VOLUME 3. NUMBER 33 20 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2015

Contents

Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1. NEHAWU FULLY BEHIND THE PHARRELL PROTESTS ........................................................................... 1

1.2. COSATU SUPPORTS THE pHARRELL pROTEST ................................................................................... 2

1.3. WFTU CONDEMNS THE MILITARY COUP IN BURKINA FASO ................................................................... 3

1.4. ANC IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR UN REFORM .......................................................................................... 3

1.5. TRADE UNION ACTION AGAINST THE ANTI-REFUGEE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION .......................... 3

1.6. SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY STILL MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR AFRICA AND ARAB COUNTRIES ........ 4

1.7. MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION OF PAME AGAINST THE ANTI MIGRANT POLICY OF THE EU ............................ 5

1.8. JEREMY CORBYN: A MAN WHO DIDN’T TRY TO FASHION A CAREER ....................................................... 5

1.9. THE KIND OF SOCIETY WE WANT ..................................................................................................... 9

1.10. PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT URGES ISRAEL TO STOP INCIDENTS.......................................................... 12

1.1. NEHAWU FULLY BEHIND THE PHARRELL PROTESTS

22 September 2015

NEHAWU Statement

NEHAWU adds its voice in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions {BDS} Campaign against Pharrell Williams and Woolworths. We view his collaboration with Woolworths as shameful, unprincipled, and morally obscene. It is tantamount to feasting on the carcasses of the slaughtered and mutilated Palestinians and a slap in the face of the exiled and incarcerated ones.

Globally, there is now an accepted indictment of the government of Israeli; that its practices against the Palestinian people are in breach of the prohibition on apartheid under international law. Apartheid like slavery is a step up above the grave for those who are subjected to it. The apartheid state of Israel has not just slaughtered and displaced many Palestinians, but it has also persecuted Christians and other minorities.

In 2012 hundreds of African immigrants were attacked by Israeli nationalist protestors in Tel Aviv neighbourhood of Hatikva, with the connivance of the state. They assaulted, destroyed and looted the properties of African immigrants after provocative statements by members of the Israeli Knesset {assembly}.

Miri Regev an Israeli lawmaker and member of the Knesset called the Sudanese Immigrants a ―cancer in our body‖ during an anti-immigration protest. This was followed by the statements from Danny Danon a member of the Likud party who proposed that the city‘s African residents should be deported to the ―detention facilities‖ and be removed from population centres.

Artists like Pharrell Williams should remember that by collaborating with organisations like Woolworths, they are giving indirect support to the racist, xenophobic and neo-fascist practices of the Israeli state. Currently, the Israeli regime is busy detaining young Palestinian children and is also busy drafting draconian laws meant to ensure that the Israeli Arabs remain second class citizens in their own country.

We call on all our members and the workers in general to join in the ongoing BDS campaign .All of us have a moral responsibility to speak out against the abuse of Palestinians by the Israeli government and also to stop the crime of silence.

We reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Palestine and we are calling for an end to the military aggression against Palestinians. All political prisoners and detainees must be released immediately and we support the formation of an independent Palestinian state with West Jerusalem as its capital. The Israelis must affirm the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office

Source: NEHAWU

1.2. COSATU SUPPORTS THE PHARRELL PROTEST

21 September 2015

COSATU Statement

The Congress of South African Trade Unions supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] Campaign led by International Social Justice Activists today in Cape Town, Western Cape against Pharrell Williams due to his deliberate and un-informed decision to collaborate with Woolworths.

COSATU has continued to campaign that companies must discontinue doing business with Apartheid Israeli regime as an instrument to isolate the intransigent regime against ill-treatment meted against the people of Palestine.

COSATU agrees with BDS-South Africa that ‗International mobilisation, mass protests, global boycotts and specifically the cultural and sports boycott against the oppressive and racist Apartheid system in South Africa were used as ways to mobilise huge pressure on the Apartheid regime in the 1980s, largely accelerating our struggle towards freedom‘.

And today, we cannot put wool in our eyes with injustice meted against the people of Palestine. COSATU reiterates its solidarity with the people of Palestine, who continue to suffer from political repression and apartheid from Israel.

COSATU welcomes the Western Cape High Court judgment which declared the attempts by the City of Cape Town to restrict attendance to only 150 people, invalid and unconstitutional.

Equally, COSATU condemns the act by some political parties who have visited the Middle East on a ticket of the oppressor, the Israeli regime.

COSATU also appreciate the recent decision by the United Nations to have the flag of Palestine flying high at its Headquarters.

COSATU urges workers to actively participate in the #PharrellProtest at the Main Entrance of Grand West Casino, Jakes Gerwel Drive in Parkwood, and Cape Town from 16h00 as planned.

We, the South Africans are not free until the people of Palestine are free!

Issued by COSATU

Source: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=10919#sthash.SgZRq9y0.dpuf

1.3. WFTU CONDEMNS THE MILITARY COUP IN BURKINA FASO

21 September 2015

WFTU Statement

The World Federation of Trade Unions strongly condemns the military coup in Burkina Faso and expresses its solidarity to the people and working class of the country. Supports the call for general strike of the Trade Union Federations and calls the workers to denounce the coup. We call the Burkinabe people to continue their struggle to overthrow the coup of the Presidential Guard. We strongly believe that the workers have the power to secure their rights and independence against every enemy in and out of their country.

The WFTU, representing 92 million workers in 126 countries, endorses the demands of the trade unions in Burkina Faso: the unconditional dissolution of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), calls the workers ant the trade unions in every country of the world to express their solidarity in every possible manner and mean to the working class of Burkina Faso who is struggling to defend its rights against the military coup.

Source: http://www.wftucentral.org/wftu-condemns-the-military-coup-in-burkina-faso/

1.4. ANC IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR UN REFORM

21 September 2015

Prensa Latina

The African National Congress (ANC) urged today in South Africa to the extension of the United Nations Security Council as part of the reform of the UN on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.

During a meeting with the press, the head of the International Relations subcommittee, Obed Bapela, favored the change, because of the 15-member council only five have a veto (United States, France, Britain, Russia and China).

South Africa along with the rest of it continent demanded a reform of the United Nations, but this point, was apparently overshadowed by the debates at its headquarters in New York regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, stated experts.

Last week, President Jacob Zuma outlined as one of the priorities of the South African foreign policy the issue of UN reform in order to make it more inclusive, democratic and representative.

The countries of this part of the world warn that there would no be any valid transformation in the Security Council if it continues to ignore and exclude the 54 member states included in the African Union.

Source: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4179121&Itemid=1

1.5. TRADE UNION ACTION AGAINST THE ANTI-REFUGEE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN

UNION

23 September 2015

WFTU

The class trade union Organizations of Europeaffiliates, and friends of WFTU, condemn the Hypocrisy of the European Union and the Governments of its Members states which is a provocation to all refugees and the working class of Europe. The EU, USA and NATO who cause the imperialist wars now talk words of sympathy for their victims. They are murderers and

hypocrites.

Declaring their solidarity with the refugees and the migrants, the class Trade Union forces in Europe are taking initiatives and organising militant actions.

In Greece, PAME is holding a militant protest on Wednesday, September 23 condemning the hypocritical Summit of the EU on the Refugees and demands immediate measures for the protection of all migrants and refugees who are uprooted by imperialist wars and poverty.

In Cyprus, PEO organizes a campaign for Humanitarian Aid for the Refugees and held an event of Solidarity with the Refugees on September 3rd.

In Portugal, CGTP-In is organized on 18 September a public debate on the Issue of Refugees and Migrants in Lisbon.

In Italy, USB along with CISPM, a coalition of asylum Seekers, Refugees and Migrants will be going to hold an International Demonstration in Calais on 25th of September and are calling for a national week of Action on 17-24 October 2015 in Italy.

In Austria, the Left Bloc is organising a militant protest on October 3rd, on the anniversary of the WFTU declaring the support of the class trade unions to the refugees.

WFTU calls all trade union organisations to take initiatives against the Anti-Refugee policies of the EU, against racism and xenophobia. The class trade unions must multiply the initiatives of Solidarity and Support with the Refugees.

Source: http://www.wftucentral.org/trade-union-action-against-the-anti-refugee-policy-of-the-european-union/

1.6. SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY STILL MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR AFRICA AND

ARAB COUNTRIES

24 September 2015

PSI

Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, opened the 12th Regional Conference for Africa and Arab Countries (AFRECON) in Gaborone, Botswana, emphasising the challenges that public service workers face nowadays in the region.

To an audience of over 200 public sector trade union leaders from 33 countries, Ms Pavanelli said she was particularly pleased to see for the first time nearly half of women delegates attending.

―It would be a sad world, where half of the population was not fairly represented.‖

However, she also expressed her frustration that delegates from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea could not obtain a visa and participate in the Conference, as these are the three African countries most affected by the Ebola virus disease.

―Ebola has exposed the failure of a system that has challenged public governance of health care in Africa. It has shown to the whole world the importance of public investment in the health sector, of decent work conditions and of research against such diseases.‖

Ms Pavanelli said that a major reason for such lack of investment is tax evasion, corruption and tax havens that are also widespread across Africa.

Paraphrasing the slogan of AFRECON ―Solidarity, Strength, Service‖, PSI General Secretary mentioned the current refugee crisis around the Mediterranean and called on Europe for more solidarity towards African and Middle Eastern countries.

―Public sector unions can play a role in conflict areas where violations of human rights take place, forcing many people to flee.‖

Ms Pavanelli also praised the increasing strength of African and Arab affiliate organisations within PSI and their growing membership, underlining the need for independence from governments, for unity and solidarity between workers and unions.

In his welcome speech, Mr Sikalame Seitiso, Chairperson of PSI‘s Botswana National Coordinating Committee from the Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU), pointed out that AFRECON is taking place at a time when African countries and public service workers are facing major challenges, first and foremost privatisation.

However, a major challenge remains corruption, said Mr Peters Adeyemi, PSI Vice-President for Africa and General Secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU)

―Many political leaders are responsible for this, they let corruption erode our ability to address poverty and unemployment, and in the long run corruption cannot but prevent development.‖

Mr Adeyemi mentioned the attacks on trade union rights as a reason for concern, as well as security threats to citizens and workers posed by terrorist groups from West to East Africa, from Boko Haram to Al-Shabab.

After the opening ceremony with the leaders of PSI, of Botswana trade unions and government officials, the conference went on with presentations about trade union rights in the public sector, union development and international cooperation.

Source: http://www.world-psi.org/en/social-injustice-and-inequality-still-major-challenges-africa-and-arab-countries

1.7. MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION OF PAME AGAINST THE ANTI MIGRANT POLICY OF THE

EU

24 September 2015

PAME

PAME held a massive demonstration on Wednesday, September 23rd, in Solidarity with the Migrants and the Refugees, protesting against the Anti-migrant policy of the European Union.

The EU and the Government of the Member States, hypercritically express sympathy to the refugees, when they are those who cause the uprooting of the hundreds of thousands of people, with their imperialist interventions.

PAME in the early afternoon gave one (1) tone of milk to refugees who are camped in Athens and later, thousands of workers, youth and people from the popular strata demonstrated the streets of Athens.

When the demonstration reached the EU Offices the demonstrators started shouting ―Murderers-Murderers‖ and they put a huge banner at the front side of the building with the photo of the young Syrian boy, who was drowned trying to cross the sea with his family.

The banner wrote: ―Murderers-Thieves-Hypocrites Are Europe‘s Imperialists‖

At the same time many demonstrators threw red paint and burned the flag of the EU.

Source: http://pamehellas.gr/index.php/en/homepage/92-press-releases/5419-massive-demonstration-of-pame-against-the-anti-migrant-policy-of-the-eu-photos

1.8. JEREMY CORBYN: A MAN WHO DIDN’T TRY TO FASHION A CAREER

24 September 2015

Boris Kagarlitsky, Counterpunch

This past summer, I was hoping to meet with Jeremy Corbyn at a conference on anti-crisis policy in Ufa, Russia. He asked for a few days to think over the invitation to attend, promising to do so unless something unplanned and significant happened. It

did. He was nominated for the leader of the British Labour Party.

―The phenomenon of Corbyn‖ arose suddenly, not only for himself and for all who knew him, but also for many journalists and analysts, including those in Great Britain. Indeed, the modest backbencher MP has never attracted too much attention. Rather, he was known as one of the few people in British politics who was not interested in money and a career, and therefore has always remained in the background since the early 1980s when he was first elected to parliament. Of all the deputies in Westminster, he was the most beneficial for British taxpayers because he spent public money sparingly and did not abuse his privileges. But he repeatedly won renewal of his electoral mandate simply because people in the district he represented firmly knew that Mr. Corbyn would meet their expectations and solve minor problems with the use of his status and influence.

Because of his strong position in the county, Jeremy Corbyn was independent from both the party apparatus and media. This allowed him to win elections without spending a lot of money. This independence from authorities slowly turned him into a famous politician, if not a dissident of his own party. Although Mr. Corbyn did not preach heretical opinions. He simply remained faithful to the principles of social democracy at a time when all other high-ranking politicians betrayed their party principals and turned into neo-liberals.

It‘s funny to read today in our Russian press (and in the Western press) about Corbyn as the representative of the ―hard left‖. Both his program and his activity do not go beyond what was considered as a normal social democratic agenda during the 1970s and 1980s. Of course, in its left-wing, not right-wing, expression. But not more than that.

The accusation against Mr. Corbyn of extreme radicalism speaks more about the shift of European and British politics closer to a right ―axis‖ than about the shift of views of MP Corbyn his supporters. But sometimes, adherence to principles can be good advertising. Especially when others betray and sell out, it is quite possible to be glorified based on the sole fact that you behave decently.

Mr. Corbyn spoke at anti-war rallies when his Labour Party was silent or when it supported the war in Iraq. He did not admire the feats of NATO‘s Special Forces in Afghanistan. He told his listeners about the arson of the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine on May 2, 2014 while the British media was stupidly repeating the version of Kiev propagandists about ―quilted jackets‖ (pro-Russia ―losers‖) who set themselves on fire, or pretended that nothing happened at all. He talked about the bombing of Donbass when it was expected that leaders would only worry about the journalists of Charlie-Hebdo. All these facts allowed the media to project the image of a ―pro-Russian‖ politician, although, by and large, Mr. Corbyn does not care about Russia. Rather, he cares about the West‘s responsibility for the chaos that is growing in the world. He is not a supporter of the current Russian government; Mr. Corbyn simply understands that Russians, like everyone else, have legitimate interests which should be taken into consideration.

In terms of intra-British debates Mr. Corbyn usually was right in spite of the opinions of official leaders. When he spoke about the crisis of financial capitalism, which cannot be overcome with austerity measures, and predicted that the privatization of the railways would make them less effective but more expensive, profound experts rejected his arguments with an air of importance. Nevertheless, everything happened exactly as he said.

People kept this in mind, year after year. The authorities still consisted of gentlemen who lied every time, failing and turning democracy into a farce. Society was becoming more and more irritated but kept on bearing it.

Gradually in the British Parliament, Mr. Corbyn built a reputation as a good interlocutor with whom it was not acceptable to agree but to whom it was necessary to listen. This reputation determined the unexpected twist in his political career; which can, in its turn, become the beginning of a breaking point in the political process in all of the United Kingdom and maybe even in all Europe.

After the Labour Party was once again shamefully defeated in 2014 by the Conservatives headed by David Cameron – who were, in fact, doomed by many to fail as demonstrated by polling surveys – it became clear that changes in the Labour Party were inevitable. The leader of Labourists, Ed Miliband, resigned; the election of a new leader was declared. This is one of a few good English traditions – a politician who fails an election must leave his or her post and not occupy it until death. However, the responsibility for another failure lay not on Ed Miliband (by the way, he is the son of the famous Marxist historian, Ralph Miliband) but on his entire party leadership, who were not planning on quitting or changing anything.

A usual set of representatives of the Labour Party elite ran for the party leadership. They were faceless and unprincipled people, who differed little not only from each other but also from their conservative opponents. The election could have turned into a deadly dull and, frankly, pointless spectacle. But then one of the deputies proposed to nominate Mr. Corbyn, just to make things a little more interesting. He was, at least, a good speaker; at least a debater who could say something

constructive amidst the usual banal utterances.

The fact that Mr. Corbyn could not only diversify the dull process of the party election but also become a leader was unexpected for everyone, including the candidate himself. He did not have influential supporters and money, not even sympathizing journalists capable of creating an ―image‖ for him. But when he was put on the list, he set to work with his usual due diligence. He began to visit cities of the United Kingdom, made speeches and discussed the country‘s situation with people. These meetings gathered crowds of many thousands. And then thousands of people began to join the Labour Party in order to take part in the selection process.

It should be noted that the procedure for the leader election has recently been greatly democratized. At one point, the Labour Party leader was elected by MPs in Westminster who would consult with the leaders of the largest trade unions. Paradoxically, this situation was changed by right-wing leaders. With the intent of reducing the influence of trade unions and backbenchers, they started relying on ordinary members and eroding the existing system. Decisions ended up being made by the party apparatus, which made them legitimate, referring to the will of some group of members that existed only on paper. Primary organizations collapsed and citizens became the formal support of managers whose political activity consisted of transferring every few months some fixed amount of money to the party. Meanwhile, activists in the labour movement and among left-wing youth left the party, seeing no point in their activity. In addition, the number of workers who once formed the support of social democracy was steadily declining. Their places in the party were occupied by representatives of moderately liberal middle classes who were interested in politics, but not interested enough to be taking active part.

The trouble is that this mechanism is very convenient for political manipulation but completely unprotected from outside intrusion. Moreover, no one even thought that someone would try, once again, to revive the grassroots of the party to fight for workers‘ rights. In the 1960s and 1970s, similar revival attempts were constant and the apparatus fought with them strictly (the frankly undemocratic procedure for electing the leader was expressly implemented in order to prevent any influence on the managers‘ policy). But since the days of Tony Blair, these extremes were so deeply forgotten that precautionary measures were disabled.

By mid-August 2015, Mr. Corbyn firmly led the race and party memberships were growing by leaps and bounds. Veterans, frustrated with many years of treacherous politics of right-wing leaders, were returning, youth joined and people who have recently thought about parliamentary politics as hopeless were engaging. Paradoxically, the financial position of the Labour Party dramatically improved, but for some reason this did not please the party‘s management.

The party elite began to take counter-measures using the media. The British press launched a campaign against Mr. Corbyn which, incidentally, was also taken on by Russian liberal publications. The attack had three fronts. Primarily, Jeremy Corbyn had no serious program; he offered populist measures such as the nationalization of the railways and the improvement of work of social ―emergencies‖, although any sensible person should understand that this simply cannot be realized. Secondly, the Labour Party could not win an election with such a program and such a leader because no one will vote for candidates who are calling to carry out economic and social policies in the interest of the majority of the population. And thirdly, Mr. Corbyn expressed outrage over Ukrainian army shelling of hospitals and schools in Donetsk, which proves that he is an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

To the surprise of politicians and journalists, their campaign backfired. The more that such articles appeared, the faster grew the candidate‘s rating.

As ill luck would have it, a few dozen well-known economists, among whom was Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, issued a joint letter expressing solidarity with the program of Mr. Corbyn. Finally, at last, someone is offering realistic anti-crisis measures instead of stupidly repeating the mantra about the free market that will cure itself.

Opinion polls also produced unexpected and unpleasant results (for the ruling circles). Over 80 per cent of respondents claimed that the Labourists could return to power only with such a leader as Mr. Corbyn. Furthermore, according to the polls, electoral collapse of the party would occur if any other candidate were elected; if trends remains unchanged, where from year to year the Labour Party is becoming closer to the Conservative Party, citizens will stop voting for the Labourists.

Protests of intellectuals and politicians over the pro-Russian position of Mr. Corbyn did not work either, as the majority of Britons do not believe what the press writes about Russia. Not because they are favourable to Russia but because they do not believe journalists.

Finally, the ―front bench‖ Labour MPs said they would not cooperate with Mr. Corbyn and would resign if he were elected. This news led to a new surge of enthusiasm—it became a great chance to get rid of all those self-satisfied losers leading the party

from one defeat to another! The delight of ordinary party members was so strong that it caused panic among the Shadow Cabinet members. They started surrendering one by one, declaring that they changed their mind and now considered the possibility of constructive teamwork with Mr. Corbyn. Of course, under the condition that when the new leader of the Labour Party becomes a serious politician he will correct his views.

Thus the success of Mr. Corbyn revealed the complete moral failure of the ―political class‖ and its staff of intellectuals dominating the public opinion of the West over the past two decades. If these people still had the trust and respect of the society, ―the phenomenon of Corbyn‖ would have been simply impossible.

September 12, 2015 is a historic day for British politics; Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party, gaining 59.5 per cent of the votes and placing far ahead of his nearest rivals.

Unexpectedly, the ruling class found out that the policy of ―austerity‖ and the neo-liberal program of dismantling the welfare state is becoming exhausted, not only objectively but also at the level of mass consciousness. There is a cultural and psychological change which forms a new majority that does not wish to tolerate such politics any longer.

Today, Mr. Corbyn has become not only the British but also the pan-European leader for this new majority. And those who hope that everything will end with just a blank shot as in Greece are mistaken. It is not that Jeremy Corbyn is a completely different person than Alexis Tsipras. He is not a young careerist with left-wing views who uses them to promote his own interests. He is a person who has lived in movements and paid for his allegiance to principles via rejection of career opportunities during the time of successive Labour Party leaders.

It is not even the national differences in traditions and characters; the British being stubborn, persistent and not prone to give in to emotions. It is that the main difference at the heart of ―the phenomenon of Corbyn‖ is based not on charisma, not on a trendy image, and not even on the disappointment of people in the policies of the ―old style‖. Corbyn‘s campaign relies on mass movements which over the past two decades have grown and strengthened but did not have access to the agenda of ―serious‖ politicians. Today, we observe the self-organization of people at the social bottom, so to speak–all those who for so many years were excluded from the decision-making process by ―advanced liberal minority‖. All those who were pushed into the background and ignored not only by the ruling establishment but also by the fashionable ―left‖ intellectuals, by bearers of ―new trends‖ and heroes of mass media.

The strength of the candidate is the support of the masses, and he is not so much a charismatic leader as he is the medium through which this mass, which yesterday wasn‘t given a word, can speak up. ―We will celebrate John Corbyn‘s victory at the same place where we fought for it and have won and where we will defend it – in the streets,‖ writes John Rees, who is one of the organizers and ideologists of the electoral campaign. The new leader also has no problems forming a team – hundreds of specialists and professionals who are unhappy with neoliberal reforms, which have destroyed industry and the social sphere, and are ready to work with him. In fact, they are already working with him.

The victory of Mr. Corbyn gives a signal which is read very well by other countries. In Greece, the majority that voted in the referendum for ―No‖ is still there, they will make themselves felt. In Spain, the new party ―Podemos‖ is rapidly becoming more popular. In other European countries we can expect the same sudden revolt of voters. Six months ago, it seemed that the position of the ruling elite in Britain was quite unshaken. As the crisis escalates, more and more people will understand that only radical solutions may be effective. Only politicians that require radical changes have a chance to get public support.

Even in the United States, unexpectedly, Bernie Sanders, a politician from Vermont who formally is not even in the Democratic Party, achieves great success in the democratic primaries. Mr. Sanders is the only member of Congress who decided to call himself a socialist.

Although the views of Mr. Sanders are highly controversial (for which he is constantly criticized by the American left), the fact is that he is popular.

It is not necessary to believe that the success of Mr. Corbyn ensures a sharp change in the British and European politics. After all, his story is still only one of struggle for power in the opposition party. The political elites will hold on to their positions. And the more society will reject their course, the more aggressively and persistently they will conduct it. The most important and the most difficult is yet to come.

But today when I write these lines, people in the streets of London are hugging and congratulating each other with victory. There is an old photo from the time of the Vietnam War making the rounds on the web, showing the Americans fleeing by helicopter from the roof of the U.S. embassy in Saigon but with a new caption: Tony Blair‘s supporters leaving the

headquarters of the Labour Party. This is a new stage in history.

Source: YCLSA Discussion Forum

1.9. THE KIND OF SOCIETY WE WANT

24 September 2015

Jeremy Corbyn, Counterpunch

Sisters and brothers, thank you very much for inviting me here today. I must admit it seems to be a very fast journey we are on at the present time and, to me, it is an enormous honour to be invited to address the Trade Union Congress. It only seems a very short time ago that your General Secretary, Frances O‘Grady, did me the honour of coming to speak at the nominating meeting in my constituency, Islington North, and now she has invited me here to address the TUC. I am very grateful, Frances, for what you did there and I am delighted to be here today because I am, and always will be, an active trade unionist. That is in my body.

I have been a trade union member all my life. I was an organiser for the National Union of Public Employees before I became a Member of Parliament. I realise this is deeply controversial because they are now part of Unison but you can only be in one union at a time; you know the problem. That taught me a great deal about people, about values, and about the value of trade unions in the everyday lives of ordinary people. School cleaners, they have a hard time, school meals workers being badly treated, school caretakers looking for some security in their jobs, all those issues that are day-to-day work of trade unions and those that attack and criticise trade unions should remember this. There are six million of us in this country. We are the largest voluntary organisation in Britain. Every day we make a difference in looking after people in their ordinary lives as well as a huge contribution in the wider community. Unions are not just about the workplace, they are also about society as a whole, life as a whole, and the right of the working class to have a voice in society as a whole. That is why trade unionism is so important.

We celebrate the values of solidarity, of compassion, of social justice, fighting for the under-privileged, and of working for people at home and abroad. Whilst we value and protect the rights that we have in this country, the same thing does not apply to trade unionists all over the world. Those people that died in that dreadful fire in China where there was a free market philosophy around the operation of a port, fire-fighters died trying to protect other workers who should have been protected by decent health and safety conditions. All around the world, Colombia and many other places, trade unionists try to survive trying to stand up for their rights.

Trade unions in Britain have achieved a fantastic amount in protection and in the wider society. We need to stand in solidarity with trade unionists all over the world demanding exactly the same things as we have secured for ourselves and trying to defend for ourselves. Trade unionism is a worldwide movement, not just a national movement and we should never be ashamed to say that.

There are those that say trade unions are a thing of the past and the idea of solidarity, unity, and community are a thing of the past. Ever since this Labour leadership election was announced—and I have taken part in it— I have spoken at 99 different events all over Britain, 99 events in 99 days. Those events were often very large. They would bring together people that had been estranged from the Labour movement or indeed from the Labour Party and they would bring together young people who had not been involved in that kind of politics before. What brought them together was a sense of optimism and hope. What brought them together was a sense of the way things can be done better in politics in Britain.

Those values I want restored to the heart of the Labour Party, which was of course itself a creation of the trade unions and socialists in the first place. I have some news to report to you. Ever since last Saturday, large numbers of people have been joining the Labour Party and the last figure I got, that was Saturday afternoon, 30,000 people have become members of the Labour Party. Our membership is now more than a third of a million, and rising. Over half a million people were able to take part in that election.

But the values that people bring to joining the Party and the Party brings to them have to be things that we fight for every single day. I want the unions and the Labour Party to work together to win people over to the basic values we all accept, to change minds, and change politics, so that we can have a Labour government, we can look in a different direction, we can look away from the policy of growing inequality and look to a society that grows in equality, in confidence, in involvement of everybody, and does not allow the gross levels of poverty and inequality to get worse in Britain. That is what the Tories have

in store for us.

But Labour must become more inclusive and open, and I have had the very interesting task in the last few days of a number of events and a number of challenges. The first thing I did on being elected was to go and speak at a rally in saying Refugees are Welcome Here because they are victims of human rights abuses and other abuses. I thought it was important to give that message out, that we recognise human rights abuses and the victims of it all over the world from wherever they come, they are human beings just like you and me, we hold out our hands and our hearts to them, and we want to work with them for a safer and better world. They are seeking the same things that we are seeking.

Later, the next day, I also wanted to give a message about how we intend to do things and the kind of society we want. So, I was very proud to accept an invitation to attend a mental health open day in my constituency, or a nearby constituency, to show that we believe the NHS is vital and valuable as it obviously and absolutely is but there are many people who suffer in silence from mental health conditions, suffer the abuse that often goes with those conditions, and the rest of society passes by on the other side. Mental illness is an illness just like any other, it can be recovered from, but we have to be prepared to spend the time and the resources and end the stigma surrounding mental illness which often comes with stress, workplace stress, poverty, and many other things. There are other messages we have to put and the media has been absolutely full of midnight oil burning sessions in appointments to the new Shadow Cabinet of the Parliamentary Labour Party. After consideration and thought— and lots of discussion— we have assembled and appointed a Shadow Cabinet of a majority of women members for the first time ever in history.

To show how determined we are on a number of specific areas of policy, there is a specific Shadow Minister, Lucianna Berge, who is dealing with mental health issues. She will be at the table along with everyone else, and there is a specific Minister dealing with housing, and that is because I believe that John Healey will put the case very well. The issue is that we have to address the housing crisis that faces so many people all over this country. The free market is not solving the problem of homelessness. The free market is not allowing people to lead reasonable lives when they are paying excessive rents in the private-rented sector. We have to change our housing policies fundamentally by rapidly increasing a council house building programme to give real security to people‘s lives.

But there are other issues that we have to address, and that is how we make our party and our movement more democratic. The election process that I have just come through was an electorate of 558,000 people, the largest electorate ever for an internal party election. The number of votes that were cast for me were more than twice the total membership of the Tory Party in the whole country. That is something to savour.

But all those people coming forward to take part in this process came forward, yes, because they were interested, yes, because they were hopeful but, yes, because they wanted to be part of a democratic process where we make policy together. We live in a digital age, we live in an age where communications are much easier and we live in an age where we can put our views to each other in a much quicker and in a much more understandable form. So we don‘t need to have policymaking that is top down from an all-seeing, all-knowing leader who decides things. I want everybody to bring their views forward, every union branch, every party branch and every union, so we organically develop the strengths we all have, the ideas we all have, and the imagination we all have.

When we have all had a say in how we develop, say, the housing policy, or, say, the health policy, say any other particular area of environmental protection or anything else, if everyone has been involved in that policymaking, they own the policy that is there at the end. They are more determined to campaign and fight for it. They are more likely to mobilise many more people around it, so we don‘t go through until 2020 with a series of surprises, but we go through to 2020 with a series of certainties, that we are a growing, stronger movement; we are more confident and more determined than ever and, above all, we are going to win in 2020 so we see the end of this Tory government.

When politicians get out of touch with reality, they sometimes forget where skill sets really lie. I can give you an example: when I was a union organiser, we used to get involved in negotiations about work-study arrangements, the time it took to drive a van from place A to place B, and how long it took to load the van, all those kind of issues. So we would go in there and start negotiations, and I would always go to the branch meeting before hand and say, ―Who here is keen on betting?‖ Every hand went up, of course. ―Who‘s the best at betting?‖ One particular hand would be pointed to, and I would say, ―Can you come along to the negotiations?‖ ―Why?‖ Because that member had brilliant skills at mental arithmetic — this was pre-computer days — and he would work out very quickly, and he would say sotto voce to me, ―They are lying to you, Jerry. Don‘t accept it‖ or whatever. Skills at the workplace, skills of ordinary people, knowledge of ordinary people. The elite in our society look with contempt on people with brilliance and ideas just because they don‘t speak like them or look like them. Let‘s do things differently and do things together.

Had we had a different approach, we would now have the millstone of private finance initiatives around the necks of so many

hospitals and so many schools in this country, or would we; instead, have a more sensible form of public sector borrowing to fund for investment and fund for the future, rather than handing over our public services to hedge funds, which is exactly what this government would like us to do? Be confident, be strong. We have lots of knowledge and lots of power.

I have worked with unions affiliated to the Labour Party and not affiliated to the Labour Party, and I work with all trade unions because I think that is what the Leader of the Labour Party should do. I think the Leader of the Labour Party, if invited, should always be at the TUC. I see it as an organic link.

I want to say a special mention to one group of workers who are here. They are doing their best to defend something we all own, know and love. Welcome to those strikers from PCS from the National Gallery for what they are going through at the present time. They look after our national treasures in the National Gallery. They do it well. They love what they do and they love what we have got in our National Gallery. Please, let‘s not privatise our galleries and privatise our staff. We welcome and we recognise the skills of those people who work in all those places and so many other places as being a precious national asset, not something to be traded away on the market of privatisation. Well done to you for your campaign.

Yesterday the Tories put the Second Reading of the Trade Union Bill to Parliament, and, sadly, it achieved its Second Reading and it has now gone into Committee. Basically, they are declaring war on organised labour in this country ever since they won the General Election, albeit with the support of 24% of the electorate. Yesterday, I was proud to sit alongside Angela Eagle on our Front Bench to oppose the Trade Union Bill, and she rightly said, and I quote: ―This Bill is a dangerous attack on basic liberties that would not be tolerated by the Conservative Party if they were imposed on any other section of society.‖ Stephen Doughty gave an excellent reply, and Labour MPs spoke with passion, knowledge, and understanding of the dangers of this Bill. It is quite interesting how the Tories champion deregulation wherever regulation is ever mentioned. How many times have we heard that, Ministers for Deregulation, Departments for Deregulation, Ministers who will tear up all regulations? But one thing they really want to regulate is organised labour and the trade unions in this country. I think that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, don‘t you?

So we have to oppose it and recognise what they are doing. The burdens they are placing, as one Tory MP admitted, are actually the strategy that was used by General Franco in Spain on his control of the trade unions in Spain. They seem to still think that it is right just to attack trade unions because they exist. I am not going to be lectured to by saying, ―If the Labour Party gets too close to unions it puts us all on the back foot.‖ I am sorry. Trade unions are an essential and valuable part of modern Britain. Six million people voluntarily join trade unions and I am proud to be a trade unionist. That is why we are going to fight this Bill all the way. When we have been elected with a majority in 2020, we are going to repeal this Bill and replace it with a workers‘ rights agenda and something decent and proper for the future.

Every difficulty actually gives you an opportunity, and the difficulty is that this Bill has been placed in front of us, but it gives us the opportunity to defend civil liberties and traditional freedoms and explain to the wider public, beyond trade union members and others, that it is actually a threat to the liberties of all of us. Because by calling into question the right of free association of trade unions they are actually in contravention, in my view, of Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. They are also in contravention, as Stephen pointed out in his reply yesterday, to the International Labour Organisation conventions. So we are going to continue our opposition to this. They are threatening the right of peaceful protest by looking to criminalise picketing. They are even threatening the right to free speech by seeking to limit what a union member can say on social media during a dispute. Are we really going to have teams of civil servants or lawyers or police or somebody trawling through massive numbers of Twitter messages, Facebook messages, to find something somebody said about their employer or about an industrial dispute? What kind of intrusive society are they really trying to bring about? We have got to fight this Bill all the way, because if they get it through it‘s a damage to civil liberties and for everybody in our society. They will use it as a platform to make other attacks on other sections of our community. Let‘s be strong about this.

We also have to promote trade unionism and understand that good trade unions, good trade union organisation, yes, it protects people in the workplace, yes, it leads to better pay, better conditions and better salaries and better promotional opportunities as a whole, but it also means there is often better management in those places where unions are very strong. The two things actually go together and are very important. Where unions are weak, job security is weak; conditions get worse and you look at the results of what this Conservative government is doing. They want to raise the threshold on strike ballots, so I would like to ask the Prime Minister this question: if you want trade unions to vote in ballots, why leave unions with the most archaic, expensive, inefficient method of voting you could find? Why not modernise the balloting? Above all, why not go forward and secure workplace balloting ensuring that every member of a trade union can vote securely and secretly at their own workplace? That, surely, is something we all want in this Bill for ourselves.

But they are also attacking the rights of trade unions to be involved in the wider society. The Tories have always been concerned about the right of trade unions to be involved in political actions in any way. Why shouldn‘t workers, organised together in a union, express a political view? Why shouldn‘t they use their funds, if they wish, on political or public

campaigning? We had the Act in the last Parliament that restricted the participation of unions and charities in public commentary during elections. This is taking it a stage even further. They seem quite relaxed about the involvement of hedge funds and funny money in politics. They seem absolutely obsessed with the cleanest money in politics, which is trade union funds being used for political campaigning. So we are going to oppose this Bill with every opportunity we get. We are going to expose it for what it is, and we are going to try and stop it from passing. As I have said, we will try to replace this Bill with something much better.

But there are other issues that we have to remind ourselves about what is going on at the present time. The Welfare Reform Bill is anything but welfare reform. It is all about building on the cuts they have already made, making the lives of the most vulnerable and poorest people in our society even worse. The disability benefits cuts that have been made over the past five years and the availability of the work test have had some disastrous — appalling — consequences where people have even committed suicide and taken their own lives out of a sense of desperation. I simply ask the question: what kind of a society are we living in where we deliberately put regulations through knowing what the effects are going to be on very poor and very vulnerable people who end up committing suicide? And we say it is all part of a normal process. No, it is not!

The reduction in the benefit cap has the effect of socially cleansing many parts of our cities. Owen Smith and I had discussions last night about amendments that we are going to put down to the Welfare Reform Bill. As far as I am concerned, the amendments we are putting forward are to remove the whole idea of the benefit cap altogether. We need to raise wages and regulate rents rather than to have a welfare system that do things, of subsidising high rents and low wages. Surely, we can do things differently and better if we really want to? We will bring down the welfare bill in Britain by controlling rents and boosting wages, not by impoverishing families and the most vulnerable people.

I have to leave straightaway after I have concluded my remarks here because I want to be back in Parliament to vote against their attempt to cut the tax credits that act as a lifeline to millions of people. Barnados say it will take £1,200 per year away from a lone parent of two working full time on the minimum wage. The government says there is no alternative to this. John McDonnell, our new Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, is setting out what the alternatives are. They call us ―deficit deniers‖, but then they spend billions in cutting taxes for the richest families and for the most profitable businesses. What they are as is ―poverty deniers‖. They are ignoring the growing queues at food banks; they are ignoring the housing crisis; they are cutting tax credits when child poverty rose by half-a-million under the last government to over four million. Let‘s be clear. Austerity is actually a political choice that this government has taken and they are imposing it on the most vulnerable and poorest in our society.

It is our job as Labour to set out a vision for a better society and campaign proudly against Britain‘s greatest democratic organisation, the trade union Movement. Our shared vision will be delivered by shared campaigning, a Labour Party proud to campaign for the trade unions and a trade union Movement proud to campaign with Labour. We have a job to do, to understand the process that has been going through in politics in Britain, to understand the levels of inequality that are there, to understand the levels of insecurity of people on zero-hours contracts, students with massive debts and understand the stress and tension that so many people have.

We are actually quite a rich country. We are actually a country that is deeply unequal. Surely, the whole vision of those who founded our unions and founded our political parties was about doing things differently. That generation, those brilliant people brought us the right to vote, got women the right to vote, brought us the National Health Service and brought us so many other things. We build on that in the way we do our policy, we build on that in the way we develop our movement, and we build on that in the way that we inspire people to come together for a better, more decent, more equal, fairer and more just society. These things are not dreams. These things are practical realities that we, together, intend to achieve.

Source: YCLSA Discussion Forum

1.10. PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT URGES ISRAEL TO STOP INCIDENTS

23 September 2015

Prensa Latina

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas today urged here Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop incidents and warned the chaos and risks of the Intifada (uprising) that they don‘t want.

An Israeli military attack was carried out against the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem last September 13, in which 110

Palestinians were injured.

In a joint declaration after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande today, Abbas warned that what is happening is extremely risky and the situation will worsen if that type of incidents continue.

For his part, Holllande called for calm and respect to principles.

Paris has been defending for months the creation of a supporting group to the organization of a peace effort between the two parties in conflict.

Abbas was decorated in this capital with the Grand Vermeil medal, which was granted by the mayor of the so-called Light City, Anne Hidalgo, as recognition of his work for peace.

The Palestinian president will leave France for Moscow to hold a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4183621&Itemid=1

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