Call for International Trade Union Conference

It Is Time We Met Again

Approximately 20 years ago, in order to be able to buttress the exploitative capitalist system; international capital and their respective governments, via making use of the demagogy of "globalisation", have unleashed a worldwide assault. The assault embodies wide-ranging socio-economic attacks: from privatisation to flexible work, from extending the working hours and working life to subcontracting, and more recently repelling democratic rights and liberties. An unpleasant fact vis-à-vis the contemporary labour movement is that it is yet to organise or stage a muscular struggle to defeat these attacks. Although it goes without saying that there are certain differences among countries, sectors and trade unions. Weaknesses, instability, being fragmented, loss of power, being unorganised and distrust; is what characterises the general situation of the international workers' and trade union movement.

The attacks of international capital and their respective governments haven’t only ruined the living conditions of labourers; they’ve also damaged the level of faith or trust the labourers have in one another and towards their trade union organisations. These two aspects or end-results of the aggressive attacks of capital have led to the impasse of the ties labourers have amongst themselves and with their trade unions. The recent periods have yet again proven that it is impossible to get out of this impasse with the dominant collaborationist and compromising trade union mentality. Although today the necessities that have given birth to trade unionism have ascended (i.e. the necessity to end the competition between labourers and in order to create the organised unity of workers against the capitalist class and today these necessities that call unions into being are getting stronger) a significant section of trade unions are continuing to lose blood. This is chiefly because of unions divorcing themselves from the practice or belief of fighting trade unionism.

On the other hand, whenever the labourers have voiced their mistrust vis-à-vis the "trade unions", the collaborative trade union bureaucracy have used this as an excuse to escape from struggle. However, what lies behind the above-mentioned stalemate is not "the unwillingness of the workers". Yet and again it is a proven fact that the labourers partake in the struggle whenever  trade unions act in accordance with militant and trustable mentality, line and responsibility. And such unions organising the struggle in such a manner become stronger. Independent of their outcomes, the struggles and resistance organised by workers against the aggression and impositions of capital, indicates that it is not the workers and labourers who escape from struggle.

We, the fighting trade unions, unionists and union member whose names are listed below, who are face to face with the versatile attacks of capital, major damages and permanent problems of the trade union movement, do not think that what is going on in the labour world is impossible to change; the dilemma which the international union movement has been put through isn’t impossible to solve and the aggressiveness of the capital is impossible to fight off. On the contrary, both our own practice and the rich and guiding history and tradition of the international workers and trade union movement; shows us that there is an exit strategy from the dilemma and inaction, which has sharpened as a result of the line and practice collaborative trade union, experienced by the workers movement. The resistance and struggle put forward by the workers all over the world shows us that these problems can be overcome.

Leaving aside the past, the last 20 years alone indicate that by submitting to the aggression, blackmails and threats of the capital, making concessions one after another, it is neither been possible to satisfy the capitalist class nor is it possible to prevent the worsening of the living conditions of the labourers. Moreover, once again deriving from the experience of the 20 years, it is evident that all the bourgeois governments, from conservatives to social democrats, who have come into power, do not hesitate to implement the program of capitalist aggression.

For the workers and their trade unions, the situation has become ever more clear: in order to be able to change the conditions for the benefit of the labourer peoples, fight off the economical-social attacks of the capital and its governments, protect the democratic rights and freedoms and to stop the wars waged and provoked by the imperialist states, especially the USA; we have no other choice but to further strengthen the struggles in our countries and in our trade union organisation.

Naturally, this international conference which we are trying to convene is neither an alternative to the trade union structures, platforms and conferences in the individual work branches and countries nor, on the other hand, does the existence of these structures render this particular conference superfluous. Our call is based on very concrete needs:

* If international capital has the possibilities of deriving maximum benefit from the economical, social, political, legal and cultural differences between the countries and if it fearlessly utilises these possibilities in order to incite the competition between the workers and even between the trade unions;

* If international capital is able to make use of international organisations such as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and the G8 as tools for manipulating the peoples against one another, for subjugating and for legitimising the joint and coordinated steps orientated towards restraining economical and political rights and freedoms as well as bringing them into life;

* If the labourers in each and every country are not able to obstruct the international capital from utilising these possibilities, partially due to helplessness and lack of being organised and partially due to lack of any connection. And if the collaborator and pro-capital trade union centres embracing "international competition" as a law of nature necessary to subjugate to, have reduced international solidarity to symbolic statements and visits and have transformed and rendered meaningless the unity and solidarity of the workers of all lands;

Then undoubtedly it is an urgent or burning need for the fighting and sincere trade unionists and advanced workers organising a struggle in their own countries, which mostly are not even aware of each other's existence, to come together in order to get to know one another; and to discuss the problems of the struggle they are waging against the existing attacks of capital and their respective governments. So that they, as a result of being able to transfer mutual experience and think about possible forms of collective action; collectivise these struggles around a specific line of struggle and understanding.

There is no doubt that the international trade union conference  is a concrete necessity and one that cannot be postponed; uniting the struggles we are all waging in our individual countries against the international monopolies with international experience and relations and that lays the foundation of a joint understanding and line of struggle against concrete attacks upon this basis; to discuss how to stop the loss of power of the trade unions as one of the fundamental issues of today's trade union movement and the multi-dimensional problems of building trade unions as organisations of struggle once again inspiring confidence to the workers.

For this reason we are stating that we should "meet together!" again as the fighting trade unions and unionists representing hundreds of thousands of workers and labourers, in order to take up the topics below:

1.    As trade unions, how and upon which foundation can we build our struggles against the multi-dimensional attacks of the capital and the governments on a common line and understanding and also in connection;

  1. How and with what kind of a trade union policy and line can we overcome the impasse the trade unions are currently suffering as well as the loss of power that a majority of the trade unions are facing
  2. What can we do in order to develop international trade union relations and render the sharing of the accumulation of experience more efficient?

In comparison to the years we have passed, today, both the vigorous and dynamic elements of the international trade union movement are more widespread and stronger and, at the same time, the determination for struggle and anger of the workers and labourers have become sharpened. It is exactly due to this reason that we are saying today is, "the exact time for us to meet together again"!

For further information please do contact us on the following email address: info@i-tuc.net

 
Ecuador:

France:

Germany:

Great Britain:

 

Greece:

 

PAME (Fighting Trade Union Confederation) have undersigned the above call to convene an International Trade Union Conference. PAME represent 415.345 workers. The unions and branches that are affiliated to PAME and in support of the International conference are as follows:

India:


Iraq:

Italy:

Pakistan:

Russia:

Spain:

Tunisia:

Turkey:


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