Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: About social reproduction - The violent roots
of the nuclear family - by Sydney Anarcho-Communists
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
of the nuclear family - by Sydney Anarcho-Communists
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, liberta salonica: Interventions in hospitals for
strengthening of the public health and demands of health workers.
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
strengthening of the public health and demands of health workers.
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. priamaakcia: International Week Against Unpaid Wages
supported by unions in 14 countries (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
supported by unions in 14 countries (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Anarchistische Gruppe Freiburg: Express solidarity with
feminist movement in Bangladesh (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
feminist movement in Bangladesh (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. London Anarchist Communists: To those who have left the
Labour Party or are thinking of leaving it (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Labour Party or are thinking of leaving it (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. cnt valladolid: 'Española de Servicios' delinquent: we won
the judgment that did not exist (ca) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Anonymous author text translation in bulletin # 2 tonSydney Anarcho-Communists * ---- (The text was translated because of the great
impression that I was the simple yet critical analysis, which harmoniously includes the feminist analysis of the themes of class and race,
faithful in the tradition of the radical and anarcho-feminist movement, far and against the liberal analyzes on the subject) ---- On social
reproduction: Invisible labor and the violent roots of the nuclear family ---- Social reproduction plays an essential role in the capitalist
mechanism. It reproduces class divisions, structural racism and the subjugation of women to the will of capital on an international scale.
In this article I will analyze first and foremost what social reproduction means, the historical processes that led to its creation,
including the nuclear family, and how we as anarchists can and must understand it.
The term "reproductive work" refers to the underestimated -payed or unpaid- work, which is mainly performed by women, in order to maintain
the reproduction of labor, such as housework, child rearing, child care at home or in special centers, with or without pay, and the
reproduction of related social processes, such as the structure of the nuclear family. In the capitalist system, this invisible labor serves
the production and maintenance of the working class so that it can continue its work. Serving social needs, whether material or sexual,
reproductive labor is essential to the functioning and reproduction of the economy, at very little or no cost to the capitalists. This kind
of work has been discredited, "feminized" and made invisible,
The formation of the "housewife" and the creation of the nuclear family
Central to the exploitation of female reproductive labor was the creation of a form of social organization, which made their work invisible
and weakened their political action: The creation of the nuclear family was a violent and racist process, inseparable from the development
of capitalism. and colonialism. The beginning of the nuclear family structure occurred during the early stages of capitalism, with the
creation of new markets for luxury goods and the export of resources from third world countries. The portrayal of European women in the
upper classes as "consumers and demonstrators of wealth and luxury", facilitated by imperialist spread and exploitation, reinforced the
division between the public and private spheres. which encouraged on the one hand family-private life and on the other privatization.
Wealth, once a public spectacle, was now displayed at home, behind closed doors.
While European women were isolated and weakened, enclosed within the walls of palaces and mansions, men were given supremacy over the public
sphere, which included government, economic and political affairs. The convenient creation of woman as a "creature of luxury" worked to open
new markets for the imperial powers, through the creation of a world inferior order and at the same time, in the process, subjected women to
eternal home life and imprisonment in private sphere, while at the same time creating social bonds of enslavement to the rational, public
figure, the "carrying" man. Thus was born the ideal of the "housed", "privatized" woman, which would then be exported internationally.
In contrast, in pre-industrial Europe, the propertyless classes were initially excluded from the institution of marriage. Poor women were
still forced to work in the public sphere - it was convenient for capital to create the image of the luxurious housewife in order to create
and exploit new colonial markets, but it was still necessary to keep working-class women enslaved in precarious wage jobs to fuel industrial
development. In the beginnings of industrial capitalism, working-class women produced extremely cheap labor as members of the industrial
proletariat, as they were obliged to provide for their children while being largely excluded from unions and trade unions. , something that
made them disorganized and lacking in bargaining power. However, the extreme exploitation of women and children turned out to be a problem
for the capitalists, who were busy producing and maintaining more workers, in the pursuit of profit. Excess surplus from their work began to
undermine their productivity and lower birth rates. In order to fulfill the task of producing the new generation of workers, poor women "had
to be forced to reproduce more workers." For European society, poor women in the form they had hitherto "posed a threat to bourgeois
morality and its ideal for 'homeless' women; it was also necessary to "house" the women of the proletarian class. Thus, the nuclear family
was exported to the working classes.
The bourgeois social-gender division of labor, which limited women and the family to the private sphere and gave men the realm of the
public, was strengthened in working-class families by the state, a bourgeois institution designed to further the spread of capital through
exploitation of patriarchal logics and gender hierarchies. Homosexuality, abortion and treatment have been criminalized and those doing this
work have been maligned and discriminated against, although it is still an essential service, complementing the nuclear family and the
system is based on it as a form of reproductive wage labor. In the context of the inevitable commercialization of all things under
capitalism, the fact that sex is degraded to hegemonic narratives in the private sphere, leads to its public criminalization, as a natural
conclusion. Through myriad legal revisions in the second half of the twentieth century, including the criminalization of extramarital sex
and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear family and the roles of the male "carrier" and the female "housewife" within
it were consolidated . The working class embraced the structure of the nuclear family because it was symbolic of superior social status and
wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social mobility and was widely accepted by the proletariat. including the
criminalization of extramarital affairs and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear family and the roles of the male
"carrier" and the female "housewife" within it were consolidated. The working class embraced the structure of the nuclear family because it
was symbolic of superior social status and wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social mobility and was widely accepted
by the proletariat. including the criminalization of extramarital affairs and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear
family and the roles of the male "carrier" and the female "housewife" within it were consolidated. The working class embraced the structure
of the nuclear family because it was symbolic of superior social status and wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social
mobility and was widely accepted by the proletariat.
Male dominance as manifested in state and public-private divisions
The establishment of the nuclear family has significantly consolidated categories of public and private sector jobs based on gender, with
the vital work of social reproduction being imposed on women in the private sphere. This social segregation is part of a broader social
trend of devaluing anything "feminized". The hierarchy of the state over private life under the patriarchy, literally creates a "feminized
kingdom in which male domination is allowed, while at the same time the state is masculine", and the public sphere. It is a process
necessary for the development and reproduction of capitalism and the nation-state. The reproductive work of women has become so much
normalized and its value so much underestimated, which is now considered a "natural resource", freely available, without cost or complaint.
Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on women's
sacrifices in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on
and depends on ideas of "feminized sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is
taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over the centuries to
ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. freely available, without cost or complaint. Because of this story, 21st
century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of
the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of
"feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of
socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy
continues to export domestic labor abroad. freely available, without cost or complaint. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend
on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy,
whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor
abroad. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the
sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state
capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the
Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over
the centuries to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on
women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on women's sacrifices in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether
at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over the centuries to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic
labor abroad. an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at
work. In the Philippines, for example, the state capitalizes on and relies on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to
"maintain national sovereignty". The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated",
"privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. an economic
survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines,
for example, the state capitalizes on and relies on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national
sovereignty". The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female
factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. the state capitalizes on and
depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking
advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that
the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas about "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor
abroad.
The talk of neo-liberalization of human rights, of individual autonomy and dignity, which prioritizes individual rather than collective
rights as a prerequisite for the continuation of a free market economy, has only served to strengthen this public -private division, which
ultimately degrades women in the reproductive realm, in the service of capital and the state.
Workflows with gender and racial character
The situation in the Philippines highlights how the global divide of social reproductive work also creates a hierarchy of women in terms of,
beyond class, as well as race. Today, the so-called "progress" of wealthy white women, in terms of career and social status, promoted by
white liberal feminisms, leads to the purchase of the product of reproductive labor by women of color, both in the form of housework and in
the sexual part. In the Philippines, domestic workers perform the reproductive work of the most privileged women in the industrialized
world, degrading their own reproductive work to women living at home. The export of labor is strongly gendered, with the majority of workers
abroad made up of women working in "unskilled jobs, such as manual and domestic workers" in developed economies, thus allowing white western
women to be hired cheap, by women migrants of color. This ultimately creates a "Female Hierarchy", where sex workers are relegated to the
lower class, below migrant reproductive workers and housewives. The outsourcing of feminized reproductive work to third world women means
that the supposed "freedom" of rich white women can only be achieved at the expense of exploiting the work of women of color.
The problem with liberal feminisms
White liberal feminism wants you to believe that we just need to free rich white housewives from the chains of domestic slavery, allowing
more women to become CEOs in companies. However, this is a white-washed narrative that ignores the historical processes involved in social
reproduction, such as the role of colonialism and capitalism in creating the bourgeois structure of the nuclear family, which was then
exported internationally. This family structure and the consequent subordination of women emerged because it was central to capital and has
been shaped by the gender and class-divided division of labor we see today internationally. It serves the function of capital production and
reproduction and the trapping of women in a cycle of domestic subjugation, during this process. Forms of work such as processing have been
criminalized and those who perform this work have been maligned and discriminated against, although it is still an essential service,
complementing the nuclear family and the system is based on it as a form of reproductive wage labor. . The "weak" femininity, become equally
lustful and hated, become an archetype that is equally praised and desired by society, while at the same time is a necessary tool for the
continued subjugation of women in the domestic sphere. In the context of transnational capitalism, Reproductive labor flows also facilitate
the stratification of women into different social classes, which reflects the racial inequality inherent in capitalism. Poor women of color
are forced to perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector
duplication reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same
work required to keep capital dominant. Poor women of color are forced to perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which
reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector duplication reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women
into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same work required to keep capital dominant. Poor women of color are forced to
perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector duplication
reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same work required
to keep capital dominant.
These contradictions in social attitudes towards reproductive work and sex work are inherent in the patriarchal, capitalist and heteronormal
regime in which we live. If we are to move towards achieving any kind of liberation from these forces, the public-private sector
discrimination in labor must be disrupted and the ideal of the nuclear family, created by the bourgeoisie and then exported to the working
class classes, as a form of social control, must be abandoned. As anarchists, we know that the subjugation of women and the supremacy of
capital, as reinforced by the state, are closely linked. The only way to break the cycle of patriarchal domination is to work essentially to
dismantle the capitalist economic structures that have led to the degradation of women in the private sphere. This can only be achieved
through labor mobilization, while creating dual power networks. In order to overthrow capitalism and the state and liberate ordinary people
from the service of the world neoliberal economy, we must take immediate action against the capitalist mechanism, which is the cause of
social reproduction as a form of oppression, but we must also we take reproductive work into our own hands and manage it within our own
communities, in a collective and responsible way. Working-class women must not fall into the trap of fighting against men, as bourgeois
feminists argue, but must fight against the ruling class side by side with men. Moreover, the right to paid work is based on a system based
on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be
achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared,
instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social
suffering. as bourgeois feminists argue, but they must fight against the ruling class next to and alongside men. Moreover, the right to paid
work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear
family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the
community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the
root causes of social suffering. as bourgeois feminists argue, but they must fight against the ruling class next to and alongside men.
Moreover, the right to paid work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender
discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social
reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we
begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social suffering. The right to paid work is based on a system based on the
exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved
by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared, instead of
being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social suffering. The
right to paid work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work
and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the
hands of the community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems
that are the root causes of social suffering.
___________________________________________
* (Sydney Anarcho-Communists is an anarchist political organization founded in early 2020 in Sydney, Australia and, among other things, they
publish the Bulletin of the same name, from which the above article was translated. At the Australian level they work closely with the
electronic edition of Red and Black Notes from Melbourne as well as the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (MACG - Melbourne Anarchist
Communist Group) all moving in the anarchist communist trend of the movement and especially in the "platform", especifista and current of
anarchism. Online forums, reading and discussion groups have been set up in Australia on a weekly basis.Thanks for the information about
this group to the administrator of the anarchist website "Neither God nor Master")
** Translation: Giannis Voliatis.
*** Related link: https://www.alerta.gr/archives/9313?fbclid=IwAR2GdNik0i1VmOFiZzGCXQKQ1YOXYMmwmk6jJ_8Ff0hwCJGK3vhj1Tr1C1s
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/32072
------------------------------
Message: 2
Interventions in hospitals of Thessaloniki for the immediate strengthening of the public health system and the satisfaction of the demands
of the competing health workers. ---- On Friday 30/10, in the morning, we performed symbolic interventions at the hospitals AHEPA,
Gennimata, Agios Dimitrios and Ippokratio in Thessaloniki. We distributed texts, threw T-shirts and hung banners for the immediate
strengthening of the public health system and the satisfaction of the demands of the health workers who fight daily in extremely adverse
conditions, in order to treat and protect society as a whole - and - from Covid-19. We stand by the struggling health workers and support
the satisfaction of their demands as an integral part of the struggle to defend the health of the people and the rights of workers.
During the interventions we made, the following text was shared:
Pandemic continuation....
It has been clear to all of us since September that this winter will be extremely difficult, the second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic has
already begun and the financial crisis is intensifying rapidly.
Some might have hoped that the government would have made some sort of preparation for this second wave that everyone knew was coming. After
all, 5 whole months have passed since the first lockdown until today. Some might have hoped that the government would have drawn up a plan,
that it would have ready measures, that it would have built ICU beds and hired health staff, that it would have a serious plan to open
schools, that it would somehow have entered to do anything about protecting the social base, other than blaming individuals alone, to derail
state policy. These people today have already been refuted.
First (did not) come the measures in quarantine. No reinforcement of the NSS, no new ICU beds, no recruitment of medical staff, no order of
private clinics, no measures beyond the confinement of citizens in their homes. At the same time, of course, millions upon millions were
found, in order to strengthen the canal managers, the major contractors who control the tolls, the clinicians, the owners of KEK with their
"propeller scales"...
Then came "the government's plan for tourism", which can be summarized in "so as not to harm the tourism industry, let us allow anyone who
wants to come to the country, without test, without control, without plan". The first upward trend in cases came immediately.
Then came the famous opening of schools. The government's measures for the operation of the schools were limited to the use of a mask and a
water bottle (!), Leaving students to be stacked 25 people per class, 2 children per desk, in school facilities without adequate toilets and
cleaning staff. What's absurd, after all, to ask two children who share a one-meter desk to keep a distance of... at least 1.5 meters
between them? (!) . The government, after insulting these occupations as "conspiracy theories" (ie against the masks), burying the real
demands of the students, then hurried to suppress them in any way, threatening students with punitive measures. Why, after all, to give
money to more teachers, so that they can break the departments into smaller ones? There is no money for education, then.
And the cases continued to rise...
Some people asked, "Guys, is it possible with hundreds of cases a day to continue stacking on public transport? Isn't there an urgent need
to increase the vehicles, in order to increase the itineraries as well? " The government's response came and was shocking ?? Petsa informed
us orally that schools and MMMs are not outbreaks of the virus, why... so! And so we were all convinced that being on the same subway
platform (indoor space) with hundreds of others or on a bus literally stuck next to us is the right thing to do! So there is no money to
move workers.
Others asked, "Hey guys, things are getting tough!" Will any of the 1,200 ICU beds you promised be made? You will not hire any additional
doctors, since the existing ones have already exceeded the overtime ceiling ". Again the government's answer was "no". Reason... What to do
to the doctors anyway? We have hired hundreds of new cops to beat you when you wonder "where is the money for health". In a time of
pandemic, then, there is no money for health.
Then came the only -literally- measure that this government has really taken for the pandemic... the suppression and restriction of
citizens' rights.
The real reason behind the "showers" in squares crowded with small groups is obvious and not at all healthy: without the communication shows
in the squares, the government could not continue to "sell madness" and tell us that the youth is to blame for everything.! At the same
time, of course, they did not dare to "put up" with the priests and the church SA, where hundreds of fundamentalist Christians are stacked,
in order to lick the same spoon in time of pandemic!
And of course they did not miss the opportunity to exaggerate the notion of "health threat" beyond all bounds, attacking any protest action
and any cinematic event, under the pretext of a pandemic. And here the real and by no means healthy reason is obvious: the voices of protest
are a threat to the system, the only threat it really fears, and now that new totalitarianism is spreading is the best opportunity to try to
silence them.
Today we have already reached a critical situation in terms of a multitude of cases. The NSS continues to be understaffed, to not even have
enough ICU beds, not to have enough tests and means of protection for the health personnel. At the same time, EODY and Civil Protection are
literally playing with our nerves, doing what they can, so that almost no one can take a free test and everyone is forced to pay the big
clinicians-friends of Koulis and his gang. Indicative: tests for asymptomatic patients are not performed even today in hospitals, even when
there are close contacts of a confirmed case. Tests are not performed on people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case and
then became ill, as... they are not allowed to leave home to go to a hospital (!), because they are already considered confirmed cases
(which are not counted of course). Even those who have a positive result in a rapid test that was done privately do not take the test, and
of course they are not counted as cases either. Finally, EODY advises those who develop symptoms to sit at home and not go for a test! The
government deserves the title of the largest circus that has passed through this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself,
with the fat salary of € 500 you get, if you have a job of course. This translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the
government. EODY advises those who develop symptoms to sit at home and not to go for a test! The government deserves the title of the
largest circus that has passed through this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself, with the fat salary of € 500 you get,
if you have a job of course. This translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the government. EODY advises those who
develop symptoms to sit at home and not to go for a test! The government deserves the title of the largest circus that has passed through
this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself, with the fat salary of € 500 you get, if you have a job of course. This
translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the government.
So, to summarize the government's measures: you wake up in the morning, stacked at a stop with dozens of others waiting for the bus for less
than half an hour, literally squeezing to fit in the MMM with a hundred other people, go to work where the your boss beyond the mask has
taken absolutely no measures to protect the workers, you go to church where you are with hundreds of others in the same place without a mask
and in the end you lick the same teaspoon, you go to the retail stores that work normally, at night at the bar you normally go indoors (up
to the 3rd level), but for the pro-government parrots it is obvious that the squares and the demonstrations are to blame for everything...
Towards a funny government things are not funny ? ICU beds today are already at 70% of their fullness. In 90%, the obligatory screening of
patients begins, that is, the choice of who will live and who will die. If there is one hour to act, this time is now! Now, before we count
the thousands dead.
So we, as part of the social base, will take on "our collective responsibility". We will take the necessary measures to protect those around
us, we will make every effort so that the cinematic events do not become outbreaks of the virus, we will observe all the health measures to
protect society as a whole, not because the circus government tells us so. of Koulis, however. We will do it, precisely because we know that
the state does not care in the slightest about our lives and that all we have in these difficult times is each other. But we will not be
silent. Social reactions will not be silenced, class resistance will never be bent by any government. We were on the road and will continue
to be on the road.
We will not count afterwards.
Now we will count.
IMMEDIATE STRENGTHENING OF ESY
ACCESS TO PUBLIC AND FREE HEALTH FOR EVERYONE, LOCAL AND IMMIGRANTS
IMMEDIATE SATISFACTION OF THE REQUESTS OF HOSPITALS AND STUDENTS
IMMEDIATE DECOMMINATION OF IMMIGRANT CAMPS, PRISONS, PSYCHIATRICS
WE WILL NOT LET STATE INTEGRATION BECOME NORMALITY
Liberal Initiative of Thessaloniki (member of the Anarchist Federation)
lib_thess@hotmail.com
libertasalonica.wordpress.com
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/
------------------------------
Message: 3
During the third week of October (12th-18th) the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages took place. It was established by the
International Workers' Association (IWA/AIT) to highlight the phenomenon of unpaid wages and how we can fight it in the anarchosyndicalist
manner. The IWA secretariat, Priama Akcia (PA) and other unions wrote their statements regarding the topic. Furthermore, unions of the IWA
informed about the Week in the countries they are active and reminded their older or actual conflicts related to the issue. Here is the
summary of all activities from 14 countries and our evaluation of the Week.
POLAND
Zwiazek Syndykalistów Polski (ZSP, Union of Syndicalists of Poland) is one of the IWA unions with a long list of conflicts for payment of
owed wages. On the occasion of the Week the ZSP prepared an extensive and valuable material in English about the issue of unpaid wages and
concrete struggles for winning them back which can be downloaded here:
https://iwa-ait.org/content/zsp-fighting-back-international-week-action-against-unpaid-wages. The union participated by doing other
activities as well.
On Sunday 11th October two live streams were broadcasted about the issue. One in English and one in Polish. The following topics were
discussed: the IWA, various forms of non-payment of wages, concrete conflicts of the IWA unions, the importance of fighting back even in
cases where small amounts of money is owed etc. ZSP member also mentioned that the union planned to join the Week by organizing direct
actions for unpaid wages, but they won two conflicts the week before and another was about start a bit later (and it eventually did, on 26th
October in form of a protest against unpaid wages and holidays in front of the Center for Education, Therapy and Diagnosis TuMiRaj in Warsaw).
Another action took place on 15th October in Warsaw. It was a protest in front of National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) against inaction and
inability of this institution to fight problems on the labour market, mainly the unpaid wages.
Protest was organized also in Lodz, on 17th October (https://www.facebook.com/events/1448607108657015/) in front of local offices of ruling
party PiS. In their speech the union mentioned that according to PIP data for 2019 the employers owed workers 102 million zloty (cca 22
million €) in unpaid wages and bonuses. It is expected that the data for 2020 will be even worse due to the effects of pandemic. ZSP refused
the notion that the employers don't have the money and condemned their withholding on company accounts.
The union in Wroclaw set up a FB event between 14th-18th October, where people could write about their problems with unpaid wages, unpaid
work after working hours or shortening of breaks. Also, people who won their owed wages could tell their stories.
SPAIN
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT, National Confederation of Labour) made actions in several Spanish towns.
On 15th October a picket took place against unpaid wages in La Boheme café in Albacete. Two days later the union organized a discussion
about its experiences with struggles against unpaid wages. They talked about conflicts with some of the main hotel establishments and
companies in the city, where direct action was the key factor that forced these companies to pay what they owed to comrades.
In Granada, the union organized a "mobile" picket on 16th October. They moved through the town and visited companies they currently have
conflicts with. Stops were made in front of MIMIMI café, Joyerías Sánchez jewelry and finally a solidarity picket was organized in front of
CeX, with which the union in Barcelona is in conflict. They also called people to contact the union in case of any workplace problems, so
that they can fight them together.
On 17th October, union in Tarragona organized protest actions to point out at two companies that owe wages to comrades.
Similar mobile action as in Granada took place also in Barcelona on 17th October. Companies that owe wages and don't follow collective
agreements (which is also the reason for the current conflict with company CeX) were targeted.
Other CNT-AIT unions informed about the Week on their social networks.
AUSTRIA
Very practical was the involvement of Wiener ArbeiterInnen-Syndikat (WAS, Vienna Workers Syndicate) in the Week - the union started a
conflict with Seamox GmbH and organized a picket in front of their headquarters in Vienna on 15th October demanding payment of 5 800 € in
owed wages to ex-worker.
Protest against Seamox was livened up by banners, speeches, music and chanting. The boss became paranoid and instead of meeting the
protesters, he called the police, which had no effect on the protest.
Seamox is actually only one of four subcontractors involved in providing job for the IT technician (who, by accident, is a comrade from
CNT-AIT union in Spain who worked in Vienna in November and December 2019). According to WAS the whole issue seems like a business model
that servers to bypass the social security and paying of taxes.
"If our comrade from Spain does not get his wages and proper registration in relation to the social security is not done in upcoming days,
another protest will be held against next subcontractor in line."
WAS is our sister organization with status Friends of the IWA and already won three conflicts this year, about which they informed on their
website www.wiensyndikat.wordpress.com.
SLOVAKIA
We, as Priama akcia (PA, Direct Action), participated in various ways. Our aim was to show, that when people show interest and act, it is
really possible to fight unpaid wages.
We started to promote the Week already in September by sharing the video prepared by the IWA secretariat:
At the beginning of October we published our statement regarding the topic and called on people to share their experiences and give us tips
on companies that don't pay wages. For this purpose we also created a FB event, where we posted all the necessary information, activities
and experiences.
We reminded ourselves to some of the companies we had conflict with in the past using stickers. Based on tips from people we also put
stickers around a few other businesses in Bratislava and Senec, and upon request sent stickers to people outside Bratislava region.
During the week we published on a daily basis at least one case of successful struggle for owed wages in Slovakia or abroad (focusing mostly
on struggles of the IWA unions). Four of them were accompanied by videos:
PA conflict with CATO Agency
ZSP conflict with Impuls agency
SolFed conflict with a café in Brighton
Conflict of Solidarity Network from Most with Zepter International
Also, we mentioned our publication that was printed this year "Ako sme si poradili s problémami v práci: Spory zväzu Priama akcia v rokoch
2015-2019" (How we handled problems at work: Conflicts of Priama Akcia union in 2015-2019). Most of the conflicts were related to unpaid
wages and we describe in detail actually how a conflict for workers' demands begins and develops and what is necessary to win. We compared
some of the conflicts (three were from hospitality sector) and took into account their weaknesses and strengths. This and other our
publications about solving workplace related problems can we found at nbz.priamaakcia.sk.
We also reprinted our text on unpaid wages from last year that deals with common problems related to contracts, pay slips, obstacles on the
part of employer and signing of documents forced by the bosses.
UK
Solidarity Federation (SolFed) has lots of experience fighting the unpaid wages. Union in Bristol prepared a statement summarizing facts
about the phenomenon in the UK. Here is an excerpt:
"In 2018, the BBC reported that non-payment of even the national minimum wage was at a record high, with an estimated £15.6 million going
unpaid to workers who were being paid below the already pitiful minimum wage. Social care, warehouse work and the so-called ‘gig economy'
were the worst affected sectors. It's worth remembering that the UK minimum wage is already too low to be able to live on, even without wage
theft; the same year, the Child Poverty Action Network reported that a single parent earning the national minimum wage would be an estimated
£74 per week short of the minimum income needed to meet basic needs.
Bosses have other tactics for stealing our pay. Wage theft tends to be "little and often" i.e. small amounts taken regularly, so the worker
is impacted but doesn't feel able to speak out. Other common forms of wage theft include non-payment for trial shifts, unpaid holiday
entitlement and not paying workers for their last shift. Workers under 25 and workers over 64 are the most likely to be affected. The worst
sector for wage theft overall is the hospitality sector, including pubs, restaurants and hotels. Even in more lucrative industries like the
media and creative arts, wage theft is common. Many workers reported being pressured to work above their contracted hours for no additional
pay."
SolFed promoted statements of the IWA secretariat and PA, a member of Leeds union helped with graphics and, on 12th October, the union in
Liverpool started an online public reading group focused on researching workplace struggles with the first session dedicated mostly to
struggles against unpaid wages.
NORWAY
Norsk Syndikalistisk Forbund (NSF, Norwegian Syndicalist Federation) translated statements of PA and IWA secretariat into Norwegian and
spread them on their website www.nsf-iaa.org and via e-mail. They also informed about two conflicts related to unpaid wages.
In the first case, NSF was contacted by a worker regarding unpaid wage. ZSP union showed support as well and sent a fax to the company
stating that they will follow the case. This along with leaflets spread by NSF was enough to get the money back.
In another case, a member of NSF was not paid.
"Victories over unpaid wages disputes can be achieved without going public. A member of NSF who worked in an international fastfood chain
didn't get her wages. We discussed the matter and it only took a weekend and the wages were paid," NSF explain their successful tactics.
NSF added that information about the Week were well-spread and well-received by people.
RUSSIA
Konfederacija revoljucionnych anarchosindikalistov (KRAS, Confederation of Revolutionary Anarchosyndicalists) informed us about the
situation in the country, which makes it impossible to organize any protest activities. We quote:
"The totalitarian measures of de facto house arrest and terror with the help of fines, introduced by the Russian authorities this spring
under the pretext of an epidemic, effectively deprived us of the opportunity to work outside the Internet. Even before that, it was very
difficult to hold public events in Moscow."
Street protest with more than one person requires official permission. The last time KRAS tried to organize a protest in solidarity with
workers with owed wages they were twice refused and any street actions in Moscow are prohibited and repressed now.
"In this situation, we are forced to confine ourselves to online propaganda activity, through our website and social networks. We continue
to disseminate information about the strike movement in Russia and Ukraine (including strikes for the payment of wage arrears, which is now
the main cause of strikes), about social protests in the world and the struggle of our comrades from other sections of the International
Workers' Association. We are also actively campaigning against the totalitarian measures to trample on freedom, which are established by the
authorities under the pretext of fighting the epidemic," comments KRAS.
We have to confirm that the website of KRAS is truly unique in the amount of published news about workers' movement in Russia and in the
world. We recommend to read it with an online translator tool.
SWEDEN
Örestad LS (ÖLS, Örestad Local Group) informed about specific situation in Sweden. The union was able to succeed in all the cases of owed wages.
"So far we have never had to use demonstrations, pickets or other forms of direct action to get the companies to pay. They have paid when we
have demanded it," explain ÖLS.
Furthermore, a state enforcement agency operates in the country that can be used to get owed wages. The union sometimes advises non-members
to use it and those who did, always got their money back. However:
""This does not mean that it is not a problem in Sweden. It is! Particularly in the gig economy and among people working without papers. And
ÖLS has been active together with other groups in organising and maintaining boycotts concerning pubs and restaurants that have used ‘slave
labourers'. The latest boycott was this spring and was successful," continue ÖLS.
ÖLS took part in the Week mainly by promoting it on their website http://orestadls.wordpress.com and social networks. We were happy to hear
from ÖLS that the activities of the IWA around the Week were very inspiring and they plan to take steps in further developing the union.
USA
Workers` Solidarity Alliance (WSA) is another organization with Friends of the IWA status. They informed about the Week on their social
networks. In their statement they also pointed out to problems that are rather specific in the USA - unpaid tips and prison system with
cheap if not slave labour (in recent years several strikes were organized in US prisons which the WSA supported).
AUSTRALIA
Anarchosyndicalist Federation (ASF) promoted the Week via their social networks and invited people to watch the live stream about the topic
which was organized by the ZSP union from Poland.
SERBIA
Anarhosindikalisticka inicijativa (ASI, Anarchosyndicalist Initiative) promoted the Week by spreading the statement of the IWA secretariat
in Serbian language on their social networks.
BULGARIA
Avtonomna Rabotniceska Konfederacija (ARK, Autonomous Workers Confederation) is not part of the IWA, but translated and promoted the
statement of the IWA secretariat in Bulgarian language.
CZECHIA
Pražská solidární sít (Solis, Prague Solidarity Network) is also not part of the IWA, but it maintains comradely relations with our union
and published our statement on their Facebook page.
GERMANY
Anarcho-Syndikalistisches Netzwerk (ASN, Anarchosyndicalist Network) from Koln is close to IWA and during the Week they spread posters in
the streets calling people to fight for owed wages and contact ASN because it is easier to fight together.
Our evaluation of the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages
First of all a little bit of history. The idea to establish the Week came from PA last year (initially, we thought about a Day, not a Week).
We elaborated our idea, presented it to the rest of the IWA unions and at the IWA Congress in Melbourne in December 2019 it was approved
with amendment to make it a Week. Then we tried to make it as easiest as possible for all the unions to join the Week and helped also with
the preparation of the IWA secretariat statement.
In one way or another 11 out of 18 currently existing organizations of the IWA took part in the Week. We have to keep in mind that some
organizations have extremely difficult conditions for making activities and their members are in an unenviable existential situation due to
the pandemic and state repression (mainly in Asia and Pacific).
We are happy about exchange of experiences with struggles that took place between the unions as well as sharing of information on the topic
of unpaid wages in the countries they operate. Also, we had a good response on Facebook where people mentioned their experiences with unpaid
wages.
All in all, we are satisfied with how the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages went on. We will evaluate it also on the level of
IWA at its plenary meeting in summer 2021. Our main aim will be to contribute to making the struggles of the IWA unions against unpaid wages
more effective and discuss possible activities during the next years' third week of October.
Priama Akcia union
Slovak section of the IWA/AIT
priamaakcia.sk/International-Week-Against-Unpaid-Wages-supported-by-unions-in-14-countries.html
------------------------------
Message: 4
the judgment that did not exist (ca) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Anonymous author text translation in bulletin # 2 tonSydney Anarcho-Communists * ---- (The text was translated because of the great
impression that I was the simple yet critical analysis, which harmoniously includes the feminist analysis of the themes of class and race,
faithful in the tradition of the radical and anarcho-feminist movement, far and against the liberal analyzes on the subject) ---- On social
reproduction: Invisible labor and the violent roots of the nuclear family ---- Social reproduction plays an essential role in the capitalist
mechanism. It reproduces class divisions, structural racism and the subjugation of women to the will of capital on an international scale.
In this article I will analyze first and foremost what social reproduction means, the historical processes that led to its creation,
including the nuclear family, and how we as anarchists can and must understand it.
The term "reproductive work" refers to the underestimated -payed or unpaid- work, which is mainly performed by women, in order to maintain
the reproduction of labor, such as housework, child rearing, child care at home or in special centers, with or without pay, and the
reproduction of related social processes, such as the structure of the nuclear family. In the capitalist system, this invisible labor serves
the production and maintenance of the working class so that it can continue its work. Serving social needs, whether material or sexual,
reproductive labor is essential to the functioning and reproduction of the economy, at very little or no cost to the capitalists. This kind
of work has been discredited, "feminized" and made invisible,
The formation of the "housewife" and the creation of the nuclear family
Central to the exploitation of female reproductive labor was the creation of a form of social organization, which made their work invisible
and weakened their political action: The creation of the nuclear family was a violent and racist process, inseparable from the development
of capitalism. and colonialism. The beginning of the nuclear family structure occurred during the early stages of capitalism, with the
creation of new markets for luxury goods and the export of resources from third world countries. The portrayal of European women in the
upper classes as "consumers and demonstrators of wealth and luxury", facilitated by imperialist spread and exploitation, reinforced the
division between the public and private spheres. which encouraged on the one hand family-private life and on the other privatization.
Wealth, once a public spectacle, was now displayed at home, behind closed doors.
While European women were isolated and weakened, enclosed within the walls of palaces and mansions, men were given supremacy over the public
sphere, which included government, economic and political affairs. The convenient creation of woman as a "creature of luxury" worked to open
new markets for the imperial powers, through the creation of a world inferior order and at the same time, in the process, subjected women to
eternal home life and imprisonment in private sphere, while at the same time creating social bonds of enslavement to the rational, public
figure, the "carrying" man. Thus was born the ideal of the "housed", "privatized" woman, which would then be exported internationally.
In contrast, in pre-industrial Europe, the propertyless classes were initially excluded from the institution of marriage. Poor women were
still forced to work in the public sphere - it was convenient for capital to create the image of the luxurious housewife in order to create
and exploit new colonial markets, but it was still necessary to keep working-class women enslaved in precarious wage jobs to fuel industrial
development. In the beginnings of industrial capitalism, working-class women produced extremely cheap labor as members of the industrial
proletariat, as they were obliged to provide for their children while being largely excluded from unions and trade unions. , something that
made them disorganized and lacking in bargaining power. However, the extreme exploitation of women and children turned out to be a problem
for the capitalists, who were busy producing and maintaining more workers, in the pursuit of profit. Excess surplus from their work began to
undermine their productivity and lower birth rates. In order to fulfill the task of producing the new generation of workers, poor women "had
to be forced to reproduce more workers." For European society, poor women in the form they had hitherto "posed a threat to bourgeois
morality and its ideal for 'homeless' women; it was also necessary to "house" the women of the proletarian class. Thus, the nuclear family
was exported to the working classes.
The bourgeois social-gender division of labor, which limited women and the family to the private sphere and gave men the realm of the
public, was strengthened in working-class families by the state, a bourgeois institution designed to further the spread of capital through
exploitation of patriarchal logics and gender hierarchies. Homosexuality, abortion and treatment have been criminalized and those doing this
work have been maligned and discriminated against, although it is still an essential service, complementing the nuclear family and the
system is based on it as a form of reproductive wage labor. In the context of the inevitable commercialization of all things under
capitalism, the fact that sex is degraded to hegemonic narratives in the private sphere, leads to its public criminalization, as a natural
conclusion. Through myriad legal revisions in the second half of the twentieth century, including the criminalization of extramarital sex
and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear family and the roles of the male "carrier" and the female "housewife" within
it were consolidated . The working class embraced the structure of the nuclear family because it was symbolic of superior social status and
wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social mobility and was widely accepted by the proletariat. including the
criminalization of extramarital affairs and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear family and the roles of the male
"carrier" and the female "housewife" within it were consolidated. The working class embraced the structure of the nuclear family because it
was symbolic of superior social status and wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social mobility and was widely accepted
by the proletariat. including the criminalization of extramarital affairs and the restriction of abortions, the structure of the nuclear
family and the roles of the male "carrier" and the female "housewife" within it were consolidated. The working class embraced the structure
of the nuclear family because it was symbolic of superior social status and wealth. In this way, it became an ambition and a goal of social
mobility and was widely accepted by the proletariat.
Male dominance as manifested in state and public-private divisions
The establishment of the nuclear family has significantly consolidated categories of public and private sector jobs based on gender, with
the vital work of social reproduction being imposed on women in the private sphere. This social segregation is part of a broader social
trend of devaluing anything "feminized". The hierarchy of the state over private life under the patriarchy, literally creates a "feminized
kingdom in which male domination is allowed, while at the same time the state is masculine", and the public sphere. It is a process
necessary for the development and reproduction of capitalism and the nation-state. The reproductive work of women has become so much
normalized and its value so much underestimated, which is now considered a "natural resource", freely available, without cost or complaint.
Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on women's
sacrifices in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on
and depends on ideas of "feminized sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is
taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over the centuries to
ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. freely available, without cost or complaint. Because of this story, 21st
century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of
the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of
"feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of
socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy
continues to export domestic labor abroad. freely available, without cost or complaint. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend
on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy,
whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor
abroad. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on the
sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state
capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the
Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over
the centuries to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. Because of this story, 21st century nations depend on
women for their economic survival, an economic survival that depends on women's sacrifices in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether
at home or at work. In the Philippines , for example, the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "housed", "privatized" female factor that have been imposed over the centuries to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic
labor abroad. an economic survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at
work. In the Philippines, for example, the state capitalizes on and relies on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to
"maintain national sovereignty". The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated",
"privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. an economic
survival that depends on the sacrifices of women in the service of the neoliberal economy, whether at home or at work. In the Philippines,
for example, the state capitalizes on and relies on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national
sovereignty". The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female
factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. the state capitalizes on and
depends on ideas of "feminine sacrifice" that the government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking
advantage of socially imbued expectations from the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that
the economy continues to export domestic labor abroad. the state capitalizes on and depends on ideas about "feminine sacrifice" that the
government uses to "maintain national sovereignty." The state of the Philippines is taking advantage of socially imbued expectations from
the "domesticated", "privatized" female factor, imposed over the centuries, to ensure that the economy continues to export domestic labor
abroad.
The talk of neo-liberalization of human rights, of individual autonomy and dignity, which prioritizes individual rather than collective
rights as a prerequisite for the continuation of a free market economy, has only served to strengthen this public -private division, which
ultimately degrades women in the reproductive realm, in the service of capital and the state.
Workflows with gender and racial character
The situation in the Philippines highlights how the global divide of social reproductive work also creates a hierarchy of women in terms of,
beyond class, as well as race. Today, the so-called "progress" of wealthy white women, in terms of career and social status, promoted by
white liberal feminisms, leads to the purchase of the product of reproductive labor by women of color, both in the form of housework and in
the sexual part. In the Philippines, domestic workers perform the reproductive work of the most privileged women in the industrialized
world, degrading their own reproductive work to women living at home. The export of labor is strongly gendered, with the majority of workers
abroad made up of women working in "unskilled jobs, such as manual and domestic workers" in developed economies, thus allowing white western
women to be hired cheap, by women migrants of color. This ultimately creates a "Female Hierarchy", where sex workers are relegated to the
lower class, below migrant reproductive workers and housewives. The outsourcing of feminized reproductive work to third world women means
that the supposed "freedom" of rich white women can only be achieved at the expense of exploiting the work of women of color.
The problem with liberal feminisms
White liberal feminism wants you to believe that we just need to free rich white housewives from the chains of domestic slavery, allowing
more women to become CEOs in companies. However, this is a white-washed narrative that ignores the historical processes involved in social
reproduction, such as the role of colonialism and capitalism in creating the bourgeois structure of the nuclear family, which was then
exported internationally. This family structure and the consequent subordination of women emerged because it was central to capital and has
been shaped by the gender and class-divided division of labor we see today internationally. It serves the function of capital production and
reproduction and the trapping of women in a cycle of domestic subjugation, during this process. Forms of work such as processing have been
criminalized and those who perform this work have been maligned and discriminated against, although it is still an essential service,
complementing the nuclear family and the system is based on it as a form of reproductive wage labor. . The "weak" femininity, become equally
lustful and hated, become an archetype that is equally praised and desired by society, while at the same time is a necessary tool for the
continued subjugation of women in the domestic sphere. In the context of transnational capitalism, Reproductive labor flows also facilitate
the stratification of women into different social classes, which reflects the racial inequality inherent in capitalism. Poor women of color
are forced to perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector
duplication reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same
work required to keep capital dominant. Poor women of color are forced to perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which
reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector duplication reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women
into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same work required to keep capital dominant. Poor women of color are forced to
perform the reproductive work of rich white women, which reproduces class divisions based on race. The public-private sector duplication
reproduced by the bourgeois landowners further pushes women into a privatized, feminized realm, thus making invisible the same work required
to keep capital dominant.
These contradictions in social attitudes towards reproductive work and sex work are inherent in the patriarchal, capitalist and heteronormal
regime in which we live. If we are to move towards achieving any kind of liberation from these forces, the public-private sector
discrimination in labor must be disrupted and the ideal of the nuclear family, created by the bourgeoisie and then exported to the working
class classes, as a form of social control, must be abandoned. As anarchists, we know that the subjugation of women and the supremacy of
capital, as reinforced by the state, are closely linked. The only way to break the cycle of patriarchal domination is to work essentially to
dismantle the capitalist economic structures that have led to the degradation of women in the private sphere. This can only be achieved
through labor mobilization, while creating dual power networks. In order to overthrow capitalism and the state and liberate ordinary people
from the service of the world neoliberal economy, we must take immediate action against the capitalist mechanism, which is the cause of
social reproduction as a form of oppression, but we must also we take reproductive work into our own hands and manage it within our own
communities, in a collective and responsible way. Working-class women must not fall into the trap of fighting against men, as bourgeois
feminists argue, but must fight against the ruling class side by side with men. Moreover, the right to paid work is based on a system based
on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be
achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared,
instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social
suffering. as bourgeois feminists argue, but they must fight against the ruling class next to and alongside men. Moreover, the right to paid
work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear
family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the
community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the
root causes of social suffering. as bourgeois feminists argue, but they must fight against the ruling class next to and alongside men.
Moreover, the right to paid work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender
discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social
reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we
begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social suffering. The right to paid work is based on a system based on the
exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved
by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the hands of the community and is shared, instead of
being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems that are the root causes of social suffering. The
right to paid work is based on a system based on the exploitation of women's reproductive labor. Challenging gender discrimination at work
and the nuclear family structure can only be achieved by creating collective dual power. When the task of social reproduction comes into the
hands of the community and is shared, instead of being individualized in the home of each individual woman, we begin to disrupt the systems
that are the root causes of social suffering.
___________________________________________
* (Sydney Anarcho-Communists is an anarchist political organization founded in early 2020 in Sydney, Australia and, among other things, they
publish the Bulletin of the same name, from which the above article was translated. At the Australian level they work closely with the
electronic edition of Red and Black Notes from Melbourne as well as the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (MACG - Melbourne Anarchist
Communist Group) all moving in the anarchist communist trend of the movement and especially in the "platform", especifista and current of
anarchism. Online forums, reading and discussion groups have been set up in Australia on a weekly basis.Thanks for the information about
this group to the administrator of the anarchist website "Neither God nor Master")
** Translation: Giannis Voliatis.
*** Related link: https://www.alerta.gr/archives/9313?fbclid=IwAR2GdNik0i1VmOFiZzGCXQKQ1YOXYMmwmk6jJ_8Ff0hwCJGK3vhj1Tr1C1s
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/32072
------------------------------
Message: 2
Interventions in hospitals of Thessaloniki for the immediate strengthening of the public health system and the satisfaction of the demands
of the competing health workers. ---- On Friday 30/10, in the morning, we performed symbolic interventions at the hospitals AHEPA,
Gennimata, Agios Dimitrios and Ippokratio in Thessaloniki. We distributed texts, threw T-shirts and hung banners for the immediate
strengthening of the public health system and the satisfaction of the demands of the health workers who fight daily in extremely adverse
conditions, in order to treat and protect society as a whole - and - from Covid-19. We stand by the struggling health workers and support
the satisfaction of their demands as an integral part of the struggle to defend the health of the people and the rights of workers.
During the interventions we made, the following text was shared:
Pandemic continuation....
It has been clear to all of us since September that this winter will be extremely difficult, the second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic has
already begun and the financial crisis is intensifying rapidly.
Some might have hoped that the government would have made some sort of preparation for this second wave that everyone knew was coming. After
all, 5 whole months have passed since the first lockdown until today. Some might have hoped that the government would have drawn up a plan,
that it would have ready measures, that it would have built ICU beds and hired health staff, that it would have a serious plan to open
schools, that it would somehow have entered to do anything about protecting the social base, other than blaming individuals alone, to derail
state policy. These people today have already been refuted.
First (did not) come the measures in quarantine. No reinforcement of the NSS, no new ICU beds, no recruitment of medical staff, no order of
private clinics, no measures beyond the confinement of citizens in their homes. At the same time, of course, millions upon millions were
found, in order to strengthen the canal managers, the major contractors who control the tolls, the clinicians, the owners of KEK with their
"propeller scales"...
Then came "the government's plan for tourism", which can be summarized in "so as not to harm the tourism industry, let us allow anyone who
wants to come to the country, without test, without control, without plan". The first upward trend in cases came immediately.
Then came the famous opening of schools. The government's measures for the operation of the schools were limited to the use of a mask and a
water bottle (!), Leaving students to be stacked 25 people per class, 2 children per desk, in school facilities without adequate toilets and
cleaning staff. What's absurd, after all, to ask two children who share a one-meter desk to keep a distance of... at least 1.5 meters
between them? (!) . The government, after insulting these occupations as "conspiracy theories" (ie against the masks), burying the real
demands of the students, then hurried to suppress them in any way, threatening students with punitive measures. Why, after all, to give
money to more teachers, so that they can break the departments into smaller ones? There is no money for education, then.
And the cases continued to rise...
Some people asked, "Guys, is it possible with hundreds of cases a day to continue stacking on public transport? Isn't there an urgent need
to increase the vehicles, in order to increase the itineraries as well? " The government's response came and was shocking ?? Petsa informed
us orally that schools and MMMs are not outbreaks of the virus, why... so! And so we were all convinced that being on the same subway
platform (indoor space) with hundreds of others or on a bus literally stuck next to us is the right thing to do! So there is no money to
move workers.
Others asked, "Hey guys, things are getting tough!" Will any of the 1,200 ICU beds you promised be made? You will not hire any additional
doctors, since the existing ones have already exceeded the overtime ceiling ". Again the government's answer was "no". Reason... What to do
to the doctors anyway? We have hired hundreds of new cops to beat you when you wonder "where is the money for health". In a time of
pandemic, then, there is no money for health.
Then came the only -literally- measure that this government has really taken for the pandemic... the suppression and restriction of
citizens' rights.
The real reason behind the "showers" in squares crowded with small groups is obvious and not at all healthy: without the communication shows
in the squares, the government could not continue to "sell madness" and tell us that the youth is to blame for everything.! At the same
time, of course, they did not dare to "put up" with the priests and the church SA, where hundreds of fundamentalist Christians are stacked,
in order to lick the same spoon in time of pandemic!
And of course they did not miss the opportunity to exaggerate the notion of "health threat" beyond all bounds, attacking any protest action
and any cinematic event, under the pretext of a pandemic. And here the real and by no means healthy reason is obvious: the voices of protest
are a threat to the system, the only threat it really fears, and now that new totalitarianism is spreading is the best opportunity to try to
silence them.
Today we have already reached a critical situation in terms of a multitude of cases. The NSS continues to be understaffed, to not even have
enough ICU beds, not to have enough tests and means of protection for the health personnel. At the same time, EODY and Civil Protection are
literally playing with our nerves, doing what they can, so that almost no one can take a free test and everyone is forced to pay the big
clinicians-friends of Koulis and his gang. Indicative: tests for asymptomatic patients are not performed even today in hospitals, even when
there are close contacts of a confirmed case. Tests are not performed on people who have been in close contact with a confirmed case and
then became ill, as... they are not allowed to leave home to go to a hospital (!), because they are already considered confirmed cases
(which are not counted of course). Even those who have a positive result in a rapid test that was done privately do not take the test, and
of course they are not counted as cases either. Finally, EODY advises those who develop symptoms to sit at home and not go for a test! The
government deserves the title of the largest circus that has passed through this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself,
with the fat salary of € 500 you get, if you have a job of course. This translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the
government. EODY advises those who develop symptoms to sit at home and not to go for a test! The government deserves the title of the
largest circus that has passed through this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself, with the fat salary of € 500 you get,
if you have a job of course. This translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the government. EODY advises those who
develop symptoms to sit at home and not to go for a test! The government deserves the title of the largest circus that has passed through
this country. There is no money for tests, then. Pay yourself, with the fat salary of € 500 you get, if you have a job of course. This
translates the socially irresponsible and anti-popular policy of the government.
So, to summarize the government's measures: you wake up in the morning, stacked at a stop with dozens of others waiting for the bus for less
than half an hour, literally squeezing to fit in the MMM with a hundred other people, go to work where the your boss beyond the mask has
taken absolutely no measures to protect the workers, you go to church where you are with hundreds of others in the same place without a mask
and in the end you lick the same teaspoon, you go to the retail stores that work normally, at night at the bar you normally go indoors (up
to the 3rd level), but for the pro-government parrots it is obvious that the squares and the demonstrations are to blame for everything...
Towards a funny government things are not funny ? ICU beds today are already at 70% of their fullness. In 90%, the obligatory screening of
patients begins, that is, the choice of who will live and who will die. If there is one hour to act, this time is now! Now, before we count
the thousands dead.
So we, as part of the social base, will take on "our collective responsibility". We will take the necessary measures to protect those around
us, we will make every effort so that the cinematic events do not become outbreaks of the virus, we will observe all the health measures to
protect society as a whole, not because the circus government tells us so. of Koulis, however. We will do it, precisely because we know that
the state does not care in the slightest about our lives and that all we have in these difficult times is each other. But we will not be
silent. Social reactions will not be silenced, class resistance will never be bent by any government. We were on the road and will continue
to be on the road.
We will not count afterwards.
Now we will count.
IMMEDIATE STRENGTHENING OF ESY
ACCESS TO PUBLIC AND FREE HEALTH FOR EVERYONE, LOCAL AND IMMIGRANTS
IMMEDIATE SATISFACTION OF THE REQUESTS OF HOSPITALS AND STUDENTS
IMMEDIATE DECOMMINATION OF IMMIGRANT CAMPS, PRISONS, PSYCHIATRICS
WE WILL NOT LET STATE INTEGRATION BECOME NORMALITY
Liberal Initiative of Thessaloniki (member of the Anarchist Federation)
lib_thess@hotmail.com
libertasalonica.wordpress.com
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/
------------------------------
Message: 3
During the third week of October (12th-18th) the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages took place. It was established by the
International Workers' Association (IWA/AIT) to highlight the phenomenon of unpaid wages and how we can fight it in the anarchosyndicalist
manner. The IWA secretariat, Priama Akcia (PA) and other unions wrote their statements regarding the topic. Furthermore, unions of the IWA
informed about the Week in the countries they are active and reminded their older or actual conflicts related to the issue. Here is the
summary of all activities from 14 countries and our evaluation of the Week.
POLAND
Zwiazek Syndykalistów Polski (ZSP, Union of Syndicalists of Poland) is one of the IWA unions with a long list of conflicts for payment of
owed wages. On the occasion of the Week the ZSP prepared an extensive and valuable material in English about the issue of unpaid wages and
concrete struggles for winning them back which can be downloaded here:
https://iwa-ait.org/content/zsp-fighting-back-international-week-action-against-unpaid-wages. The union participated by doing other
activities as well.
On Sunday 11th October two live streams were broadcasted about the issue. One in English and one in Polish. The following topics were
discussed: the IWA, various forms of non-payment of wages, concrete conflicts of the IWA unions, the importance of fighting back even in
cases where small amounts of money is owed etc. ZSP member also mentioned that the union planned to join the Week by organizing direct
actions for unpaid wages, but they won two conflicts the week before and another was about start a bit later (and it eventually did, on 26th
October in form of a protest against unpaid wages and holidays in front of the Center for Education, Therapy and Diagnosis TuMiRaj in Warsaw).
Another action took place on 15th October in Warsaw. It was a protest in front of National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) against inaction and
inability of this institution to fight problems on the labour market, mainly the unpaid wages.
Protest was organized also in Lodz, on 17th October (https://www.facebook.com/events/1448607108657015/) in front of local offices of ruling
party PiS. In their speech the union mentioned that according to PIP data for 2019 the employers owed workers 102 million zloty (cca 22
million €) in unpaid wages and bonuses. It is expected that the data for 2020 will be even worse due to the effects of pandemic. ZSP refused
the notion that the employers don't have the money and condemned their withholding on company accounts.
The union in Wroclaw set up a FB event between 14th-18th October, where people could write about their problems with unpaid wages, unpaid
work after working hours or shortening of breaks. Also, people who won their owed wages could tell their stories.
SPAIN
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT, National Confederation of Labour) made actions in several Spanish towns.
On 15th October a picket took place against unpaid wages in La Boheme café in Albacete. Two days later the union organized a discussion
about its experiences with struggles against unpaid wages. They talked about conflicts with some of the main hotel establishments and
companies in the city, where direct action was the key factor that forced these companies to pay what they owed to comrades.
In Granada, the union organized a "mobile" picket on 16th October. They moved through the town and visited companies they currently have
conflicts with. Stops were made in front of MIMIMI café, Joyerías Sánchez jewelry and finally a solidarity picket was organized in front of
CeX, with which the union in Barcelona is in conflict. They also called people to contact the union in case of any workplace problems, so
that they can fight them together.
On 17th October, union in Tarragona organized protest actions to point out at two companies that owe wages to comrades.
Similar mobile action as in Granada took place also in Barcelona on 17th October. Companies that owe wages and don't follow collective
agreements (which is also the reason for the current conflict with company CeX) were targeted.
Other CNT-AIT unions informed about the Week on their social networks.
AUSTRIA
Very practical was the involvement of Wiener ArbeiterInnen-Syndikat (WAS, Vienna Workers Syndicate) in the Week - the union started a
conflict with Seamox GmbH and organized a picket in front of their headquarters in Vienna on 15th October demanding payment of 5 800 € in
owed wages to ex-worker.
Protest against Seamox was livened up by banners, speeches, music and chanting. The boss became paranoid and instead of meeting the
protesters, he called the police, which had no effect on the protest.
Seamox is actually only one of four subcontractors involved in providing job for the IT technician (who, by accident, is a comrade from
CNT-AIT union in Spain who worked in Vienna in November and December 2019). According to WAS the whole issue seems like a business model
that servers to bypass the social security and paying of taxes.
"If our comrade from Spain does not get his wages and proper registration in relation to the social security is not done in upcoming days,
another protest will be held against next subcontractor in line."
WAS is our sister organization with status Friends of the IWA and already won three conflicts this year, about which they informed on their
website www.wiensyndikat.wordpress.com.
SLOVAKIA
We, as Priama akcia (PA, Direct Action), participated in various ways. Our aim was to show, that when people show interest and act, it is
really possible to fight unpaid wages.
We started to promote the Week already in September by sharing the video prepared by the IWA secretariat:
At the beginning of October we published our statement regarding the topic and called on people to share their experiences and give us tips
on companies that don't pay wages. For this purpose we also created a FB event, where we posted all the necessary information, activities
and experiences.
We reminded ourselves to some of the companies we had conflict with in the past using stickers. Based on tips from people we also put
stickers around a few other businesses in Bratislava and Senec, and upon request sent stickers to people outside Bratislava region.
During the week we published on a daily basis at least one case of successful struggle for owed wages in Slovakia or abroad (focusing mostly
on struggles of the IWA unions). Four of them were accompanied by videos:
PA conflict with CATO Agency
ZSP conflict with Impuls agency
SolFed conflict with a café in Brighton
Conflict of Solidarity Network from Most with Zepter International
Also, we mentioned our publication that was printed this year "Ako sme si poradili s problémami v práci: Spory zväzu Priama akcia v rokoch
2015-2019" (How we handled problems at work: Conflicts of Priama Akcia union in 2015-2019). Most of the conflicts were related to unpaid
wages and we describe in detail actually how a conflict for workers' demands begins and develops and what is necessary to win. We compared
some of the conflicts (three were from hospitality sector) and took into account their weaknesses and strengths. This and other our
publications about solving workplace related problems can we found at nbz.priamaakcia.sk.
We also reprinted our text on unpaid wages from last year that deals with common problems related to contracts, pay slips, obstacles on the
part of employer and signing of documents forced by the bosses.
UK
Solidarity Federation (SolFed) has lots of experience fighting the unpaid wages. Union in Bristol prepared a statement summarizing facts
about the phenomenon in the UK. Here is an excerpt:
"In 2018, the BBC reported that non-payment of even the national minimum wage was at a record high, with an estimated £15.6 million going
unpaid to workers who were being paid below the already pitiful minimum wage. Social care, warehouse work and the so-called ‘gig economy'
were the worst affected sectors. It's worth remembering that the UK minimum wage is already too low to be able to live on, even without wage
theft; the same year, the Child Poverty Action Network reported that a single parent earning the national minimum wage would be an estimated
£74 per week short of the minimum income needed to meet basic needs.
Bosses have other tactics for stealing our pay. Wage theft tends to be "little and often" i.e. small amounts taken regularly, so the worker
is impacted but doesn't feel able to speak out. Other common forms of wage theft include non-payment for trial shifts, unpaid holiday
entitlement and not paying workers for their last shift. Workers under 25 and workers over 64 are the most likely to be affected. The worst
sector for wage theft overall is the hospitality sector, including pubs, restaurants and hotels. Even in more lucrative industries like the
media and creative arts, wage theft is common. Many workers reported being pressured to work above their contracted hours for no additional
pay."
SolFed promoted statements of the IWA secretariat and PA, a member of Leeds union helped with graphics and, on 12th October, the union in
Liverpool started an online public reading group focused on researching workplace struggles with the first session dedicated mostly to
struggles against unpaid wages.
NORWAY
Norsk Syndikalistisk Forbund (NSF, Norwegian Syndicalist Federation) translated statements of PA and IWA secretariat into Norwegian and
spread them on their website www.nsf-iaa.org and via e-mail. They also informed about two conflicts related to unpaid wages.
In the first case, NSF was contacted by a worker regarding unpaid wage. ZSP union showed support as well and sent a fax to the company
stating that they will follow the case. This along with leaflets spread by NSF was enough to get the money back.
In another case, a member of NSF was not paid.
"Victories over unpaid wages disputes can be achieved without going public. A member of NSF who worked in an international fastfood chain
didn't get her wages. We discussed the matter and it only took a weekend and the wages were paid," NSF explain their successful tactics.
NSF added that information about the Week were well-spread and well-received by people.
RUSSIA
Konfederacija revoljucionnych anarchosindikalistov (KRAS, Confederation of Revolutionary Anarchosyndicalists) informed us about the
situation in the country, which makes it impossible to organize any protest activities. We quote:
"The totalitarian measures of de facto house arrest and terror with the help of fines, introduced by the Russian authorities this spring
under the pretext of an epidemic, effectively deprived us of the opportunity to work outside the Internet. Even before that, it was very
difficult to hold public events in Moscow."
Street protest with more than one person requires official permission. The last time KRAS tried to organize a protest in solidarity with
workers with owed wages they were twice refused and any street actions in Moscow are prohibited and repressed now.
"In this situation, we are forced to confine ourselves to online propaganda activity, through our website and social networks. We continue
to disseminate information about the strike movement in Russia and Ukraine (including strikes for the payment of wage arrears, which is now
the main cause of strikes), about social protests in the world and the struggle of our comrades from other sections of the International
Workers' Association. We are also actively campaigning against the totalitarian measures to trample on freedom, which are established by the
authorities under the pretext of fighting the epidemic," comments KRAS.
We have to confirm that the website of KRAS is truly unique in the amount of published news about workers' movement in Russia and in the
world. We recommend to read it with an online translator tool.
SWEDEN
Örestad LS (ÖLS, Örestad Local Group) informed about specific situation in Sweden. The union was able to succeed in all the cases of owed wages.
"So far we have never had to use demonstrations, pickets or other forms of direct action to get the companies to pay. They have paid when we
have demanded it," explain ÖLS.
Furthermore, a state enforcement agency operates in the country that can be used to get owed wages. The union sometimes advises non-members
to use it and those who did, always got their money back. However:
""This does not mean that it is not a problem in Sweden. It is! Particularly in the gig economy and among people working without papers. And
ÖLS has been active together with other groups in organising and maintaining boycotts concerning pubs and restaurants that have used ‘slave
labourers'. The latest boycott was this spring and was successful," continue ÖLS.
ÖLS took part in the Week mainly by promoting it on their website http://orestadls.wordpress.com and social networks. We were happy to hear
from ÖLS that the activities of the IWA around the Week were very inspiring and they plan to take steps in further developing the union.
USA
Workers` Solidarity Alliance (WSA) is another organization with Friends of the IWA status. They informed about the Week on their social
networks. In their statement they also pointed out to problems that are rather specific in the USA - unpaid tips and prison system with
cheap if not slave labour (in recent years several strikes were organized in US prisons which the WSA supported).
AUSTRALIA
Anarchosyndicalist Federation (ASF) promoted the Week via their social networks and invited people to watch the live stream about the topic
which was organized by the ZSP union from Poland.
SERBIA
Anarhosindikalisticka inicijativa (ASI, Anarchosyndicalist Initiative) promoted the Week by spreading the statement of the IWA secretariat
in Serbian language on their social networks.
BULGARIA
Avtonomna Rabotniceska Konfederacija (ARK, Autonomous Workers Confederation) is not part of the IWA, but translated and promoted the
statement of the IWA secretariat in Bulgarian language.
CZECHIA
Pražská solidární sít (Solis, Prague Solidarity Network) is also not part of the IWA, but it maintains comradely relations with our union
and published our statement on their Facebook page.
GERMANY
Anarcho-Syndikalistisches Netzwerk (ASN, Anarchosyndicalist Network) from Koln is close to IWA and during the Week they spread posters in
the streets calling people to fight for owed wages and contact ASN because it is easier to fight together.
Our evaluation of the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages
First of all a little bit of history. The idea to establish the Week came from PA last year (initially, we thought about a Day, not a Week).
We elaborated our idea, presented it to the rest of the IWA unions and at the IWA Congress in Melbourne in December 2019 it was approved
with amendment to make it a Week. Then we tried to make it as easiest as possible for all the unions to join the Week and helped also with
the preparation of the IWA secretariat statement.
In one way or another 11 out of 18 currently existing organizations of the IWA took part in the Week. We have to keep in mind that some
organizations have extremely difficult conditions for making activities and their members are in an unenviable existential situation due to
the pandemic and state repression (mainly in Asia and Pacific).
We are happy about exchange of experiences with struggles that took place between the unions as well as sharing of information on the topic
of unpaid wages in the countries they operate. Also, we had a good response on Facebook where people mentioned their experiences with unpaid
wages.
All in all, we are satisfied with how the first International Week Against Unpaid Wages went on. We will evaluate it also on the level of
IWA at its plenary meeting in summer 2021. Our main aim will be to contribute to making the struggles of the IWA unions against unpaid wages
more effective and discuss possible activities during the next years' third week of October.
Priama Akcia union
Slovak section of the IWA/AIT
priamaakcia.sk/International-Week-Against-Unpaid-Wages-supported-by-unions-in-14-countries.html
------------------------------
Message: 4
Lately thousands of people have been taking to the streets against sexualized violence in Bangladesh. The movement was triggered by numerous
gang rapes that had taken place throughout the country last month. The protests are not only directed against these blatant incidents, but
they aim at changing society as a whole putting sexism in its many forms on the table. ---- Two weeks ago a Long March organized by
organisations like the Bangladesh Student Union (BSU), Garment Workers' Trade Union Center (GWTUC), the anarchist network Auraj as well
other feminist groups was brutally attacked by ruling party cadres and police. Since then the protests continued and so did the attacks by
reactionary forces.
The feminist movement calls on the international community to express their support. On one hand it will help to raise awareness about those
developments in Bangladesh and on the other hand it will help activists on the ground struggling with attacks on various levels.
One way of expressing your solidarity is by taking a picture of yourself holding a sign with your personal message and send it to
globalmaydaynetwork[at]gmail.com.
Submitted pictures will be published here and forwarded to activists involved in the movement, which will then also share them on social
media channels and by doing so reach many more people directly involved in the movement.
Here is a suggested frame, which can be used freely:
https://globalmayday.net/2020/11/01/solidarity-with-feminist-movement-bangladesh/
------------------------------
Message: 5
We urge those who have recently left the Labour Party, or are thinking of leaving it, to read our Appeal to the Young ( and the not so
young) at:
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/08/14/appeal-to-the-young/
and to attend our online meeting this coming online meeting on Wednesday November 4th:
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/10/10/public-meeting-labouring-in-vain-4-11-20/
The Appeal to the Young text will be soon be available as a free pamphlet.
https://londonacg.blogspot.com/2020/10/to-those-who-have-left-labour-party-or.html
------------------------------
Message: 6
If you fight you can win, if you don't fight you are lost. We have recently been able to verify this in our own flesh, winning the complaint
we made to the delinquent company of Española de Servicios , in Valladolid. ---- In a sector like cleaning we have to be clear about it, we
have to get together and defend our dignity. There are a lot of jobs in which they abuse our precariousness, but perhaps cleaning -such as
day laborer or intern- is one that takes the cake. ---- They impose contracts and days on us that are bread for today and hunger for
tomorrow; contracts that will not provide for a pension -even if they pay us in payroll what they want us to receive in black-, and that
lead us to a poor retirement when we arrive at it with a damaged back.
Our agreement is not to shoot rockets , but the entrepreneurs skip the few rights that he grants us - for example, that going from portal to
portal counts as time worked. They abuse our need, and that the conditions of our work -which hangs by a thread-; It is difficult for us to
get to know each other and share experiences -from one portal to another, from a contract with one company to another with a different one-.
Thus, there are companies like Española de Servicios that believe they can turn a deaf ear to our requests for rights. If you are
vindictive, they think they can fire you without anything happening to them. But faced with this wall of indifference, we workers have a
key: mutual support and solidarity, things that materialize in unions like the CNT.
Even one day before the trial, Española de Servicios allowed itself to deny that it had an appointment in court due to a complaint from a
former employee of hers. But it did. Neither she nor the CNT, of which she is a member, were going to allow her to be fired with impunity.
The union, with its lawyer, filed the complaint for unfair dismissal, brought to light the situation with posters and messages from social
networks, and accompanied the partner until the trial that proved him right: he forced Española de Servicios - whose owner He did not want
to face up to pay compensation for his outrageous act.
Labor reforms have turned the world of work into a jungle, paid for by governments that place more emphasis on buying weapons than on
respecting the rights of workers. Against this backdrop, entrepreneurs believe they can get away with hiding and stalling.
But what governments do not do, we workers can do by being alert and supporting each other; We will not let one pass to Española de
Servicios or companies that want to blow us up in exchange for a pittance. If you are looking for companions with whom to defend yourself
from those who think they may abuse you, we are waiting for you: #CuentaConCNT
https://www.cntvalladolid.es/espanola-de-servicios-morosa-ganamos-el-juicio-que-no-existia/
------------------------------
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