Today's Topics:
1. ait russia: Ukraine: The strike of cultural workers for the
right to work [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. ait russia: Russia: Epidemic and Strikes [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. cnt nº 423 - Reflections on the COVID-19: From health
crisis to social crisis by Laura L. Ruiz (ca) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - Al #305 -
Industry, Pharmaceutical industry: how we can socialize it (fr,
it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - Trans people,
forgotten about confinement (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Poland, ozzip: Avon Distribution: There is no consent for a
pay cut and longer settlement period [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Britain, AFED: FREEDOM TO DIE? (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Britain, London Anarchist Federation: Reading Group
Recommends: Finding Eichmann (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
9. iwa-ait: New Secretariat of the IWA (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
More than 250,000 people officially employed in the Ukrainian sphere of culture have been unemployed during quarantine measures. Among them
are actors, musicians, choreographers, event organizers, technical personnel of light, sound and stage, decorators, cinema workers and
people of other professions, without which it is impossible to imagine the cultural life of the country. ---- In their opinion, the
quarantine exit plan was developed by the government for all sectors except them. Therefore, in the evening, May 12, within the framework of
the All-Ukrainian cultural strike "StopKulturniyKarantin", a spectacular flash mob took place: at 22:00 on the iconic locations of Ukrainian
cities, rays of light were turned into the clouds.
So, in Kharkov, spotlights in support of those who lost their jobs were lit in three places. Art Factory "Mechanics", KhNATOB and Gorky
Park. The Kharkov segment of Telegram is filled with impressive frames of the night sky. In general, support for the action was announced in
two dozen cities of Ukraine.
"It seems that we do not exist. Restaurants were allowed summer areas and take-away, hairdressers - pre-registration and clear requirements
for social distance, even for shopping centers - restrictions on the number of visitors. The plan is ready for almost all sectors, except
for the culture and entertainment industry. It seems that we are not in the script of the government, "the organizers said in a statement.
"The action # stopculture quarantine is designed to draw the attention of the government to the fact of the existence of the cultural
industry in Ukraine and to begin a dialogue with its representatives regarding a possible scenario for quitting quarantine."
"Give us the opportunity to work, talk with us how we can jointly develop a quarantine exit plan and revive the multifaceted cultural sphere
of Ukraine," the statement says.
https://assembly.org.ua/noch-dlinnyh-luchej-harkov-prisoedinilsya-k-zabastovke-rabotnikov-sfery-kultury-za-pravo-na-trud/
https://aitrus.info/node/5472
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Message: 2
As in other countries, the authorities and entrepreneurs in Russia use the epidemic as a cover and a pretext for a massive attack on
workers. There are reductions in workers, cuts and delays in salaries. Different categories of workers respond to this with resistance and
strikes. ---- So, in Novokuznetsk on April 30, drivers of private shuttle buses went on strike. They are protesting against the "transport
reform" planned by the city authorities, retaining only 50 routes out of more than 80. As a result of the strike, more than 100 buses
(according to other sources, 250) failed to enter the routes. The strike caused a transport collapse. The Zavodskoy and Ordzhonikidzevsky
districts remained almost without public transport; problems were felt in the Kuibyshev and Novoilinsky districts. The mayor of the city
created an operating center and promised to punish those responsible. To disrupt the strike, the governor, according to the mayor, sent
bus-breakers from other cities to Novokuznetsk. On May 1, the strikers went to work, but promised to continue the fight (
https://tayga.info/154537; https://vashgorod.ru/novokuznetsk/news/1133102; https://vashgorod.ru/novokuznetsk/news/1133136 ).
In May 1 in Novocheboksarsk, a strike against the conditions of the aggregator was organized by Yandex taxi drivers. At about 12:00, taxi
cars with Yandex and Uber stickers began to drive up to the parking lot of the supermarket. When asked what they were doing here, the
drivers at first answered sparingly: "Nothing, just talking." Then several dozens of cars gathered, and taxi drivers talked about their
"silent strike" against the aggregator. "There are about 50 of us here." Yandex "throws all people" on bonuses. People work from morning
till night to earn money. Prices have fallen, bonuses are constantly withdrawn. We need to raise prices. After all, there are orders, but
the tariffs are still low. Yandex takes away its percentage, the taxi fleet takes. As a result, we work for a penny, "taxi drivers complain
(https://pg21.ru/news/64141)
Unfortunately, instead of demanding that the aggregator increase their wages, these taxi drivers are ready to solve the problem at the
expense of consumers - they demand to raise the fare. Anti-solidarity actions directed against other people of work, and not the owners, do
not deserve support.
Earlier, taxi drivers Cheboksary went on strike. The case then ended in repression in the form of fines.
On May 12, in Moscow, Mosgortrans employees locked up in a dormitory protested in a dormitory in the dormitory building for Mosgortrans
State Unitary Enterprise employees due to difficult living conditions. The fact is that since mid-April, since the first cases of COVID-19
were detected among workers, all residents of the dormitory of the capital's public transport were quarantined. At the same time, workers
report that emergency doctors refused to hospitalize many people with high fever, and those who were nevertheless taken to the hospital did
a CT scan of their lungs and drove them back to the hostel. The fact that part of the dormitory prisoners escaped outside, became known to
journalists from the Moscow Horn, they arrived at the place when the excitement calmed down, they called the police to the incident.
Employees of Mosgortrans reported on camera from the windows of their home that for many days they kept both healthy people and those
infected with coronavirus in the same rooms. It is forbidden to leave the building, no one can even go out for five minutes, especially to
the store, and the quality of food delivered to the locked employees is not satisfactory. In turn, the leadership of Mosgortrans, justifying
the current situation, refers to the orders of Rospotrebnadzor. Mosgortrans employees also reported that they did not have sick leave in
their hands, as a result, they could not receive either normal wages or compensation payments. On the day of payroll, employees of the
capital's transport company received derogatoryly low amounts over the past month - from 200 to 5,000 rubles, and this despite that they
have to pay for living in a dormitory, and for many of the workers they also have families. It all comes down to the absence of sick leave,
which people can only get in polyclinics, but they cannot move around the city or even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began today in
the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain the most
ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this
has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by
coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( and many of the workers
also have families. It all comes down to the absence of sick leave, which people can only get in polyclinics, but they cannot move around
the city or even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard
arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event,"
allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the
Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed
COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( and many of the workers also have families. It all comes down to the absence of sick
leave, which people can only get in polyclinics, but they cannot move around the city or even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began
today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain
the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime.
However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was
quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( It all
comes down to the absence of sick leave, which people can only get in polyclinics, but they cannot move around the city or even leave the
hostel. As a result, unrest began today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene.
Security officials promised to detain the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under
conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel,
located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57
people live in the hostel ( Everything rests on the absence of sick leave, which people can only get in clinics, but they can't move around
the city and even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard
arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event,"
allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the
Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed
COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( but they cannot move around the city and even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began
today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain
the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime.
However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was
quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( but they
cannot move around the city and even leave the hostel. As a result, unrest began today in the Mosgortrans hostel, immediately the police and
the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized
public event," allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of
April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people
revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security
officials promised to detain the most ardent activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under conditions of
a self-isolation regime. However, this has not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on
Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live
in the hostel ( immediately the police and the Russian Guard arrived at the scene. Security officials promised to detain the most ardent
activists as "instigators of an unauthorized public event," allegedly held under conditions of a self-isolation regime. However, this has
not happened to date. Recall that at the end of April the Mosgortrans hostel, located on Krzhizhanovsky Street, was quarantined by
coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( quarantined by
coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel ( quarantined by
coronavirus. According to unconfirmed data, 15 people revealed COVID-19. In total, 57 people live in the hostel
(http://activatica.org/blogs/view/id/9925/title/v-obshchezhitii-mosgortransa-vspyhnul-bunt-iz-za-karantinnyh-mer)
Meanwhile, the Open Week merchandiser strike continues for a second week. The strikers refuse to go to work until they have been paid wage
arrears and given sufficient protective equipment. Throughout this week, the agency's management continued to feed the workers promises: the
April salary should be paid in full on May 10, but the merchandisers were told that it was worth waiting for it only on the 15th. And many
have not been paid yet for February and March! At the beginning of the week, the workers were promised to issue settlement sheets, but still
have not done even that. Only on Friday did the leadership apparently realize that the empty promises of the workers would not satisfy and
would not lead to the cessation of the strike, and began to pay the strikers the money they had paid. But - not to all and not in full! They
promise to pay the remainder after the holidays, on Tuesday, but workers have no faith in these words. Merchandisers intend to continue the
strike until all their requirements are fully met.
https://aitrus.info/node/5473
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Message: 3
The same week of March 9 - prior to the statement of the State of Alarm, but already intuited by the closing of schools - there were already
many workers who asked the unions what to do with the notice of termination of their temporary contract, with the cancellation of temporary
jobs or with the non-response of companies to contracts for freelancers and false self-employed. All of them were joined by the employees of
bars, restaurants and other businesses with customer service that were the first to close. Those who remained and could not telework, were
torn between gambling health by going to work with crowded public transport or gambling employment by refusing to put their health at risk.
The pressure caused the government to remove - that already mythical Tuesday, March 17 - a battery of measures to face the massive layoffs
that were expected. A historic opportunity for this Coalition Executive to show who he was on. So it was. It dictated measures so that it
would be the State who would assume the salaries of company workforces with billions of benefits (with the new ERTE measures), leaving it up
to employers whether their workers could telework or not, take care of minors. or dependents or not, continue in non-essential activities or
not. Prioritize private production to the working class. It did not matter that with these measures the workers lost purchasing power, that
they had to reduce their hours (and their wages) in order to reconcile, vulnerable to the closing of a day for another of the workplace, who
were directly unemployed or who were in no way assured of their protection with the mandatory PPE (personal protective equipment). Not a
word for the domestic workers (with or without social security), for the eventual ones, for the false self-employed, for the culture
workers, for the dismissed teachers, for the caregivers or the hourly workers. Nor was there any mention of the danger plus, which was
requested by unions such as the CNT, or the impossibility of working for freelance media reporters. If you do not take the photo you do not
charge, if you do not belong to a template you do not have the pass to work. that they remained directly unemployed or that their protection
was not assured in any way with the mandatory PPE (personal protective equipment). Not a word for the domestic workers (with or without
social security), for the eventual ones, for the false self-employed, for the culture workers, for the dismissed teachers, for the
caregivers or the hourly workers. Nor was there any mention of the danger plus, which was requested by unions such as the CNT, or the
impossibility of working for freelance media reporters. If you do not take the photo you do not charge, if you do not belong to a template
you do not have the pass to work. that they remained directly unemployed or that their protection was not assured in any way with the
mandatory PPE (personal protective equipment). Not a word for the domestic workers (with or without social security), for the eventual ones,
for the false self-employed, for the culture workers, for the dismissed teachers, for the caregivers or the hourly workers. Nor was there
any mention of the danger plus, which was requested by unions such as the CNT, or the impossibility of working for freelance media
reporters. If you do not take the photo you do not charge, if you do not belong to a template you do not have the pass to work. for the
eventual, for the false self-employed, for the Culture workers, for the dismissed teachers, for the caregivers or the hourly workers.
Neither was there talk of the danger plus, which was requested by unions such as the CNT, or the impossibility of working for freelance
media reporters. If you do not take the photo you do not charge, if you do not belong to a template you do not have the pass to work. for
the eventual, for the false self-employed, for the Culture workers, for the dismissed teachers, for the caregivers or the hourly workers.
Neither was there talk of the danger plus, which was requested by unions such as the CNT, or the impossibility of working for freelance
media reporters. If you do not take the photo you do not charge, if you do not belong to a template you do not have the pass to work.
As in any other crisis, the effects will not be the same for everyone. Social class will determine how hard the fall will be, but it will
also be determined by the network capacity and mutual support we have.
The truth is that the Spanish coalition government fell far short of measures by other governments such as the Italian or the French, which
suspended the layoffs and went on to guarantee basic supplies or housing. Now, day after day, they are adding patches to that lame crash
plan, making clear the little room for maneuver that this or any government has when it comes to betting on people. As many analysts point
out, it is about putting an unsustainable system in need of constant growth. Border closings, falling stock markets, the global market
suspended. Capitalism's nightmare of a tiny virus that travels faster than they do. They, the capitalists, strive to apply the recipes that
have always worked for them: mass layoffs, asking for compensation with public money, collectivize losses while hiding benefits. And
donations. Those face washes that are very cheap if we compare it with the evaded taxes or the labor accidents. Donation today, ERTE
tomorrow. And it is that, although they make us believe that we are all in the same boat, it is not true.
As in any other crisis, the effects will not be the same for everyone. Social class will determine how hard the fall will be, but it will
also be determined by the network capacity and mutual support we have. At CNT we have hundreds of affiliates turning to making aid
documentation, responding to labor queries that reach Union Action groups in every corner of the state, demanding concrete measures that
protect the working class. But they are also committed to reassuring, giving options, making it clear to everyone that this situation is not
their fault and they are not alone. Whether you are an affiliate or not. Focused on thinking of migrants in an irregular situation «and
their inability to access official aid - to request the closure of the CIE, in the situation of vulnerability of incarcerated people,
And thinking a lot about the people who are risking the most in this crisis so that the essential (the real thing, what life does)
continues. Health personnel, in cleaning, in hospitals, residences, supermarkets, pharmacies, transport, care ... All of them applauded but
without seeing their working conditions improved. An example that the system is not worth us. How is it possible that there are hundreds of
patients in field hospitals while entire units in the private health care are still closed? How is it possible that it took time to convert
private production into necessary materials? How is it possible that it was not until days later that it was realized that there are people
who cannot stay home because of their quarantine for years without a home? As happened in 2008, we will see that after the big numbers, the
statistics and the bar graphs,
If one thing this pandemic has shown is that if it were not for
the previous organization, we would be in a much worse situation.
As bad as what is expected in the following months when
the rent moratorium is no longer valid or all
people without the right to unemployment come to light . We are on time: Get organized and fight!
A crisis that may be the most serious in recent history because after the Alarm State is lifted, we will see people with delinquent mortgage
bills, wages that they will never recover, jobs that will arrive with droppers and a very economic capacity of the State. depleted. How many
jobs are the public coffers capable of holding in order not to disturb the balance sheet of profits of large companies? How many ERTEs by
force majeure or of another nature 'will sneak in' with the excuse of the crisis? How many garbage jobs and reduction of conditions will we
swallow when we can go out and any job is good among the millions of unemployed? How many people will be forced to belong to the so-called
'shadow economy'? They are questions from the past, that their answers scare.
We also look with concern at the authoritarian drift that this situation will leave, with the curtailment of freedoms, the promotion of
individualism and the results of the facelift that the repressive forces carry out in their daily war part. The partisan use of victims by
political parties (and will be) in, once again, the supposedly representative system has proven not to work. From the war between
communities and the State, to a Europe that shows that it only wants unity to trade, abandoning people again. Faced with that, we only have
to return to proximity unions, neighborhood power, the feminist fabric, mutual support networks and class unions as support, not only as
labor assistance, but as the germ of a new society. Fairer and freer.
https://www.cnt.es/noticias/covid-19-de-crisis-sanitaria-a-crisis-social
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Message: 4
It is an essential sector for producing, in large quantities, screening tests and a molecule which would give results against the virus. It
is also used, outside the context of an epidemic, to produce vaccines and drugs against chronic diseases for example. Leaving it in the
hands of private interests is going towards new disasters. ---- It is because the pharmaceutical industry is subject to the law of profit
that its production has been outsourced, notably to China and India, in order to lower wages and the conditions of control over medicines
[1]. ---- © François Terrier ---- India supplies 20% of world demand. However, the Indian State decided, after detecting six cases of
coronavirus, to restrict the export of 26 drugs (antibiotics, paracetamol, an antiviral ...) to secure its supply [2]. Drug supply chains
have thus been considerably complicated, the liberal doctrine of just-in-time inventory management helping nothing.
But this does not date from the pandemic. In a decade, drug stock-outs in France have increased by 12 [3]: anti-infectives, vaccines,
treatments against epilepsy or Parkinson's, cancer, now fears the chronically ill whose associations have signed a forum with scientists and
CGT and Solidaires officials [4]. The relocation of the production of drugs in France or in Europe is currently under debate. But as long as
this production remains subject to the law of profit, it will not be enough.
French companies will seek to maximize their profits through other means than offshoring: by focusing on profitable drugs, by managing
stocks on a just-in-time basis, by changing the formulas to file new patents [5], or by doing lobbying so that the most expensive treatments
are reimbursed and therefore prescribed [6]. Sanofi is already taking advantage of the crisis by announcing the outsourcing of 6 of its 11
European sites (ie more than 1,000 employees in France and 3,000 in Europe), supposedly to better fight against shortages, in reality to get
rid of the sites producing the least profitable drugs [7].
Thirsty for profit, the giant Sanofi is chaining restructuring plans, especially in research, where 2,500 jobs have been cut in ten years.
© Peter Sondermann
What popular control means
Getting this industry out of the market by socializing it is therefore a matter of public health. Socializing does not mean simply
requisitioning it during the crisis: in fact, reorganizing a largely outsourced production is not going to happen overnight.
Socializing does not mean nationalizing, in the sense that the state would become majority or even sole shareholder, but where one would
remain within the framework of capitalist competition, imagining that the state in control, "it will be less worse". We can see where the
case of Air France can lead us, which the government plans to renationalise because the company is in difficulty ... by announcing that it
will sell it once the crisis has passed - and probably after having injected a lot public money, which means socializing losses and
privatizing profits !
Socializing, to start with, means expropriating the capitalists who own the companies in the sector. Without compensation it goes without
saying. They have taken sufficient advantage of the arms and brains of their employees and lived on the back of Social Security. But
socializing also doesn't mean competition between self-managed companies, which would certainly lead to similar abuses.
The organization of work would be the responsibility of the workers, but the finality of research and production would be under popular
control, through democratic planning. The population, through its representatives (recallable and / or drawn by lot, representatives of
patient associations) would decide, in consultation with the socialized sector, the priorities of research and production. An investment
fund financed by social contributions, on the social security model, would free this sector from the law of profit [8]. The usefulness of
each profession [9], of each site and of its possible ecological conversion could thus be questioned.
Despite the fact that Sanofi scuttles its research sector and made a net profit of 2.8 billion euros in 2019, the group benefits from 150
million Research tax credits per year.
© Randy Monceaux
Do not stick to this sector
But ultimately, this reasoning can be applied to all companies. Whether we like it or not, it is essential. The whole economy is
intertwined: pharmaceuticals depend on the supply of raw materials [10], machinery, logistics, etc. However, the socialization of part of
the economy would necessarily result in retaliatory measures on the part of the capitalists: penalties from the European Union or customs
barriers, up to the example of a coup d'etat as in Chile in 1973. One could imagine the transport employers refusing to deliver socialized
companies, or that of chemicals refusing to deliver consumables, on the pretext of the disorder caused by socialization.
But this overlap is also international. Certain drugs require collaboration between countries, especially when a small number of patients
are concerned. It will therefore be necessary to push for socialization across borders, and break the common dependence on private interests.
Socializing only part of the economy is not sufficiently coherent. But in the context of a pandemic that has opened the eyes of many people,
one can gain a majority of ideas on the need to socialize the health sector and the pharmaceutical industry. An intermediate objective
before going towards the general socialization of the means of production.
Grégoire (UCL Orléans)
Validate
[1] A third of the medicines produced in India are non-compliant ( Le Monde , January 11, 2018).
[2] "Covid-19: India restricts the export of 26 drugs and APIs", Industriepharma.fr , March 3, 2020.
[3] "Coronavirus: the supply chain of medicines questioned", RFI , March 6, 2020.
[4] "Shortage of vital medicines, tests and equipment: the call of personalities !", To find on the Mediapart blog of Pauline Ondeix , April
7, 2020.
[5] As was done with Levothyrox in 2017, which led to a wave of unwanted side effects in patients.
[6] Simon Gouin, "Lobbying: how the pharmaceutical industry is storming the European institutions", Bastamag.net , May 24, 2019.
[7] "The great bluff of the Sanofi group", L'Humanité , April 16, 2020.
[8] On this point, and in this context - socialization of a particular industrial sector outside the global revolution of the economy and
society advocated by the UCL - our ideas can join those of Bernard Friot, "La contribution, emancipation lever", Le Monde diplomatique ,
February 2012.
[9] We are thinking here of parasitic professions such as that of medical representative.
[10] It is for example the insufficient supply of reagents which today limits the production of screening tests. "Reagents at the heart of
the lack of tests", Liberation , March 29, 2020.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Industrie-pharmaceutique-comment-on-peut-la-socialiser
------------------------------
Message: 5
Even though many LGBTI associations continue to offer a helpline for people in distress, the solidarities are broken during confinement.
Once again, trans people are among the victims of these state measures. Not taken into account in the government's calculations, their
possible specific needs are silent, invisible. An overview of the situation. ---- Complicated access to care ---- The health system being
saturated with the COVID-19 crisis, access to medical care was reserved for priority needs. Obviously, the question of what is and is not a
priority is left to people who have little interest in the needs of gender minorities. Several trans people who are on hormone therapy
testify that their medical consultations either at the start of the hormonal transition (consultations are compulsory to have access to
prescriptions), or for prescription refills for hormones, are not considered a priority, do not thus not giving them access to the
treatments they need. Other trans people do not make a hormonal transition, but nevertheless suffer from a lack of access to care simply by
being trans. It is even more complicated when it comes to finding nurses to give injections when people making a hormonal transition have
not learned or cannot do it alone. Obviously, the various gender reassertion operations, being considered non-vital, have been postponed
until further notice. However, these operations often make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to gender dysphoria, and no
device has been put in place to overcome these specific needs. have been postponed until further notice. However, these operations often
make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to gender dysphoria, and no device has been put in place to overcome these specific
needs. have been postponed until further notice. However, these operations often make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to
gender dysphoria, and no device has been put in place to overcome these specific needs.
Physical and mental health threatened
Transphobia and social exclusion often lead to difficult life paths, many trans people need psychological or psychiatric support. Very
regularly, moreover, trans people are forcibly psychiatrized, and this violent and infantilizing process is often the only way for them to
have access to psychological support. However, confinement leads to a break in psychiatric care which affects much more than trans people
alone, but which has a direct impact on the latter. This monitoring may be all the more necessary since confinement sometimes leads, as we
mentioned above, to difficulties in accessing hormones. However, a hormonal upheaval by stopping treatment can greatly worsen the feeling of
confinement. Even more serious,
Non-institutional responses to the needs of trans people are also difficult
In times of crisis, several trans solidarity networks make it possible to partially escape the authoritarian care path to which trans people
are subjected in order to access the hormonal treatments they need. Thus, there are shares of testosterone or estrogens, making it possible
to avoid the filing or the authoritarianism of doctors who can decide who is legitimate or not to access these treatments. Other means also
exist, such as the supply of hormones via the darknet. These solidarities and these divisions are obviously broken by confinement, leaving
several people prey to their dysphoria or their discomfort. However, the accessories (binders, packs, etc.) that could help manage this
dysphoria are also difficult to access. Most are made abroad, mostly in the USA,
It is therefore absolutely necessary to hear and understand the specific needs of trans people, and to allow the emergence of solidarity
that responds, at least partially, to these needs. The verticality of the health system deprives trans people of the care they need for
their well-being and undermines the self-management initiatives of already vulnerable communities. Thinking of local, self-managed
solidarity is absolutely essential. We also point out that certain associations such as Acceptess-T or Espace Santé Trans are organizing to
provide part of this support.
Antipatriarchy Commission, May 9, 2020.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Les-personnes-trans-oubliees-du-confinement
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Message: 6
KZ Presidium at Avon Distribution with a petition supporting the union's demands ---- Negotiations between the management board of Avon
Distribution and the Employee Initiative committee regarding the introduction of solutions from the so-called "Government's anti-crisis
shield." Trade unionists and trade unionists from Avon do not agree to the pay cuts proposed by the company and a longer settlement period -
instead they demand reducing wage inequalities, guaranteeing employment for six months and eliminating 12-hour shifts. On May 5, the
company's authorities received a petition supporting union demands with signatures of 161 employees (for approx. 350 employees and employees
of the company). ---- In mid-April, the management of Avon proposed to the IP commission to sign an agreement containing the following
solutions:
- reduction of remuneration and working time by 20% (where the working time could be unilaterally changed by the employer)
- extension of the reference period from 3 to 6 months,
- suspension most of the provisions of the remuneration regulations,
- employment guarantee for a period of 3 months, but only if you receive government financial support.
These changes would affect only people in the lowest paid positions, such as: warehouseman, maintenance mechanic or operator of the order
picking line. Therefore, the "shield" would not include the management or some of the employees of the office.
Trade unionists and trade unionists from the Workers' Initiative did not agree to sign such an agreement. Instead, they applied to the
company for information on the financial situation and indicated the possibility of covering losses caused by a decrease in turnover from
reserve capital and last year's profits. According to the calculations of colleagues from the committee at Avon Distribution, the reserve
capital that the company has at its disposal would allow financing the maintenance of the current employment status and current wages for a
period of about 5 years.
The union also proposed its version of the agreement in which it agrees to join the shield on slightly different conditions. Employee salary
in the agreement proposed by the union is reduced by 10% (because a lower salary would cause some employees to fall well below 2600 gross).
The association offers the company to suspend layoffs for 6 months, and to suspend 12-hour (twelve-hour shifts) for the duration of the
dial. On the other hand, proposals for extending the settlement period and partial suspension of the remuneration regulations were
categorically rejected. The union is also against unilateral changes in the reduced working time.
The union's proposal has not been accepted by the company yet and in the course of the talks group dismissal suggestions appeared. One
employee, a member of the Employee Initiative, concluded that during talks on the part of the management board, there were statements that
"you will either sign the agreement or we will slow down". In response, the union organized a collection of signatures for a petition
supporting union demands - it was signed by over 50% of the total crew, which is a clear signal to the management board that the union's
proposals have much broader support than only among those associated in the Workers' Initiative.
It should be noted that Avon is a company that in its official advertising materials strongly emphasizes concern for the situation of women.
In one such material you can read, for example, that:
"(...) Avon has been supporting women's entrepreneurship since 1886, giving them the opportunity to work on their own terms. The company
helped them gain economic independence even before they were given the right to vote."
Trade unionists and unionists from the Workers' Initiative comment on this as follows: "Until recently, the company boasted that it is
celebrating Women's Day every day, and now divides these women into better and worse, taking a significant part of the salary of those who
earn the least."
Despite this, the Avon crew do not give up and do not intend to agree either to an adverse agreement under the "shield" or to dismissal. In
the coming weeks, it will be decided who will pay for the coronavirus crisis.
http://ozzip.pl/informacje/mazowieckie/item/2650-avon-nie-ma-zgody-na-obnizke-plac-i-dluzszy-okres-rozliczeniowy
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Message: 7
If you haven't yet picked up on the latest missive from our reckless Prime Minister and the government's latest plans, those of us who are
not already out at work or likely to be able to continue working-from-home, are due for a very risky and deadly push back to work over the
forthcoming weeks and months. This is aligned to ideological right-wing libertarian and capitalist interests to get the economy moving -
profit for the bosses in other words. ---- These new freedoms fly in the face of the obvious danger from Covid-19 in that longer contact as
well as closer distance from infected persons is involved in higher contagion. Without population level testing, and because it is possible
to carry the virus without obvious symptoms, there is really no good way of knowing whether we or a co-worker is infectious once we are back
in regular contact after lockdown.
The risk is much greater if we are expected to work near each other all day in offices and factories. Jobs involving changing contact with
different people in the general public are also highly risky - drivers of public transport and shop workers for example. Risk of spread from
travelling on mass transport or taxis means the virus is more likely to get into workplaces once regular movement increases.
Our government clearly wants individual workplace bosses to manage acceptable risk of catching and spreading this deadly virus amongst their
workers. Examples of best practice are being paraded on TV such as manufacturers which may have the space and resources to do it, but this
hardly seems likely to be replicated across the board. In March 2020, as the Covid-19 outbreak spread in the US, Fiat-Chrysler car workers
had to walk out multiple times to get even simple safety measures in place, such as enough cleaning products for machines. Workers clearly
still need to be on their guard, even in these large conglomerates which have the media eye on them, as the lockdown exit agenda is pursued.
And as unions are already saying, workplaces and the travel to and from them must be protected alike.
Freedom anarchist paper's website has a couple of useful articles about the relevance of health and safety in employment law but which also
clearly stress the need for workers to organise against a dangerous return to work which is prompted by economic rather than health interests.
https://freedomnews.org.uk/if-your-workplace-isnt-safe-you-dont-have-to-work-there-coronavirus-and-your-right-to-stay-at-home/
https://freedomnews.org.uk/dont-join-organise-on-the-limits-of-employment-law/
At the same time, new unemployment is causing misery for many people who are not furloughed and the 80% furlough scheme is expected to be
downgraded after July which could risk redunduncies as the government expects bosses to top up the rest. Again, the need for workers to
organise in and outside of the workplace is greater than ever.
http://afed.org.uk/freedom-to-die/
------------------------------
Message: 8
Our regular, monthly reading group meetings are currently on hold due to Covid 19. ---- Until we'll be able to meet again, we'll switch from
books to films and recommend documentaries relevant to anarchist theory/thought. ---- This week, on 8 May, the anniversary of the end of the
Second World War, we're looking at the capture of Adolf Eichmann, one of the major organisers of the Holocaust, who was captured in
Argentina on 11 May 1960. ---- Nazism was not defeated on 8 May 1945, but is an on going struggle. ---- Several survivors of the Holocaust
dedicated themselves to finding Nazi war criminals who had escaped Germany - one of the most difficult to capture was Adolf Eichmann, whose
trial Hannah Arendt observed, coining the term ‘the banality of evil'. ---- Many people were involved in finding Eichmann and their stories
are as relevant today as they were in the 1960s.
These are the memories of Zvi Aharoni: https://www.thedriverisred.com/
And if you happen to understand German, this is the story of Fritz Bauer:
https://archive.org/details/Der-Staat-gegen-Fritz-Bauer_Film_2015
P.S. Hannah Arendt's reportage:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/02/16/eichmann-in-jerusalem-i
https://aflondon.wordpress.com/2020/05/08/reading-group-recommends-finding-eichmann/#more-1781
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Message: 9
Starting June 1, the function of IWA Secretariat will be performed by the CNT-AIT of Spain. The Vice-Secretariat function will remain with
the ASF of Australia. The contact address of the IWA Secretariat remains the same: iwa-ait.org.
Information about the role of the Secretariat can be found in the IWA Statutes on this page.
Outgoing Secretariat
https://iwa-ait.org/es/node/869
------------------------------
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