Tuesday, August 03, 2010
LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
PANEL ON G20 AND CIVIL LIBERTIES:
Thursday, August 19...a panel discussion on the recent g20 summit in Toronto and its effect on civil liberties. Here's the blurb.
WWWWWWWW
G20 Perspectives:
G20 Perspectives:
A Panel Discussion on Civil Liberties and Global Justice
Time August 19 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
-------------------------------
Location Carol Shields Auditorium, Millennium Library, 2nd Floor
251 Donald St.
Winnipeg, MB
-----------------------------
Created By Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20 (Winnipeg Chapter)
-----------------------------
More Info Join us for a panel discussion on issues pertaining to the recent G20 Summit in Toronto.
The panelists will be:
-David Camfield: Member of the editorial board of New Socialist webzine
-Joan Grace: Professor of Politics at U of W specializing in civil society and policy advocacy, state architecture and political engagement.
...-Chris Powell: Professor of Sociology at U of M
-Dan Lett: Political Opinion columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press
-Robert Chernomas: Professor of Economics at U of M and board member of the Council of Canadians
The above list is subject to change.
Time August 19 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
-------------------------------
Location Carol Shields Auditorium, Millennium Library, 2nd Floor
251 Donald St.
Winnipeg, MB
-----------------------------
Created By Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20 (Winnipeg Chapter)
-----------------------------
More Info Join us for a panel discussion on issues pertaining to the recent G20 Summit in Toronto.
The panelists will be:
-David Camfield: Member of the editorial board of New Socialist webzine
-Joan Grace: Professor of Politics at U of W specializing in civil society and policy advocacy, state architecture and political engagement.
...-Chris Powell: Professor of Sociology at U of M
-Dan Lett: Political Opinion columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press
-Robert Chernomas: Professor of Economics at U of M and board member of the Council of Canadians
The above list is subject to change.
Labels: civil rights, G20, G20 public inquiry, local events, public meetings, Winnipeg
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT RUSSIA:
FREE ALEXEY GASKAROV:
The following appeal for solidarity with Alexey Gaskarov, a political prisoner in Russia, comes originally from the website of the Revolutionary Confederation of Anarchosyndicalists (KRAS). KRAS is the Russian section of the anarchosyndicalist international the IWA-AIT. Molly first saw the following version on the A-Infos site. I have slightly edited what follows for English grammar.
@@@@@@@@
Russia,
Russia,
LIBERTARIAN ACTIVIST UNDER ARREST NEAR MOSCOW - URGENT SOLIDARITY NEEDED!!!
Date Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:53:51 +0300
-------------------------
On July 29, some people with different political views were arrested. They are suspected of involvement in an protest action in Khimky a city near Moscow the previous day. Among them is a well known libertarian activist and antifascist Alexey Gaskarov. They are charged without any proof of organization of attacks against city administration building. The defendants face up to 7 years of prison on charges of «hooliganism» and organization of mass disorder. New arrests are taking place. It is obvious that the authorities will clearly try to discredit and crush oppositional movements in Russia. ---- We call libertarian and antifascist activists of whole world to show solidarity with arrested anarchist comrade.
What can you do?
1) Send protest faxes and e-mails to this address:
Khimky city court of Moscow Oblast
141400, Khimky
ulica Leningradskaya, 16
fax: (495) 572-83-14
himki.mo@sudrf.ru
To: President of Khimki Court
Mrs. S.B. Galanova
MODEL OF PROTEST LETTER:
At present, your court is examining the case against social activist
Alexey Gaskarov.
Alexey Gaskarov was arrested on July 29 on the street by officers of
«Center E»: in this case, the basic rules of detention under the law
on the police were violated. Hiis apartment was searched in violation
of established procedures, without a warrant, compiling an inventory
of seized property, and without witnesses. Suspicions and accusations
against him (organization of the attack against the city
administration building in Khimky on July 28, 2010) are entirely
groundless, and that manifested itself at the first meeting of the
court. Allegations that he was arrested at the scene in Khimky is a
lie. The so-called witnesses clearly lie and confuse the hearings.
Under these conditions, we can not assess the arrest of Alexey
Gaskarov and this trial other than as a purely political process, and as an
outrageous act of repression and violation of civil rights. We
strongly protest against this lawlessness and intend to organize a
broad international campaign of protests against the new
manifestations of authoritarianism and dictatorial tendencies in
Russia.
We demand the immediate release of Alexey Gaskarov and the dropping of all
charges against him
Name of organization, date, signature
KRAS-AIT
www.aitrus.info
Date Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:53:51 +0300
-------------------------
On July 29, some people with different political views were arrested. They are suspected of involvement in an protest action in Khimky a city near Moscow the previous day. Among them is a well known libertarian activist and antifascist Alexey Gaskarov. They are charged without any proof of organization of attacks against city administration building. The defendants face up to 7 years of prison on charges of «hooliganism» and organization of mass disorder. New arrests are taking place. It is obvious that the authorities will clearly try to discredit and crush oppositional movements in Russia. ---- We call libertarian and antifascist activists of whole world to show solidarity with arrested anarchist comrade.
What can you do?
1) Send protest faxes and e-mails to this address:
Khimky city court of Moscow Oblast
141400, Khimky
ulica Leningradskaya, 16
fax: (495) 572-83-14
himki.mo@sudrf.ru
To: President of Khimki Court
Mrs. S.B. Galanova
MODEL OF PROTEST LETTER:
At present, your court is examining the case against social activist
Alexey Gaskarov.
Alexey Gaskarov was arrested on July 29 on the street by officers of
«Center E»: in this case, the basic rules of detention under the law
on the police were violated. Hiis apartment was searched in violation
of established procedures, without a warrant, compiling an inventory
of seized property, and without witnesses. Suspicions and accusations
against him (organization of the attack against the city
administration building in Khimky on July 28, 2010) are entirely
groundless, and that manifested itself at the first meeting of the
court. Allegations that he was arrested at the scene in Khimky is a
lie. The so-called witnesses clearly lie and confuse the hearings.
Under these conditions, we can not assess the arrest of Alexey
Gaskarov and this trial other than as a purely political process, and as an
outrageous act of repression and violation of civil rights. We
strongly protest against this lawlessness and intend to organize a
broad international campaign of protests against the new
manifestations of authoritarianism and dictatorial tendencies in
Russia.
We demand the immediate release of Alexey Gaskarov and the dropping of all
charges against him
Name of organization, date, signature
KRAS-AIT
www.aitrus.info
Labels: A-Infos, Alexey Gaskarov, anarchism, appeals, international anarchist movement, KRAS., repression, Russia, solidarity.
LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
PENSION DEMONSTRATION THIS THURSDAY:
This Thursday, August 5, the provincial premiers will be meeting in Winnipeg. Canada's labour federations will also be in town, and there will be a demo to demand improvements to Canada's pension system. Here's the info from the Manitoba Federation of Labour.
CLCLCLCLCL
Rally For Public Pensions August 5
Provincial premiers from across Canada will be meeting in Winnipeg during the week of August 2. The presidents of Federations of Labour from across the country will also be in Winnipeg for meetings during that time.
The Manitoba Federation of Labour, our sister Federations from across Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress and Manitoba's Labour Councils and Labour Coordinating Committees think it will be a great time to speak out on the importance of improving Canada's public pensions.
A rally for public pensions will be in front of the Hotel Fort Garry, 222 Broadway, to deliver the message of the need for a sound public pension policy at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 5.
Anyone concerned about the effectiveness of the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement programs is urged to participate in this rally. Retirement should not be impoverishment. When the Premiers come to town make sure you're there too!!!
Rally For Public Pensions August 5
Provincial premiers from across Canada will be meeting in Winnipeg during the week of August 2. The presidents of Federations of Labour from across the country will also be in Winnipeg for meetings during that time.
The Manitoba Federation of Labour, our sister Federations from across Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress and Manitoba's Labour Councils and Labour Coordinating Committees think it will be a great time to speak out on the importance of improving Canada's public pensions.
A rally for public pensions will be in front of the Hotel Fort Garry, 222 Broadway, to deliver the message of the need for a sound public pension policy at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 5.
Anyone concerned about the effectiveness of the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement programs is urged to participate in this rally. Retirement should not be impoverishment. When the Premiers come to town make sure you're there too!!!
Labels: Canadian labour, Canadian politics, demonstrations, events, labour, Manitoba Federation of Labour, pensions, Winnipeg
HUMOUR:
LEAKY PUBLIC WALLETS:
Labels: Afghanistan, cartoons, humour, international politics, jokes, Wikileaks
Monday, August 02, 2010
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR BANGLADESH:
GARMENT WORKERS CONTINUE STRIKE IN BANGLADESH:
Garment workers in Bangladesh are continuing their strike and demonstrations against the recent desultory rise in the minimum wage, demanding that the government set the bar far higher. The garment industry in Bangladesh accounts for about 80% of that countries foreign trade income. This when workers move in that industry the state sits up and takes notice. Even though the garment workers are split between a multiplicity of unions they have acted on their own initiative. The function of the unions so far has been little more than cheering from the sidelines and being a body that the bosses and state can eventually negotiate with when the latter see reason. Here's an item from Sky News about the third day of the recent strike.
ILILILILIL
Bangladesh Garment Workers In Wage Protest
Katie Cassidy, Sky News Online
Garment makers in Bangladesh who produce clothing for companies such as Marks and Spencer have clashed with police for a third day over a new minimum wage they say is too low.
Bangladesh Garment Workers In Wage Protest
Katie Cassidy, Sky News Online
Garment makers in Bangladesh who produce clothing for companies such as Marks and Spencer have clashed with police for a third day over a new minimum wage they say is too low.
Unions have rejected a government offer of 3,000 taka (£27) a month, which is nearly double the previous minimum, but far less than the 5,000 taka (£45) the workers asked for.
The garment industry is Bangladesh's second largest employer, with more than 3.5 million people - mostly women - working in thousands of factories all over the country.
International companies such as Wal-Mart, H&M, Zara and Marks and Spencer have their clothing made in Bangladesh.
Thousands of angry workers took to the streets of Dhaka in protest over their pay after union leaders said the rise did not match the cost of living.
Some 80 people were injured in the latest clashes with police, who fired rubber bullets and used their batons to clear away demonstrators.
Officials said a mob blocked a highway in the city's north for several hours, jeering at officers and pelting them with bricks.
In another part of the capital, protesters attacked vehicles and looted shops.
Nearly 250 people, including officers, have been hurt in similar violence over the past two days.
The Bangladeshi Prime Minister called on the workers to accept the new minimum wage and stop hurting the sector, which is worth some 80% of the country's annual £10bn export income.
Sheikh Hasina said the continuing unrest, which has forced the closure of 20 factories in Dhaka's textile hub, could threaten employees' livelihoods.
She asked workers to return to work peacefully while factory owners said they would reopen if order was restored.
The garment industry is Bangladesh's second largest employer, with more than 3.5 million people - mostly women - working in thousands of factories all over the country.
International companies such as Wal-Mart, H&M, Zara and Marks and Spencer have their clothing made in Bangladesh.
Thousands of angry workers took to the streets of Dhaka in protest over their pay after union leaders said the rise did not match the cost of living.
Some 80 people were injured in the latest clashes with police, who fired rubber bullets and used their batons to clear away demonstrators.
Officials said a mob blocked a highway in the city's north for several hours, jeering at officers and pelting them with bricks.
In another part of the capital, protesters attacked vehicles and looted shops.
Nearly 250 people, including officers, have been hurt in similar violence over the past two days.
The Bangladeshi Prime Minister called on the workers to accept the new minimum wage and stop hurting the sector, which is worth some 80% of the country's annual £10bn export income.
Sheikh Hasina said the continuing unrest, which has forced the closure of 20 factories in Dhaka's textile hub, could threaten employees' livelihoods.
She asked workers to return to work peacefully while factory owners said they would reopen if order was restored.
ILILILILIL
As I mentioned the union movement in Bangladesh is severely fractured. Some unions have decided to accept the government's offer. Read the following from the Bangladesh News site, and for "the labour leaders" read "some of the labour leaders. Notice also how the workers are bypassing such "leaders".
ILILILILIL
Workers again protest,
Workers again protest,
12 units closed in Ashulia
Savar, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com )—Readymade garment workers have again taken to the streets in Savar, blocking a key highway and forcing factories to shut for the day, barely a day after the labour leaders accepted the government's wage scale.
Savar, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com )—Readymade garment workers have again taken to the streets in Savar, blocking a key highway and forcing factories to shut for the day, barely a day after the labour leaders accepted the government's wage scale.
Day-long closure was declared at 12 factories in Savar as two separate incidents of workers agitation at Ashulia's Jirabo area and Ulail area took place on Monday morning.
Dhaka district's additional police superintendent Mozammel Haque told bdnews24.com: "A number of factories were shut down for the day. Work is continuing normally at other factories."
Witnesses said work started normally at the Ashulia Industrial Zone with most workers joining work on time. However, some 3,500 workers of Iris Fashions located in Ashulia's Jirabo area skipped work and started demonstrating from 9am outside the factory
They vandalised nearby Arunima Sportswear Ltd of Rising Group. Chairman Syed Kamrul Huda of Arunima Sports said: "Workers of my factory joined work as usual. But the factory was attacked around 9:30am by outsiders."
The demonstrators marched on the link road between Jirabo and CMP areas on route to the Dhaka-Tangail highway. The police tried to stop them but the workers pushed through.
Around 9.15am the workers reached the Dhaka-Tangail highway and laid siege on the road halting traffic. The police charged baton on them and managed to free the road around 9.30am. A tense atmosphere was hanging heavy prevalent in the area with the workers and the police facing off in the area.
A case has been filed at Ashulia Police Station by sub-inspector Abul Bashar accusing 700 unnamed workers of attacking and obstructing police duty, and vandalising private property.
Ten factories of the area, including Iris Fashions, declared closed for the day. Meanwhile, workers of HR Textiles, a concern of Pride Group, in Ulail bus-stand area on the Dhaka-Aricha highway took to the streets, as well.
Nearly 2,000 workers of the factory attempted to block the highway around 9am. The police immediately clubbed and dispersed them. The workers took position a little off the road and continued their demonstration.
Around 11:15am the demonstrators pelted the adjoining factory of Doyel Group of Industries with brickbats.
Savar Police Station' acting officer in charge Mahabubur Rahman told bdnews24.com: "The two factories were declared closed for the day after the incident. The workers left."
"Additional police have been deployed in front of the factories," the police official added.
Following the massive workers agitation on Sunday and Saturday, Jamgara remained calm on Monday.
http://bdnews24.com/corr/rn/bd/1121h
ILILILILIL
Whatever the ins and outs of the multiple labour unions involved in the present unrest in Bangladesh and how little control they have over their members the simple fact is that the managers of the Bangladeshi factories can easily grant the demands that the most intransigent workers are making and still be more than competitive on the world market. Here's a final item from the Bangladeshi Daily Star about the events. Note the government's response of blaming what the workers have done on "outside agitators". Even the compliant local unions have been unable to hold the workers in check in the interest of the government and the bosses. People from outside of Bangladesh have little to do with this spontaneous revolt.
ILILILILIL
RMG sector still in grip of violence
80 injured in clashes in Ashulia, Narayanganj, Chittagong a day after 'understanding'
Star ReportRMG
RMG sector still in grip of violence
80 injured in clashes in Ashulia, Narayanganj, Chittagong a day after 'understanding'
Star ReportRMG
Workers continued demonstrations in Ashulia and Narayanganj yesterday even though labour representatives agreed to the new pay scale the previous day with a pledge to help maintain normal work environment in industrial areas.
At least 80 people were injured as labourers clashed with police in Ashulia and Narayanganj for the third consecutive day.
Production in several factories was suspended after the workers resorted to violent protests demanding a minimum wage of Tk 5,000 with effect from August 1.
Meanwhile, workers of two garment units of Azim Group in Kalurghat BSCIC Industrial Area in Chittagong went on the rampage on Sunday night and yesterday bringing production to a halt, reports our staff correspondent from Chittagong.
The labour representatives at a meeting with ministers, chamber leaders and garment owners on Sunday agreed to the new pay structure for garment sector and promised to help keep normal work environment in industrial areas.
Agitating workers got involved in a series of clashes with police at Katherpool of Fatulla and adjoining areas in Narayanganj leaving 50 people injured.
They demanded Tk 5,000 as minimum wage with effect from August 1 and immediate release of Montu Ghosh, adviser of Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra and district CPB unit president.
They pelted the law enforcers with brickbats and attacked two garment factories, over 50 shops and houses on the post office road. They also damaged five vehicles, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.
Ten policemen including Assistant Superintendent of Police Reazul Kabir, SI Shahidul Islam, constable Harun and Shahidul Islam were wounded in the clash.
About 40 others including ATN Bangla Narayanganj correspondent Abdus Salam, BTV correspondent Mahfuzur Rahman, and garment workers Rehana, Zarina, Raja Mia, Kalam Mia, Asma, Sakila, Jobeda and Rehena Begum were also injured in the clashes.
Police lobbed 50 teargas canisters to bring the situation under control.
The angry labourers put barricades on the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road in Shibu Market area shortly after 11:00am bringing the traffic to a halt for three hours.
The authorities of nine export-oriented garment factories at Fatulla wrote to the deputy commissioner and the police super urging them to ensure proper security at the factories.
Witnesses said, about 20,000 workers of Pall Mall, Mircrofibre, Liberty, Midland and Cadtrex Garments turned up at the factories. They demonstrated inside the factories instead of joining work.
They hurled brickbats at police from the rooftops.
Nearly 12,000 workers from different garment factories in Katherpool area took to the streets at around 10:30am defying police obstruction.
The labourers and law enforcers got involved in chase and counter chase prompting the police to lob 50 teargas shells.
Meantime, 30 RMG workers were injured in Ashulia after they clashed with police protesting the new pay hike, which they say is still too low, adds a correspondent from Ashulia.
Five workers were arrested on the Bishmile-Jirabo road, the scene of violence.
Police filed a case accusing 700 workers of vandalism on Sunday.
Authorities of 12 garment factories in the area announced holiday yesterday fearing clash.
The workers attacked three garment factories and made a fire in front of one of the factories. They also blocked the Bishmile-Jirabo road shortly after 10:00am.
The labourers got involved in chase and counter chase with police when the law enforcers tried to restore vehicular movement on the road.
They pelted the policemen with brick chips prompting them to fire rubber bullets and teargas canisters.
Fire fighters doused the flame in front of the factory gate.
Meanwhile, production in two garment units -- Orchid Knitwear and Global Knitting in the port city -- was halted after the workers demonstrated in the morning demanding a pay hike.
They agreed to join work as the factory authorities agreed to increase "piece-rate" after a meeting at about 2:00pm, said Md Moyeen Uddin, deputy secretary of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The workers of the two garment units had also staged demonstrations on Sunday night demanding a raise in wage.
The workers attacked two factories of Azim Group and three other factories nearby.
Police swung into action swiftly and brought the situation under control.
RESTRICTION ON FOREIGNERS' INVOLVEMENT WITH TU
The cabinet has decided not to allow any foreign national with tourist visa to get involved with trade unions in Bangladesh.
The decision came at a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The cabinet expressed concern over the recent labour unrest in the garment sector.
Many foreign nationals with tourist visa have been involved with trade unions and are causing unrest in the sector for the interests of their nations, the meeting was told.
"It will be strictly overseen from now on so that no foreign national can come to Bangladesh with tourist visa to get involved with trade unions. If they want to come here for this purpose, they must get visas under a special category from the Bangladesh government," a senior minister told The Daily Star wishing anonymity.
The government has a list of foreign nationals, who came to Bangladesh with tourist visa and got involved with trade unions with the help of many NGOs, said sources close to the meeting.
Many of them are staying in Bangladesh although their visas have already expired, added the sources.
At least 80 people were injured as labourers clashed with police in Ashulia and Narayanganj for the third consecutive day.
Production in several factories was suspended after the workers resorted to violent protests demanding a minimum wage of Tk 5,000 with effect from August 1.
Meanwhile, workers of two garment units of Azim Group in Kalurghat BSCIC Industrial Area in Chittagong went on the rampage on Sunday night and yesterday bringing production to a halt, reports our staff correspondent from Chittagong.
The labour representatives at a meeting with ministers, chamber leaders and garment owners on Sunday agreed to the new pay structure for garment sector and promised to help keep normal work environment in industrial areas.
Agitating workers got involved in a series of clashes with police at Katherpool of Fatulla and adjoining areas in Narayanganj leaving 50 people injured.
They demanded Tk 5,000 as minimum wage with effect from August 1 and immediate release of Montu Ghosh, adviser of Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra and district CPB unit president.
They pelted the law enforcers with brickbats and attacked two garment factories, over 50 shops and houses on the post office road. They also damaged five vehicles, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.
Ten policemen including Assistant Superintendent of Police Reazul Kabir, SI Shahidul Islam, constable Harun and Shahidul Islam were wounded in the clash.
About 40 others including ATN Bangla Narayanganj correspondent Abdus Salam, BTV correspondent Mahfuzur Rahman, and garment workers Rehana, Zarina, Raja Mia, Kalam Mia, Asma, Sakila, Jobeda and Rehena Begum were also injured in the clashes.
Police lobbed 50 teargas canisters to bring the situation under control.
The angry labourers put barricades on the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road in Shibu Market area shortly after 11:00am bringing the traffic to a halt for three hours.
The authorities of nine export-oriented garment factories at Fatulla wrote to the deputy commissioner and the police super urging them to ensure proper security at the factories.
Witnesses said, about 20,000 workers of Pall Mall, Mircrofibre, Liberty, Midland and Cadtrex Garments turned up at the factories. They demonstrated inside the factories instead of joining work.
They hurled brickbats at police from the rooftops.
Nearly 12,000 workers from different garment factories in Katherpool area took to the streets at around 10:30am defying police obstruction.
The labourers and law enforcers got involved in chase and counter chase prompting the police to lob 50 teargas shells.
Meantime, 30 RMG workers were injured in Ashulia after they clashed with police protesting the new pay hike, which they say is still too low, adds a correspondent from Ashulia.
Five workers were arrested on the Bishmile-Jirabo road, the scene of violence.
Police filed a case accusing 700 workers of vandalism on Sunday.
Authorities of 12 garment factories in the area announced holiday yesterday fearing clash.
The workers attacked three garment factories and made a fire in front of one of the factories. They also blocked the Bishmile-Jirabo road shortly after 10:00am.
The labourers got involved in chase and counter chase with police when the law enforcers tried to restore vehicular movement on the road.
They pelted the policemen with brick chips prompting them to fire rubber bullets and teargas canisters.
Fire fighters doused the flame in front of the factory gate.
Meanwhile, production in two garment units -- Orchid Knitwear and Global Knitting in the port city -- was halted after the workers demonstrated in the morning demanding a pay hike.
They agreed to join work as the factory authorities agreed to increase "piece-rate" after a meeting at about 2:00pm, said Md Moyeen Uddin, deputy secretary of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The workers of the two garment units had also staged demonstrations on Sunday night demanding a raise in wage.
The workers attacked two factories of Azim Group and three other factories nearby.
Police swung into action swiftly and brought the situation under control.
RESTRICTION ON FOREIGNERS' INVOLVEMENT WITH TU
The cabinet has decided not to allow any foreign national with tourist visa to get involved with trade unions in Bangladesh.
The decision came at a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The cabinet expressed concern over the recent labour unrest in the garment sector.
Many foreign nationals with tourist visa have been involved with trade unions and are causing unrest in the sector for the interests of their nations, the meeting was told.
"It will be strictly overseen from now on so that no foreign national can come to Bangladesh with tourist visa to get involved with trade unions. If they want to come here for this purpose, they must get visas under a special category from the Bangladesh government," a senior minister told The Daily Star wishing anonymity.
The government has a list of foreign nationals, who came to Bangladesh with tourist visa and got involved with trade unions with the help of many NGOs, said sources close to the meeting.
Many of them are staying in Bangladesh although their visas have already expired, added the sources.
Labels: Bangladesh, international labour, labour, strike.
Sunday, August 01, 2010
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR GREECE:
GREEK TRUCKERS END STRIKE:
Striking truck drivers in Greece voted late yesterday to end their week long walkout, and they are expected to resume normal work on Monday. While many drivers refused to obey the "civil mobilization" order (a back-to-work order with military draft provisions) the government managed to commandeer enough trucks that, with their own vehicles, they were well on the way to restocking fuel supplies across the country. It 9is doubtful if this would have been a long term viable solution, but it was enough to force the truckers back to work.
A few comments are in order. The first is that this strike, unlike the symbolic general strikes of the opposition to the government's austerity program (or the even more ineffective aimless rioting of the left wing of the opposition), actually posed a real economic threat, and it prompted the state into action that it has usually held back from during the course of the present crisis. It also showed coincidentally the futility of any dreams of overthrowing the government. It would be a simple "turn of the tap", and a revolutionary Greece would rapidly become a collapsed revolutionary Greece being as all Greece's energy needs are supplied from abroad.
This may highlight the essential nature of the government/population confrontation ie stalemate with time on the side of the government. The opposition cannot play the 'ultimate threat' card. They know it. The government knows it. The general population knows it. The only ones who don't know it are a small number of romantic revolutionaries. The nature of the Greek crisis is also such that any alternative to the present socialist government would inevitably end up acting just as it does today, the conservatives because they would want to, and the communists and left-socialists because they would have to. A Greek government of any stripe would be severely constrained in its options. This situation presents the classic dilemma whereby politics, of the governmental variety, is absolutely futile. Yet it is also a situation where revolution would be equally futile.
Of course only a tiny minority of Greeks would dream of trying to go beyond the present system. The most overwhelming thing to notice about the opposition to the government's plan is how incredibly conservative, in the sense of trying to avoid any change, that it is. The struggles against the government are not for some new dispensation but rather to preserve a system of "entitlements" that various sectors of the working population see as in their interest or perhaps even vital to their interests. In the case of the truckers one can feel some sympathy for them because they have forked out huge amounts of money for exclusive licences in a sector which the government now intends to throw totally open. See the article below. This leaves the present truckers with huge debts and lower revenue.
So where does this leave the opposition to the Greek version of neoliberalism ? We can speak of rocks and hard places. For the left socialist and communist opponents it means keeping up the level of visible militancy in hopes of leaving a lasting memory that can be used for later political gain. In the case of the workers it means very much the same thing except that the goal is not any future political gain but rather the softening of the impact of the measures in the near future by a protracted period of bargaining with their enemy the state.
The anarchist opposition, small as it is (though far bigger than in most countries) ? The "concentration of mind" that the present crisis is forcing people to go through is hardly likely to result in a flow of public opinion to revolutionary strategies, anarchist or otherwise. The precise opposite is the likely result, and clinging to the old romantic shibboleths cannot make the anarchist alternative seem desirable in the public mind. Whether Greek anarchists can find their way through to a long term strategy that gradually builds the libertarian alternative without the deus-ex-machina of revolution is very much in question. It is, however, the only way to escape from the ghettoization that they presently suffer.
Here's the story of the end of the strike from the Sydney Morning Herald , bright and early on the other side of the world.
GSGSGSGSGS
Greek truckers end week-long strike
Greek truckers end week-long strike
JOHN HADOULIS
Greek truckers have called off a week-long strike that stranded thousands of travellers and nearly dried up fuel around the country at the peak of the busy tourism season.
"We have decided, by narrow majority, to suspend the strike," the head of the Greek truck owners confederation, George Tzortzatos, told reporters on Sunday after a union meeting that lasted over three hours.
"Transporters will be back at the steering wheel as of tomorrow," he said.
The strikers backed down after the government sent out military and private trucks under police escort to bypass the protest and resupply hospitals, electricity plants and petrol stations in main cities.
Businesses ranging from hotels and car rentals to peach exporters have been badly hit by the strike, which began last Sunday over plans to reform the tightly-controlled freight sector for the first time in four decades.
Thousands of Greek and foreign travellers had to put their plans on hold or were stranded as fuel supplies dwindled to a trickle in main cities and holiday destinations such as Crete and the northern Halkidiki peninsula, with conditions only starting to improve on Saturday.
The truckers on Sunday said they would hold talks with the government over the reform which is designed to open the sector to full competition within three years, as part of efforts to revive the recession-mired Greek economy.
After talks with trucker unions collapsed, the authorities on Wednesday moved to requisition vehicles, but fuel all but ran out at major cities and travel destinations during the two days it took to implement the measure.
Meanwhile many drivers flouted the civil mobilisation order, tearing up their summons and refusing to turn up for work despite threats of prosecution.
At the main Greek port of Piraeus, the local trader association said many of the islands popular with holidaymakers had not been resupplied for days.
"The resupply of islands has been non-existent,"Piraeus trader association chairman George Zissimatos told Mega television.
"A lot of goods remained in warehouses, ten days were lost and now wholesalers are about to go on holiday themselves," he said.
A breakthrough finally came late on Saturday after the government said it would lift the civil mobilisation if the truckers closed down their protest.
No new trucking licenses have been issued in Greece for years, meaning that would-be operators can only purchase existing permits at high cost.
But the truckers complain that inviting competition into the freight sector by reducing new licence charges is unfair to existing operators who have already paid high start-up fees running up to 300,000 euros ($A436,047).
Greece has suffered waves of strikes and protests over unprecedented budget cuts and reforms the government had to agree to in order to tap a rescue package it desperately needed to stave off bankruptcy.
A debt default was narrowly averted in May after Greece received a huge bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Faced with nearly 300 billion euros ($A436.05 billion) of debt, it found itself unable to raise money on international markets in April as concerns mounted about the ability of the Greek economy to stay afloat.
Greek truckers have called off a week-long strike that stranded thousands of travellers and nearly dried up fuel around the country at the peak of the busy tourism season.
"We have decided, by narrow majority, to suspend the strike," the head of the Greek truck owners confederation, George Tzortzatos, told reporters on Sunday after a union meeting that lasted over three hours.
"Transporters will be back at the steering wheel as of tomorrow," he said.
The strikers backed down after the government sent out military and private trucks under police escort to bypass the protest and resupply hospitals, electricity plants and petrol stations in main cities.
Businesses ranging from hotels and car rentals to peach exporters have been badly hit by the strike, which began last Sunday over plans to reform the tightly-controlled freight sector for the first time in four decades.
Thousands of Greek and foreign travellers had to put their plans on hold or were stranded as fuel supplies dwindled to a trickle in main cities and holiday destinations such as Crete and the northern Halkidiki peninsula, with conditions only starting to improve on Saturday.
The truckers on Sunday said they would hold talks with the government over the reform which is designed to open the sector to full competition within three years, as part of efforts to revive the recession-mired Greek economy.
After talks with trucker unions collapsed, the authorities on Wednesday moved to requisition vehicles, but fuel all but ran out at major cities and travel destinations during the two days it took to implement the measure.
Meanwhile many drivers flouted the civil mobilisation order, tearing up their summons and refusing to turn up for work despite threats of prosecution.
At the main Greek port of Piraeus, the local trader association said many of the islands popular with holidaymakers had not been resupplied for days.
"The resupply of islands has been non-existent,"Piraeus trader association chairman George Zissimatos told Mega television.
"A lot of goods remained in warehouses, ten days were lost and now wholesalers are about to go on holiday themselves," he said.
A breakthrough finally came late on Saturday after the government said it would lift the civil mobilisation if the truckers closed down their protest.
No new trucking licenses have been issued in Greece for years, meaning that would-be operators can only purchase existing permits at high cost.
But the truckers complain that inviting competition into the freight sector by reducing new licence charges is unfair to existing operators who have already paid high start-up fees running up to 300,000 euros ($A436,047).
Greece has suffered waves of strikes and protests over unprecedented budget cuts and reforms the government had to agree to in order to tap a rescue package it desperately needed to stave off bankruptcy.
A debt default was narrowly averted in May after Greece received a huge bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Faced with nearly 300 billion euros ($A436.05 billion) of debt, it found itself unable to raise money on international markets in April as concerns mounted about the ability of the Greek economy to stay afloat.
Labels: gradualism, Greece, Greek strikes, Greek truckers strike, international labour, labour, revolution, statism, strike., tactics
Saturday, July 31, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR NEWFOUNDLAND:
NEWFOUNDLAND FIGHTS ON:
While the Vale Inco strike in Ontario has ended with, whatever the claims of the union, essentially a defeat the strike of the USW in Newfoundland continues. Perhaps people in Newfoundland are under less of an illusion that the white knight of a politician will ride to their aid and so depend more upon themselves and find political generosity as a surprise. Something that it should always be taken as. Here's an item from the St. John's Telegram about the 1 year anniversary of the strike in Voisey's Bay.
NLNLNLNLNL
by Lana Payne
by Lana Payne
365 days of defiance. Three hundred and sixty-five days of standing their ground against the second biggest mining corporation on the planet.
365 days of resistance as that employer — Brazilian mining giant, Vale — seeks concessions and holds up its Newfoundland and Labrador employees as an example to temper the expectations of its workers around the globe. After all, if they can beat back the Canadians, imagine what can be done to those workers in Brazil, South Africa and Peru who do not have the same labour rights that we have in Canada.
While Vale speaks of transforming mineral resources into wealth, the question raised by the strike with its workers at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador is wealth for whom? While attacking profit-sharing with its employees, Vale’s dividends to shareholders in the past year have exceeded the company’s worldwide labour costs.
Despite stunning profits, including $1.6 billion in the first quarter of this year, Vale still seeks concessions from its Newfoundland and Labrador workers. Offended by the profit-sharing nickel bonus Inco had negotiated with the steelworkers in the days when nickel prices were in the basement and no bonus was paid out, Vale has demanded the profit-sharing formula be slashed. It managed to do just that in Sudbury, but wanted even more from its Newfoundland and Labrador workers.
The Brazilian company bought out Canadian Inco in 2006 for $18.9 billion. Voisey’s Bay nickel was part of that deal. The Canadian government allowed the sale after the Brazilian company signed a “secret Investment Canada agreement” that has never been made public.
For the members of the United Steelworkers at Voisey’s Bay, it has been 365 days of staring down the boss’s security cameras as every move and action, taken on what has been an incredibly peaceful picket line, is recorded.
365 days of explaining to their families and looking into the faces of their kids and hoping they understand why mommy or daddy hasn’t had a paycheque in 52 weeks.
365 days of highs and lows, of hope and despair.
365 days of unbearable stress, wondering if they and their union have the fortitude to be one day stronger.
365 days of listening to the spin-doctoring coming out of Vale’s high-paid mouthpieces, and to the naysayers who question their rationale for striking against a global giant that is so much bigger than they are, that has extremely deep pockets and that would like nothing better than to break the union and bring the workers to their knees.
365 days of swallowing and swallowing hard as scab labour is flown into their worksite, carrying out their jobs and being paid extremely well to do so.
While Vale speaks of transforming mineral resources into wealth, the question raised by the strike with its workers at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador is wealth for whom?
365 days of resistance as that employer — Brazilian mining giant, Vale — seeks concessions and holds up its Newfoundland and Labrador employees as an example to temper the expectations of its workers around the globe. After all, if they can beat back the Canadians, imagine what can be done to those workers in Brazil, South Africa and Peru who do not have the same labour rights that we have in Canada.
While Vale speaks of transforming mineral resources into wealth, the question raised by the strike with its workers at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador is wealth for whom? While attacking profit-sharing with its employees, Vale’s dividends to shareholders in the past year have exceeded the company’s worldwide labour costs.
Despite stunning profits, including $1.6 billion in the first quarter of this year, Vale still seeks concessions from its Newfoundland and Labrador workers. Offended by the profit-sharing nickel bonus Inco had negotiated with the steelworkers in the days when nickel prices were in the basement and no bonus was paid out, Vale has demanded the profit-sharing formula be slashed. It managed to do just that in Sudbury, but wanted even more from its Newfoundland and Labrador workers.
The Brazilian company bought out Canadian Inco in 2006 for $18.9 billion. Voisey’s Bay nickel was part of that deal. The Canadian government allowed the sale after the Brazilian company signed a “secret Investment Canada agreement” that has never been made public.
For the members of the United Steelworkers at Voisey’s Bay, it has been 365 days of staring down the boss’s security cameras as every move and action, taken on what has been an incredibly peaceful picket line, is recorded.
365 days of explaining to their families and looking into the faces of their kids and hoping they understand why mommy or daddy hasn’t had a paycheque in 52 weeks.
365 days of highs and lows, of hope and despair.
365 days of unbearable stress, wondering if they and their union have the fortitude to be one day stronger.
365 days of listening to the spin-doctoring coming out of Vale’s high-paid mouthpieces, and to the naysayers who question their rationale for striking against a global giant that is so much bigger than they are, that has extremely deep pockets and that would like nothing better than to break the union and bring the workers to their knees.
365 days of swallowing and swallowing hard as scab labour is flown into their worksite, carrying out their jobs and being paid extremely well to do so.
While Vale speaks of transforming mineral resources into wealth, the question raised by the strike with its workers at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador is wealth for whom?
-
365 days of listening to the company’s threats and intentions to resume full production and being allowed to do so because no law prevents the erosion of the right to strike — one of the few tools workers have in the huge imbalance of power with their employers.
365 days of not just fighting for themselves and a better standard of living, but for all of us who believe that corporations are too powerful and need to be taken down a notch.
365 days of defiance; of not settling for whatever the boss decides they deserve.
365 days of being punished for daring to dream of a better life for themselves and their kids, of daring to dream to be respected for the work they do, and daring to stand up for a world of work that they have a say in, for daring to say democracy in our workplace matters.
365 days of reading the nasty comments from those who anonymously post to media sites and who fail to understand that it is struggles exactly like this one being waged by these workers and their union that have built Canada’s middle class; that have forced a sharing of the wealth generated from our economy, especially from the natural resources of our province and nation. It is struggles like these that push health and safety standards to a higher level.
365 days of wondering, when push comes to shove, if their government will be there for them. Or will their government, like so many others, including the Ontario government, cave under the pressure from big capital and big mining? They wonder if a premier who so dislikes being pushed around, especially by big corporations, will join them and push back.
365 of reading the business pages and knowing that as they struggle to feed the kids their bosses rake in millions and millions in salaries and billions in profits.
365 days of defending against a company that has been breeding discontent in many northern communities, pitting neighbour against neighbour.
365 days when solidarity has been tested, but is given new life because the company pushed one inch too far. 365 days, 8,760 hours, of incredible resolve. The time has come. The time for the provincial government to stand with the workers is now. No more counting days.
Lana Payne is president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour. She can be reached by e-mail at lanapayne@nl.rogers.com .
365 days of listening to the company’s threats and intentions to resume full production and being allowed to do so because no law prevents the erosion of the right to strike — one of the few tools workers have in the huge imbalance of power with their employers.
365 days of not just fighting for themselves and a better standard of living, but for all of us who believe that corporations are too powerful and need to be taken down a notch.
365 days of defiance; of not settling for whatever the boss decides they deserve.
365 days of being punished for daring to dream of a better life for themselves and their kids, of daring to dream to be respected for the work they do, and daring to stand up for a world of work that they have a say in, for daring to say democracy in our workplace matters.
365 days of reading the nasty comments from those who anonymously post to media sites and who fail to understand that it is struggles exactly like this one being waged by these workers and their union that have built Canada’s middle class; that have forced a sharing of the wealth generated from our economy, especially from the natural resources of our province and nation. It is struggles like these that push health and safety standards to a higher level.
365 days of wondering, when push comes to shove, if their government will be there for them. Or will their government, like so many others, including the Ontario government, cave under the pressure from big capital and big mining? They wonder if a premier who so dislikes being pushed around, especially by big corporations, will join them and push back.
365 of reading the business pages and knowing that as they struggle to feed the kids their bosses rake in millions and millions in salaries and billions in profits.
365 days of defending against a company that has been breeding discontent in many northern communities, pitting neighbour against neighbour.
365 days when solidarity has been tested, but is given new life because the company pushed one inch too far. 365 days, 8,760 hours, of incredible resolve. The time has come. The time for the provincial government to stand with the workers is now. No more counting days.
Lana Payne is president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour. She can be reached by e-mail at lanapayne@nl.rogers.com .
Labels: Canadian labour, labour, Newfoundland, St. John's Telegram, strike., United Steel Workers., Vale Inco, Vale Inco strike, Voisey's Bay
LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE PROVINCES FORUM:
Here's an upcoming public forum to be held here in Winnipeg on August 4. I have to say that this sort of thing makes me somewhat "itchy" and not just because its sponsors such as the 'Council of Canadians' are in most other circumstances advocates of centralization in the Canadian federation. It's also because their presumed "strategy" of reducing carbon emissions via delegation of responsibility to the provinces would only get 'self-interested support' in an unequivocal manner in two Canadian provinces - Québec and Manitoba. Their invocation of Ontario is, in my mind doubtful even with Ontario's commitment to nuclear power thrown in for good measure, and as for the other provinces..forget it. I could go on and on about the "political illusion" here, but I'll leave that to the readers' imagination. I also think that arguments about provincial/federal responsibilities in terms of power generation are very much beside the point as the real argument is local/municipal versus all other levels of government. The old anarchist argument about localism versus statism. All that aside here's the promo for the meeting.
WWWWWWWW
Public forum on Trade threats to provincial leadership on climate change
------------------------
Location Buchwald room, Millenium Library .
251 Donald St.
Winnipeg, MB
------------------------
Wednesday, August 4
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Buchwald Room, Millennium Library ( 251 Donald Street )
...
Faced with federal impotence on the climate file, Canada 's provinces are taking independent steps to reduce their carbon consumption. At the same time, new international trade agreements, such as the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), that the provinces are actively negotiating alongside the Harper government threaten to undermine these new provincial efforts to mitigate climate change.
The Ontario Green Energy Act, which prioritizes locally produced renewable energy, is one example of the kind of forward-looking policy the provinces should be adopting. But European trade negotiators are putting enormous pressure on federal and provincial governments to get rid of local content or sustainable sourcing requirements that are necessary to help Canadian communities and companies transition away from dirty energy, and create good, green jobs. Efforts to phase-out tar sands production are also compromised by these trade agreements.
On the eve of the 2010 meeting of the Council of the Federation in Winnipeg, come learn more about this provincial contradiction -- between a need to move further and faster than the Harper government on climate change and a willingness to compromise environmental policy in trade deals -- and why the provincial governments need to reject any trade deals with Europe or other countries that threaten their shift toward sustainability.
Featuring:
Steve Guilbeault, Co - Founder and Deputy Director, Equiterre
Brendan Reimer, Prairies & Northern Territories Coordinator, CCEDNet
Stuart Trew, National Trade Campaigner, Council of Canadians
Presented by the Council of Candians Winnipeg Chapter and Climate Action Network Canada - Reseau action climat Canada
Public forum on Trade threats to provincial leadership on climate change
------------------------
Location Buchwald room, Millenium Library .
251 Donald St.
Winnipeg, MB
------------------------
Wednesday, August 4
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Buchwald Room, Millennium Library ( 251 Donald Street )
...
Faced with federal impotence on the climate file, Canada 's provinces are taking independent steps to reduce their carbon consumption. At the same time, new international trade agreements, such as the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), that the provinces are actively negotiating alongside the Harper government threaten to undermine these new provincial efforts to mitigate climate change.
The Ontario Green Energy Act, which prioritizes locally produced renewable energy, is one example of the kind of forward-looking policy the provinces should be adopting. But European trade negotiators are putting enormous pressure on federal and provincial governments to get rid of local content or sustainable sourcing requirements that are necessary to help Canadian communities and companies transition away from dirty energy, and create good, green jobs. Efforts to phase-out tar sands production are also compromised by these trade agreements.
On the eve of the 2010 meeting of the Council of the Federation in Winnipeg, come learn more about this provincial contradiction -- between a need to move further and faster than the Harper government on climate change and a willingness to compromise environmental policy in trade deals -- and why the provincial governments need to reject any trade deals with Europe or other countries that threaten their shift toward sustainability.
Featuring:
Steve Guilbeault, Co - Founder and Deputy Director, Equiterre
Brendan Reimer, Prairies & Northern Territories Coordinator, CCEDNet
Stuart Trew, National Trade Campaigner, Council of Canadians
Presented by the Council of Candians Winnipeg Chapter and Climate Action Network Canada - Reseau action climat Canada
Labels: climate change, Council of canadians, decentralism, local events, public meetings, statism, Winnipeg
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR TURKEY:
SUPPORT TURKISH UPS WORKERS:
There's an ongoing struggle in Turkey to unionize employees of the multinational UPS. Here's an appeal from the ITF via the online labour solidarity site Labour Start for solidarity with these workers.
TLTLTLTLTL
Turkey: Support sacked UPS workers
UPS workers in Turkey need your support.
The ITF-affiliated TÜMTIS has been taking steps in the recent months to unionise this company and its sub-contractors. As a result, 120 employees in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir have been dismissed without any application of the procedures stipulated by Turkish law. UPS is a global company which says publicly in its corporate social responsibility report that it supports the rights of its workers to become members of a union. The reality in Turkey, however, is very different.
All of the 120 dismissed workers are union members or sympathetic to TÜMTIS. Others are constantly harassed not to join the union. Some were taken by force to a notary to resign from the union. On 2 July, the conflict escalated in Izmir when a manager of a sub-contractor pulled out his gun and started shooting in front of a notary. More recently, a new company brought in replacement workers in Istanbul. Such action contradicts with the claim by the management that they are reducing the workforce due to economic reasons. After these recent incidents, the ITF has written to the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to raise its concern.
The ITF and its affiliates are firmly backing TÜMTIS in their struggle against UPS. Unions from around the world have sent their messages.
Trade union delegations have been visiting the picket-line on a regular basis to show global solidarity.
However, there has been no response from the company to TÜMTIS or to the ITF. Add your concern by sending a protest letter to the Prime Minister of Turkey now. Copies of the letter will also be sent to UPS representatives including CEO Scott Davis and local management in Turkey. We want all these workers to be reinstated and all intimidations to be ceased.
TLTLTLTLTL
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to the Turkish Prime Minister (and also to the Turkish division of UPS).
TLTLTLTLTL
Dear Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
I am writing to you to express my grave concern over the serious violations of trade union rights at UPS in Turkey.
I have reason to believe that 120 workers who work for UPS and its sub-contractors in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir have been dismissed because they support the union, TÜMTIS. Other workers are constantly harassed by the management not to join the union. There was a shooting incident in Izmir which was caused by a senior manager of the company's sub-contractor.
These recent events violate the fundamental workers' rights as enshrined in the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization. It also goes without saying that accession to the European Union will require some fundamental changes to the current climate of industrial relations in Turkey. Actions taken by the UPS Turkish management and its subcontractors are also damaging the reputation of this global company, which enshrines in its Code of Conduct the promotion of a sound relationship between trade unions and the management.
I urge your immediate intervention to resolve this situation so that all the sacked workers are reinstated unconditionally and steps are taken to ensure that no further victimisation takes place at UPS and its subsidiaries.
Yours sincerely
Labels: international labour, ITF, labour, Labour Start, solidarity., TUMTIS, Turkey, UPS.
Friday, July 30, 2010
MOLLY'S POETRY CORNER:
'MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT' BY VOLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE:
When that sumyr with his showers soote
The drute of March hath pierced to the roote
and bathed every vein in swich lickoor
Of which virtu engendred is the flur.
Then longen folke to go on pilgramage
Molly's poetry corner for to seeke
To bringen smyle onto the face
And cure the souls that are fair saike.
-With apologies to Geofrey.
Yes folks, it's that time again. Our author for the day is Voltairine de Cleyre, and we begin with her poem 'Mary Wollstonecraft'.
ABOUT THE POET:
The American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912) oddly enough was the product of a Catholic convent school in Sarnia Ontario. Like many others this inspired a lifelong aversion to religion, and De Cleyre's first efforts after graduation were in the freethought movement. She became an anarchist because of the hanging of the Haymarket martyrs in 1887. From 1889 to 1910 she lived in Philadephia where she taught English and music to Jewish immigrants. She began as an "individualist anarchist", but her views evolved during her lifetime to embrace more of the socialist anarchism. Her final position was of an "anarchism without adjectives". While not as widely known as her contemporary Emma Goldman she was certainly the better writer. Her most famous essay was the 1912 'Direct Action'. You can read more about De Cleyre and read much of her works at the Voltairine de Cleyre website. There is also an extensive selection in the de Cletre section of the Molineri Institute online library.
ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF THE POEM:
One of the formative influences on the young de Cleyre was the British writer, philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797). To read of Wollstonecraft's life is like reading a mini history of the intellectual life of the late 18th century. Names such as Thomas Paine, William Wordsworth, William Godwin, Jane Arden and, of course, her daughter Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame appear and reappear. Wollstonecraft was very much the polymath, and her writings include novels, political tracts, travel books and a children's book. She first came to attention with her 'Vindication of the Rights of Men', published as a riposte to Edmund Burke's conservative 'Reflections on the Revolution in France'. This work was published in 1790, one year before Thomas Paine's similarly titled 'The Rights of Man'. The work for which she is most famous today is her 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' published in 1792. This established her as perhaps the founding feminist philosopher, and her influence has percolated through the various waves of feminism, and each generation of feminists has rediscovered Wollstonecraft in their own way just as de Cleyre did..
The following poem about Wollstonecraft by de Cleyre was first published in 1893.
Mary Wollstonecraft
The dust of a hundred years
Is on thy breast,
And thy day and thy night of tears
Are centurine rest.
Thou to whom joy was dumb,
Life a broken rhyme,
Lo, thy smiling time is come,
And our weeping time.
Thou who hadst sponge and myrrh
And a bitter cross,
Smile, for the day is here
That we know our loss;—
Loss of thine undone deed,
Thy unfinished song,
Th' unspoken word for our need,
Th' unrighted wrong;
Smile, for we weep, we weep,
For the unsoothed pain,
The unbound wound burned deep,
That we might gain.
Mother of sorrowful eyes
In the dead old days,
Mother of many sighs,
Of pain-shod ways;
Mother of resolute feet
Through all the thorns,
Mother soul-strong, soul-sweet,—
Lo, after storms
Have broken and beat thy dust
For a hundred years,
Thy memory is made just,
And the just man hears.
Thy children kneel and repeat:
"Though dust be dust,
Though sod and coffin and sheet
And moth and rust
Have folded and molded and pressed,
Yet they cannot kill;
In the heart of the world at rest
She liveth still."
— Philadelphia, 27th April 1893
DCDCDCDCDC
A good source for de Cleyre's poetry is the 'Collected Poems by Voltairine de Cleyre' at the online 'Anarchist Library'. Here's another example of her work.
DCDCDCDCDC
Life or Death
A Soul, half through the Gate, said unto Life:
“What dos thou offer me?” And Life replied:
“Sorrow, unceasing struggle, disappointment;
after these
Darkness and silence.” The Soul said unto Death:
“What dos thou offer me?” And Death replied:
“In the beginning what Life gives at last.”
Turning to Life: “And if I live and struggle?”
“Others shall live and struggle after thee
Counting it easier where thou hast passed.”
“And by their struggles?” “Easier place shall be
For others, still to rise to keener pain
Of conquering Agony!” “and what have I
To do with all these others? Who are they?”
“Yourself!” “And all who went before?” “Yourself.”
“The darkness and the silence, too, have end?”
“They end in light and sound; peace ends in pain,
Death ends in Me, and thou must glide from
Self
To Self, as light to shade and shade to light again.
Choose!” The Soul, sighing, answered: “I will live.”
Philadelphia, May 1892
DCDCDCDCDC
Finally here is de Cleyre's last poem written shortly before her death. A tribute to the heroes of the Mexican Revolution, many of them anarchists.
DCDCDCDCDC
Written — in — Red
To Our Living Dead
in Mexico's Struggle
Written in red their protest stands,
For the gods of the World to see;
On the dooming wall their bodiless hands
have blazoned “Upharsin,” and flaring brands
Illumine the message: “Seize the lands!
Open the prisons and make men free!”
Flame out the living words of the dead
Written — in — red.
gods of the World! Their mouths are dumb!
Your guns have spoken and they are dust.
But the shrouded Living, whose hearts were numb,
have felt the beat of a wakening drum
Within them sounding-the Dead men's tongue —
Calling: “Smite off the ancient rust!”
Have beheld “Resurrexit,” the word of the Dead,
Written — in — red.
Bear it aloft, O roaring, flame!
Skyward aloft, where all may see.
Slaves of the World! Our caose is the same;
One is the immemorial shame;
One is the struggle, and in One name —
Manhood — we battle to set men free.
“Uncurse us the Land!” burn the words of the
Dead,
Written — in — red.
Voltairine deCleyre's last poem.
Labels: Mary Wollstonecraft, Molly's Poetry Corner, poetry, Voltairine de Cleyre
Thursday, July 29, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR HALIFAX:
NEW IWW GROUP IN HALIFAX:
Molly has just become aware of a new Industrial Workers Of The World (IWW) in Halifax Nova Scotia, and she has duly added their links under the IWW Canada section in this blog. Personally I think that this is quite important for many reasons.
First of all it is the only time in at least my memory (stretching back to the early 70s) that there has been an IWW group in Atlantic Canada. I stand to be duly corrected on this matter as my memory is not infallible. What this shows is the gradual spread of a rational anarchism in my own country whereby people want to work on a project that at least has a semblance of practicality rather than eternally "protesting". Yes, anarchism is spreading geographically, but it is also gradually improving itself qualitatively. There is a reason why so much of Molly's Links section is taken up by listings for anarchosyndicalist organizations. Anarchism has to enter the practical world of the everyday struggles of ordinary people. No doubt this may be hard to do at times. The "alternative", however, is definitely no alternative ie the idea that you can build an effective movement for social change by appealing to the emotions of various social groups under the cover of a tsunami of "isms". It hasn't worked and it cannot work.
Anarchosyndicalism is still, just as it was over 100 years ago, the major practical forum where anarchists can act in a way that is not "sect building". I emphasize that the "sects" are not simply organizations. At least in North America the sects more closely resemble an acepaphalic religious cult with the leadership disguising itself under multiple layers of bullshit.
What anarchosyndicalism presents is the stark question ie "how to you get people to come together despite their differences". It is a practice of unity as opposed to the practice of disunity that so much of the left is today as people struggle as to what "ism" demands the greatest deference in the cultish social circles. And God Damn those who rationally !!! don't want to enter into such a sick world.
So that's my limited opinion. Signing up for a syndicalist union may not seem like much, but it refers to a whole change of perspective. From "showing off" to actually working towards the goals. It has been many years since I was a member of the IWW, but I still retain a great amount of sympathy for them, and I think that any growth they may experience is a positive. Hence my welcome to the Halifax group.
Here's a couple of references to the Halifax IWW that I have recently added to the Links section.
Labels: Canadian labour, Halifax IWW, IWW, labour
CANADIAN LABOUR HAMILTON:
STAND WITH MCMASTER'S STAFF AGAINST CASUALIZATION:
The following appeal for online solidarity with workers at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario comes from the Canadian Union Of Public Employees (CUPE).
MCMCMCMCMC
Fight to stop the casualization of work at McMaster University
Sessional faculty at McMaster University (CUPE 3906) are fighting management’s plan to casualize their work. We have been in contract talks with the university administration for the last three months to achieve a fair contract, but management filed for a ‘no board’ report triggering a strike/lockout deadline of August 11.
Management wants to casualize sessional faculty by dividing courses into smaller sub-units taught by different instructors. For example, a one-semester course could potentially be turned into three sub-unit courses taught by three different instructors. If management gets their way, the quality of education will suffer at McMaster and sessional faculty could become one-month employees.
In addition, McMaster management wants to continue to keep sessional faculty at the lower end of the wage scale by offering no increases to wages or benefits for two full years.
Send a message to McMaster University’s management
Help us stop the casualization of sessional faculty. Please take a moment to send an email to McMaster administration and tell them you support CUPE 3906 members’ fight to stop casualization of their work.
It’s time the administration showed them the respect they deserve.
Take action now!
MCMCMCMCMC
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to the Administration at McMasters University.
MCMCMCMCMC
I support McMaster University’s sessional faculty and sessional music faculty’s fight to stop management from casualizing their work.
I am appalled the University wants to turn sessional faculty into one-month employees and continue to keep them at the lower end of the wage scale by offering no increases for two full years.
Sessional faculty make McMaster University work.
It’s time the administration showed them the respect they deserve.
I urge you to drop your concession demands and offer sessional faculty and sessional music faculty a fair contract to prevent a strike or a lockout that will hurt the very students McMaster educates.
Labels: Canadian labour, CUPE, Hamilton, labour, solidarity.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR:
SUPPORT GUATEMALAN MIGRANT LABOUR IN CANADA:
When one thinks of migrant labour in Canada one usually thinks of Mexico, but there are large numbers of workers from other Central American nations presently in Canada, and they perhaps have even less protection than the Mexicans whose situation is already a national scandal. Here's a news item and appeal from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union about this situation.
CLCLCLCLCL
New campaign calls for action on Guatemalan migrant abuse
UFCW Canada and the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) are spearheading a new campaign to denounce the systematic abuse and violation of the rights of Guatemalan farm workers who come to Canada through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP).
The campaign, called No More Injustice and Oppression against Migrants!, calls attention to the illegal treatment of Guatemalan workers and the degrading terms of a contract imposed on them by FERME, an employer association, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – an intergovernmental agency mandated to “promote humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all,” according to its website.
“Over 4,000 Guatemalan workers come to Canada every year to harvest our food and make one our most important industries possible,” says Andrea Galvez, coordinator of the AWA Centre in Saint-Remi, Quebec, where many Guatemalan migrants work. “But we repeatedly hear from Guatemalan migrants who are degraded and demoralized by the individuals and organizations who cash-in on the temporary foreign workers program.”
Workers are recruited in Guatemala by the IOM and must ante up a $400.00 deposit – a huge amount of money for the average Guatemalan – before they’re allowed to work in Canadian fields. If the worker refuses to obey the outrageous terms listed in the contact, he or she can be terminated and the deposit is not returned, which is a terrifying prospect for workers because they generally borrow from friends and family to get the cash.
Although the TFWP is administered by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the contract imposed on migrants does not allow the ministry to intervene in the terms of work. Once the contract is signed, the worker is brought in and left to the mercy of employers.
UFCW Canada and the AWA are strongly urging Canadian authorities to open an official investigation into FERME and the IOM’s management of the project, and are calling for immediate and substantive reforms to the TFWP.
All activists are encouraged to join this fight by sending messages and by using their social networks to help spread the word by posting links to the campaign page.
CLCLCLCLCL
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter to (shudder) Prime Minister Steven Harper in support of Guatemalan migrant workers in Canada.
CLCLCLCLCL
Dear Prime Minister:
Approximately 4,000 Guatemalan men and women come to work in the Canadian agriculture industry every year. As you know, they enter Canada through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, which has been widely criticized since it was introduced over seven years ago because it offers even less protection for migrants who come to Canada under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP).
Workers are recruited in Guatemala by the IOM and have to accept a series of inhumane conditions to come to Canada. Although the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training is administered by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the contract imposed on migrants does not allow the ministry to intervene in the terms of work. Once the contract is signed, the worker is brought in and left to the mercy of employers. I am writing to strongly request a complete review of the pilot project and the dehumanizing contract it imposes on workers.
I am asking Canadian authorities to open an official investigation into FERME and IOM’s management of the pilot project. I also want to make sure that those workers willing to come forward and file complaints will be heard without fear of deportation, and that workers already fired for voicing their concerns are given the opportunity to be heard as well.
Moreover, I am asking for the creation of a neutral body that will regulate the program and ensure acceptable working conditions and fair treatment.
We all have an interest in creating a strong Canadian agriculture industry. However, we cannot allow this to be done at the expense of workers’ rights and Canada’s well earned international reputation for decency and fairness. I strongly urge you to demonstrate leadership on this issue by doing the right thing.
Sincerely,
Labels: Canada, Canadian labour, Guatemalan workers, labour, migrant workers, solidarity., UFCW
ANARCHIST MUSIC:
DAVID ROVICS IWW BENEFIT CONCERT:
Tbis is almost close enough to count as 'local news' even if it is in a different country. The Twin Cities IWW (Minneapolis/St Paul) will be sponsoring a benefit for the Industrial Workers of The World (IWW) this coming September 24. Even though Minneapolis is nothing but a "short" drive south of Winnipeg I have to admit that my experience of it is limited to a stopover at its airport when flying from one civilized country to another. Still Minneapolis is "accessible" in the same sense for Winnipegers as Brandon is. Here's the promo.
@M@M@M@M
David Rovics Benefit Concert
----------------------
Location Walker Community Church
3104 16th Ave South
Minneapolis, MN
----------------------
A benefit concert for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW): "The
Wobblies," in the Twin Cities.
Rovics has been traveling the world for decades now, singing his songs
of resistance, peace, and democracy for unions, peace activists, and
...social justice everywhere he travels. In the middle of his current
Prairie Fire Tour, he is performing a benefit concert for the local
branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, the most democratic
union in North America since 1905. While David travels the world
singing about corporate greed and political injustice, the IWW is
actively organizing workplaces - like Starbucks at the Mall of
America! - near you. We are a perfect match, but there's one thing
missing: you.
Openers: TBA
Info:
Walker Community Church
$9
No one turned away for lack of funds, doors, performance time.
http://www.davidrovics.com/
http://www.facebook.com/twincities.iww
David Rovics Benefit Concert
----------------------
Location Walker Community Church
3104 16th Ave South
Minneapolis, MN
----------------------
A benefit concert for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW): "The
Wobblies," in the Twin Cities.
Rovics has been traveling the world for decades now, singing his songs
of resistance, peace, and democracy for unions, peace activists, and
...social justice everywhere he travels. In the middle of his current
Prairie Fire Tour, he is performing a benefit concert for the local
branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, the most democratic
union in North America since 1905. While David travels the world
singing about corporate greed and political injustice, the IWW is
actively organizing workplaces - like Starbucks at the Mall of
America! - near you. We are a perfect match, but there's one thing
missing: you.
Openers: TBA
Info:
Walker Community Church
$9
No one turned away for lack of funds, doors, performance time.
http://www.davidrovics.com/
http://www.facebook.com/twincities.iww
Labels: anarchism, anarchist music, concerts, David Rovics, events, IWW, Minneapolis
CANADIAN POLITICS:
WHO WON IN TORONTO ?:
The G20 summit is over and done, and the media pays hardly any attention anymore as it moves on to newer and brighter spectacles. this is despite the events of the "police riot" and their mass arrests, events that were simply unprecedented in Canadian politics. What follows is a statement from the Toronto Community Mobilization Network about how they feel about what happened. I emphasize the word "feel" as much of what follows is subjective, and my own subjective feeling is unease that such things are taken are criteria of success. For myself I would hardly be so optimistic, no matter how much I wish the people in Toronto well. Time will tell.
G20G20G20G20
JUNE 2010: THE PEOPLE WON
Statement from the Toronto Community Mobilization Network
JUNE 2010: THE PEOPLE WON
(July 26, One month after the G20 summit)
Since September 2009, we’ve worked to challenge, disrupt and abolish the G8/G20. We used the fleeting moment of the G8/G20 summit to further organize Toronto’s community struggles against the impact of colonial, capitalist policies that seek to weaken us everyday.
And we succeeded.
From June 21 to 27, 2010, nearly 40,000 people took to the streets, gathered in discussion, watched movies, set up a tent city, danced and fought. This in itself is a victory.
For the first time, an economic summit saw a march of thousands against colonization and for Indigenous sovereignty (on June 24). This in itself is a victory.
Instead of simplifying our diverse struggles in to one issue, we supported
actions for Queer and Trans Rights, for Environmental Justice, for Income
Equity and Community Control Over Resources, for Gender Justice and Disability Rights, for Migrant Justice and an End to War and Occupation. We created the conditions for over 100 grassroots organizations to come together, to build relations, to grow stronger together. This in itself is a victory.
For the first time at a G8/G20 Summit (on June 25), we saw communities in ongoing resistance, people of color, poor people, Indigenous people, women, disabled folk, queer folk and others leading the Days of Action. This in itself is a victory.
Knowing that our freedom will rise from an attack at all fronts, respectful of the traditions and needs of safety and efficacy of all our friends; we ensured that actions with conflicting tactics took place separately. There is not a single instance of people caught up in actions not of their making. This in itself is a victory.
For months, we were followed, intimidated, arrested, our meetings infiltrated by state thugs. Many of us were snatched in pre-dawn and early morning raids on the day of the G20 meeting, yet we were not swayed. We came together, gathered strength and continued to support the demonstrations. This in itself is a victory.
So while 1,090 people have been arrested, thousands beaten, illegally detained, searched, harassed and abused. While over 300 people face criminal prosecutions for their ideological and political actions, and while multiple instances of so-called conspiracy trials and politically motivated targeting continues, we insist, this June 2010, on the streets of Toronto, the people won.
One phase of our work is complete. A new one must begin. Many of us are organizers in community groups and will be returning to them, we urge you to join us.
Many of us are activists inspired by our collective power these last few months, we intend to form new spaces and organizations for justice, we urge you to do the same.
Many of us will continue to fight for freedom for our friends facing repression, we urge you to support us.
The organized resistance in Toronto has emerged stronger, unified, connected. We take this moment to send our solidarity to the organizations and groups across the world to continue their struggles. Take action in your communities. Build lasting movements for justice free of state violence.
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Have an inspiring story, picture or video, email them to
community.mobilize@resist.ca . It is imperative that we remember the joys
with the pain.
=======
Some reports on Abolish the G8/G20 Convergence 2010
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedzoePNr22aFGThTomMaFwPg;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/3705 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedg9VHpM5ThH1cZWBeBzOv4w;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/spoke-5/3728 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedkwQkNydRokmto_dY5uq9NA;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/spoke-7/3755 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffed9WjkpX59UPR1SsQvsER2FQ;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/spoke-8/3781 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffed6Vzdc_1e-pAGIunnvTFZDw;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/spoke-9/3822 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedxvXkcpoGPqQ79iv6JjZHbA;toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/spoke-10/3864 +
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedy0EItXmFqu8U8-ujCvFnyA;www.democracynow.org/2010/6/28/toronto_police_arrest_over_600_in
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To continue to support the defence fund, visit
http://www.facebook.com/l/fffedQ14DPZB-J1Sc1kOWYzpp4A;g20.torontomobilize.org/support
Labels: Canadian politics, G20, G20 demonstrations, repression, Toronto Community Mobilization Network
