jeudi 29 janvier 2009

Appel à la grève générale en France


Le 29 janvier est l’occasion de faire enfin entendre la voix du monde du travail dans un contexte de crise économique globale. Le capitalisme veut nous faire payer sa crise ? Il est grand temps de la lui faire payer ! Mais rien ne se fera sans s’attaquer à son principe même, la rémunération du capital au détriment de celle du travail.


Il est nécessaire de faire entendre la voix du monde du travail
Pour sauver leurs profits, spéculateurs, banquiers, actionnaires, patrons et États veulent faire payer la crise aux travailleuses, aux travailleurs, à la population. Pourtant ils sont responsables de cette situation. Et ils en profitent pour mener une nouvelle attaque contre les droits des salarié-e-s. Ainsi est orchestrée une campagne contre le droit de grève. La grève est légitime. Elle est notre arme face à l’arbitraire patronal et étatique. Montrons que les grèves, ça se voit !

Le capitalisme est illégitime

La crise que nous vivons n’est pas due uniquement à des « erreurs » financières. Elle résulte de l’ensemble des décisions prises par les capitalistes, délocalisation massives, appropriation par une infime minorité d’une part croissante des richesses créées, … Ce n’est pas le capitalisme « financier » mais c’est le capitalisme tout court qui est responsable. La crise n’est pas une anomalie. Elle est une étape inéluctable du développement d’un système irresponsable. Si nous ne voulons pas indéfiniment vivre cela, ne nous contentons pas de limiter aujourd’hui le prix à payer pour les travailleuses et les travailleurs. Préparons une alternative, défendons un projet de société solidaire. Organisons-nous sur nos lieux de travail et de vie. Renforçons à la base les syndicats, associations et collectifs de lutte. Aidons ces organisations à se coordonner localement, puis au niveau national. Mettons en débat la perspective d’une grève générale interprofessionnelle reconductible ! Seul le monde du travail produit des richesses. Seul lui est légitime pour les gérer.

Le rôle de l’État apparaît au grand jour

Bien loin de protéger « l’intérêt commun », l’Etat défend la propriété privée des grands capitalistes. Depuis trente ans, la mondialisation n’a été que rigueur pour les salarié-e-s et cadeaux aux entreprises : une vaste escroquerie pour engraisser le capital. Aujourd’hui, les spéculateurs s’affolent. L’État trouve immédiatement des centaines de milliards d’euros alors que les caisses étaient censées être vides. Privatiser les profits quand les bulles spéculatives gonflent, socialiser les pertes quand elles explosent : ce sont toujours les travailleuses, les travailleurs et la population qui trinquent !

Une boussole : des luttes portant un anticapitalisme décomplexé.

La solution d’un Etat sauveur est illusoire. Les « plans de sauvetage des banques » et autres « plans de relance » ne sont pas une solution pour nous. Nous devons remettre en cause la rémunération du capital en commençant par les entreprises qui font du profit. Les richesses ainsi récupérées doivent servir au financement des besoins sociaux.

-Hausse immédiate et massive des salaires, pensions et minima sociaux

-Protection sociale : retraites à 37,5 annuités pour tous ; mise en œuvre d’un droit au logement effectif par la réquisition des logements vides.

-Emploi : contre l’absolutisme patronal, c’est à celles et ceux qui produisent les richesses de décider de leur avenir. Droit de véto des travailleuses et travailleurs sur les licenciements collectifs, arrêt de toutes les suppressions de postes dans le secteur public, baisse massive du temps de travail à 32h sans perte de revenu ni flexibilité, avec embauches correspondantes

Alternatives Libertaire c'est quoi?


Vidéo syndicaux
Plus de 7.000 personnes selon les syndicats, 4.600 selon la police, manifestent à Saint-Denis et Saint-Pierre de la Réunion. Un chiffre jugé «satisfaisant» par le secrétaire général de la CGTR Ivan Hoareau, qui souligne que beaucoup de «salariés sont encore en vacances».





The Sarko Skanking (en video!)

Un montage trouvé sur le net du Sarko Skanking.
Police partout, justice nulle part!

Discours Csn-estrie à la Rôtisserie au Roi du Coq Rôti

Speach de Jean Lacharité, président de la CSN-Estrie, lors de la soirée de solidarité avec les louck-outéEs de la CSN-Estrie.

L'Entrevue avec les lock-outéEs de la rôtisserie


Nous mettons en ligne l'entrevue de notre émission la rage du peuple du mardi, 27 janvier. Avec nous en studio: Robert Labrecque et Serge Lemay, du syndicat de la rôtisserie au roi du coq rôti. Depuis le 19 juillet dernier, leurs patrons leurs ont décrété un lock-out abusif qui vise uniquement à casser le syndicat et les employéEs.
Le Collectif du 19 juillet les soutient dans leur lutte pour la reconnaissance de leurs droits mais surtout du respect qui leur est due. Ce sont eux et elles qui font vivre leurs patrons. Ce sont eux et elles qui ont bâtie leur milieu de travail ainsi que la réputation de la rôtisserie.

L'entrevue est en deux partie, la première de 27 minutes, et la seconde d'une heure.





vendredi 23 janvier 2009

Chronique connaître l'extrême droite pour mieux la combattre


Une chronique audio d'une vingtaine de minutes préparée par un camarade du collectif 19 Juillet. Un aperçu des mouvements fascistes et nationalistes entre-coupé de chanson et de culture anti-fasciste. Pour la télécharger cliquez droit et sélectionner "enregistrer la cible du lien sous..." ici!

Pour en savoir plus sur la situation historique plus près d'ici, allez lire le Portrait de l’extrême droite au Québec par Michel Nestor. Pour une perspective plus générale sur la luttre contre le fascisme visitez le site de l'organisation internationale Antifa. Bonne lecture!

Ce portrait rapide de l’extrême droite québécoise révèle certaines similitudes entre ses différents courants. La plus visible reste sans aucun doute la peur de disparaître en tant que peuple blanc et francophone. C’est le vieux fond du nationalisme ethnique qui refait surface avec virulence. À ce sujet, l’ensemble des groupes se rejoignent sur le danger représenté par l’immigration. Autre point en commun, le caractère foncièrement patriarcal de son discours et de ses pratiques. Tant Québec-Radical que le Parti de la démocratie chrétienne insistent pour ramener la femme à un rôle de mère-pondeuse afin de repeupler la nation. La question religieuse, au centre des préoccupations de plusieurs groupes, demeure un facteur de discorde. Le courant national-catholique, en perte de vitesse, risque d’être dépassé à terme par les divers courants qui font du nationalisme ethnique leur seule et unique religion, voire même par la mythologie celtisante qui gagne en popularité auprès des jeunes attirés par la scène black metal.

Malgré une méfiance vis-à-vis la politique officielle, on retrouve plusieurs militants d’extrême droite dans des partis et organisations nationalistes mainstream, tel le Parti Québécois, le Bloc Québécois ou la Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (21). Le cas de Mathieu Bock-Côté est parti-culièrement intéressant. Expulsé du Bloc par la haute direction suite à la publication de son Manifeste hautement controversé, on le retrouve quelques années plus tard à l’exécutif de la Commission jeunesse du PQ. L’excommunication aura été de courte durée! À n’en pas douter, des courants réactionnaires existent à l’intérieur des deux grands partis nationalistes, ce qui se traduit notamment par un louvoiement de nombreux députés face aux mouvements suprémacistes blancs qui tentent de bloquer toute avancée significative des droits des autochtones.

Combattre l’extrême droite au Québec passe donc par une critique implacable des travers du nationa-lisme, mais aussi par un appui direct aux groupes visés par les ultra-nationalistes, que ce soit les immigrantEs, les femmes, les gais et lesbiennes ou les Autochtones. Sans cet appui, sans un travail concret dans nos communautés pour marginaliser les discours réactionnaires et enrayer la xénophobie, la lutte anti-fasciste restera cantonnée dans les marais de l’abstraction et de la théorie.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-Texte extrait du numéro 4 de Ruptures, la revue francophone de la NEFAC. Pour vous procurer une copie du numéro, c'est 5$pp l'exemplaire à envoyer à Collectif anarchiste La Nuit (NEFAC), a/s E.-H. C.P. 55051, 138 St-Vallier Ouest, Québec (Qc), G1K 1J0, Canada ---> abonnement 12$ / 4 numéro Québec/Canada, 24$ ailleurs, chèque à l'ordre de "Groupe Emile-Henry"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
(21)Sur l’exécutif de la Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Québec siège Henri Rallon, porte-parole du Front National (le parti de Jean-Marie Le Pen) pour le Canada, de même que Daniel Dionne, membre du Front anticapitaliste égalitaire (FACE), un groupuscule national-bolchévique formé de transfuges du Parti communiste et de sympathisants maoistes. Des membres du FACE ont été vus à Québec dans des manifs contre la guerre en Irak distribuant des tracts pro-Saddam Hussein et brandissant des pancartes à forte connotation anti-sémite, rappelant les délires sur le ZOG (Zionist Occupied Government) si chers à l’extrême droite américaine.

Maoist 'People's Vanguard' versus striking workers




As a strike wave sweeps the country, the Maoist leadership agrees to banning strikes.

Since the Maoists emerged in the April 2008 Nepal elections as the largest party (though without an absolute majority) to lead the new coalition government, they have failed to heal existing divisions - in their own party, within the parliamentary political system and its ruling class - or within the intermingled social, caste and ethnic tensions across the wider society. In fact, all these divides have widened. And since November a strike wave has spread across the country.

Maoist 'People's Vanguard' versus striking workers
The ongoing strike wave is diverse(1); everyone from transport workers, labourers and poor villagers to doctors, teachers, students, journalists and other professionals are striking and blockading across the country. The demands are equally wide-ranging; wage rises to counter rising food and fuel prices, demands for better public services, local councils in remote rural areas demanding increased funding from central government, calls for land distribution to the rural poor. There are also many short local strikes and actions in protest at attacks, murders and intimidation by political factions; relatives of murdered victims demand compensation and investigation of the crimes. Some strikes are led by different unions (with their various political affiliations, including the Maoists), others actions are self-organised by participants. Therefore some will be a more genuine expression of self-organisation in pursuit of material need - while others may be called as political strikes to pursue, not workers interests, but only political advantages of one party faction over another.

And the conditions of life giving rise to the social unrest grow worse. Inflation of basic goods continues, the electricity infrastructure cannot meet anywhere near the demand of consumers; 16 hr interruptions to supply for "load-shedding" have become routine across the country and both domestic and business life is planned around them. (Some claim this is partly a result of the Maoist destruction of electricity sub-stations during the 10 year guerilla war and the subsequent decline in infrastructure projects.(2)) This frustrates employers and workers alike, limiting productivity for bosses and also lowering pay for workers who aren't paid for interruptions. The hungry bellies of the poor are rumbling with discontent, and even the professional middle classes are feeling pangs of frustration.

Faced with the unrest, Maoist Party leader and Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda proposed to fellow politicians a ban on all public sector strikes, to which the seven major parties all agreed. In a recent press interview, just prior to the agreement, the Maoist governmental Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai tried to justify a ban;

Q: The business community's concerns are exactly what you stated. One, they say, the government's attitude to labour issues leaves a lot to be desired and that labour problems are getting worse. Second, there cannot be high growth until there is an adequate supply of power.

Bhattarai: I wouldn't say the situation is getting worse. Things were much worse in the past. But the people wanted very fast recovery; that hasn't happened. Things are improving but not to the desired level. Both the management and workers have a common interest now, for the development of the economy. They both fought against the feudalism, autocracy and monarchy. Now, to create a vibrant industrial economy, is in the interest of both the management and the workers. But this reality is not sinking in their minds. This government is playing its role in creating a healthy relationship between the two. There were some disputes, especially regarding the minimum wage issue. This has been solved. So what I appeal to the management is that they should provide the minimum wage. The workers shouldn't resort to bandas and strikes. If this understanding is honoured we'll have a healthy environment in the days to come.

Q: So the party wants to ensure that whenever there is a labour dispute, legal recourse should be taken?

Bhattarai: Yes. At least for some time, there should be no bandas and strikes in the industrial, health, education sectors, on the major highways, in the public utility sectors. The government is trying to build political consensus on this issue.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/interview.php?&nid=175026

80% of Nepal's population is rural and amid the rocky mountain terrain there is a shortage of arable land (only about 20% can be cultivated) and a lack of infrastructure; unsurprisingly there is increasing seasonal and permanent migration to cities into casualised employment. But most of the country is too economically weak to develop much beyond a subsistence economy - and in the present global recession attracting significant foreign investment looks more remote than ever.

Nepal is in reality an underdeveloped capitalist economy with certain remaining feudal hangovers within social relationships. (These traditions are either declining or adapting to modern-day norms.) Abolition of monarchy and the pro-democracy movements in recent decades might be seen as part of an unfinished bourgeois revolution(3) - yet the Maoist leadership generally present their desire to move towards greater industrialisation as the beginning of a bourgeios-democratic revolution. The Maoists portray the present period as one in which Nepal is emerging from feudalism (as supposedly evidenced by the recent abolition of the monarchy; unlike, e.g, 'feudal' royalist Britain!) and so needs to build up a strong national industrial economy. The lack of a strong national entepreneurial bourgeoisie has hindered such a development in Nepal, and - like nationalist and leftist parties across the '3rd World' - the Maoists intend to play that developmental role themselves, in alliance with other 'progressive' bourgeios forces. The Maoist leadership are reported to be discussing with China the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Nepal. SEZ's are industrial zones offering partial or complete tax exemption to foreign investors (and sometimes also to native capitalists) along with other financial benefits including stricter labour discipline. Having just passed the relevant legislation, their concern to impose stricter discipline on unruly workers is clearly linked to establishing SEZ's and a general desire to attract greater foreign investment;

KATHMANDU, Jan 22: After four years of finalizing the draft, the cabinet on Thursday endorsed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, paving way for the implementation of the SEZ projects in the country. [...]
...the Act treats SEZ as a land where other domestic laws related to labor and industries would not be applicable. It has mooted an autonomous SEZ Authority to oversee its operations.

The source stated that the ratification of the Act, which had so far lingered due to the differences over the tighter labor provisions, had became possible after the seven parties recently agreed not to launch strikes in the industries or disturb productions.

“The Act allows workers to unite and practice collective bargaining, but prohibits them from undertaking activities that affect production and normal operations of industries,” said the source. It also allows the entrepreneurs to hire workers on a contract basis. [Our emphasis.] http://myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=1357

Courted by rivals
Last year we observed;

Any future Maoist rule in Nepal, whether in local or central government is likely to try to model itself on the regimes of those Indian states run by local 'Communist' Parties - crude forms of municipal Stalinism with an increasingly market-oriented openness to foreign investors enticed by tax-free Economic Processing Zones. Much like those typically seen in other more developed Asian economies, but with even more 'competitive' wage levels. But that is so far wishful thinking for Nepal; one of the least developed economies with one of the least skilled workforces and a weak infrastructure - and consequently, so far, one of the least attractive investment options. http://libcom.org/news/nepal-terai-ethnic-strike-ends-concessions-01032008

Maoist leaders have expressed desires for closer economic co-operation with both its big brother neighbours. It is likely that in the long term, China intends to treat Nepal as an extended zone of its economic activity, somewhere with cheaper labour costs to outsource to, so as to offset rising labour costs in China. But, for the moment, the global recession limits the likelihood of such investments. Nepal's southern neighbour, India, is never happy to see closer relations between Nepal and its rival China, but it has its own economic leverage. India is downstream from the untapped hydro-electric potential locked in Nepal's great Himalayan water systems, has longed wanted to exploit it and can offer investment and expertise. China is investing in various infrastructure and transport links in poorer South Asian countries, but northern Nepal is hemmed in by the Himalayan peaks and so remains dependent on India for the continued flow of essential supplies across its southern border. It is a commonplace that Nepali politicians periodically use the anti-Indian nationalist card to distract from their problems and failings at home, as the Maoists are doing at present; but for all the nationalist rhetoric, they know any threat to an open border would be, at present, close to economic suicide. (This was illustrated when India expressed its dissatisfaction at Nepal buying arms from China by closing the border for several months in the 1980s - a move that progressively paralysed Nepal.)

The Nepalese and Indian armies have traditionally had a close relationship. The famous Ghorkas serve in both armies. The Indian army trains most Nepalese officers - there is such a close relationship that the Indian Army chief is honorary chief of the Nepali Army traditionally and vice-versa. The negotiations that are dragging on over how/if/when Nepal's Maoist ex-guerillas should be integrated into the Nepalese Army are therefore of some concern to India. The Maoists are attempting to gain greater control over the Army, causing serious unease in rival parties.

Old or new maoism for the Party?
A deep split in the Maoist Party has emerged; Prachanda and co.'s ruling elite are comfortably settled in their lucrative governmental positions(4) and appear to prefer to pursue a 'parliamentary road to [so-called] socialism'. Having ended the 10 year civil war after realising its limits as, at best, an indefinite stalemate between state and guerillas - and being forced to acknowledge that, in any case, powerful neighbours India and China would probably not sit idly by in the event of a bloody military coup likely to destabilise the wider region - the party leadership committed itself to parliamentary conquest and secured electoral victory.

Meanwhile, the lower level party cadre have gained little from the electoral road. Unlike in many other 'national liberation struggles', the Nepali Maoists did not decisively defeat other ruling class factions - instead, they achieved political power via a compromise with them. So many of the comfortable official posts are already filled; as one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal has too few resources to expand its existing bureaucratic class or its entrepeneurial middle class sufficiently to absorb former guerilla personnel to their satisfaction. So, after ten years of war, what's on offer for those lower in the Party hierarchy seems scant reward for their efforts. Now a faction led by a senior Party leader Mohan Biadhya, popularly known as Kiran, are demanding an immediate progression towards 'full communism'; i.e., a one party state capitalist system in the style of traditional Maoism.

What's in a name? The PFDNR
These dissatisfied Party elements who want to 'march firmly onward to a communist state/People's Republic' are becoming more openly critical of the democratic gradualism of the Party leadership and their parliamentary roles. One recent manifestation has been the dispute over names; the pro-democratic faction wants to drop 'Maoist' from the party name and become simply the Nepal Communist Party. This is largely a gesture to the IMF and other foreign aid and investment providers, showing them that the NCP has put down the gun and embraced mainstream politics. But for the Party hardliners this is the most despicable renegade 'revisionism'. (Both sides are aware that such disputes and any resolution symbolically reflect the balance of power in the Party. Those who control the slogans, symbols, labels and icons remake the Party in their own image partly by the dissemination of images of the powerful; for the "vanguard party" they are an essential tool of hierarchical power. See "The Mao Cult"; http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/cult.html) Similarly, a long debate between the two factions at a recent Party conference over 'the way forward' included a clumsy compromise over the retitling of the the nation-state. As "blogdai", a cynically amused Nepali blogger, put it;

Those brilliant Maoists have been banging their heads together for six days to try and mend a catastrophic rift in their party. It seems most of the hard-liners want to announce an all Communist "People's Republic" immediately; while Prachanda wants to go a little slower so as not to throw the country back into chaos. After what blogdai can only assume to be an excruciating application of sheer brainpower, our boys in red have decided to call Nepal the "People's Federal Democratic National Republic." Just think of the expense in stationary this will incur! PFDNR Nepal.
http://nepalnow.blogspot.com/

The growth of political and economic gangsterism
The Young Communist League (YCL) is sometimes described as the disguised military arm of the Maoists, or, increasingly, as their paramilitary wing(5). In 2006, after the Maoists agreed to end their 10-year “People’s War,” they signed a peace pact with the government, thereby agreeing to confine their “People’s Liberation Army” (PLA) in designated cantonments under UN supervision. About 20,000 members of the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA) are living in forest camps as the government seeks to integrate them into the national Army. However, Nepal's military has said it doesn't want to accept the fighters immediately "because they are still politically motivated".

There is general disbelief at the small number of PLA fighters registered in the cantonments. It seems that the party transferred a substantial number of PLA personnel to the YCL so that they could move around freely, provide support to the party’s activities and continue their fundraising activities of extortion and protection rackets levied on businesses.

At present, the frustrated former soldiers have too much time on their hands, too little money and few prospects for advancement. This is a serious problem for the Maoist politicians and for the wider society. Their racketeering and extortion, intimidation and assassination of political rivals and critics destabilises the country, inhibits industrial production, retards the formal political process and encourages the growth of other paramilitary factions such as the UML 'Youth Force' and various ethnic/separatist groups.

Paramilitary or parliamentary?
The YCL has been both an asset and a burden to the Maoist leadership since the ceasefire. During tough negotiations with other parties, it has been useful for the Maoists to encourage a certain level of paramilitary activity by the YCL. It has served as a warning that, if the Maoists don't get what they want, the possibility of a return to guerilla war remains. It has also implied that if political concessions are not given, the Maoist leaders will look discredited in the eyes of their hotheaded youth and so risk losing control of them and/or be less concerned at reining them in. But now, as the two rival Party factions - hardliners and parliamentarians - face each other, who can command the loyalty of the YCL may become crucial. It seems likely that the hardliners may have the YCL on their side, the parliamentary road having delivered so little to the rank'n'file soldiers. Yet a hardline effort to immediately advance to a state of one-party rule would mean an attempted military coup; in effect, a probable return to an indefinitely stalemated guerilla war. So we could see a smaller Maoist guerilla faction taking again to the hills, while the Maoist politicians remain in Parliament. (The Maoist parliamentarians could retain their own paramilitary force and/or ally with other parliamentary groups.)

In response to growing post-election Maoist brutality, other political parties have formed youth groups. Youth cadre of the non-Maoist Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML)(6) - the third largest party in Parliament - have been abducted and murdered by the YCL; last week another was viciously attacked with machetes by YCL cadre. Now the UML Youth Force - itself accused of intimidation and involvement in extortion - is threatening its own 'People's War' against the Maoist-led government if the YCL are allowed to continue in their gangsterism. As one former UML leader put it, when expressing fears that the Youth Force may become as much of a problem as the YCL;

"If the ruling party itself keeps a paramilitary force then there is no reason why other parties won't also try to form their own," he said, adding "and if everybody starts to form their own paramilitary forces then the atmosphere in the country will be very dark. The Prime Minister should seriously think about this thing," Nepalnews reported. http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-59575.html

This seems to be what is increasingly happening - "War is the continuation of politics by other means" - (Clausewitz).

Maoists have also intimidated journalists critical of their brutality and have admitted murdering at least one(7). Several newspapers have been targetted and temporarily shut down by Maoist trade unions and journalists attacked by Maoist goon squads; the union activity here being used for intimidating critics rather than pursuing workers' interests. The UML's Youth Force have also recently carried out a similar attack on a newspaper office.

In the southern Terai plains region an ethnic Madhesi movement (which includes ex-Maoists) continues to call for national independence for the territory and to compete with Maoists and other factions for paramilitary dominance of the area. A female journalist, Uma Singh, was killed in Terai last week; her murder may be a response to her writings against the dowry marriage-payment system that has such oppressive consequences for women in Nepal (8). But she was also critical of land seizures and extortion rackets in Terai carried out by a former Maoist cabinet minister (now sacked)(9), and her father and brother were 'disappeared' by the Maoists during the civil war. Some suspects have now been arrested, one a local Maoist leader.

Class, state or nation?
Back in 2006 during the popular pro-democracy protests that eventually toppled the King and preceded the Maoist ceasefire, we commented;

And the consequences for the development of any autonomous movement of self-organised class struggle beyond and against bourgeois democracy? The industrial working class is a minority in a predominantly peasant population. We make no hierarchies of one sector of the poor being more important or radical than the other; but the industrial workers have certain specific potential areas of struggle (transport, industry etc) that are unique to them and would be of crucial importance in any future movement. The rural and urban poor are dependent on an alliance with each other to affect any real change in their own mutual interests. So far they have only taken sides with one or other of the factions competing to rule over them. To go further than a more democratic management of continued poverty they will have to stop taking sides and start making sides. Despite the limits of the pro-democratic framework of recent events, many of the poor may have realised, through the flexing of their collective muscle, a sense of their own potential power to act more directly in their own class interests. Without wanting to be determinist, in the absence of an autonomous movement of the poor moving beyond demands for democracy, there will probably need to be a period of disillusionment with a new Kingless democracy system before any such autonomous movement will emerge.
http://libcom.org/news/article.php/nepal-maoists-protests-analysis-2006

Is the time ripe for such a movement, is it close and soon to emerge from the present confusion? The Maoists were, for many Nepalese, a hope for major change in the stagnating corruption of political life. But this illusion is evaporating. The options ahead look difficult for the ruling class and bleak for the poor - as the Parliamentary political process is impeded by distrust and the added decision-making problems of a coalition government; as parliamentary rivalries threaten to spill over into paramilitary war; as a split within the Maoists between gradualist democrats and one-party state capitalists looks more likely; as electricity infrastructure, food and fuel inflation hardships increase daily.

If the Maoist hardliners break away from the parliamentarians and take the YCL paramilitaries with them, this could easily spark a renewed civil war involving the national Army, various paramilitary wings of parliamentary parties (including Maoist oppositionists) and also smaller ethnic separatist groups.

Perhaps the one bright spark is the ongoing strike wave; maybe an independent social movement of rural and urban poor will emerge from the growing cynicism with the false promises of political solutions. Most Nepalis appear weary of war and many disillusioned with politics. But with these class struggles surrounded by a tangled web of intersecting ethnic, separatist, nationalist and political group tensions, and these divisions and rivalries becoming more brutal and militarised - the potential of an autonomous working class movement emerging look difficult, to say the least. And divided though the ruling class is, the one thing that unites them, from left to right, is the necessity to ban strikes. The politicians have already illustrated that - whatever the gloss put on it - they understand their conflict as an inter-class one to decide among themselves who will govern and exploit the poor, and by what methods.
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Footnotes
1) http://www.nepalbandh.com/index.php - is a site that lists an updated chronology of 'bandhs' ([b-awN-dh] adj.: Bandh, a Nepali word literally meaning 'closed') - i.e. strikes and public protests in Nepal.
2) Even a relative sympathiser of the Maoists admits "The Maoists can not just shrug off from their share of responsibility to their bourgeois counterparts for accepting past mistakes. While the past Panchayat, Kangressi, & “hijda” UML governments were certainly corrupt to their bone-marrows, the Maoists should not forget that they were also running a parallel government for the past 15 years. During their People’s War, the Maoists claimed to control all Nepal’s territory except Kathmandu and not only obstructed new development projects but also destroyed the existing infrastructures – a revolutionary method of weakening the “feudal governments” by forcing people into the Dark Ages. The Maoists even used to warn people not to expect any construction projects, as they were uprooting the remnants of feudalism." http://drdivas.wordpress.com/
3) See our earlier analysis; http://libcom.org/news/article.php/nepal-maoists-protests-analysis-2006
4) See our earlier comments; http://libcom.org/news/nepal-a-nice-little-earner-maoist-ruling-class-lenins-footsteps-12052008
5) See our earlier comments on the YCL; http://libcom.org/news/democratic-stresses-nepal-its-regional-implications-21062007
6) Somewhat confusingly, the non-Maoist 'Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist' (UML) is a long-established parliamentary party, while the Maoist party - until recently the 'Nepal Communist Party (Maoist)' (NCP-M) - has just merged with/absorbed the smaller CPN-Ekata Kendra Mashal (EKM) and so become the United
CPN-Maoist. Though, as noted in the text above, the 'Maoist' may soon be dropped.
7) "In 2007, a year after signing the peace agreement and pledging not to attack the media, Maoists killed journalist Birendra Shah in southern Nepal. For almost a month, the former guerrillas denied having a hand in Shah’s disappearance. However, after continuous pressure by Nepal’s leading media organization, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, [the Maoists] accepted responsibility. The main suspects accused of actually carrying out the attack are still at large." http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?fecvnodeid=118628&groupot593=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&fecvid=33&ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&v33=118628&id=95232
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/
8) Dowry is a financial obligation paid by the bride's family to the family of the bridegroom. (Less commonly, in some cultures payment can be in the opposite direction -referred to as "bride-price".) On dowry, see; http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=319188&rel_no=1 and for speculation on the caste basis for dowry and bride-price traditions; http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/practices1.html
9) http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2009/01/19/Comment/15576

jeudi 15 janvier 2009

Grèce: Déclaration de L'occupation du Syndicat des Travailleurs des Médias (ESIEA)

LES TRAVAILLEURS, NOUS AURONS LE DERNIER MOT…

Tract d'appel à l'Assemblée ouverte du 10 janvier :
Les milliers des manifestants qui sont descendus dans les rues de toute la Grèce le vendredi 09/01 ont prouvé que le feu de décembre n’est pas prêt de s’éteindre, ni par les balles ni par l’acide lancé par la majorité des médias tous ces derniers jours. C’est pourquoi la seule réponse de l’Etat face à la jeuneuse et aux travailleurs se résume, encore une fois, à la répression. Les MAT (CRS), les mains libres par les ordres des dirigeants et avec l’incitation des médias pour tolérance zéro, ont lancé des produits chimiques, accompagnés d’arrestations et des violences contre quiconque ils croisaient sur leur route.

Quand la répression étatique se retourne (comme le 09/01) même contre des travailleurs reporteurs, opérateurs, photographes, avocats, qui se trouvent dans la rue sans prendre la partie des assassins, il devient encore plus clair que les événements insurrectionnels de ce dernier temps posent la question de la dignité à chacun et chacune des nous dont la survie dépend du salaire. Ainsi, quelques-uns parmi nous qui travaillent dans les média, nous prenons position à côté des combattants. Avec la participation à la lutte des travailleurs mais aussi avec la lutte dans nos lieux de travail contre l’opinion du patronat des médias quant aux événements. Citons comme exemple le licenciement du photographe Kostas Trironis du journal « Elephteros Typos », parce qu’il a pris en photos des policiers lever les armes le lendemain de l’assassinat du jeune de 15ans, Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

Nous n’avons aucune illusion que les médias, en tant qu’appareillage idéologique de l’Etat, feront tout ce qu’ils pourront pour que les gens rentrent à la maison. Nous le savons mieux que tous car nous travaillions pour eux. Comme nous savons que pour que Mr Pretederis, ou Mr Tragas, et autres grands journalistes médiatiques, puissent prendre position pour l’abolition du droit d’asile des universités et la séparation entre les « cagoulés » et les manifestants « pacifiques », ils ont besoin le silence quotidien de chacun des nous.

Notre position aux côtés des révoltés résulte aussi de l’exploitation quotidienne que nous vivons tous les jours dans les lieux de travail. Dans l’industrie des médias les relations de travail flexibles et précaires abondent comme le travail non rémunéré, l’absence de sécurité sociale, le travail payée à la tâche, les heures supplémentaires et les pratiques arbitraires de la part du patronat. Ce dernier temps, sous prétexte de la crise financière, les licenciements ont augmenté ainsi que les menaces des licenciements.

Comme tous les travailleurs, nous vivons, nous aussi, la liquidation et l’arnaque des chefs syndicalistes. L’ESIEA (Union des Rédacteurs des Journaux Quotidiens d’Athènes) en tant qu’institution se retourne contre les luttes des travailleurs, que ça soit la résistance contre le patronat ou l’urgente nécessité de dépasser les divisions internes dans cette branche des métiers pour la création un syndicat uni pour la presse. La corporation d’ESIEA, qui fonctionne d’ailleurs en tant que syndicat de patronat, est le soutien principal des dirigeants dans leur effort de nous séparer du reste de la classe des travailleurs. Dernier exemple, c’est la non participation à la grève générale du mercredi 10/12.

Pour toutes ces raisons, une initiative de travailleurs, de chômeurs, de travailleurs au noir, de stagiaires et d’étudiants dans le milieu des médias nous avons décidé d’occuper le bâtiment d’ESIEA pour mettre en avant tout ce qui nous uni avec la société combattante :
- La contre-information par opposition à la propagande des nos patrons dans les médias

- L’action de tous les travailleurs dans les médias, auto-organisés, avec des procédures de démocratie participative, contre l’attaque que nous recevons.

- SOLIDARITÉ AVEC LA COMBATTANTE TRAVAILLEUSE KONSTANTINA KUNEVA

- LIBERATION IMMEDIATE DE TOUS LES INCULPÉS DE L’INSURECTION

- NOUS N’AVONS PAS PEUR DES LICENCIEMENTS, C’EST LES DIRIGEANTS QUI AURONT
PEUR DES GREVES SAUVAGES;

Mouvement des sans-emplois Argentin ( 17 min Film)


Les autoroutes sont les veines du capitalisme, coupons les!

Les manifestations, émeutes et pillages de décembre 2001 ont révélé à la scène internationale la grave crise économique que traverse l’Argentine.
Cependant, dès le milieu des années 90, les licenciements massifs ont poussé les plus pauvres à s’organiser collectivement pour faire face à la misère. En dehors des structures syndicales ou politiques, apparaissent des mouvements de chômeurs et les premiers "piquetes", blocages de routes. À travers cette nouvelle pratique, se développe une forme d’organisation basée sur l’horizontalité et une recherche constante d’autonomie face aux institutions.
Tourné en 2003, "Bùsqueda Piquetera" donne la parole aux piqueteros du MTD Solano (Movimiento de trabajadores desocupado).

lundi 5 janvier 2009

Denis Rancourt suspendu...

Voici une lettre d'appui du professeur Claud Lamontagne afin d'appuyer le professeur de physique Denis Rancourt qui s'est fait suspendre par l'université d'Ottawa. Le professeur en question a d'ailleurs un blog qui est présent dans nos liens depuis un certain temps. Comme quoi l'université lieu de connaissance et de débat, n'est pas réalité dans notre société libéral!

Physics professor Denis Rancourt has been suspended awaiting dismissal,barred from campus, removed from his graduate students, and escorted offcampus by university police, for having attributed all A+’s in one physicscourse 8 months ago.

The suspension and move for dismissal came during the December break at ameeting with the upper administration, with campus police waiting at thedoor to expel Denis from campus grounds.

While Denis’ pedagogical innovations are rejected by the university, thegrading question is only the latest pretext to attempt to silence Denis.The university’s actions are blatantly political (see backgroundinformation below) and are intended to remove a vocal critic of theuniversity administration, a dissident, and a practitioner of democracy inuniversity governance.

Following the high grades, Denis was removed from all teaching in May, including his popular activism course which uses only pass-fail grading.In July he was barred from reserving rooms for public events (the weeklyCinema Politica series). In September his undergraduate research studentMarc Kelly was unilaterally deregistered by the university. In NovemberRancourt and his graduate students and employees were expelled and lockedout of his laboratory without warning or explanation.

Fortunately, following the lab lockout, the Canadian Association ofUniversity Teachers (CAUT) announced that it would run an IndependentCommittee of Inquiry (ICOI) into the ongoing disputes between Denis and the university. The CAUT considers this to be a major academic freedomcase in Canada and has only ever run a handful of ICOIs in its history.

The ongoing broad public battle is one that is helping to define thesocietal role of universities, at a time when Canada is joining theAmerican geo-political project.

The next steps in the official procedure to dismiss Denis are as follows. On January 5th Denis will submit a letter of disagreement with theuniversity plan to fire him. He then has 20 working days to submit alegal brief presenting his case to the Board of Governors. Following thisa required meeting for possible resolution is scheduled within a month orso. Following an unsuccessful meeting, the case goes to the ExecutiveCommittee of the Board of Governors (EBOG) for a final decision at itsnext monthly meeting. The EBOG decision must be approved by President Allan Rock.

A core support committee for Denis and in defence of education has beenformed that I chair.

Entrevue sur l'action directe et l'autogestion des services alimentaires à l'UQO

Entrevue avec un porte-parole de l'UQO sur l'action directe qui eut lieu l'automne dernier. Celle-ci permis à la communauté étudiante de se réapproprier les services alimentaires par la création de l'Autogéré, une coop de solidarité.
http://lautogere.canalblog.com/


35 min.
Si vous voulez l'enregistrer sur votre ordinateur cliquez droit sur le lien et sélectionnez "Enregistrer la cible du lien sous..." ici

On vous invite à laisser vos commentaires sur le forum anarchiste AnarchistBlackCat

vendredi 2 janvier 2009

acquitement des arrêté-e-s du 8 décembre à Sherbrooke

Il y a un an de cela se tenait à Sherbrooke une manifestation pour dénoncer la répression policière importante dont les mouvements progressistes avaient été la cible durant l'automne 2007 (ce sont au dessus de 30 personnes qui avaient été arrêté lors de plusieurs manifestations à Sherbrooke). La manifestation du 8 décembre réunissant une cinquantaine de personnes avaient distribué de l'information à la population sur la brutalité policière et avaient crié haut et fort leur indignation.
Cependant la manifestation s'était fini devant le poste de police du SPS (service de police de Sherbrooke) avec l'intervention de l'anti-émeute sherbrookoise, qui sortait pour la première fois depuis quasiment 5 ans. Une série de 6 arrestations ciblées furent effectuées par les dizaines de policiers présents et une vingtaine de personnes furent encerclées et furent identifiées. Des accusation d'entrave au travail des policiers et de participation à une manifestation illégale ont été déposé contre les 6 arrêtés.
Suite à un an d'attente le jugement fut rendu à l'endroit des 6 arrêté-e-s qui furent tous et toutes acquitté-e-s par le juge. En effet, les preuves et les témoignaes des policiers, qui étaient venus en grand nombre pour justifier leur intervention, étaient extrêmement contradictoire et même la justice capitaliste pourtant si prompt à réprimer la contestation ne put accepter ces mensonges éhontés. Suite aux différents événements de l'années en rapport avec les forces policières, ce jugement doit nous donner plus de force pour dénoncer l'impunité et la brutalisté policière sous toute ses formes et ce dans la rue.

Nous nous reverrons le 15 mars dans les rues de Montréal!