Tag Archives: WFTU

Speech by WFTU President at ILO

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

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The WFTU President addressed the plenary session of 107th International Labour Conference on Monday 4 June 2018
04 Jun 2018GENEVA, ILO, SWITZERLAND
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the World Federation of Trade Unions I salute this plenary session, the delegates of Trade Unions and workers of all countries.

From this podium, we express our internationalist solidarity with the people of Palestine who are suffering hard from the Israeli occupation and we condemn the new cold-blooded murders of unarmed Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli army. We condemn the moving of US embassy in Jerusalem; to us, Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine.

At international level, for one more year the financial situation of workers and their living conditions are very bad and in full mismatch with their life-giving contribution to the society.

The austerity measures that were implemented in the name of the economic crisis take a permanent character in all the countries of Europe and western world, in the form of pension and salary cuts and workers’ rights withdrawal. The rivalries between strong monopolies of different countries are increasing and trigger imperialist interventions, as the recent one in Syria, financial wars and sanctions that have direct consequences in the life of ordinary people of those countries. The wars that took place in countries like Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria aim at the exploitation of these countries’ natural resources by the strong capitalist countries; it’s them who shed peoples’ blood and create entire “armies” of uprooted people, refugees and immigrants.

In the African countries, in many countries of Asia and Latin America, the workers are suffering the lack of dignified work. There is no health and safety measures in their workplaces, there is no health coverage, drinking water, sufficient food, prevention for diseases like AIDS etc. The unemployment and insecurity especially in youth and women deny their right to life with dignity.

In this framework, the World Federation of Trade Unions supports the struggles and the initiatives of the workers who resist in France, India and shows its solidarity with the sugarcane workers in Latin America, the teachers, everyone who is struggling in every corner of the planet. We stand on the side of the people of Venezuela, of Cuba, on the side of peoples who fight against imperialists.

During the 73 years from its establishment, the WFTU dedicates its action to the defense of the workers rights, the strengthening of the class-oriented trade union movement at global level and to the practical expression of the internationalist solidarity. The observance of the International Conventions of the ILO is important for ensuring the fundamental rights and trade union freedoms of the workers, but what is also needed is constant vigilance and class struggles, against monopolies and their devastating policies for the workers.

We call upon the persons responsible in ILO to take into account the long-standing WFTU demand for more democratic and transparent operation of their institutions.

The WFTU will firmly continue it’s upward militant course, the organization of international activities for the present and future of the workers, for stable work, without imperialist wars, without xenophobic and neo-racist phenomena.

We give our hand to every worker, regardless of his/her color, religion, sex, language to stand with us, united in struggle against the imperialist barbarity.

WFTU President will address International Labour Conference on 4th June 2018

02 Saturday Jun 2018

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The WFTU President comrade Mzwandile Michael Makwayiba will address the plenary session of 107th International Labour Conference on Monday 4 June 2018 at 12.00-12.30 pm.

Immediately after his speech the WFTU Presidential Council meeting and Meeting of friends will take place, under the theme: “The WFTU position on the future of work”. During this event the WFTU will honor Cuban comrade Ramón Cardona for his contribution to the international class trade union movement.

MAY DAY GREETINGS FROM WFTU

27 Friday Apr 2018

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May Day 2018: With Internationalism and Solidarity!!
17 Apr 2018
1 MAY, MAY DAY

The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in the name of its more than 92 million affiliates all over the world salutes, on the occasion of this great day, all the workers who live, work and struggle in every corner of the world. May Day was, is and will be a beacon for the struggles of yesterday and tomorrow despite our enemies’ efforts. May Day has to be a message of resistance against bourgeoisie, imperialists and their international alliances’ policies.

At the same time, the workers’ blood which was shed in Chicago on 1886 reminds us of our duty today; it reminds us that nothing is given for free; every right or freedom that was conquered by our class has been won through sacrifices, conflicts and organized struggles.

Today, whilst technology and scientific progress have contributed to the increase of the produced social wealth, our class’ living conditions have been deteriorating. In every capitalist country, the bosses attack our class achievements: they are sweeping through salaries, pensions and social security; they are privatizing everything, they don’t hesitate to attack even the sacred right to strike! Strike is the most powerful weapon we have in our hands and we are not going to allow anyone to limit, confine or convert it to a dead letter!

At the same time, they are intensively preparing and conducting regional wars.They pave the way for new massacres that will maximize their profits, for new imperialist interventions that will destroy nations, spill peoples’ blood and deprive them of their natural resources. The ongoing imperialist intervention in Libya and Syria, the growing aggression against Venezuela, the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the massacre of Saudi Arabia against Yemen, the tension on the Korean peninsula, they are all indications that multinationals have smelled new profitability areas; and every time this goes through the dead bodies of workers.

Under the current conditions of the deep economic crisis of capitalism and intense competition among various imperialist centers to control new markets, our most powerful weapons are INTERNATIONALISM and SOLIDARITY. No worker must feel alone. All together, we must move on with Solidarity and Internationalism, building the Unity of the working class to give practical effect to Karl Marx’s motto “proletarians of all countries unite”.

In this context, and on this anniversary, the WFTU expresses its solidarity with our persecuted brothers, the immigrants and refugees, who either because of imperialists’ bullets or because of poverty and misery generated by this system, are forced to leave their homeland. The WFTU will continue to be on their side, fighting for a world without exploitation and refugees. Immigrants must become an integral part of unions, unite with local workers and fight together for wages, rights, against wars and interventions.

We join our voice with the heroic Palestinian people in order to gain their own independent and democratic homeland.

At the same time, we stand by the side of the struggling female worker, the one who suffers from double exploitation. The WFTU female members, at the recent World Women’s Congress in Panama, declared loud and clear that they want equal rights to work, society and life. The WFTU also fights and will continue to fight for this equality. It’s the same orientation that we follow for the the youngsters, as the new generation of workers have the task to honor the best May Day struggle traditions.

This year, the WFTU, by giving its hand to anyone who has stood up, has announced the year of trade union education and training. Our purpose is that the new shifts of workers be insubordinate, militant, enemies of class compromise and collaboration. We honor the year of trade union training and we call on every union to contribute to the militant truth, revealing the true meaning of May Day and the sacrifices the working class made for it. By rescuing the past, the very memory of our movement, we leave a legacy for tomorrow’s struggles and we also have a tool for the future. It is a duty to know the history of our movement.

The WFTU takes steps forward, strengthens and grows: and that’s what frightens our opponents. There is no other way than to make it present everywhere, in every corner of the world, so that there is no longer a hungry, dismissed, hunted or persecuted worker. The WFTU must be a “trench” of struggle for a future without exploitation of man by man. This is how the vision of the first Secretary General of the WFTU, Luis Saillant, envisioned in 1945 will be brought to life: “The WFTU for the workers of the whole world!”

LONG LIVE MAY DAY!

France: WFTU Solidarity with the French workers who called on strike

13 Friday Oct 2017

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France:Solidarity with the French workers who called on strike
12 Oct 2017 EUROPE, FRANCE

The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), representing more than 92 million workers in 126 countries worldwide, reiterates its internationalist solidarity with French civil servants and with all the workers who called for a strike on 10 October 2017.

As international class-orineted trade union movement, we support the protests and demands of all workers in France against the reform of the labor code, against the job cuts and the attack on their social rights and acquired rights.

We call the workers of France to join their voices with their striking colleagues and to coordinate their struggles to deal with the anti-labor measures of the EU and the French government.

The struggle continues!

WFTU expresses solidarity with striking workers in France

15 Friday Sep 2017

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The World Federation of Trade Unions expresses its solidarity with its affiliated organization, the FNIC-CGT, for its decision to mobilize massively and strike on September 12th.

We fully support their call to strengthen the struggle in the coming days and we openly call on the working class of France to intensify its struggles against the anti-labor policies of the new and old governments.

The World Federation of Trade Unions, representing 92 million workers in the five continents of the world, extends its solidarity to the working class and the people of France and calls them to continue their struggle against the antilaboral policies of the EU and the French government. Their aim is to intensify the exploitation of workers in order to increase the profits of capitalism.

The WFTU joins its voice with the workers of France who demand the respect of their just rights against the assaults of the anti-labor policy of the European Union and its governments, which attacks with the same brutality the workers in all the countries .

The working class  in each country, organized in its militant, class, democratic, internationalist trade unions and in social alliance with poor peasants, self-employed workers, youth movements and women, has the power to reverse this policy and open the way for an alternative, in favor of peoples, a world without exploitation and without capitalist barbarism, a world of prosperity and peace.

Ensure Education to Refugee Children – WFTU

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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WFTU Statement on the Right of Refugee Children to Education is given below:

12 Sep 2017 REFUGEES
The UN High Commission for Refugees announced that more than 3,5 million refugee children did not have the opportunity to go to schools this year. Almost 1,5 million refugee children didn’t go to primary schools, while another 2 million of them can’t go to secondary schools.

The continuing humanitarian crisis of the refugees and displaced persons is the result of the imperialistic conflicts and wars. The capitalistic contradictions are solved through wars where the peoples are always the losers, regardless of who will prevail over the other among the imperialists.

Based on this the WFTU calls upon for:

The abolishment of the Dublin Regulation and the Schengen Treaty, the Frontex and all repressive mechanisms.
Stop the measures of the European Union for the repression at the borders.
End now the imperialist interventions of EU-USA-NATO.
Direct transfer of the refugees from the islands and the entry points to the countries of their final destination.
Increase of the personnel and the infrastructure for the rescue, record-identification, housing, feeding, medical care and safe transfer of these people.
Creation of dignified centers of welcoming and hospitality.
Recognition of the right to education for all refugee children.

WFTU News – Solidarity with Syrian people

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

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The WFTU General Secretary addressed International Trade Union Conference on “Solidarity with Syrian People and Workers against Terrorism, Blockade and Imperialistic Intervention Policies”, in Damascus, Syria
11 Sep 2017MIDDLE EAST, SYRIA
The WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos is taking part in the International Trade Union Conference on “Solidarity with Syrian People and Workers against Terrorism, Blockade and Imperial Intervention Policies”, in Damascus, Syria, on 11th and 12th September 2017, accompanied by George Perros WFTU Vice-President. Today, on Monday 11th September he addressed the Conference.

1ST OCTOBER , 2017 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FIGHT FOR PENSIONERS’ RIGHTS

11 Monday Sep 2017

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AIBDPA has called upon all Branches / Circles to observe October 1st as International Day of Fight for Pensioners’ Rights. The call of the WFTU in this connection is given below:

OCTOBER 1ST, 2017
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FIGHT FOR PENSIONERS’ RIGHTS

Capitalism is pushing new anti-worker measures against pensioners, the working class and the people. The solutions that governments-administrators use are temporary and weak, without perspective or positive exit for those who with their work produce wealth in society and only give benefit to a handful of capitalists who collect, to an immense extent, the fruits of the exploitation.
The measures taken by the leaders of capitalist development, with the competitiveness of capitalists as its motor, require new sacrifices on the part of the working class, pensioners and the people, greater exploitation, and the elimination of all remaining rights. Greater limitation and abolition of public social care for the benefit of the private, annulment of collective agreements and extra payments to pensioners; in addition, to a further reduction of costs for health, medicines, and social benefits.
All this is complemented by new concessions to the big capital, through privatizations, of important sectors of the economy, in energy, transport, water, natural resources, and new tax exemptions.
In the name of capitalist competitiveness, pensioners and retirees throughout the world are experiencing the worsening of their lives and the lives of their children. Their pensions are cut, health benefits are reduced and privatized, social structures dissolve, their rights are generally restricted.
To achieve these objectives, capital does not hesitate to resort to bloody conflicts and wars throughout the world, in which it violently appropriates the wealth of many people of the planet.
We call for the action of all our organizations and friendly organizations, for the next October 1st, international Day of Pensioners, with demands that correspond to our true needs, having as perspective of our struggle a society without exploitation, poverty, wars, nor calamities. We will fight with unity and common action with the working class, the people, and all those who suffer capitalist exploitation.
We strive in this direction: For free and public social security, medical care and pharmaceutical assistance for all, without conditions or requirements. We will claim the right to public and enough pensions, reducing the age limit for men, and setting them earlier for women. Pensions must meet our current needs, so we may live a life with dignity. For social benefits, housing, clean water and leisure, public, free and quality.

WE ARE NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CRUMBS THAT THE CAPITALIST BARBARITY GIVES.

(Machine Translation from Spanish)

Indian TU Delegates visited WFTU Monument in Athens, Greece

09 Saturday Sep 2017

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WFTU CIRCUAR Dated 07-09-2017

The Delegations from South Africa and India visited the WFTU Monument in Kaisariani-Athens, Greece
The delegation of CITU India composed by the CITU President Dr Kandikuppa Hemalata, CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen and the member of the WFTU Secretariat Swadesh Dev Roye and the delegation of the South African Affiliates of WFTU composed by General Secretary of NUM, comrade David Sipunzi, General Secretary of NEHAWU, comrade Zola Zapetha, General Secretary of POPCRU, comrade Nkosinathi Theledi and the POPCRU leaders, comrades Amelia Mahlatsi, Boitumelo Pheleo, Hangwani Mashao, Mosadiwamaje Mokokong. headed by the WFTU President Mzwandile Michael Makwayiba and the WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos visited the monument of WFTU in the municipality of Kaisariani in Athens, Greece and paid tribute to international working class and its leaders.

Thessalonki Declaration of Trade Unions

05 Tuesday Sep 2017

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With The Workers Of All Countries For A World Without Exploitation, Wars, Refugees

On June 24, 2017, a large demonstration of thousands of workers against NATO was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, against the imperialist wars and interventions that destroy people and create millions of refugees. On June 25, trade unions from various countries of the region met and discussed the position of the workers, of the trade union movement, against the dangerous developments and the competitions of monopolies and imperialist organizations that victimize the peoples.

The international, anti-imperialist, anti-war, trade union meeting estimated that the Working Class must be on alert, prepared, and fight against both the anti-workers’ policies of the Capital and its governments, and against the competitions of the imperialists. The focus of their competitions is:

  • How to share the damages of the crisis and how they will benefit from the capitalist development, which all agree that is weak, with big problems.
  • Which monopolies will take the lead in the course of the competition
  • Who is going to take control of the markets, the energy sources of gas, oil and even water, the energy pipes and commercial transport routes.

In all countries, capitalist governments, participate in imperialist competitions, interventions and wars, with one or another imperialist group. Their main concern is to defend the interests of the ruling class of their own country, their business groups in the international chessboard. Their declarations of peace and security are rapidly increasing as far as their war budget is growing.

Workers of the world are witnessing the spread of war in more and more areas, especially in our region. The Balkan peoples pay for the consequences of border change, state dismemberment and the continued cultivation of nationalist hatred, the boot of USA-NATO-EU in the region in the context of their capitalist competition with Russia and China, the interests of the bourgeoisie in the countries of the region.

At the same time, the EU is strengthening its militarization. It establishes a European Army, European Headquarters, emergency forces (the Eurocorps), and promotes the European Defense Union as well as the European Defense Fund.

NATO and the EU are transnational imperialist unions, of which the peoples can only wait for exploitation and poverty, war and refuge for the many and immense wealth for the very few and in our country it is our duty to strengthen our struggle against them.

At the same time, the working class at international level is experiencing the continuation of a brutal attack against its rights. For the profits of business groups, the European Union and governments of each country, legislate anti-labor measures. They cut wages or give rise to very small increases that are evaporated by all the anti-people measures while the monopolies are getting wealthier. An important attack is  against the rights of workers to trade union action, the right to organize in trade unions and the right to strike.

The all-out attack that condemns the working class in each country to unemployment, poverty, and impoverishment is one aspect of the of class policies.

The other side is the unjust imperialist war that unfolds for the interests of the big financial groups. (Courtesy: WFTU)