Urgent - please distribute this protest letter widely
NO RETURN TO THE 19th CENTURY!
* Support Russian Unions Day of Action against the new Labor Code
on 19th June!
* Sign the petition below and join the international protest now!
In the years before the Soviet Union collapsed, its peoples were informed
that in a market economy, everyone is rich, free and happy. Today the market
is king, and they are fast achieving a Third-World lifestyle. The collapse
of half of Russia's industry has caused mass unemployment with no welfare
net.
Meanwhile those who work face poverty-wages or non-payment, payment
in kind (eg; coffins, condoms, or manure), horrific safety conditions and
job insecurity. Many Russians feed their families from what they can grow
in a back plot. TB and other diseases of poverty, prostitution, enslavement
of women in the sex trade, drug abuse, alcoholism and crime have become
epidemic. The import of toxic nuclear waste is a growth industry. Today
the average male life expectancy is just 56.
And now the IMF and World Bank, in collaboration with the Russian authorities,
demand a "modernised" Labor Code that will impose: a 12 hour working day;
arbitrary firing at the whim of the boss who can choose which union represents
"his" workers; child labour; night shifts for pregnant women .... and a
general drawing back of labour rights to Dickensian times.
Independent unions across Russia will collectively protest on June 19,
2001 against Putin's new Labor Code. The unions associated with the campaign
include: Defence of Labour (Zaschita); Russian Union of Dockers; Sotsprof;
Union of Locomotive Brigades of Railwaymen; Federation of Trade Unions
of Aviation Dispatchers of Russia; Union of Workers of Civil Aircraft Engineering
Service of Russia; Pilots Union; Union of Airworkers of Radar-location,
Radionavigation and Communications of Russia; All-Russian Union of Workers
of Public Health Services, Education, Culture, Municipal Transportation,
Power, Central government and Municipal Organisations, Service Sectors;
Inter-regional Association of Trade Unions "Solidarity" ; Russian Union
of Workers of Civil Mechanical Engineering, the Defence industry, Metallurgy
and Metal Working; Seamens Union of Russia; Siberian Confederation of Labor,
and others.
The driving force of this broad committee are a new generation of activists.
Unlike the old bureaucrats of the neo-stalinist parties and the bosses'
unions who collaborate with Putin, the young activists are internationalists
who oppose the Chechen war and have spoken out against racism and bigotry.
They back the pro-workers' Code, the Shein Code, which forbids sacking
of workers without the permission of the union, provides for a five-fold
raise for low-paid workers, and even calls for the unions to be given control
over production and financial decisions of the enterprise, such as how
much the boss will be paid!
Of course the battle will not end there. But the real gains already
won by this young movement in delaying the passage of the code, in organising
numerous militant strikes and highway blockades in defence of workers rights
in Astrakhan, Yasnogorsk and other regions, remain as a beacon of hope.
If bosses can turn the clock back against workers in Russia they can turn
it back on us all! Give your support and solidarity now.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
SIGN the international protest letter below.
JOIN ISWoR and get involved in our practical solidarity work. SUBSCRIBE
to our free internet "Russia Info-List" . Apply to ISWoR@aol.com DONATE
to "ISWoR" and support our important work. Address for cheques to "ISWoR":
ISWoR, 46 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8RZ ENGLAND
MORE INFO? Visit our website:
http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html or e-mail us at ISWoR@aol.com
Also see Zaschita union website: http://www.labordefense.org
Note: Besides an e-mail petition, there is a printed version now being
distributed at workers and other events in many countries up to 19th June.
Please contact us immediately if you can help distribute this.
All signatures to the petition below from many countries around the
world, in both the e-mail and printed forms, will be combined and handed
in to the Russian Embassy in London by an ISWoR delegation on 19th June,
as well as passed to the Russian campaigners. The full international list
of signatories will appear on our website. You may also wish to write your
own protest
letter.
TO PRESIDENT PUTIN OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Dear President Putin,
The new Labor Code proposed by your government destroys job security,
renders unions powerless, and returns labour rights to nineteenth century
levels. The new provisions governing the labour of children and pregnant
women, the 12 hour day, etc, indicate that your government is prepared
to drastically worsen the situation of millions of working people already
suffering severe misery.
Be aware that there is mass international support for the protest actions
that will be organised, on 19 June 2001, by the committee of unified action
in support of the independent Trade Union version of the Labor Code, introduced
in the Duma by deputy O. Shein.
Signed,
NAME
ORGANISATION
TOWN
COUNTRY
Now send e-mail copies to the following three addresses:
ISWoR@aol.com
President@kremlin.ru
Shein@duma.gov.ru
This e-mail has already been (or is being) translated to various languages.
If you can help with any language, or require the text in any language,
please contact ISWoR@aol.com immediately.
The RUSSIA INFO-LIST
puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. If
you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or
want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: ISWoR@aol.com Box
R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England
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