Liverpool Dockers end strike
After 2 years and 4 months the Liverpool Dockworkers have decided to end their dispute. According to strike co-ordinator Jimmy Nolan, "in certain key areas, the campaign had started to falter and, in order not to see good men and women lose everything or risk a collapse from within, we decided to conclude a collective agreement on the best possible terms achievable.
Following the last secret ballot in October 1997 in which we gained a 70% rejection of the employers offer, greater support actions should have been launched The new Labour government could have used their 14% shareholding [in the Port], the leadership of our own union, the TGWU, could have played a far more positive role.
This didn't happen. In fact, both Labour and the TGWU supported our employers claim that the dispute was over.
The terms of the settlement were based on up to £28.000 redundancy payment for [the 2/3 of the strikers previously employed by Mersey Docks These payments will be subject not only to debt repayment but also be reclaimed by the social security benefits office. [...]
We have to recognise that work in Liverpool is a rare commodity and we expect that all our comrades will experience great difficulty over the next few years. It is with a great sadness in our hearts that we write to all our magnificent supporters and express our deepest gratitude. We have to build upon our internationalism, upon the experiences of all our struggles.
Let the words of the great Irish trade unionist James Larkin capture our thoughts; 'Who is it speaks of defeat? I tell you a cause like ours is greater than defeat can know. It is the power of powers.!"
Fascists march in Vukovar
On March 12th, the Croatian government prohibited public gatherings in Eastern Slavonia (Vukovar region), following demonstrations organised by the neo-nazi Croatian Party of Rights (HSP).
According to the Croatian Helsinki Committee, at one recent event "700 people dressed in black, using Nazi salutes and iconography, marched through the streets of Vukovar, with the blessing of the police who watched indifferently from the sidelines." In many parts of Croatia, the fascistic Croatian Party of Rights participates in local government coalitions with the ruling HDZ party of President Franjo Tudjman.
"Rather than use Article 174 of the Criminal Code to charge the initiators of the gathering with disseminating national and ethnic hatred... the government instead, as a smoke screen, laid a few misdemeanour charges," complains the Helsinki Committee. "This is common practice for the Ministry of the Interior in cases concerning any kind of excesses against minorities, even physical violence." In fact, abundant legislation forbidding ethnic, racial and religious hatred has almost never been used to protect the country's large Serbian minority.
### According to Helsinki
Committee spokesperson Cedo Prodanovic, "for pragmatic reasons, the "international community' might be inclined to 'look the other way' at this type of behaviour from the Croatian government. But the fact is that the Croatian authorities are using their own ineffectiveness to offer tacit approval to a meeting of neo-nazis in Vukovar! What is really at issue here is an intentionally staged incident, used as an excuse for the introduction of restrictions which retard the complete development of human freedoms, democracy and civil society in the Republic of Croatia. Source: Croatian Helsinki Committee Statement #69
Union left co-ordination
Left trade union currents from several of Western Europe's largest trade unions met in Rome at the end of May. The meeting was called by the Alternativa Sindical current in Italy's CGIL confederation. Other participants came from the Sector Crítico in Spain's CC.OO federation, Germany's IG Metal, and France's CGT.
The aim of the meeting was to co-ordinate left currents within the major trade unions, in the face of a neo-liberal offensive across Western Europe
Participants discussed the political and trade union situation. All agreed in the necessity to struggle for the reduction of the working week to 35 hours, with a final objective of 30 hours/week. They agreed to continue coordination efforts in an open spirit, taking into account the different situation of left wing currents - some of which dominate a particular union, others holding a minority position.
No current should be excluded from this coordination, which will focus on debate, and will not develop either structure or responsibilities at this time.
The next meeting will take place in Paris, France, on May 30. The central theme will be the 35 hour week and reduction of labour time. There is an ongoing discussion about the possibilities of organising a subsequent meeting on the 35 hour week in Frankfurt, Germany.
Militants active in left currents in the major European trade unions are invited to make contact as soon as possible, if they wish to be invited to the Paris and subsequent meetings. [JA] Araceli ORTIZ, Verde Olivo 16, 41927, Mairena del Aljarate, Sevilla, Spain. Mobile: +34-07-517907, office +34-54217495 <[email protected]> Jean-Pierre PAGE CGT International Department, 263 rue de Paris, 53516, Montreuil cedex, France. office +33-1-48188127, mobile +33608061789. Fax +33-1-48188443 <internat@cgt-fr> Gian Paulo PATTA, CGIL, Corso d'Italia 25, 00198 Rome, Italy office +39-6-8476528 mobile +39-335473569 fax +39-6-8476300 <org. [email protected]> lecue AI RARRACIN Madrid. Tel -34-1- Jesus ALBARRACIN, Madrid, Tel +34-14135659 <[email protected]> the other Europe * Border unemployment demonstrations
French and German unemployment associations and organisations have agreed decided on joint initiatives for the following objectives:
• an immediate improvement in the material living conditions of the unemployed and the right to a liveable income,
• the right to a stable and fixed employment and for a massive reduction in working hours.
May 8 will be a day of joint action in France and Germany. Demonstrations are planned on bridges in frontier towns, including the European Bridge between Kehl and Strasbourg, home of the Council of Europe and one of the European Parliament buildings.
The French unemployment associations will also be sending a large delegation to join the Berlin demonstration of German unemployed, planned for September 11. Paris, March 7, 1998. Signed: ALV (Arbeitlosenverbandes Deutschland), KOS Bielefeld (Koordinierungsstelle Gewerkschaftlicher Arbetslosengruppen), BAGSHI (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Sozialhilfeinitiativen). AC! (Agir ensemble contre le Chômage), MNCP (Mouvement National des Chômeurs et des Précaires). APEIS (Association pour l'Entraide, l'Information et la Solidarité)
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* Cover feature From the sheltering greenery of the Lacandona Forest, Zapatista Sub-commandante Marcos sends this original geostrategic analysis of the new world situation.
"War is a matter of vital importance for the state; it is the province of life and death, the road which leads to survival or elimination. It is essential to study it in depth Sun Tzu, The Art of War
As a world system, neoliberalism is a new war for the conquest of territory. The ending of the third world war - meaning the cold war - in no sense means that the world has gone beyond the bipolar and found stability under the domination of a single victor. Because, while there was 12 International Viewpoint #299