107th ILC: Speech of Quim Boix, Secretary General of the WFTU TUI Pensioners, presented to the Plenary Session
07 Jun 2018
Receive a greeting from Pensioners and Retirees from all over the planet.

I speak to you on behalf of the only global organization that groups them.

We are united by the same just demands, analyzed from a class perspective, which is to say, as Karl Marx analyzed, from the reality of the confrontation of social classes that capitalism generates.

We know that the audience, in the annual Plenaries of the ILO, is, as long as we do not change it, made mainly of defenders of capitalism as a system. But this system goes from crisis to crisis (which are structural and systemic, that is, inescapable) until its final crisis.

We are supporters of socialism, which will be the future in all countries of the planet, even if pro-capitalists try to delay this change. The experience of the former socialist countries has made it possible to learn from the mistakes made and for that reason the second stage of extension of socialism will be the final one.

While we do not recover the advantages of socialism for the majority of human beings, we will continue to organize ourselves within capitalism.

Today I can announce that we are going to hold our Second World Congress of Pensioners and Retirees class organizations, at the beginning of next year, in a country in Latin America. In this area of ​​the planet there are large organizations, with millions of members, who defend Pensioners from class positions.

We have already organized the Pensioners in the 5 continents and we have already demonstrated our ability to fight in defense of our just demands with several actions coordinated worldwide.

We will continue supporting the Pensioners and Retirees in the struggles, country by country, so that in the end all the legislations will recognize that every person over 60 must receive a pension that ensures a dignified life, that is, with potable water in a habitable dwelling, with sufficient healthy food, and free public attention to the needs of health, culture and local transport.And this regardless of whether the pensioner quoted sufficiently during the period of active life as a worker. If you did not quote it was your fault, those who run capitalism, who did not give you the job you asked for. You, the pro-capitalists, prefer that there are millions of unemployed people in order to lower wages, based on the false “laws of the market”, which are only applied to those who do not own the means of production.On the other hand, to the owners of the means of production, you grant them all the advantages and subsidies (tax havens included). By “you” we mean the managers of capitalism, the owners of the multinationals (representatives of whom there are many in this room), those who extract the benefits of this exploitation, very well analyzed by the Marxists.But little by little the majority of the population will stop voting for political parties that promise one thing and do the opposite. The lie is the basis of the false bourgeois democracy, and although for decades it has been deceiving the voters, that will soon end.We know that there is enough wealth on the planet to ensure that pensions are paid by the budgets of the states. It would be enough by stopping allocating 2% or more of the Gross Domestic Product of the capitalist states to wage war (as it’s been ordered by NATO) and to allocate those resources to facilitate a dignified life for all the people in the world.We pensioners are on track to be 30% of the voters and from our class organizations we are going to ensure that no vote goes to political parties that defend capitalism.We are going to transmit to the new generations our important experiences of struggle against the exploitative businessmen. In these experiences there are the achievements of the working class, in the past decades and thanks to the WFTU, achievements that have represented great improvements: holidays, labor rights, safety at work, public health and education, as well as pensions.In addition, we have more than 100 years of experiences of good functioning of labor rights in the countries that tried to build socialism. Today, its inhabitants regret having lost the individual rights they enjoyed for decades and will surely enjoy again in the future, when we end the exploitation of man by man.Know that pensioners and retirees will fight, alongside the working class, for our just rights, until the last day of our lives.

LONG LIVE THE WORKING CLASS!LONG LIVE THE WORLD FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS!LONG LIVE SOCIALISM!LONG AND DIFFERENT LIFE FOR PENSIONERS AND RETIRED!

WORLD FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS

Athens, 23th May 2018
WFTU solidarity statement on the postal employees’ strike in India
The postal employees’ unions in India went on indefinite strike yesterday after
the ending of the last deadline where government had promised that would
implemented the pro-employee recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra
Committee Report.
The World Federation of Trade Unions, representing more than 92 million
workers in 126 countries of the 5 continents expresses its solidarity with the
postal employees in India and supports their fair demands. We also greet
the fact that the strike is supported by all the sectoral trade unions, closing as
a consequence,129500 Branch Post Offices.
The class orientation and class unity are key factors for the covering of the
workers demands. The international class-oriented trade union movement,
openly and firmly, stands on the site of the working class. The workers all over
the world can always rely on the support of the WFTU.
The Secretariat

The World Federation of Trade Unions, gathering in its ranks more than 92 million workers in 126 countries all over the world, follows the recent developments concerning the withdrawal of the U.S.A. from the international nuclear agreement on the nuclear program of Iran and the announcement of new economic sanctions against Iran by the U.S.A. The U.S.A. once more uses false pretexts in order to exploit the natural resources of other countries and to serve the interests of national large monopoly groups.

These actions, combined with the missile attack of Israel against Syria on May 10, are a new form of aggression against the peoples of the Middle East that put them at great risk and further destabilize the situation in the region.

We call on the workers, the ordinary people of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East to strengthen their struggle against the imperialist plans and interventions that cause wars and misery to the peoples for the profits of the imperialists.

On May 9, 1945, in occupied Berlin by the Red Army, the Nazis signed their
surrender to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, putting an end to World War II
or the Great Patriotic War.
On June 22, 1941, the Nazis invaded Soviet borders and arrived at the gates of
Moscow mobilizing about 4.5 million soldiers with the support of 600,000 vehicles, 750,000 horses and about 2,700 aircraft (more than half of the German air force). Forced to retreat because of the resistance, the new Nazi strategy aimed at taking
control of Stalingrad, where in July 1942 the most cruel and violent battle of the
whole war began. The Red Army and the armed people resisted against the conquest of every block, every street, every house, every room. Workers’ militias were formed. One of the
stages of this heroic struggle was the tractor factory where the workers entered the
fight against heavily armed invading troops. On February 2, 1943, Stalingrad was
liberated. When the Red Army was already advancing to the capital of the Nazi state, Hitler
commits suicide, on April 30 and May 9, 1945, the Germans accept the surrender
to the Soviets. This was a decisive strategic victory for the future of mankind. It changed the global
correlation of forces in favor of workers and peoples and has boosted national
liberation movements and decolonization. It was on this historic track that, on
October 3, 1945, the World Federation of Trade Unions was founded. However, 73 years after that date, the threat of a new World War hovers over
international relations. US imperialism and its allies of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) promote conflicts that seriously threaten world peace and
make, in old and new forms, fascism and intolerance grow in various forms. The WFTU salutes the anniversary of this epopee by reaffirming its commitment to
the defense of world peace, the rights of the peoples, in particular the working class
while being convinced of the socialist perspective as the future for humanity. Long live the 9 of May of 1945, Victory Day of the Soviet Union over Fascism and Nazism!

The Secretariat Meeting of WFTU was held at its HQ on 7th May 2018. CITU was represented by Com. Swadesh Dey Roy, Secretary CITU who is also the Vice-President WFTU.