Retell: This is the biography of Cesar Chavez, the leader of the National Farm Workers Association who worked to organize farm workers to rally together and fight for better pay and working conditions.

Topics: family, Cesar Chavez, conflict, drought, California, farming, Spanish, migrant workers, unions, La Causa, strikes, protests, boycotts, farm workers

Units of Study: Nonfiction, Social Issues

Tribes: personal best, mutual respect, appreciations/no put-downs

Habits of Mind: persisting

Reading Skills: inference, interpretation, determining importance, synthesis, empathy

My Thoughts: Back when I taught in California this was required reading–in the Bay Area Cesar Chavez’s birthday is a school holiday.  This book could fit into different types of text sets.  For example, you could include this book when teaching a unit on the labor unit.  You could also choose to read this book as a companion text to Esperanza Rising.

by Joe Thorne

More than 40 pickets were stood at the gates of the Hackney Community Transport (HCT) bus depot this morning.  Playing football, waving flags and milling about on Ash Grove, off Mare St, the strikers are amongst the worst treated workers on London buses.

Union members try to persuade a fellow worker not to scab

Contrary to what some may assume, not all London bus drivers are on the same terms and conditions.  HCT drivers are on £11.52 an hour, lower than most bus drivers.  And they get no extra pay for overtime or unsociable hours.  The company is offering a derisory 2.25%, while union members want to see wages and conditions brought more into line with those of other bus drivers in the capital.

Roger Dillon, a Unite official, spoke to the workers.  He told them that striking meant they had a right to respect from themselves, from the company – and from bus drivers across London.  He said that many had seen what was going on, and had phoned into the Unite offices asking to be balloted for action themselves.  He talked about how some members had defied intimidation from the company to go on strike.  Dillon also talked revealing about how frequently bus drivers get abuse from a minority of members of the public: it clearly made drivers uncertain of public solidarity.  We need to show bus drivers that they do have solidarity!

Pickets were very aware of the need to build coordinated action across London, to equalise terms and conditions.  This strike narrowly avoided coordinating with action at First Centre West and First Capital East, who were on strike last weekend.  Laws around ballot timings and notice periods had apparently made coordination difficult.  But this only strengthens the need for workers to push for a common approach; a single agreement covering all London bus companies – of the sort that was achieved to a limited extent in the union’s Justice for Cleaners campaign.  While workers are on different conditions they will always remain divided.

The tube workers are another group with whom action should be coordinated: a united bus and tube strike would clearly be incredibly powerful.   An example of the sort of solidarity we need was given as a CWU member from the local Emma St delivery office refused to cross the picket line and deliver mail.  Stewards and other workers in transport should meet to discuss building joint action.  As for HCT workers, if the company does not provide a better offer, new dates for action will be set.

A call by the LKP (Lyanaj Kont Pwofitasyon – Togetherness Against Profiteering) for two days’ general strike in Guadelope on November 24th and 25th received only partial support. On Tuesday, it was business as usual throughout the island, except for some union supporters who decided to stay away from work. There had been a call by the union representing gas station workers to go on strike, but owners kept their service stations open.
A demonstration held on Wednesday in the streets of the commercial capital of Pointe-a- Pitre, however, was very well supported with over ten thousand persons gathering at the Palais de la Mutualité, the Union headquarters, and marching through the streets of the city.
The purpose of the strike was to send a clear message to the government that the workers expect the authorities to  work towards the full application of the provisions of the BINO protocol of March 4 2009: the end of layoffs in all industrial sectors; the reopening of the Kalenda and Anchorage hotels; the opening of negotiations on wages, training, and working conditions in all professional branches leading to the signature of collective agreements;  the end of anti-trade-union repression; the protection of arable lands and the development of  local agricultural production; the safeguarding of employment in the petroleum products sector; improvements in private security and banking services; the development of a public health plan for prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arterial hypertension, and AIDS.
Strikers also demanded the organization of an effective public transport system.

The Trade Union spokesman, Elie Domota said, “We will not enter into physical confrontation with the authorities because they are better equipped to over-power us; but, we will win them with the power of our minds, as the struggle will continue until we achieve our goal.”

For the original report go to http://www.dominicanewsonline.com/all_news/caribbean/8271.html

Σύμφωνα με τον Κώδικα Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων, όλες οι Δημοτικές Επιχειρήσεις πρέπει να έχουν κλείσει ή μετατραπεί σε συγκεκριμένες επιχειρησιακές μορφές μέχρι την 31η Δεκεμβρίου 2009.

Ο Δήμος του Ρέντη συνεχίζει και κωλυσιεργεί, αρνούμενος να εντάξει τους εργαζόμενους στο μόνιμο δημοτικό προσωπικό.

Σε μια περίοδο μεταβατική, αφού είναι μπροστά η εφαρμογή του Καποδίστρια 2 και η ενοποίηση του Δήμου με κάποιον διπλανό του, όσοι εργαζόμενοι δεν μεταταχθούν, πετιούνται στο δρόμο..

Το σωματείο του Δήμου έχει κηρύξει την πρώτη 24ωρη απεργία κόντρα στην κεντροαριστερή δημοτική αρχή και ετοιμάζεται για περισσότερα.

Εδώ είναι η προκήρυξη που κυκλοφόρησαν προς τους δημότες.

ΑΝΟΙΧΤΗ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΠΡΟΣ ΔΗΜΟΤΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΡΕΝΤΗ

Αγαπητές δημότισσες, αγαπητοί δημότες,

Με την επιστολή αυτή θέλουμε να σας ενημερώσουμε τόσο για τις αλλαγές που συντελούνται στην Τοπική Αυτοδιοίκηση, όσο και για προβλήματα που εμείς οι εργαζόμενοι αντιμετωπίζουμε στο Δήμο μας και τη Δημοτική Επιχείρηση. Απευθυνόμαστε σε σας, γιατί και σεις είσαστε εργαζόμενοι και κατά συνέπεια θύματα της αντιλαϊκής πολιτικής της ανεργίας, του παγώματος των μισθών, της καταπάτησης των εργασιακών μας δικαιωμάτων και της άγριας φορολόγησης.

Οι εργαζόμενοι στον Δήμο Ρέντη, όπως και στη Τοπική Αυτοδιοίκηση γενικότερα, είναι θύματα αυτής της πολιτικής για την οποία ευθύνονται οι εκάστοτε κυβερνήσεις και οι δήμαρχοι. Παρά την ειδυλλιακή εικόνα που προσπαθούν να παρουσιάσουν όλοι τους για τους δήθεν «προνομιούχους υπαλλήλους» και την πολιτεία ή το δήμο που νοιάζεται «για το καλό του δημότη», η πραγματικότητα είναι πολύ διαφορετική.

Ασφαλώς, όσοι δεν γνωρίζουν κάποια πράγματα θα εκπλαγούν αν μάθουν ότι στο δήμο μας εργαζόμενοι που κάνουν την ίδια δουλειά αμείβονται με διαφορετικό τρόπο, συχνά με μεγάλες μισθολογικές διαφορές, και υπάρχει μια πληθώρα συμβάσεων και σχέσεων εργασίας, από τον μόνιμο υπάλληλο ως τις οκτάμηνες συμβάσεις, τους συμβασιούχους έργου (δηλαδή με μπλοκάκι ελεύθερου επαγγελματία), τα stages (ανασφάλιστη εργασία) αλλά και εργαζόμενους που δεν έχουν καθόλου σύμβαση εργασίας.

Τα πράγματα είναι ιδιαίτερα άσχημα στη Δημοτική Επιχείρηση, όπου το προσωπικό εργάζεται κυρίως στις κοινωνικές δομές (Παιδικός και Βρεφικός Σταθμός, Βοήθεια στο Σπίτι και Κέντρο Δημιουργικής Απασχόλησης Παιδιών – ΚΔΑΠ), τον πολιτισμό και τον αθλητισμό. Είναι υπηρεσίες απαραίτητες στον δημότη και κατά συνέπεια, απαραίτητοι είναι και οι εργαζόμενοι, που πολλοί από αυτούς εργάζονται από την εποχή ίδρυσης της Δημοτικής Επιχείρησης, το 1997 και σήμερα κινδυνεύουν να μείνουν χωρίς δουλειά.

Η φετινή χρονιά είναι ιδιαίτερα κρίσιμη για το μέλλον όλων αυτών των εργαζομένων, και κατά συνέπεια, των υπηρεσιών που παρέχονται στους δημότες, γιατί σύμφωνα με το νόμο όλες οι Δημοτικές Επιχειρήσεις πρέπει να έχουν κλείσει ή μετατραπεί σε συγκεκριμένες μορφές μέχρι την 31η Δεκεμβρίου 2009. Επίσης, μέχρι τότε, τα μισθώματα και οι διαφημίσεις που έχουν εκχωρηθεί από τους Δήμους στις Δημοτικές Επιχειρήσεις πρέπει να έχουν επιστρέψει στο Δήμο, ενώ η χρηματοδότηση των προγραμμάτων δεν μπορεί να συνεχίσει παρά μόνο αν έχουν μετατραπεί σε Κοινωφελείς. Ο Κώδικας Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων ορίζει ότι το προσωπικό μπορεί με απόφαση του Δημοτικού Συμβουλίου να μεταταχθεί στο Δήμο. Αν κάτι τέτοιο δεν γίνει, οι εργαζόμενοι θα χάσουν τη δουλεία τους και οι υπηρεσίες δεν θα μπορούν να λειτουργούν και να συνεχίσουν να εξυπηρετούν τους δημότες.

Εμείς οι εργαζόμενοι στο Δήμο Ρέντη και τη Δημοτική Επιχείρηση αγωνιζόμαστε για δημόσιο και κοινωνικό χαρακτήρα της Τοπικής Αυτοδιοίκησης και μόνιμη-σταθερή δουλειά για όλους. Για αυτό αγωνιζόμαστε ενάντια σε κάθε μορφή επιχείρησης στο Δήμο μας και για τη μεταφορά όλου του προσωπικού στο Δήμο. Απαιτούμε:

v Να μην απολυθεί κανείς! Εξασφάλιση της εργασίας για όλο το προσωπικό της Δημοτικής Επιχείρησης ανεξαρτήτου σύμβασης, με ίσο μισθό με τους συναδέλφους τους στο Δήμο.

v Άμεση έναρξη των διαδικασιών μεταφοράς όλου του προσωπικού Αορίστου Χρόνου στον Δήμο που πρέπει να έχει ολοκληρωθεί ως τις 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2009, καθώς και απόφασή του Δημοτικού Συμβουλίου ότι το προσωπικό που δεν εμπίπτει στις διατάξεις του Κώδικα, αλλά παρόλα αυτά εργάζεται χρόνια στην επιχείρηση είναι αορίστου χρόνου.

v Όλες οι προσλήψεις από δω και μπρος θα είναι μόνο μόνιμου προσωπικού στο Δήμο και όταν μεταταχθούν όλοι οι υπάλληλοι της επιχείρησης αυτή θα κλείσει γιατί δεν νοείται να γίνεται κοινωνική πολιτική με ιδιωτικο-οικονομικά κριτήρια.

Για όλα αυτά, οι εργαζόμενοι στο Δήμο και την Δημοτική Επιχείρηση αποφασίσαμε να προχωρήσουμε σε απεργιακές κινητοποιήσεις, αρχίζοντας με 24ωρη απεργία την Τετάρτη 18 Νοεμβρίου και αν δεν ικανοποιηθούν τα δίκαια αιτήματά μας, θα κλιμακώσουμε τον αγώνα μας.

ΟΛΟΙ ΜΑΖΙ, εργαζόμενοι στον Δήμο και τη Δημοτική Επιχείρηση και δημότες να αγωνιστούμε για ένα δήμο με δημόσιο κοινωνικό χαρακτήρα, ικανό να υπηρετεί τις σύγχρονες ανάγκες των κατοίκων της πόλης, ένα δήμο που δεν θα αναπτύσσει επιχειρηματική δραστηριότητα, που θα διεκδικεί τα χρήματα που παρακρατά η κεντρική εξουσία και δεν θα καταφεύγει στη φορολόγηση των δημοτών.

Σύλλογος Εργαζομένων Δήμου Ρέντη

Today, as certainly all Irish readers of this blog will know, has been a day of strike action organised by Irish public service trade unions in protest at cuts in funding for public services, expected salary reductions and reductions in staffing. As a result more or less all of Ireland’s public and civil service offices and institutions were shut down, from  government offices to schools. Most universities and colleges were also shut, with the exception of DCU and the University of Limerick, where staff voted not to join in the national strike action.

It was impossible to travel anywhere around Dublin today without seeing groups of people picketing workplaces. Some were low key, but many were very active. As I passed Trinity College’s various entrances by car, for example, it seemed to me that there were very large numbers on picket lines, so that access (even if the gates had been open) would have been difficult, and would certainly have required strong nerves.

And even before the day was over, it was announced by the trade unions that another such day was being planned for December 3.

The day of action, and the seemingly strong participation in it, arose from a feeling amongst public servants that they are the victims of mismanagement by others; that government, banks and business leaders behaved recklessly and lost large sums of money, and that those responsible are being protected or cushioned from the consequences and that public sector employees were being asked to pay for all this. Others also believe that the poor are being targeted while the wealthy are protected. A very significant number of posters being carried on picket lines today demanded that the rich should be taxed more in order to resolve the national economic problems.

No doubt the anger, fear and resentment are understandable, and perhaps the day of action provides an opportunity to let off steam and allow people to express their frustrations. Whether the assessment of our problems on which at any rate the picket line posters are based is accurate is rather another matter. According to the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan TD, 4 per cent of Irish taxpayers provide almost half of all income tax receipts, while half of the country’s income earners pay no income tax at all. As for the public services, the claim now is that pay levels for public servants are substantially above what is earned by public servants in other comparable countries and also above what is earned by those in the private sector in Ireland; indeed the claim is that this was the case even before substantial increases were applied earlier this decade through the process of benchmarking. At two picket lines today I saw members of the public expressing their anger at the picketers in fairly colourful terms.

Obviously, tempers are hot, and there is a sense that the work being done by public servants is not appreciated – and so it seems to me that a process of reassuring them that this is not so is a step that needs to be taken. A situation where both media comment and political actions seem to be suggesting constantly that public servants are exploiting national resources for selfish ends has not been helpful. On the other hand, it is not likely that actions such as today’s will strengthen the position of public servants, at least not if the rest of society withhold their backing and sympathy. The potential of strikes is that they will alienate the general public rather than encourage them to feel solidarity.

This may be a good time for all sides to think again about their tactics.

1.) A hedgehog.

2.) A little kid in a Motorhead T-shirt.  (In this town, that’s not common, so just roll with me here.)

3.) A giant strike in the center of the town. (Ok, so I didn’t really see it… I was late and all the people on strike decided to stop burning and rioting.  Instead, they went home for a nice dinner, apparently.)

Three Palestinians have been injured in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers say…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: travel discounts. The blog is also related to: international airports.

Private buses stay still as part of a token strike Photo: Rajesh Parambil

Today, school children (at least those who depend on Kerala’s private bus service to reach school and back home) will be  late. So will quite a few office workers. So what’s new, one might ask, tongue-in-cheek.

To be frank, there is, and (it seems to me) will be, nothing new. The private bus owners have declared a ‘token’ strike, putting thousands of commuters to distress.

As the buses stay off the roads, people are resorting to forced ‘Long Marches,’ irrespective of their political affiliations (red or otherwise!). Meanwhile, another segment of the ‘Working class’ the autorickshaw drivers are making hay.

A 10-minute ride from North Overbridge to Ernakulam South makes me poorer by Rs. 30. Quizzed about the fairness (or lack of it) of it all, my middle-aged driver is all support for the striking busmen.

And he has his reasons: the ’rich’ students who have money to splurge on everything except bus tickets, an unsympathetic transport minister who sees no reason to hike the fares to match the recent fuel hike; so on and so forth.

The man is so passionate about the whole issue that I restrain myself (with great difficulty) from asking him a moot question: Dear sir, what about us public, who are at the mercy of you and your ilk?

Meanwhile, he departs, with the cheering information that should the talks with authorities fail today, we can all expect an ‘indefinite’ strike by the busmen.

And going by his enthusiasm, I am left with a nagging doubt: will the autorickshaw drivers join the busmen, just for the fun of it all?

Israeli military says its aircraft struck two factories in Gaza and a smuggling tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt; Palestinian medics say the air assault wounded at least seven people… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: travel tickets. For a different topic see type of bra. The blog is also related to: airport shuttles.

Israeli military says its aircraft struck two factories in Gaza and a smuggling tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt; Palestinian medics say the air assault wounded at least seven people… From VOA. Full story

This site may contain information about: airport trip. The blog is also related to: delhi airport.

Τις τελευταίες εβδομάδες που έχει ξανανοίξει η συζήτηση για τους συμβασιούχους και τα stage, έχει έρθει στην επιφάνεια τα προβλήματα των διαφορετικών εργασιακών σχέσεων. Δεκάδες χιλιάδες άνθρωποι είναι έτοιμοι να φαγωθούν μεταξύ τους για το «ποιος είναι το λαμόγιο του βουλευτή» ή «ο τεμπέλης που ταλαιπωρεί τους πολίτες και τρώει τις αργομισθίες τεμπελιάζοντας».

Οι συγκλονιστικές διαδηλώσεις, όμως, του τελευταίου διαστήματος έχουν προκαλέσει τριγμούς στα διάφορα ιδεολογήματα. Ξαφνικά οι διάφοροι (τάχα μου…) «λουφαδόροι» και «γλύφτρες των βουλευτικών γραφείων», έχουν συνδικαλιστεί με γοργούς ρυθμούς και σε πανελλαδική κλίμακα απευθυνόμενοι, «περιέργως», στην αριστερά και όχι στους «δεξιούς που τους βόλεψαν». Η μεταστροφή της συνείδησης είναι το πρώτο μάθημα που ΞΑΝΑμαθαίνουμε όλοι μας.

Ένα άλλο μάθημα, όμως, που δεν έχουμε μάθει ακόμα, είναι η πολυδιάσπαση των εργαζομένων και τα πολλαπλά προβλήματα που δημιουργεί.

Στον ευρύτερο δημόσιο τομέα πολίτες εργάζονται μέσα από εντελώς διαφορετικές συμβάσεις και με ολοένα και λιγότερα εργασιακά δικαιώματα. Ας τις δούμε με λίγο περισσότερη προσοχή.

ΟΙ ΔΙΑΦΟΡΕΤΙΚΕΣ «ΦΥΛΕΣ» ΤΩΝ ΕΡΓΑΖΟΜΕΝΩΝ

Α) Αορίστου χρόνου. Είναι οι μοναδικοί εργαζόμενοι που συνεχίζουν και απολαμβάνουν τις καταχτήσεις των αρχών του 20^ου αιώνα. Έχουν 8ωρη εργασία, πληρωμένη καλοκαιρινή άδεια, 5ήμερη ή 6ημερη εργασία με διπλά αμειβόμενη υπερωρία, υποχρέωση του εργοδότη να συμβάλλει στη σύνταξη και στην ιατροφαρμακευτική περίθαλψη κλπ  Είναι δηλαδή οι εργαζόμενοι του 1950, που, κανονικά, θα διεκδικούσαν αυξήσεις και διεύρυνση του κοινωνικού κράτους (όπως πχ δωρεάν συγκοινωνίες σαν την περίοδο του ΠΑΣΟΚ 1981-1989, πρόσβαση σε δωρεάν λαϊκό αθλητισμό, οικολογικό περιβάλλον κλπ)… για να μην ξεχνιόμαστε, έτσι;

Β) Ορισμένου χρόνου – ωρομίσθιοι. Θεωρούνται ακόμα «εργαζόμενοι», αλλά βρίσκονται τουλάχιστον ένα «κλικ» κάτω από τους αορίστου. Τους έχουν κοπεί όλα τα «παράλογα» πλεονεκτήματα των «βολεμένων». Γιατί να πληρώνονται να κάνουν καλοκαιρινές διακοπές; Γιατί να παίρνουν 13^ο μισθό τα Χριστούγεννα; Γιατί να παίρνουν αποζημίωση όταν δεν θα υπάρχει ανάγκη να δουλέψουν;  Ένας μικρομαγαζάτορας τα έχει αυτά; Οι εργαζόμενοι αυτοί θα δουλεύουν όσο καιρό τους χρειάζεται το αφεντικό, θα κρίνονται κάθε χρόνο και θα αμείβονται μόνο για το χρόνο της εργασίας τους και μόνο.

Γ) Συμβάσεις έργου. Τα περίφημα «μπλοκάκια». Εδώ δεν υπάρχουν εργαζόμενοι… Οι κοινωνικές τάξεις έχουν εξαλειφθεί και έχουμε την «επιχειρηματική συμφωνία» μεταξύ ελεύθερων ατόμων. Αν ο ένας έχει την επιχείρηση ή το project, ο άλλος φέρνει μόνο την εργατική του δύναμη. Ας την παζαρέψει όσο καλύτερα μπορεί. Άδεια και ασφάλεια «παίρνει», φυσικά, μόνο από τον εαυτό του και το κράτος-εργοδότης τον κρατά «όσο γίνεται η δουλειά». Ααα… και φορολογείται σαν «επιχειρηματίας».

Δ) Stage. Ή wannabe εργαζόμενος. Δε πα` να είσαι 15 χρόνια στην παραγωγή; Το κράτος – εργοδότη σε θεωρεί «μαθητευόμενο». Τα 300€ και πολλά σου είναι! Σιγά να μην αμείβεσαι που μαθαίνεις κιόλας… Κανονικά θα έπρεπε να πληρώνουν οι στέιτζερς, κιόλας. Σαν τις δημοσιογραφικές «σχολές» τύπου ANTENNA, όπου χρυσοπληρώνουν τους καναλάρχες, βγάζοντας φουλ δημοσιογραφική δουλειά, με μόνη προσδοκία να «χωθείς» στο κανάλι. Μαλάκες είναι στα κανάλια να πάρουν stage και να πληρώνουν;

Ε) Ενοικιαζόμενοι εργαζόμενοι. Ή αλλιώς «Κούνεβα». Χιλιάδες πολίτες που έχουν απροσδιόριστα  αφεντικά, απροσδιόριστο έργο, απροσδιόριστό ωράριο και αμοιβή, έρμαια διαπραγματεύσεων νονών της νύχτας, πολιτευτών του δικομματισμού και golden boys. Είναι οι πιο φοβισμένοι… οι πιο επισφαλής, αλλά και αυτοί που βρίσκονται σε μεγαλύτερη ανέχεια. Γυρνάνε σαν τα φαντάσματα από τρένα σε τράπεζες και καλύπτουν κάθε τρύπα.  Αν και δουλεύουν συνεχώς σε συγκεκριμένες και «οργανικές» θέσεις, αφεντικά τους είναι κάτι ύποπτοι τύποι με χοντρά κονέ που παίρνουν υπερεργολαβίες.

Ανάμεσα σε όλους είναι και οι λογιών-λογιών αδιόριστοι.  Αυτοί που φρικάρουν 5 και 10 χρόνια στην ουρά περιμένοντας να διοριστούνε. «Δηλαδή, γιατί πρέπει να μονιμοποιηθούν όλοι παραπάνω πριν από εμένα;» διερωτούνται… και εύλογα.

Το μόνο βέβαιο είναι πως, όσο μεγαλύτερη «ανάγκη» έχεις, τόσο περισσότερες υποχωρήσεις κάνεις. Κι όσο περισσότερες υποχωρήσεις κάνεις, τόσο η αξιοπρέπεια και το ιδεολογικό σθένος καταρρέουν…

ΙΔΟΥ ΤΟ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ, homo economicus!

Το κράτος (ή ο εργοδότης) δεν είναι «κακό» και «εκδικητικό» και εφαρμόζει τόσο απεχθής εργασιακές σχέσεις. Απλά λειτουργεί, πλέον, με ιδιωτικοοικονομικά κριτήρια. Αυτά τα ίδια που και σε μια ιδιωτική επιχείρηση θα «προσαρμόσουν» τις εργασιακές σχέσεις. Για άλλες δουλειές θα έχουμε υπάλληλους, άλλες θα δώσουμε σε εργολάβους και άλλες θα τις κλείσουμε, θα τις ρευστοποιήσουμε…

Ο συνεχής οικονομικός ανταγωνισμός μέσα σε συνθήκες κρίσης, μάλιστα, «επιβάλλουν» ολοένα και πιο ελαστικές σχέσεις εργασίας. Υπάρχει «ανάγκη» συνεχής πτώσης του κόστους εργασίας άνοδος του ποσοστού κέρδους.

Το κράτος-εργοδότης προσπαθεί να αναδιοργανώνει συνεχώς το οργανόγραμμα των επιχειρήσεων. Έτσι, όπως κυνικά είχε πει ο Πάγκαλος σε μια συνέντευξή του για την Κούνεβα, «σιγά μην κάνουμε και τις καθαρίστριες δημόσιους υπάλληλους».  Για τον διαχειριστή της επιχείρησης η καθαριότητα μπορεί να είναι «ενοικιαζόμενη», το service με εργολάβο, η παραγωγή φασόν, η προώθηση προϊόντων με εξωτερικό συνεργάτη και η ρεσεψιόν πχ του κολυμβητήριου με 11μήνη σύμβαση αφού «έτσι κι αλλιώς 11 μήνες δουλεύει».

Αυτός ο τρόπος οργάνωσης έχει κοντοπρόθεσμα αποτελέσματα για τον εργοδότη-κράτους. Μπορεί να του αποφέρει κέρδη από τη σφιχτή διαχείριση, αλλά απορυθμίζει τη λειτουργικότητα μέσα από τις συνεχείς αλλαγές των εργασιακών σχέσεων. Το κράτος δημιουργεί και ελλείψεις αλλά και δυσαρεστημένους εργαζόμενους. Απλά «εύχεται» να είναι σε τομείς όχι τόσο κρίσιμους.

Είναι όμως ένα «κόστος» που το αποδέχεται. Επιλέγει συνειδητά την απορρύθμιση της λειτουργικότητας της κρατικής μηχανής  γιατί «συμφέρει» οικονομικά. Στο φινάλε τα προβλήματα θα κοιτάξει να τα ρίξει στους «τεμπέληδες δημόσιους υπάλληλους». Ξέρετε πόσους καλοθελητές θα βρει για να διαδώσει αυτή την παπάρα; Ουυυυ!!!

ΣΥΝΔΙΚΑΛΙΣΜΟΣ: η πρώτη «ουτοπία»

Το κράτος (όπως και η Λογική των Επιχειρήσεων) απαιτεί από εμάς την αποδοχή 2, τουλάχιστον, ιδεολογημάτων.

Α) Τη λογική του «ρεαλισμού». Κάποιοι θα μείνουν άνεργοι.. Κάποιοι θα ζούνε (;) με 300€. Το κράτος «ξέρει» καλύτερα και γι` αυτό έχει διαφορετικές εργασιακές συνθήκες με διαφορετικά οφέλη.

Β) Τη λογική της ατομικής επιβίωσης. Ψάξε, γλύψε, μόχθησε, παρακάλεσε κι άσε τους άλλου σαν πεθάνουν. Θα ανταμειφτείς όσο «αξίζεις».

Με την προσπάθεια συνδικαλιστικής δράσης έχουμε τη θεμελιακή άρνηση αυτών των δύο ιδεολογημάτων.

Πλέον οι εργαζόμενοι αρνούνται την εξατομικοποιημένες λύσεις, αλλά κυρίως αμφισβητούνε τη λογική τους «εφικτού». Αρνούνται να αποδεχτούν τις προτάσεις του κράτους- εργοδότη και προβάλλουν τις ανάγκες του κοινωνικού συνόλου.

ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑ και ΣΥΝΔΙΚΑΛΙΣΜΟΣ

Η αριστερά δεν ταυτίζεται με τον συνδικαλισμό. Είναι ΜΙΑ πολιτική εκδοχή του… Είναι η προσπάθεια επιστημονική πρότασης για τη νίκη των εργαζομένων.

Την ώρα που οι εργαζόμενοι στειτζάδες μένουν ξεκρέμαστοι από την συνδικαλιστική οργάνωση των μόνιμων, την ώρα που οι συμβασιούχοι τους βλέπουν σαν ανταγωνιστές, η αριστερά πρέπει να επεξεργάζεται ΚΑΙ πολιτικές αλλά ΚΑΙ οργανωτικές προτάσεις υπέρβασης του συντεχνιακού συνδικαλισμού.

Ο Παναγόπουλος δεν είναι κακός συνδικαλιστής. Είναι συντεχνιακός συντηρητικός υπερασπιστής του ΔΙΚΟΥ του κομματιού. Γράφει στα παλιά του τα παπούτσια τους ασυνδικάλιστους. Αυτό συμβαίνει παντού. Οι του ΗΣΑΠ νοιαζόντουσαν για τον ΗΣΑΠ και όχι για την ΠΕΚΟΠ. Οι μόνιμοι συνδικαλιστές ούτε που ασχολούνται με τους ενοικιαζόμενους εργαζόμενους.

Δυστυχώς η θεσμική αριστερά είναι ευάλωτη σε δύο πολύ βασικές αρρώστιες..

Η πρώτη είναι η υποταγή στον συντεχνιασμό. Το ΚΚΕ παλεύει μόνο για τους εργαζόμενους της παράταξης του. Δεν έκανε ούτε μία στάση εργασίας το ΠΑΜΕ για την Κούνεβα επειδή η ΠΕΚΟΠ δεν είναι «δικιά» του. Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ και στο Πρόγραμμα (Τμήμα Β1β’ Εργασιακά) αλλά και στα περίφημα «αριστερά» 15 σημεία του μιλά για μονιμοποίηση μόνο των συμβασιούχων και όχι των stage ή των ενοικιαζόμενων.

Η δεύτερη είναι η υποταγή στο «εφικτό», στον «ρεαλισμό». Υπάρχει ένα κομμάτι της αριστεράς που αναζητεί «εφικτές» οικονομικές προτάσεις για τους εργοδότες και το κράτος. Για κάποιον  απίθανο λόγο, κάποιοι φαντασιώνονται πως έχουν μια «καλύτερη» και πιο «λειτουργική» – και άρα «εφικτή» για τους εργοδότες – λύση.

Λες και αυτοί που διαχειρίζονται τις επιχειρήσεις του δημόσιου τομέα δεν ξέρουν πως πχ να κάνουν ανταγωνιστική και κερδοφόρα τη ΔΕΗ ή τον ΟΤΕ.

Προφανώς η πηγή των συνδικαλιστικών «λαθών» της αριστεράς είναι το πολιτικό τους όραμα και πρόταση, αλλά δεν είναι το θέμα μας σήμερα.

Οι εργαζόμενοι έχουν ανάγκη ένα άλλο «εφικτό» συνδικαλισμό. Αυτόν που αγωνιά πως θα βρει δουλειά στους άνεργους και όχι στα εγγόνια τους σε ένα «εκσυγχρονισμό κράτος». Που αγωνιά πως θα ξεπεράσει την πολυδιάσπαση του κινήματος. Τα κόμματα της αριστεράς είναι χρήσιμα όταν χρησιμοποιούν τους μηχανισμούς  τους για να σπάνε την συντεχνιακή απομόνωση και την ηττοπάθεια που πιθανά θα γεννιέται.

Η μονιμοποίηση ΟΛΩΝ  των εργαζόμενων είναι ρεαλιστική, είναι εφικτή, είναι «λογική» όπως είναι η απαίτηση του εργαζόμενου να κάθεται ένα μήνα το καλοκαίρι και να πληρώνεται διπλά.

Χωρίς τέτοιες «παράλογες» απαιτήσεις δεν θα είχαμε δει άσπρη μέρα τον 20^ο αιώνα.

Ας μην γυρίσουμε στο ρεαλισμό της φάμπρικας του 19^ου.  Όσο περισσότεροι ζητάμε το «όνειρο», τόσο πιο «εφικτό» θα γίνεται…

Several Palestinians are injured after Israeli aircraft carry out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, officials say…. From BBC News. Full story

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Once upon a time at a Platinum Mine – in the far west of a country, well known for its dancing emperor and Clown Prince, the ruler saving money by multitasking the prince to fulfil the role of court jester and stand-up comedian – the workers, having been told, by the emperor that they were special and feeling they were entitled to all the riches of the platinum mine, an idea mooted by the Clown Prince, decided to cease work until their wages were higher than in any other place in the world.

The workers, quite rightly, believed they were solely responsible for bringing the ruler to power and anyway, he did promise them wealth and comfort beyond their wildest dreams should they carry him to power. The workers fought hard and dirty and got the emperor to power and this was payback time.

Much to the shock and surprise of the workers, now refusing to work in support of their demand for their promised rewards, the evil Mine Boss dismissed them, banished them from the mine asigning them to a life of hardship, a life without DSTV and washing machines. The Evil One brought in other workers; workers who promptly and without hesitation took over the meaningless jobs with great proficiency. Imagine the confusion, humiliation and surprise of the Banished, having been chased away like worthless dogs, witnessing the cockroaches that have been begging for jobs day-in and day-out at the mine gates, taking the jobs that rightly belonged to them, the members of the guild of miners, who swept the Emperor to power.

They were understandably upset and appealed to their guild and the Clown Prince and the Emperor to assist them with reinstatement but to no avail, because friends of the Emperor were also friends of the Evil One. When they saw there was no deliverance from the fate delivered upon them, they slinked back to their houses. There they lay about, drank beer frolicked with their wives, when mentioned wives returned from the fields, where they were trying to eke out a living.  However during lonely moments they, the Banished got together and counted there remaining and fast dwindling cash resources with great concern.

And so it came to pass. Whilst they were sitting around drinking beer and bemoaning their financial woes, having realised the money promised by the Emperor for the unemployed was barely enough to buy food, a scary short little man of demonic appearance arrived, as if out of nowhere, in their midst. This little man of much power declared himself to them as the Tokoloshe – master of malevolence

The Tokoloshe, having listened to doleful lamentations, presented them with a plan so evil, it almost froze the blood in the veins of the bravest warriors amongst them, one of them, Funa Pumile, so-called because of his urge to rest often, afterwards swore the HIV viruses in his body instantly died. The Tokoloshe as is his want, did not only give them a plan, his servant, dressed in a splendid blue uniform, not dissimilar to that worn by the Emperors Police, gave them short sticks that fired very small arrows at great force and velocity. One of the banished workers fired a test arrow at the wall of his hut to find his recently born baby as dead as a dodo. Strong muti indeed.

The Tokoloshe also had his personal witchdoctor at hand and he promptly supplied the banished workers with a potion, made from wondrous herbs blended with body parts of the now dead baby using a machine – borrowed from a workers kitchen, they haven’t reached the pawning phase of hardship yet – blessed by Russel Hobbs himself, to give them immense strength and make them impervious to the weapons of their enemies.

After drinking their potion, mixed with copious amounts of alcohol, and smoking lots of magical herbs the banished and rejected workers proceeded to the mine with sticks, dancing and singing, jubilant in the knowledge that they will regain their positions, and more. After all, did the Clown Prince not ask for the seizure of mines by the people? Did the emperor’s councillor on gold, gems and fabulous mineral wealth, not threaten the evil mine owners to fit-in-or-fuck-off? They marched with the knowledge that, as in the past, their ruler expects them to act strongly and take, with necessary force and commensurate trashing, what is rightfully theirs.

Soon after they arrived at the mine, whilst they were singing and dancing, summoning the great spirit of the Machine Gun and focussing their minds, now slightly befuddled by a haze of intoxicating herbs, a few rotund policemen, not dissimilar in appearance to Mr. Plod, good friend of Noddy, arrived and prevented them from approaching the Evil One where he was sitting in his sumptuous office sipping coffee and counting his fortune.

Having recognised friends and allies amongst the police and not wanting to hurt friends, they used tactics taught by the Tokoloshe and some of the Emperor’s advisers many years ago and staged a fake retreat. The police, not seeing any killing opportunities, promptly withdrew, signalling the opportunity for the banished workers to attack and breach the defences.  

And children, that is what they did.

They broke through the barriers of steel and concrete and proceeded underground. There they secured an area and promptly proceeded to, using the skills passed on by guild leaders and Emperor’s advisors, construct pipe bombs using pipes and explosives liberated underground. They secured a comfortable area, not to cold and not to warm, a suitable sleeping place, for those that do not have watch or bomb making duty, where they could dig in so to speak.

Once they secured their control centre they did what they do best underground; they promptly went to sleep, all of them except one, a man by the name of Katalile Minadagiwa, who, due to his inability to participate in logical debate and being a fan of the Clown Prince, having studied every speech ever made by the crown prince, was chosen to negotiate with the Evil Owner.

In the meantime, the police were called back and arrived with the police’s newly trained special forces, flown in by special jet, in tow. Whilst the suitably obese police commissioner shouted instructions, Katalile spoke to The Evil One on the telephone, demanding the presence of the ruler, the Clown Prince or the big cheese of the guild. 

Whilst this hullabaloo was carrying on the task force proceeded underground armed with rifles, grenades flame throwers and all manners of violence perpetrating equipment, to back up their newly acquired licences to kill, proudly displayed on cards contained in a little pouches hanging around there necks. Positively professional, reminding somewhat of the ID tags of conference-delegates, all very smart.

Yes children; they were ready and well prepared to marinate, tenderise and roast their adversaries. The scene was set for an epic battle. A fight to death – a battle for the hart and soul of the economy.

The first bomb was set off by the rebel miners, a policeman was pole axed by shrapnel from the pipe bomb and all hell broke loose. After the lapse of a suitably long period of time to justify the description of ‘epic battle’, surpassing in length and intensity of the well publicised turf wars of the Zama-zamas having produced a sufficient number of wounded on both sides, the begrudged miners were subdued and hauled away to be drawn and quartered by the Emperor’s men, at the behest of the Evil One, who, it was learned, made a sizeable contribution to the “Welfare of the Emperor” fund.

The mine owner subsequently liberated his money and moved it to a far of land with an honest Emperor and peaceful hard working people. There he started a new mine and became immensely rich.

The Clown Prince became bloated and fat, and his head – like a black hole, dark, empty and dense – imploded and he became rather pleasant blabbering incoherently day in and day out in the process, driving the Emperor insane, prompting him to embark on a crusade against fair-weather friends.

The mines in the once great land quietly died and the workers returned to the land where they tried to eke out a living and eventually succumbed to famine and pestilence.

Ed. What a load of non-sense. You certainly have a wild imagination

from Où va la CGT: see here for an interview with migrant worker reps and report on the occupation of the Pompidou centre’s restaurant

A month on strike for 5,000 undocumented workers in the Paris region: a month of mobilising people, strikes, pickets in the cold and in the rain. Their determination is unfailing, even if some are starting to tire.

But there is a problem with the direction of this massive, multi-site strike. Many reps are starting to question the manner in which the CGT union federation is guiding it.

There are no clear perspectives, apart from negotiations whose progress no-one is able to assess. Indeed, we have the very strong feeling that the CGT’s objective is simply to secure a parliamentary bill, such as the one it falsely touted at the end of the 2008 strike, which in fact never existed… For our part, the answer is clear: “parliamentary bill or not, regularisation for all!”.

They refuse to centralise and unite the action, even if only to launch a demonstration as a show of force. For the CGT leadership, apparently, “demonstrations are not struggle”… we have to pinch ourselves, when we remember the days of action following the 2008 strike, when demos were meant to be the last word in collective action! But now that the strikers are spread over 40 sites, there is a need to regroup, show collective strength, or else it will be a class struggle which shies away from unity, shies away from “all together”! The tram line strikers at Porte des Lilas did demonstrate through the district on Saturday 7th, but only because activists from the Solidaires union took the initiative.

Even the reps’ assemblies, which take place under CGT control, have no role in decision making: all decisions are taken by the small CGT committee at the helm of the union. No striking worker is participating in the negotiations, although that would evidently be possible. No consultations have taken place, for example to discuss why the union refused  to receive the Vitry undocumented workers’ collective at a general meeting, even though it is engaged in an appropriate means of action, an occupation in front of the town’s tax office. The strike belongs to undocumented workers, it is for them to lead it, and no-one else!

There has been some mumbling about extending the strike beyond the capital, but nothing put into action: displaying the CGT’s lack of desire for a real generalisation and collective struggle. If the CGT decided to really push the envelope, we would see the well-known steamroller of directives, articles, support, orders etc… to be able to build it, even if only in a few symbolic towns. There is no impulse, no real desire: even militant CGT activists on the ground are lost, not knowing how to engage and waiting for a lead…

More and more questions are being asked, and the discussions at pickets and strike meetings more agitated…for sure they will be discussing it more very soon.

Apart from that, the first strike magazine has now been released, with a large print run. What to say of this? On the one hand it is a tool which can be used to raise awareness of the strike and feed support. Class fighters will not let themselves down selling this magazine – don’t worry, it has nothing really horrific.

But the story that has been re-written here is indeed one designed to restore the image of the CGT (who obviously have directed its publication). Here we find the tale of the supposed late 2008 parliamentary bill, which no-one else has ever seen any trace of: but, you see, given this was used as  a prop to finish off the movement, it still has to be justified.

It also notes the general amnesty by the 1997-2002 left government on various previous anti-immigration measures.

They give a space for the CFDT union to speak, and there’s no real shame in that. It is however odd to see a CFDT confederal representative, from a union which has never done anything, writing about it nonetheless… Even if it would have been useful to have had their formal support, it’s another matter to give them a platform in a strike magazine to justify their inactivity. SUD-Rail had more interesting things to say, for example on the long strike by undocumented workers working in security at St Lazare station. The CGT once again lines up with the meekest variety of trade unionism.

But ultimately the real problem is if no other measure is taken to extend the strike. So if this magazine is here, it allows the growth of the movement and the reinforcement of support: so don’t hesitate to do so!

Israel’s air force launches an attack on what officials say are weapons factory and smuggling tunnels in Gaza…. From BBC News. Full story

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Eighteen people have been killed and 44 others injured in the latest terror attack in Peshawar in North West Pakistan. Three policemen and a lawyer are also among the dead.

Peshawar blast

The blast, a suicide attack, targeted the court on Khyber Road. The bomber blew himself up when he was being frisked at the gate of the judicial complex. The blast on Thursday morning was so powerful that several cars parked nearby were destroyed. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and neighbouring schools were closed down.

Read More…

Furia y guerra de clases en la Columbia Británica

====================================================

Class War Rages On in British Columbia

On Wednesday, August 7th, 2002, the Anti-Poverty Committee (A.P.C.) of Vancouver held a rally, march, and action for “Welfare on Demand” and against the current economic restructuring of neo-”Liberal” government of B.C; an escalation in the war on the poor that has translated to cuts to welfare rates, and a new 3-week-waiting period for new welfare applicants. This is taking place at the same time as massive government and corporate lay-offs, and in the wake of a new 6-dollar “training wage” (2 dollars less than the minimum wage in B.C.).

The excluded class (the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, welfare recipients etc.), the most oppressed sector of society, is facing the most serious and painful consequences of these increasing attacks. In response, there has been an unsurge in self-organization, militant direct actions against the State, and the developement of “base structures” – anti-poverty organizations that struggle to provide the excluded with basic needs through direct intervention, and ultimately, to dismantle this government through campaigns of economic disruption.

The Anti-Poverty Committee’s rally began at the Burrard Street Skytrain station at 1 p.m. with a few speakers, media interviews, and the handing out of legal rights cards with phone contacts in case of arrests. A speaker announced the A.P.C.’s demands, and the crowd of about a hundred people made a short march through the financial district to the regional executive welfare office. Once reaching the office the crowd attempted to push through a line of police to gain entry to the building. A banner was dropped from a balcony by two people who had gained entry prior to the march. Several people managed to gain access to the inside of the building through side-doors and attempted to push open the front entrance doors from inside. This meant that the police had people pushing on the doors from both sides at once. At one point a door was forced open and a scuffle broke out as the crowd continued to try to force their way into the office. One cop used his bike to push the crowd back, but the demonstrators held their ground. Many people put up stickers that called for an end to the 3-week-wait all over the outside of the building . Through negotiating two A.P.C. members were granted a meeting with the office. The crowd rallied outside until they returned, and then dispersed.

A large and diverse group of organizations endorsed the A.P.C.’s demands and their march, including the Hospital Employees Union of B.C., the B.C. Government Employees Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees B.C., the “Prepare the General Strike Committee”, as well as many community groups. While this is a welcome and positive developement, there was a visible lack of rank-and-file union workers at the demonstration, in contrast to the presence they have shown at previous rallies in opposition to the B.C. Liberal government. Several factors may have contributed to this, including the mid-day timing of the demonstration as well as it’s focus on welfare rights, rather than broad opposition to the Liberals policies as a whole. Although grassroots networking efforts by radical and community groups is important, the initiative should fall to the rank-and-file union workers, to show solidarity with the most oppressed sectors of the province. The illusions held by many regarding the trade unions must be broken, and an autonomous movement of rank-and-file workers that fights in true solidarity with the excluded must be developed.

Later on Wednesday night hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered at the beach near downtown Vancouver for a fireworks display that ended with the crowd blocking off major streets downtown, the intervention of police who arrested several members of the crowd, an attempt by the crowd to charge the police line in response, and attacks on vehicles and store-front windows. There are conflicting reports of police using pepper-spray to disperse the people who confronted them. This incident points to the always-present potential for class conflict at all large gatherings of people, particularly ones with an overwhelming and agitational police force. For insurrectionaries, this incident should illuminate other-than-traditional avenues for our own intervention and agitation.

From an insurrectionary viewpoint, the increasing willingness of anti-Liberal demonstrators in B.C. to directly confront the Capitalist State, and its enforcers; the police, is a positive development that should be expanded upon.

From our observation, this increasing militancy has become possible not only because of the deepening of class contradictions under the Liberal governement, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, but also because of the conscious efforts of radicals and militants to move away from symbolic protest and towards intentional conflict and direct action.

The context of the current class war in British Columbia includes -

- An attempt by B.C. Government Employeees Union (B.C.G.E.U.) members to charge into a hotel on January 23rd, 2002, where Premier Gordon Campbell was set to speak.

- Illegal wildcat strikes in late January by the B.C. Teachers Federation (B.C.T.F.) and the B.C.G.E.U.

- A tent-city occupation by street youth and students on the front lawn of the provincial legislature building in Victoria in February which ended with it’s dismantling by riot police

- The fire-bombing of Premier Gordon Campbell’s office on the night of February 21st.

- A B.C Federation of Labour rally at the legislature in Victoria by more than 20,000 people, at which a group of about 10 anarchists intervened by attacking a security barrier and throwing rocks at the legislature building.

- An anti-poverty Snake March in Victoria on March 25th that went through a mall and several corporate stores, leaving splatters from paint-bombs and graffitti behind.

- An anti-poverty march to one of Premier Gordon Campbell’s homes in Vancouver on April 1st.

- An all-womyn anti-poverty brigade’s occupation of a “Member of the Legislative Assembly” office in Victoria on April 25th that was broken up by riot police who pepper-sprayed several demonstrators.

- A May Day demonstration in Vancouver against the 6-dollar training wage that included a half-hour blockade of a McDonalds restaurant (one of the businesses using the training wage, and a major contributor to the Liberal’s election campaign.). After the end of the demonstration a masked group charged through a downtown mall and carried out small acts of vandalism and sabotage.

- A July 14th demonstration at the opening of a gallery show at the Vancouver Art Gallery at which the Premier was scheduled to speak at, but failed to show his face in public – because of “security concerns” caused by hundreds of angry demonstrators who attempted to dismantle a security fence, spat on police officers, and were then pepper-sprayed.

In conclusion, direct action is the only hope for the excluded, the only means available for survival and dignity. Our strategies for moving this struggle forward must focus on three areas -

- Conscious attacks on the institutions of oppression

- Propaganda

- Continuing efforts to organize affinity groups and base structures with explicitly revolutionary goals.

…Until the final victory…

Insurrectionary Anarchists of the Coast Salish Territories (British Columbia, Canada)

Tom petty’s Mary Jane’s Last Dance playing.

its moving fast, a techni-color fast forward.

tiring and mundane is work.. as usual,it cant get any more worse.

reading a Tariq Ali book, Pirates of the Caribbean…had taken a break from reading this, when i caught up with a recent malayalam novel – Francis Itty Cora.  A novel with a refreshing format, it is a classic in its right, i feel.

oh… then today.. as usual through g-reader i stumbled upon..

“Prem Kumar’s demand for higher pay and better food at the cafeteria at the auto-parts factory where he works near New Delhi forced General Motors Co.Ford Motor Co. to shut three plants on the other side of the world. and Ford Motor Co. to shut three plants on the other side of the world.”

that more or less speaks for IndiaInc.

the article says, while there was a 9% increase in food prices , the overall wages rose only by 0.8 percent.

and that answers why human resource officials in 2 companies were mauled and killed by the workers.

and that also explains why 1.5 million workers were involved in 250 strikes in 2008 , all across the nation in the manufacturing front.

there are some comparisons with china, as the norm always is….. they had a 9.9 percent wage growth.. in 2008.

A willing workforce the Chinese are, aint they?  now it seems in orissa and Jharkand Chinese are the ones who are constructing steel factories… 10,000 and more are flocking to eat up all our jobs…

anyways enjoy the read…..

India Food Strike, Fatal Riots Hobble Push to Export Auto Parts

another interesting thing i came across is that, now French football is vying for that lucrative Indian market pie. After Bayern set up a farewell match for Oliver Khan in front of more than 1 lakh crowd at Kolkota and then Maradona’s visit to the city, it  looks like every country which has a decent league is interested in marketing their football in kolkota/India. It seems a Bangalore based firm is in talks with french football authorities about the possibility of  a collaboration and eventually a long term partnership.

Interesting names are being bandied around – Zidane and Aimé Jacquet. While Zidane could help the glamor side of football, it would be nice if Aimé Jacquet  could give some tips to our authorities about football development. He coached French football team to a world cup victory in 1998 and his influence on French football and his ideas which helped french football is best explained here by amy lawrence in guardian. anyway let me not jump the gun.

Saare, now it's our turn! Photo: Rajesh Parambil

The labour and trade unions of Kerala have always been any industrialist’s nightmare come true. Nowhere in India can you come across a labour class which is more aware and willing to fight hard for its ‘avakaashangal’ (rights) than that flourishing in here. Their demands are quite often out of this world, and would surely make even a saint lose his halo. Strange and unheard of labour practices are their stock-in-trade, the worst of which perhaps is the ‘nokkukooli’ or a levy in return for literally watching over some one else doing their job of loading or unloading of goods.

You can find the members of this ’smart working class’ at almost very junction in any city of Kerala. A red (or blue or green or khaki) shirt, depending on their political affiliation is their trade mark; a carelessly wrapped colourful lungi completes their working clothes. Arrogance marks both their walk and talk. Smug in the security of their numbers, they personify the age old principle of co-operation: “One for all, all for one”.

And now, it is the turn of the All Kerala Elephant Workers Union to go on strike. Their demands are heavy – they want their job contracts to be reviewed and wages raised.

Keeping in view the ever-rising prices and cost of living in Kerala, one can hardly blame the guys, but on the other hand, there may be few amongst us who have not witnessed the wanton cruelty meted out to the animals that these men are entrusted with.

No wonder then that over the years, there have been umpteen instances of elephants turning on their ‘paappaans’ (mahouts) from sheer desperation.

Now, as these elephant handlers are all set to stop work (even to the extent of leaving their haples charges chained and hungry), shouldn’t the authorities take this opportunity to make these ‘aanathozilaalis’ (elephant caretakers) accountable for their actions and link their benefits to the proper care of the gentle animals they depend on for their livelihood?

Ports, Water Supply, Petroleum & Electricity gazetted as Essential Services

The Ports, Water Supply, Petroleum and Electricity supply have been gazetted as essential services with effect from midnight Sunday, the government Information Department said.

The move came amidst reports that trade unionist were planning to prolong their union action by going on strike.

On Saturday talks between the CPC unions and Petroleum Resources Minister A.H.M.Fowzie and Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B.Jayasundra failed.

Unions have also claimed that UPFA politician Duminda de Silva had sent his supporters to intimidate CPC workers at Kolonnawa.

අකුරට වැඩට එරෙහිව හදිසි නීතිය එයි

ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා හදිසි නීති රෙගුලාසි යටතේ ඛනිජ තෙල්, විදුලිය, වරාය සහ ජල සම්පාන සේවා අද මධ්‍යම රාති්‍රයේ සිට අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය සේවා බවට පත් කිරීමට යයි. ජනාධිපති අත්සනින් යුත් එම ගැසට් නිවේදනය අද නිකුත් කිරීමට නියමිතය. වැඩි පඩි ඉල්ලා පසුගිය 11 වැනිදා එම අංශවල වෘත්තීය සමිති අකුරට වැඩ කිරීම ආරම්භ කළහ.

Microsoft lays off 5,000 employees; saves $1.5 billion

http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_lays_off_5k_employees_saves_1_5bn

This company is no different from any other. They will do, and should do, what they need to do to survive. They are taking steps that may seem like their best options, initially, but history clearly holds many of these  slash and burn measures as examples of what not to do!

Companies have to find a balance and not tip the scales too far in the wrong direction. The same is true for the employee as well. unfortunately,  I think that neither side will act before it is too late and we will see the divide between have and have not increase! To right the ship unions may need to come to power again. We can only hope, if they do,  that unions will usher in some form of balance to the social disconnect that is happening right now between companies and workers. If not, then we are going to see total chaos maybe even revolution- in our lifetime! But how did we get here, again? Does no one study the past?

Honestly, I think we the people just got lazy and complacent. Unions, back at the turn of the century, forced companies to be decent to workers and forced the change of laws to protect people from being taking advantage of by big business. Out of that the workers gained wage protection, limits to hours in a work day, child labor laws, and eventually social security and Medicare.

Yet, we are now so seemingly far way from all that suffering that our generation does not remember how employers used to force people to work 18 hour days and could pay you whatever they wanted - there was no minimum wage!!! There were children working in sweat shops in this country! People were desperate, poor; many were immigrants or former slaves, and fighting just to live.

It reached a point where the masses (who had become so disenfranchised and the divide between the have and the have not so huge) had no choice but to fight back. They realized that there was more power in their numbers and that they could bring big business to their knees if they banded together and forced change! So they did and Unions were created. But what sparked this push for change at that point? Well the ‘divide’ had started to affect educated people and those who knew how to organize and this is how the masses become empowered and big business should have been on the look out for history repeating.

However, all those strides were made generations ago and the masses have forgotten the lessons of the past. The new mantra became:

We have been easy to trick and distract with reality shows, Twitter, cult movies like Twilight and Harry Potter, Balloon Boy, Child Abductions, Levi and Sarah Palin, Afghanistan, Mid -East Peace, Jon and Kate plus 8, Michael Jackson, Nascar, NFL, Gossip Girl, Tea Parties, Pro Choice, Pro Life, Biggest Loser, Gay Rights, Dancing with the Stars, Hip Hop, Taylor Swift, IPhones and YouTube- just to barely scratch the surface! There is so much violence looped, endlessly, on 100’s of cable channels all designed to play on fears and keep people polarized! That is how you control someone else you scare them!

 We are bombarded with these things, like kitties with yarn, all designed to keep the masses from seeing what Goldman Sachs is doing with our money! Companies kicking up dust to hide how we no longer have pensions! People just starting to roll over and accept that we will be working now until we die and that social security will run out before you or I get a dime! Lobby groups, toxic Government officials, Fake Religious leaders and the basic human instinct to demean others to make oneself better off- have so completely confused the masses with their slight of hand that one woman actually said she would rather struggle with paying for her medical needs (and yes she will probably lose her home) then support a public healthcare option or an increase in her taxes. She looses her home and the Insurance company makes a profit. Makes you just want to slap her and yell “Wake up!”

Big Business has actually convinced people to take action against their own well-being and in favor of companies who have no intention of helping them. WTF is going on! Are we really that stupid and so easily led astray? What are our core beliefs and why does what we say we care about usually end up being the first thing we neglect?

How the hell did we get here? Simple, workers got caught asleep at the wheel- AGAIN! Just sitting around thinking that companies were somehow, out of the goodness of their wallets, willing and able to disregard their need for profit and strive to create a balance where they get a piece of the pie but there is also a fair amount for the workers. Never mind it is human nature to be greedy and hoard.

We were sucked into believing that being united was bad. This is never more evident than in the movement to get American’s to hate the French. Come to find out the French get what they want from their government! Sure their taxes are higher but they don’t have to live in fear of an illness. Turns out they have a lot of  the benefits that we do not including a higher standard of living, are better educated and enjoy more freedom then we do. So, of course people work overtime to keep American’s from paying attention and looking behind the myth that the French life is horrible and see their reality:

France remains a country that will strike at the drop of a hat and in record numbers: http://www.workers.org/2009/world/france_0402/ Their motto is: Every now and then we have to shut things down to remind the government who they work for! That is a kick ass motto!

Americans: well we just believe what we are told. We tuned out and rolled with the punches. For a while things seemed so grand! Some companies, like Apple, Google, Wall Street firms, Major Banks, AIG, Credit Card companies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Microsoft, were making so much money for so long they could do wonderful things for employees and still make billions for upper management. Now you see them starting to lay off the workers in huge numbers (or collapsing altogether). However, their upper management is still not in the poor house! They even have the nerve to complain about making only 20 million dollars a year instead of their usual 50 million! Just to keep this charade of wealth going business cut their costs by laying off people in the lower ranks so they didn’t lose their status on the fortune 500. Business in America!

But Companies have misstepped! We are now feeling the winds of change. The scales are not balanced and more people are bearing the weight of injustice. They say if you don’t know your history you are destined to repeat it. Look around. Now we see laid off intelligent workers, PhD having people (and those fresh from Ivy league schools who cannot find jobs and are saddled with huge school debt!) out of work and getting together. They are finding each other on blogs and in coffee shops. They speak in whispers now but soon they will start to shout. I really believe the next revolution is probably upon us. When people who have nothing to lose find each other -they are the ones who change worlds. Every empire has had their ‘Hey Day” and then has succumbed under the weight of its mistakes. From the Mayans to the Romans to the French Aristocracy!

You can only strip people down so far before they come roaring back. If big business would have learned from their past mistakes and the masses would have kept their eye on the ball then we would all living La Vida Loca!

Soon, it seems, all people are going to be able to do is pick a side and hunker down cause it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

We’ve been struck lately here in the UK with postal strikes, and a friend of mine abroad asked how the Romans would have handled such a thing (thank you, R!). Thinking about the answer, I realized that I had no idea how the Romans dealt with post at all, so I got Googling ( actually mostly Wikipedia-ing) and I discovered the following:

The Romans were, of course, famous road builders. Many roads in Europe now still follow the paths of ancient roads built under the Empire- you can usually tell which ones they are because they tend to be amazingly straight. Having an Empire-wide course of well-built, well-maintained roads designed to keep them from becoming sticky mud tracks had many benefits: facilitating transport of supplies and troops to certain areas, ease of trade and, naturally, ease of communication.

Letters feature prominently in Roman history, as you would expect from a civilization without telephones. Augustus, that wonderful dictator, brought in a system called the cursus publicus, or ‘public track’, which acted as the Empire’s postal service for all its denizens. Presumably before that, post would have been handled by private firms or if you managed to find someone going to the same destination as your letter (this site has some relevant quotations to back this up from the greatest letter-writer of the Roman Republic, Cicero). Parallel to the public system was a sort of courier service, consisting of slaves available for a fee, like FedEx now (without the slaves).

So what about strikes? I don’t think it’s likely that slaves could go on strike without being severely physically punished, so it was probably rare. The public post was apparently run by citizens however, and ancient workers had guilds similar to modern unions, and they did occasionally strike. Despite this, I do not know if postal workers in ancient Rome ever went on strike, or how it was resolved if they did. Sorry to let you down, R! My guess is that there was no “standard approach”- sometimes the guilds won, sometimes they didn’t. I’m hoping that some sort of swift justice was administered, that might give us some precedent…

New image in the lightning storm photoshop contest

Basically taken the lightnings bolt out of the stock image used them in this new image, the bolts are charging this man… …
Lightining strikes photoshop picture

Interview with a communist post worker

How strong was the national post strike?

At a national level I would say the strike was very strong. It is hard to say the whole picture from the one location where I work, but judging by Royal Mail Chat [a web forum] — even if the people on there are more militant than average — there were no signs that it was losing momentum. In London there was perhaps a certain tiredness after eighteen weeks of strike action but not such that it was close to exhaustion. At no time did the union claim that they were calling off the action because they were losing people – Royal Mail management claimed that 25% of people were not on strike, but those were fiddled figures given that in that number they included managers and people on holiday, rest day or sick…

Do you think it would have been possible to mobilise people for more ongoing strikes?

In London we had a long series of one-day strikes, and in the ballot the union never raised the question of an overtime ban. People working overtime did in a sense weaken the effectiveness of the strike, but also it allowed less strong people to make up for losing a day. Certainly, however, I found agreement from others when I suggested that one day a week was not enough to defeat management, and indeed there is the question of what people had already invested in the strike: the amount of days’ pay they lost over the course of the dispute meant that they needed to get something worthwhile from it.

Indeed, towards the end of the dispute the union planned to have two days effectively in a row on strike — a Friday and then the following Monday — which did represent some level of escalation. But that was never put to the test.

What were the motivations behind the deal?

There has been a lot of talk of ‘betrayal’ and ’sell-out’, but if you look at what the union said it wanted to do, it was always to accept modernisation but to negotiate the terms. In the union’s own “realistic” perspectives, the main objective was to get back to negotiation, and they will be happy to do so. Of course, although we were indeed told that that was what we were striking for, that’s not what people really thought it was about: when you’re on strike you naturally want to gain something from it.

The London Divisional reps are perhaps not so happy with what the national strike has done for us, and that is one of the reasons behind the measure in the deal allowing for a review, every two weeks, of the postponement of the strike, dependent on the good faith of Royal Mail in negotiations and them not bossing people about too much at work. London reps might have been unhappy with the deal otherwise, and indeed the interim deal was not released to them in advance, only the section referring to the review. When we went back to work on the Friday that was the one thing they could tell us – they said whatever we’d seen in the media the strike was not over and the ballot is still live.

However I would be sceptical of there being any further  strikes before Christmas, management will seek to avoid too much provocation and it would be a big loss of face for Dave Ward [CWU deputy general secretary] to announce a deal then take us out on strike again. I think the review element is to make themselves feel better about it, but the deal looks bad because Royal Mail were not defeated: right until the end they were very aggressive, calling on us to scab and publishing an open letter claiming the union couldn’t say what the strike was about. That reflected the reality that it was vague, on the terrain of ‘what kind of modernisation?’ rather than standing up for members’ terms and conditions.

Could it be said that the deal is a success in that the union has gained a stay of execution from a management determined to break it?

That’s a hard one to tell. The union often portrayed this strike as management out to force the union out of the workplace rather than just forcing it to accept different terms and conditions, and they wanted to preserve the requirement that management should have to discuss any changes with the union. There’s two ways to look at it: this could be sold as a compromise, even if management might have got all they wanted to get anyway, but in a certain sense the union has succeeded. It remains to be seen what comes from the talks.

How do you perceive workers’ level of satisfaction with the deal, and what is the likely consequence of that?

There is a great deal of dissatisfaction, expressed on Royal Mail Chat and the office where I work, but the real question is whether this is just anger or whether anything will come of it. As I say, negotiations are what the union had said they were fighting for, and there does not seem to be any push from the lower levels of the union itself, nor the union at local level, to continue with unofficial actions. The advantage for the leadership is that they can get reports in from across the country and gauge the level of support for continuing action — we cannot be sure how they use that information, but given they have that kind of overview it would be quite a daring move to be seen to go beyond the union in that way and I do not see any moves in that direction. One way in which anger expresses itself is that some people said that, after the 2007 strike, if the same thing happened again this time then they would leave the union. But leaving is only a very individualistic way of reacting to the outcome.

The left often talks of the need for the rank and file to take control of the strike: but to what extent does a rank and file versus bureaucracy dynamic really exist?

Firstly there is the question of what you mean by rank-and-file, since it could just mean the lower levels of the union and the shop stewards, or else the ‘ordinary’ workers, among whom there are also different layers of militancy and involvement in the union. There are also stronger areas, including London. But what you don’t see at the moment is any rank-and-file which is properly constituted as such and calls itself that.

In the past there has been discontent at right-wing leaderships but even when that did exist it did not show itself at the level of a rank-and-file movement. There have been unofficial strikes and criticism of right-wing leaders, including those who start off on the left, and their displacement, but this then leads to the election of another left leader, and the same process repeats itself again…

Are further strikes likely after Christmas, and will Royal Mail attacks continue?

There will be further attacks by Royal Mail, as they have already said they are going to do, but the question is whether the union can come to an agreement with it over those attacks and its own role. For sure, having organised and then called off a national strike, the union will be humiliated if it has to admit that its strategy failed and we have to go back to strike action again — people will ask, ‘what the fuck did they call it off for?’

Also, the outcome of the dispute is not seen as a defeat by the membership, and that is perhaps something Royal Mail need to carry out their plans. It depends on what level of modernisation they really need: if they’re out to smash both our legs and only get one, they may be content with that.

There is also the matter of the next government in 2010, with the Conservatives giving every indication that it is their intention to privatise Royal Mail entirely. The demands of capital to casualise and sell off the service may be to such an extent that the union has no choice but to react and preserve itself and then we will see further strikes: even if at the current time from the workers’ point of view we can say the union is failing to adopt the right strategy to defend jobs and the service, from the union’s perspective it also makes sense to do what it can to defend itself.

by Sheila Cohen, NUJ Book Branch

Rulers are often more afraid of the political implications of worker activity than workers are aware of them. To take an extreme example, when the police went on strike in 1919 Lloyd George famously intoned, “The country was nearer to Bolshevism that day than any time since”. How many of the high-helmeted bobbies packing Whitehall would have seen it like that?

So, coming down to earth a bit, when the Financial Times once again evokes that tired old phrase “Winter of Discontent”, perhaps we should take it seriously.

In fact, the headline was “Union discontent set to rise this winter” (26th October, p.2), but the implication is obvious; strike incidence has risen enough to attract notice despite the FT’s realistic conclusion that “…even if the postal strikes continue, the national annual tally of [strike days] is likely to remain far below the levels of the 1980s and earlier.”

As we now know, the postal strikes are not, for the time being at least, “continuing” — to the fury of many postal workers. But the FT also includes in its list BA cabin crew, FirstGroup train drivers, Swissport baggage handlers and London underground staff. While the Leeds refuse and street cleaning workers, now in the tenth week of their all-out, cross-union strike, are also included, the FT notes that most groups now in dispute “are in the communications and transport sector.” This, and indeed the Leeds action, undermines the  “manufacturing versus service” argument which focusses on the decline of the allegedly more powerful manufacturing sector — though manufacturing and other manual workers certainly played their part in the three major outbreaks of industrial unrest earlier this year (Visteon, Vestas and engineering construction).

So are we at the dawn of an upsurge? It seems unlikely. But if we look back almost one hundred years ago to the day, i.e. the turn of the year 1909-10, things were hotting up in Britain after a long period of weakness and membership loss in the trade union movement very similar to our own long-lasting malaise. As one history recounts, “Trade union membership grew only very slowly in the 1890s and 1900s, and [there was] a marked reduction in worker successes during strikes…From the 1890s there was a clear trend amongst the…unions to accept institutionalised collective bargaining with employers…and to oppose militant direct action…”

Sound familiar? But look at what comes next: “As the economy improved after the deep 1908-9 depression workers increasingly took unofficial action…” . And then, of course, along came the explosion of militancy which has been labelled the “Great Unrest” of 1910-1914. While no one is saying that the current recession is anything like over, the issues which prompted workers into action in the pre-Great Unrest period were very similar to those confronting workers today — acute labour intensification, wage freezes or reductions, and in general an employer agenda of almost sadistic aggression.

Thus, in a syndrome sometimes despised by the intellectual left, workers were forced into struggle by the actions of employers, rather than forming any kind of conscious “political” agenda of resistance. The now-postponed postal strike is an example of this. Faced with an employer agenda of low and static pay, literally heavier workloads, unilateral breakage of agreements and massive bullying and intimidation, postal workers in some areas pre-empted the national strike with a series of guerrilla actions born out of anger and despair at the actions of management. As one rep put it, “There’s a war going on…We’re in a war with Royal Mail.”

>>> (continues on page 3)

new (mini) upsurge: are we ready?

>>> continued from page 1

But it isn’t, of course, just the postal workers. At the time of writing this, new examples of workplace-based conflict seem to be coming in droves. The nine-week strike by bin workers in Leeds over “single status” has just been mirrored by their workmates in Brighton with all-out action sparked by the prospect of pay cuts of up to £8,000 per worker under the loony logic of, um, equal pay. Their branch secretary commented, “I’ve never seen such a solid group of workers.” Fujitsu workers — high-tech professionals who aren’t supposed to do things like taking strike action — will be walking out this week (12th, 13th and 16th November) after an overwhelming vote for industrial action over the company’s announcement of a pay freeze, 1,200 redundancies and the closure of a final salary pension scheme to new staff. A comrade from the NUJ emails us about “a strike you may not have heard about” — workers at a huge Superdrug warehouse close to the now defunct Frickley Colliery in West Yorkshire came out on indefinite strike on 4th November  against the company’s imposition of drastic changes to pay and working conditions including the abolition of shift payments,  changes to shift patterns without notice, lowered pension entitlement and reduced sick pay. Also from the NUJ comes news of a wave of disputes in the Sheffield area signalled by a cartoon in the local paper headed — you’ve guessed it — “Looks like we’re in for an early Winter of Discontent this year!” The cartoon figures are surrounded by snowballs bearing the words “Strike”.

The Evening Standard of 2nd November reported the British Airways dispute in terms of “a revolt of middle England” in which workers at a mass meeting spoke of their “anger and frustration” at management’s imposition of new contracts on top of thousands of job cuts and a pay freeze. The paper quotes a worker as saying “We are not militant trade unionists looking for a confrontation…” On the news the same night, airline workers complained that the company “just would not listen” — “They’ll impose this on you, and you accept it, and they’ll just do the same and the same…” “This is a fundamental fight.” A week later, a strike by East London bus workers over a pay freeze was also on the news — covered not sympathetically (surprise), but the workers were given a 30-second spot in which they said, as so many have before them: “It’s come to a point where we’ve got to make a stand — enough is enough.” And — stop press — teachers in an East London school have just gone on strike against the proposal to turn it into a “Trust”, while First Capital Connect train drivers who were refusing to carry out Sunday overtime on reduced rates have now extended their action to weekdays.

“The company was the union’s best organiser”

What to make of it all? The main point about this spate of disputes is that, although nothing new in itself, it speaks yet again to the unfailing power of capital to mobilise workers and of workers to demonstrate  over and over again the “old-fashioned” virtues of solidarity, self-activity, direct democracy and just sheer class resistance. In other words, it represents — yet again — a reiteration of the truths that we as socialists hold self-evident: that yes, there are such things as class, class struggle and working-class potential to challenge and, in some cases, seriously worry our apparently omnipotent rulers.

Enough said? No, not quite. If “we” — i.e., the left in some form — continue with business as usual, viz each group selling its papers and waving its own particular banners on the picket line, things won’t change. As a postal worker rep said to me recently when asked for his views on political action: “In 2007 we had all the little groups round here selling their papers. Two years later we’ve got the same little groups selling their papers.” He was not impressed.

Is there another way? Yes, as shown in historical examples good, bad and frustrating. The Great Unrest, as readers will know, was followed by the splendid might of the First World War Shop Stewards’ Movement, which displayed some of the most magnificent examples of solidarity and sheer cross-working-class power yet seen under capitalism. Why didn’t it lead to a British revolution, despite the ruling class shaking in its boots at the threat? Lack of unity was one reason, an over-developed trust in trade union leaderships another. Fast-forward to the last major upsurge in Britain, 1968-74. There were two relatively “non-sectarian” attempts to consolidate and unite working-class struggle: the Liaison Committee for the Defence of the Trade Unions (LCDTU), run by the Communist Party, and the International Socialists’ Rank-and-File Movement. Both collapsed, or at least faded away – the LCDTU because the CP decided that chasing after the coat-tails of left-wing MPs and trade union leaders was more important than mobilising the rank and file, and the IS initiative because its leadership wanted to turn the “group” into a Party.

These crude assessments will probably be challenged, though believe me there’s evidence for them. But what about now? This is only a “mini-upsurge”, but the same truths remain. We desperately need, in this country, a non-sectarian network which can link activists together without an agenda of joining this or that — simply one of building on the existing strength of workers in the workplace, the existing level of anger and revolt amongst strikers and activists, rather than waving manifestos and preaching Party programmes. The working class has enormous potential to build towards socialism on the basis of its own experience. That potential has very rarely been acknowledged or welcomed by the left. The Leninists among us can take comfort in the thought that Lenin himself was one of the strongest advocates of simply learning from what workers can tell us.

Where to go with all this? Well, we should count ourselves lucky — there is an organisation potentially of that nature existing in Britain today. It’s called the National Shop Stewards’ Network. The NSSN could begin this task now — the task of building a cross-movement network of activists. After all, there’s the material to build on. The most recent research shows that the number of shop stewards, though much reduced, can still be estimated at around 200,000. Even if only one per cent of these existing activists were brought together to build a network based on the simple principles of cross-sectoral organisation and workplace trade union democracy, it would be more than a start — the potential would be enormous. This time, let’s be ready for the next upsurge with a leadership rooted and built within the trade union movement rather than brought in from outside, embodied in a working-class network based on explicit principles of independence from management propaganda and direct trade union democracy which would be more than equal to combat the diversions and confusions undermining the potential of previous groundswells of working-class struggle.

« For more information on the NSSN, see their website at www.shopstewards.net.