[Marxism] Pakistan: Jailed LQM unionists speak on their case, workers' rights

[Stuart Munckton]

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Power loom workers in Faisalabad, a big industrial centre in central
Pakistan, launched a series of strikes and demonstrations in mid-2010. Six
leaders of the organisation of power loom workers, the Labour Qaumi
Movement (LQM), were arrested by the police.

The six were charged under anti-terror laws and sentenced to a total of
almost 490 years' jail (served concurrently). The jailed LQM leaders are
also members of the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP).

Three of the six spoke from jail with *Rana Aslam* and *Tony Iltis*.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50718

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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Re: [Marxism] Teamsters Win Overwhelming Victory with LA Port Truckers

[Robin Horne]

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> It seems odd to me that this analysis of the victory of the port drivers 
> would neglect to mention the fervor that took place up and down the West 
> Coast during the fall and winter. 

I thought so too, especially because (as I understand it) the call for the D12 
port shutdown was originated from truckers at the port of Long Beach. Then 
again, I'm not surprised that was left out in an article from ITT. Mike Elk, a 
frequent writer on labor issues for ITT, made a big stink about the alleged 
undemocratic and adventurist organizing for D12. 

Regardless, this is an exciting victory, especially since the OccupySF labor 
working group (which I was a part of) participated in organizing solidarity 
actions for the union drive.

Robin.


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[Marxism] France: Melenchon shakes up presidential poll

[Stuart Munckton]

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Dick Nichols

There’s no election quite like a French presidential contest. It is a
six-month-long race in which nearly every political stable usually has a
runner and where the handicapping system is less rigged against “outsiders”
than in many other countries.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50712


-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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[Marxism] Mali: War threatened as Touareg declares independence

[Stuart Munckton]

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The new, interim president of Mali is holding out the possibility of “all
out war” against the rebellion of the oppressed, Touareg nationality that
has swept the north of the western African country.

Dioncounda Traore took over the presidency on April 12 in a deal with the
military officers who overthrew the elected president on March 21. He
immediately called on the rebels to "return to the fold and to strengthen
this nation instead of dividing it".

BBC reported on April 12 that Traore said if they did not yield, "we will
not hesitate to wage a total and relentless war".

Traore has been Mali's National Assembly president since 2007 and also
president of the political party of the overthrown president.

The March 21 coup was prompted by the successes of Touareg forces fighting
for a homeland they call Azawad. They have defeated the Mali military and
now control the vast, northern half of Mali.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50717

-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Alan Bradley]

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From: Gary MacLennan 
> I agree totally with Lou and that is why I would say to Alan, that SAlt
> cannot succeed. They can never win because theirs is a failed model. How
> many more years of "party-building" do we need to endure before we
> finally walk away from it?

The thing is that mutual jealousy and competitiveness between the various 
grouplets is a key element in the "party-building" model. There's always 
something separating "us" from "them".

If we eliminate, or substantially reduce, that element, a lot of the 
rationalisation for separatism falls apart.

We should also note the subtext in this particular situation, where Socialist 
Alternative is stealing the thunder of the old DSP. The "old" way of doing 
things would be for the mainly ex-DSP led Socialist Alliance to redouble its 
efforts to recapture the (de facto) leadership of the Left. 

The proper way to do it is to sincerely and honestly applaud SAlt's successes, 
and ask "can we help?"

That's what I'm trying to get at. We should seek to genuinely cooperate with 
SAlt, rather than compete with them.

That will torpedo the sect building methodology more than anything else 
available to us.

> Now this from *The Australian* today:
>
> "The Greens have declared they will fight any attempt by the government
> to use cuts to the public service, family benefits or research and
> development funding to return the budget to surplus".
>
> That's not too bad for a basis to work with, no? 

Certainly.


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[Marxism] Video of Tiecoura Traore's talk on Mali at the James Connolly Forum in Troy, New York

[Jonathan Flanders]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGJpMj8T3G8

Tiécoura Traoré, a railworker's son with a doctorate in transport
engineering, is the former general secretary of the Mali railway workers
union SYTRAIL. He is famous in Mali for campaigning against
privatisation of Mali's railways and is founding President of the
'Citizens' Collective for Developing and Taking Back the Railways in
Mali' (COCIDIRAIL http://www.cocidirail.info/), a national campaign "to
take back the railways for the people of Mali" that he founded after
they were sold off in October 2003 to a Franco-Canadian consortium,
Transrail. He also played a role in the film "Bamako", an indictment of
the role of the World Bank in Africa.

Brian Petersen chaired the forum, translation was by Eloise Briere



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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Gary MacLennan]

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I agree totally with Lou and that is why I would say to Alan, that SAlt
cannot succeed.  They can never win because theirs is a failed model.  How
many more years of "party-building" do we need to endure before we finally
walk away from it?


Now this from *The Australian* today:

"The Greens have declared they will fight any attempt by the government to
use cuts to the public service, family benefits or research and development
funding to return the budget to surplus".


That's not too bad for a basis to work with, no?  Of course they are not in
government and they can act totally principled.  Nevertheless they have
clearly taken up a position well to the Left of the ALP. For us what is
important is that they have staked out a battle ground where mass public
support can be won.

comradely

Gary

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[Marxism] Ireland: Dole cut for protesting unemployment

[Stuart Munckton]

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http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/21763#.T4U1gQQiZw_.facebook
-- 
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s
original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man
Under Socialism

“The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of
dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker

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[Marxism] sixth annual anarchist book fair - NYC

[Dayne Goodwin]

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Sixth Annual New York City Anarchist Book Fair
Judson Church, Saturday, April 14, 2012



Pipe-wielding 'anarchists' attempt to shatter floor-to-ceiling
Plexiglas windows at East Village Starbucks




NYC Anarchist Book Fair  

2012 Workshop Schedule: April 13, 14 & 15
. . .  Saturday, April 14th and Sunday, April 15th: . . .

10) Self-defense and street combat for anarchists... - Sunday,
4:15-5:45pm Judson Assembly Room
J. "G." J.
will provide a basic overview of offense and defense when dealing with
recalcitrant fascists and / or pig police. We will deal with holds,
strikes, traps and disarming techniques. No prior martial arts
experience is necessary. The techniques are simple and effective,
derived from the Yip family Wing Chun lineage (invented by a womyn,
for wimmin and slight-bodied people). Anyone with experience, ideas
and techniques of their own are welcome and encouraged to share! Come
prepared to move, and preferably with someone you trust to work with.
I try to make this as fun and non-triggering as possible!
*appropriate for teens

11) Occupy Anarchism; Commons Not Capitalism - Saturday, 12:45-2:15pm
Think Coffee Basement
Cindy Milstein
As the do-it-ourselves occupations that have swept across the globe
from Egypt to United States are proving, direct democracy and
cooperation are becoming powerful everyday experiences for millions,
with people self-organizing everything from civic defense and trash
collection to tent encampments and general assemblies. This compelling
and quirky, beautiful and at times messy experimentation has cracked
open a window on history, affording us a rare chance to grow these
uprisings into the new landscape of a caring, ecological, and
egalitarian society--a world of our own collective making and doing.
This talk will draw out some of the promise as well as dilemmas of the
occupy moment, focusing specifically on the anticapitalst/antistatist
opening of notions and lived practices of "the commons," and then
facilitate a conversation, in hopes of better strategizing toward
increasingly expansive forms of freedom.  .  *appropriate for teens

13) Occupy Wall Street's Anarchist Roots: How Nonhierarchical Values
Became the Principles for a Mass Movement - Saturday 4:15-5:45pm
Judson Assembly Room
Chris, Marisa, Matt, Guy
This panel will explore the history of Occupy Wall Street and the
influence that anarchist ideology and methodology has had on the
movement, both in its planning and in its implementation. Panelists
will discuss the brief history of the movement, the roles that
anarchists have played within it, and the ways that it has
incorporated the principles of anarchism toward a more free society.
*appropriate for teens
. . .

18) Sustainable Resistance: Anarchist Praxis Beyond the
Narcissist/Martyr Binary - Saturday 2:30-4pm @ 6th St Community Center
Nathan Eisenstadt
In response to activists’ lived experiences of trauma and burnout, and
a high ‘dropout rate’ from radical social movements around the age of
thirty, new discourses and practices are emerging that stress ‘care of
the self’ and sensitivity to emotion and collective ‘well-being’ as
part of a ‘sustainable resistance’ and one that more consistently
prefigures the kind of world anarchists are attempting to create.
. . .

22)  Syndicalist Organizing in New York's Industrial Food Sector -
Saturday 4:15-5:45pm @ 6th St. Community Center
Focus on the Food Chain, Brandworkers International
Immigrant workers and organizers in the  City's food processing and
distribution sector will discuss embracing  syndicalism as the most
effective way to improve the workplace and build  a movement to
transform the food chain, the economy, and society.  *appropriate for
teens

23) Come Hell or High Water: A Handbook on  Collective Process Gone
Awry - CANCELLED
Delfina Vannucci, Richard Singer
This workshop/forum/panel will discuss the book  "Come Hell or High
Water: A Handbook on Collective Process  Gone Awry" which helps
individuals navigate the world of  egalitarian, directly democratic
groups. From their  experiences working with egalitarian and anarchist
 organizations, Delfina Vannucci and Richard Singer offer a
street-level view of how social relationships and power  work. Lessons
are learned and hindsight is 20/20, and Come  Hell or High Water
offers readers both in this little gem.
. . .

31) May Day and the Politics of Borders - Sunday 2:30-4pm Judson Main Hall
An exploration of the anarchist roots of May Day, and  we’ll use that
discussion as a jumping off point to discuss  issu

Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Louis Proyect]

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On 4/15/12 10:11 PM, Alan Bradley wrote:

SAlt actually is interested in forming a mass socialist party. It's
just one under their political leadership and reflecting their
political positions. That ain't going to happen.


I had a debate with the SAlt leader a while back:

http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/mi/1/1.htm

It's the same debate I had with DSP leaders as well once upon a time.

Just to reiterate a point I've made in the past, propaganda groups like 
SAlt are capable of important initiatives. If you read Barry Sheppard's 
memoir, you can see the best-case example up to 1980 or so.


The problem is all these groups hit glass ceilings. Some make 
spectacular collisions, like the American SWP, and send shards flying 
everywhere. Others nestle comfortably close to the ceiling.


I strongly believe that the existence of the USSR and the long slow 
period we are finally coming out of provided a seedbed for such 
formations. However, the stormy period that has begun will put enormous 
pressure on the left to cast off routinist and self-centered modes of 
operation. I hope we are up for it. A lot is at stake.



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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Alan Bradley]

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From: Nick Fredman 
> If SAlt are interested in building a mass socialist party rather than
> merely Brand SAlt it's something they'll need to address, including
> talking to people with runs on the board in the area.

This is the crux of the matter.

SAlt ARE more interested in building Brand SAlt at the moment. That's why their 
Conference was how it was, and why it couldn't possibly have been how Sue 
suggested.

That doesn't mean that Sue's suggestion wasn't right in general - it just 
didn't make sense in terms of SAlt's goals for their conference.

We need to understand SAlt in their own terms. They (still) adhere to the 
gouplet model that the old DSP took literally decades to transcend. They are 
having success with it. In some ways they are most successful group on the 
Australian left at the moment, and, incidentally, outperforming the Socialist 
Alliance in those respects.

To their eyes, their model, their politics, works.

We can't expect them to just walk away from this. We probably shouldn't even 
bother to ask them to. It's not going to happen.

The question is how should we align with them, not with how we should persuade 
them to line up with us. They are, as it happens, largely going in the 
direction we want to go too. More so, in fact, than the Greens, who are 
wandering off into bourgeois politics land (with some important exceptions).

SAlt actually is interested in forming a mass socialist party. It's just one 
under their political leadership and reflecting their political positions. That 
ain't going to happen. But it would be interesting to watch them engage in 
concrete steps to establish one, wouldn't it?

That's why I think we should basically step back and say: Go for it! We'll 
support you!

If they win, we win. If they lose, well, at least they, and we, tried.

SAlt are not opponents. They are allies. For better or worse that means we have 
to treat them with caution and respect.


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[Marxism] After Bradford: The space to the left of Labour just got huge

[Ratbag Media]

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Useful over view withs some background highly the contradictions:

The space to the left of Labour just got huge

http://socialistresistance.org/3422/the-space-to-the-left-of-labour-just-got-huge


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[Marxism] Climate & Capitalism, April 16, 2012

[Ian Angus]

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CLIMATE AND CAPITALISM
An ecosocialist journal, edited by Ian Angus
http://climateandcapitalism.com
++

What’s new, April 16, 2012

IF GROWTH IS THE PROBLEM, WHY HASN’T IT BEEN STOPPED?
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/10/if-growth-is-the-problem/
Why, in the face of massive evidence that the constant expansion of
production and resource-extraction is killing us, do governments and
corporations keep shoveling coal for the runaway growth train? Ian
Angus introduces Gareth Dale's critique of the "the growth paradigm."

CUBA PREPARES FOR RISING SEA LEVELS AND EXTREME WEATHER
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/14/cuba-prepares-for-rising-sea-levels-and-extreme-weather/
Island nations face major threats from rising sea levels and
increasingly extreme weather events. Cuba is moving to protect
hundreds of shoreline and inland communities, and is offering to help
other Caribbean countries to prepare for and adapt to climate change.

OVER 15,000 TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN
IN WARMEST U.S. MARCH
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/11/u-s-records-warmest-march/
U.S. government scientists say that record and near-record breaking
temperatures dominated the eastern two-thirds of the nation and
contributed to the warmest March on record, a record that dates back
to 1895.

ALBERTA’S KILLING FIELDS:
SCAPEGOATING WOLVES FOR TAR SANDS DESTRUCTION
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/11/albertas-killing-fields-scapegoating-wolves-for-tar-sands-damage/
Over the last several months, Alberta has killed more than 500 wolves,
to conceal the impact of rapid industrial development on woodland
caribou

THE FOUR LAWS OF ECOLOGY AND
THE FOUR ANTI-ECOLOGICAL LAWS OF CAPITALISM
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/02/four-laws/
by John Bellamy Foster. The growing conflict between ecology and
capitalism reflects the startling degree to which profit-making has
become the primary and most powerful  connection between human beings
and between human beings and nature.

STEPHEN HARPER AS CAPTAIN OF THE TITANIC
http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/04/14/if-stephen-harper-had-been-captain-of-the-titanic/
Cartoon

ECOSOCIALIST RESOURCES
http://climateandcapitalism.com/articles-reports/
New additions to our listing of important articles and reports
++ Heiltsuk leader addresses Canada’s National Energy Board (Video)
++ Bad credit: How pollution trading fails the environment
++ 99 Percent Spring: the latest front for the Democratic Party
++ Justice for Forests: Combating illegal logging


FROM THE APRIL MONTHLY REVIEW …
http://monthlyreview.org/
“As part of the development of what will eventually be called MRonline
we recently invited Ian Angus, founder and editor of the important
Climate & Capitalism blog to join forces with us and to locate Climate
and Capitalism on the MR website, with himself as editor. We are happy
to announce that he agreed and the blog can be found on both the MR
website and climateandcapitalism.com.“


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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Nick Fredman]

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On 16/04/12 8:12 AM, "Alan Bradley"  wrote:

> "I just wrote the following on Greenleft_discussion:
> 
> SAlt are entitled to organise whatever they want on whatever basis they want.
> It's not useful to complain that it's not how "we" (for whatever value of
> "we") would have done things.
> 
> A jointly organised open conference would be a good idea. Why not propose
> one?"

And I just replied thusly on Greenleft_discussion:

The article this thread started with http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50677
implicitly makes this suggestion within a positive appreciation of the
conference, rather than whingeing about anything. Anyone who knows the
article's author, Sue Bolton, would know that she works closely and
patiently with SAlt members and everyone else in the refugee rights movement
and other arenas, and is generally about the least complaining person one
could imagine. 

She also points out concretely a rather big gap in the Marxism conferences:
the environment. One could go further and suggest the IS tradition has
totally abstained from environmental campaigning in Australia (at least in
my experience and observation of the last 20 years). If SAlt are interested
in building a mass socialist party rather than merely Brand SAlt it's
something they'll need to address, including talking to people with runs on
the board in the area.

 




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[Marxism] take a look

[Michael Schembri]

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thousands of new original items here

* *

take a look , 20% Off all orders in April.

I just bought iphone4s from them , and i like much

so i tell you

good luck


-- 
Michael Schembri
http://www.il-kecwiel.blogspot.com/

>From the river to the sea,
Palestine will free!

The Shoah is over, it is finished.
The Nakba is not over.
- Shlomo Sand

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Re: [Marxism] Whither the Greens?

[Alan Bradley]

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I wrote:
> It's particularly noticeable here in Toowoomba in the case of the
> University of Southern Queensland, which is the biggest single employer,
> and heavily reliant on overseas students. A high Australian dollar makes
> it more expensive for overseas students to study here, and thus it's less
> likely that they will chose to do so.

A PS: How marvellously commodified education has become! It's another thing to 
sell, just like coal or wool!


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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Alan Bradley]

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From: "En Passant with John Passant" 
> As to the suggestion by someone else to turn Marxism 2012 (a joint
> conference this year between Socialist Alternative in Australia and the
> Internartional Socialist Organisation in NZ) into a broad left conference
> I think this misunderstands the nature of the Conference and what
> Socialist Alternative is about.

This suggestion wasn't one I would have made.

"I just wrote the following on Greenleft_discussion:

SAlt are entitled to organise whatever they want on whatever basis they want. 
It's not useful to complain that it's not how "we" (for whatever value of "we") 
would have done things.

A jointly organised open conference would be a good idea. Why not propose one?"

I then added in a follow-up post:

"Oh, and (comrade with dissenting views) should be free to argue his views 
there too.

This is completely unproblematic as long as it is clear that he isn't arguing 
The SA Position, and thus providing strawman ammunition to everyone who wants 
to call SA "Stalinists!"

This applies to every other SA member too.

In a talkshop, party discipline shouldn't apply."

The last sentence isn't entirely correct - formal positions need to be 
presented correctly and faithfully to their meaning - but otherwise comrades 
should be able to say "this is what I think", without repercussions apart from 
having everyone who disagrees jumping in to say so.

Which, incidentally, brings me to the question of "internal" versus "public" 
discussion within organisations. It's occurred to me that in the Internet Age 
this difference is essentially meaningless. Unless comrades are going cut 
themselves off from the rest of the world, they will be arguing their views in 
public anyway.

Frankly, if they haven't won their organisation to their views before the start 
of formal pre-conference discussion periods, they've already lost the argument.


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Re: [Marxism] Whither the Greens?

[Alan Bradley]

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From: Gary MacLennan 
> On a related matter I think Alan needs to take into account the
> weaknesses of a resource based economy such as Australia's. It squeezes
> out other sectors - manufacturing, education, tourism etc by monopolising
> investment and driving up the currency. I think if I am not mistaken,
> that is called the "Dutch Disease".

Of course this is a real problem.

It's particularly noticeable here in Toowoomba in the case of the University of 
Southern Queensland, which is the biggest single employer, and heavily reliant 
on overseas students. A high Australian dollar makes it more expensive for 
overseas students to study here, and thus it's less likely that they will chose 
to do so.

Having said that, it's precisely the resource based nature of the economy which 
is currently protecting the Australian working class from the full impact of 
the global crisis. We're in nothing like the kind of shit Europe, and even the 
US, is in. That, I think, has a lot to do with the fact that we haven't yet 
seen a reflection of the global radicalisation here - things aren't yet that 
bad.

And of course, politically, we want to see such a thing - but the economic and 
social price is horrifying, so we should be careful what we wish for.

It's eventually going to happen anyway, of course.

We need to be as ready for it as we can. 


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Re: [Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[Gary MacLennan]

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John Wrote:

"As to the suggestion by someone else to turn Marxism 2012 (a joint
conference this year between Socialist Alternative in Australia and the
International Socialist Organisation in NZ) into a broad left conference I
think this misunderstands the nature of the Conference and what Socialist
Alternative is about."

I am not so sure, John.  I think we all on the Left fully understand the
imperatives of the Socialist Alternative.  What we all long for is
something different from the endless rounds of party building and the
mantra "from little things..."

Still I am delighted that young O'Lincoln thinks that the conference has
reached critical mass.  I even read Bramble on the conference on another
list and I agreed with his reply to Humphrey McQueen's ill considered
attack on the conference. But I want unity on the Left not another
attempted takeover.

It's the kind of unity that the working class will demand when they
eventually at long, long last turn and fight.

comradely

Gary

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[Marxism] Wither the Greens? and Broad Marxism Conference

[En Passant with John Passant]

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I like the discussion about the AAustralian Greens between Alan and Gary (and 
thanks for the compliment about my blog too Alan.) 

I think the Greens' 'rural turn' might have some potential around Coal Seam Gas 
but I suspect entrenched positions and stereotypes mean this is unlikely to 
become anything other than an alliance of convenience.

I agree about the carbon tax. I argue in an article published online in the 
Bulletin for International taxation in December last year (and accessible only 
through subscription or subscriber Libraries) that it is a neoliberal 'the 
market will fix everything' approach, it is too low a price to do anything much 
other than encourage a big shift to gas (and hence may be one of the drivers 
for the CSG exploration explosion in Australia) and will long term impose a 
cost on the Australian working class, not the polluters. 

Not so long ago a confident left would have campaigned to tax the rich and 
implement a program for a transition to state owned solar, wind and other 
renewable energy programs and generators. Beyond Zero Emissions estimates it 
would cost $100 bn over ten years to become a fully renewable energy society. 
About ten billion a year - the extra amount the abandoned Resource Super 
Profits Tax would have bought in, the amount Gina Rinehart's wealth increased 
last year etc.

As to the suggestion by someone else to turn Marxism 2012 (a joint conference 
this year between Socialist Alternative in Australia and the Internartional 
Socialist Organisation in NZ) into a broad left conference I think this 
misunderstands the nature of the Conference and what Socialist Alternative is 
about. 

 Comradely regards

John Passant

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[Marxism] The Samaritans

[Adam Richmond]

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I never heard of this ancient, tiny religious cult in modern times. Apparently 
they didn't join the diaspora. 
Adam

04/13/2012


Israel's Other Temple
Research Reveals Ancient Struggle over Holy Land 
Supremacy
By Matthias Schulz

The Jews had significant competition in antiquity when it came to
 worshipping Yahweh. Archeologists have discovered a second great temple
 not far from Jerusalem that predates its better known cousin. It 
belonged to the Samaritans, and may have been edited out of the Bible 
once the rivalry had been decided.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,827144,00.html


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[Marxism] Teamsters Win Overwhelming Victory with LA Port Truckers

[Dan Russell]

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http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13035/toll_election_victory_union_teamsters_los_angeles_australia_nlrb_union-bust/

Company pledges good-faith bargaining, but union remains skeptical

Wednesday night, the National Labor Relations Board announced that
truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles had won a rare union
election. The 46-to-15 vote is a major step forward in the Teamsters'
campaign to transform the overwhelmingly nonunion port trucking
industry—though it’s no guarantee of a union contract with their
employer, the $8.8 billion Australian logistics company Toll Group.

"When they tried to push us down, they only managed to make us
stronger..." said Toll driver Karael Vallecillo on Thursday.  "This is
just the beginning of the big war."

Wednesday’s was one of the first union elections held by U.S. port
truckers since the deregulation of the industry in the 1980s. For most
of the country’s 110,000 port truck drivers, NLRB elections aren’t an
option. As David Bacon has reported, port truck drivers are frequently
misclassified as “independent contractors” who aren’t employed by the
companies they work for and thus aren’t eligible to file for an
election. But Toll's LA workers are classified as employees. Writing
in the Australian newspaper The Age, reporter Malcom Maiden traced
that difference to a Port of LA requirement—since overturned by an
appeals court—that companies directly employ drivers.

Reached during a union rally the night before the election, two-year
Toll driver Alberto Quinteno said he began organizing with the union
after he and some co-workers tried taking concerns to management: “You
know, basic human being treatment, like a clean toilet.”  When workers
asked for daily bathroom cleaning, Quinteno says Toll refused. He says
when workers asked for clean drinking water, “They gave us water, but
they left it in the sun…it was tasting like plastic…they didn’t even
give us cups.”

In December, Toll worker Xiomara Perez joined port truckers from six
other ports in a writing a letter to the Occupy movement and the
broader public.

“Just like Wall Street doesn’t have to abide by rules, our industry
isn’t bound to regulation,” they wrote.  “So the market is run by con
artists…We receive Third World wages and drive sweatshops on wheels.”
In January, Perez and her Port of LA co-workers filed for an election.
 In February, hundreds of port truck drivers in Washington State
struck for two weeks and massed at the state capitol demanding a
crackdown on misclassification. LA workers joined them in wearing
wristbands reading “Our fight is your fight.”

In March, Toll fired Perez.

The union charges that Perez’s firing was part of an aggressive—and
often illegal—anti-union campaign waged by Toll since last year. In
January, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint (the
equivalent of an indictment) against Toll for anti-union actions
including illegally interrogating, harassing, retaliating, and
discriminating against workers.  Perez was ostensibly fired for
stopping at a McDonald's bathroom on her way to make a delivery (she
made the delivery on time anyway). Another prominent worker activist,
Steven Chavez, was ostensibly fired for using a company vehicle,
during his lunch break, to drive to renew a Department of
Transportation certificate (Chavez says he had a supervisor’s
permission).

Quinteno said Tuesday that management held mandatory anti-union
meetings roughly every other week in months leading up to the
election. He said these meetings included a series of anti-union
speakers, from a man who said that he and his entire family had been
union members, to one of Toll’s top executives.

“They try to find to find out who is pro, who is against…There’s a lot
of people that are scared about the fight, because knowing about how
bad the economy is now, everybody needs a job to feed their families.”

In an e-mailed statement, Toll did not address the pending NLRB
complaint, but noted that some of the union’s NLRB charges have been
withdrawn or dismissed, and that the NLRB has not so far issued any
final verdicts against the company. Toll touted its wages and benefits
as “competitive” and “among the best in the industry."

International solidarity in action

Since early in the campaign, U.S. workers’ campaign against
Melbourne-based Toll has been backed by Australia’s Transport Workers
Union (TWU), which represents 12,000 Toll workers. TWU members made
repeated visits to Los Angeles, including a delegation of Australian
Toll employees led by TWU President Tony Shelton last month.

TWU says that Australian workers have good working conditions and
constructive labor relations with the company. The Age’s Maiden wrote
of the company’s U.S. workers, “by our standards, they get 

Re: [Marxism] Tieacoura Traore's talk on Mali at the James Connolly Forum in Troy, New York

[Jonathan Flanders]

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Brian J. Petersen chaired this forum, Eloise Briere provided the
translation. 


On Sun, 2012-04-15 at 10:29 -0400, Jonathan Flanders wrote:
> ==
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> ==
> 
> 
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55598895/traore.mp3
> 
> photos from his Upstate NY stop
> 
> https://picasaweb.google.com/115535821288160866267/TiecouraTraoreSVisitToTheCapitalDistrictOfNewYork
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu
> Set your options at: 
> http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/jonflanders%40jflan.net





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[Marxism] Tieacoura Traore's talk on Mali at the James Connolly Forum in Troy, New York

[Jonathan Flanders]

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http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55598895/traore.mp3

photos from his Upstate NY stop

https://picasaweb.google.com/115535821288160866267/TiecouraTraoreSVisitToTheCapitalDistrictOfNewYork





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[Marxism] Sanhati: Petition on arrests and evications at Nonadanga (Kolkata, India)

[newsletter]

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Release activists arrested for protesting evictions and ensure suitable
rehabilitation and compensation to the residents of Nonadanga slum.

Please read and sign Sanhati’s petition against the government of West
Bengal’s anti-democratic action. You may click 
to be redirected to the webpage that will enable you to electronically
sign the petition. If you experience technical problems while attempting
to electronically sign the Sanhati peition, send your endorsement to
communications [at] sanhati [dot] com.

The petition has been endorsed by 1023 signatories (updated 15.4.2012 @
12.52am IST). Signatories include :

Aarti Chokshi, Banglore
Abha Sur, Massachusetts (USA)
Alpa Shah, United Kingdom
Amit Bhaduri, New Delhi
Anirban Kar, New Delhi
Arundhati Roy, New Delhi
Asish Gupta, New Delhi
Balmurli Natarajan, New Jersey (USA)
Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford (UK)
Bernard D’Mello, Mumbai
Ceren Soylu, Massachusetts (USA)
David Faust, Minnesota (USA)
David Kotz, Massachusetts (USA)
Debarshi Das, Guwahati
Deepankar Basu, Massachusetts (USA)
Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri, Kolkata
Dipankar Chakrabarti, Kolkata
Dunu Roy, New Delhi
Felix Padel, Gujarat
Fred Moseley, Massachusetts (USA)
Gautam Navlakha, New Delhi
Gerald Friedman, Massachusetts (USA)
Himanshu Kumar, Chhattisgarh
Hiren Gohain, Guwahati
Javed Iqbal, Mumbai
John Harriss, Vancouver (Canada)
John Willoughby, Washington (DC)
Kamala Visweswaran, Texas (USA)
Kuver Sinha, Texas (USA)
Lenin Kumar, Bhubaneswar
Madhumita Dutta, Chennai
Mamata Dash, New Delhi
Meher Engineer, Kolkata
Minqi Li, Salt Lake City (USA)
Mwangi Githinji, Amherst
Nandini Chandra, New Delhi
Narinder Jeet, Bathinda
Nisha Biswas, Kolkata
Partha Sen, Kolkata
Pinaki Chaudhuri, Duesseldorf (Germany)
Pothik Ghosh, New Delhi
Pratyush Chandra, New Delhi
Rahul Varman, Kanpur
Ramaa Vasudevan, Colorado (USA)
Reetika Khera, Delhi
SAR Geelani, New Delhi
Saroj Giri, New Delhi
Shankar Gopalakrishnan, New Delhi
Shiv Sethi, Banglore
Sirisha Naidu, Ohio (USA)
Sumathi Venkatachalapathy, Chennai
Sushovan Dhar, Kolkata
Swapna Banerjee, Mumbai

##

To

Mamata Banerjee,
Chief Minister,
Government of West Bengal,
Writers Building,
Kolkata,
India-700 001

We are deeply concerned by your government’s arrest of seven democratic
rights activists and its earlier detention of residents of the Nonadanga
slum on April 8, 2012 at Ruby junction. These activists were engaged in a
peaceful sit-in demonstration attended by a broad spectrum of left
organisations and individuals of good conscience, demanding rehabilitation
of hundreds of residents evicted from the Nonadanga slum of Kolkata on
March 30, 2012. The peaceful character of their protest is a matter of
public record, documented by various media reports. Accordingly, we are
shocked and dismayed at the response of your police forces to these
democratic protests.

In this matter, the actions of your police forces have been systematically
repressive and appear to be progressively sinister while sending a very
dangerous and anti-democratic signal. On April 4th, your police
lathi-charged a peaceful rally and beat a pregnant woman in her third
trimester. Your police forces proceeded, on April 8th, to attack a
peaceful sit-in demonstration and arrest 69 people, victimising children
under the age of ten. Seven activists were kept in custody by slapping
non-bailable charges, i.e., Debolina Chakroborty, Samik Chakrobarty, Manas
Chatterjee, Debjani Ghosh, Siddhartha Gupta, Partho Sarathi Ray, and
Abhijnan Sarkar. Yet this was not enough. On April 9th, your police
attacked yet another peaceful rally of the anti-eviction movement in
Kolkata and arrested more than 50 participants.

In addition, your advocates insisted on pressing quite incredible charges
against the seven detained activists. State counsel has essentially argued
that any peaceful democratic dissent constitutes a conspiracy to hatch a
subversive plot against the government. Furthermore, this argument
revealed the aim of the State to interrogate those remanded in order to
recover “information” about “possible stockpiling of arms and explosives”.
This daft and tired accusation is patently a euphemism serving to disguise
the government’s aim to torture the detainees. We are quite apprehensive
of false evidences being foisted and concerned with this attempt by your
government to throttle democratic dissent and protest in such a sinister
manner.

This turn of events reminds us of the infamous case of Dr Binayak Sen and
various attempts by police and security personnel to manufacture false
cases against intellectuals and activists in order to harass, malign and
silence them. We demand in the strongest possible terms the immediate
release of the seven democratic rights activists and immediate 

[Marxism] Sanhati: Press note on arrests and evications at Nonadanga (Kolkata, India)

[newsletter]

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The following press note is being sent on behalf of Sanhati, a collective
working in solidarity with social movements in India. Kindly forward to
your media contacts.

##


“If Didi could rush to the scene for one Tapashi Mallik, then she could
surely hear the voices of 800 poor people and come here to see us” –
Residents of Nonadanga slum in Kolkata

14 April, 2012

We are writing to draw your attention to a series of incidents unfolding
in West Bengal at the moment that should be of utmost concern to all.

On 30th March, 2012 the TMC government forcefully evicted around 300 poor
families from the Nonadanga slum area in the name of ‘development’ and
‘beautification’ of Kolkata. Their shanties were razed to ground by the
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. The homeless slum-dwellers
have been staying in an open field and are facing constant police
harassment. Despite these harsh conditions, they have refused to depart
and are presently on hunger strike. Their demand has to date failed to
draw any favourable attention from the government. This neglect comes on
the heels of the Planning Commission agreeing to annual Bengal plan around
16 per cent more than last year’s.

But the neglect is not only economic : the state government has
intensified its repressive tactics. On 4th April, 2012, the Kolkata police
and a gang of ruffians viciously lathi-charged the dispossessed as they
organised a protest demonstration to draw attention to their living
conditions.  A large contingent of police attacked the protesters
including women and infants; there was not a single female constable in
the posse. Rita Patra, a pregnant woman, was seriously injured in the
lathi-charge. To protest this  brutality, slum demolition and forcible
eviction, a day long sit-in demonstration was scheduled at Ruby Crossing,
E M Bypass of Kolkata, on 8th April, 2012. But this peaceful demonstration
was broken by the Kolkata police, who alleged the assembly was ‘illegal’
despite having granted prior
permission. 69 protesters of ‘Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee’ (Anti-eviction
Committee of Nonadanga) were arrested and transported to Lalbazar police
station. A nine-year-old girl child, Manika Kumari, daughter of Dilip
Shaw, was in the lock-up for nine hours; Manika's detention violated the
Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, which starkly
reminds us of Payel Bagh's case during the Singur unrest. The police
deliberately did not, moreover, issue any Memos of Arrest—another
violation of legal procedures. In view of these events, the Asian Human
Rights Commission has issued an urgent appeal case  (AHRC-UAC-058-2011)
over the emerging authoritarianism in response to the Nonadanga issue.

Continuing with the high-handedness, cases under section 151 of the IPC
were slapped on the arrestees. During the evening of April 8, almost all
of the arrested persons were released on PR bond in the presence of
members of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR)
and other activists. However, seven democratic rights activists were not
and remained in confinement, i.e., Debolina Chakraborty, Shamik
Chakraborty, Manas Chatterjee, Debjani Ghosh, Siddhartha Gupta, Partho
Sarathi Ray and Abhijnan
Sarkar. These persons have been falsely charged with a number of
non-bailable criminal cases. When the released activists and others
assembled at Lalbazar became agitated at this unexpected development, all
were forced to flee by a huge contingent of aggressive police. APDR
members proceeded to the central gate of Lalbazar to speak to the officer
in charge and lodged a protest. According to the officers on duty, the
seven activists had been charged under various sections including 353,
332, 141, 143, 148 and 149 of the IPC and were to be produced at the
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) court, Alipore, on 9 April,
2012.

But seven activists were remanded to custody till April 12 after the state
counsel raised the bogey of Maoist links and alleged that the activists
were involved in ‘stockpiling of arms, ammunition and explosives at
Nonadanga’. On the same day, a protest rally under the banner of ‘Uchchhed
Pratirodh Committee’ (Anti-eviction Committee, a common platform of the
evictees of Nonadanga and various mass organizations), demanding
rehabilitation for dispossessed people in Nonadanga and release of the
arrested protesters was to be held at 1 pm from College Square to Writers’
Building. But police prevented the rally from starting and arrested 50
men, 36 women and 4 children accompanying their mothers. The rest of the
protesters started a sit-in in College Square, in front of the Vidyasagar
statue and a gathering began. Engaging in activities like sloganeering,
addressing the local people, etc., the C

[Marxism] Other Aspect | Understanding the World Events from Marxist Leninist Perspective

[M]

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Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action) PC (AP) statement 
http://otheraspect.wordpress.com/




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[Marxism] The case against Israel

[En Passant with John Passant]

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Andrew Cheeseman in Socialist Alternative writes that the only just solution in 
Palestine is to have one democratic state that offers equal rights for Arabs 
and Jews, and the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. 
Achieving this "one state solution" would require dismantling the racist 
apartheid state of Israel and breaking the power of US imperialism in the 
region. But it is the only way Palestine can be free.

http://enpassant.com.au/2012/04/15/the-case-against-israel/

En Passant with John Passant  

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Re: [Marxism] Whither the Greens?

[Gary MacLennan]

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Of course, Jon, capitalism is the enemy.  But the question is what to do
about all this.  Personally I think Alan's post is very good.  He has done
the hard yards with the Greens in Queensland, and I respect that.  I also
agree totally with his assessment of the "rural" turn that the new leader
of the Greens has made or rather talking of making.  To base progressive
politics on the rural sector in a country such as Australia, which is 85%
urbanised, is frankly stupid.

It would seem that the Australian Greens can either move towards being a
radical party or to becoming  a gadfly on the major parties claiming to be
devoted to "keeping the bastards honest".  The Murdoch press is pushing
them towards the latter role.

On a related matter I think Alan needs to take into account the weaknesses
of a resource based economy such as Australia's.  It squeezes out other
sectors - manufacturing, education, tourism etc by monopolising investment
and driving up the currency. I think if I am not mistaken, that is called
the "Dutch Disease".

comradely

Gary



On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 4:30 AM, Jon Louis Mann wrote:

> ==
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> ==
>
>
> As a long time Green and proponent of sustainable economies it seems
> obvious that profit oriented Corporate Capitalism is destructive to the
> environment and antithetical to human rights.
> Jon Mann
>
> 
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Re: [Marxism] W(h)ither the Greens?

[Alan Bradley]

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From: Gary MacLennan 
> I have been a little surprised by what I take to be Alan's dismissal of
> a possible link up by the Far Left with the Greens. 

My viewpoint is coloured by my being in Queensland. The fuss over BDS showed 
that there was more of a left in the Greens in Sydney than there is here.

Even more so, there is an interesting Green left in South Australia. These are 
definitely people the Left should be talking to.

But overall, I don't see a huge amount of hope in the Greens, even if they go 
so far to the right as to destroy themselves.

All that said, the actual interactions of the Left and activist members of the 
Greens are very important. The Greens do support many of the issues that the 
Left also supports, and deserve support when they do so. To do otherwise is for 
the Left to turn its back on its own program.

Similarly, when the Greens pull reactionary crap, they need to be opposed.

That interaction is the kind of "alliance" the Left should have with the 
Greens. It's not a formal agreement, and the Greens won't recognise that it 
exists, but that's how it will work.

It's actually a lot less interesting than the SA sometimes makes it seem.

> Christine Milne the new leader has identified the rapaciousness of the
> mining sector as her main target. She is going to build a new voting base
> apparently on the rural sector and on 'progressive' businesses. I wish
> her luck. However it should be pointed out that what she is really doing > is 
> appealing to a different sector of capital from the resources sector.

My feeling here is that she is engaging in wishful thinking here.

The Greens are absolutely correct to try to engage with small landholders who 
are faced with mining company rapacity, and doubly so when coal seam gas and 
fracking are involved.

That said, I haven't seen much evidence that this is winning the Greens votes. 
Naturally, when they start talking to farmers, two things happen:

1. The LNP, and particularly the former National parts of it, get snotty about 
people trying to win over "their" voters, and do their best to block Green 
involvement in the movements.

2. Right wing demagogues come out of the woodwork too. Every kind of wingnut 
has been hanging around the CSG movement. And, through Katter's party, they've 
been winning votes, when the Greens have largely failed.

To put it simply, I don't think that the Greens are going to succeed in gaining 
much of a rural base. Their base will remain in the inner city where it as 
always been.

There's another problem with opposing mining too: mining is propping up the 
living standards of the Australian working class. It provides a steady demand 
for skilled workers in particular, and less skilled ones to a degree too, which 
tends to push up wages in other sectors as well.

If metal tradesmen, for example, can make hundreds of thousands in mining, why 
would they settle for less in other industries?

Opposing mining cuts across the short term interests of workers. Workers 
understand this.

Obviously "opposing mining" is a meaningless term. I'm specifically referring 
to the expansion of coal mining and the production of coal seam gas. These are 
hideously environmentally destructive processes, and are the main culprits in 
the social and economic dislocation currently happening in the bush.

It is utterly correct for the Greens to oppose these projects - but in doing so 
they are at risk of being perceived as opposing the rights of workers to make a 
decent living.

The Greens can't just weasel it by talking about alternative jobs, training and 
so on. They can't deliver on this. Nor, even if they could, they would not be 
able to deliver such well paid jobs, and maintain the upward pressure on pay 
and conditions in other industries.

There's also the issue of the Carbon Tax. This is a big loser for the Greens. 
It is unlikely to have much of an effect on emissions, while it is quite likely 
to have an effect in alienating potential Green voters. It's pretty much the 
kiss of death for Green aspirations to win a rural base, for starters.

Doubtless the Greens will find some gradual way out of these traps, but they 
have a hard road ahead of them.

And, incidentally, the Left is going to have to deal with some of these 
problems too.


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[Marxism] Broad Marxism 2012 conference is a welcome step

[Ratbag Media]

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"The decision by the organisers of the three-day Marxism 2012 to
invite a broader range of international speakers and allow other
socialist groups to set up stalls at its three-day Marxism 2012
conference in Melbourne over the Easter long weekend was a welcome and
positive step."

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50677



The large conference attendance indicates that there is a strong
interest in Marxist and socialist ideas, especially sparked by the
global economic crisis and the fightback in Greece and Spain, the Arab
revolutions, and the occupy movement in the United States.

It is encouraging to see some opening up of the Marxism conference.
However, the discussion could be even richer if the event evolved to
become a conference of the whole left, including speakers from other
socialist groups and allowing these groups to have workshops. The
socialist and broader progressive movement in Australia would benefit
from such a discussion.




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