|
|
January 1-15, 2011
Volume 19 - Number 1
$1
Prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk
mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
Contents
Printer-friendly articles
1) G20 REPORT: "MASSIVE COMPROMISE
OF CIVIL LIBERTIES"
2) BC FED MOVES TO BIENNIAL CONVENTIONS
3) BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN FOR LOCKED-OUT
STEELWORKERS
4) "UNITE IN SOLIDARITY WITH
STEELWORKERS IN HAMILTON"
5) COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP MEETS IN TORONTO
6) NEW ATTACKS ON FREE SPEECH -
Editorial
7) REMEMBER THE PRISONERS - Editorial
8) B.C. NDP: WHAT'S
BEHIND THE DIVISIONS?
9) INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST MEETING IN SOUTH
AFRICA
10) TSHWANE
DECLARATION: CAPITALISM'S TRAJECTORY THREATENS HUMAN CIVILIZATION
11) YOUTH FESTIVAL DELEGATES WELCOMED WITH
FIREWORKS
12) IS THERE A "GLOBAL STRIKE WAVE"?
13) GENERAL STRIKE IN PORTUGAL AGAINST AUSTERITY MEASURES
14) SUPPORT A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN
PENINSULA DISPUTE
15) MUSIC NOTES - By Wally Brooker
16) STRANGE OUTCOME OF CANCUN CLIMATE CONFERENCE
17) WHAT'S LEFT
18) CLARTÉ (en français)
19)
THE SPARK! (Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the
Communist Party of
20) INTRODUCING MARX
21) REBEL YOUTH
PEOPLE'S VOICE JANUARY 1-15, 2011 (pdf)
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Spark!
The Spark! The latest issue of The Spark! theoretical
journal, is now on sale for $5 at Communist Party offices (see p. 8) or
People’s Co-op Books, Articles include
plus reviews, editorials, and more.
|
|
|
Theoretical
and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of |
|
|
People's Voice deadlines: January 16-31 February 1-15 Send submissions to PV Editorial Office,
|
|
REDS
ON THE WEB |
|
People's Voice finds many "Global Class Struggle" reports at the "Labour Start" website, http://www.labourstart.org. We urge our readers to check it out! |
*
* * * *
People's Voice
Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement
#205214
ISSN number 1198-8657
People's Voice is published by
New Labour Press Ltd
PV
Editorial Office
Phone:604-255-2041
Fax:604-254-9803
email: pvoice@telus.net
Editor: Kimball Cariou : Business Manager:
Sam Hammond
Editorial Board: Kimball Cariou, Miguel
Figueroa,
Doug Meggison, Naomi Rankin, Liz Rowley,
Jim Sacouman
* * * * * *
Letters
People's Voice welcomes your letters
on any subject covered in our pages.
We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity,
and to refuse to print letters which may be libellous
or which contain unnecessary personal attacks.
Send your views to:
"Letters to the Editor",
or pvoice@telus.net
People's Voice articles may be reprinted without permission,
provided the source is credited.
*
* * * * *
The Communist Party of
has a proud history of fighting for jobs, equality, peace,
Canadian independence, and socialism.
The CPC does much more than run candidates in elections.
We think the fight against big business and its parties
is a year-round job,
so our members are active across the country,
to build our party and to help strengthen people's movements
on a wide range of issues.
All our policies and leadership
are set democratically by our members.
To find out more about
give us a call at the nearest CPC office.
* * * * * *
Central Committee CPC
290A
Ph: (416) 469-2446
fax: (416) 469-4063 E-mail info@cpc-pcc.ca
Parti Communiste
du Quebec (section du
Parti communiste du
5359 Ave du Parc, Montréal,
B.C.Committee CPC
Tel: (604) 254-9836
Fax: (604) 254-9803
Tel: (780) 465-7893
Fax: (780)463-0209
Unit #1 - 19 Radcliffe Close
Calgary
Tel: (403) 248-6489
Tel: (613) 232-7108
Manitoba Committee
387 Selkirk Ave., Winnipeg, R2W 2M3
Tel/fax: (204) 586-7824
290A
Tel: (416) 469-2446
Tel: (905) 548-9586
Atlantic Region CPC
Box 70 Grand Pré, NS, B0P 1M0
Tel/fax: (902) 542-7981
http://www.communist-party.ca/
* * * * * *
News for People, Not for Profits!
Every issue of People's Voice
gives you the latest
on the fightback from coast to coast.
Whether it's the struggle for jobs or peace, resistance to social
cuts,
solidarity with
we've got the news the corporate media won't print.
And we do more than that
- we report and analyze events
from a revolutionary perspective,
helping to build the movements for justice and equality,
and eventually for a socialist
Read the paper that fights for working people
- on every page, in every issue!
People's Voice
$30 for 1 year
$50 for 2 years
Low-income special rate: $15 for 1-year
Outside
Send to: People's Voice,
You can call the editorial office at 604-255-2041
REDS ON THE WEB
http://www.communist-party.ca
http://www.ycl-ljc.ca
http://www.solidnet.org
(The following articles are from the Jan. 1-15, 2011,
issue of People's
1) G20 REPORT: "MASSIVE
COMPROMISE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES"
By Liz Rowley,
leader of the Communist Party of
Ontario Ombudsman
Andre Marin has concluded that police and government action that led to the
arrest, detention and beatings of 1105 people last June 26/27 in
It's a clear statement that the violence at the G20 protests, and before, was caused by police and directed at protestors and passersby.
Marin's report to the
The Public Works Protection Act is World War II legislation, intended for use
in a war situation. Police and parliaments used it to declare war on more than
40,000 Canadians exercising their civil and constitutional rights to legally
assemble, demonstrate, and speak out against the Summits, and the austerity
policies being imposed across the globe, including in
Many of those arrested were beaten and detained without access to phones, legal counsel, food or bathrooms for long periods. Many were subjected to strip searches and body cavity searches intended to frighten, humiliate and intimidate. Most were young, and police appeared to target demonstrators from Québec, pulling buses over on the highway and making mass arrests.
Until Marin's report hit the Legislature, none of the various public bodies looking into the police attacks was able to hold the cops or governments responsible. Thousands of photos showed police beating demonstrators, but hidden faces and badge numbers prevented individual officers from being identified. Civilian police overseers like the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) claimed their hands were tied.
The
In fact, police brutality was so widespread the courts would be choked with
criminal charges against cops who assaulted peaceful protesters. Many of those
assaulted have signed onto a class action suit against all the police forces
involved (from across
The McGuinty government is now in damage control, debating whether to amend or kill the Public Works Protection Act. With a provincial election next October, there is fear the Act could be used again by a very right-wing Tory government if the Liberals don't scrap it now.
In a strange twist, the Tories are casting themselves as defenders of democracy
as they respond to the Marin Report and attack the Liberals. This is more of
the dangerous right‑wing populism that snookered
The Communist Party of
Establishing strong civilian controls over police, and democratic controls over
Legislatures and Parliaments, is vital. This will be a crucial part of the
struggle to curb corporate power in
2) BC FED MOVES TO BIENNIAL
CONVENTIONS
By Sam Hammond
The
The BC Fed changed its constitution to move to a convention every two years. This was done with the passing of a composite resolution that also added provisions for at least two regional conferences outside the lower mainland between conventions, and beginning in 2011 a provincial conference every two years focusing on strengthening and building the union movement. Also contained in the resolution was the proviso that the time, place and delegate entitlement for these activities be determined by the Executive Council.
There had been in the resolution books a resolution from CUPE that called for a Constitutional Convention every year. However, CUPE had pulled its 250 delegates from the meeting and their resolution never made it to the floor. The resolution on the two‑year conventions passed with an easy majority of those present. Although the procedure was quite legal, many delegates were surprised that such an important issue was decided in the absence of the CUPE delegates.
Jim Sinclair was re‑elected as President, but one change did come at the
leadership level, when long‑time secretary‑treasurer Angela Schira declined to stand for re‑election. This
avoided an election contest against Irene Lanzinger,
former president of the BC Teachers' Federation, which joined the BC Fed a few
years ago. The BCTF's reputation as one of the
province's more militant unions was bolstered by their two‑week strike in
2005, a struggle in which the teachers won broad public support and fought the
The Executive Report was a blistering analysis of the corporate attack on the
working class in BC, although not placed in exactly those words. It covered the
ground thoroughly and made the important connections internationally and
The Political Action Report illustrated the conundrums and contradictions of political action as it is understood ‑ or not understood ‑ in the labour movement. Contained in the main delegate package with the resolutions and other reports, the Political Action Report was more comprehensive than the shortened version given on the floor. The floor model presented labour and its agenda as more of an NDP farm team than a broader and more potent social movement. The report was heavily slanted towards providing money and cadre to the NDP, while avoiding meticulously the political meltdown within the NDP, its lack of working class alternatives, and its continuous courtship of labour's corporate enemies. There was no mention of the need for the kind of street level political action that so many of the militant youth and social activists demonstrated this past year, throughout the Olympics and around a myriad of issues. The HST initiative was dealt with obliquely, reflecting different approaches to this issue within the labour movement.
A couple of well reasoned speeches critical of the report were well received by the delegates. The other speeches were the usual knee jerk plaudits to social democracy.
A few days earlier, NUPGE announced its withdrawal from the CLC because of its
discontent over several years of the CLC's failure to
effectively deal with the problem of raiding. This caused a major problem in
the BC Fed convention. Although NUPGE declared its intent to remain in
Provincial Federations and Labour Councils, Ken Georgetti has called in the letter of the constitution to
declare them out federally, provincially and locally after a cooling off or
last negotiating period ending December 31. The BCGEU delegates were seated at
the convention because they are not officially out till Dec. 31, and there is
still time to search for a solution. But CUPE‑BC did a very strange
thing, removing their delegates from the convention in protest of BCGEU's presence, leaving a huge block of empty seats right
in the middle of the convention floor. This unfortunate development robbed the
convention of one of the most important public unions in BC. However, the
Hospital Employees
This issue deserves a separate analysis in an upcoming issue. The CLC has made
rulings on raiding, affiliations and dispute settlement over the years that are
quite frankly all over the map. There is a dispute brewing in
The Executive report correctly said "things will get worse before they get
better". The battle plan of capitalism is available from the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund, and it is simple. We must go without so
they can continue to plunder us and our habitat. The weakness of labour, with all due respect to the spirit of resistance
that is rippling through the ranks, is the perception that things will get
better, that this offensive of capital is one of the cyclical phenomena where
the downturn will inevitably bottom out and start its way upward again. It is
questionable that this was ever quite accurate except with blinders on, but it
is definitely not the case in today's world. The economic, constitutional and
policing means underway are methods to control us and make our present
conditions the beginning of a new world order; check out the
The BC Fed is a good working class organization, but the time we have to analyze what is needed for the protection of working people is constricting. The struggle is on, and our youth cannot wait out their lives while trade union leaders squabble over territory. The concept expressed in the Political Action Report, that working people will agree to pay more taxes if they get value, is a dangerous social democratic falsehood. People cannot pay more. The wealth of the country must be liberated and put at the disposal of social need. Any other approach will drive the people into the arms of the populist right wing and their anti‑tax disguise.
3) BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN FOR
LOCKED-OUT STEELWORKERS
Locked out workers at Hamilton's US Steel plant are wasting no time getting their message out: the issue with US Steel is about Canadian control of the economy, a Canadian steel industry, and the rights and dignity of labour to decent living standards and quality of life for workers and retirees.
USW Local 1005 is embarking on a campaign to buy billboards in Hamilton that would put the union's position in bright lights, one loonie at a time. Involving the whole community in raising the approximately $700 per billboard is a way of building unity and solidarity, and pushing back against local media that are not much more than company mouthpieces, say the locked out workers.
In solidarity, the
The union is planning a Day of Action on January 29 at the
Contributions and messages of support to USW Local 1005 can be sent to:
4) "UNITE IN SOLIDARITY WITH STEELWORKERS IN
Resolution
adopted by the Central Committee, Communist Party of
The lockout of 900 Steelworkers in
This attack is the latest expression of a global offensive by big capital against the working conditions, wages, pensions and quality of life won over generations by the working class. This bitter struggle has spanned centuries, with roots in the original accumulation of capital, the formation of colonial empires, and the industrial revolution, and later the victories won by socialism over fascism and imperialism during the 20th century.
Today, the global freedom of capital to move across borders is destroying the real economy of entire nations, impoverishing millions of workers. Whatever markets exist for real goods rest on a credit bubble that has swelled family debts (exclusive of real estate) to 1.5 times annual family income in Canada. The flow of capital, away from the production of real goods or the renewal of productive forces, has created a financial casino economy, where the parasitical trade in debt and fictitious paper value sits like a giant inverted triangle on the lives of workers, public property and social programs.
For transnational capital, this war requires the acquisition of Canadian
resources, productive plant, and transportation. The Canadian capitalist class
have fattened themselves for decades on the proceeds of this treacherous
sellout of
The attacks on public sector workers by the provincial governments, the theft
of their wages and benefits, and the transfer of public wealth into corporate
coffers through tax breaks, is part of this stage of the offensive. So were the
recent attacks on autoworkers and on Vale‑Inco workers. Cheered by the
Harper government's reward to Vale in the form of a billion dollar loan,
The
The Communist Party of
We call on the
5) COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP MEETS IN
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of
The Political Report adopted by the meeting is now online at www.communist-party.ca. The report stresses "the continuing global capitalist crisis which, now into its third year, shows no signs of abating. The impact of the crisis, the measures taken by the ruling class to overcome the crisis on their terms and in their interests, and the developing fightback of the working class and its allies together constitute the primary dynamic driving social and political developments at every level across Canada and internationally..."
Presented by CPC leader Miguel Figueroa, the report says the "second
stage" of the economic crisis is "likely to be far more protracted and
painful than its opening round." The deepening capitalist offensive
includes more mass layoffs, wage cuts, the expansion of "two-tier"
wage structures to increase exploitation, the gutting of pension plans, and the
overall decline of working class incomes. Across the capitalist world,
including in
But at the same time, "the organized sections of the working class in a
number of countries are mounting heroic resistance... most notably in
The report looks at important struggles during 2010, such as the massive rally
last June against the G20
The growing and dangerous phenomenon of right-wing populism in several
provinces is examined in the report, such as the recent election of Rob Ford as
mayor of
A federal election is very likely during 2011, the report says. The Communist Party's participation in the campaign will include nominating 20-25 candidates across the country, aimed at defeating the Harper Tories, blocking a majority for the big business parties, and building support for the "People's Alternative" advanced by the Communist Party.
The CC adopted a number of special resolutions, calling for solidarity with the
locked-out steelworkers in
CC members took part in a Saturday evening social, held together with the Young
Communist League, which raised funds to help send delegates to the World
Festival of Youth and Students in
People's Voice Editorial
The furious attack against free speech in
Not surprisingly, Clark and Hoskins, along with corporate media pundits who
jumped in to attack Peto, have never read her thesis.
They can't be bothered to check out the facts, such as the reality that the
Just before the outbursts against Jenny Peto,
pro-Zionist forces tried to disrupt the November speaking tour by George
Galloway. Once again, the claim was that Galloway is an
"anti-Semite," a lie which fell flat when thousands heard the former
British MP speak about the tragic Israeli occupation of
These cases are part of a vicious campaign led by the Harper Tories and other
anti-Palestinian forces to criminalize any criticism of
People's Voice Editorial
As we prepare to celebrate New Year 2011, it's appropriate to remember the victims of reactionary regimes who remain imprisoned. There are countless such prisoners around the globe; here are just a few of the sisters and brothers whose freedom must be a high priority for the people's movements.
* The Five
Cuban Heroes - Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino,
Fernando Gonzalez, Rene Gonzalez - convicted for the "crime" of
exposing the plans by CIA-backed exile gangs to commit further terrorist
attacks against the
* Liliany Obando, trade union
activist on trial in
* American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier, convicted 34 years ago on a phony murder charge, and Indigenous activist John Graham, recently found guilty of murder on the flimsiest of evidence in a South Dakota trial.
* Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Black Panther journalist in
* Mordechai Vanunu, the scientist
jailed repeatedly since exposing the "secrets" of
* Marwan Barghouti, the popular Palestinian leader serving five life sentences after trials conducted by the occupation authorities, which he rightly considers illegal.
* Mansour Osamloo, leader of the
* Alex Hundert, anti‑G20 activist arrested before the
8)
B.C. NDP: WHAT'S BEHIND THE DIVISIONS?
PV Vancouver Bureau Commentary
Internal strife is nothing new for the New Democratic Party in B.C. The sudden resignation of Carole James on Dec. 6 opens the door for an NDP leadership convention early in 2011. Some pundits have declared that the next election is already over, awarding the B.C. Liberals victory in advance. But the complex situation defies easy analysis or safe predictions.
The same pundits are screaming about "class warriors" trying to take
over the party. Considering the brutal attacks by the
But this bizarre accusation goes back to the 1930s, when the west coast ruling
class, terrified that CCF "radicals" might challenge their lucrative
control over
One example was in
Such electoral strategies were backed up by propaganda condemning the labour movement, where the Communist Party had a strong influence in many trade unions, labour councils, and locals across the province.
In 1972, Dave Barrett led the NDP to victory, adopting reforms such as public
auto insurance and the
By the time Mike Harcourt won the 1991 election, the traditional "left" within the NDP had lost strength. The NDP governments of that decade did little to challenge the domination of big capital. But despite this reality and the NDP's success in "balancing the books", they were still portrayed by the corporate media as wild-spending kooks and radicals, under the thumb of "big unions." Glen Clark, who rose from an east Vancouver labour organizer to NDP Premier, was a frequent target of such attacks for his progressive rhetoric.
When Carole James was elected leader in 2003, the NDP back-room clique reverted to a social democratic formula which has usually failed: appeal to big business, and shift policies to the right. The new leader "reassured" corporations that they had nothing to fear. Even at BC Federation of Labour conventions, James spent more time placating the business sector than addressing urgent labour issues.
Voters upset by the destructive policies of the
This return to historic levels of support encouraged the NDP leadership to repeat the same strategy in 2009. But by this time, the Liberals had made a tactical shift, trying to appear less confrontational. Many voters were disappointed when the NDP refused to make a strong commitment to restore spending for public education and health care. The result was a huge drop in voter turnout, and minimal gains for the NDP. Clearly, the party had alienated many traditional supporters, without attracting the centre-right of the political spectrum.
Premier Campbell immediately handed the NDP a gift, ramming through the HST over howls of anger from British Columbians. But the NDP leadership refused to state that this massive giveaway to the business sector should be cancelled, or to demand reversal of the huge tax cuts to the wealthy and the corporations. The anti-HST campaign was largely taken over by right-wing "anti-tax" forces.
Even so, divisions on the right seemed to point to an easy NDP victory in 2013.
But the arithmetic changed dramatically with
Meanwhile, the NDP caucus was warned last summer that the provincial coffers were supposedly empty, so the party would make no promises to restore public services. It appears that some MLAs began to wonder how they could encourage their own members to remain active.
The speech by Carole James at the BC Fed on Nov. 30 highlighted the NDP's problem. The leader's entrance was heavily orchestrated, a popular Black Eyed Peas tune blaring to get delegates on their feet. But her speech was a flop. After stressing the burdens imposed by the Liberals on poor people and workers, James promised that a new NDP government would raise the minimum wage to $10/hour. That got a round of applause, although some Liberals are floating similar promises. From there, she offered minor promises to address problems such as enforcement of Labour Standards.
But James made no promise to restore the funding cuts, or to reverse the tax cuts to the rich. There was no criticism of big business - just a pledge that labour and business would both be invited to the table. By the time James finished, barely half of the 1,000 delegates stood to applaud. The next day, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan issued her call for a leadership convention.
Still, there is no simple "left-right" split in the NDP. The "baker's dozen" of MLAs who called for James to step down include some who want a more progressive set of policies, but also others with a more conservative philosophy.
The treatment of former peace activist Mable Elmore may hint at another
problem. When Elmore won the NDP nomination in
Will the B.C. NDP elect a new leader who can give voice to the demands by working people for real progressive change? That remains to be seen, but the party's historic trajectory has usually been a drift to the centre-right. So far, the only party which can be counted on to fight for such policies is the Communist Party of BC, which will consider its electoral strategy at a provincial committee meeting in January.
9) INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNIST MEETING IN
Special to PV
Over 100 delegates representing 51 parties from around the world came together in early December in the municipality of Tshwane (which includes the city of Pretoria), South Africa for the 12th annual International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP).
This meeting chose as its theme the deepening systemic crisis of capitalism and
the tasks of Communists in defence of sovereignty,
deepening social alliances, strengthening the anti-imperialist front in the
struggle for peace, progress and socialism. Miguel Figueroa participated on
behalf of the Communist Party of
The IMCWP was opened by Blade Nzimande, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, who welcomed the delegates to this "first ever meeting of communist and workers' parties on the African continent". He thanked the parties for their decades‑long solidarity with the cause of national liberation, anti‑colonial and anti‑imperialist struggles.
Nzimande centred his remarks on the current situation in South Africa, noting that the "first democratic election in 1994 was a democratic breakthrough... [but] it was not a final defeat of the totality of reactionary forces, thus signalling that the struggle for the total emancipation of the oppressed majority was far from over."
He added that for South African communists, "the total liberation of the black people of our country, whose majority is still the working class, will not be fully realized unless there is a transition to socialism - the only system best capable of destroying all the vestiges of capitalist exploitation, gender oppression and the national oppression of the people of our country.
"In other words, the completion of the tasks of the national democratic revolution can only be achieved under a socialist dispensation."
Another highlight of the opening session was the greeting brought by
Zuma spoke candidly about the challenges facing the ANC‑led government in "grappling with how to quickly translate the freedom attained in 1994 to accelerated access to a better life for our people. The national democratic revolution enjoins us to work together to ensure that the workers and the poor have access to basic needs such as water, education, health services, social security, electricity, roads and other basic necessities."
He said that the Tripartite
He also spoke of
He even joked with the delegates about a chance encounter with Mikhail
Gorbachev. Zuma said he was tempted to ask how
Gorbachev had the temerity to single‑handedly destroy socialism in the
Over the balance of the three‑day meeting, representatives from most of the parties addressed the assembly, following which they turned their consideration to the Tshwane Declaration (see page 7) drafted by the IMCWP Working Group. All delegates had the opportunity to propose amendments, and following a final round of discussion the Declaration was further amended and adopted unanimously, making it the centrepiece and main accomplishment of the meeting.
Despite this heavy agenda, delegates also joined a public rally in Johannesburg in solidarity with the Cuban Five, and many later attended a 25th anniversary celebration of the creation of COSATU. Following the conference, delegates were taken on tours of the Soweto and Mamelodi Townships, and visited Freedom Park, Mandela House, and various monuments to the struggles and sacrifices of the people, culminating in an emotional visit to the world‑renowned Apartheid Museum.
The International Meeting marked the beginning of a hectic month of political activity in South Africa, which included the 3rd National Congress of the Young Communist League, and the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students, organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY).
10)
TSHWANE DECLARATION: CAPITALISM'S TRAJECTORY THREATENS HUMAN CIVILIZATION
The 12th
International Meeting of Communist and Workers` Parties took place in
The deepening capitalist crisis
The international situation continues to be dominated by the persisting and
deepening crisis of capitalism. This reality confirms the analyses outlined in
the declarations of our 2008
The crisis is systemic ‑ despite pre‑2008 capitalist illusions to the contrary, capitalism cannot escape its in‑built, systemic tendency to go through cycles of boom and bust. The current global crisis is a particularly severe manifestation of a capitalist downturn occasioned by capitalist over‑production. Now, as in the past, there is no answer, within the logic of capitalism, to these periodic crises other than crisis itself, marked by the massive and socially irrational destruction of assets ‑ including mass job lay‑offs, factory closures, and the wholesale attack on wages, pensions, social security and erosion of people`s livelihoods. This is why, at our previous two meetings, we correctly asserted that the current crisis was not merely attributable to subjective failings, to the greed of bankers or financial speculators. It remains a crisis embedded in the systemic features of capitalism itself.
The persisting crisis is compounded by significant shifts in the international
balance of forces. In particular, there is the on‑going relative decline
of
At the same time it has become clear that capitalism`s trajectory with its profit‑maximising, headlong destruction of natural resources, and of the environment in general poses a grave threat to the sustainability of human civilization itself. The political elites in the dominant capitalist states with their various proposals for "green technologies" and carbon trading at best represent adjustments which increase the profitability of capital while deepening the commodification of nature, and the transfer of climate change crises onto less developed countries. The crisis of the capitalist system that we face as humankind is directly linked to capitalism`s inability to reproduce itself except through a voracious pursuit of compound growth. It is a crisis that can only be overcome through the abolition of capitalism itself.
Faced with these realities, everywhere capital fights back, seeking to preserve profits and to transfer the burden of its crisis onto the working class by intensifying exploitation based on gender and age, the urban and rural poor, and a wide range of middle strata. Exploitation is intensified, the state is used to rescue private bankers and financial houses while exposing future generations to unsustainable levels of debt, and there are intensified efforts to roll back social gains.
In the entire capitalist world, labour, social, economic, political and social security rights are being abolished. At the same time the political systems are being made more reactionary , restricting democratic and civil liberties, especially trade union rights. The retrenchments, including major spending cuts in the public sector are having a devastating impact on workers, especially women workers. There are also attempts to divert popular distress and insecurity into reactionary demagogy, racism and xenophobia, as well as to legitimise fascist forces. These are expressions of anti‑democratic and authoritarian tendencies also marked by the escalation of anti‑communist attacks and campaigns in many parts of the world. In Africa, Asia and Latin America we are witnessing the imposition on our peoples of new mechanisms of national and class oppression, including economic, financial, political and military means as well as the deployment of an array of pro‑imperialist NGOs.
However, for the mass of peoples, in particular in Africa, Asia and
Most of these urban and rural poor, along with family members working as
vulnerable migrants in foreign countries, are the displaced victims of the
accelerated capitalist agrarian development under‑way in Africa, Asia and
At the same time inhuman barriers are being set up against immigrants and refugees. There is an ever‑increasing mushrooming of urban and semi‑urban slums populated by desperate marginalised masses typically involved in a variety of activities for survival. The accelerated capitalist agrarian transformation in countries with a lower level of capitalist development has genocidal implications.
The importance of the resistance struggles of the working class and popular forces
Across the world, capital`s attempts to load the burden of the crisis onto workers and the poor is being met by working class and popular resistance.
Over the past year the anti‑people assault on labour
rights, social‑security rights and wages provoked an escalation of
popular struggles notably in
In Africa and
In the current reality, it is an historic imperative that as Communist and Workers` Parties we participate, to strengthen and transform these popular defensive battles into offensive struggles for the acquisition of broader workers` and people rights and for the abolition of capitalism.
In advancing this strategic agenda, communists stress the significance that the organisation of the working class, and the development of the struggles of the labour movement in a class‑oriented direction, have in the struggle for the acquisition of political power by the working class and its allies.
Within the framework of this struggle we attach particular importance to:
* The defence, consolidation and advance of popular national sovereignty
* The deepening of social alliances
* Strengthening the anti‑imperialist front for peace, for the right to full‑time stable work, labour rights and social rights such as free health and education.
The defence, consolidation and advance of popular sovereignty
<Body text> In the face of the intensified aggression of transnational capital, the struggle against imperialist occupation of countries, against economic and political dependency and to defend popular sovereignty has become increasingly salient. In these struggles it is important for communists to integrate these struggles with the struggle for social and class emancipation.
Communists, fighting against imperialism, struggle for equitable international relations between states and peoples on the basis of mutual benefit.
The defence, consolidation and advance of popular
sovereignty is of particular importance in Africa and for other peoples that
have experienced decades and even centuries of colonial and semi-colonial
oppression. 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the commencement of the formal
de‑colonisation of
Deepening social alliances
The ongoing crisis of capitalism and its anti-civilisation fight‑back are creating the conditions to build broad social, anti‑monopolistic and anti‑imperialist alliances capable of gaining power and promoting deep, progressive, radical, and revolutionary changes.
Working class unity is a fundamental factor in ensuring the construction of effective social alliances with the peasantry, the mass of urban and rural poor, the urban middle class strata and intellectuals. Particular attention needs to be paid to the aspirations of, and challenges confronting youth.
The land question, agrarian reform and rural development are important issues for the development of popular struggle in lesser developed countries. These are inextricably linked to food sovereignty and security, sustainable livelihoods, the defence of bio‑diversity, the protection of national resources, and the struggle against agro‑industrial monopolies and their local agents. In these struggles, the legitimate and progressive aspirations of indigenous peoples in defence of their cultures, languages and environments have an important role.
The role of Communists in strengthening the anti-imperialist front for peace, environmental sustainability, progress and socialism
Imperialism`s crisis and counter‑offensive are leading to the broadening and diversification of the forces that objectively assume a patriotic and anti‑imperialist stand. Everywhere, in our diverse national realities, Communists have a responsibility to broaden and strengthen the anti‑imperialist political and social front, the struggles for peace, environmental sustainability, progress, and integrate them in the fight for socialism. The independent role of Communists and the strengthening of the Communist and Workers` parties is of vital importance to ensure a consistent anti‑imperialist perspective of broader movements and fronts.
Special attention must be given to the existing relation between various resistance struggles and the necessary ideological offensive for the visibility of the alternative of socialism and to the defence and development of scientific socialism. The ideological struggle of the communist movement is of vital importance in order to repulse contemporary anti‑communism, to confront bourgeois ideology, anti‑scientific theories and opportunist currents which reject the class struggle, and combat the role of social democratic forces that defend and implement anti‑people and pro‑imperialist policies by supporting the strategy of capital. We have a key role to play in drawing the critical links in theory and above all in practice between different arenas of popular struggle in the development of internationalist class solidarity.
We are living in an historic epoch in which the transition from capitalism to socialism has become a civilisational imperative. The all‑round crisis of capitalism once more underlines the inseparable nature of the tasks of national liberation and social, national and class emancipation.
In the face of deepening capitalist crisis, the experiences of socialist construction demonstrate the conditions of the superiority of socialism.
The strengthening of the cooperation among Communist and Workers` Parties and the strengthening of the anti‑imperialist front, should march side by side.
We, the Communist and Workers` parties meeting in Tshwane, in a situation marked by a massive onslaught against workers and popular forces, but also with many possibilities for the development of the struggle, express our profound solidarity with workers and peoples and their intense struggles, reiterating our determination to act and struggle side by side with working masses, youth, women, and all popular sectors that are victims of capitalist exploitation and oppression.
We reaffirm our appeal to the widest range of popular forces to join us in a common struggle for socialism which is the only alternative for the future of humankind.
We point to the following main axes for the development of our joint and convergent actions:
1. With the capitalist crisis deepening, we will focus on the development of workers` and peoples` struggles for labour and social rights, the strengthening of the trade‑union movement and its class orientation; the promotion of the social alliance with peasants and the other popular strata. Particular attention will be given to the problems of women and youth who are among the first victims of the capitalist crisis.
2. In the face of the all‑round imperialist aggression and the sharpening of the inter‑imperialist rivalries, we will intensify the anti‑imperialist struggle for peace, against imperialist wars and occupation, against the dangerous "new" NATO strategy and foreign military bases, and for the abolition of all nuclear weapons. We will extend active internationalist solidarity with all people and movements facing and resisting oppression, imperialist threats and aggression.
3. We will resolutely fight anticommunism, anti‑communist laws, measures and persecution; to demand the legalisation of CPs where outlawed. We will defend the history of the communist movement, the contribution of socialism in advancing human civilisation.
4. We affirm our solidarity with the forces and peoples engaged in and striving for socialist construction. We reaffirm our solidarity with the Cuban people and their socialist revolution, and we will continue vigorously to oppose the blockade and to support the international campaign for the release of the Cuban Five.
5. We will
contribute, within the specific context of our national realities, to the
reinforcement of international anti‑imperialist mass organizations like
WFTU, WPC, WFDY, WIDF. We particularly welcome and salute the 17th World
Festival of Youth and Students to be held in
11) YOUTH FESTIVAL DELEGATES WELCOMED WITH FIREWORKS
By Johan Boyden
DEC. 13 - The
opening ceremonies of the World Festival of Youth and Students wrapped up with a
bang, as fireworks exploded over a large sports stadium in a township outside
Some delegations are still in arrival. The opening gates and registration are a
flurry of activity as youth people from all over Africa, but also Asia, Europe,
Latin America and
At the Festival grounds, around the
A word picture for readers is not adequate.
Picture a street closed from traffic flowing with young people of all
nationalities and peoples, some draped with national flags, others wearing sports
jackets in their country's colours, or just casual
shorts and t‑shirts. Suddenly a group of South African youth, about
fifteen, appear from around the corner of the building in a quick‑step
run. Their fists are in the air and their voices fill the space with a powerful
yet beautiful struggle song in one of
The delegation gets larger and their chants echo off the big festival hall buildings. Young people join in and follow them. Then another delegation appears with a giant banner - Our country will never again be a colony, it proclaims. The chanting and singing grows. In the background are giant, red, Vietnamese flags.
The South African sunshine is slipping away and bold thunderstorms appear on a
horizon of small rolling hills with a beige dried grass. The rain falls and
people rush indoors. Turning into a large hall, young people are seated behind
a main podium discussing peace, sovereignty and social transformation in their
respective countries. The current speaker from
There are problems with translation and the delegates are hungry because the food has not yet arrived, but people are excited. Everyone has stories of new countries they have just met, what they have told them, gifts exchanged.
The rain has ended and back out on the street a bus has stopped. Suddenly Latin American music blares as the delegates get off and a dance party appears in the street, joined by a crowd of small South African children dancing with the delegates. As the music fades the scene seems to almost blur in the heat, but the diversity and energy of this tremendous event, the largest anti-imperialist gathering of youth and students in the world, becomes clear.
The delegations from
Forty young delegates are attending from Canada, including youth activists from the Canadian Federation of Students, the Québec solidaire political party, numerous local student organizations, several locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Palestine solidarity activists, queer youth, young Métis and First Nations delegates, Québequoise youth and the Young Communist League of Canada.
In the opening ceremonies the All‑Canada delegation proudly marched
behind a banner demanding that a better
We are learning that the young people all over the world do not accept the
miserable future offered them by capitalism and imperialism. They yearn for a
new world and a different social order, that puts people first. They are from
People's Voice will feature interviews from the festival in subsequent issues.
Already young socialists and communists from diverse countries such as
12) IS THERE A "GLOBAL STRIKE WAVE"?
Data compiled by independent labour researchers indicates that there may be a significant increase in the numbers of workers involved in mass strikes across the globe. One interesting list was circulated recently by Peter Hall-Jones of the New Unionism Network. Hall-Jones points out that a huge strike wave involving up to 100,000,000 workers across India last September 7 was ignored by western media, in favour of reporting on "a Gainesville preacher who had threatened to burn a Koran."
The action in
The year 2010 also saw huge strikes in seven other countries, including an
estimated 2.5 million in
Other countries which have witnessed large numbers of strikers in recent years
include the
These include the USA (4 million in 2006) India (50 million in both 2003 and 2005, and 10 million in 2002), Italy (10 million in 2002), South Africa (2 million in 2008, and 1 million in 2006), France (2 million in 2003, and 1 million in 2009), Nigeria (2 million in both 2007 and 2004), Britain (1 million in 2006), and Madagascar (1 million in 2002).
For Canadians, one gap in Hall-Jones' research is quickly evident. There is no mention of the 1976 Day of Protest against wage controls, organized by the Canadian Labour Congress and other labour federations. On October 14, 1976, one million workers walked out, the biggest single labour action in Canadian history.
Hall-Jones also warns that his research is hindered by conflicting or missing
estimates of the number of participants, and varying definitions. The huge
strike by immigrant workers and their supporters in the
Others might argue that an increase in industrial action is only to be expected, since the international working class has grown considerably as more countries industrialize.
But Hall-Jones argues that the figures reveal that while union numbers have fallen in some countries, "the dominant narrative of union decline is false. It is an ideological position - a portrait of the world the way some would wish it to be. The facts tell a different story, and so the facts are being ignored or distorted to suit."
He also points out that the New Unionism Network has gathered comparable data on union membership post‑2000 for 81 countries, showing that 52 countries have experienced union growth over the last decade, while just 23 have experienced union decline.
13) GENERAL STRIKE IN PORTUGAL
AGAINST AUSTERITY MEASURES
By Emile Schepers, People's World
A massive one‑day general strike paralysed
The unions claim the strike was 80 percent effective. Media reported complete
shutdowns in many areas of airlines, public transportation, government
administrative offices, schools and health care facilities, throughout
This is leading to sharp increases in the cost of borrowing. In spite of differences in the political composition of their current governments, they have all responded by imposing austerity measures, designed to reassure the financial markets, that hit workers and the poor especially hard.
Several of the countries have been negotiating bailouts with the Council of
The two major
union federations in
This unity between communist and social democrat‑led unions is a first in 22 years, and is especially significant because the Prime Minister is from the Socialist Party. So a large proportion of his social base is in fact repudiating his policies.
The PCP and labour see the government as trying to resolve the crisis on the backs of workers, small farmers and the poor. They demand that the government rather impose a sharp increase in taxes on the rich, who they consider to have caused the problem in the first place.
In a statement on its website, the Communist Party of Portugal hailed the striking workers for their courage in adversity: This was "a success all the more outstanding given how many hundreds of thousands of workers are confronted by situations of indebtedness and with the worsening of the cost of living. [These are] workers for whom a one day strike implies a loss of a day's wages."
Meanwhile in
Now all eyes are on
14) SUPPORT A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN
Statement by
the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of
The Communist Party of
The main source of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula has been the
increasingly hawkish stand of the new South Korean government of President Lee Myung‑bak, with the encouragement of
The huge
We warn once again that attempts to isolate and threaten
Instead of supporting
15) MUSIC NOTES - By Wally Brooker
Sounds Like a Revolution
Sounds Like a Revolution,
a documentary on contemporary protest music by Canadian filmmakers Summer Love
and Jane Michener, highlighted the opening of the 15th Annual Amnesty
International Film Festival in
Say It Ain't So, Arlo!
Woody Guthrie
wrote his celebrated anthem "This Land is Your Land" in 1940, in
response to the flag-waving Irving Berlin song "God Bless
Hip‑hop artists release Peltier benefit CD
A new hip‑hop
compilation album, Free Leonard Peltier: Hip Hop's
Contribution to the Freedom Campaign, has just been released. Proceeds will go
to Peltier's legal defence
fund. The album contains new tracks by the likes of Dilated Peoples, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique & 2Mex. Peltier,
an activist with the American Indian Movement, was wrongly convicted in 1977
for the murder of two FBI agents on the Oglala‑Sioux Reservation in South
Dakota. He's universally recognised as a political prisoner.
Amnesty International calls for his release, as do Nelson Mandela, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, and a host of politicians world‑wide including 50 Canadian
MPs. In spite of the blatant vindictiveness of the FBI and
Israeli boycotters confront Cape Town Opera
On October 27,
Composer Ann Southam: 1937‑2010
Ann Southam, a pioneering composer of electroaccoustic
and minimalist music, died on Nov. 23. The
James Connolly on revolutionary music
The Irish are known for the many songs that commemorate their struggle for independence and social justice. Their great working class leader, James Connolly (1868‑1916), a songwriter himself, made a significant contribution to this musical tradition. It's said that he always sought to begin and end meetings with a rousing song. In 1907 Connolly published Songs of Freedom by Irish Authors. In the preface he wrote the following: "No revolutionary movement is complete without its poetical expression. If such a movement has caught hold of the imagination of the masses, they will seek a vent in song for the aspirations, the fears and hopes, the loves and hatreds engendered by the struggle. Until the movement is marked by the joyous, defiant, singing of revolutionary songs, it lacks one of the most distinctive marks of a popular revolutionary movement; it is the dogma of a few, and not the faith of the multitude."
16) STRANGE OUTCOME OF
By Martin Khor
The United Nations'
Most delegations congratulated one another, for agreeing to a document in
The Cancun conference suffered an early blow from
The conference never recovered from that blow. The final text failed to ensure the survival of the protocol, though it sets some terms of reference for continuing the talks on the second commitment period next year.
The Cancun meeting in fact made it more likely for the developed countries to shift from the Kyoto Protocol and its binding regime of emission reduction commitments, to a voluntary system in which each country only makes pledges on how much it will reduce its emissions.
The Cancun text also recognised the emission
reduction targets that developed countries listed under the
But even as it prepared the ground for the developed countries' "great
escape" from their commitments, the
It is a first step in a plan by developed countries... to get developing
countries to put their mitigation targets as commitments in national schedules,
similar to the tariff schedules in the World Trade Organisation...
Many developing‑country officials were increasingly worried in
In fact the developing countries made a lot of concessions and sacrifices in
Cancun may be remembered in future as the place where the UNFCCC's climate regime was changed significantly, with developed countries being treated more and more leniently, reaching a level like that developing countries, while the developing countries are asked to increase their obligations to be more and more like developed countries.
The ground is being prepared for such a new system, which could then replace
the
The
A technology mechanism was also set up under the UNFCCC, with a policy‑making
committee, and a centre. However, the
The Cancun conference was also marked by a questionable method of work, quite similar to the WTO but not used in the United Nations, in which the host country, Mexico, organised meetings in small groups led by itself and a few Ministers which it selected, who discussed texts on the various issues.
The final document was produced not through the usual process of negotiations among delegations, but compiled by the Mexicans as the Chair of the meeting, and given to the delegates for only a few hours to consider, on a take it or leave it basis (no amendments are allowed).
At the final plenary,
The importation of WTO‑style methods may in the immediate period lead to the "efficiency" of producing an outcome, but also carries the risk of conferences collapsing in disarray (as has happened in several WTO ministerial meetings) and in biases in the text, that usually have been in favour of developed countries.
When the dust settles after the Cancun conference, a careful analysis will find that its text may have given the multilateral climate system a shot in the arm and positive feelings among most participants because there was something to take home, but that it also failed to save the planet from climate change and helped pass the burden onto developing countries.
From this low base level, much work needs to be done in 2011 to save the world from climate change, and to re‑orientate the international system of cooperation to address the climate crisis.
(Martin Khor is the Executive Director of the South
Centre. This article was first published in The Star,
Indo Canadian Workers’ Association will release its 2011 calendar in partnership with Radio India, dedicated to Comrade Darshan Singh Canadian, shot dead by terrorists in
“Seeing Red,” public forum on past and present state repression in
Canada, with author Daniel Francis and Michael Vonn
of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, intro by PV Editor Kimball Cariou, Thur, Jan. 20, 7:30 pm,
Room 1800, SFU Harbour Centre, 555 W. Hastings note
date change since previous issue.) Sponsored by People’s Voice and People’s
Co-op Bookstore, ph. 604-255-2041 for more info.
Haiti’s Humanitarian Crisis One Year
Later, Friday, Jan. 14, 7 pm, SFU Harbour
Centre, 515 W. Hastings, panel discussion
and video, featuring Dr. Luma Maxo (Partners In Health), Kaye Kerlande
(Hearts, Hands & Minds for
Left Film Night, “The Cradle Will Rock,” Tim Robbins film on 1930s cultural upheavals in
welcome, call 604-255-2041 for details.
Marxism course, classes begin early next year. Pre-register with the Communist Party, 586-7824 or cpc-mb@mts.net.
Annual Jose Marti Dinner and Dance, Jan. 29, 2011, 7 pm,
Palestinians And Jews United, vigil against the occupation, every
Friday at noon, Sainte-Catherine and