#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #POLAND #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Poland, ozzip: Second Workers' Aid Convoy for #Ukraine - report (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Power generators, walkie-talkies, first aid kits, sleeping bags and mats, thermal

clothing, tools, flashlights, dressings and food - all this at the turn of
September and October this year. went to Ukrainian unionists from the city of
Krzywy Róg. Support for Ukrainian workers and female workers was provided as part
of the Second Workers' Aid Convoy for Ukraine. ---- The first Workers' Aid Convoy
for Ukraine, co-organized by independent trade unions from Brazil, France, Italy,
Lithuania and Poland, took place on April 29 - May 2, 2022. The meeting and
delivery took place in Lviv. The target audience was the Independent Trade Union
of Miners in the city of Krzywy Róg, which brings together workers from local
mines and ironworks. We informed about the first convoy in our union media[read
the report from the first convoy]

Already in May this year, a decision was made to continue cooperation and support
for Ukrainian trade unions, both in material and symbolic terms. The decision to
send the Second Convoy was made on the basis of talks with trade unionists and
women unionists as well as activists and activists from Ukraine. The initiative
was intended to show international support for class resistance to the
imperialist invasion of Russia, as well as against the anti-union and anti-social
reforms of the Ukrainian government during the war.

International solidarity in practice
 From April this year under the auspices of the International Union Solidarity
and Struggle Network, there is an international group, which includes people from
the Workers' Initiative and trade unions from other countries we are friends
with: Solidaires (France), CSP Conlutas (Brazil), ADL Cobas (Italy), Co.Bas
(Spain), Emancipacion (France), Liverpool TUC (Great Britain), the Independent
Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine in the city of Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine), the NGO
Social Movement (Ukraine) and the Independent Trade Union of Railwaymen
(Ukraine). Our activities focus on the city of Krzywy Róg. It is an important
center of the iron ore mining and metallurgical industry in central Ukraine (it
is the center of the Krzyworoskie Basin, also known as "Krywbas" for short). The
main investor in the city and the region is the global giant Arcelor Mittal, and
Russian capital also operates here through international companies. The city is
an important center of the organized labor movement. A series of strikes and
demonstrations took place in the plants in 2020 and 2021. Many women work in the
industrial plants and mines here, and they also work in trade unions. Active
women can also be found in the trade unions of female workers and employees of
education and health care and among lawyers supporting the trade unions.

We treat the convoy itself more broadly than just the delivery of the necessary
goods. It also means strengthening contacts and cooperation with trade unions in
Ukraine, trying to understand the situation in which their members and members
found themselves, and raising this topic on the international forum. The group
holds regular meetings, organizes fundraising, deliveries and organizes events
promoting knowledge about the situation of the Ukrainian working class and the
activities of trade unions in a war-torn country. This is where decisions are
made and new plans are made.

Between April and September, we participated in events promoting the idea of
convoy and international solidarity in France (ILNSS conference in Dijon in
April, thematic meeting in Paris in May), Italy (discussion on convoys and the
situation in Ukraine during the Sherwood festival in Padua in July) and Ukraine
(the IP delegate participated in the congress of the Social Movement in Kiev).
Individual unions also organized local meetings in their countries (in June,
meetings promoting the idea of convoys were held in Warsaw and Poznan).

Conference in Warsaw - "We do not want to be just cheap labor in Europe"
On September 27 - on the eve of the departure of the convoy - the international
conference "We do not want to be just a cheap workforce in Europe" was held in
Warsaw with the participation of representatives of trade unions from Poland,
France, Italy, Spain and Ukraine. Artem Tidwa - a representative of the Social
Movement from Kiev (economist, social activist and trade union adviser) also came
to Warsaw, while the chairman of this organization, lawyer Witali Dudin and
chairman of the Independent Trade Union of Miners in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Yuri
Samoilov, contacted us online. The main topic of the meeting was opposition to
various types of anti-employee labor law reforms in Poland, Ukraine and on a
global scale. You can read a longer report from the conference[HERE].

On the same day, the humanitarian transport was loaded. Some of the things were
purchased in Warsaw, some of my friends and colleagues from Solidaires were
delivered from France. Shopping in Warsaw was possible thanks to the financial
support of the organizations participating in the convoy (CSP Conlutas, ADL
Cobas, Co.Bas), a branch of the British TUC association from Liverpool and the
Catalan non-governmental organization Arta Solitare from Majorca.

Unloading and meeting with the Local Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in
Kryvyi Rih
On September 28, a humanitarian aid transport and a delegation of the
aforementioned trade unions set off to Kryvyi Rih. The convoy was accompanied by
a meeting with the Local Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Kryvyi Rih,
bringing together workers from mines, ironworks, public transport, railways,
education and health care. It was the first international meeting of independent
trade unions in Kryvyi Rih.

The meeting took place on September 30 and was attended by about 40 people. The
local Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Krzywy Róg has been in
existence for 30 years. At the time of the uprising, it had approx. 8 thousand
members. people, but its number varied greatly over time. Despite this, according
to one of its founders - Yuri Samoilov - it has always been reborn. Currently,
the Confederation associates about 2,000 people. During the meeting, Samoilov
expressed the hope that the visit of international guests during the war would
become another impulse to strengthen ties between the trade unions that were part
of the war. The reason for this may be the 5-person committee appointed during
the meeting, which is to deal with the division of the humanitarian transport
provided among local trade unions.

The main topic discussed at the meeting was unfavorable changes in labor law
during the war in Ukraine. As reported by the lawyer present at the meeting, from
March 15 this year. the Ukrainian parliament introduced a number of reforms to
amend the Labor Code, increasing the rights of employers and limiting the rights
of employees. The following were introduced: the possibility of dismissals
without consulting trade unions, changing working conditions without prior
notice, suspension of collective agreements, lifting of wage guarantees, the
possibility of terminating contracts at any time without notice, changing working
hours and concluding new types of junk contracts (the so-called "zero hours ").
Another reform carried out in June lifted the obligation for enterprises to pay
remuneration for mobilized workers. This legislation was assessed negatively due
to the fact that the mobilization covers mainly the working class (also
volunteers are mainly employees), and union members (especially miners and
railwaymen), due to their skills and organizational experience, are very useful
in the fight against the occupant. The reforms also have a negative impact on the
financial situation of the families of mobilized workers (for example, mothers
with children), and additionally they cause workplaces to remain without active
union organizers.

Later in the day, one of the trade union offices was visited and the delivered
goods were unloaded in the presence of employees of local mines serving in the
Territorial Defense units of the City of Kryvyi Rih and the Ukrainian army. The
load with a total weight of 1 ton included: power generators, walkie-talkies,
first aid kits, sleeping bags and mats, thermal clothing, tool kits, flashlights,
dressings and food.

Further action is needed
The visit to Kryvyi Rih showed that, regardless of the humanitarian dimension,
the symbolic dimension of support is equally important - the possibility of
direct talks and informal meetings as well as direct learning about the situation
in the city near the front. On the way back, two delegates (members of IP and ADL
Cobas) visited Lviv, where they met local activists and activists of the Social
Movement.

More convoys and international meetings are planned. Due to the upcoming winter,
they will take into account the special needs related to this season. Finally, it
is worth emphasizing once again both the difficult situation in which working
people, trade unions and grassroots social organizations found themselves during
the war. Their importance is crucial both in armed resistance against the
occupiers and in supporting civilians in the areas near the front lines and those
liberated from occupation.

https://www.ozzip.pl/informacje/zagranica/item/2926-drugi-konwoj-pomocy-pracowniczej-dla-ukrainy-relacja
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