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July 1-31 , 2011
Volume 19 - Number 13
$1
Prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk
mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
1) HARPER TORIES DO CANADA POST'S DIRTY WORK
2) "WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP THE STRUGGLE" - Lemelin
3) TORIES ESCALATE FIRST NATIONS SURVEILLANCE
4) ONTARIO COMMUNISTS GEAR UP FOR OCTOBER ELECTION
5) TORIES PREPARE TO DESTROY CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD
6) LAYTON FLUNKS FIRST TEST - Editorial
7) STORM WARNINGS ON HORIZON - Editorial
8) NO GOING BACK: DEFEAT HARPER'S BIGOTS!
9) THE ANTIDOTE FOR DESPAIR IS ACTION
10) TANKS AND TROOPS IN KELOWNA STREETS
11) REPLACING ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY WITH FINANCIAL OLIGARCHY
12) INDIA'S COMMUNISTS ASSESS BENGAL DEFEAT
13) WHO'S EXPLOITED, AND DOES IT MATTER?
14) MUSIC NOTES, by Wally Brooker
15) THE HUMAN FACE OF SOLIDARITY
16) WHAT’S
LEFT
17) CLARTÉ (en français)
18)
THE SPARK! (Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of
19) INTRODUCING MARX
PEOPLE'S VOICE JULY
1-31, 2011 (pdf)
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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.
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Theoretical
and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of |
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People's Voice deadlines: August 1-31 SEPTEMBER 1-15 Send submissions to PV Editorial Office,
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REDS
ON THE WEB |
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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! |
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(The following articles are from the
July 1-31, 2011, issue of People's
1) HARPER TORIES DO
By Kimball Cariou
As widely expected, the Harper government introduced legislation on June 20 to
order locked‑out CUPW members back to work on terms highly favourable to the management of
Ignoring the reality that
CUPW says the back‑to‑work bill penalizes postal workers and
rewards
The legislation sets wage increases well below the company's last offer of 1.9%
in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and 2.0% in 2014. At the current 3.3% rate of inflation,
this which would have cut the income of workers by a total of 5.5% after four
years. The Tory bill includes raises of 1.75% in 2011, 1.5% in 2012, 2% in 2013
and 2% in 2014, leaving workers nearly 6% behind after inflation.
"Imposing wage increases that are lower than
Lemelin said this heavy‑handed intervention
will damage labour relations for years to come. The
last time the federal government imposed back to work legislation in 1997, it
included a provision that ensured the mediator arbitrator considered the
importance of good labour‑management relations.
The current legislation contains no such provision.
"The arbitrator who is assigned to do the final offer selection will not
have to live with the results," said Lemelin.
"An imposed settlement will not help the post office in the long
term."
The Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights (CFLR) has
also expressed alarm at the government's interference with the free collective
bargaining rights of
"It looks like the Harper government is treating the Supreme Court of
Canada's decision in Fraser, which appears to narrow the Charter's protection
of collective bargaining rights, as a green light for back‑to‑work
legislation," said Judy Fudge, law professor at the University of Victoria
and CFLR Board Member. "Legislating workers back to work instead of
letting the process of collective bargaining unfold simply creates bad labour relations and does not resolve issues that can only
be solved through negotiation."
The recent Fraser decision denied agricultural workers the same collective
bargaining rights afforded other workers in
"Armed with a majority, it looks like the Harper government is willing to
use its political power to interfere with the collective bargaining process and
order workers back‑to‑work," said Fudge. "Short‑term
coercive fixes do not create the conditions for developing long‑term
solutions to the challenges facing Canadian workers and employers."
"Back‑to work legislation is a blunt tool and the speed with which
the government is resorting to this tool is unprecedented," according to Veena Verma, labour
lawyer and CFLR Board Member. "The Harper government's response to both
the Air Canada strike after a mere 16 hours - and in the Canada Post case -
sends a message that free collective bargaining will not be respected and
government will interfere to tip the scales on the employer's side."
One immediate response to the bill was a series of occupations by postal
workers and their community allies, who took over several Conservative MP's offices on June 20. They demanded withdrawal of the
legislation, an end to the lockout, and a return to collective bargaining at
Speaking to The Tyee website, Aaron Spires, a union
member involved in the occupation of North Vancouver Tory MP Andrew Saxton`s office, a critical issue is the Canada Post plan
to establish two-tier wages, with newly hired workers earning about four
dollars an hour less than current employees.
"This is a classic attempt to bust the union and divide workers," he
said. Another concern he cited was a new "two bundle" system of mail
handling. In a pilot project test in
Similar occupations occurred at the
"We are going to stay in this office until the government withdraws the
lock out and the back to work legislation," said
Although most corporate media coverage of the dispute was blatantly pro‑management,
some fair reporting did break through in certain areas. A recent article in the
Union members in many areas were angry that management has even sabotaged mail
delivery, which CUPW points out is actually breaking the law.
"Some of us had our mail ready for the street but
Postal workers entered a legal strike position on May 24th, when CUPW members
held a 94.5% vote in favour of strike action. The
massive vote was a rejection of
Also rejected by postal workers were cuts to their extended health care plan,
replacement of their sick leave plan with an inferior short‑term
disability plan and the unsafe "double bundle" delivery procedure.
Communist
leader condemns legislation
Responding to the back-to-work legislation, Communist Party leader Miguel
Figueroa said "This confirms what we said leading into the dispute:
instead of engaging in serious bargaining,
"This attack is part of a broader strategy by the Harper government to
attack the overall wages, pensions and working conditions of both public and
private sector employees across
2) "WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP THE STRUGGLE" - Lemelin
June 20,
2011, Negotiations Bulletin 72
Contrary to the CPC media spin there was no scheduled meetings between the parties
this weekend. It is obvious that CPC management is waiting for the back‑to‑work
legislation that they wanted so badly.
From the very beginning of negotiations, CPC set the stage by demanding drastic
rollbacks. From current employees they wanted to end the WCB top‑up for
injured workers, replace employer‑paid retiree benefits with a health
care spending account, abolish the seventh week of annual leave and eliminate
sick leave and impose a short‑term disability plan. For new hires they
wanted weaker job security, fewer benefits, a worse pension and a much lower
starting pay rate. During the negotiations they dropped some of their
rollbacks, but they never addressed any of the union's demands concerning staffing,
health and safety and working conditions. Throughout the process they made
offers on issues such as staffing, bar charts and householders only to withdraw
them. Their final offer still contains many rollbacks and no significant
improvements.
In order to set the stage for back‑to‑work legislation management
engaged in a series of media stunts. First they claimed that our demands would
cost $1.4 billion. They refused to explain or justify this figure, but it got
them the headlines they wanted. To portray themselves in a crisis they invented
the figure of a 17% reduction in overall mail volumes since 2006. They ignored
the fact that 2009 was a record year for profits. To create the appearance of
an emergency they claimed that our rotating strike had reduced volumes by 50%
and cost them $70 million. The same day they raised the figure to $100 million.
When everything failed they locked us out to give the government a pretext to
pass legislation.
Unlike CPC we never attacked the postal system or stopped providing service to
the public. Our one‑day rotating strikes were designed solely to pressure
the employer to negotiate. Before CPC stopped all postal service and locked us
out, only 51% of the population had experienced any direct impact of our
rotating strikes. People were still using the postal service in the knowledge
their mail would arrive, perhaps a day later than usual. CPC's action ended all
of this. They attacked the postal service to pressure the government to
legislate: something the Conservative government was only too happy to do.
In locals across the country postal workers are participating in rallies and
meeting with politicians to try and stop this unnecessary, unjust, and counter‑productive
legislation. We demand the right to negotiate and the right to strike. We
continue to receive tremendous support from the labour
movement, the NDP, and many community allies, including students, women's
groups, pensioners and anti‑poverty organizations. Whatever happens in
the upcoming days we will never give up the struggle for our rights.
The
Struggle Continues.
In
solidarity, Denis Lemelin, National President and
Chief Negotiator
3) TORIES ESCALATE FIRST NATIONS SURVEILLANCE
PV
Vancouver Bureau
An in-depth report by Russell Diabo and Shiri Pasternak, published recently by The Media Co‑op,
reveals internal government documents showing that immediately after his
election in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped up spying on First
Nations activists across
Documents obtained by Access to Information requests shows that the Department
of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) was given the lead role to spy on
First Nations leaders, participants and outside supporters of occupations and
protests.
INAC established a "Hot Spot Reporting System," which puts together
weekly reports highlighting movements engaged in direct action to protect their
lands and communities.
As the Media Co-op authors note, "What we see in these documents - from
the hot spot reports themselves, to the intelligence‑sharing between government
and security forces - is a closely monitored population of First Nations, who
clearly are causing a panic at the highest levels of Canadian bureaucracy and
political office."
INAC focused on conflicts of "growing concern" due to "unrest"
and increasing "militancy". In a briefing to the RCMP, INAC
identified "hotspot" communities such as Caledonia, Ontario (Douglas
Creek Estates occupation); Belleville, Ontario (Montreal/Toronto Rail Blockade
in sympathy to Caledonia); Brantford, Ontario (Grand River Conservation
Authority Lands); Desoronto, Ontario (Occupation of
Quarry); Grassy Narrows (Blockade of the TransCanada highway by
environmentalists); and Maniwaki, Quebec (Blockade of
Route 117).
But the weekly reports cover all actions taking place from
Such protests, according to INAC, "are arguably harder to manage as they
exist outside negotiation processes to resolve recognized grievances with duly
elected leaders. We seek to avoid giving standing to such splinter groups so as
not to debase the legally recognized government."
This fear of aboriginals who function "outside negotiation processes"
is as old as the
At the heart of the new revelations is the reality that to this day, the
Canadian state seeks to channel all relations with Aboriginal peoples through
forms which reject inherent indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. In
fact, aboriginal movements and forces based on such concepts are regarded by
definition as outside the bounds of legality.
From this perspective, the role of INAC is clear. Rather than functioning as a
regular government ministry or an "institution of reconciliation and
negotiation," INAC is closely integrated with the state security forces,
especially the RCMP, with the mandate of controlling "unrest".
The Media Co-op article reports that the Harper government established a
"Standing Information Sharing Forum," chaired by the RCMP. This
"Forum" includes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS),
the Department of Fisheries, Natural Resources
The authors report that the government seems "particularly worried about
the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations Iroquois
Confederacy" and "Warrior Societies" with an "illicit
agenda," such as tobacco smuggling without paying federal taxes.
The Haudenosaunee/Six Nations are also seen as a
threat because of the land reclamation at Caledonia, which "continues to
serve as a beacon on land claims and Aboriginal rights issues across
Canada," according to the documents. For this reason, the authors say,
"hard‑nosed, experienced negotiators (have) presented unmovable
positions from the Harper government, which is likely why there hasn't been any
negotiated resolution of the situation at Kanenhstaton/Caledonia
to this date."
The 2007 National Day Of Action launched by the Assembly of First Nations was
another source of government concerns. The documents point to "the often
disparate and fractured nature of these events," which can damage the
public's perception of the police. The documents imply a fear that a violent
response by police to First Nations actions could result in solidarity actions
across the country, such as railway blockades outside the control of the AFN.
The authors find that "most threatening of all to security and government
forces is coordinated First Nations action... Their fear is palpable where they
follow the trajectory of the Day of Action ... first proposed by Chief Terrance
Nelson at the Assembly of First Nations' general assembly, where the motion
carried."
Noting the historic government tactic of "dividing First Nations into the
`progressive' Indian Bands and the backward or `traditional' Indian
Bands," the authors conclude that "what the INAC and RCMP briefings
show is that there needs to be unity on the ground with coordinated political
actions between First Nations Peoples in order to protect, defend and advance
First Nation pre‑existing sovereignty, and First Nation Aboriginal and
Treaty rights to lands and resources. Divide and conquer tactics can only be
met with new strategies of alliance‑building, and by bringing the
leadership back down to the land."
4)
PV Ontario
Bureau
Delegates to a special
The attack on free collective bargaining and on workers rights and living
standards began with the attack on Canadian autoworkers in 2008‑09, on
municipal workers in Windsor and Toronto, and miners and smelter workers in
Hamilton in 2009‑10, and on workers in basic steel in 2007, up to today's
lock‑out in Hamilton.
"This fight for labour rights and standards is
also the fight for public services, for a Canadian industrial and manufacturing
base, and for good jobs, wages and benefits for all", said CPC (
The Party will start its campaign in early August to block the Tories from
forming the next government "because they are by far the greatest threat
to democracy, to labour and to working people in this
province," said Rowley.
"The ferocity of the Tory‑led assault on workers' jobs, pensions and
living standards and on free collective bargaining and the right to strike at
the federal level, combined with the ferocity of Tim Hudak's
platform for Ontario, make the Tories the greatest danger in this election,
though they aren't the only threat.
"The McGuinty Liberals, were elected in 2003 to
reverse the years of Tory devastation under Mike Harris, are a failure. Instead
the Liberals have carried out the same policies in health care and education,
and have done nothing to reverse the cuts which reduced the purchasing power of
a welfare cheque to 50% of what it was in 1995. So
much for the Liberals' war on poverty! More like the continuing war on the poor
by the parties of Big Business and the rich.
"Working people are extremely angry at the Liberals, and rightfully so.
They also remember who was in charge in 2008 when collective agreements were
stripped and autoworkers lost half their pensions. And they remember who
brought in the HST ‑ colluding with the federal Tories ‑ to deliver
a whopping $9 billion in total corporate tax cuts last year," Rowley said.
The NDP under Andrea Horwath has a very mixed record,
supporting back to work legislation for some workers and opposing it with
others. For
Hoping for a provincial "orange crush", the NDP is still at the
bottom of the polls, and has not yet revealed its election platform. The NDP's reluctance to take a firm stand on the side of labour makes it an unpredictable and weak partner for labour at a time when strength, dependability and
durability are key assets. How the NDP defines the main target in the election
will determine a lot.
"The Communist Party will campaign to block the Tories and defeat the
right, and will advise working people ‑ surrounded by circling sharks ‑
that the best outcome in this election would be a minority government reliant
on a strong progressive bloc in the Legislature and subject to mass public
pressure from a people's coalition of forces outside the Legislature. Electing
Communists would fundamentally change politics for the better and qualitatively
strengthen the fight for democratic and progressive change in this
province," Rowley said.
The CPC (
The Communist Party is fighting for full employment policies to put Ontario
back to work; plant closure legislation and a plan to protect and expand
secondary industry and manufacturing; nationalization and regulation of
Ontario's natural and energy resources; investment in solar, wind and thermal
energy; and closing down nuclear and coal fired operations.
On social issues, the CPC (Ontario) is campaigning for social housing, real
rent controls, public child care at a cost of $7 per child, per day, a guaranteed
annual income above the poverty line, substantially increased funding for
health, education, and social programs, and immediate action to raise living
standards and quality of life of Aboriginal Peoples.
The complete Communist program, and the list of candidates will appear on the
CPC (
5) TORIES PREPARE TO DESTROY CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD
PV Vancouver Bureau
The Harper government is preparing to use its new majority to gut the Canadian
Wheat Board, warns the National Farmers
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz recently warned that the government intends to
remove the CWB's single desk authority to sell wheat
and barley through legislation. He also stated that the CWB would continue to
be an "option" for farmers after the changes, and that farmers would
be better off without the single desk.
"Ritz is not being honest with farmers. The fact is farmers won't be
better off without the single desk, because the CWB won't survive without
it," says NFU President Terry Boehm. "This idea of a dual market is a
myth. It's the CWB with its single desk, or no CWB at all."
The NFU points to
"The Harper government continues to argue that farmers will be better off
without the CWB. However, they have never produced any financial analysis to
demonstrate this," points out Boehm. "The only academic studies on
this have always proven that the CWB brings substantial benefits to farmers
through the power of its single desk selling advantage. The fact is, the CWB
brings $1.5 billion into farmers pockets every year, money they would not have
otherwise."
"The advantage of the single desk to farmers is no surprise either,"
concludes the NFU president. "Patents work the same way for big
corporations. Patents give corporations exclusive selling rights on their
products. Why do you think corporations defend their patents so vigorously?
It's the same with OPEC in the oil sector and it's the same with Canpotex in the Potash sector, a point the Brad Wall
government was quick to make in Saskatchewan last fall."
During the recent federal election, Ritz said that it was up to farmers to
decide the future of the Wheat Board. Soon after, Ritz reversed himself,
stating that changes to the CWB single desk authority would be legislated.
"Clearly the Conservative government cannot be trusted. They say one thing
during the election campaign, and do the opposite when the election is
over," according to NFU Region 3 Coordinator Joe Dama.
Since its formation, the Wheat Board has been governed by a 15-member board of
directors, ten of whom are elected by Prairie farmers, with another five
appointed by
"The Conservative government needs to respect the director elections, the
process through which farmers decide the future of the CWB. The Conservatives
are showing contempt towards the farmers who have expressed their views on the
board through the director elections, and whose livelihoods are at stake. This
is totally unacceptable," says Dama, warning
that the supply management system is the next Tory target.
"They have said publicly that they are not going to touch supply
management," adds Dama. "But, privately
they are in negotiations where getting rid of supply management is on the
table, both at the World Trade Organization and with the European Union."
People's
Voice Editorial
Many Canadians
had hoped that the New Democratic Party's status as Official Opposition might
blunt the far‑right agenda of the Harper Tory majority. This was
particularly the case around war and militarism, since the majority of the new
103‑member NDP caucus are from
Unfortunately, Jack Layton has flunked his first major foreign policy test ‑
the June 14 parliamentary debate around
The NDP made a serious error by backing this war. Allowing the
Fortunately, Green Party leader Elizabeth May refused to give "a blank cheque to a mission that doesn't have an exit
strategy." She voted "No", braving enormous pressure to join the
chorus of unanimous support for the war. Congratulations to May for voicing the
concerns of millions of Canadians.
People's
Voice Editorial
We've said
this before, but it's worth repeating: any idea that the global economic crisis
which broke out in 2008 has been resolved is a fantasy. The return of corporate
profits to the record levels of 2007-2008, and the overstated decline in
unemployment rates, are indicators which have been misread by those who claim
that capitalism has been restored to full health. A more accurate view is that
the system is entering a fifth year of the crisis, which began with the severe
contraction in
Fears of new turmoil are reflected in the Dow and the TSX, which have declined
by 8-10% from peak levels. Some 15% of
The capitalist "solution" is to continue impoverishing workers, which
will only make the next economic decline even steeper. Instead, urgent and
radical measures are needed to improve the living standards of working people,
by reversing the shift of wealth towards the rich. A real "People's
Alternative" must include a combination of expanded public ownership of
key industries, higher taxes on the corporations and the rich, drastic cuts in
wasteful military spending, and restoration of social programs. Only a united,
mass struggle led by the labour movement and its
allies can block the Harper agenda and achieve these policies. The time to
begin is today.
8) NO GOING BACK: DEFEAT HARPER'S BIGOTS!
Pride 2011
statement from the Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League
This summer, as the LGBTQ communities and their allies across
These struggles gained more new ground in the past year, in
We welcome the continued expansion of queer‑positive environments in the
public realm, the growing numbers of trade unions with active Pride and LGBTQ
caucuses, and the increase of gay‑straight alliances, safe school spaces
and "Pride proms" in our schools. These and other legal, political
and cultural victories are the hard‑won results of decades of efforts by
the LGBTQ community and allies.
But this progress is under attack. Those who rely on the divisive tactics of
fear and bigotry have a powerful new ally - the Conservative majority elected
on May 2. Other far-right forces seek to gain power with the aid of
reactionary, fundamentalist groups, such as the Hudak
Tories in
Alarmingly, police‑reported hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation
rose by 18% in 2009 according to Statistics
Bill C-389, the historic legislation to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act by
making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender equality or gender
expression, was adopted by the last House of Commons, only to die with the
dissolution of Parliament before a vote in the Senate. The struggle for legal
equality for transgender Canadians will now be much more difficult and complex.
We are confident in eventual victory for trans equality, but the cost of
delaying for years will be tragic. To those who dismiss the significance of
this issue, we point out that trans people are about one-tenth of the LGBTQ
population, and face huge medical costs, higher levels of unemployment, less
access to housing, widespread intimidation at work, and lack of legal
protections.
The demand for trans equality must be intensified by the LGBTQ communities and
our allies in the coming period. But the Harper Tories hope to use their new
majority to reverse queer rights as well as decades of gender equality gains by
women. Right-wing forces continue to scapegoat the LGBTQ community and racialised groups, to divide working class resistance
against finance capital, corporate bailouts and global environmental plunder.
Globally, the struggle to end the criminalization of sexual orientation, gender
identity and gender expression faces stubborn resistance. Violent expressions
of homophobia are on the rise in many countries, sometimes in response to
courageous attempts to hold public events such as Pride Parades. Working class
queer people suffer vicious discrimination, along with women and racialized communities who bear the brunt of neoliberal
economic and social policies.
ILGA, the association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersexed
peoples, reports that 76 United Nations member states still criminalize
consensual same‑sex acts among adults. In five countries, punishment for
homosexuality still includes the death penalty.
But the ILGA also notes that "from the adoption of marriage laws in
Argentina and Iceland, and the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court
recognizing rights of same‑sex civil unions, to the issuing of a
Statement signed by 85 countries at the UN Human Rights Council condemning
persecution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, a lot of progress
has been made the last year on recognition of LGBTI rights in the world."
The myth that queer rights can only be won in wealthy capitalist countries is
shattered by these advances, and by the reality that homophobic and racist
concepts are exported from North America and
Today the so‑called "war on terror" is an excuse to remove
civil liberties, and the ruling class is using the economic crisis to conduct a
vicious assault on workers and hard-won social equality gains. We must always
remember that "an injury to one is an injury to all." Just like
racism, sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia
are weapons to divide working people. Equality and human rights must be
expanded to include full legal and political protections for sexual orientation
and expression, and gender identity.
This demand is not "divisive." It is a vital part of the fightback by people's movements. A broad democratic and
social resistance is needed to block and reverse the corporate agenda.
Together, we must build a powerful coalition around a genuine people's
alternative ‑ a common front of labour,
Aboriginal peoples, youth and students, women, seniors, farmers, immigrant and racialized communities, environmentalists, peace activists,
the LGBTQ community, and many other allies.
Ultimately, this struggle in our communities and workplaces, in the streets and
at the ballot box, can defeat the Harper Tories and open the door to a people's
coalition government. The goal of the Communist Party is to win fuller social
freedom and genuine people's power in a socialist
9) THE ANTIDOTE FOR DESPAIR IS ACTION
By Kevin Neish,
"For heavens sake, why are you going back on another flotilla to
I've heard this comment/question repeatedly since I returned from an Israeli
prison after the attack on my ship, the Mavi Marmara, last May.
In a nutshell, I'm returning because the illegal blockade of
And it's all my mom and dad's fault. As a little kid, I remember my Marxist
mother and father repeatedly standing up for just causes. They would stand,
almost alone in the 60's, for Cuba, the USSR, unions and peace, and against the
Vietnam war, nuclear bombs, apartheid South Africa, fascist Spain and book
burning McCarthyites here in Victoria.
They risked financial loss, political and social banishment and physical
assaults. And in the end, they usually, eventually, were proven right. While I
was on the Mavi
that night last May I thought about them a lot, while watching fellow aid
workers be shot, bleed and die all around me, having Israeli guns put to my
head, watching others get beaten and everyone being deprived of human dignity
and basic rights for three days.
I don't remember being scared, I remember being outraged, all the more so when
I returned to
Once you know something, "taken the red pill", you can't go back, you
can't "take the blue pill" and ignore what you've seen and walk away,
at least I can't. Sometimes, I feel that I'd give anything to take a blue pill
and move into blissful ignorance, just for a while, but this isn't a movie, it
can't and shouldn't happen.
In a high
school political science class, which I not surprisingly failed, I remember a
quote from a Nuremburg WWII war crimes judge. He said that when citizens are
faced with an immoral law, they have not only the right, but an obligation, to
disobey that law. So when Rosa Parks refused to obey the law and not move to
the back of the bus, or when Gandhi milled his illegal salt, or when Greenpeace
illegally sailed into atomic bomb test zones, they broke the State's laws, but
they were all morally right and history absolved them all.
The flotilla against the blockade of
Hopefully some Canadians feel the same way and will support us and be apart of our
effort. Contact your MP and the media and tell them how you feel. Demand
justice. Do the right thing.
If you want to keep track of the Canadian Boat to
Watch for us sailing to
10) TANKS AND TROOPS IN
By Mark
Haley
Delegates to the bi‑annual Southern Interior Peace Coalition conference were
treated to a display of armed troops and tanks in the streets of
Conference participants from
Alongside the B.C. Dragoons fresh‑faced Cadets were reviewed by the
Kelowna Mayor. "They are part of an organization dedicated to
developing citizenship and leadership among young men and women aged 12 to 18
years of age with a military flavour, and are not
required to join the Canadian Forces," according to their literature.
The city hopes the $20,000 cost for the two hour ceremony will be picked up by
Veteran's Affairs.
The Kelowna Peace Group, host to the Southern Interior Peace Coalition
conference and an affiliate of the Canadian Peace
"We oppose the old wars in
"The resort to armed force is always accompanied by noble rhetoric about
protecting vulnerable populations, bringing democracy and freedom and insuring
human rights. The grim realities of resource control, `regime change' and
enormous profits for military contractors lurk beneath the rhetoric.
"Our tax dollars are being spent in a huge propaganda campaign to
normalize military interventions, militarize our society, recruit our young and
vulnerable citizens and justify the largest military budget since WWII.
"The biggest beneficiary of the tragic ten year Canadian military
entanglement in
"Though Canadians like to think of our foreign policy as benign, as part
of NATO we are allied with a failing ex‑ superpower that engages in
extrajudicial "targeted assassinations" and refuses to renounce
nuclear weapons. The $30 billion purchase of fighter bombers can achieve no
humanitarian purpose. It prepares us for endless wars."
11) REPLACING ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY WITH FINANCIAL
OLIGARCHY
By Michael
Hudson, Information Clearing House (abridged)
Soon after the Socialist Party won
The tax system operated as a siphon collecting revenue to pay the German and
French banks that were buying government bonds (at rising interest risk
premiums). The bankers are now moving to make this role formal, an official
condition for rolling over Greek bonds as they come due, and extend maturities
on the short‑term financial string that
The conditionality for the new "reformed" loan package is that Greece
must initiate a class war by raising its taxes, lowering its social spending -
and even private‑sector pensions - and sell off public land, tourist
sites, islands, ports, water and sewer facilities. This will raise the cost of
living and doing business, eroding the nation's already limited export
competitiveness. The bankers sanctimoniously depict this as a
"rescue" of Greek finances.
What really were rescued a year ago, in May 2010, were the French banks that
held 31 billion euros of Greek bonds, German banks
with 23 billion euros, and other foreign investors.
The problem was how to get the Greeks to go along. Newly elected Prime Minister
George Papandreou's Socialists seemed able to deliver their constituency along
similar lines to what neoliberal Social Democrat and Labor parties throughout
The opportunity never had been better for pulling the financial string to grab
property and tighten the fiscal screws. Bankers for their part were eager to
make loans to finance buyouts of public gambling, telephones, ports and
transport or similar monopoly opportunities. And for Greece's own wealthier
classes, the EU loan package would enable the country to remain within the Eurozone long enough to permit them to move their money out
of the country before the point arrived at which Greece would be forced to
replace the euro with the drachma and devalue it. Until such a switch to a
sinking currency occurred, Greece was to follow Baltic and Irish policy of
"internal devaluation," that is, wage deflation and government
spending cutbacks (except for payments to the financial sector) to lower
employment and hence wage levels.
What actually is devalued in austerity programs or currency depreciation is the
price of labor. That is the main domestic cost, inasmuch as there is a common
world price for fuels and minerals, consumer goods, food and even credit. If
wages cannot be reduced by "internal devaluation" (unemployment
starting with the public sector, leading to falling wages), currency
depreciation will do the trick in the end. This is how the
Most of the Greek population recognises just what has
been happening as this scenario has unfolded over the past year.
"Papandreou himself has admitted we had no say in the economic measures
thrust upon us," said Manolis Glezos on the left. "They were decided by the EU and
IMF. We are now under foreign supervision and that raises questions about our
economic, military and political independence."
On the right wing of the political spectrum, conservative leader Antonis Samaras said on May 27 as negotiations with the
European troika escalated: "We don't agree with a policy that kills the
economy and destroys society... There is only one way out for
But the EU creditors upped the ante: To refuse the deal, they threatened, would
result in a withdrawal of funds causing a bank collapse and economic anarchy.
The Greeks refused to surrender quietly. Strikes spread from the public‑sector
unions to become a nationwide "I won't pay" movement as Greeks
refused to pay road tolls or other public access charges. Police and other
collectors did not try to enforce collections. The emerging populist consensus
prompted Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean‑Claude Juncker
to make a similar threat to that which Britain's Gordon Brown had made to
Iceland: If Greece would not knuckle under to European finance ministers, they
would block IMF release of its scheduled June tranche of its loan package. This
would block the government from paying foreign bankers and the vulture funds
that have been buying up Greek debt at a deepening discount.
To many Greeks, this is a threat by finance ministers to shoot themselves in
the foot. If there is no money to pay, foreign bondholders will suffer - as
long as
Concentration of financial power in non‑democratic hands is inherent in
the way that
The moral is that when it comes to bailing out bankers, rules are ignored - in
order to serve the "higher justice" of saving banks and their high‑finance
counterparties from taking a loss. This is quite a contrast compared to IMF
policy toward labour and "taxpayers." The
class war is back in business - with a vengeance, and bankers are the winners
this time around.
...
If this is not war, what is?
12)
Special to
PV
A month after the communist-led Left Front government of West Bengal went down to
defeat, the leadership of the Communist Party of
The Left Front was first elected in 1977. These 34 years saw important gains
for the peasants and workers in Bengal, including
But in recent years, the Left Front suffered setbacks at the local and central
levels. A terror campaign by Maoists and right-wing forces killed hundreds of
left activists. This campaign became a bitter struggle between the Left Front
and the Trinamool Congress party led by Mamata Banerjee, who has also
been the railways minister in the central government.
Under the slogan of "change", the TMC won 184 seats to 62 for the
Left Front parties. (The Indian National Congress took another 42 seats, and
smaller parties won five.) The Left Front slipped to 41% of the total popular
vote.
Elections were also held in three other states, including Kerala, where a left
alliance and right-wing parties have alternated in office for many years. This
time, the left was narrowly defeated in Kerala.
In its review, the CPI(M) Central Committee noted the "concerted effort to
ensure a gang‑up of disparate political forces ranging from the extreme
right to the Maoists to isolate and weaken the Left Front."
Despite the achievements of Left Front governments, the CC said, "there
were shortcomings and weaknesses in some of the policies and measures adopted
for the welfare of the people. The mistakes with regard to Singur
and Nandigram proved costly."
This conclusion points to the efforts by the Left Front to strengthen the
economy of
But a combination of mistakes cost the Left Front valuable support. Many
peasants in the affected areas objected to the projects, and in one case,
police killed a number of protesting villagers. The Left Front raised the
proposed land purchase prices and took steps to crack down on police abuse, but
the tragedy gave opposition forces a powerful rallying point.
The Central Committee review also identified "organizational defects and
shortcomings which have alienated various sections of the people" and
launched "corrective steps to be taken at the political and organizational
level."
Despite its problems, the Left Front polled about 19.5 million votes, and the
Since the election, violence has continued, killing another fourteen Left Front
members and injuring hundreds more. Scores of Party and trade union offices
have been attacked or captured, and many activists have been driven from their
homes, but the new government has taken no steps to curb the attacks.
A "long and arduous struggle" lies ahead, said CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat in a recent commentary.
Karat gives a sharp response to what he calls "another form of
attack", the attempt to slander the entire record of the Left Front and to
claim that its earlier victories were due to the repression of anyone who
opposed the CPI(M).
"These critics conveniently forget that in every assembly election since
1977, the anti‑Left opposition has got less than 40% of the vote at any
time," said Karat. "The CPI(M) and the Left Front had a remarkable
record of winning between forty five to fifty per cent of the vote in all
previous elections owing to their deep roots among the people and the popular
support that they commanded particularly in the rural areas."
It is not accidental, Karat noted, that the highest voter turnouts in
In
13) WHO'S EXPLOITED, AND DOES IT MATTER?
Marxist
Theory, by Clarence Torcoran
Here's a question to ask the people you work with: are you exploited at this
job?
Probably the answers will vary, depending on pay and benefit levels, working
conditions, whether the workplace is unionised, even
the attitudes of the boss and management.
Since we live in a capitalist society, the popular understanding of
"exploitation" is based largely on interpretation of these factors.
If workers receive well below the average pay in a particular occupation or
economic sector, if working conditions are abysmal, if the job is non-union and
the boss is a slave-driver, people are more likely to say "yes",
these workers are being exploited. On the flip side, if the pay is "decent",
if conditions are bearable and the employer treats workers like human beings,
the answer is often "no", they aren't being exploited.
This is no idle philosophical debate. Deciding whether or not particular groups
of workers are exploited can have a direct impact on public perception of the
need to raise the minimum wage, strengthen labour
standards protections, or allow greater ability to conduct union organizing
campaigns.
The "exploitation" question has many practical implications. For example,
the debate around prostitution and the sex trade industry is, on one level, a
discussion about whether certain occupations are by their very nature
"exploitive" while others are not. Debates about foreign investments
- made by corporations taking over Canadian assets, or by Canadian-based
monopolies expanding in other countries - often raise issues about whether such
companies are exploiting their workforces.
The question of exploitation reflects our basic understanding of the nature of
society and social change. Do some workers suffer from exploitation, but not
others? If so, we could begin to eliminate exploitation by legislating better labour standards, increasing wages, and compelling
employers to treat their workers in a humane fashion. The adoption of such
measures would show that capitalism itself is not necessarily an exploiting
system. There would be no pressing need to replace capitalism with another
system based on social ownership and working class political power.
But is this the reality? Are some fortunate workers free from the curse of
exploitation?
A Marxist analysis of modern capitalist society shows that this is not the
case. Yes, some workers are better-paid than most, working in clean and safe
conditions, with pleasant supervisors and free lattes in the lunchroom. But
even these workers are exploited.
This is not because the bosses are all "immoral" or evil people
(although many are!). Their personal motivations have nothing to do with the
basic functioning of the "private ownership" system. Under
capitalism, employees are hired for one simple reason. Through their labour - physical or mental - they create "surplus
value" - profits which are appropriated by the owners.
This is not always easy to see at the workplace, especially during periods of
economic crisis. While some companies go bankrupt, others survive and flourish.
Seeking to expand their overall profits, and the rate of profit at particular
businesses, the owning class shift capital and investments, squeeze suppliers
and employees for every nickel, and engage in cutthroat battles with
competitors. While these titanic business clashes continue, the overwhelming
proportion of the population who must sell their labour
to survive are all being... yes, exploited.
In fact, sometimes the better-paid workers are more exploited than their poorer
sisters and brothers. How can this be? Because these workers are often employed
in industries and sectors with a huge investment in other forms of capital -
machinery, for example. Workers in the petrochemical industry tend to be among
the highest paid in
The point is that exploitation is the "glue" which holds capitalism
together, the process which underlies our entire society. Despite any
illusions, no section of workers is "free".
Every struggle to increase wages or improve working conditions is a fight to
shift the balance against the exploiters, to claw back some of the wealth
created by workers. As such, these struggles are critical to the immediate
survival of working people and our families. But our true destiny as the
working class lies in a greater vision, the aim of a society in which
exploitation has been eliminated. This can only be achieved by ending
capitalist economic relations, and creating a new system in which workers own
the "means of production." Far from being "outdated", this
dream is more necessary than ever for the survival of our planet.
14) MUSIC NOTES, by Wally Brooker
Musicians
sing out for Tahrir
Musicians
contributed to the atmosphere of hope and solidarity among
Amandla ("Power") was the rallying
cry of the South African people during their long struggle against apartheid.
In the 1980s, thanks in part to musicians like Peter Gabriel ("Biko"), Special AKA ("Free Nelson Mandela") and
Steven Van Zandt ("
Major
league baseball's hypocrisy
Guitar
great Carlos Santana was booed by
Steve Earle
sings for
Earlier
this year the Obama Administration made the appalling decision to allow
offshore oil drilling to resume without additional environmental protection.
Grammy‑winning musician and activist Steve Earle pointed out in a May 13
interview on Democracy Now the equally appalling fact that Louisiana is the
only coastal state that does not collect royalties from drilling. Earle, 56,
has been appearing in Treme,
a TV series set in post‑Katrina
Leon Rosselson's BC & Toronto gigs
Acclaimed
15) THE HUMAN FACE OF SOLIDARITY
By Vinnie
Molina, for The Guardian, newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia
On my recent visit to
The visit is grueling; arriving to line up for the visit at 7 am is not early enough.
It took four hours of processing before I saw Liliany
through the window in Yard 6. People I met in the queue waiting to get a number
told me they sometimes spend the night outside to get one of the first places.
Getting the number is just one step, many check points follow. You are searched
by dogs and questioned; if you bring food stuffs it must be searched
thoroughly. You are weighed, pass through the metal detector and take your
shoes off before passing to a small room where you are searched again. Finally
you are asked who you are visiting. Liliany is in the
6th yard where political prisoners are held. When they learn that a whole new
round of processing begins.
After a not so pleasant search, ID or passport and two finger prints are taken.
The food is returned and you are walked to another building where another
finger print is taken. At each of these checks your arm is stamped; you end up
with an armful.
There is
still another metal detector and search before getting to the door of Yard 6.
Again you are asked to give your ID, name and address. Finally the prisoner who
has been waiting since 8 am gets to see their visitor.
Liliany was charged with one count of rebellion and
one count of fundraising for a terrorist organisation.
Rebellion is a "catch all" charge aimed at the political opposition,
trade union and human rights activists. Under normal circumstances Liliany and other political prisoners charged with
rebellion have their cases quashed due to irregularities in due process
including the use of fabricated evidence. However, because the latter charge
must be heard by a specialised anti‑terrorist
judge Liliany's charges come under a much more
complex process and the judge has greater leeway in imposing harsher sentences
up to 40 years.
Liliany's case is one of up to nine cases that
emerged after computers were seized in an illegal incursion into
On May 18, 2011 the Supreme Court made a critical finding in the trial of
former parliamentarian Wilson Borja who was also
charged with links to FARC. The judge found the computer files were obtained
illegally; the army didn't follow correct procedure. Lawyers for Liliany believe she should also be immediately released.
Liliany and I spent three hours talking about her
case and about international solidarity. She thanks the international
solidarity movement for being instrumental in breaking the silence and
providing a voice for the 7,500 political prisoners currently in detention so
their stories can be taken beyond the walls.
The
international community calls for respect for human rights in
At 2:45 pm I heard the whistle that signals visits are over. It was time to
line up to leave the premises by 3 pm.
Liliany thanks all those in
For
more information visit: www.inspp.org
People’s Voice
Walk-A-Thon,
Sun., Aug. 14, meet 11 am at Bear Creek Park (140 St. parking
lot at 88 Ave.), walk 12 noon, lunch and program 1 pm. For info, call
604-254-9836.
Vancouver, BC
Moncada Day Celebration, Sunday, July 24, Chilean Coop, 3390
School Ave., sponsored by CCFA Vancouver, for details call Ray, 604-254-1350.
22nd annual Cuba Friendshipment caravan, send-off Sat, July 2, 2 pm, Charleswood Mennonite Church, 699 Haney St., info
Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee 783-9380.
2nd International Copwatching Conference, July 22-24. For
information visit http://conference.winnipegcopwatch.org/ or 204-942-1588.
Davenport Club Annual
People’s Voice BBQ, 2-5 pm, Saturday, July 9 (rain or shine), $20/person, $10
low waged & students, children under 12 free.
Salsa
in the
Palestinians And Jews United, boycott/disinvestment/sanctions picket,
every Saturday, 1-3 pm, outside Le marcheur, at
(The
above article is from the July 1-31, 2011, issue of People's
(Contents)