Today's Topics:
1. Poland, Workers Initiative: The general strike in education
- the balance after the first week [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. avtonom: How Belarusian prisons riot - Nikolay Dedok
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire - AL Fougères , AL Lorient:
policy, Yellow vests: the assembly of Saint-Nazaire sometimes
tense, often creative (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
On Monday, April 8, a general strike in the education industry began. By. data of the
organizers (the Polish Teachers' Union and the educational structure of the Trade Unions
Forum), on the first day, 14,000 joined him. schools and kindergartens for 20.4 thous. all
such facilities (or 68%). Everything indicates that this may be the beginning of a longer
protest with a range comparable to the teacher mobilization from 1991-1993. Equally
serious as in the 1990s can also be his political repercussions. ---- Genesis - a dispute
about wages ---- The immediate reason for the strike is the fiasco of pay negotiations
that the PNA and FZZ have been running with the government since March this year. They
also participated in the educational "Solidarity", but - as in other industries - it broke
from the common front and on 7 April signed the agreement in the version proposed by the
government. ZNP and FZZ demanded increases in the amount of PLN 1,000 gross for each
person employed in education; in the course of the negotiations, however, they declared
they were willing to sign the agreement if the government agreed to two increases of 15%
in 2019. The government's offer, which was agreed by Solidarity, is a 5% increase in
January this year. (already granted) and another 9.6% in September. Beyond, Beata Szydlo
also presented a "long-term" plan for increases in 2020-2023, which, however, assumed an
increase in the working hours (working time at the table) from 18 to 24 hours, which would
mean a reduction in employment by about 20%. The other proposition of consent was not even
expressed by the educational Solidarity, which played the role of scoffisher in these
negotiations.
The dispute over wages started last year and was a continuation of the conflict between
the government - teachers' associations, which broke out in 2017 on the occasion of the
reform eliminating the gymnasium. Last year, the Ministry of Education submitted a
proposal for increases from PLN 93 (a teacher / ka stazysta / stazystka) to 168 (teacher /
certified / certified). The PNA then put forward a counter-proposal - an increase of 15%,
which the Ministry of National Education promised to carry out within three years, while
in 2018 the increase in remuneration was to amount to 5.35%. Ultimately, the real amount
of increases proposed by the Ministry of Education last year amounted to approx. 3.75%
(which is not much more than in the wage indexation conducted in 2017 by 2%).
Where did the ZNP and FZZ demands come from? Basic salary of pedagogical staff in the
previous year was at the level of 2.4 thousand. brutto (wyklad / ka trainee / trainee) to
3.3 thous. gross (certified teacher) - meaning significantly lower than average wage for
work in the economy (4.7 thousand). This prompted the PNA and the FZZ to put forward a
"thousand zlotys for everyone" postulate, and because the government refused to implement
it - to start preparations for the strike.
Context - deforms education
However, wage issues are not everything: the dispute about pay rises may not be so sharp
were it not for the 2017 reduction of gymnasium combined with changes in the Teachers'
Charter (defining detailed rules for remuneration of pedagogical staff and equivalent to a
collective labor agreement at the level of the entire industry) ). Both changes were
pushed through by the Minister of National Education, Anna Zalewska.
As a result of the liquidation of junior high schools in 2017, 6.6 thousand lost their
jobs. teachers and teachers (about 1%), but more serious consequences were changes in the
Teacher's Charter: liquidation of the flat allowance used by 1/3 of teachers in the
country (186,000) and development allowance (one-time benefit in the amount of two-month
remuneration essential for teachers with two years of experience after obtaining the
degree of contract teacher), extending the basic career progression from 10 to 15 years
and abolishing the right to housing for teachers from rural areas and towns up to 5,000.
residents and teachers who have retired, pension or so-called "Teacher compensation
benefits". In this way the Ministry of Education significantly reduced wages - both by
eliminating allowances, as well as extending the path of promotion to successive stages,
on which the amount of basic salary depends. A certain form of "compensation" for the
above cuts was to be the "500 plus for the teacher" incentive, but it will be directed
only to qualified teachers (52% of the school staff) who will receive distinguished marks
at work. In addition, the payment of the "500 plus for the teacher" is to start only in
2020 and the amount will initially be PLN 95 - up to PLN 500 will only come in 2022. These
proposals - just like those presented in April this year. promises of increases related to
the increase in the salary - have been widely perceived by teachers and teachers as
promises without coverage and an attempt to delay the problem in time. A certain form of
"compensation" for the above cuts was to be the "500 plus for the teacher" incentive, but
it will be directed only to qualified teachers (52% of the school staff) who will receive
distinguished marks at work. In addition, the payment of the "500 plus for the teacher" is
to start only in 2020 and the amount will initially be PLN 95 - up to PLN 500 will only
come in 2022. These proposals - just like those presented in April this year. promises of
increases related to the increase in the salary - have been widely perceived by teachers
and teachers as promises without coverage and an attempt to delay the problem in time. A
certain form of "compensation" for the above cuts was to be the "500 plus for the teacher"
incentive, but it will be directed only to qualified teachers (52% of the school staff)
who will receive distinguished marks at work. In addition, the payment of the "500 plus
for the teacher" is to start only in 2020 and the amount will initially be PLN 95 - up to
PLN 500 will only come in 2022. These proposals - just like those presented in April this
year. promises of increases related to the increase in the salary - have been widely
perceived by teachers and teachers as promises without coverage and an attempt to delay
the problem in time. In addition, the payment of the "500 plus for the teacher" is to
start only in 2020 and the amount will initially be PLN 95 - up to PLN 500 will only come
in 2022. These proposals - just like those presented in April this year. promises of
increases related to the increase in the salary - have been widely perceived by teachers
and teachers as promises without coverage and an attempt to delay the problem in time. In
addition, the payment of the "500 plus for the teacher" is to start only in 2020 and the
amount will initially be PLN 95 - up to PLN 500 will only come in 2022. These proposals -
just like those presented in April this year. promises of increases related to the
increase in the salary - have been widely perceived by teachers and teachers as promises
without coverage and an attempt to delay the problem in time.
All this, combined with the chaos caused by the reform (overcrowding schools, inconvenient
working hours and schools operating on two shifts, etc.) led the government to a heated
dispute with trade union structures. Its culminating point was a one-day general strike
organized by the PNA on March 31. organized to achieve two demands: 10% pay rise and
employment guarantee for all school staff up to 2020. GUS data, around 28 thousand people
took part in the strike people. The PNA, however, estimated that strike actions were held
in 40% of educational institutions across the country (ie they covered over 8,000
schools). After the strike, no agreement was signed, but Minister Zalewska then promised
that the reform would not cause any layoffs (she lied) and she would submit her plans for
later.
A general strike in education - the course and dynamics
Everything points to the fact that both the leadership of the two trade unions and the
staff of schools and kindergartens who participate in the strike are determined and
determined to conduct the strike "to victory". For now, you can observe mass participation
in the action and quite large public support for the strike. Secondary school examinations
came to fruition, however, only due to changes in the last minute by the Ministry of
Education, thanks to which their course was supervised by people with pedagogical
qualifications not employed in a given school and catechists, priests and nuns or even
prison staff or foresters. In the case of baccalaureate, whose deadline is approaching
faster and faster, such maneuver will not be possible to repeat and both the strikers and
the government will face a dilemma,
So far it seems that despite the inconvenience for parents and children, the strike has a
lot of public support - it can be seen after polls (over half of respondents and
respondents declared support for the strike), but also numerous actions and solidarity
initiatives - from protests and street pickets, through "strike lectures" organized at
universities, to positions and gestures of support from trade union structures operating
in other industries. On Friday, April 12, thousands of support for the strike took place
across the country; 2 days earlier - on 10 April - under the building of the Ministry of
Education in Warsaw, several hundred pupils and students demonstrated their support for
the struggle of teachers and teachers under the slogan "student strike"; the trade unions
operating at the Warsaw universities also organized support for the strike, Wroclaw and
Jagiellonian. The PNA at the University of Warsaw, together with the initiative
"University Involved", runs "strike lectures" every day from April 8, in which young
people from closed schools take part. The initiatives of ensuring the childcare by the
universities during the strike were also issued by the Workers' Initiative committees from
Wroclaw and Cracow. The official support of the teachers 'strike was also provided by,
among others, the Trade Union of the Board and Aviation Personnel or the Polish Drivers'
Union. Finally, on Thursday, April 11, a public fundraising was launched for the strike
fund, under which over one million zlotys were collected over a day, and by Saturday of
April 13 this amount has grown threefold.
The strike also caused cracks and conflicts in "Solidarity" - in many places the local
structures of this union in the education industry either joined the strike against the
national authorities' position or even "threw IDs" and resigned from membership - based on
media reports, it can be estimated that several hundred people have already left
"Solidarity" and perhaps will join other unions.
There is no indication, however, that the teacher mobilization and social support for the
strike influenced the attitude of the government - throughout the week the only response
to the strike from the Law and Justice was the repetition of the proposal, which was
approved by Solidarity. This was accompanied by an aggressive campaign of pro-government
media directed mainly against the leader of the ZNP, Slawomir Broniarz and the entire
union accused of "communism" or conducting "political protest" (implicitly: on the "order"
of the liberal Civic Coalition, whose representatives gave public expression in various
ways that they support the strike).
What remains open is how long the government will persevere in this staunch attitude and
whether the sympathy of public opinion will not turn away from the strikers. With the next
days, fatigue and stress related to upcoming baccalaureate will also grow. There is a risk
that this year's strike will end in the same way as the longest educational protest in
Poland in 1993.
The history of workers' struggles in education
The ongoing strike is another great mobilization of the education industry, which in
Poland repeatedly undertook a strike fight on a mass scale. People accusing ZNP of the
fact that "just strikes the PiS, and did nothing when schools were liquidated during the
PO-PSL government", however, forget that in May 2008 almost 200,000. employees and
employees of the education sector participated in over 12,000 strike actions, which were
organized in defense of the Teachers' Charter, the right to early retirement and wage
increases. Strikes from 2008 did not last as long as the largest teacher mobilization at
the very beginning of the political transformation.
The dispute began with the freezing of wage indexation in the budgetary sphere in 1991,
which caused a real decrease in the income of all persons employed in the budget - in the
years 1990-1992 salaries fell by 17%, and expenditures on education in general they
dropped from 12.8% to 8.9% of total budget expenditure. The freezing of wages was declared
unlawful by the Constitutional Tribunal, but the government refused to compensate for
wages (according to the law in force they should be indexed - adjusted to the increase in
wages in the private sector). The first one-day strikes were organized in 1991 and they
were often occupational. In February 1992, due to the lack of reaction of the Olszewski
government to the pay demands, a coordinated one-day warning strike at the level of the
entire country was already carried out. When this did not help, in February 1993 the PNA
entered into a collective dispute, and at the end of March the position supporting the
organization of the strike in education in May was adopted by the National Commission of
Solidarity. Two increases were demanded - 600,000 old zlotys from April and another 340
thousand since September. The government has planned in the budget 390,000 and 200,000
respectively. On April 22, a warning strike took place, in which 81.3% of branches
participated (according to ZNP data) - but this did not lead the government to change its
position, and therefore on 4 May an indefinite general strike in education began, as a
result of which the Matura exams 1993 took place with considerable delay. The strike from
1993 lasted until May 24 and finally ended in defeat - teachers and teachers failed to win
the postulated increases. Finally, their salaries have increased by
The strike of 1993 was not successful in terms of wages, but it was the beginning of
workers' protests in other sectors of the budgetary sphere (including health care), which
ultimately led to the vote of no confidence in the government of Hanna Suchocka and the
creation of new parliamentary elections, as a result of which the "post-Solidarity" camp
lost power, and won the Democratic Left Alliance, which eased the draconian policy of
budget savings.
Jakub Grzegorczyk
http://ozzip.pl/teksty/publicystyka/walki-pracownicze/item/2473-strajk-generalny-w-edukacji-bilans-pierwszego-tygodnia
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Message: 2
Desperate people are able to rebel even in the most difficult conditions. But these
uprisings are often not similar to what we imagine. ---- On November 6, 2018, the
Belarusian social networks stirred up information about a riot in Ivatsevichy colony No.
22 ("Wolf holes"). It was reported that this happened on the night from Saturday to
Sunday, and all the convicts took part in the riot in all the detachments. Nothing is
known about the rebellion, except that the doors to the detachments were blocked (most
likely, they meant wickets to local areas of the barracks - the so-called "lokalki") and
that several administration representatives were injured. Requirement - remove the
authorities of the colony. ---- We don't know about the reasons that provoked the riot,
the reaction of the administration and the consequences. To make more or less reasonable
assumptions about this, you need to look at the situation through the prism of the
specifics of prison riots in general.
"I will not do it"
The prison revolt rarely takes the form of "riots" - breaking something, arson attacks on
administration officials. If such attacks took place in IK-22, then it is rather an
exception. The reason is simple: prison rules and the entire prison social model are built
on the order-execution vertical. To break it, it is enough to refuse to execute the order.
Moreover, the internal regulations allow the officers to use force against prisoners who
refuse to obey orders. Simply put, a prisoner can be absolutely legally beaten, for
example, for refusing to go to work. Or for refusing to clean toilets.
To rebel in the colony - not much. It is enough to demand the officer to say: "I will not
do that."
In 2010, I witnessed a local revolt in IK-15. There, the local administration practiced
circular responsibility in the punishment of convicts and forced the entire quarantine
unit (about 50 people) to march back and forth for violation of discipline by one.
Humiliating, disgusting - but they did it all. Until that time, two political prisoners
drove into quarantine.
Once we were trying to get marched for the fact that the 18-year-old boy smoked at night
in the toilet. But this caused organized resistance: it was agreed in advance that no one
was marching. Instigated by three prisoners, a detachment of 50 people refused to march,
despite the cries of members of the security department. True, right up until the moment
when these three were not taken out of the ranks, and cuffs were not distributed to the rest.
But for the administration it was a real state of emergency. And after him, such marching
was no longer practiced.
Riot doomed
A prison riot is almost always a riot of the doomed. The prisoners live in a confined
space, and they understand that they all still have to serve time. Living constantly under
the fear of using violence against them, under a strict system of "carrots and sticks"
(where the whip is SHIZO, deprivation of meetings and broadcasts, battered, and the carrot
is of dates, transmissions and parole) without a stable and, most importantly, successful
resistance (unlike, for example, from the imprisoned US prisons, which even have their own
associations and trade unions), they are not really inclined to revolt, because they
understand that victory is unlikely, and punishment will have to be borne in any case.
That the rebellion will be crushed is understandable even before it starts. The bonuses
from easing the regime and stopping the bullying loom somewhere far away, and even they
will not be available to everyone, but only to those who remain in this colony and will
not be taken out after the suppression of the rebellion.
The prisoner who rebels is not a hipster who went outside with a poster, because he is
convinced that the law and the Constitution are on his side. It is always a desperate man.
Every rebel in the colony is aware that he will have to be 100% punished. Depending on the
degree of participation, this may be a transfer to "covered" or PKT, ten, twenty or more
days of the ShIZO. There is no need to talk about a long and long beating - this is, so to
speak, a mandatory minimum. For organizers, however, there are articles 410 and 411 of the
Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, meaning that the release is delayed for many
more years.
Therefore, in order to rebel in prison, one must have real courage and despair.
Riot or parole?
The prison riot is almost never supported by all. Therefore, the message in the news that
he was supported by "all the convicts in all units" is in doubt. This is possible only in
one case - a strong structure of informal power and solidarity between prisoners, which
would mean severe penalties for potential "strikebreakers" for trying to refuse to
participate in a riot. It is very unlikely that such a structure existed in IK-22.
But most importantly, a good 10-15% of the prison population is so-called. "Goats" are
convicts cooperating with the administration, having real privileges from it and, most
importantly, a chance for early release. Usually these are people with long terms. To
participate in a riot for them is to put an end to privileges and the prospect of getting
free earlier. And if a person, for example, has a term of 25 years, there is a difference
for him: to support the rebellion and to be released after 25 years, or to "calm down" and
free himself, say, 7 years earlier - after eighteen.
Could not know?
Any rebellion becomes possible if there is an organizing force. Someone must prepare
actions, agree with the circle of participants (at least the initial). In the past, these
were thieves: the guides of "thieves' romance" and informal concepts of the underworld.
Over time, when the culture, ethics, and organizational structure of these groups were
significantly eroded, the usual convicts became increasingly rebellious, meaning not the
imposition of thieves, but a concrete improvement in the quality of life. By the way, this
trend applies not only to Belarusian prisons, but also to Russian ones, where in
"infinite" and "torture" zones, in which thieves cannot be, by definition, large speeches
also take place.
Here it is important to understand that in order to prevent "illegal actions" in the
colony there is an entire operational department staffed with officers with higher
education. It is their responsibility to stop such speeches even before they begin.
Through their informers from among the other prisoners, they receive information on the
preparation of any disobedience and take measures: they transfer the instigators to the
PTO, to another zone, etc.
For a number of reasons, including such as the decline of traditional prison culture, many
convicts are willing to go to an informal job as informants for operatives: some for the
prospect of parole, some for a pack of cigarettes. I knew the troops, where, according to
the general opinion, up to 70% of the population "knocked". It is clear that in such
conditions, operatives simply cannot be aware of something that is being prepared.
Therefore, if in IK-22 there was still a rebellion, and even such a massive one, that is,
the investigators had information, but did not take it seriously.
In this connection, the fact that IK-22 is a colony for convicts under narcotic articles
becomes especially interesting. Moreover, for those who have not served their sentence.
The collective image of a resident of this colony: a man whose age is much younger than
the average, usually from Minsk or from the regional center, the wealth of his family is
average or higher. He remembers the free life, has a long life, but has no chance of early
release - he was cut off for "narcotic" articles in accordance with Decree No. 3. Add here
a very tough regime of detention in all the "narcotic" zones - as Lukashenko demanded,
"that they ask for death". It was this explosive connection of factors that could be the
cause that provoked a riot in IK-22.
The rights of prisoners are violated absolutely everywhere, but few are decided on
organized resistance. If the prisoners of IK-22 still achieve at least some of their
demands, this should be a lesson for all those who continue to silently endure injustice
on both sides of the fence.
Nikolay Dedok
https://avtonom.org/author_columns/kak-buntuyut-belaruskie-tyurmy
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Message: 3
The call of the Assembly of Assemblies, in Saint-Nazaire, is clearly pronounced for the
exit of capitalism. Jump forward in the awareness of movement, or forcing the left of the
yellow vests ? Not so simple to decide. ---- Nearly 250 delegations, observers,
journalists, volunteers, canteens activists ... about 800 people were present from April 5
to 7 at the House of the people of Saint-Nazaire, for the assembly of assemblies (AdA) of
the yellow vests. The result is a general appeal and four more on specific themes (" Call
for Citizens ' Assemblies ", " Call for European Elections ", " Call for a National Act
for the Annulment of Penalties ", " Call for Ecological Convergence" "). The general call
will now be rediscussed in local groups. These days have been abundant and intense.
The goal of the organizers was to test a functioning articulating plenary deliberative and
workshops. This could sometimes give the impression of a brothel more or less happy. But
the intensity of the exchanges has allowed many to experience a form of direct democracy.
The " assemblies " were divided in two. On the one hand there were the delegates (a woman
and a man by delegation), sent by their collectives ; on the other hand, their
accompanists, in observation, in order to help the delegates to remain in the nails of the
mandates entrusted.
This organization made it possible to multiply the attendance in the workshops.
Citizenship or rupture ?
Six points (previously submitted to local groups) had been put in discussion, the main one
being to define the functioning of the assembly of assemblies. The others - actions,
demands, repression, communication, " what consequences for the movement " (strategy and
possible convergences) - had made it possible to collect, before the ADA, what had already
been accomplished in the local collectives, and to consider further steps to ensure the
legitimacy and transparency of the collection and processing of information.
The question of strategies has highlighted a tension. On the one hand, a citizen's
tendency to participate in municipal elections, create or join existing associations
working on the theme of ecology ... On the other hand, it is rather a desire to leave the
existing system by inventing original solutions that has been expressed. Nevertheless, the
workshop on the theme of the creation of houses of the people looked rather for solutions
of purchase of places or hiring, without mentioning the possibility of squatter ... even
while we were in a place occupied at departure illegally.
Yves Monteil / Reporterre
Greetings to Rojava and Algeria in struggle
The issue of support for local struggles and convergence with trade unions has been raised
on many occasions. Convergence also with the participants of the march for the climate and
with the students and high school students. This gave rise to a specific call on
ecological convergence.
The municipalism of Murray Bookchin was less invoked than at the first assembly at
Commercy. On the other hand, we can note a message of support from the AdA to Rojava and
the Algerian people, and the wish for joint action with the peoples of Europe. Beyond
borders, solidarity is there !
Each workshop was organized in the classic mode: rapporteur or rapporteur, time master,
donor or donor of speech. This organization highlighted the issue of training participants
in different roles. In plenaries and around workshops, a team of " facilitators " - no
women among them - had the role of spreading the word and proposing tools and advice for
the exchange to happen at best. It worked rather well, although they were often
overwhelmed by the number of interventions.
During the workshops and plenaries, classic biases emerged: already experienced activists
tend to speak out and lobby for their views to be prioritized. This was particularly the
case of the issue of the exit of capitalism, which at this stage is not very consensual,
and yet appears very clearly in the call. Similarly, both in the workshop and plenary,
male speech-making has, as often, far exceeded women's speech.
Yves Monteil / Reporterre
Partial representativeness
Did the GJ present in Saint-Nazaire represent the whole movement ? Probably no. Were they
essentially activists already honed ? The presentation, on Friday afternoon, of the
different roundabouts or occupied places denied it, making emerge a great variety of
profiles and situations.
Of course, the ADA allowed for the exchange of experiences, the articulation of regional
gatherings - the existence or necessity of which was heard during these three days - and
the realization of the rooting of the movement. In addition, a calendar of action until
the end of August will be proposed to all and all the GJ who will want to seize it.
Some and some participants felt tension between experienced activists (some of whom were
involved very early in the movement) and yellow vests with less experience. Was this
tension solely due to a difference in the ease with which to speak in public ? Or a real
difference of objectives and political vision ? This question is crucial. The coming
months will surely help to answer them.
Alexis (AL Fougères) and Beatrice (AL Lorient)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Gilets-jaunes-l-assemblee-de-Saint-Nazaire-parfois-tendue-souvent-creative
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