Manifestation du 14 juin et violences – Le gouvernement inverse la hiérarchie des responsabilités

par Union syndicale Solidaires

2016-06-16 01 Union syndicale SolidairesLa manifestation du 14 juin a été un succès vécu par tous ceux et celles qui y ont participé. Massivement, les salarié-es particulièrement mobilisés dans le privé ont fait le déplacement et ont participé ensemble à cette démonstration de force et de détermination.

Du coup, le gouvernement qui joue « droit dans ses bottes » comme Juppé en 1995 s’attaque aux manifestant-es et aux organisations syndicales, les accuse d’organiser la violence et les somme de renoncer aux manifestations et de renoncer tout court à leur combat. Cette exigence de renoncement fait suite aux pressions qu’il a déjà faites sur les grèves, les actions, les manifestations pour d’autres motifs : inondations, euro... Ce que Valls, Cazeneuve et Hollande mettent en cause, c’est le droit des organisations syndicales et des salarié-es d’agir avec les moyens qui sont les leurs.

The ecological debt at the heart of climate issues

by Renaud Duterme*

2016-06-11 01 Renaud DutermeNow that the media craze surrounding the Paris Agreement has died down, it’s time to step back and ask ourselves what are the main reasons for the failure of these successive summits. Many of the problems are well known, particularly in activist circles, such as our leaders’ absolute belief of in unsustainable economic growth, as well as the way large multinationals and other lobbies insinuate into the hidden complexities of these negotiations.

Additionally, there is another aspect to this which we believe to be under-represented: that of the North-South divide within the climate debate. This aspect is indeed of paramount importance as it represents a choice as to the model of “development” which can satisfy the needs of most people / the 99% without having a significant impact on the planet (or, rather, with a little impact as possible). Therefore, a failure of cooperation between countries of the ‘Centre’ (the North) and countries of the ‘Periphery’ (the South) ultimately results in preventing fundamental changes which are essential to prevent widespread environmental and social disasters.

Green Party’s Jill Stein Tells Californians, ‘Please Vote For Bernie’

DAWN PAPPLE

2016-06-06 01 Jill SteinThe Green Party’s likely presidential nominee, Jill Stein, penned an open letter to Californians on Friday calling for “All hands on deck!” In an unprecedented call to action that, if acted upon, could significantly cost the Green Party votes in November, Jill Stein told all Californians who are currently registered to vote as “No Party Preference” or “Democrat” to cast their vote for Bernie Sanders in the June 7 primary.

“California voters have a chance to put us on the road to revolutionary change in the June 7 primary,” Stein wrote. “At this historic moment, as voters reject the Clinton and Trump campaigns with record high levels of dislike and mistrust, I ask not just for your vote for me, but also for your vote for Bernie. These votes are powerfully synergistic as we build an historic grassroots movement and a political vehicle to carry it forward.”

 Face à une contestation sociale multiple, les amalgames d’un Premier ministre en position de faiblesse

par Collectif

2016-06-05 01Ces derniers jours, le Premier ministre a réussi le tour de force de multiplier en quelques minutes les provocations et les outrances : la CGT est accusée « d’encourager la violence » contre les policiers ; ceux qui contestent les « sociaux-démocrates quand ils sont au pouvoir » ou protestent contre les violences « des forces de l’ordre qui incarnent l’Etat » ne sont rien d’autres que des « ennemis de la démocratie » ; la porte-parole d’« Ensemble ! », Clémentine Autain, est étiquetée « islamo-gauchiste » et jugée responsable d’alimenter « le terreau de la violence et de la radicalisation ». Des propos envers les uns et les autres qui rappellent ceux utilisés contre le terrorisme !

A multifaceted mobilization:

Strong headwinds are making

France a stormy sea 

by CREMIEUX Léon

2016-05-28 01 Léon Crémieux BIG“The 49-3 is a brutality. The 49-3 is a denial of democracy.” Despite François Hollande’s opinions on this article of the French constitution in 2006, his government under Manuel Valls (who had himself been among the MPs proposing it be suppressed in 2008) used it to force through the unpopular law proposed by Minister for Labour Myriam El Khomri on May 10. This provoked an immediate reaction from the coordinating committee of workers’ and students unions calling days of national mobilisation and strikes on May 12, May 17, May 19, to continue on May 26 and June 14. [1]This article, originally written just before the government’s decision to use the 49-3, explains the development of the movement against the El Khomri law up to that point. It was updated on 24 May.

NPA: Dans le bras de fer avec

le gouvernement, notre carburant,

c’est la lutte !

Hebdo L’Anticapitaliste - (26/05/2016)

2016-05-27 01 NPALa lutte pour le retrait de la loi travail n’en finit pas de rebondir. C’est déjà un échec pour le gouvernement qui comptait bien, dans la foulée de l’état d’urgence et d’une offensive sécuritaire et autoritaire sans précédent, marquer un point décisif dans la mise à mort du Code du travail...

Il aura tout utilisé, du coup de force institutionnel avec le 49-3 à la répression et aux provocations policières, pour diviser les opposantEs, en passant par les mesures d’exception avec les interdictions individuelles et collectives de manifester... Dès la semaine dernière, il faisait intervenir le Raid contre la Maison du peuple à Rennes et interdisait purement et simplement la manifestation de Nantes de jeudi dernier ! Mais rien n’y fait, la journée du 19 mai en témoigne, la mobilisation demeure. Et maintenant, la seule réponse à la multiplication des blocages des raffineries est l’envoi des forces de « l’ordre » pour dégager les barrages... Avec pour réponse immédiate la généralisation de l’arrêt des raffineries !

Communiqué de Ensemble! Bloquer l'économie et étendre la mobilisation

2016-05-25 01 ensembleCela fait 2 mois que l'intersyndicale, les collectifs Nuit Debout partout en France, les organisations de jeunesse, des associations et des partis politiques sont mobilisés contre la destruction du code du travail.

Malgré les provocations et la brutalité de la répression policière, le recours au 49.3, la mobilisation, loin de faiblir, s'étend.

Après les routiers et les cheminots, et bientôt la RATP, ce sont les ouvriers de toutes les raffineries et du terminal pétrolier du Havre qui sont en grève. Plusieurs dépôts de carburant sont également bloqués.

Quel internationalisme dans le contexte de la crise ukrainienne ?
Les yeux grands ouverts contre les “campismes” borgnes

par SAMARY Catherine

2016-05-20 03 Catherine SamaryNul doute que les Etats-Unis se sont saisis de la crise yougoslave pour maintenir et relancer l’OTAN quand elle aurait du être dissoute en 1991 en même temps que le Pacte de Varsovie. On ne peut non plus douter du fait que Washington s’efforçait de propulser une forme de gestion “euro-atlantique” des conflits balkaniques. C’est pourquoi les internationalistes devaient se mobiliser contre les bombardements “humanitaires” de l’OTAN. Mais en même temps, n’était-il pas nécessaire de dénoncer la politique “grand’serbe”, en particulier sur l’enjeu concret du Kosovo, tout en combattant les positions “anti-Serbes” ? Est-ce que la question nationale albanaise était simplement une “création impérialiste” ? Et est-ce que le fait que le “Parti socialiste” de Milosevic avait noué une alliance organique avec les partis et milices nationalistes grand-serbes était un enjeu secondaire ?

Part I of the series “Greece and debt: two centuries of interference from creditors”

Newly Independent Greece had an Odious Debt round her Neck

by ERIC TOUSSAINT

2016-05-10 01 5-draxmaiSince 2010, Greece has been the centre of attention. Yet this debt crisis, mainly the work of private banks, is nothing new in the history of independent Greece. The lives of Greeks have been blighted by major debt crises no less than four times since 1826. Each time, the European powers have connived together to force Greece to contract new debts to repay the previous ones. This coalition of powers dictated policies to Greece that served their own interests and those of a few big private banks they favoured. Each time, those policies were designed to free up enough fiscal resources to service the debt by reducing social spending and public investment. Thus Greece and her people have, in a variety of ways, been denied the exercise of their sovereign rights, keeping Greece down with the status of a subordinate, peripheral country. The local ruling classes complied with this.

This series of articles analyses the four major crises of Greek indebtedness, placing them in their international political and economic context – something which is systematically omitted from the dominant narrative and very rarely included in critical analysis.

Bern: The Bernie Sanders Movie

2016-05-04 01 Bernie-movie "Bern" The Bernie Sanders documentary will tell the story of Bernie Sanders' life growing up, the historic campaign currently taking place, and the people working to get him elected. We have a unique opportunity to capture a pivotal moment in American culture and its impact on the country's political and social landscap.

 We are independent filmmakers, producers, animators, editors, writers and other creative and communications professionals who are interested in adding dimension to the current political discourse by learning more about one of the most intriguing participants of the 2016 presidential election. As an independent collective, we are beholden only to the story we are telling, and we are committed to discovering and telling it as authentically as possible.

Armenia, Azerbaijan & the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Behind the Four-Day War

by LIAKHOV Peter

2016-04-27 02 Peter-LiakhovOn the afternoon of April 2, Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, was gripped with anxiety. On the street, the dour, worried faces of passersby clashed with the unusually warm and sunny spring weather. By evening, the normally bustling bars and restaurants were nearly empty, and the few patrons that did come were loath to touch the food and drinks they ordered. Waiters too were morose, having dropped any pretense at a customer-service smile. Earlier that morning the “frozen” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had erupted in violence, and just like that, the country was at war.

It seems that under the cover of darkness, Azerbaijani troops on the border with the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh pushed across the line of contact, and with the support of tanks, gunships, and heavy artillery overran many of the Armenian positions, including three villages.

Eric Toussaint à la Nuit Debout - Témoignage

2016-04-22 01 Eric ToussaintL'occupation de la place de la République à Paris par Nuit Debout se poursuit depuis 3 semaines. Hier je m'y suis rendu. J'ai commencé par écouter les discussions qui se déroulaient dans le cadre de la commission finance et économie qui se tenait en plein air à partir de 17h30. Y participait une bonne centaine de personnes. Dans le même temps avaient lieu deux autres commissions. Par ailleurs, en dehors des espaces occupés par les commissions, beaucoup de monde se rassemble pour des dialogues improvisés un peu partout sur la place. Il y a également des animations musicales, du théâtre action,...

USA: Labor Notes Conference Gathers Over 2,000 ‘Troublemaker’ Workers and Organizers in Chicago – “To create a militant and democratic unionism”

by MOBERG David

2016-04-20 01 Troublemakers-UnionEvery two years since 1981, the Detroit- and Brooklyn-based monthly newsletter Labor Notes has rallied union members and wannabe members, as well as some union staff and elected leaders, to join in a long weekend of sharing stories, strategies and wisdom gained in their workplace skirmishes.

They are the sort of people that bosses everywhere—and a few union officials—might call “troublemakers,” and they have adopted the moniker as a badge of honor (including holding “troublemaker schools” and producing tactical handbooks for do-it-yourself organizers).

Last weekend, around 2,200 labor activists, from diverse age groups, industries, personal experiences and nations (about 150 visitors from 22 countries), gathered in Chicago for a packed line-up of workshops and plenary sessions in the largest of these conferences.

Bulgaria in the trap of neoliberalism

Daniela Penkova

2016-04-11 02 protestIn 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and the so-called “transition period” for Central and Eastern Europe began. The goal pursued was a radical change of society at economic, political and social level. In relation to this, Bulgaria endorsed a variety of development programs, which were manipulated by the two supranational institutions – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The country was quickly encompassed by a wide network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose number amounts nowadays to 38,000. The UN agencies, supranational authorities and NGOs organized and coordinated Bulgaria’s transition through the same methods, ideas and language, which were being used for the Third World Countries by that time.

Britain: Three Tax Avoidance Schemes and you’re out, Cameron

by DOWLING Felicity

2016-04-11 01 Felicity DowlingCameron has tried – but failed – to distance himself from the Panama papers, says Left Unity Principal Speaker, Felicity Dowling.

The recent revelations and admissions show that he has dissembled the sources of his wealth. He has profited from offshore banking, inheritance tax management and the tax avoidance schemes that are the preserve of the very rich. He has criticised others for tax evasion but now the mask has slipped and his hypocrisy is exposed. He is revealed for what he is: both a beneficiary and an agent of extreme class privilege. And while profiting himself he has driven forward the most savage attacks on working people and the poorest in our society.

The Panama papers show clearly that offshore banking and the complex system of tax evasion have been carefully constructed by the very rich and their political representatives. They have been developed and established over years, in law and in tax regulation. And it is not something confined to corrupt individuals and regimes elsewhere – as some would have us believe. Britain is at the very heart of it: the whole legislative framework of the Virgin Isles, laws in the Channel Islands and in the Isle of Man and more. Tax minimisation lawyers have been “consulted” by HMRC while tax collection employees have been reduced in numbers.

Aire fresco agita la sociedad francesa

Olivier Besancenot y François Sabado

Militantes del NPA (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste)

2016-04-05 03 Besancenot-SabadoUn millón de personas se echó a la calle el 31 de marzo para expresar su rechazo a la “Ley del trabajo” del gobierno Hollande. Ya el 9 de marzo, cerca de 500.000 personas habían marchado por las calles de más de 250 ciudades. Se trata de una movilización popular nacional, en proceso de construcción y ampliación, de la juventud, de las personas mayores, de la gente asalariada, de los estudiantes de bachiller, de los universitarios y de las paradas y parados. Pero sobre todo, y es lo más importante, se ve como emerge una nueva generación, no sólo en las huelgas y manifestaciones de la escuela secundaria y universitaria sino también en los cortejos de los asalariados y asalariadas y de los sindicatos. Aunque en cada país el movimiento tiene sus propias características, ¿cómo no acordarse de esos miles de jóvenes que ocuparon las plazas de las grandes ciudades en el Estado español, de los “indignados, sin los que no se puede explicar el surgimiento de Podemos, o de esas luchas de la juventud de “Occupy Wall Street” en EE UU? Esta nueva ola de radicalización de la juventud ya se había expresado también con anterioridad en la manifestación  del pasado diciembre, durante la COP21 organizada por la ONU, exigiendo soluciones a los gobiernos ante los efectos y amenazas del cambio climático.

English & Español

Sanders Statement on Puerto Rican Debt Crisis

APRIL 1, 2016

2016-04-03 01 Sanders sobre CrisisNEW YORK – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement today calling on Congress and the Obama administration to put the people of Puerto Rico over the interests of financial firms in any legislation to address the Puerto Rican debt crisis:

“There is a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico that Congress and the administration must address as soon as possible. But let me be clear: Establishing an unelected oversight board that would be given the power to inflict even more economic pain on the 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico would be a move in exactly the wrong direction. It must be defeated.

My Endorsement

by MICHAEL MOORE

My Dear Friends,

2016-04-01 01 sanders-mooreWhen I was a child, they said there was no way this majority-Protestant country of ours would ever elect a Catholic as president. And then John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president.

The next decade, they said America would not elect a president from the Deep South. The last person to do that on his own (not as a v-p) was Zachary Taylor in 1849. And then we elected President Jimmy Carter.

Irlande – Il y a cent ans : l’insurrection de Pâques 1916 à Dublin – Au delà des mythes

par FOULON Dominique

2016-03-27 03 Ireland-100-years-1916-2016Depuis cent ans, l’insurrection républicaine irlandaise donne lieu à diverses interprétations plus ou moins malveillantes : du sacrifice sanglant au putsch raté en passant par une escarmouche inutile. Or, ce soulèvement armé en pleine guerre mondiale, ne prend sa signification que si on l’englobe dans une période révolutionnaire en Irlande qui s’étend sur plus de dix ans, de 1912 à 1923, et que si l’on tient compte de l’environnement international d’alors.

Bien peu de personnes à l’époque comprirent que les premiers coups de feu qui résonnèrent à Dublin le 24 avril 1916, sonnaient en fait le glas de l’empire britannique. La presse de l’époque ne note qu’une tentative de sédition ratée, qui plus est, fomentée par l’Allemagne. Or cet événement s’inscrit dans un contexte très ancien.

Ireland: The 1916 Easter Rising: Comrades of Ours – James Connolly and the Left at the Time

by BELL Geoffrey

2016-03-27 01 connolly02Geoffrey Bell writes about the Easter Rising and the response of the British left. His latest book, Hesitant Comrades, the Irish Revolution and the British Labour Movement, has just been published by Pluto Press.

Just before he was executed for his part in Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916 James Connolly asked his daughter, Nora, if she had seen the socialist press. Nora was to report him as saying, “They will never understand why I am here. They forget I am an Irishman.”

The Easter Rising was when a group of armed men and women led by the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Connolly’s Irish Citizen Army proclaimed the formation of the Irish Republic at Dublin’s General Post Office. They were out to end British rule in the whole of Ireland. They had no popular mandate and were easily crushed by the British. Their leaders were executed, while the rank and file and suspected sympathisers were jailed without trial.