Archive for the Category 'Reports'
Impressions from the electoral campaign of the „Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores“ („Left and Workers’ Front“, FIT) and the participation of the PTS
On June 12th, Alejandro López, worker in Zanón and leader of the Ceramic Workers’ Union in Neuquén („Sindicato de Obreros y Empleados Ceramistas en Neuquén“, SOECN), won a seat in the provincial parliament of Neuquén in the first provincial elections in which the FIT presented itself as an electoral front. This victory is an important step in the FIT’s electoral campaign and can serve as a first example of a revolutionary electoral campaign as well as of what to do with a seat in the parliament from a Marxist point of view. In this sense, I would like to write down some impressions of the work of the FIT so far, and especially of the PTS within this front. »»»»
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Election of a Workers’ Left Front candidate in Neuquén welcomed by workers and left activists all over the country
Christian Castillo, national leader of the Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (“Socialist Workers’ Party, PTS), who shares the presidential ticket of the Workers’ Left Front with Jorge Altamira (PO, “Workers’ Party”), greeted the political achievement in Neuquén where the Front won a provincial representative. »»»»
Nearly 50,000 people protested in the trade union demonstration against government reforms
On Saturday, May 21th, Prague hosted a big trade union demonstration against the forthcoming reforms of the current neo-liberal right-wing coalition. The various government proposals would come to the Parliament in June, so that in most cases they could be implemented in 2012. That is why the end of May was an ideal time to show the government that its proposals will encounter a strong resistance. »»»»
A short report from discussions and decisions at and after the first international conference of the Revolutionary Internationalist Organization
In the last six months, the Revolutionary Internationalist Organization has carried out a number of strategic discussions that led us to reconsider some of our positions. We would like to report from these discussions and briefly explain our new positions. »»»»
For a week now, the main squares of the cities of the Spanish state have been the focus of the whole world’s attention, especially for militant workers and young people, who have attentively followed how, in one of the countries of Europe most battered by the capitalist crisis, a broad youth movement was triggered against the dark perspectives of the future to which the bosses, the bankers and the politicians who serve them are sentencing us. The dozens of gatherings and camps throughout the world have been good evidence of that. »»»»
At the important assemblies taking place in the main cities in Spain there are growing concerns among the youth as to how to continue the struggle. The weight of some anarchist and autonomist currents makes it difficult to develop this discussion in clearer and more productive way. Basing themselves on the rejection of the main political parties and the trade union bureaucracy by the protestors, these currents encourage the rejection of all workers’ organisations and political groups. By doing so, they deny the right of the different political tendencies to campaign for their policies among the demonstrators, many of whom are already members of these groups. This also affects non-aligned activists who are prevented from grouping themselves with those who share similar views and who would like to defend and fight for their positions. The denial of the democratic right of expression to those organisations which support the struggle represents a step back for the development of the movement as a whole. »»»»
A balance sheet of the congress of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) of France
The first congress of the New Anticapitalist Party of France (NPA), held last weekend in Montreuil just outside Paris, ended in a dismal failure. None of the platforms presented was able to win a majority. The outgoing leadership – including the spokesman Olivier Besancenot and historical leaders such as Alain Krivine – barely got 41.8% of the votes for their orientation document. It was not even possible to produce a joint declaration by the congress due to strong disagreements between the main platforms: Platform 3 (PF3) or the ‘unitary platform’, which is in favour of an agreement with the reformists at any cost, that is with the Parti de Gauche (Left Party) of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, former minister in Lionel Jospin’s social democratic government, and the French Communist Party (PCF); Platform 2 (PF2), called the ‘identity platform’ by the bourgeois press, which wants a candidacy of Olivier Besancenot for the 2012 presidential elections and proposes to return to ‘the NPA of its origins’ and to orient towards the workplaces; Platform 1 (PF1), which vacillates between PF3 and PF2 on the electoral issue and defines itself as ‘anticapitalist’ and ‘unitary’. As a result of this lack of definition, seven members of the outgoing leadership decided to join the Parti de Gauche. This occurs in the context of a loss of adherents, who went from about 9,000 at the founding congress two years ago to about 3,550 who voted in the electoral assemblies prior to this congress [1]. »»»»
Interview with Vincent Duse and Danièle Cobet
In the National Congress of the NPA last weekend, Platform 4, in which the militants of the FT-CI in France participate, got 3.7% of the delegates’ votes, and from now on, will have 6 members in the national leadership (CPN) of this party. We interviewed two of them: Vincent Duse, a worker and union activist of the CGT at the Peugeot Mulhouse factory, and Danièle Cobet, a student and worker with an precarious job situation, a militant of the FT-CI. »»»»
Report from the Luxemburg-Liebknecht-Lenin-Weekend of RIO and the FT-CI in Berlin
The bourgeoisies across Europe are imposing austerity programs on the workers and youth, and Germany is no exception. But due to the momentary strength of German imperialism, which was able to bolster its position at the expense of other imperialist powers, and with the active support of the trade union bureaucracy, the struggles against this program have so far been limited. In this framework, it is important for revolutionaries in Germany to learn from the class struggle in other countries. With this objective, 40 people gathered at the international seminar of the Revolutionary Internationalist Organization (RIO) and the Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International (FT-CI) on January 8 in Berlin. »»»»
Manuel Georget and Vicent Duse speak in an interview about Platform 4 for the congress of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA)
Manuel Georget and Vincent Duse are two of the most important workers’ representatives of Platform 4. Georget is general secretary of the CGT EGP Dreux and trade union delegate of the Philips Dreux TV manufacturing plant. The factory has recently been closed down after years of battle against layoffs and relocation, which ended with a short experience of production under workers’ control last January. Georget was a member of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR), the forerunner of the NPA, for nearly 30 years. He headed the NPA slate in the Eure-et-Loir department in the last regional elections and is a member of the Collective for a Revolutionary Tendency (CTR) coordinating body. Duse is a worker at the Peugeot factory in Mulhouse, where more than 10,000 workers are employed, and for 10 years was the general secretary of the CGT in the factory. He is a member of the National Political Committee of the NPA and of the CTR coordinating body. »»»»
Buenos Aires ++ Violent clashes between strike activists and the trade union bureaucracy ++ 23-year-old activist murdered by thugs hired by the trade union bureaucracy ++
The conflict over the reincorporation of fired and subcontracted workers on the Roca train line in southern Buenos Aires, which has been going on for more than eight months, gained a shocking new quality yesterday. During a protest in the neighborhoods of Avellaneda and Barracas, in which precarious train workers participated alongside militants of different left-wing groups, violent clashes erupted between the protesters and a group of thugs hired by the Unión Ferroviaria (Railroad Union, UF) to prevent the protests. While only rocks were used at the beginning, later at least two of the provocateurs hired by the UF bureaucracy under José Pedraza pulled out guns and shot at the protesters. The 23-year-old student Mariano Ferreyra, militant of the Partido Obrero (PO, “Workers’ Party”), was shot dead and three more protesters were gravely injured; a 56-year-old militant (also PO) is still in mortal danger. »»»»