Posts Tagged ‘labor’

Iran: Labor organizations’ Joint Resolution for International Workers’ Day

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Joint resolution for International Workers’ Day (Labor organizations of Iran)

Written by Saeed Valadbaygi Editor’s Choice, Videos, Workers’ Rights Apr 27, 2010

Link to the video at http://www.astreetjournalist.com/2010/04/27/joint-resolution-for-international-workers-day-labor-organizations-of-iran-2/

May 1st is the day of international solidarity of the working class and a day for laborers to protest global poverty and inequality. On this day millions of workers around the world stop working, to conquer the streets and show their anger and disgust with the announcement of the numerous disasters that capitalism has inflicted on humanity, and scream for liberation from oppression and exploitation.

Resounding protest against the hardship of capitalism and inequality of workers will be heard all around the world on May 1st while prohibition of celebration of this day in Iran is in effect, and many organizing workers of the May 1388/2009 event have been convicted  and imprisoned and subjected to heavy sentences. Labor leaders and activists and are languishing in prison for defending their basic human rights.

Imposing such appalling lack of social rights for workers in conditions that in three decades of a capitalist system in Iran after the 1957 (1979) revolution, has reduced the minimum wage to a quarter below the poverty line and lack of timely payment of these wages and the firing of masses of workers, temporary contracts, have imposed hellish conditions on millions of workers families. Today more than ever to ensure the profitability of capital, factories are closed and subsidies cut in determination to cut the last threads of survival for millions of worker families and pour them into the pockets of investors.

But as we workers showed in the 1957 revolution as well as in recent years, we will not tolerate this misery and despite prison and repression will stand ahead with the people against violation of our most basic human rights and will not allow them to ruin our existence more. We are the main producers of all wealth and products in society and are entitled to human life in accordance with the highest standards of human life today.

In this context we also protest against circumstances since last Labor Day , since the masses in Iran have been exposed to suppression of their rights. We make the following demands and with immediate effect:

1 – We are free to act – independent of the government and our employers -to strike, protest, march, assemble and speak freely. This is our right and must be unconditional in recognition of the social rights of workers and the people of Iran.

2 – We see the plan to cut subsidies (by targeted subsidies) and the minimum wage of 303 Tomans as a gradual imposition of death of millions of working class families and demand immediate suspension of plans to cut subsidies and increase the minimum wage to one million Tomans.

3 – Workers wages in arrears are to be paid immediately and with no excuses. Non-payment should be prosecuted as a crime and damages caused to the workers must be paid for.

4 – The Dismissal of Workers by any excuse must be stopped and those who are unemployed or have attained the age of employment and are prepared to work must be given suitable unemployment insurance until employed.

5 – We want to eliminate temporary contracts and the signing of blank contracts and demand employment security for all workers and wage recipients in accordance with the highest standards of health and safety. We ask for the elimination of state governed environments from all facilities.

6 – We demand the eradication of the death penalty and the immediate and unconditional release of Ebrahim Madadi, Mansour Osanloo, Ali Nejati and all labor activists and other social movements and protestors from prison and a stop to the persecution against them.

7 – We condemn any aggression towards protest against violation of our rights and view this type of freedom expression as an irredeemable right of the public.

8 – We want to eradicate all laws that are discriminatory to women and to ensure full equality and the unconditional rights of women and men in all areas of social, economic, political, cultural and family life.

9 – We want all pensioners to enjoy a prosperous life without economic concern and to eliminate any discrimination in the payment of retirement pensions and benefits from their social security and health care.

10 – Child labor must be eradicated and all children must be entitled to educational facilities, health and welfare, independent of gender and race, religion, or social and economic status of their parents.

11 – We hereby announce our support for all liberal social movements, and strongly condemn arrest, trial and imprisonment of activists of any movement.

12 – We also announced strong support for the demands of teachers, nurses and other working classes of society and united with them, want to achieve their immediate demands

13 – We are part of the world’s workers and strongly condemn the dismissal and imposition of any discrimination of Afghan migrant workers and other nationalities.

14 – We appreciate all the support from international workers in and strongly support the protests and demands of workers worldwide and are united with them more than ever with emphasis on international solidarity of workers to escape the capitalist system.

15 – May 1st must be declared an official holiday in the country and included in the official calendar and any restrictions regarding recognition of the anniversary of this day will be abolished.

Long Live May 1st

Long live the international solidarity of workers

May 1, 2010

Ordibehesht 11, 1389

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company

Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company

Liberties Union of Workers

Staff of Open Metalwork and Mechanics Union

Inaugurated Board of the Syndicate of Painters

Association of Kermanshah Electrical Workers and Metalworks

Committee in Pursuit of Free trade Associations

Coordination Committee for the Creation of  Labor Organizations

Association for the Defense of Dismissed and Unemployed Turpentine Workers

Women’s Council

Translated by Street Journalist

Reprinted from Street Journalist, http://www.astreetjournalist.com/

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Bill Fletcher, author of Solidarity Divided, speaks in Austin

Friday, March 19th, 2010
March 28, 2010 7:00 pmtoMarch 29, 2010 7:00 pm
Bill Fletcher, Jr., longtime labor, racial justice and international activist, makes 2 public presentations in Austin March 28 and 29.  He is coauthor of Solidarity Divided, the Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice.

Bill Fletcher, Jr., coauthor of Solidarity Divided, speaks in Austin March 28 and 29

Sunday evening, March 28, 7 pm, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. UT professor Robert Jensen will interview Fletcher onstage, questioning him about the social justice movements that have been the focus of his life and work. What lessons about today’s crises can we draw from Fletcher’s experience in the struggle for racial and economic justice, at home and abroad?  Sponsored by: Third Coast Activist Resource Center, MonkeyWrench Books, and Workers Defense Project.  Free (suggested donation of $10 for Austin People’s Community Center).  St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is at 14311 Wells Port Drive (1 block west of IH-35 on Wells Branch Parkway).

Monday evening, March 29, 7 pm, National Association of Letter Carriers Br. 181 union hall, 601 Williams St. (off N. Lamar near Airport). Bill directs his remarks at union members and friends.  What are the challenges we face?  How can we help lead a resurgence of the labor movement as part of the broader social justice movement?  Be ready with your questions and plenty of opportunity for discussion.  Sponsored by the Austin Central Labor Council, NALC Branch 181, and Pro-Care Spine & Medical Center.  (Free; door prize; light refreshments start at 6:45 pm.)

Bill Fletcher, Jr., is Director of Field Services & Education for the American Federation of Government Employees and has been a fighter for workers rights, racial justice, and international causes for decades.  He has worked for the AFL-CIO, SEIU, UAW, and National Postal Mail Handlers Union.  He is Executive Editor of The Black Commentator, past president of the Trans-Africa Forum, founder of the Center for Labor Renewal and of the Black Radical Congress, and is a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies.  Bill co-authored Solidarity Divided with Fernando Gapasin, and co-authored a provocative article, “Reimagining Socialism” with Barbara Ehrenreich.

Thanks to Professor Bob Jensen for bringing Mr. Fletcher to Austin.  

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Victory for Iraqi Leather Industry Workers as Strikes Spread

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Thanks to our friend Ali Issa (formerly in Austin, now in New York) for the link to his blog, Iraq Left: On Iraqi Organizing and Movement Building Now, http://iraqleft.wordpress.com/

(The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq is a left-led, independent labor federation that has had a lot of communication and solidarity with U.S. Labor Against the War.  The reference to the “Ba’athi move of banning ‘unrecognized’ unions” recalls Saddam Hussein’s edict banning public sector unions.  This was one of the few Saddam-era laws kept on the books by the U.S. occupation.)

January 2, 2010

After a 53-day strike (the longest in Iraq since 1931) won workers in the leather industry the release of long promised safety benefits and back wages, FWCUI-affiliated unions are at it again, this time organizing Baghdad cotton factory workers and announcing a strike for similar demands, now entering its 19th day. There is yet a another strike, this one in the industrial area of Nahrawan (east of Baghdad) at al-Thalal brick factory. This strike began on the 23rd of December. If these actions are any indication, organizing in the industrial sector is really catching fire in Iraq. In the face of such effective and uncompromising direct action, the Iraqi authorities –surprise, surprise—have stepped up their attempts to interfere, by “relocating” organizers to out of the way offices, or simply firing them. The most threatening of these attempts though, takes the form of planned union federation elections, which the FWCUI considers to be a sham meant only to confer legitimacy on the state-backed federation. This then may lead to the very Ba’athi move of banning of all ‘unrecognized’ unions.

Here’s an earlier post with background on the same subject.  Privatization is an issue everywhere:

November 26, 2009

The Baghdad based  Federation of Worker’s Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) has called for an expansion of the now 41 day-old leather industries strike, into other industries and sectors across Iraq. In their call (which you can read in the original Arabic here, and in English translation here) they cite numerous wage and condition-related grievances, but also emphasize what Iraqi labor unions have for decades been struggling against:  a 1987 law, enforced to this day, which prohibits worker organizing in the public sector, in addition to various economic initiatives which they see as threatening the public sector’s very existence. The FWCUI’s analysis also has a broader reach, and considers these moves an expression of the desire on the part of the Iraqi Government, multi-nationals, and the US-led occupation, to privatize nearly all Iraqi industry.

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Labor Anti-War Group Refocuses on Afghanistan: USLAW Convention

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Please send us your comments using the “Contact” button on our home page. Texas State Employees Union passed a resolution in 2008 that did oppose both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Certainly, it was not unanimous.  Many members do not agree with opposition to the Afghanistan War, and even some signers of the resolution are not so sure about Afghanistan, especially in light of President Obama’s position.

What other union locals in Texas have taken positions against the war(s)?  We need your help to find out!  Let us know using the “Contact” feature on this website.

from the Nov. 2009 Labor Notes, http://www.labornotes.org/print/node/2515:

Labor Anti-War Group Refocuses on Afghanistan

Jane Slaughter
|  October 29, 2009
According to US Labor Against the War, the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan could have paid for a year’s worth of health care for 140 million people—almost every working person in the U.S. The wars have cost each U.S. family $12,750 so far.

U.S. Labor Against the War is preparing for its third national assembly in December as the original motivation for its founding—the Iraq war—is winding down to a more limited but permanent presence. No worries that the nearly seven-year-old USLAW coalition has outlived its usefulness, though: delegates to the Chicago meeting will debate the Afghanistan war.

Thus far few unions have taken positions on the increasingly unpopular U.S. presence there, even those that have historically been leaders within labor on questions of war and peace.

An example is SEIU1199, United Healthcare Workers East, which in 2003 sent 25 busloads of members to Washington to try to forestall the invasion of Iraq. Vice President Steve Kramer says war has not been on 1199’s front burner recently. “We’re not focused on world issues to the extent we’d like to be,” Kramer said, citing concessions demands, a slew of contract reopeners, and the health care reform fight.

Besides preoccupation with day-to-day survival, some union leaders may be hesitant to criticize the U.S. presence in Afghanistan for other reasons. Kathy Black of AFSCME District Council 47 in Philadelphia says, “Nobody knows squat about Afghanistan, which is why USLAW has slide shows and fact sheets.” Black, a USLAW co-convenor, sees a change in attitude since President Obama was elected.

“It’s been really simple as long as Bush was president to get a lot of these unions to oppose the obscene level of spending in Iraq,” Black said. “But anything that will smack of opposing Obama’s policies or saying he’s not withdrawing from Iraq fast enough—they have other fish to fry.”

Kramer noted also the general lack of anti-war protests in the country.

Black sees a “hesitancy to do anything to discredit the administration” during the fight to get health care and labor law reform.

“If we get sold out on those things,” she says, “it’ll be easier to get people to sign on [to an anti-war position].”

DEBATE IT AT HOME

USLAW leaders have sent out sample union resolutions in advance of the December meeting, asking affiliates to raise and debate the question in their own meetings.

One such resolution, from a big New York Teachers (AFT) local, United University Professions, says, “The $65 billion to be spent in Afghanistan this year, and the hundreds of billions of dollars required in coming years for counterinsurgency there, are desperately needed for urgent domestic social purposes.”

A USLAW slide show is chock full of eye-opening statistics that affiliates are encouraged to share with members: The money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan could have paid for a year’s worth of health care for 140 million people—almost every working person in the U.S. The wars have cost each U.S. family $12,750 so far.

John Braxton is co-president of the wall-to-wall Faculty and Staff Federation at the Community College of Philadelphia, AFT Local 2026, an affiliate of USLAW. He says that when some members opposed the local’s taking a stand against the impending Iraq war in late 2002, leaders took a membership poll. They found 60 percent supported the local’s position.

Afghanistan is trickier, Braxton believes. USLAW was formed after many official union bodies had begun to oppose the war, he notes, and was created to pull those unions together and expand their reach within labor.

But now, Braxton says, most locals don’t have any position at all. “We won’t be a very effective organization if it’s just the activists saying we’re against this war,” he said.

TALKING GUNS V. BUTTER

Given the enormous cost of war and the huge cutbacks this year in government spending on education, health care, and other public goods, it’s natural that some unions are educating members and the public on the trade-offs.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, for example, trains staffers on how to engage members on the “guns or butter” question, stressing that this is a union issue and shouldn’t be shied away from.

In July, when Pennsylvania failed to pass a state budget on time, some SEIU Healthcare members faced payless paydays. The union focused its protests on the impact of budget cuts on state-run veterans nursing homes, where nurses are SEIU members. The union said the cuts would close 400 beds and that the vet homes had already turned down 40 vets who needed a bed.

“Pennsylvania is experiencing the largest call-up of reserves in many years,” said local President Neal Bisno. “Every community is experiencing the impact of expansion of military action abroad.”

A day of action featured press conferences at five nursing homes, along with vets’ organizations. The legislature reversed the cuts.

HEARING FROM A VET

Last year, the local’s annual convention featured a march and rally at a VA clinic and talks by a member, a Pittsburgh nurse, and her son who had come back from Iraq with physical and psychological problems.

“His story touched a nerve with our members—the idea that we’re spending the kinds of resources we are on dubious military operations in Iraq,” Bisno said, “yet we can’t provide basic access to affordable health care for adults and children in the U.S., even those we’re sending abroad.”

Mike Zweig of United University Professions, which represents faculty and professional staff at the State University of New York, says his delegate assembly passed an anti-Afghan war resolution this month by a big majority.

The SUNY system just made a mid-year budget cut of $90 million, Zweig said, and “people are just disgusted with this war, they want the money. Nobody said a word about ‘let’s cool it till after we get health care reform.’”

Two recent national polls show only 40 percent and 52 percent of Americans supporting the Afghan war. Kathy Black believes union members’ opposition to the eight-year-old conflict is bound to grow.

“We can’t escape the reality of the money situation,” Black says. “As long as we are pouring money into overseas military operations we can’t possibly have full economic recovery. We have an opening to talk about war spending and the black hole of Afghanistan.”

[The USLAW website [1] includes a narrated 19-minute slide show, “Understanding the Price of U.S. Global Power,” that shows the costs of war.]

[A second free slide show, “Why Are We in Afghanistan?,” by Mike Zweig with illustrations by labor cartoonist Mike Konopacki, will be available after its debut at the December 4-6 USLAW Assembly in Chicago.]

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Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America

Monday, December 15th, 2008
January 20, 2009

What will the change at the top of the U.S. government mean for the war and occupation in Iraq?

What do Iraqi workers think?  What do you think?  Read some labor perspectives on this website and on the website of U.S. Labor Against the War.

And what about Afghanistan???

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“Meeting Face to Face: the Iraq-U.S. Labor Solidarity Tour” showing May 5 at TSEU

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Monday, May 5, at about 6:30 pm, Texas State Employees Union, 1700 S. First St., Austin (across from Freddie’s and Jovita’s)
This 27-min documentary will screen at the May 5 meeting of TSEU’s Committee on Political Education. After a business meeting that begins at 6 pm, we will show this film about the labor movement in Iraq. Iraqi unions, despite violent repression by both the Iraqi government and the Bush administration, have managed to survive, to oppose the occupation, and to lead a successful fight against oil privatization in that country.

Thomas Bacon, coordinator of both the 2005 and 2007 tours, will be there for discussion. Free and open to the public.

About the film:

In June 2005 six senior Iraqi trade union leaders toured the United States hosted by U.S. Labor Against the War, visiting 25 cities and speaking to several thousand unionists, peace activists, and others. This documentary captures the energy and emotions of the tour while expressing the important substantive message Iraqi workers want to convey to all Americans: end the occupation; oppose the privatization of Iraqi national resources; and support the right of all Iraqi workers to organize free and independent trade unions.
Directed by – Jonathan Levin
Executive Producer – Michael Zweig

To play the trailer, go to http://www.meetingfacetoface.org/

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