Re: [Marxism] Stalin Borges article - read the bottom half

[Stuart Munckton <stuartmunckton@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tbis article is from 2008. I twas published in GLW then.

A lot has happened in the union movement, including formation of a
organisaation for unionists int he PSUV and some plans to refound a
revolutioary union movement. But I don;t know enough about it to really
comment. GLW will seek to have an article on recent developments in the near
future.

cheers,
Stuart

2009/5/8 David Walsh <davidrail68@xxxxxxxxx>

>
> David W. made a good point, however, the bottom half of the page has the up
> to date article I wanted comrades to see. It says April 30th interview,but,
> no year.
>
> `This year May Day is very special'
>
> By Stalin Perez and Marcos Garcia
> As May Day approaches once again,( I assume this means last May Day 2009 -
> DW) Federico Fuentes on April 30 from www.greenleft.org.au interviewed
> Stalin Pérez Borges (SPB), national coordinator of the National Union of
> Workers (UNT) and member of the editorial board of the newspaper Marea
> Socialista and Marcos Garcia (MG), national coordinator of the public sector
> federation, FENTRASEP and member also of Marea Socialista. Both are
> militants in the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
> How is Marea Socialista preparing for May Day?
>
> SPB: We believe that this year May Day is very special because a historic
> change has been produced in the country. The re-nationalisation of Sidor has
> changed the political map for various reasons. President Chavez understood
> that the nationalisation was a fair demand of the Sidor workers and the
> revolutionary people of Guayana and Venezuela. And the struggle, without
> quarter, of the workers and comrades of Sidor was an example of unity and
> commitment for the entire workers' movement around the country. In this
> manner a new opportunity has been opened; for the workers so that we can be
> protagonists of the first order in the changes that are necessary to be
> carried out; for the government to reunite with the workers and for the
> revolutionary process it has ignited a powerful motor and gives more
> strength to the famous five motors that many have spoken of recently.
> MG: The political change that this measure signifies has given a new boost
> to the working class and now the increased involvement of the workers is
> notable in the sense of fighting for the deepening the revolutionary
> process. This is why this May Day is different. For us the change that has
> been produced is truly historic. I don’t want to say that everything is
> assured. Of course not, but yes, today the conditions to achieve our demands
> and political objectives are much better. I can now say that in my sector in
> particular, the public sector, we have been injected with more energy to
> continue fighting for our collective contract for which we have been waiting
> for more than four years and we see that now this could be fulfilled soon,
> as well as the elections in our federation.
> SPB: To answer your question, in regard to how we in Marea are preparing
> ourselves for this historic date, I can say to you that we are
> internationalists and are very worried about the situation in Bolivia. It is
> a fact that the Bolivian bourgeois is extremely racist, and retrograde, the
> child of North American imperialism, and has the intention to destroy the
> revolutionary process in Bolivia and the government of Evo Morales using
> whatever type of violence.
> We are ready for any campaign and solidarity action to defeat the Bolivian
> rightwing, which is to defeat the North American rightwing and the rightwing
> of the entire continent. And as May Day comes around we look back to
> remember once again, that the 1st of May is a very important day for workers
> around the world. This year we commemorate 122 years since those heroic
> fighters, the martyrs of Chicago, were assassinated. Their crime was to
> demand the 8-hour day in a world in which even women and children suffered
> the worst slavery. They did not lower their banners, they did not capitulate
> and they made history.
> This demonstration of consistency clearly shows that when your struggle is
> just sooner or later you will win. The proof is that this year in Colombia,
> in the United Status itself, where they were assassinated, they established
> the 8-hour day for all public employees and those of private companies that
> contract with the State. Without doubt it is necessary to commemorate this
> date, but we in Venezuela also commemorate what we have achieved and what we
> are still fighting for. This May Day we are going for those victories that
> are still outstanding.
> What can you tell us about what has been achieved and what remains
> unresolved?
> MG: For us this May Day is very important and we consider it the first step
> to renew the struggle for the demands that the workers' movement still has
> not obtained. First a general increase in salaries for all workers is
> necessary. The basic increase announced by President Chavez every year is
> not enough, today we, together with many others demand a general emergency
> increase, higher than the indices of inflation. This is an increase that
> will serve to relieve millions who have not yet been able to discuss their
> collective contracts, their socioeconomic necessities. That is the first
> thing.
> The second is the issue of casualisation. We cannot continue tolerating
> these contracts; continue allowing the bosses, the national government
> itself and the state and municipal governments to fail to comply with the
> law and without any sanction. It appears that this will change with Sidor,
> we hope this is so. Until now, the previous minister of labour and the
> inspectors (of the labour ministry) did nothing to stop this. And in the
> case of Sidor we hope that the government understands that we cannot repeat
> the same failed experiences of co-management or aim to implement the same
> type of management they are doing in CAN TV or Electricidad de Caracas. The
> steel plant must have a new productive model, truly socialist.
> SPB: For us, the reduction of the work day is very important also. The
> 6-hour day can and should be established by presidential decree, this is an
> issue not only of work conditions, but a political issue of the highest
> important. We need a working class with the time to dedicate themselves to
> the management of affairs of state and government. That has time to
> participate democratically in the planning and implementation of the
> socialism that we want.
> The reduction of the work day is more time to rest and live and care for
> nature and our environment, it is the possibility of creating more sources
> of employment, with salaries that satisfy the basic food basket. And the
> president can do it, he has all the tools to carry it out at his hand and
> the workers also can win this right. For this reason we will also march on
> May 1, to win the reduction of the working day.
> Can you talk about the situation of the workers' movement, the union
> movement?
> MG: Together with the nationalisation of Sidor, another fundamental step
> that we won was that the president has thrown out the ex-minister of labour,
> as he deserved, this was a demand of the majority of workers. José Ramón
> Rivero dedicated himself, while he was minister, to strengthening his own
> union current, of course he did not achieve it, as it is not representative,
> neither is this phantom of a new union federation that he is proposing.
> The two acts, the nationalisation of Sidor and the dismissal of the
> minister, open up a great opportunity to overcome the dispersion of the
> union movement. From Marea Socialista we are calling for everyone to take
> the necessary steps, we call all the union currents that defend the
> revolutionary process to unite. To leave aside the differences that have us
> so divided and to put forward the points that unite us, there are many and
> they are very important. And this way give the workers the union
> organisation that they need. In this sense on May 1, we are going to march
> in every place, in Caracas and around the country, under these banners. We
> call on all the workers to take over the streets on May 1 and make it a
> great day of struggle.
> Translated by Kiraz Janicke for Venezuelanalysis.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
> Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Set your options at:
> http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/stuartmunckton%40gmail.com
>



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

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" — Oscar Wilde
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu