Mumbai Conference against war, exploitation and precarious labour [11-18 to 11-20]

[ckaihatsu]

InfoInter

Newsletter preparing the Mumbai (India) Conference against war, exploitation and precarious labour

November, 18 to 20, 2016

Contact address: [email protected]

No. 9 September 15th 2016


BELARUS

“Denounce the IMF and those who are really responsible for the crisis”

Yuri Glushakov, independent candidate (1) in the legislative elections in Gomel (Belarus) and delegate to the Mumbai conference

Yuri, you are an independent candidate in the legislative elections in Gomel (Belarus).

In your campaign, you denounced the privatizations and the pressure that the IMF exerts on the government. Why?

After the restoration of capitalism, the authoritarian bourgeois regime deprived the workers of the possibility of deciding freely; elections are often falsified. So taking part in these elections is first of all a means of propaganda for our socialist ideas. It is not a dogmatic way to do so, but one that is understandable for the workers, in spite of the liberal propaganda. But we are fighting to win! Denouncing the IMF and those who are really responsible for the serious economic crisis that is also hitting Belarus is indispensible. The neoliberals are claiming that it is the “Soviet heritage” – which they say has been maintained intact here in Belarus – that is the cause. Yet Belarus has been committed to capitalism for a long time now. The unprecedented measures increasing rents, extending the age of retirement, freezing wages and retirement pensions are all the result of the IMF demands, which the power in place has implemented because it needs more loans. Thus it was our duty to reveal the real reasons for their impoverishment to the workers - because no one talks about that. In the name of “national unity” and the fight against the autocratic regime of Alexander Lukashenko, the so-called parties of the “left” have rallied to the capitalist economic programme of their liberal and conservative allies, i.e. the enemies of the working class. In order to impose the deregulating and the liquidating of social gains, capital uses two vehicles: not only the president and his advisors but also the opposition of the right and the NGOs that it handsomely financed.

You will be the Belarus delegate to the Mumbai conference “Against war and exploitation, against exploitation and precarious employment”. Does this have any meaning for the workers of the ex-Soviet Union?

The Mumbai conference is of major importance for the workers of the ex-Soviet Union. In the conditions of a State which, although being a Soviet State, was deformed, they were confronted with serious problems. But they only learned what real exploitation was after the capitalist restoration in the 1980s and 1990s. And at the same time as exploitation came, so did war. The clans of the bureaucracy and the oligarchy, in the different Republics, engaged in a fight to the death for the pillaging of property, including by military means. The conflicts between nationalities and wars have been provoked by western imperialism and by certain of the reactionary regimes of the Middle East. The return to the domination of the bourgeoisie in ex-USSR took us decades backwards. Just to give one example: the average purchasing power of a Belarus worker today has fallen back to its 1947 level, i.e. two years after the end of the Second World War. The cliques that are currently in power have concentrated their energy in the frenzy of nationalism. The Ukrainian tragedy, which has destabilized the whole region, has shown the danger of these neo-fascist and nationalist groups, backed by the oligarchies of NATO. Co-ordinating our labour struggles, sharing our experiences and narrowly reinforcing the links between all the national sections of the global working class is more necessary than ever.

(1) One thousand citizens of the town signed an official form enabling him to stand in the elections.


ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE MUMBAI CONFERENCE .

MARCH 9, 2016 .

AFGHANISTAN
Nasir Loyand, Left Radical of Afghanistan.

BRAZIL
Claúdio Ribeiro, labour lawyer, former trade unionist in the Bank sector and founding member of the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil.

BURUNDI
Paul Nkunzimana, Workers Party for Democracy (Parti des travailleurs et de la démocratie - PTD).

FRANCE
Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary of the Democratic independent workers Party (POID).
Bernard Saas, trade unionist.

GREAT-BRITAIN
Ian Hodson National President BFAWU ( Bakers Food Allied Workers Union )

INDIA
Nambiath Vasudevan/Franklyn D’Souza, Joint Convenors, Trade Union Solidarity Committee (TUSC), Mumbai.
M. A. Patil, President;
SarvaShramikSangh, President; New Trade Union Initiative, Maharashtra State, Mumbai.
Milind Ranade, General Secretary
KachraVahatuk-ShramikSangh (KVSS), Mumbai.

PAKISTAN
Rubina Jamil, All Pakistan trade union federation APTUF.

RUSSIA
Mark Vassilev, historian and activist.

USA
Alan Benjamin, executive committee member,
San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
Baldemar Velasquez, President, Farm Labor
Organizing Committee FLOC (AFL-CIO).
Nancy Wohlforth*, OPEIU, Secretary treasurer Emerita.
*For id. only.


MAURITIUS

Campaign against Diego Garcia US military base

The Mumbai Conference is taking place at a crucial moment when the question of the struggle against war and against military Bases is on right on the agenda all over the world. For Lalit (a Mauritian political organization professing socialism), December 2016 marks the end of the 50-year illegal lease by the UK of Diego Garcia to the US for its massive Indian Ocean military base. Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos Archipelago, which is part of Mauritius that the British against all international law and against the Charter of the UN, excised and kept as an illegal “condition” for granting Independence.

The Mauritian State has finally, after nearly 50 years of struggle to force it to do so, begun the process of putting a case before the International Court of Justice at the Hague, by way of a resolution at the General Assembly of the UN, which meets from mid-September. It is Item 88 on the Provisional Agenda.

So, what has for 50 years been a “secret site” from which B 52s have taken off to bomb civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, at which the Pelindaba Treaty for a Nuclear Arms Free Africa is flaunted on a daily basis, and on which illegally detained prisoners were held, tortured and “rendered”, Diego Garcia is suddenly being exposed to public scrutiny

It is at this time that we in Lalit will be holding our International Action Conference on 1 and 2 October. And it is now, at this time, that we are calling for support from you. [...]

What happened is that in 1965, Britain literally “stole” the Chagos Archipelago in order to sub-let part of it, Diego Garcia, to the power that is literally the “receiver of stolen goods”, the USA for the purposes of its planned secretive military base.

Families were cruelly divided.

There were Mauritians living there, Mauritius being a State made up of many Islands. They had been living there from at least 1814, working on coconut plantations, living their lives, generation after generation, coming to the main island for medical treatment or for buying goods. The UK and USA state apparatus secretly removed all the inhabitants from there, first denying them return ship tickets from 1963 onwards when they visited Mauritius main island, then forcibly removing them. Families were thus cruelly divided.

The final shipload were transported, like slaves in the hold of a ship called the Nordvaer. That was in 1973. The base was already being constructed on Diego Garcia. [...]

This history of struggle began in resistance on Chagos, and then in people’s refusal to disembark from the Nordvaer. Since then there has been continuous struggle. Petitions, marches, hunger strikes, candle-light vigils, forums, street demonstrations by Chagossian and Lalit women, sit-ins on the public roads, arrests of Lalit and Chagossian women. We joined and became part of the leading team in the NO BASES movement. [...]

Now, finally the Mauritians State is acting. And the British State is in a corner. The lease to the US for the military base ends in December. But the Mauritian State had put in (under pressure from mainly LALIT for it to act) a case against the British State under the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for its illegal declaration of a Marine Protected Area around Chagos, and won the case. In the judgment, which is binding, it was declared that Britain can do nothing without consulting Mauritius. So, how does the UK re-new its illegal lease with the USA? Especially if we can get everyone to know about it?

The UK and USA were horrified

At the same time – and this is dangerous – the UK state seems on the verge of granting the right to return for some Chagossians, on the condition that they accept continued colonization as subjects of BIOT, the British Indian Ocean Territory – the illegal colony set up in 1965. [...]

The Mauritian Prime Minister elected in December 2014, Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, is finally doing what Lalit has been formally demanding in all our struggles since 1985: fed up with being strung along by the British State, he is finally going to the UN General Assembly for a Resolution to put a case for an Advisory Opinion before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

The UK and USA were horrified. In June 2016, they said in a rare joint UK-USA communiqué: “Referral of this matter to the International Court of Justice would cause lasting damage to Mauritius’ bilateral relations with both the UK and the USA.” [...]

On 28 August, in the main bourgeois Sunday paper, the editorial calls on the Mauritian State to give a delay of 6 months (time for the illegal leasebetween the UK and US to be renewed on the quiet before the end of 2016?) and then to wait for “a dignified and sincere offer”, as they put it in the editorial. For this, read: some commercial advantage for the Mauritian bourgeoisie. [...]

In the context of the Mumbai Conference, we are making an appeal to you to support our campaign

In the context of the Mumbai Conference, we are making an appeal to you to support our campaign by:

1 - Writing us a letter of support in the coming days: [email protected] for our Conference on 1 and 2 October. Its theme is (sorry it is a bit long):

“50 years of destruction by the UK and USA on Diego Garcia & 50 years of resistance against this destruction. For the de-colonization and re-unification of Mauritius via a UN Resolution and a case before the International Court of Justice! After resistance leading to base-closures in Philippines and Equador, in Italy and Vieques, let’s get the Diego Garcia base closed down.

What social forces will bring this victory? Working people of Mauritius including Chagossians, working people of the UK and USA, people world-wide who are against war and militarism, states signatory to the Pelindaba Treaty for a Nuclear-Arms-Free Africa, States in favour of complete decolonization.”

2. Write to your President or Prime Minister (copy to us) calling on him to support the UN General Assembly Resolution proposed by the Mauritian State to take the issue of Chago and Diego Garcia to the ICJ. Your letter could read something like: “We call on you to support Mauritius’ UN General Assembly Resolution that the sovereignty dispute between Mauritius and Britain be considered by the ICJ. We also call on you to, in turn, call for the US and UK to withdraw from their illegal occupation of Chagos, including Diego Garcia.”

3. Include the Diego Garcia base closure in your anti-militarist struggles; re-publish this article in your publication or on your website. And let us know.

For details, please visit our web-site www.lalitmauritius.org You can use the search engine on our Home Page, using first “Chagos” and then “Diego Garcia” as keywords.

=> If you wish to receive more information, if you wish to get in touch, please send your contact details to : [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Sign-On Letter: We Support the Students' Strike in South Africa (Azania)!


SIGN-ON LETTER
We Support the Students' Strike in South Africa (Azania)!

In South Africa (Azania), thousands of university students are on strike around a key demand: "Fees Must Fall!"

Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande -- who is also General Secretary of the South Africa Communist Party (SACP) -- announced an 8% increase of fees for next year, fees amounting to between US$2,000 and $4,000 a year. The SACP is part of the ruling Tripartite Alliance, together with the ANC and the COSATU trade union federation.

In South Africa, 20 years after the fall of the racist regime of Apartheid, 70% of Black youth are unemployed, while 70% of the land is still in the hands of rich white landlords. The "left wing" government that ordered the shooting of striking miners in Marikana in August 2012 is now ordering to shoot upon students.

On September 28, police shot with rubber bullets and stun grenades on striking students on the campuses of Johannesburg and Grahamstown (Eastern Cape). But students continue to mobilize, as they remember that last year, by their own mobilizations, they won the repeal of announced fee increases.

Mandla Phangwa, a young activist in South Africa, told us: "Such an anti-youth and anti-Black working class attitude seems to mirror the policies of the previous regime under the white National Party, which in a nutshell explains why the ANC is careless about the struggle for Free education, given that such a struggle is in opposition to its policies driven by profits and the exploitation of the Black working class majority." [See interview with Mandla Phangwa below.]

Students in South Africa are fighting against the privatization of the universities, just as students and university workers across the United States are fighting against the privatization of public education. In San Francisco, students and faculty at City College of San Francisco (led by AFT 2121) are fighting for free tuition. In fact a ballot proposition (Prop W) calls on the city to tax the rich to pay for free education at CCSF.

Together with our young activist comrades in South Africa, and with workers and youth from all over the world, we support sending a South African youth activist engaged in this struggle to the World Conference Against War, Exploitation and Precarious Labour that will take place in Mumbai (India) on November 18-20, 2016.

We endorse this statement and pledge a contribution to the travel fund to Mumbai for a South African youth activist.

[Please fill out the coupon below and return it to us asap to [email protected]. Contributions, large or small, should be sent to The Organizer newspaper at PO Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.]

* * * * * * * * * *

SIGN-ON COUPON

[ ] Please add my name to the sign-on statement

[ ] I pledge $ _____ toward the Travel Fund for a South African (Azanian) youth to the Mumbai Conference

NAME:

CITY:

EMAIL:

(Fill out and return this coupon to [email protected]. Send your financial contribution to The Organizer, PO Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.]


* * * * * * * * * *


INTERVIEW:
"Fees Must Fall!"
Interview with Mandla Phangwa, a young activist in South Africa (Azania) and delegate to the Mumbai Conference Against War, Exploitation and Precarious Labour (18-20 November 2016). The interview is reprinted from InfoInter No. 11 (Sept. 30, 2016).

Question: A new wave of student demonstrations involving mostly Black youth has swept South Africa (Azania) against the increase in university fees. What is the meaning of this movement that is standing up to fight the ANC government?
Mandla Phangwa: ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe just declared: "I'm not the minister of education. Because if I were, my first reaction would be to close the universities for 6 months. And open them after six months, and close the residences for six months. After a year, people would know that higher education is important to their future. You are not doing anyone a favour by studying."

That is the point of view of the party in power regarding the students' fight against the increasing cost of education. Such an anti-youth and anti-Black working class attitude seems to mirror the policies of the previous regime under the white National Party [the racist, Apartheid, regime -- Editor's Note], which in a nutshell explains why the ANC is careless about the struggle for Free education, given that such a struggle is in opposition to its policies, which are driven by profits and the exploitation of the Black working class majority.
At the same time, the divisions within the Tripartite Alliance[1] continue to widen between President Jacob Zuma and Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande. President Zuma pulled a populist stunt by instructing both the Treasury and Higher Education departments to find the money that must fund the provisions for a 0% increase in university costs for the year 2016-2017. On the other hand, the Minister of Higher Education has announced a staggering 8% increase in university costs, which has sparked protests in the universities.

Question: Black students are up against the Minister of Higher Education, Black Nzimande, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party (SACP), which is a member of the coalition in power: the ruling Tripartite Alliance. But the Communist Party is in crisis. . . .

Mandla Phangwa: The Tripartite Alliance in power is on the verge of imploding. On the one hand, the leaderships of the SACP and the COSATU trade union federation have promised to back the General Secretary of the SACP -- Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education -- who announced the increase in university costs. And on the other hand, there is a confusing situation inside the Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) over the question: Should we defend the General secretary of the SACP, or should we defend the demands of the students? This crisis has exposed the cracks in the Stalinist bureaucracy that has been running the SACP and has led to class collaboration with the henchmen of imperialism.

Question: A delegation sent by young people and workers in Azania will be attending the Mumbai Conference Against War, Exploitation and Precarious Labour. What is the relevance of "against war and exploitation" in Azania?

Mandla Phangwa: This slogan is fully relevant to the youth and student movements in Azania as it echoes #Fees Must Fall. For university workers who are subjected to extreme exploitation with meagre wages and unsafe working conditions, this slogan echoes theirs: "Out-sourcing must fall.
"Against War and exploitation" also speaks to the unemployed youth of Azania, who, through desperation, find themselves being subjected to precarious labour as a refuge against poverty. We also understand that South Africa is much involved in imperialist wars and troop deployment in the neighbouring countries, and it is the same youth who are recruited to the Army to represent imperialist interests in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Mali, where such deployments result not only in the escalation of crises in those countries but also have an agonising impact on the working class and the youth there.

The slogan also speaks to the efforts we have been making as Trotskyist youth activists in trying to call for a united front which must put at the centre the solidarity amongst the youth, workers and the students' movements towards a real fight for a Black Workers Republic of Azania.

- - - - -

[1] This is the governmental alliance made up by the ANC, the Communist Party (SACP) and the leadership of the COSATU trade union federation.

[ckaihatsu]

[OWC-2016] Request for financial help for delegates to Mumbai Open World Conference (Nov. 18-20, 2016)


Dear Readers of The Organizer,

As you have all been able to read in the weekly InfoInter bulletins, the Mumbai (India) conference is shaping up to be an extremely important gathering of unionists and activists from all continents fighting against imperialist wars, exploitation and precarious labor.

At this time five delegates will be traveling from the United States to the Mumbai conference:

* Chris Silvera, president of a large Teamsters local in Long Island City, NY and past president of the Teamsters National Black Caucus;

* Colia Clark, renowned civil rights activist:

* Koli Liana Elon Lindsay, a 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist in New York and singer/songwriter;
* Berthony Dupont, editor of the New York-based Haiti Liberté weekly newspaper (who is actually representing the fighting resistance movement in Haiti in Mumbai); and

* me, representing The Organizer newspaper.

(We are also hoping that others from the U.S. labor and/or antiwar movements will be able to attend.)

We have been able to raise the funds needed to purchase the plane tickets for four of the five delegates mentioned above; we are still $400 short on the travel fund for Koli Liana. But we still need to raise an additional $600 to cover the visa, registration and lodging expenses for two of the delegates.

Also, we would like to make a $400 contribution toward the Mumbai travel expenses of the two delegates from Mexico, as well as a $600 contribution toward the travel fund for the three youth delegates from South Africa (Azania).

So, we are reaching out to all our readers and supporters with a request that you please make a financial contribution, large or small, toward this $2,000 Mumbai Travel Fund. With your help, we know we can make our goal. Please fill out the coupon below to let us know that your check is in the mail. (Your check should be made payable to The Organizer and sent to P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.)

Thanks, in advance, for your help.

Comradely,
Alan Benjamin,
For the Editorial Board of
The Organizer Newspaper

* * * * * * * * * *
COUPON FOR MUMBAI TRAVEL FUND
[ ] I pledge the amount of $ ____ toward the $2,000 Mumbai Travel Fund. I will make the check payable to The Organizer and send it to P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.

NAME

CITY

STATE

EMAIL
(fill out coupon and send to [email protected])

[ckaihatsu]

OWC2016 : Mumbai's Manifesto/Manifeste de Mumbai

OWC2016 <[email protected]>


Dear friend,

Please, find in attachment the Mumbai’s Manifesto against War, exploitation and precarious labour, launching the International workers’ committee against war and exploitation, for the workers’ International.

Cher(e) ami(e),

Veuillez trouver ci- joint le Manifeste de Mumbai contre la guerre et l’exploitation et le travail précaire ; constituant le Comité ouvrier international contre la guerre et l’exploitation, pour l’Internationale ouvrière.

================================================== ===============================
I endorse the Mumbai Manifesto/ Je m’associe au Manifeste de Mumbai

□ In a personal capacity/ A titre personnel

□ On behalf of my organization/ Au nom de mon organisation

Name, surname/Nom, Prénom

Organisation

Country/Pays

Tel

E-mail



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