Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #281 - Rules: The blood of
discrimination (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. US, black rose fed TENANT POWER FROM BELOW: THE LOS ANGELES
TENANTS UNION (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. [Spain] CGT condemns the Israeli massacre against the
Palestinian people and joins the commemoration of 'Earth Day' By
ANA (ca, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Spain, nosotras.cnt.es - FIRST OF MAY (ca) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Poland, rozbrat: Social Congress of Women - postulates
rozbrat.org [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. wsm.ie: How the government were forced to call a referendum
to repeal the 8th (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
To have one's first period is in the West at the same time the entry into the dangerous
world of the possibility of pregnancy and the beginning of the shame related to the female
sex. In poor countries, it is in addition the beginning of the exclusion, of the social
life sometimes, of the school often. ---- The rules are the blood from the deterioration
of the uterine wall that had thickened to accommodate an embryo in case of pregnancy. The
exit of the uterus is the vagina and it is therefore from it that flows the menstrual
flow. Quantity, color, thickness and duration are variable between women and according to
the periods of life. A woman with a functional uterus and ovaries will bleed about 13
times a year for over 30 years.
An infinite source of prejudices and strange beliefs
Shame remains attached to this bodily function. If men can blow their noses in public
without worry, take out a simple periodic protection (object that collects blood, sanitary
napkin, tampon, menstrual sponge, menstrual cup) from his bag and go quietly to the
toilet, is not done . There is a whole strategy of dissimulation of the object, and asking
the girlfriends a troubleshooting is done in total discretion. Having a red spot on his
pants is hard to assume. We talk about his intestinal transit in details, never his period.
Beliefs and prejudices vary from country to country and from time to time. Women, during
their menstruation, turn mayonnaise or wine, in Japan still today the profession of master
sushi is not open to women. The major prejudice is that of impurity. The blood of the
rules is dirty, it's disgusting, and talking about it is just as important. In some
countries women are isolated during their periods, sometimes in very precarious
conditions. In others, girls are not allowed to go to school. There is also the belief
that one should not throw dirty protections with the rest of the garbage on pain of
causing disease. Sometimes washing is forbidden during menstruation.
Expendable expenses for poor women
The taboo related to the rules also makes it only very recently that medicine is
interested in endometriosis, a disease of the female reproductive system that makes the
rules very painful and has long been treated by " c". is normal to have pain during your
periods .
Periodic protections represent a lot of money - 20 euros a month - 10,000 euros for a
living - and women and girls in poor countries do not have access. They protect themselves
with foliage, mattress tips or other materials that cause infections, mud. And they can
not go to school or work. For homeless women, the menstrual period is also very difficult
to live with. No access to protection, no access to decent toilets, menstruation,
biological banality, can become an extreme difficulty of life and an obstacle to the
autonomy of women.
The rules should not be shameful, a source of contempt and a danger to women's health ...
Let's talk about it, show off our sanitary napkins like our handkerchiefs, give hygienic
products to the food bank collections, dismantle the ads that show blue blood ! Let's
explain !
Christine (AL Sarthe)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Regles-Le-sang-des-discriminations
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Message: 2
The following interview with Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal of the Los Angeles Tenants Union was
conducted by Jessica Lopez and Cesar Montero and originally published in the
anti-capitalist and pro-working class paper Salvo. ---- The city of Los Angeles has
experienced an increasing number of evictions that are linked to the gentrification
process enabled by the state and landlords. Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, has
spearheaded and favored the development of luxury homes. This has encouraged landlords to
enter their land into the market of trendy housing, evicting and displacing previous
tenants in favor of tenants who are able and willing to pay more in rent. Black and Brown
communities are coming under attack with these practices of displacement which favor
whiter and wealthier people and make clear that these are current day manifestations of
colonialism.
As anti-capitalists, it is crucial that we support tenant struggles against landlordism, a
system in which privatized land is rented to a tenant. The relationship between a tenant
and a landlord is one that is founded on the exploitation of the tenant and this is why it
is important for tenants to be at the forefront of building popular power in their
buildings and neighborhoods.
The following interview is with Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal, a member of the Los Angeles
Tenants Union / Sindicato de Inquilinos de Los Angeles. The union has been involved in a
myriad of struggles across LA, most notably the year long struggle against rent hikes in
Boyle Heights' Mariachi Apartments in which tenants were able to negotiate a reasonable
rent increase for their units as well as the ability to stay in their homes and
neighborhood through the use of a rent strike. LATU / SILA is a prime example of power
from below.
Salvo: Could you share some history about the LATU? How did the union come to be?
Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal: The LA Tenants Union began in 2015 as a response to an analysis of
gentrification. Gentrification is displacement and replacement of the poor for profit.
Gentrification is not a natural or inevitable process. Gentrification is human-made, and
often aided in large part by government policy.
A multi-generational and multi-ethnic research collective, School of Echoes, spent three
years studying gentrification, through readings, meetings with groups across Los Angeles,
and reflecting on our own organizing work. But we did not only want to understand
gentrification, we wanted to stop it. And we recognized that only a mass movement could.
In 2015, we convened a host of organizers across the city to help found the LA Tenants
Union. Since that meeting, we have grown to encompass nine local chapters from the
Westside to the Eastside and Northeast to Southeast.
S: How many members are currently in the LATU? How are most people funneled in?
TJR: We have about 250 dues-paying members, hundreds enrolled in our e-mail list, and
thousands of online supporters. Most of our members begin as tenants in crisis: served
with an eviction notice, given an unaffordable rent increase, trapped in slum conditions.
When tenants come seeking our solidarity casework services, attend local meetings and
participate in actions that support their and other buildings, through that process, they
recognize that the only way to fully defend themselves and help others is to build a
movement of tenants across the city. We also retain members by recognizing that so many
skills can be put in service of the movement for the human right to housing: language
skills, photography, talking to strangers, taking notes, making up slogans, brainstorming...
S: The LATU engages in direct action; What are some victories the LATU has seen using
direct action specifically?
TJR: Our Emergency Response Committee is often our first point of contact for direct
action. Members of the committee are alerted to an illegal eviction, ongoing harassment,
or other crisis-in-progress, and arrive on scene to mediate, document, or in some cases
physically block eviction proceedings. Individual local chapters also use tactics of
direct action to highlight particular building struggles and structural issues of housing.
One example from the Vermont and Beverly Local is our campaign to highlight the failures
of the Housing and Community Investment Department (HCID): by failing to properly inspect
code violations, guarantee the rights of the rent stabilization ordinance, and manage
their resources effectively, we assert that they contribute to the displacement crisis
across the city. By staging protests outside of HCID offices, we have both put pressure on
individual cases and also were able to present our analysis in a meeting between the heads
of the department and 100 of our members and members of the community (the full analysis
is publicly available online). Another example is our organizing of numerous successful
rent strikes, which have put pressure on landlords to lower hiked rents and fix code
violations, even in cases when tenants do not have the benefit of rent control to protect
them. Rent strikes are a crucial strategy that rely on the power of collective bargaining
rather than state policy makers to bring about immediate change in the conditions of
tenants' lives. They are also scalable beyond one building.
S: What does the current structure and decision-making process currently look like? What
are some strengths and weaknesses you have seen with these structures?
TJR: We make decisions by consensus. The goal of consensus is to foster group solidarity
in decision making, so that decisions come with the force of everyone's participation. In
the interest of time, consensus can look like a straw-poll or a vote, when gauging the
temperature of the room. When urgency is balanced with expedience, consensus can be
difficult to prioritize at all times. LATU has an open membership policy: any tenant,
broadly defined as a person who does not own or control their own housing, can become a
member (and we accept non-voting, landlord supporters, too). This means there are
significant differences among our membership, in terms of racial, class, and language
differences, differences in analyses of the housing crisis (particularly, those who
foreground anti-capitalist critiques and those that don't), and differences in preferred
strategy and theories of political change ("outside" direct action like boycotts,
protests, and rent strikes vs. "inside" tactics of pressuring policy-makers). Some
questions we are constantly facing: How do we prioritize the needs and analyses of the
most effected by the crisis (poor and working class people of color)? How do we maintain
an intersectional analysis that understands housing struggles as a part of those against
police and ICE abuse? How can we turn our meetings into sites of education where different
kinds of people can learn? What kinds of tactics will best support our strategy of scaling
up the fight against gentrification and displacement? How do we grow? How do we build
leadership? How do we win?
The LA Tenants Union meets every first and third Monday of the month from 7pm-9pm at the
United Teachers Los Angeles building located at 3303 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010.
If you are a tenant and want to join the fight to build tenant power and get organized,
visit their website at www.latenantsunion.org and become a member today.
This piece was reprinted from It's Going Down. If you are looking for a useful guide with
research, organizing tips and examples we recommend "Resources on Tenant Organizing,
Housing and Gentrification."
http://blackrosefed.org/tenant-power-from-below-los-angeles/
------------------------------
Message: 3
Israel kills 20 Palestinians and wounded 1,500 people peacefully celebrating 'Earth Day'
---- The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) condemned in a statement the recent violent
events that took place against the Palestinian people by the Israeli government. ---- The
anarcho-syndicalist organization denounces that Israel continues to act with total
impunity, and with the approval of the International Community, against unarmed people who
claim the right of refugees to return. According to the CGT, "the Israeli government again
acts abusively against a population whose greatest weapons are stones and their own
lives." ---- The CGT also joined in celebrating the 'Earth Day', which has evoked since
1976 the killing of six citizens by Israeli occupying forces during demonstrations against
land confiscation.
This year there was the convocation of 6 weeks of protests until May 15, the 'Nakba' or
Day of Catastrophe, when the Palestinian people were subjected to exile by the Zionist
occupation forces.
The CGT states that all peoples have the right to decide freely and that this convocation
"is not a war", but a peaceful act of claiming a totally disarmed people that only claims
their most basic rights. In this sense, the State of Israel can not launch its army
against defenseless people, let alone consent that the International Community remain
unmoved by such serious events against a people who only claim the lands that have been
stolen.
Press Office of the CGT Confederal Committee
Source:
http://rojoynegro.info/articulo/sin-fronteras/cgt-condena-la-masacre-israel-el-palestino-se-suma-la-conmemoraci%C3%B3n-de
Translation> Sol de Abril
------------------------------
Message: 4
CNT will celebrate a May Day framed in the feminist struggle within the union world
The union will collect and try to put into practice the labor demands of the general
strike of March 8. ---- Framed within an environment of mobilizations, after the Feminist
Strike of 8M, the massive demonstrations against the Gag Law, the struggle for the Defense
of Public Pensions, the protests in Catalonia, among many other mobilizations, CNT begins
the campaign of dissemination of the May 1st, making women visible as promoters and
visible leaders of the union struggle. ---- Beginning with the interview with the first
and only general secretary of a class union in the country, Ana Sigüenza, more interviews
will be disseminated to compañeras who today hold positions in the anarcho-syndical, both
at the state, regional and local levels.
Claims will also be made visible in the most feminized sectors, where the struggle for
equality and rights are presented in a crude and difficult manner. Examples of these are
the hotel industry, service companies, cleaning or commerce, giving voice to the
protagonists of these struggles to encourage more women to be courageous and defend their
rights. In this line, it is intended to hear the compañeras that head their union
sections, struggles in precarious sectors such as the cleaners of the Pablo de Olavide
University in Seville, Kellys in Madrid or the meat industry.
With this campaign, first in time after the 8M Feminist Strike, CNT wants to keep alive
the flame of the protest, to continue throwing a pulse to the government of the gag, the
freezing of pensions and salaries, labor reforms and the institutional machismo.
Permanent Secretariat of the Confederal Committee
http://nosotras.cnt.es/
------------------------------
Message: 5
The Social Congress of Women took place on March 3 in Poznan. It was initiated by Poznan
nurseries, cultural institutions and tenants from Warsaw and Poznan. The organization of
the Congress resulted from the necessity to extend the struggle for higher wages and lower
rents, which we jointly deal with on the basis of trade unions and tenants' associations.
This fight is often a direct answer to the anti-woman policy pursued by the local
government. We treat current attempts to tighten the abortion law as a supplement to the
same anti-woman policy, but this time implemented at the central level. Therefore, we also
go out on the street because we are part of a wider women's movement. The list of
postulates below is not a direct response to government attempts to limit access to proper
medical care in the event of unwanted pregnancy. However, the lack of such care results in
a deterioration of our economic position, and this raises our opposition.
1. Shortening the length of weekly working time to 35 hours without decreasing the pay.
In addition to the fact that employees are struggling with professional duties, to make
matters worse, they do free work at home. In fact, they work much more than 40 hours a
week. Meanwhile, the continuous increase in labor productivity in the economy allows
shortening of working time without reducing wages. If the working hours are not shortened,
only the business gains growth in productivity, and the working people lose. In addition,
the increase in labor productivity without a common shortening of the working week in the
long run causes unemployment and poverty. The average annual working time in Poland is
about 500 hours longer than in Germany and is one of the longest in Europe, which proves
our overwork. We need more time off work in which we can realize our own needs. In the
case of female nurseries and other employees in the care sector, it is necessary to
shorten the working time to 25 hours per week. This level is currently available to
pre-school caregivers and allows for proper rest.
2. Increasing wages and employment on employment contracts in all facilities financed from
the local government or state budget.
Increasing the tasks of institutions financed from the self-government or state budget,
while limiting the number of posts, increases the workload. However, there is no increase
in wages for more work. Low wages, which are common in municipal institutions, force us to
"earn" out of full-time work, on weekends and during holidays. This work is sometimes done
at the same employer but in a different scope of responsibilities. Overworking causes
health deterioration: injuries, accidents at work, chronic diseases, occupational
diseases. These problems deepen employment for junk contracts and outsourcing, thanks to
which institutions cut the costs of their activities, reduce wages and worsen working
conditions. In addition, junk contracts are used to foster divisions between workers for
the "better" and "worse",
3. Increasing the number of places in day care centers and kindergartens and reducing fees
for their services.
Many years of underfunding and cuts in public spending, which reduced access to nurseries,
kindergartens and other care institutions, directly hit women. Their free or low-paid job
fills the gaps caused by limited access to services, food or poor housing. In practice,
for example, older women must work for their adult children, taking care of their own
grandchildren. The underdevelopment of public care institutions, eg for children and the
elderly, in fact means that women are being hired to work in households.
4. Including the time allocated for commuting to the place of work in the total time of
the working day.
The effort related to travel to work is not treated as a job, although many establishments
operate only by employing people who do not live in their immediate environment. These
people are forced to long commute because of the lack of employment opportunities at home.
Several hours of commuting and working full-time make it impossible to carry out all
caring duties at home, not to mention the right rest. The use of employee transport, often
subject to control and various regulations, for example in buses transporting employees to
Amazon's warehouses, can not be used for meals or drinks. Using public transport exposes
us to fees, which is an absurd situation. Not only is getting to the plant is a waste of
time and it is only to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, we still have to pay for it. As a
result, we give our bosses a few to several hours of our lives for free every week, and we
still have to pay for it many times.
5. Increasing social control over finances and self-government activities.
The city's finances are not transparent to most of its residents. The policy of tightening
the belt is justified by economic reasons, but the problem is not the lack of funds but
the way they are divided. Too low wages in institutions paid for by the local government
actually result from the adoption of specific political priorities and not from the "tight
budget". Expenditures on social welfare, communal services or culture do not bring great
profits to business, as a rule they are treated as a loss, and their underfunding is the
norm. On the other hand, the construction of roads or stadiums makes it possible to
transfer millions to private pockets and, as a consequence, these expenditures are
referred to as "development investments". Local politicians in their decisions, for
example regarding the financing of cultural institutions, are guided by their own taste or
political trends. In the case of care institutions, the priority is to maintain their
inefficiency, which can always serve as a pretext to close them. We waste our time
thinking about the structure of the budget, while politicians use it as a tool to take the
poor and give the rich. The more obscure the structure of the budget, the easier it is to
derive millions from it, which reach a few.
6. Enabling trade unions to control labor standards.
Lack of detailed provisions in the Labor Code regarding labor standards enables
entrepreneurs to increase its intensity according to their own needs. Standards,
performance indicators, the number of products per hour to be performed at the assembly
lines, or the number of children in groups in the case of nursery nurses often exceeds the
physical capacity of the employees. We demand workers' control over the regulation of
standards, through trade unions or crew representations. Standards can not grow without
justification (without introducing technological improvements). We demand that the
exemptions be discontinued on the pretext that the standard will not be met. Labor
productivity standards must take into account the needs and capabilities of employees
(especially the elderly or the disabled).
7. Planning work time (eg setting schedules, changes or breaks at work) in accordance with
the needs of the employees.
Flexible employment is even more stiffening entrepreneurs in terms of work time planning.
A large part of the plants operate in a 24-hour mode, although there is no other
justification than increasing profits (we are not talking about sectors that meet current
needs such as health care). Night work, forced overtime, additional duties, longer and
longer billing periods destroy our physical and mental health. Especially in the case of
night work, we demand adjusting the working time to our needs (ie the possibility of
limiting its length and the possibility to choose working hours), as well as scheduling
work time at least three months in advance. Unstable hours of work strike with redoubled
power in parents and people taking care of the elderly or disabled. Short-term agency
agreements (eg two-week or monthly), where you work half a year or more, are used to
transfer business risk to working people. These contracts result in extreme uncertainty
and over-strength work (even when the disease is going through) to "earn" another
contract. In addition, breaks that are necessary to be able to work all day work should be
entirely devoted to rest, not for additional business tasks or to reach the place of rest.
8. Universal health insurance for all persons residing in Poland. The abolition of limits
on specialist medical services.
Widely prevailing unstable employment and the associated frequent periods of unemployment
make access to free, specialist treatment and rehabilitation difficult. Only persons
employed under a contract of employment may use the current social security system. People
employed on junk contracts or not registered as unemployed have to pay a fortune for
private medical care and medicines. This condition combined with low earnings forces them
to work beyond strength. Lack of resources for treatment and prophylaxis causes,
especially among older people, a sudden deterioration of health. Costs resulting from the
destruction of health through work should be borne by the state and entrepreneurs, not
workers who are often forced to treat themselves and their relatives with home methods.
Regardless of whether we are employed under a contract of employment and whether we have
Polish citizenship, the compulsion of work impresses on our health. Therefore, we require
permanent, and not limited, access to medical care.
9. Universal retirement at the minimum wage level.
A sudden drop in the amount of income after retirement forces the seniors, if it allows
their health, continuing work. This problem affects especially lonely people and women who
are usually less well paid during their working life, so they get lower pensions. Too low
pensions make it impossible to pay rent or buy necessary drugs, which in the long term
condemns older people to eviction or early death.
10. Developing communal housing as an alternative to commercial housing, not aid.
The basic problem of today's housing policy boils down to the fact that in the last two
decades the structure of housing construction has been gradually changing. In 2010,
socialized entities gave away only 6.6% of all new apartments to use, while developers
gave them over 40%. The decline in the importance of socialized housing is particularly
evident in cities. It is in them that developers today put in use 60-65% of total
dwellings (in 1995 - only 6.3%). At the same time, the privatization of municipal housing
resources and a sharp drop in their number are taking place. The NIK report revealed that
municipal authorities meet the demand for social housing at a level of 1-2% per year! The
development of property development and the collapse of socialized housing, including
communal housing, only favors large investors, construction companies and banks financing
private construction. The lack of competition has led to the monopoly of several
developers, which means over-inflating property prices for sale as well as rental prices.
The aim of counteracting such a situation is therefore necessary to diversify the real
estate market and develop urban housing resources. Only an active self-government policy,
based on the implementation of social and communal housing programs, is able to provide
decent housing, prevent depopulation of cities and increase in social inequalities. The
aim of counteracting such a situation is therefore necessary to diversify the real estate
market and develop urban housing resources. Only an active self-government policy, based
on the implementation of social and communal housing programs, is able to provide decent
housing, prevent depopulation of cities and increase in social inequalities. The aim of
counteracting such a situation is therefore necessary to diversify the real estate market
and develop urban housing resources. Only an active self-government policy, based on the
implementation of social and communal housing programs, is able to provide decent housing,
prevent depopulation of cities and increase in social inequalities.
11. Stop the reprivatization of real estate and repair of social harm caused by it.
Reprivatization involves taking pre-war assets into private hands, including the municipal
housing stock. In many cities, these properties were created for public loans. In Warsaw,
after the war, they were rebuilt thanks to free and semi-free work, deductions from
employee salaries across the country and materials from the demolition of other cities.
Like once, "the whole nation was rebuilding the capital", now we are all shifting to a
fortune for several new owners of reprivatized properties. In addition to the
reprivatization of thousands of tenement houses, the authorities devote tens of billions
of zlotys to financial compensation to pre-war owners. Putting such large funds out of the
capital's budget was possible thanks to the introduction of a series of antisocial
reforms: the town hall privatized school canteens and the thermal energy system (SPEC),
increased rents in municipal apartments and prices of public transport tickets. For this
reason, reprivatization appears to be the largest plunder in the history of post-war
Warsaw. The authorities, however, avoid responsibility for social harms resulting from
this process. Repair of wrongs should consist in: verification of all property
acquisitions, restoration of their city, possibility of returning to the municipal
premises for all tenants from the privatized apartments, withdrawal of privatization and
increases in public services, as well as reconstruction and extension of the municipal
housing stock.
12. Debt relief for tenants waiting for the allocation to social premises and forced to
pay so-called penal rent (compensation for non-contractual use of the premises).
Because the housing stock of communes is too small, the residents, after obtaining the
right to social housing, are not able to use it. Then, the existing (mostly private)
premises still live, and the commune pays monthly compensation to private owners.
Subsequently, the municipalities demand compensation from these residents. No solution to
the so-called matter Regress (recourse compensation) means that the shortage of social
housing is paid by tenants. In fact, the right to housing does not apply to them and they
are burdened with thousands of debt that can not be repaid. The mere expectation of a
social housing court adjudicated by the court often lasts over ten years. Consequences of
such a state of affairs can not be borne by a tenant, especially that their right to
social housing is due to low income and poor financial situation.
13. Introduction of a total prohibition of eviction to the so-called temporary premises,
which are only a camouflaged form of eviction on the pavement. The introduction of a total
ban on the treatment of homeless centers run by NGOs and municipalities as substitute
accommodation.
The so-called. Temporary premises for evictions are usually rooms in employee hotels paid
for by the city authorities for no longer than a month. Therefore, most often after one
month, persons evicted are sent to homeless centers anyway. Sometimes the legal guardian
of partially incapacitated persons, instead of defending their charges, makes it easier
for the owner to make an eviction. Homeless centers are, as a rule, a shelter in crisis
situations and so should be treated. Under no circumstances may they perform the function
of substitute or social housing.
14. Adjustment of the income criterion when granting municipal and social housing,
abolition of the yardage criterion and introduction of rules for granting social housing
that meets the real needs of residents and residents of municipalities.
If the commune authorities do not want to fulfill the obligation to provide an appropriate
number of municipal and social premises, then they define criteria for allocating
apartments in such a way as to limit the taking into account of the applications of a
large part of the needy. The income criterion eliminates people who earn too much income
in order to apply for the allocation of a communal flat. On the other hand, these people
earn too little to rent a flat on the market. Another problem is the threshold, which hits
people with low incomes "trapped" in relatively large rental apartments. Ultimately, for
example, in Poznan, changing the criteria for considering applications resulted in an
increase in their number and revealed a large group of those in need.
15. Protection of "francomatists". Protection of persons who, due to indebtedness and
inability to repay mortgage loans, have lost their right to their only apartment occupied
on the basis of property rights; as a result of transfer of ownership, they become
homeless and they are not covered by the provisions of the Act on the protection of
tenants' rights (casus, the so-called frankowiczes).
According to some data, a group of indebted so-called frankkowiczów has about 560
thousand. people. The problem of debt associated with the purchase of an apartment applies
to entire families, meaning a much larger number of people. In 2000, the amount of
mortgage loans taken by Poles and Poles in total amounted to approx. PLN 9.5 billion,
currently it is approx. PLN 378 billion. Within a dozen or so years, the indebtedness of
this title increased by nearly 3900%. Often, indebted families due to the cessation of
loan repayment lose the right to the occupied premises, which is the only place where they
can meet their housing needs. Loss of financial liquidity of households is mainly caused
by high mortgage installments (often previously denominated in francs). The reasons for
this are different, e.g. loss of work due to illness or other circumstances independent of
debtors. In the case of a lack of liquidity of repayments, there is a bidding and loss of
the right to the occupied premises. The new owner, on the basis of the act of acquisition
and misappropriation of the apartment, may, without having to bring the case to court,
immediately start the proceedings with the participation of the bailiff, who automatically
evicts his order.
16. Connecting all municipal dwellings to every, extending tenants forced to heat up by
electricity and introducing real energy price regulation.
Despite the fact that electric heating is the most expensive form of heating, in Warsaw
alone, almost 70 percent. buildings managed by the commune are not connected to the
heating network. The condition for obtaining a communal apartment assignment is low
earnings, but the costs of electric heating are many times higher than the wage thresholds
determined by the town hall. This situation is particularly difficult for working mothers
who are unable to save on heating, because they have to ensure the right conditions for
children. For the negligence of city authorities in terms of providing access to cheap
energy, they pay tenants, while officials hide their heads in the sand. Until the
apartments are connected to what should be eased to tenants condemned to drastic heating
costs, abolishing rental fees. Because the disproportionate heating costs cause the
tenants' debt and evictions, in their case it is also necessary to annul rent debts and
stop the eviction. Currently existing energy additives reach 2 percent. real costs of
electric heating, and therefore electricity surcharges should be started. The
privatization of the energy sector is the reason for the continuous increase in
electricity prices, which should be subject to much greater regulation.
17. Introduction of housing support programs for foreigners in economic austerity,
refugees and asylum seekers.
The Wielkopolska Association of Tenants from 2013 is fighting for the right to housing for
Roma migrants who, due to poor financial situation, live, for example, abandoned garden
arbors. The Roma do not have the possibility to register their stay in Poland.
Consequently, municipal institutions and private entities more often apply illegal
displacements to them and break the Act on the Protection of Tenants' Rights. Some
municipalities in Poland are responsible for the displacement of Roma in the European
Court of Human Rights. Resettlement and illegal demolition are associated with expenditure
from urban budgets that could be spent on housing development. People who are waiting for
a decision on obtaining asylum or other form of protection, can not take up legal
employment in Poland. In addition, they do not have the possibility of obtaining basic
protection in the form of a flat.
18. Introduction of regulations regarding domestic violence, consisting in the fact that
the perpetrator of violence is obliged to leave the apartment.
The existing forms of protection of victims of violence are not sufficient in terms of
protection of tenants' rights. Often victims of violence are forced to leave the apartment
and many months or many years of waiting for court judgments and the possibility of
applying for housing assistance.
19. Introduction of a total ban on the construction of housing substandards in the form of
social containers and barracks, and their use as social flats or temporary premises for
the poorest.
In Poland, approximately 5.5 million people live in substandard conditions. In 2012, the
Central Statistical Office, in turn, stated that the average wage of Poland allows the
acquisition of approx. Half a square meter of housing. It's almost two times less than ten
years ago. Thousands of people are waiting in the queue for the allocation of social and
communal premises, while municipalities are increasingly implementing sub-standard
apartments in the form of barracks, containers or in plywood houses. These activities
often break the provisions of the construction law. What's more, locating substandard
housing estates on isolated city outskirts increases social segregation. "Social ghettos
of poverty" are also a scare used against the so-called "Difficult tenants."
20.Crating the guilty of murder of Jolanta Brzeska and guilty of blurring the traces of
this crime (policemen and prosecutors).
http://www.rozbrat.org/publicystyka/walka-klas/4609-socjalny-kongres-kobiet-postulaty-
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Message: 6
Now that we have a definitive date of May 25th 2018, the date on which we will get to vote
to repeal the 8th Amendment it is timely for us to remember how this opportunity to change
Irish society into a fairer one came about. ---- History is written by those in power,
therefore this referendum has comes with a heavily constructed backstory that goes like
this. Leo Varadkar, our funky sock wearing leader, with all his social media savvy got
together with his wing of the Fine Gael party to progress social change in Ireland. Repeal
was the next obvious step. The line continues that having witnessed the historic popular
vote on the marriage equality referendum, the government decided to tackle the thorny
issue of the 8th amendment. They had not the courage to devise a plan themselves so they
gave it to the Citizens assembly, hoping that if they came back with something grossly
unpopular then it was the assembly that could be blamed. I diverge from the script here,
but it is important to recognise that there is a distinct lack of courage with the elected
ones. Now, they are now fully enacting the recommendations, because the Citizens assembly
came back with the obvious solution to deal with the issue. That was to repeal the 8th
amendment and legislate for safe abortion in Ireland.
That's the Star Wars version of how we got to a referendum, and it is complete and utter
balderdash. This unappetising swill and spin is hard to swallow for anyone who has been
working on the issue since the 8th Amendment was brought into existence in 1983. The truth
is not be to found in the plot lines of this action adventure. Reality is to be found in
people taking to the streets in protest. Generation of activists have made this an issue
because they have been aware of the pain, misery, and damage that is caused by having this
law on the books in Ireland.
When Savita Halappanavar died in a Galway Hospital thanks to doctors delaying an abortion
because they heard the heartbeat of a foetus, it remobilised campaigners and brought a new
generation out onto the streets. A crowd or thousands gathered outside the Dáil, on that
cold autumn night in 2012. Outrage and anger was in the air as this young woman had died
due to the 8th amendment. What followed was a considered plan, and a massive amount or
organising, mobilising and energy and determination around the Abortion Rights Campaign.
This saw ever growing numbers take to the streets for the annual March for Choice. When
the politicians dithered and set up new committees to examine the issue more pressure was
applied, like the Strike for Repeal last year which effectively shut down Dublin city.
Repeal the 8th has been set as a priority by people who have had enough of forcing women
to travel to the UK and elsewhere to have abortions.
The citizens assembly, when it was presented with the facts, have correctly come up with
the only way to deal with this issue. Even though it was created as a scapegoat for the
established political classes, the assembly worked just like a functioning democracy
should work. Citizens looked at all the facts, listened to all the views and set out a
clear path for resolving this issue. Repeal the 8th amendment and legislate for abortion
in Ireland.
The reason why you cannot just repeal the 8th amendment is because the anti-choice side
have for years contested various cases in the courts to maintain the equivalency position
of the foetus - as per the 8th. If the 8th amendment was just repealed and was not
followed up with a law allowing for abortion, they would continue to undemocratically have
this matter contested in the courts for years. Also since 1983 - the anti-choice side have
fought for a long time to ensure that there was not another referendum on this.
That is why we are canvassing for a Yes to repeal the 8th and then to replace it with laws
that allow for abortion. The politicians, they will legislate because they know that more
people will take to the streets and make it happen.
The 25th May is an opportunity for Ireland end the hypocrisy. The time is long overdue for
safe medical abortions in Ireland. It came about thanks to tens of thousands of activists,
over 4 different generations who have been in the streets on this issue. In particular,
the pressure has increased over the last six years, since the needless death of Savita,
marking Repeal as a priority change that we wished to see enacted in this country. This is
societal change and it will come thanks to people on the streets, people canvassing
support and people voting Yes. It does not get handed down by the leaders because they
have looked into their hearts and decided it was the right thing to do. That's just a star
wars script that some spin doctor fits up after the fact.
So get out there and vote, and get out there and convince others to vote Yes. Remember
that Politicians don't change society, We DO!
---
For more on the long history of struggle on the streets that led to the referendum see
https://www.wsm.ie/pro-choice
Author: Dermot Freeman
https://wsm.ie/c/how-government-forced-referendum-repeal8th
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