't able to turn the students' demands toward their own
benefit.)
The delegates discussed at length the question of the October
conquests-not only the campaign to defend the labor code in Ukraine,
but, also, the free health care and free education systems, and other
issues.
For example, the delegates at the conference described life in the
Ukrainian countryside, where the kolkhozes (collective farms) were
liquidated over ten years ago. Later, despite the judicial liquidation
of the kolkhozes, they continue to exist. The majority of Ukrainian
peasants have refused to become independent farmers, and continue to
farm the land in the framework of "Collective Agricultural
Enterprises" (KSP). There are a many such islands of resistance in
the Ukraine, as in other former republics of the USSR.
The delegates at the conference emphasized the place of youth in the
fight for the defense and reconquest of the gains of October, devoting a
substantial part of their presentation to the questions of young
students and workers. The participants proposed to constitute the
nucleus of a revolutionary youth organization to work with students and
young workers. These efforts led to forming a delegation to the former
USSR while the youth were at the international meeting of the
Revolutionary Youth International (RYI) in Paris at the end of August
2004.
The conference made the following decisions:
… To prepare a report to the ILO on the government's labor code
draft.
… To continue the campaign for the defense and reconquest of the gains
of October.
… To form a delegation from the former Soviet bloc countries to the
RYI meeting.
***********
Kazakhstan
Letter from Kazakhstan : Strike at the Irtych factory in Gloubokoié
Marina S., who led the mobilization of sons and daughters of the
workers at the Irtych factory during the strike, reports:
In March 2002, the Kazakhmys company announced the closure of the IMZ
factory (Irtych Leather Refinery). It was a shock for the inhabitants of
Gloubokoié since they knew what would happen next. Previously, the
factory had closed on several occasions and the workers had "felt
in their own flesh" the bitter experience of what that meant.
The IMZ is built in a company town and when it comes to a halt, the
town's budget is emptied: neither the officers nor the pensions are
paid. Homes and schools are no longer heated since it is the factory's
furnace that supplies heating.
Since the workers were no longer paid, the local entrepreneurs set up a
small store where they could obtain basic foodstuffs and bread on
credit. Of course, the prices were higher than at other stores. But,
what was essential was bread-there wasn't enough for all of them. The
workers would arrive at 6 or 7 a.m. and had to queue up sometimes until
4 p.m., almost the length of a shift. Since the power had been cut off,
the new arrivals had to light matches to see who was ahead of them.
It would take writing another article to fully explain how the workers
maintained their factory without lighting or heating. "Bourjoukas"
(large pots that got their name during the civil war following the
revolution of 1917) were installed everywhere. The workers searched in
abandoned homes around their community hall for firewood to burn
-everything went: window frames, staircases, and floors. Workers stood
guard duty for 12, sometimes 24 hours. Often the "bourjoukas"
weren't very helpful because the halls were huge and remained freezing
cold, and the men brought alcohol to keep warm. (I can assure you that
in these circumstances tea didn't helpŠI tried it!)
The workers weren't the only ones to suffer, so did their children.
Sometimes, they fainted because they were hungry. But, what saved us was
the hope that the factory would reopen and life would return to normal.
That's why when they announced that the factory was no longer profitable
and consequently would be closed, the workers staged a fight to defend
their rights, since they knew what lay ahead.
Meetings and protests began. Marina S., the leader of the youth
organization and member of the initiative committee, took part in hunger
strikes, stood up and spoke at meetings, and defended the rights of
workers at meetings with the authorities.
A.,(age 24) and A. (age 21) were workers at the factory and stood guard
there, and participated in meetings. The other members of the youth
organization (most of them were still at school) also participated with
their parents in guarding the factory. Also, the students wrote a letter
to the president of the republic asking him to consider the situation at
the factory and to keep it in operation.
The "Bobek" fund and S., responded by suggesting that the
school children, along with their parents, should create a town
"without the factory." A list of "alternatives" to
replace it was attached to the letter. The children had to choose which
they preferred: a hog raising operation, a meat processing plant, a
cheese-making facility, a toilet paper factory, fur coatsŠit's
impossible to name them all. What was most striking wasn't just their
incredible imagination, but their cynicism and contempt for their own
people proposing projects to begin producing meat and cheese in an area
contaminated with lead, arsenic, and sulphuric acid (to name a few).
In response to this the school children, with their parents' permission,
organized a protest and stopped going to school. The principal ordered
the teachers to go to the children's homes and threaten them by various
means-they sometimes asked the parents to go to the police station-so
the children would return to school. Otherwise, the teachers were
threatened with dismissal.
The children didn't go to school for three days, which enabled them to
show their solidarity with the fight at the factory. That's how the idea
for a youth organization was born-there were around 40 of us. From the
start, the children expressed their hopes of creating a youth radio in
Gloubokoé and an information class . For various reasons, these goals
were not possible, but, by April 2003, the organization was founded and
we had to act. In conjunction with the events taking place in Gloubokoé
due to the closure of the factory, we decided to create a forum called
"Gloubokoé at the threshold of time and events " where the
younger generation spoke about the birth of the town, its development,
and its present problems.
We invited the mayor (Akim); the director of the "First of
May" technical school, Kassimanov; and the leader of the initiative
group, I.M. Boulgakov. The forum was held on June 1, 2003, International
Children's Day. The children decided that "The Gloubokoérs"
sounded good and we adopted that name.
Afterwards, we undertook several activities: the "Irtych"
campaign, helping the municipality establish a list of workers at the
factory who wanted to obtain micro-credit loans in order to start an
agricultural project, and making a list of the children who were most in
need of financial aid. We obtained several positive results .
Furthermore, our organization started a campaign to obtain signatures in
support of the workers at Andjero-Soudjensk, who were also unemployed.
We took part in seminars in the framework of the electoral campaign. Two
of our members were candidates in the local elections. Currently, our
organization has started to organize a benefit at a discotheque, with
the help of the municipality and various sponsors, to help a gifted
student, A. go to the U.S. to continue his studies.
Many youths participated as agitators in the elections. The principal
tool in this campaign is information and we were especially active in
going "door to door" to inform people about what is happening
in our state and force them to think .
**********
Morocco
Repression Against the Workers and Their Trade Union at the IMINI Mine
A correspondent sent this report on the Imini mine at Ouarzazate in
order to arouse international solidarity with those jailed at the Imini
mines and for the workers victimized by deregulation and savage
exploitation with the sanction of the state.
Some dramatic events have been experienced recently at the Imini mines
RELEVANT of the Société Chérifienne des Études Minières SACEM. The
workers and cadres at the mine, who are members of the CDT trade union,
have staged a sit-in since December 3, 2002 in front of the Ougoug seat
to protest and form a bloc against part-time work imposed by management.
On April 15, 2004, they were attacked in order to break the sit-in by a
militia of approximately 120 individuals, who were strangers to the
mine, but were accompanied by 14 workers affiliated to the UMT.
This attack took place under the eyes of, and with the support of, the
local authorities in Ouarzazate, who strongly collaborated with
management by lending them a truck (No. 580-A-38) to transport the 120
strangers from Ourzazate to the Imini mines. These individuals were told
that they were going to participate in the filming of a U.S. movie near
the mining villages, and were offered large sums of money, varying from
100.00 dhs to 400.00 dhs per person.
When they arrived, the local manager and the secretary general of the
UMT in Ouarzazate and Zagora, in complicity with the management of SACEM,
told them that their objective was to invade the mine and break the
sit-in of the 148 CDT workers.
During the course of the invasion, a UMT worker named Berkoni Ahmed, who
had been hospitalized and placed in intensive care at the Sidi Hceine
hospital, and who the local manager of the mine had obliged to leave
before the event and hidden in a hotel without the knowledge of his
family, had suffered a wound to his hand and was subsequently
transferred to a hospital in Ourzazate .
Berkoni was a diabetic and had psychological problems, and had
previously been in intensive care on several occasions in Ourzazate, Fez
and Marrakesch. He died in the hospital several days later, after
undergoing an operation under suspicious circumstances. That same day,
seven workers of the UMT who were among the assailants, filed a
Complaint No. 667 at the royal police station in Ouarzazate against 13
CDT workers.
The accusers went to declare at the PARQUET GENERAL DU TRIBUNAL de
primeras instancias in Ourzazate on April 22, 2004. Charges were made
against nine CDT workers and three of them were arrested.
After the death of Berkoni on April 24, 2004, the tribunal in Ourzazate
pronounced Judgment No. 72/2004 for incompetence on April 26, 2004 and
the judicial dossier was transferred to the criminal court of appeals.
Later the dossier was placed in the hands of juge d'instruction Ait
Hamed Hmed under No. 40/2004. The people that were brought in by
management, with the consent of the local authorities of Ourzazate, to
make the attack also filed a complaint on April 20, 2004
(No.146/CHEN/B)- for fraud and swindling against the manager of the
mine, the local authorities, and the UMT workers who took accompanied
them the day of the attack.
The judge in charge of the dossier arrested another four CDT workers,
including Khouya Mohamed, a trade union activist and member of the
Moroccan Association of Human Rights, who had been mandated by the CDT
workers to negotiate a plan for the continued operation of the mine and
who wasn't present at the time of the attack. It is clear that the SACEM
management bribed some UMT workers to be witnesses against Khouya
Mohamed when he appeared before the judge on September 7, 2004. It is
also certain that there were deals made between management and the local
authorities of Ourzazate in order to arrest him.
It should be noted that the workers and cadres of the CDT staged the
sit-in to protest against the decree No .ZS/626, which proclaims
part-time work and a 50% reduction in wages. The workers consider the
decree illegitimate and illegal due to violating the following:
… The Dahir of June 18, 1936 as it relates to the legal organization
of work and working hours.
… Article 735 of the contract and obligations code.
… Decisions No.8008/12 dated September 6, 1993 and No.876/93 dated May
6, 1967 of the social chamber regarding the Supreme Court.
… Various rules and conventions concerning dialogue and social debate.
The decree was issued by the property manager mandated by the commerce
court of Casablanca at the time when the mine was under a period of
judicial oversight. It created a financial, economic, and social report
concerning the Imini mine, in compliance with Judgment No.340/10/2001
dated November 11, 2004, which had mandated the procedure for the
recovery of the mine (dossier No.340/10/2000).
The plan for a recovery, staggered over seven years, was announced on
May 16, 2003 by the commercial court of Casablanca. The plan proposed
decreases in social benefits and a decrease in wages from 20.000.000,00
dhs to 150.000.000,00 dhs.
After payments from the company ceased, many workers accepted voluntary
layoff allowed up to December 31, 2003 (45 workers and 12 miner CADRES )
.The savings correspond to 9.412.752,00 dhs, which is close to the
conditions pronounced by the commerce court in Casablanca.
The workers at the sit-in demanded:
… The end of part time work with reduced wages.
… The maintenance of previous working conditions.
… A contract covering full-time work and wages (of an undetermined
length).
… The maintenance of the workers' indemnities and conventional
bonuses.
… The immediate and unconditional release of the CDT trade union
mineworkers detained in the civil prison at Ourzazate since July 2004 (Khouya
Mohamed, Kerkas Brahim, Mohamed Azenkot, Hossein Nabach, Aderrahman Ait
Brahim, Boutalat Mohamed, and Hammou Ait Brahim.)
Correspondent
Definitions
o UMT (Union Marocaine du Travail), a Moroccan union founded in 1955 in
Casablanca, which is affiliated to the CISL.
o ICFTU CDT (Confédération Démocratique du Travail), a Moroccan union
founded in 1955 in Casablanca, which is affiliated to the CMT.
**********
Guadeloupe
Free Michel Madassamy Immediately !
Communiqué of the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe (UGTG),
(October 5, 2004)
Press release
The colonial French state kidnapped Michel Madassamy around 9 p.m.
on October 4, 2004, at Point-a-Pitre. Dragged from his car in a military
maneuver , he was taken immediately by armed men and CAGOULES to the
colonial jail a Baie-Mahault.
Despite the flagrant absence of proof and of irregularities in the
procedures, "Mada" was condemned after a mock trial to 13
months in jail with a 60,000 euros fine for the defense on May 27 (Day
of the Guadeloupans Memory), in the framework of defending the right to
work against the multinational Texaco. The application of this barbaric
sentence constitutes an attempt against democratic freedoms, especially
the right of expression and the freedom to participate in trade unions.
Also, Michel Madassamy had been laid off by the Cabotra Company in May
2003 without any real or serious motive.
The UGTG calls all worker activists to a general mobilization. The UGTG
calls for all worker activists and the people of Guadeloupe to attend a
mass meeting on October 6, 2004 at 7 p.m. to the Assainissement.
The first response of the ILC:
I am personally, and in the name of the Workers Party and in the
name of the ILC, stating my complete solidarity with Michel Madassamy
and all the activists of the UGTG, as well as to the secretary general
of the trade union, Raymond Gauthiérot, that I had the honor to have
met following the meeting of the ILC held in Geneva on June 12 and 13,
during which he informed the participants of the filing of a complaint
by the UGTG with the ILO for the violation of trade union freedoms.
I invite all organizations and the worker activists to respond to the
appeal launched by the UGTG, to immediately undertake a campaign of
solidarity, but all means necessary, with the Guadeloupan worker
activists who receiving the brunt of the repression, and, in particular,
to send motions and messages to the French embassies in your countries
and to the president of the French Republic to demand:
… The immediate release of Michel Madassamy.
… The lifting of charges against, and the end of repression towards,
the activists of the UGTG.
… Respect for trade union freedom in Guadeloupe.
The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, as it has
always done, will undertake this campaign of international solidarity so
that the rights of workers and the right to determine their independent
organizations will be respected in Guadeloupe and in the rest of the
world.
Fraternally yours,
Daniel Gluckstein
ILC Coordinator
P. S. : Send messages and motions to :
In France : Présidence de la République, palais de l'Elysée,
55, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 75 008 Paris. Fax : 01 42 92 81 17.
Send copies of the messages to:
UGTG : rue Paul-Lacavé, 97 110 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Fax :
05 90 89 08 70. ugtg@ugtg.org
Entente internationale des travailleurs et des peuples, 87, rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75 010 Paris. Fax : 01 48 01 88 36. - eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com
**********
India
A Letter from Indian workers to US Workers
October 3, 2004
Dear Brother Clarence Thomas,
The decision of American unions and other social organizations to
organize a Million Workers March in Washington on October 17, 2004, just
few days before the US Presidential election is truly magnificent. We
congratulate you and all others in this great initiative.
There is no doubt that both the main US political parties contesting the
election followed policies in the interests of only the rich. They
created wars, framed tax laws, and made trade treaties to unjustly
enrich their cronies. The economic and social burdens consequent upon
such dreaded policies were passed on to the shoulders of working people
and their families. Hence, the demands raised for the Million Workers
March, demands for changing US policies, for jobs, labour rights, social
security, right to health care, education, end occupation of Iraq,
assume international significance. These demands of the workers in the
most advanced industrialized country undoubtedly coincide with the
issues and demands of the most backward country workers. Capitalist
exploitation is universal.
We are with you in your Washington March on October 17. We fully support
the demands. We trust US labour would embrace the March wholeheartedly
and the independent power gained by US labour movement would help
workers in other
countries of the world in their struggle for liberation.
In Solidarity
N. Vasudevan
General Secretary
All India Blue Star Employees Federation
Convenor - Trade Union Solidarity Committee, Mumbai, India
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