THE FOURTH WORLD WAR.

 

       Not a short film, not all in English, but worth watching, listen for the facts, get the big picture.

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GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IS ESSENTIAL.

        We should never forget that our struggle is global, it has to be, those who are exploiting the ordinary people are organised on a global scale. It is no longer the boss who lives up the hill, it is the boss who works in marble halls somewhere thousands of miles from your workplace. Only when we link up and organise on a global scale can we hope to win a decent life for all our people.

SOLIDARITY.

This fromIUF:

        The human resources manager at Nestlé's Kabirwala dairy factory has been ordered to appear before the Punjab High Court for repeatedly showing contempt for court orders to reinstate the unfairly terminated President of the Nestlé Kabirwala Workers Action Committee, Ashfaq Butt. The HR manager's contempt citation is one in a long series of violations committed by Nestlé over the course of more than 2 years as part of management's brutal response to the contract workers' struggle for their rights.

       Nestlé has not only repeatedly violated court orders, Pakistan law and international standards and Conventions in its ruthless drive against the contract workers and the union which is supporting them. The company has falsely implicated Butt in four fabricated police cases, and he is only free on bail. Nestlé continues to pressure workers into withdrawing their legal claims for reinstatement, has created over 100 permanent positions for workers who do not support the Kabirwala workers' struggle for their rights, and is promoting a rival group of contract workers with an eye to provoking clashes in order to fabricate still more criminal cases.

Click here to send a message to Nestlé, telling them to Stop Nespressure and respect trade union rights in Pakistan!

Read the full story here.

Join the Stop Nespressure! campaign on Facebook

Ron Oswald
General Secretary, IUF

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
website: www.iuf.org

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY - CLYDESIDE APPRENTICES STRIKE 1952.

       

        January 27 marks the 60th anniversary of an industrial event that introduced me to working class struggle. As an apprentice in, what was then, Fairfield shipyard, I was involved in the apprentices strike of that year. 60 years on and the whole concept of apprentices has almost disappeared and so have the shipyards, but the working class struggle still goes on. This struggle is a continuous struggle and will be as long as we live under the yoke of this exploitative system called capitalism. Capitalism has moved forward and has developed into a world wide corporate fascism, which is even more ruthless in its quest for ever increasing wealth and power for its small army of parasites. The development of global corporate fascism re-enforces our need for global class struggle.

SOLIDARITY.

THE CLYDESIDE APPRENTICES' STRIKE 1952.

THE CONFERENCE.

January 27 1952 saw an event that set the ball rolling for the first major apprentices' strike since 1937, before the second world war. On that Sunday the Young Engineers Clydeside Conference was called. It took place at 1pm in Community House Clyde Street Glasgow, wages and conditions being the main subjects up for discussion. A Clydeside Apprentices' leaflet claimed, “Apprentices pay the same as journeymen for meals, travel, tools and overalls, etc.” The conference also called for Action Committees to be set up in every workshop and to pursue a claim for £1 week increase on apprentices' wages. At the conference there were 31 firms represented with 114 apprentice delegates representing all trades in engineering and shipbuilding.

Committee secretary, Jimmy Reid, stated, ”--it is not enough to feel indignation, but it was necessary to translate it into action. The committee supported 100% trade union membership among apprentices and stated, “We are the skilled tradesmen of tomorrow---and it is in our hands that the future prosperity of this country depends--.” At this time young lads were being sent to fight in Korea, Egypt, Malaya etc.

A RISE IN FEELINGS.

A delegation from Fairfield Shipyard, Govan, Glasgow, stated that the apprentices there believed that the next step forward was a token strike and demonstration on the streets of Glasgow. “We will make the bosses shake when they see 1,000 apprentices marching through the streets of Glasgow.” Some working conditions were described, saying, apprentices were working on water tests, up to their knees in muck and rust and earning 24 shillings a week.

FIRST DAY OF ACTION.

The first one day strike and demonstration saw 5,000 apprentices march through Glasgow city centre. There was a roar of cheering when the demonstration was informed that 1,200 Greenock apprentices had stopped work in solidarity. At the Hydepark Locomotive works Springburn Glasgow, the management tried to get the apprentices to go to an arranged film show instead of striking. It failed miserably.

Eric Parks of Weirs Pumps Cathcart Glasgow said he was called before the apprentices' supervisor who said, “Eric my boy, you've fallen down in my respect. The employers are making sacrifices in our works--.” Eric pointed out that Weirs had made £1.25 million profit last year, or £6 per head per week.

A comment by a member of the government that a loaf of bread might soon cost 10/- (ten shillings, -50p). This was taken up as, 3 loaves of bread a week—an apprentices wage.

THE LONDON DELEGATION.

A delegation of apprentices interviewed employers representatives in London and it was stated in the press, that these young engineers didn't fear important looking gents in Anthony Eden hats and impeccable suits. On this London delegation were Eric Parks, Jimmy Reid, John McColl, and Ernest Skilling.

SPREADING.

In Aberdeen 600 apprentices noisily marched through the city streets, the call for strike action was now spreading. There was now apprentice action in Glasgow, Greenock, Aberdeen, Manchester, Shefield and London.

THE RESOLUTION.

At a delegate conference on Sunday March 2nd a resolution to call a strike for Monday March 10th 1952 was carried by 95 for and 5 against. The resolution stated, This conference of delegates representing apprentices from all over Scotland, demands a reply not later than 12am of Friday March 7th to the claim of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions for a £1 per week increase in all apprentices wages. An unsatisfactory reply or a failure to reply will be regarded as deliberate refusal to reach agreement and will result in strike action commencing on Monday March 10th at 11am..

BULLISH ATTITUDE.

The attitude of the apprentices was very bullish with speaker after speaker emphasising that apprentices wanted strike action in the belief that only militant action would lead to a successful campaign. At the conference Jimmy Reid stated; “Before the lads went into action the employers had no need to worry about them, but now these people are sitting up and having to take notice of the apprentices,--- the lesson is clear.”Eric Parks reminded the conference of the huge profits being made by the employers and said; “We must see the necessity of forming apprentices' committees in every factory as the main form of organisation----it is better to suffer a little hardship than to grovel on our bellies and accept the miserable and intolerable conditions of the present time.”

THE STRIKE.

On Wednesday March 6th 500 apprentices from Caledonian Shipyard Dundee staged a half day token strike in support of the £1 claim. Other action, demonstrations and marches of support sprang up in London, Manchester and elsewhere.

No satisfactory answer arrived so the strike went ahead on Monday 10th March. With 5,000 Clydeside apprentices walking out at 11am that day. By March 22nd over 17,000 apprentices in engineering and shipbuilding and other key industries were on strike. At this period Birkenhead, Manchester and Shefield joined the strike. There was union and financial support form workplaces, some workplaces were levying workers 2/6 (two shillings and sixpences,12 and a half pence.) to 5/- (five shillings, 25 pence.) Workers at the Rolls Royce Works donated £150.

By March 25th nearly 20,000 apprentices were on strike. March 26th Glasgow shop stewards decided to take token action to support the apprentices strike. In Edinburgh where apprentices had decided to go back, they walked out again the same day 800 strong. Harland and Wolf's Belfast now joined the strike with over 1,000 apprentices walking off the job.

That week there was a march and demonstration in Glasgow which saw 5,000 apprentices march through the city streets. By this time Rolls Royce had donated £500 to the strike fund.

THE RETURN TO WORK.

Approximately 20,000 apprentices who had been on strike for more than three weeks went back to work on the understanding that it would speed up negotiations with the employers. Delegates representing 14,500 took decisions for future action should the employers fail to give a satisfactory response. The conference adopted a strong worded resolution which expressed determination to carry the fight to a successful conclusion.

Pat McCauley, secretary of the Greenock strike committee stated; “This is only the first round in the struggle. The lads have shown their mettle and shaken the bosses. If we don't get a reply to our claim shortly, the bosses must be held responsible for what will follow--- this is a tactical retreat not a defeat. The boys are still in fighting mood.”On Friday April 25th apprentice delegates from Clydeside, Aberdeen, Manchester, Shefield and York decided in Glasgow to accept, under protest, the recent wage award agreed between the trade unions and the employers. The conference stated that this was only the first stage in the struggle for better conditions.

DISCONTENT.

Eric Parks, secretary of the Clydeside Apprentices committee said that the amount employers gave which was higher than their first offer, and the fact that they negotiated a separate wage claim for the apprentices at was entirely due to the militant action taken by the lads in the workshops and shipyards. The fact that there had been a separate negotiated wage claim for the apprentices represented a terrific victory for the lads. Previously the apprentices wage increases, if any, were simple tacked on to the end of the wages agreement made with the journeymen.

The general feeling among the apprentices, especially the 1st. 2nd. and 3rd year lads was one of discontent. A discontent that said it should be accepted under protest and immediately make arrangements to go forward for a new demand.

THE AWARDS.

Age-- Award.

15-- 5s 6p

16-- 6s 5p

17-- 7s 4p

18-- 8s 3p

19-- 10s 1p

20-- 11s

The 10s and 11s award was a fair bit of money to many apprentices and this may have been the aim of the employers by making it less likely that the older lads, who would be journeymen in a year or so, would be less likely to support further strike action.

Posted by John Couzin.
the book Radical Glasgow.
the website Radical Glasgow.

More on Glasgow's working class history.

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AN INJURY TO ONE---!!!

     The struggle is global.  An appeal from IUF.

      Grenada, an island in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, can be heaven for tourists but Grenada Breweries Company turned it into a hell for workers as 125 of them were locked out just before the Christmas on December 19, 2011.

CLICK HERE to send a message to Grenada Breweries Company telling them to stop violating workers' rights and end the lockout!

For more information, read the full story here.

NEW IUF News Service!

Click here to subscribe to the new IUF News Service

Ron Oswald
General Secretary, IUF

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
web-site: www.iuf.org

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STRUGGLE IN JAPAN.

     

     The Western mainstream media is filled with the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, however that is not the only places that the ordinary people are in revolt against this exploitive system. At this moment in time, people in countries all over the world trying to bring a halt the injustices of the capitalist system, trying to change the world for the benefit of all. In the South American continent, across Europe, America, and Asia, people are in revolt against their lives being controlled by the plundering parasites of the corporate world. The following is a little information of the struggle taking place in Japan.

     Through the medium of instant communications, solidarity across the globe is now possible, can the global uprising be close at hand?

From:  doro-chiba-quake-report@auone.jp

Sent: Mon, 30 May, 2011 18:16:34
Subject: Doro-Chiba Quake Report

Dear Friends,

                  Japanese Kan administration launched series of outrageous oppression: one is a bloody crackdown on Kan-Nama (Solidarity Union of Japan Construction and Transport Workers Kansai Area Branch), the western stronghold of labor movement, arresting 13 union officials and members on May 11, and the other is a unprecedented outrageous oppression on Sanrizuka farmers (Sanrizuka-Shibayama United Opposition League against the Airport Construction) arresting 50 farmers and supporters in the Tokyo High Court building on May 20.

This is a video of the mass arrest taken from the pavement of the High Court Building:

http://youtu.be/d54jmGBVEDk

The crackdowns express profound fear of the ruling class that these pivotal labor and farmer movement are joining together the mounting anger of workers, farmers, fishers and other inhabitants in the quake-stricken areas who are suffering from the disasters and radioactive exposure.

Rise up to crush violent crackdowns together! The united power of working class and people alone can create future! Stop mass layoff of one million under the pretext of the huge quake! Abolish nuclear plants by the power of international solidarity!

Please forward this Newsletter as widely as possible and send protest messages to the Japanese Government:  https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html

In Solidarity, 

International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba  http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english.htm

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MADRID ECHOES THE SPIRIT OF TAHRIR SQUARE.

The following was taken from A World to Win site. Where is the rest of Europe in this "awakening"?

Madrid echoes the spirit of Tahrir Square

     The Real Democracy Now movement that has sprung up across Spain, with a main square in Madrid under occupation since Sunday, is a key moment in the developing global struggle against the failure of the political and economic status quo.    

 Drawing their inspiration from Tahrir Square in Cairo – where the Egyptian revolution began – thousands have organised themselves into a people’s assembly in Puerta del Sol to discuss a way forward. The movement, which is independent of political parties and the trade unions, used social networking sites to mobilise for the occupation.

SOLIDARITY.

      A pamphlet distributed by organisers said they "do not represent any political party” and that "we want a new society that prioritises life over economic and political interests. We advocate a change in society and social consciousness." Fabio Gándara, the spokesman for Democracia Real Ya, a 26-year-old unemployed lawyer who is studying to be a civil servant, said: "What we're denouncing is the lack of real democracy and the tendency toward a two-party system where corruption at all levels is simply scandalous.”

     

       With tents, mattresses, a kitchen, a workshop and even a pharmacy, protesters have refused to budge, defying the decision of regional election officials that they should leave the square. They have also organised their own security teams to keep order in the square. There are at least 57 so-called "Sol campsites" that have popped up across the country in solidarity. Spaniards living abroad have also set up camps outside Spain 's embassies in Berlin and London , and in Amsterdam 's Dam Square . 

       In Spain – just as it was in Tunisia and Egypt , where the Arab spring began at the start of the year – the movement is driven by the “lost generation” of educated but unemployed young people. An estimated 45% of them are without work while average unemployment at over 20% is the highest in Europe .

      They are the victims of a global capitalist recession which has devastated Spain ’s economy which floundered when a gigantic property bubble burst in 2008. And they are casualties of the post-Franco dictatorship politics too.

      

       The fascist regime was replaced by los señores Tweedledum and Tweedledee – aka the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the right-wing People’s Party (PP). Only fewer and fewer Spaniards can tell the difference between them. Both parties are endemically corrupt and have shared the role of integrating Spain into the global market-driven capitalist economy.

        One result is that Spain is close to following Ireland , Portugal and Greece in seeking a bail-out from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. That would spell not only the collapse of the eurozone but trigger a new global financial collapse.

      That is why Real Democracy Now is saying “Don’t vote for them” – the PSOE and PP – in Sunday’s regional and local elections because neither represents the interests of ordinary people. This is an astonishing indictment of a parliamentary democracy that was only established in 1977 after Franco’s death two years earlier.

      This, naturally, poses the question of if not this “democracy”, then what type of political system should replace it? The protests in Madrid , Barcelona , Seville and other cities, popularly known as M-15 as they began on May 15, have started that debate. In Sol Square there is a “democracy wall” where people have stuck hundreds of notes with their thoughts on them, declarations and statements.

     In Egypt , the dictatorship was overthrown but power remains out of reach, resting in the hands of an army that owns a large chunk of the economy. In Spain , a 35-year-old parliamentary democracy leaves real power in the hands of the corporations and banks who use politicians as a front.

      For a “real” democracy to work, it must involve the transfer of economic and financial resources into the hands of ordinary working people, alongside the replacing of the capitalist state by forms of popular power. Many took up the fight against Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s with that aim in mind. The revolution was cruelly betrayed by Stalinism and then defeated. Puerta del Sol signals a chance to put history back on course.

Paul Feldman
Communications editor
20 May 2011

Corinna Lotz
Secretary

A World to Win  07871 745258

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