RESISTANCE
ISSUE 19
INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE
VICTIMISED WOBBLY
TIMEBOMB
AF PUBLIC EVENT
INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE
Italy
Fiat,
the Italian car giant, has always played a central role
in the political and economic struggles of Italian workers.
Its recent plans to restructure, which involve laying
off about eight thousand workers have emphasised this.
The
traditionally rebellious Fiat plant workers have done
their predecessors proud by meeting the proposals with
fierce resistance.
The main centres of struggle have been at the company’s
huge industrial complexes at Turin and Termini Imerese
in Sicliy.
The Sicilian workers have been particularly aggressive,
with the dispute smashing some of the artificial boundaries
which all to often isolate workers’ struggles.
Firstly,
the struggle has involved many non workers. There is a
highly militant Wives and Families support group as well
as actions by students, No Global protesters and workers
in other industries.
Secondly,
the participants in the struggle have not restricted themselves
to picketing the factory gates but have shown that they
are more than willing to attack any other part of the
economy, using direct action as their tool.
On
12 November, after vowing that “not a single bolt
would leave the factory” the workers and their supporters
completely isolated Palermo’s airport by blocking
all the underground and overhead railway links and all
the motorway links to it.
A
couple of days later, with the railway lines still blockaded,
the workers moved in on the naval port at Termini Imerese
in order to stop the shipment of a consignment of 3,700
Punto cars.
The
workers positioned themselves so as to stop all movement
of people and cargo in and out of the port and so it was
made impossible for the ship to leave.
By
the 15th, the blockade of the Straits of Messina became
total.
Over
1,000 workers positioned themselves at various strategic
points around another of the island’s major ports
- Messina - to impede the arrival and departure of trains
and motorised transport.
As
well as this, there has been a huge 50,000 strong demonstration
at Termini Imerese and a 6,000 strong demonstration of
Palermitan students in solidarity with the workers and
the arrested “No Global” organisers.
After
Fiat/government/union talks broke down on 6/12, workers
in Turin poured out of the factory blocking roads and
railway lines, bringing much of the city grinding to a
halt. About 5000 workers were involved in angry and dramatic
scenes. Workers from the Fiat plant in Cassino near Naples
reacted by blocking Italy’s main North-South motorway
for a number of hours.
9/12 was the first day of unemployment for the workers
and those that turned up at the Mirafiori plant in Turin
were greeted by a sign forbidding laid-off workers from
entering. Turin-based workers who still had jobs downed
tools for four hours, blocking Mirafiori’s car assembly
line.
In Sicily, where all 1,800 workers at the Termini Imerese
plant have been laid off, a group of about 200 blocked
the road between the island’s two main cities, Palermo
and Catania.
Wives
of workers from the Termini Imerese plant organized a
sit-in in front of the Rome offices of the prime minister,
and when results of the talks were made known they began
chanting, “Clown, swindler, it’s a disgrace.”
Around
700 people who used to work at the Arese plant near Milan
blocked a major motorway north of Italy’s financial
capital for an hour. These were the same workers who days
earlier occupied Milano Centrale railway station. A regional
General Strike was held in the Piedmont area on 13/12
and was coupled with a major demonstration in the regions
capital,Turin.
Students
blocked the cities roads in solidarity. Mirafiore workers
held another strike on the 16th, sadly the Union limited
it to two hours, reducing it to a token gesture.
In
Sicily about a hundred Fiat employees at Termini Imerese
and industries linked to car manufacturing blockaded the
two entrances to the Palermo branch of the Rinascente
department store, which is part of the empire of the Agnelli
family who own most of Fiat. The workers’ intention
is to cause the famous clothes shop to make a loss. “We
want to make the Agnellis pay some of the very high costs
resulting from their disgraceful industrial plan”,
said a spokesperson.
The
Fiat workers’ best hope though has to lie not just
with industry wide action, but with action by the wider
working class. The last year has seen a huge level of
industrial militancy in Italy with 28 million working
hours being lost to strikes in the first 10 months of
2002.
Links
made across different industry sectors now will not only
help win this battle, but be a step closer to the type
of organisation needed to win the class war once and for
all.
Argentina
2002
was one of the most inspiring years of Argentinean history
- a year in which the working class demonstrated once
again that it has the ability and creativity to run society
in the interests of the many, and the bosses simultaneously
demonstrated that they did not.
Following
the original “Argentinazo” in December 2001,
there has been an incredible growth of working class self-organisation
- neighbourhood assemblies; barter clubs; workers’
control; community gardens; the varied activity of the
Piqueteros (unemployed groups); pensioners’ groups;
national congresses of all the above; and many local initiatives.
These
initiatives have developed outside of the state and its
institutions. The co-operation between the groups over
the year has built up very strong bonds of solidarity
- solidarity that was highlighted during the important
National March by Piqueteros, made possible through the
wider networks established in the struggle.
This March lasted five days, blocking highways and organising
soup kitchens whilst passing through towns and cities
that have played a central role in the uprising and in
building up resistance.
The
slogan for the march was “Throw the bums out!”
and ended up at the Plaza de Mayo (scene of bitter fighting
and many deaths last year) on the one-year anniversary
of De la Rua’s resignation.
Solidarity
actions under the banner of “Que Se Vayan Todos”
(They All Must go) took place at the same time in every
corner of the globe, from Australia to Yugoslavia. The
Argentinean resistance is spreading worldwide.
The
links and solidarity that will surely grow out of this
march are going to ensure that 2003 will be as least as
inspirational as 2002. Argentina shows that we can take
back our lives when we join together in collective action
- we have the power, we just need to use it!
Copenhagen
This is a report from the newly formed
Danish Anarchist Federation -
The
EU-summit is over, the Danish government is in ecstasy
over their self-proclaimed success, the police are being
congratulated for a job well done by politicians, tabloid
press and even some of the NGO’s, not surprisingly
including the NGO forum “Stop the Violence”.
But
let us ignore those bigots for one moment. The Anarchist
Federation would like to send a heartfelt
thanks to all of our comrades who traveled from far and
wide to participate in the demonstrations against the
EU.
Especially
those who participated in the demonstration against the
police state Europe, the unity and strength you showed
towards the police aggression is more than admirable.
If nothing else, the demonstration provoked a reaction
from the authorities that could only be interpreted one
way; this is a police state!
As all who traveled to Copenhagen
will know, the city was a very difficult place to move
around, people were
were stopped and searched constantly and repeatedly. Hundreds
and hundreds have had their civil rights violated by police.
94 have been arrested; all for ridicules minor misdemeanors,
except 4 who are charged with violence and have been sentenced
to remain in custody.
ABC
Copenhagen is currently working with the arrested and
imprisoned comrades.
Until
now the press have been busy glorifying the police leaders
and talking about why there weren’t burning cars
and mutilated law enforcers.
They have had very little information about the counter
summit.
We
hope that will shut the mouths of those who claim that
it is the fault
of militant activists that the press doesn’t write
about peaceful demonstrations.
The
press simply doesn’t want to cover them. One story
which the press is running though, and this is interesting,
is a massive critique against the undercover cops who
tried to infiltrate the anarchist, and several other demonstrations,
officially without being ordered to do so (which is of
course a lie).
There
will now be an official investigation against the undercover
cops, who also violated the mask-prohibition.
We
can’t help finding it slightly amusing that some
of the bastards who attacked our demonstration could actually
loose their jobs because of this.
But
it should be the high ranking police that should get kicked,
because they
gave the orders, of course they did.
The
NGO forum “Stop the Violence” is also glorifying
the police. Monday the 16th of December the organisation
actually presented the police chief inspector Kai Vitrup,
with a big cake, “for good teamwork”.
The
Anarchist Federation finds this not only outragesly grotesque,
but also a direct act of disrespect towards all who participated
in actions and demonstrations which were attacked by the
police, and especially those people who’ve been
harassed, arrested, and imprisoned during the summit.
During
the summit, the police broke all the promises they had
given to those NGO’s naive enough to start negotiations
with them in the first place.
They
did not keep their distance from the demonstrations, they
did make preventive arrests, they used undercover cops
as police provocateurs (the best proof of this is that
the police managed to arrest one of their own undercover
cops during the anti-police state demo, because he was
too provocating) and they have harassed people constantly
on the streets of Copenhagen.
This
is not in the least bit surprising to us. But we hope
that some of these organizations now have learned that
it is never possible to make deals with ,or trust the
police. Those who haven’t can fuck off. Right now
4 of ours are imprisoned on false charges. 2 Swedes, a
Frenchman and an English woman. These 4, which have been
charged with “assaulting a police officer”,
were arrested in order to justify the police attacks on
the demonstration “Against police state Europe”.
If
you want to write supportive letters to them, then you
can do so through AnarchistBlackCross-Copenhagen at abc-kbh@animail.net
http://www.anarchistblackcross.dk
We
demand the immediate release of all the political prisoners
in the European Police state. Whatever they do, we will
never surrender, so now we are going for Thessaloniki
(Greece) in June 20. - 21. 2003, and we hope that many
of the people who demonstrated with us in Copenhagen will
come along
.Love and Anarchy
The Anarchist Federation - Denmark
Info@resist2002.dk
http://www.resist2002.dk
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VICTIMISED
WOBBLY
Hi
Alex. Thanks for agreeing to meet with us today. Can you
tell us a bit about your problem? Who do you work for?
I
work for Lee Hestia Housing Association which is owned
by Novas-Ouvertures, a company which has bought up numerous
charitable type organisations. They work closely with
the Blairite policy of privatising social services. They
also have a high turnover of workers due to their shoddy
treatment of staff.
So
what happened?
I
had always been critical of the way workers were treated
and thus became unpopular with Novas management. I’d
point out that Novas thinks nothing of evicting tenants
from their properties for small arrears of service charges.
In September I was off work due to stress. After a fort-night
I received no sick pay. I complained about this and was
then told to attend a meeting with management who began
victimising me for being off sick. During this meeting
I pointed out the rotten practices of the firm -nepotism,
cronyism etc…
Can
you give us an example?
Well,
a manager has three family members working in my workplace.
Management were very annoyed at me for speaking out on
this subject.
Following the meeting, they failed to pay me sick pay.
I signed off sick, yet they wouldn’t let me return
to work. I have had no pay since September. It’s
a clear case of victimisation.
What
organisation do you belong to, Alex?
I’ve
been an IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) member for
about a year. Previously I’d been the T&G shop-steward
for our work place. I have had great support from IWW
members and have received messages of support from individuals
and organisations all over the world. Our union’s
motto is -an injury to one is an injury to all. Unlike
most unions which encourage sectional interests and work
closely with the exploiters of working people ,the IWW
is a revolutionary union.
We
believe workers must be organised in the struggle against
capitalism.
So,
what’s happening now?
The
most recent developments in my case that Novas have offered
me
£2000 to take redundancy. I have initiated proceedings
to take Novas to an
industrial tribunal. Some friends who I work with, in
an act of solidarity,
chained the management’s carpark’s hut, preventing
them from getting into
work! It’s ironic that Novas’s mission stresses
empowering people when
in reality they treat their workers like shit.
Please
contact Novas to urge them to reinstate Alex’s sick
pay.
Write to: Mary Connolly, Novas, Chancery House, Paradise
Street, Liverpool, UK.
Email: policy@novas.org
Tel: 0870 9019701
I.W.W.
website is:
www.iww.org.uk
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TIMEBOMB
- THE KURDISTAN SHORES
(continuing our series on the history of workers’
councils. A longer version apears at our website)
Outbreaks
of resistance spread rapidly across the north of the Iraq,
towards the end of the Gulf war, and were completely spontaneous,
popular insurrections free from, and in spite of, the
influence of Kurdish nationalism and leftist splinter-politics.
What they would have achieved if they had been joined
by returning Iraqi soldiers massacred along the now infamous
road to Basra in the south of the country, and if the
too short-lived revolt there had lasted long enough to
link up the struggle, is another question.
The
Northern Uprising
The main centres of the northern revolt were in the regions
of Sulaimania, Kirkuk and Hawlia. As Iraqi soldiers deserted
the front in their thousands (30,000 in Sulaimania!),
thousands more took to the streets, organising themselves
into committees (shoras) across the region. Demonstrations
took place everywhere. Over 50 shoras sprung up in Sulaimania
and Ba’athist centres (Ba’ath being the ruling
party in Iraq), army bases and security headquarters were
attacked. Listed below are examples of some of the activites
in which the shoras participated.
1) Every Shora had its own radio station.
2) Every shora set up medical posts.
3) Each shora had a number of committees dealing with
the media, the militia, medical matters, administration,
finance and general assistance and the law, as well as
a committee for relations between the shoras and a foreign
relations committee.
4) The building up of a militia for resistance purposes.
5) On the 16th of March, 1991, the anniversary of the
massacre of Halabja, the shoras incited the entire city
even threatening the Kurdistan Front (KF).
6) On the 17th, a general meeting of all the shoras took
place at the Majid Bug shora to elect a supreme shora
covering the city.
(Abridged from The Kurdish Uprising…)
It was at this point, on March 17th, that the shoras came
under attack, not from the Baathist regime, but from the
Kurdistan Front (KF).
Defeat
So frightened were the nationalists by the Shoras that
by March 18th they were openly calling for them to be
disbanded. Through a concerted campaign of misinformation
regarding a government backlash and other lies, but mainly
because of their large stocks of food supplies, the nationalist
parties were able to undermine the Shoras. After years
of hunger and conflict, people were, naturally enough,
desperate enough for security.
Given time the shoras could have created the building
blocks for a society organised along libertarian lines.
The ‘organised left’ and the nationalist parties
preferred, however, to pursue their own narrow agendas
and set out to destroy them with the twin tactics of propaganda
and food. Sufficient confidence had yet to be built up
in the shoras for the people not to be hoodwinked by the
duplicity of these methods.
If the shoras had spread, this confidence, the confidence
which, after all, had destroyed in the space of a few
days the institutions of Ba’athist terror that had
stood for decades, could have manifested itself into a
completely new system of social organisation.
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AF
PUBLIC EVENT
At
least once a year the Anarchist Federation hosts an open
forum. The next one, Subvert and Resist is in Belfast
on Sunday the February 2nd from 12.30p.m to 7 p.m.. All
are welcome.
Topics:
12.30-1.30
Ecology and Activism:
A short talk and workshop given and led by a member of
the AF (London). The member has been an eco-activist for
over 20 years and is author of the popular AF pamphlet:
Where’s there’s Muck There’s Brass
1.30-2.30
Gender, Class and Anarchism.
Open discussion introduced by the Women’s Commission
of Organise! - A.S.F .
This talk/workshop focuses on the women’s movement
today, and what pro-active measures women can take to
organise class struggle.
2.30-3.30 Break
3.30-4.30
The Other Marxism.
Autonomism is a Marxist current which developed in Italy
in the 60’s and 70’s. It is characterised
by. Emphasis is on worker’s autonomy from capital,
from the ‘official representatives’ of the
working class (i.e. parties and unions), and on the autonomy
of sectors of the class in their fight against specific
oppressions.
A talk given by a member of the AF (Bristol), experienced
activist, and co-maintainer of the web site: Class against
Class
http://www.geocities.com/cordobakaf/index.html
4.30-5.30
Prisoner Support Workshop.
How can we improve the support network for anarchist prisoners
in Britain and Ireland?
5.30-6.00 Break
6.00-7.00
Anti-War Direct Action Workshop.
-a libertarian response to the upcoming war
Venue: is upstairs in the Front Page bar. To get there
you first find the front of the City Hall, walk down the
road directly in front of it as far as the Belfast Telegraph
building (near the cathedral), turn left, past the Irish
News (on the right), until you come to a pub with a tacky
flashing red neon sign called the Front Page.
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