Saturday, May 29, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Oakland Pot Club Says Union, Yes!

Oaksterdam University employees join UFCW Local 5

By JACKSON WEST nbcbayarea.com Thu, May 27, 2010

At a ceremony hosted by Oakland City Council's Rebecca Kaplan, 100
employees at medical marijuana dispensary and education hub Oaksterdam
University turned in their membership cards to join the United Food and
Commercial Workers Union, Local 5.

It may well be the first union pot shop in the country, if not the world.

While it will help employees collectively bargain and resolve disputes
with management, it also gives owner Richard Lee political allies with
labor organizations.

Lee is responsible for the Tax Cannabis 2010 ballot measure, which would
decriminalize recreational use of cannabis, which polls suggest has neatly
divided California voters.

As legitimization of the multi-billion dollar business in marijuana could
set the stage for a growth industry, one that UFCW is now in on the ground
floor of. Which could help sway other growth-oriented unions like the
Service Employees International Union.

Of course, police officer associations and the correctional officers union
are unlikely to throw their support behind the ballot measure, since more
drug arrests means more money and jobs for law enforcement and prisons.

It remains to be seen if the ballot measure will pick up a new string of
labor endorsements, or whether it will pay off politically for the likes
of Kaplan, who's running for Mayor of Oakland.

Jackson West loves it when labor and civil liberties meet, as in this case
and that of San Francisco's worker-owned Lusty Lady.

Friday, May 28, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Bangladeshi strike wave rolls on; rocks, papers & cloth

Libcom.org May 28 2010

Labour unrest continues[1] in diverse areas, including rock mining and the
garment industry.

The garment industry
In the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector, regular outbursts of wildcat
strikes, riots, roadblocks and attacks on factories continue...

Kanchpur area, Narayanganj District, central Bangladesh - Tuesday, May
25th; fierce clashes occurred between police and garment workers; at
5.15pm workers left factories and began demonstrating, barricading the
main Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong highways. A police box was set on
fire and several vehicles attacked. As police arrived, workers threw
bricks - cops replied with baton charges and shotgun fire to regain
control. 50 people were injured, including 10 cops.

What seems to make this more than just another run-of-the-mill clash over
pay, arrears or conditions of work - similar to those occurring bi-weekly
in the garment sector - are the demands of the workers. These are reported
as that "house rent in Kanchpur industrial area and the adjacent
neighbourhood be lowered and supply of gas and water ensured." Recognising
that the nominal working wage is only one part of the equation in
measuring class exploitation, these demands (along with growing
generalised demands for a living minimum wage) suggest a process whereby
workers are beginning to use their workplace power as producers to express
wider demands of their class as a whole and to challenge the totality of
their conditions of existence as proletarians. That is 'class
consciousness' in practice.
8 * 8 * 8

Hard rock mining
Dinajpur, far north-western Bangladesh, Rangpur Division - Wednesday May
26th ; Miners of Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Ltd (MGMCL) have called
off their four-day-old indefinite strike. The 292 strikers agreed to
return to work after their union negotiated a promise that workers'
demands - for ending casualisation by granting permanent employment status
and for payment of wage arrears - would be met within the next year.

The strike began on Sunday morning. The next day, workers locked 100
management officials (including the Managing Director) in the residential
complex and cut off electricity and water. Some officials were released to
attend negotiations with the union on Tuesday night, leading to the
agreement on Wednesday.
8 * 8 * 8

"I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it."
(Ashleigh Brilliant)

The Maddhapara mine has a history typical of all that is corrupt and
inefficient in the Bangladeshi economy - symptoms that inhibit economic
expansion. Constructed by a North Korean company and opened in 2008, it
has the capacity to produce daily thousands of tons of high quality
granite. The government planned that the rock would be sold both
commercially and also used in public works infrastructure projects by
state agencies such as the Roads and Highways, Bangladesh Water
Development Board and the Bangladesh Railway.

Bangladesh had long been dependent on Indian imports of granite and the
new mine is able to undercut the imported rock price by more than half. It
was estimated the mine could

...produce 1.65 million tons of hard rock annually, thus saving more
than US$ 360 million of foreign exchange. Moreover, according to
experts, if the production of the project could be diversified in
establishing a plant to cut and produce high quality granite tiles, it
would meet the local demand as well as open a new vista of opportunity
for Bangladesh in getting huge income from the export trade.
(http://www.globalpolitician.com/24884-bangladesh)

But this did not please the local rock import/export traders on both sides
of the border, who have bribed bureaucrats to ignore government directives
to supply public works projects with the cheaper source of local rock.

'Service contractors, engaged by the public-sector organizations for
their work such as the protection of embankment or construction of
road, as well as private-sector organizations depend on imported rocks
to siphon off money by evading taxes or by buying low-quality rocks,'
said a Petrobangla source.(ibid.)

They were aided in this by Bangladesh's biggest media empire, known as the
"Star Group" (owned by the Transcom trading conglomerate). Owners of
leading English language paper the Daily Star, various Bengali
publications and a radio station, its founder-owner Latifur Rahman has
used the media arm of Transcom to promote his business interests,
represented by the industrial sectors of Transcom, and to discredit
economic rivals. The Maddhapara mine has been a target of Transcom's
smears since it was under construction.

Rahman began his career in the jute mill industry, once the country's
leading industry. As the jute sector declined in the 1990s Rahman closed
his mills and ran off without paying thousands of his employees. He also
ripped off the Central Bank for several longstanding loans.

But Rahman was soon back in business, able to secure millions of dollars
in funding from his wife's cousin, Anup Chetia, businessman and leader of
ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom - a separatist group from Assam,
demanding liberation of several north-eastern Indian states). Gaining a
franchise as sole distributor of Nestle brand milk products in Bangladesh,
Rahman rapidly built up Transcom by diversifying into various business
interests, acquiring ownership of Pepsi, Phillips and several large
industrial enterprises along the way. Smuggling is rumoured as another
major area of operation.

It's also claimed Rahman has turned a crafty profit supplying public
infrastructure projects with inferior materials;

'Everyone knows the news about cracks in Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge
in Bangladesh. But, possibly no one knows the fact that the main
reason behind such cracks was due to use of a particular brand of
cement, which in the name of Portland Grey Cement is in fact fly ash
mixed lowest grade cement. And, this inferior quality of cement went
into various high cost projects in Bangladesh just because; chairman
of the company producing and marketing this brand is none but
Transcom´s Latifur Rahman.
(http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/64216)[2]

There have been several dangerous faults and collapses of building
projects in the country - with corruption often at every level, quality
and safety are quickly sacrificed.

"An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought."
(Simon Cameron)
Since 2005, as the mine's opening approached, the Daily Star began
publishing articles falsely claiming that the mine's granite would be more
expensive than the imported variety. Defending it's own business
interests, it produced a steady stream of stories designed to discredit
the mine's economic viability;

'It is learnt that, some vested interest groups, including importers
of stones and stone-chips from India, Myanmar and Malaysia are
patronizing such media terror by Star, thus attempting to sabotage
country´s most prospective project, which not only is already saving
millions of dollars, but, also is set to turn into a huge prospect of
earning millions of dollars from export of world-class Granite Tiles.
(ibid.)

One of the cruder attempts at misinformation appeared on the Star's front
page in 2008. Commenting on 'Nam-nam', the North Korean contractors who
built the mine, the Star showed its geo-political ignorance;

In this report, Daily Star wrote, "Nam-nam is now operating the mine
with 65 South Koreans under a one-year service contract due to expire
on May 27. As it did not fully transfer the South Korean technology to
the MGMCL, it will get yet another year's service contract, the
sources said."

[...] ... the reporter knows nothing of the project but was writing
thing being dictated by vested interest groups. In the same news,
while the reporter said Nam-Nam is a North Korean company, how he
could discover 65 South Koreans in the project (does he lack the
minimum knowledge that North and South Korea do not have any
diplomatic relations as yet?). (ibid.)

Unsurprisingly, Bangladesh has one of the weakest infrastructures in the
world, with consequences for health, lifespan, transportation, commerce
etc. This is how a capitalist think-tank describes the problems of capital
accumulation;

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world and has
struggled to attract foreign investment in a business environment
marked by pervasive corruption, cumbersome regulations and an
inconsistent and politicised approach to the rule of law. The country
has been at or near the bottom of numerous accountability,
transparency and corruption indices for several years. Encouragingly,
Bangladesh's 2007-2008 military-backed government implemented a
programme of widespread institutional reform and, in an unprecedented
move, set out to aggressively tackle the country's high levels of
corruption, resulting in the conviction of corrupt businesspeople,
politicians and high-ranking officials. Nevertheless, corruption
continues to be widespread at all administrative levels. Companies
report inadequate supply of infrastructure as the biggest constraint
to investment in Bangladesh, followed by corruption and an inefficient
government bureaucracy. The vast majority of companies expect to pay
bribes to public officials in order to do business, while just one in
four companies perceive the judiciary to be fair, impartial and
uncorrupted. (Business Anti-Corruption Portal -
http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/south-asia/bangladesh)

"Some explanations of a crime are not explanations: they're part of the
crime." (Olavo de Cavarlho)
The anti-corruption element of the 2007-2008 'caretaker' military-backed
government was - surprise, surprise - itself corrupted. Showing the extent
of Transcom's web of power;

Daily Star group managed to send its Executive Editor Syed Fahim
Munayem as the Press Secretary to the Chief Executive of the interim
government. Even at later stage, when Anti Corruption Commission (ACC)
issued notice on Latifur Rahman asking declaration of his wealth and
assets, the entire issue was some how put into suppression with the
help of Daily Star-Prothom Alo group. (ibid.)

Everything can be bought, and, while it's for sale, everything will be.
Rahman and Transcom have continued to avoid any effective legal
investigation of their operations.

NOTES
1) See earlier article;
http://libcom.org/news/river-workers-strike-over-deal-struck-strike-wave-grows-18052010
2) For more on Rahman's empire and his Daily Star's hostility to the
Maddhapara Mine project, see; When the media turns into evil - June 09,
2008; http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/64216

Friday, May 21, 2010

[olympiaworkers] 1000 Vietnamese garment workers walk out

Libcom.org on May 21 2010

Workers at a Hong Kong-owned clothing factory in Hanoi initiated a wildcat
strike on Tuesday 18 May over below-minimum wages and other breaches in
labor law.

Earth Times reported that the strike was still ongoing on Thursday.

Workers at the Macallan Garment Co said the firm refused to raise salaries
to the minimum wage of 1.34 million dong (72 dollars) per month as
required by law since May 1 for businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Business that are wholly or partially foreign-owned face stricter salary
and other regulations than locally owned ones and are frequently targeted
by strikes.

Phung Xuan Kim, an official with the government-affiliated trade union who
is mediating negotiations, said Macallan had refused to give workers
certificates for the mandatory social insurance they had paid. Kim said
the workers were also demanding pay for annual leave and overtime.

The newspaper Dau Tu reported Thursday that some workers were working
13-hour shifts but receiving as little as 59 dollars per month. Average
pay at the factory was 86 dollars per month, the report said.

Wildcat strikes are common features of salary negotiations at
foreign-owned companies in Vietnam. But the number of strikes fell to 82
in the first quarter, down from 122 in the same period last year.

Under Vietnamese law, strikes must be approved by local authorities and
the government-affiliated national trade union. In practice, virtually all
strikes take place without such approval, and the trade union steps in to
mediate between striking workers and companies.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

[olympiaworkers] River workers' strike over - deal struck - but strike wave grows

Libcom.org May 18 2010

The Bangladeshi river vessel strike ends - but other strikes keep rolling...

Saturday, 16th May 2010, Dhaka; Government Ministers and boat owners have
signed an agreement with union leaders that ends the 8 day strike of river
vessel workers. The deal includes; dropping of all criminal charges
relating to the strike, and release of all those arrested; a revised pay
scale giving wage increases of from 50% to 100%. But it remains unclear
whether this 50% to 100% rise is only the original unsatisfactory pay
offer which triggered the strike - or if it is 50% to 100% on top of that.
The union federation's general secretary Ashikul Islam said;

'We have decided to call off the strike after the government signed
the agreement to meet our demands in phases.'

The devil is in the detail and one can imagine that the time scale for the
implementation of the "demands in phases" may become a point of conflict.
There have been 4 strikes in 17 months over broken pay promises, so this
may be only a temporary truce.

But only the day before reaching agreement the shipping Minister was
threatening mass sackings and had been forced, in the face of strikers
defiance, to twice extend deadlines demanding a return to work. The bosses
were forced to the negotiating table by the strength and effectiveness of
the strike. In a modern economy the interruption of the speed of
circulation of commodities - including passengers - remains a powerful
leverage point for workers.

Leaving the negotiations, the shipping Minister described the strike as;

'a deep conspiracy against the government by a group of workers who
carried out subversive activities.'
He said the strike had hampered economic activities and caused
sufferings to people...

Some inconvenience is inevitable in such events, but can sometimes be
converted into solidarity; regardless, the Minister's comments seem a fair
and informative description of how workers can win strikes.

A rolling strike wave

The boat workers strike coincides with wider struggles breaking out across
the country -

Rangpur, largest city of the north-west; an indefinite bus workers' strike
begins. A union secretary declared;

"We have enforced the strike as our seven days' ultimatum expired on
Saturday. The strike will continue until the demand for wage hike is
met," Mojid said.."

Chittagong, main southern sea port; casual day labourers struck against
being paid less than minimum wage for unloading ship cargoes. They
returned to work on promise of a pay rise. The workers are not unionised
and the strike was self-organised;

Labourer Kashem Ali said, "We did not dare to protest this in fear of
C & F agents [their employers]. Now we are united and we shall
establish our right by any means."

Also in Chittagong; Last week an indefinite strike began in the
ship-breaking industry against tightening of regulations regarding
detoxification certificates for ships. The industry employs tens of
thousands of low paid workers in hundreds of yards and the strike appears
to have been called by the employers and in their interests - rather than
the workers - to pressure the government to abandon the new regulations.
30% of the world's condemned ships are recycled in Bangladesh; labour is
cheap enough here to make it profitable to use the most primitive methods
to scrap ship with hand tools. It is horrible, dangerous work with
terrible environmental consequences. Much of the steel is recycled into
rods for use in construction - reinforcing concrete, steel fixing etc.

Across the country; last week 1.3 million weavers struck, protesting
import restrictions on Indian yarn. Called by the Bangladesh Handloom and
Powerloom Owners' Association, many of whom are home and artisan workshop
loom weavers who supply the garment factories. According to the
Association, about 0.6mlln looms have closed and the remaining 1.4mlln
looms are operating well below production capacity due to the high price
of yarn.

weavers of Pabna, Sirajganj and Narsingdi took to the streets and
blockaded the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Narsingdi for four hours. Some
5000 weavers blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway In Narsingdi from
10:30am to 2pm Thursday bringing traffic to a halt. (bdnews24.com)

The Bangladeshi handloom industry meets 80% of the total demand for
fabrics. The country's annual yarn demand is estimated at 1mn tonnes, of
which knit sector uses 0.7mn tonnes and the weaving industry the rest.
Local yarn traders have objected to being undercut by cheaper Indian yarn.
The strike ended when the import ban was lifted.

In the garment industry; strikes and demonstrations involving thousands of
workers regularly break out and are spread to neighbouring factories. A
demand for a minimum wage of Taka 5,000[approx. £50/$72/EUR58] is a
generalised demand, though local wage issues and payment of arrears are
often the initial spark.

These struggles are predominantly fired by a constant battle of the poor
against both inflation and, often, terrible working conditions. So far
there has been little co-ordination and linkage between these struggles
beyond their respective industries; but, as they proliferate, this may (or
not) impose itself as a logical necessity.

[olympiaworkers] Romania: Protests against austerity measures grow, general strike planned

Libcom.org May 19 2010

Areas of the Romanian capital Bucharest were paralysed today by 50,000
demonstrators protesting against the savage austerity measures currently
being pursued by the Romanian government. Meanwhile, unions have
threatened a general strike on the 31st of May.

The protest was one of the biggest since the fall of the Ceauşescu
government in 1989, and follows a number of demonstrations in the Romanian
capital since the announcement of the cuts. Traffic was blocked, and a
senior government official was doused with water and attacked with stones
- Economy Ministry official Marcel Hoara had to be escorted away from the
area by police after being ambushed by demonstrators on his way out of a
televised debate.

Economic crisis and brutal cuts

The Romanian government has announced its intention to axe 70,000 state
employees out of a public sector workforce of 1.36 million before the end
of the year. On top of this public sector salaries will be slashed by 25%
and pensions will be reduced by 15%. One third of workers in Romania are
employed by the public sector, and the IMF forecasts that unemployment
could jump by a third to 1 million by the end of the year. The cuts are
due to come into effect on the 1st of June.

The cuts follow the severe effects of the economic crisis on the Romanian
economy, which shrunk by 7.1% in the last year. The cuts are part of the
International Monetary Fund's stipulations for the release of the next
tranche of finance as part of its 20 billion Euro loan package. Further
bailout payments have been suspended until the Romanian government is able
to demonstrate its ability to quell dissent and force through the attacks
on living conditions.

The economic collapse has spelled the end of Romania's position as the
so-called "tiger of Eastern Europe". The collapse of Ceauşism
following mass anti-government strikes and street fighting at the end of
the 1980s was followed by yet more austerity of a free-market capitalist
nature, with most Romanian experiencing stagnant living conditions
throughout the 1990s. The courting of heavy foreign investment during the
2000s led to economic growth, which has utterly collapsed as a result of
the international economic crisis.

Rising unrest

Anger at ordinary Romanians being forced to pay for the economic crisis
(exacerbated by the government's refusal to reform its flat tax system,
opting instead to cut jobs, wages and pensions) has led to a wave of
protests centred on the capital city, Bucharest.

Last Tuesday saw thousands of farmers blockade the area around the main
government building in Bucharest, arriving in tractors which they parked
outside cabinet headquarters. Their protest concerned the late payment of
government agricultural subsidies. On Wednesday around 500 angry
pensioners attempt to force their way into the presidential palace, with
other demonstrations taking place around the country. The mass
demonstration today follows 4 days of protests by unions.

Wages in Romania aren't large. The Washington Examiner quoted a Romanian
nurse, who earns earns 900 lei ($265) a month:
Quote:

Our salaries are very small. They weren't good before, but with the
cuts we don't see anything good coming. I am sorry I haven't
emigrated.

64 year old teacher Constantin Dragomir noted that this is only the first
phase of the assault on living conditions:
Quote:

We are aware that the government will not stop at these measures. In a
few months, they will increase VAT and the income tax

Whether or not ordinary Romanians will be required to pay for the economic
collapse will depend on their ability to resist the austerity measures in
coming weeks and months.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Strike for the living wage at the national gallery (UK)

libcom.org May 13 2010

Staff at the National Gallery in London have struck for the second time
this year to demand the London living wage.

200 staff were involved in the two-hour walkout which began at 1.00pm
today, and which closed a large number of rooms in the gallery.

The workers are demanding that their pay is raised to the level of the
London living wage - currently £7.60 an hour. Both the Tory mayor of
London Boris Johnson and new Prime Minister David Cameron have claimed to
be supporters of the higher minimum wage, which is supposed to reflect the
higher cost of living in London. The PCS union, which represents the
strikers, have described the walkout of an "early test" of this
commitment. Meanwhile the gallery has cited budget constraints and a
climate of public sector fiscal austerity as the rationale for continuing
low pay.

100 workers walked out in Febuary over the same issue.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Wildcat strike at Japanese electronics firm in Vietnam

Libcom.org May 9 2010

Workers at a Japanese-owned computer chip factory in Hanoi downed tools on
demanding a pay increase.

Earth Times reported that some 800 workers at the Katolec Vietnam
Corporation, began striking Wednesday 5 May after the company refused
requests for higher salaries, better motorbike parking and other
conditions.

"They haven't destroyed any company property," said Dang Thi Hien, an
office clerk at the industrial park. "They just gather in front of the
factory to protest peacefully."Wildcat strikes are common features of
salary negotiations at foreign-owned companies in Vietnam. But the number
of strikes fell to 82 in the first quarter of 2010, down from 122 in the
same period last year.

The police-run newspaper Cong An Nhan Dan said that workers were upset
when the company failed to raise their salaries in April, as had been the
standard practice for years.

A source in Katolec's human resources department, who declined to be
named, said the company argued it had already raised salaries in January
to comply with new government minimum wage laws.

Under Vietnamese law, strikes must be approved by local authorities and
the government-affiliated national trade union. In practice, virtually all
strikes take place without such approval.

[olympiaworkers] Greece: In critical and suffocating times - TPTG

Libcom.org May 10 2010

The Ta Paida Tis Galarias (The Children of The Gallery) group report on
the recent demonstrations in Athens against austerity measures, including
the events leading to the tragic deaths of three bank workers and its
implications for the movement of opposition.

What follows is a report on the demo of the 5th of May and the one that
followed the day after and some general thoughts on the critical situation
the movement in Greece is in at the time being.

Although in a period of acute fiscal terrorism escalating day after day
with constant threats of an imminent state bankruptcy and "sacrifices to
be made", the proletariat's response on the eve of the voting of the new
austerity measures in Greek parliament was impressive. It was probably the
biggest workers' demonstration since the fall of the dictatorship, even
bigger than the 2001 demo which had led to the withdrawal of a planned
pension reform. We estimate that there were more than two hundred thousand
demonstrators in the centre of Athens and about fifty thousands in the
rest of the country.

There were strikes in almost all sectors of the (re)production process. A
proletarian crowd similar to the one which had taken to the streets in
December 2008 (also called derogatorily "hooded youth" by mainstream media
propaganda) was also there equipped with axes, sledges, hammers, molotov
cocktails, stones, gas masks, goggles and sticks. Although there were
instances that hooded rioters were booed when they attempted or actually
made violent attacks on buildings, in general they fitted well within this
motley, colourful, angered river of demonstrators. The slogans ranged from
those that rejected the political system as a whole, like "Let's burn the
Parliament brothel" to patriotic ones, like "IMF go away", and to populist
ones like "Thieves!" and "People demand crooks to be sent to prison".
Aggressive slogans referring to politicians in general are becoming more
and more dominant nowadays.

At the GSEE-ADEDY demo (general and public sector worker unions) people
started swarming the place in thousands and the GSEE president was hooted
when he started speaking. When the GSEE leadership repeated their detour
they had first done on the 11th of March in order to avoid the bulk of the
demo and come to the front, just few followed this time…

The demo by the PAME (the Communist Party's - CP's - "Workers' Front") was
also big (well over 20,000) and reached Syntagma Square first. Their plan
was to stay there for a while and leave just before the main, bigger demo
was about to approach. However, their members would not leave but remained
there angered chanting slogans against the politicians. According to the
leader of the CP there were fascist provocateurs (she actually accused the
LAOS party, this mish-mash of far-right thugs and junta nostalgic scum)
carrying PAME placards inciting CP members to storm the Parliament and
thus discredit the party's loyalty to the constitution!

Although this accusation bears some validity because fascists were
actually seen there, the truth is –according to witnesses– that the CP
leaders had some difficulty with their members in leading them quickly
away from the square and preventing them from shouting angry slogans
against the Parliament. It's maybe too bold to regard it as a sign of a
gradual disobedience to this monolithic party's iron rule, but in such
fluid times no one really knows…

The 70 or more fascists stationed opposite the riot police were cursing
the politicians ("Sons of a bitch, politicians"), chanting the national
anthem and even throwing some stones against the parliament and probably
had the vain intention to prevent any escalation of the violence but were
soon swallowed into huge waves of demonstrators approaching the square.

Soon, crowds of workers (electricians, postal workers, municipal workers
etc.) tried to enter the building from any access available but there was
none as hundreds of riot cops were strung out all along the forecourt and
the entrances. Another crowd of workers of both sexes and all ages stood
against the cops who were in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
cursing and threatening them.

Despite the fact that the riot police made a massive counter-attack with
tear gas and fire grenades and managed to disperse the crowd, there were
constantly new blocks of demonstrators arriving in front of the Parliament
while the first blocks which had been pushed back were reorganizing
themselves in Panepistimiou St. and Syngrou Ave. They started smashing
whatever they could and attacked the riot police squads who were strung
out in the nearby streets.

Although most of the big buildings in the centre of the town were closed
with rolling shutters, they managed to attack some banks and state
buildings. There was extensive destruction of property especially in
Syngrou Ave. because the cops were not enough to react immediately against
that part of the rioters as the police had been ordered to give priority
to the protection of the Parliament and the evacuation of Panepistimiou
St. and Stadiou St., the two main avenues through which the crowd was
constantly returning to it. Luxury cars, a Tax Office building and the
Prefecture of Athens were set on fire and even hours later the area looked
like a war-zone.

The fights lasted for almost three hours. It is impossible to record
everything that happened in the streets. Just one incident: some teachers
and other workers managed to encircle a few riot cops belonging to Group D
–a new body of riot police on motorcycles– and thrash them while the cops
were screaming "Please no, we are workers, too"!

Demonstrators pushed into Panepistimiou St. kept returning in blocs to the
Parliament and there were constant clashes with the police. The crowd was
mixed again and would not go. A middle-aged municipal worker with stones
in his hands was telling us, moved, how much the situation there reminded
him of the first years after the fall of the dictatorship when he was
present at the 1980 demo in commemoration of the Polytechnic uprising when
the police murdered a woman, the 20-year old worker Kanellopoulou.

Soon the terrible news from foreign news agencies came on mobile phones:
Three or four people dead in a burnt down bank!

There were some attempts to burn down banks in various places but in most
cases the crowd didn't go forward because there were scabs locked in them.
It was only the building of Marfin Bank in Stadiou St. that was finally
set on fire. Just a few minutes before the tragedy started, however, it
was not "hooded hooligans" who shouted "scabs" at the bank employees but
organized blocks of strikers who yelled and swore at them and called on
them to abandon the building.

Given the bulk of the demo and its density, the turmoil and the noise of
the chants, it's obvious that a certain degree of confusion –common in
such situations– makes it difficult to provide the accurate facts
concerning this tragic incident. What seems to be closer to the truth
(from fragments of information by eye-witnesses put together) is that at
this particular bank, right in the heart of Athens on a general strike
day, about 20 bank clerks were made to work by their boss, got locked "for
their protection" and finally three of them died of suffocation.

Initially a molotov cocktail was thrown through a hole made on the window
panes into the ground floor, however, when some bank clerks were seen on
the balconies again, some demonstrators called them to leave and then they
tried to put the fire out. What actually happened then and how in no time
at all the building was ablaze, remains unknown.

The macabre series of events that followed with demonstrators trying to
help those trapped inside, the fire brigade taking too long to take some
of them out, the smiling billionaire banker being chased away by the angry
crowd have been probably well reported. After some time the prime minister
would announce the news in the Parliament condemning the "political
irresponsibility" of those who resist the measures taken and "lead people
to death" while the government's "salvation measures" on the contrary
"promote life".

The reversal was successful. Soon a huge operation by the riot police
followed: the crowds were dispersed and chased away, the whole centre was
cordoned until late in night. The libertarian enclave of Exarchia was
placed under siege, an anarchist squat was invaded and many were arrested,
the Immigrants' Haunt was invaded and trashed and a persistent smoke over
the city as well as a sense of bitterness and numbness would not go away…

The consequences were visible the very next day: the media vultures
capitalised on the tragic death representing it as a "personal tragedy"
dissociated from its general context (mere human bodies cut off from their
social relations) and some went so far as to criminalize resistance and
protest. The government gained some time changing the subject of
discussion and conflict and the unions felt released from any obligation
to call for a strike the very day when the new measures were passed.

Nonetheless, in such a general climate of fear, disappointment and freeze
a few thousands gathered outside the parliament at an evening rally called
by the unions and left organisations. Anger was still there, fists were
raised, bottles of water and some fire crackers were thrown at the riot
cops and slogans both against the parliament and the cops were chanted. An
old woman was begging people to chant to "make them [the politicians]
leave", a guy pissed in a bottle and threw it to the cops, few
anti-authoritarians were to be seen and when it got dark and the unions
and most organizations left, people, quite ordinary, everyday people with
bare hands would not go.

Attacked with ferocity by the riot police, chased away, trampled down
Syntagma square steps, panicked but angered young and old people got
dispersed in nearby streets. Everything was back in order. However, not
only fear was in their eyes; hatred was visible as well. It is certain
they will be back.

Now some more general reflections:
1. Cracking down on anarchists and anti-authoritarians has already
started and it will get more acute. Criminalizing a whole
social-political milieu reaching out to the far left organizations has
always been used as a diversion by the state and it will be used even
more so now that the murderous attack creates such favourable
conditions. However, framing anarchists will not make those hundreds
of thousands who demonstrated and even those a lot more who stayed
passive but worried forget the IMF and the "salvation package" offered
to them by the government. Harassing our milieu will not pay people's
bills nor guarantee their future which remains bleak. The government
will soon have to incriminate resistance in general and has already
started doing so as the incidents on the 6th of May clearly indicated.

2. There will be some modest effort from the state to "put the blame"
on certain politicians in order to appease the "popular feeling" which
may well turn into a "thirst for blood". Some blatant cases of
"corruption" may get punished and some politicians may be sacrificed
just to pour oil into troubled waters.

3. There is a constant reference to a "constitutional deviation"
coming both from the LAOS or the CP in a recrimination spectacle,
revealing though of the ruling class increasing fears of a deepening
political crisis, a deepening of the legitimization crisis. Various
scenarios (a businessmen's party, a proper junta-like regime) get
recycled reflecting deeper fears of a proletarian uprising but in
effect are used as a re-orientation of the debt crisis issue from the
streets to the central political stage and to the banal question "who
will be the solution?" instead of "what is the 'solution'?"

4. Having said all that, it is time to get to the more crucial
matters. It is more than clear that the sickening game of turning the
dominant fear/guilt for the debt into a fear/guilt for the resistance
and the (violent) uprising against the terrorism of debt has already
started. If class struggle escalates, the conditions may look more and
more like the ones in a proper civil war. The question of violence has
already become central. In the same way we assess the state's
management of violence, we are obliged to assess proletarian violence,
too: the movement has to deal with the legitimation of rebellious
violence and its content in practical terms. As for the
anarchist-antiauthoritarian milieu itself and its dominant
insurrectional tendency the tradition of a fetishized, macho
glorification of violence has been too long and consistent to remain
indifferent now. Violence as an end in itself in all its variations
(including armed struggle proper) has been propagated constantly for
years now and especially after the December rebellion a certain degree
of nihilistic decomposition has become evident (there were some
references to it in our text The Rebellious Passage), extending over
the milieu itself. In the periphery of this milieu, in its margins, a
growing number of very young people has become visible promoting
nihilistic limitless violence (dressed up as "December's nihilism")
and "destruction" even if this also includes variable capital (in the
form of scabs, "petit-bourgeois elements", "law-abiding citizens").
Such a degeneration coming out of the rebellion and its limits as well
as out of the crisis itself is clearly evident. Certain condemnations
of these behaviours and a self-critique to some extent have already
started in the milieu (some anarchist groups have even called the
perpetrators "parastatal thugs") and it is quite possible that
organized anarchists and anti-authoritarians (groups or squats) will
try to isolate both politically and operationally such tendencies.
However, the situation is more complicated and it is surpassing the
theoretical and practical (self)critical abilities of this milieu. In
hindsight, such tragic incidents with all their consequences might
have happened in the December rebellion itself: what prevented them
was not only chance (a petrol station that did not explode next to
buildings set on fire on Sunday the 7th of December, the fact that the
most violent riots took place at night with most buildings empty), but
also the creation of a (though limited) proletarian public sphere and
of communities of struggle which found their way not only through
violence but also through their own content, discourse and other means
of communication. It was these pre-existing communities (of students,
football hooligans, immigrants, anarchists) that turned into
communities of struggle by the subjects of the rebellion themselves
that gave to violence a meaningful place. Will there be such
communities again now that not only a proletarian minority is
involved? Will there be a practical way of self-organization in the
workplaces, in the neighborhoods or in the streets to determine the
form and the content of the struggle and thus place violence in a
liberating perspective?

Uneasy questions in pressing times but we will have to find the
answers struggling.

TPTG
9th of May

Sunday, May 09, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Strikes at Culture & Sport Glasgow

Libcom.org May 9 2010

Workers at leisure centres, art galleries, community centres and other
cultural sites in Glasgow have taken part in two days of strike action
over pay and working conditions.

Culture & Sport Glasgow (CSG), which runs the sites, has imposed a pay
freeze on all staff, a pay cut of 10% on several hundred workers, and has
cut overtime and public holiday rates. Weekly working hours are being
reduced from 37 to 35 with a 6% cut in pay. In response, two walkouts have
taken place, on the 30th of April and 6th of May, with further action
threatened.

Members of the GMB, Unite, Unison and Bectu Unions have been involved in
the Industrial action, which led to the closure of a number of sites
across Glasgow, and the disruption of private functions, sporting events,
concerts and theatre performances. Around 1,400 staff are believed to have
taken part in the action.

Culture & Sport Glasgow was established several years ago as a
semi-private organisation, and runs over 150 venues across the city.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Updates on the General Strike in Greece

Libcom.org

War-Zone Athens: three people dead, many buildings burning as general
strike march turns into a battle

May 5 2010

Three people have suffocated to death as a result of a fire in Marfin Bank
during ongoing battles between anti-measure protesters and police in
Athens.

The Athens protest march marking the zenith of the general strike called
for the 5th of May was attended by an approximate 200,000 (20,000 which is
the foreign broadcast number referring to the PAME march alone), although
because of lack of media coverage due to the media participation in the
general strike no concrete estimates can be made. After the PAME
(Communist Party union) protesters left Syntagma square, the first lines
of the main march started arriving before the Parliament with the first
clashes erupting at the end of Stadiou street. The march then walked on
the Unknown Soldier grounds leading the Presidential Guard to retreat, and
attempted to storm the Parliament but was pushed back by riot police
forces which today demonstrated a particularly staunch attitude and
resolve against the demonstrators. Soon battles erupted around the
Parliament with protesters throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks, with one
riot police armored van torched, and the police responding by extended use
of tear gas that soon made Athens' atmosphere unbearably acrid. As more
blocks reached Syntagma square, the battles spread across the city center
and lasted for more than five hours.

During the clashes several state buildings were set ablaze including the
County Headquarters of Attika. At the time of writing the Ministry of
Finance is reported to be on fire, and vital tax documents as destroyed by
the raging fire. However the strange thing is that it is the fourth floor
of the building that is burning, at a height inapproachable to petrol
bombs. The building is in danger of total collapse.

According to news reports that began at 14:00 Greek time after, under
pressure by the events, most radio and TV stations decided to break their
strike, claim that the fire at Marfin Bank's Stadiou street branch that
has led to the death of three workers (one a pregnant woman) was started
by protesters. However this remains an unsubstantiated claim. A similar
case three decades ago had originally put the blame for the fire at
Kappa-Marousi building on Panepistimiou street, leading to the death of
several people inside, to anarchists, while its was later proved the fire
was caused by tear gas fired by the police.

A video of the fire-brigade trying to evacuate the building can be seen in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8661385.stm

After the tragic death of the three workers made the round of Athens, new
clashes started to spread in the Greek capital, with a large crowd
gathered outside the burned bank when Marfin's boss tried to visit the
site. Clashes broke out between the crowd and police when the former
attacked the bank magnate accusing him of forcing the dead workers to scab
on a general strike and locking them in the building despite them
demanding to evacuate it since 12:00.

In Parliament the Communist Party of Greece has accused the government for
the deaths, claiming it was a result of agents provocateur fascist groups.
The claims of the Communist Party are based on the fact that 50 fascists
tried to enter the PAME demo bearing the flags of the union earlier in the
morning. The fascists were spotted, chased and sought refuge behind riot
police lines. Accusing the extreme-right as being behind the deaths, the
Coalition of Radical Left has declared in Parliament that the government
cannot pretend to be in grief for the loss of life, as it has been
attacking human life by all means possible.

Meanwhile, extended clashes broke out in Salonika where approximately
50,000 people marched destroying dozens of banks and corporate shops in
Greece's second largest city. Clashes with the police continued for
several hours. According to news broadcasts anarchist have occupied the
Labour Center of the city.

In Patras, around 20,000 protesters were joined by tractor drivers and
garbage truck drivers on their vehicles, as flaming barricades were
erected along central streets of the city and clashes developed between
protestors and the police.

In Ioannina the protesters attacked banks and corporate shops leading to
extended use of chemicals by the police. In Heraklion, 10,000 people are
reported as marching against the measures. In Corfu, protesters taking
part in the anti-measures march occupied the County Headquarters.
Protesters have occupied the Administrative Headquarters of Naxos and the
City Hall of Naoussa.

As a result of the Athens riots, the police have cordoned off the entire
center of the city, erecting check points of entry and exit, while all
police work permits have been recalled. At the time of writing battles
continue to rage in the inner city, while news broadcasts claim the police
is mobilising its forces to storm an anarchist squat in Exarcheia.

May 5 2010

Update: the union of bank workers (OTOE) has declared a strike for
tomorrow in response to the death of the three bank workers today. The
union puts the blame for the deaths on the bank bosses and the police.

A video of protesters attacking Mr Vgenopoulos the boss of Marfin visiting
the burned bank, calling him a murderer can be seen here
http://www.zougla.gr/page.ashx?pid=2&aid=131644&cid=4

A video of riot police smashing a coffee shop in Exarcheia can be seen
here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkQ4YsRlFxI&feature=player_embedded#%23!


"The management of the bank strictly barred the employees from leaving
today ... while they also forced the employees to lock up the doors" -
Statements on the deaths in Athens

May 6 2010

Following the deaths of three workers in a fire at a bank in central
Athens yesterday, we reproduce for reference the statements of a worker at
the Marfin bank on the incident, and the communiques of the bank workers'
union OTOE and the Skaramanga squat in Athens. The bank workers union
struck today in response to the deaths, blaming the goverment and
employers for the fatalities.

The statement of an employee of the Marfin bank on the deaths:
Quote:

"I feel an obligation toward my co-workers who have so unjustly died
today to speak out and to say some objective truths. I am sending this
message to all media outlets. Anyone who still bares some
consciousness should publish it. The rest can continue to play the
government's game.

The fire brigade had never issued an operating license to the building
in question. The agreement for it to operate was under the table, as
it practically happens with all businesses and companies in Greece.

The building in question has no fire safety mechanisms in place,
neither planned nor installed ones – that is, it has no ceiling
sprinklers, fire exits or fire hoses. There are only some portable
fire extinguishers which, of course, cannot help in dealing with
extensive fire in a building that is built with long-outdated security
standards.

No branch of Marfin bank has had any member of staff trained in
dealing with fire, not even in the use of the few fire extinguishers.
The management also uses the high costs of such training as a pretext
and will not take even the most basic measures to protect its staff.

There has never been a single evacuation exercise in any building by
staff members, nor have there been any training sessions by the
fire-brigade, to give instructions for situations like this. The only
training sessions that have taken place at Marfin Bank concern
terrorist action scenarios and specifically planning the escape of the
banks' "big heads" from their offices in such a situation.

The building in question had no special accommodation for the case of
fire, even though its construction is very sensitive under such
circumstances and even though it was filled with materials from floor
to ceiling. Materials which are very inflammable, such as paper,
plastics, wires, furniture. The building is objectively unsuitable for
use as a bank due to its construction.

No member of security has any knowledge of first aid or fire
extinguishing, even though they are every time practically charged
with securing the building. The bank employees have to turn into
firemen or security staff according to the appetite of Mr Vgenopoulos
[owner of Marfin Bank].

The management of the bank strictly bared the employees from leaving
today, even though they had persistently asked so themselves from very
early this morning – while they also forced the employees to lock up
the doors and repeatedly confirmed that the building remained locked
up throughout the day, over the phone. They even blocked off their
internet access so as to prevent the employees from communicating with
the outside world.

For many days now there has been some complete terrorisation of the
bank's employees in regard to the mobilisations of these days, with
the verbal "offer": you either work, or you get fired.

The two undercover police who are dispatched at the branch in question
for robbery prevention did not show up today, even though the bank's
management had verbally promised to the employees that they would be
there.

At last, gentlemen, make your self-criticism and stop wandering around
pretending to be shocked. You are responsible for what happened today
and in any rightful state (like the ones you like to use from time to
time as leading examples on your TV shows) you would have already been
arrested for the above actions. My co-workers lost their lives today
by malice: the malice of Marfin Bank and Mr. Vgenopoulos personally
who explicitly stated that whoever didin't come to work today [May
5th, a day of a general strike!] should not bother showing up for work
tomorrow [as they would get fired]."

Statement of the banks workers' union, OTOE, which struck today:
Quote:

Three dead colleagues, working in Marfin - Egnatia Bank are the
victims of riots that occurred in the late panergatikis peaceful
demonstration in the center of Athens.

The three unfortunate employees trapped in the shop of the Bank, which
burst into flames could not be removed, thereby losing their lives.

The OTOE condemns in the strongest terms those who engage in such acts
of violence with which it dealt with the problems of the people of our
country and demands exemplary punishment of the culprits.

But this tragic event which deprived the lives of three colleagues
(two women and one man) is the sad result of unpopular measures roused
the popular anger and protest of hundreds of thousands of workers,
which, however, have physical and moral perpetrators.

The perpetrators must be found and punished exemplary.

The instigators, but must be sought on policy, the operational
attitude of the police and the bank management that the coercive
practices hinder the participation of workers in action and the
irresponsibility of not receiving timely manner all necessary security
measures to protect the lives of workers and citizens to bank
branches, which are familiar and timeless goals throughout the
itinerary whenever the workers' demonstrations and protests.

But serious political responsibility has the government apparently did
not calculate the size and extent of effects on Greek society and
people's decisions regarding the economic tradition of our country in
the troika of D.N.T ., the European Union and the ESF, and the
temporal demands of the local chapter.

The OTOE in protest, expressing anger and indignation of the bank
sector and the entire Clerks and Workers union movement against the
individuals and sponsors of the horrific events of loss of life of
three colleagues, Nationwide launches 24-hour strike tomorrow,
Thursday, May 6 .

We urge the government to reconsider its policy directed exclusively
against non-privileged citizens of our country.

To look into alternatives paths to observe the weak masses will have
to pay those who are truly responsible for the tragic economic
bottlenecks facing our country.

It is high time all of the political system to understand that the
river of popular rage is not guided, not entrenched and will not stop
until there is justification and democratic governance fully conforms
with the popular sentiment.

THE PRESS OF OTOE

Statement by the Skaramanga squat in Anthens
Quote:

The murderers "mourn" their victims

(Regarding today's tragic death of 3 people)

The enormous strike demonstration which took place today, 5th of May
turned into a social outflow of rage. At least 200,000 people of all
ages took to the streets (employees and unemployed, in the public and
private sector, locals and migrants) attempting, over many hours and
in consecutive waves, to surround and to take over the Parliament. The
forces of repression came out in full force, to play their familiar
role – that is, of the protection of the political and financial
authorities. The clashes were hours long and extensive. The political
system and its institutions reached a nadir.

However, in the midst of all this, a tragic event that no words can
possibly describe took place: 3 people died from infusions at the
branch of Marfin Bank on Stadiou Avenue, which was set ablaze.

The state and the entire journalistic riff-raff, without any shame
toward the dead or their close ones, spoke from the very first moment
about some "murderer-hooded up youths", trying to take advantage of
the event, in order to calm the wave of social rage that had erupted
and to recover their authority that had been torn apart; to impose
once again a police occupation of the streets, to wipe out sources of
social resistance and disobedience against state terrorism and
capitalist barbarity. For this reason, during the last few hours the
police forces have been marching through the center of Athens, they
have conducted hundreds of detentions and they raided – with shootings
and stun-grenades – the anarchist occupation "space of united
multiform action" on Zaimi street and the "migrant haunt" on Tsamadou
Street, causing extensive damage (both these places are in the
Exarcheia neighbourhood of Athens). At the same time the threat of a
violent police eviction is hanging over the rest of the self-organised
spaces (occupations and haunts) after the Prime-ministerial speech
which referred to soon-to-come raids for the arrest of the
"murderers".

The governors, governmental officials, their political personnel, the
TV-mouthpieces and the salaried hack writers attempt in this way to
purify their regime and the criminalise the anarchists and every
unpatronised voice of struggle. As if there would ever be the
slightest of chances that whoever attacked the bank (provided the
official scenario stands) would possibly know there were people
inside, and that they would torch it alight regardless. They seem to
confuse the people in struggle for themselves: them who without any
hesitation hand over the entire society to the deepest pillage and
enslaving, who order their praetorians to attack without hesitation
and to aim and shoot to kill, them who have lead three people to
suicide in the past week alone, due to financial debts.

The truth is that the real murderer, the real instigator of today's
tragic death of 3 people is "mister" Vgenopoulos, who used the usual
employers' blackmailing (the threat of sacking) and forced his
employees to work in the branches of his bank during a day of strike –
and even in a branch like the one of Stadiou Avenue, where the
strike's demonstration would pass through. Such blackmailing is known
only too well by anyone experiencing the terrorism of salaried slavery
on an everyday level. We are awaiting to see what excuses Vgenopoulos
will come up with for the relatives of the victims and for the society
as a whole – this ultra-capitalist now hinted by some centers of power
as the next prime minister in a future "national unity government"
that could follow the expected, complete collapse of the political
system.

If an unprecedented strike can ever be a murderer…

If an unprecedented demonstration, in an unprecedented crisis, can
ever be a murderer…

If open social spaces that are alive and public can ever be murderers…

If the state can impose a curfew and attack demonstrators under the
pretext of arresting murderers…

If Vgenopoulos can detain his employees inside a bank – that is, a
primary social enemy and target for demonstrators…

…it is because authority, this serial murderer, wants to slaughter
upon its birth a revolt which questions the supposed solution of an
even harsher attack on society, of an even larger pillage by capital,
of an even thirstier sucking of our blood.

…it is because the future of the revolt does not include politicians
and bosses, police and mass media.

… it is because behind their much-advertised "only" solution, there is
a solution that does not speak of development rates and unemployment
but rather, it speaks of solidarity, self-organising and human
relationships.

When asking who are the murderers of life, of freedom, of dignity, the
ferments of authority and capital, they and their tuft hunters only
need to take a look at their own selves. Today and every day.

HANDS OFF FREE SOCIAL SPACES

IT IS THE STATE AND THE CAPITALISTS WHO ARE THE MURDERERS, TERRORISTS
AND CRIMINALS

EVERYONE TO THE STREETS

REVOLT

from the open assembly of the evening of 5/5/2010

State terror in Exarcheia

May 6 2010

Ioanna Manoushaka, victim of state terror inside her appartment

In an orgy of collective punishment the Greek police unleashed a brutal
attack on Exarcheia, after the end of yesterday's protest march,
destroying shops and social centres, evacuating a squat at gunpoint and
brutalising the locals.

The police brutality seen on the streets of Exarcheia last evening after
the end of the general strike protest march in Athens has been
unprecedented and casts serious doubts on the nature of the present regime
in Greece which is casting away its democratic veil to expose itself as
what it really is: the continuation of the colonel's junta.

After the end of the protest march hundreds of riot and motorised
policemen stormed Exarcheia, the down-town neighborhood of Athens
associated with radical politics since the start of the 20th century. The
police proceeded to brutalise bystanders and people drinking their coffee
in the area, while smashing up Exarcheia square's traditional coffee
house, despite the fact that it was filled with customers. The video of
the police wanton violence can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkQ4YsRlFxI&feature=player_embedded

The locals did not hesitate to heckle the police thugs chanting
"junta-junta" and "SS SS". In response the cops retaliated by beating
anyone on their way and even invading a block of apartments. According to
Ioanna Manoushaka (see photo) she was standing on the front door of the
block shouting at the cops that they have made life in the neighborhood
unbearable when policemen attacked her with globs breaking her arm and
teeth. She then run up the stairs and locked herself in her apartment, but
the riot policemen followed her and tried to smash the door for five
minutes, while her and her husband, a well known composer, barricaded
themselves.

Shouting "tonight we will fuck you", the police then proceeded to invade
and smash the Social Centre (Haunt of Immigrants) of Diktio, the "Network
of Social and Civil Rights", a left-wing group with many decades of action
against state terrorism. According to the announcement of the Diktio, "The
government of the IMF and of the junta of the market is trying to exploit
the criminal act on the bank and impose a regime of terror in the country.
The orgy of police-rule by means of chemical warfare and mass beatings
reached its climax this evening in Exarcheia".

At the same time strong police forces surrounded the anarchist squat at
Zaimi street above the Polytechneio and proceeded to invade and evacuate
it at gunpoint. Reports that the policemen actually shot in the air during
the evacuation are not verified. All people inside were arrested.

The practice of collective retaliation to yesterday's popular resistance
to the measures is a method characteristic of the Nazi-collaborating
government of the 1940s, justifying the now common name shouted at
policemen "german-tsoliades" (the death squad brigade of 'tsoliades' under
quisling orders)


May 6 2010

more pics from the social center

https://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1164674

https://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1164342

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Evergreen Labor Center Moving to South Seattle CC

Statement by Evergreen Labor Center Director Peter Kardas on the Labor Center Move to South Seattle Community College

May 4, 2010

 

The Governor has signed the state’s operating budget, and what was rumor is now fact:  the Labor Center is moving to South Seattle Community College, effective July 1st, 2010.  After 23 years the Labor Center will no longer have a physical presence at The Evergreen State College.  Why is this happening?  Who or what is behind the move?  And what are the prospects that South Seattle will be a good home for the Labor Center?

 

The main reason that Labor Center staff began a year ago to explore the idea of a move was the 50% cut to our budget that took effect July 1st, 2009.  That cut, which was imposed by the Evergreen administration, came only two years after the legislature and governor, with the encouragement of the Washington State Labor Council and many labor unions, doubled our budget, giving a taste for the first time in the Labor Center’s history of what an adequate amount of funding might look like.  The cut also came with the suggestion that the college might impose further cuts in 2011 to all public service centers, including the Labor Center, if state revenues did not pick up.  The prospects for holding on to current funding, let alone returning to our high budget mark or expanding beyond it, seemed very grim.  Therefore, it seemed smart to explore the possibility of transferring what funds we have left to another institution that might be more willing to support us for the long haul.  And so last summer we approached the Washington State Labor Council and allies in labor unions to explore that possibility.

 

The idea of moving to South Seattle Community College (and the Georgetown campus in particular) was suggested by a number of folks (including people who don’t live in Seattle!).  Why South Seattle?  The highest union density in the state (and therefore the greatest potential demand for labor education) is in the central Puget Sound region.  There are a number of apprenticeships and other union education programs on the Georgetown campus, and dozens of unions have their headquarters within a 15 mile radius of the campus.  In addition, labor leaders in that geographic region have expressed strong support for the Center’s move to Georgetown.  So has the faculty union on campus, as have legislators with union backgrounds from the region.  In other words, there’s lots of interest in the move to South, lots of support from key players, lots of need for labor education in that geographical area – and therefore, lots of reasons to think that the move will be good for the Labor Center’s fundamental mission of “providing direct educational and research services to labor unions and worker-centered organizations.”

 

The work of negotiating the Center’s transfer from Evergreen to South Seattle was done by Rick Bender, Al Link, and Jeff Johnson from the Washington State Labor Council.  Many thanks to them for their excellent diplomatic efforts.  They met twice and communicated frequently with both Evergreen President Les Purce and the presidents of South Seattle in the weeks leading up to the legislature’s authorization of the transfer through a budget proviso.  Through these negotiations, Les Purce came to support the idea of the move as a way of positioning the Labor Center to best serve unions and working people in the state.  He authorized the transfer of all state operating funds the Center currently receives from Evergreen, meaning the Center will have some $164,000 per year available to begin the rebuilding process at a new institution.  This will be enough money for two full-time staff:  one director and one labor educator.  We don’t know yet who those people will be because South Seattle will be holding open searches for the two positions, a requirement we hadn’t anticipated.  We have been told that Sarah Laslett and I will be offered interim short-term contracts beginning July 1st while the open searches are conducted.

 

I know many people reading this will be disturbed by this news and concerned that something important will be lost in moving the Labor Center from Evergreen to a more conventional college.  After all, there’s been some important chemistry between Evergreen’s participatory, interdisciplinary educational practices and the popular education model valued by the Labor Center.  In addition, Evergreen’s position at the edge of the educational system, and geographically at the edge of the Puget Sound itself, has encouraged a similar relationship between the Center and labor unions.  It has been argued that being at the edge as a Labor Center has provided some protection for critical thinking by workers, union members, union officers, and staff about the work which needs to be done to revitalize the labor movement.  Those who have valued this marginality may be worried about the Labor Center moving closer to the centers of union power.  Will we lose our ability to offer something valuable to institutions that sometimes get stuck in counterproductive patterns of survival?

 

I understand the spirit that underlies this concern.  However, the reality is that the Labor Center has always been closely connected to unions, even if the unions we’ve worked with have shifted over time.  A core part of the Center’s existence since the beginning has been providing direct educational services to unions and their members.  In addition, we’ve depended on unions and organizations like the Washington State Labor Council to advocate on our behalf with the governor and the legislature and to defend and expand our budgets.  Wanting to strengthen our ties to unions is not counter to the Center’s history, but very much in keeping with it.  It’s also necessary to our continued survival.

 

In terms of providing a space at South Seattle for continued critical reflection about the labor movement, it’s fortunate that a lot of unions have formal connections with the college – everything from the faculty union (AFT Local 1789) and the staff union (WFSE Local 304) to construction unions and manufacturing and health care unions.  That diversity means lots of stimulation to Labor Center staff offering educational programs for the labor movement and the organizations and people who compose it (including those folks not currently organized into unions).  The union diversity on campus is supplemented by the connection between formal organized labor and the community college system.  The Washington State Labor Council has a seat on the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and unions have representation on the boards for the individual colleges as well.  So the Center won’t be isolated from union allies as everyone in the public sector deals with inadequate budgets in the coming years.

 

Nevertheless, might there still be risks in moving the Labor Center from one institution to another?  Absolutely, there are huge risks.  We’ve already seen that South’s administration is requiring existing staff to reapply for our jobs.  In addition, the college’s initial plan for where we will be placed administratively has us reporting to a business-oriented program, a totally inappropriate choice which we and our Advisory Committee are challenging.  So there’s a risk that no current Labor Center staff will end up at South Seattle, and that whoever staffs the Center will have to quickly take up a struggle for respect and independence.  But with all these challenges I still think the prospects for long-term survival and growth are better at South Seattle than they would have been at Evergreen.  We’ve got a good Advisory Committee that’s already grappling with these issues, the faculty union at the college is keeping a close eye on things, there are many excellent faculty on the campuses of the Seattle Community Colleges who care about labor, and legislators from the area are concerned.  The Labor Center will have to struggle no matter where it is located, so you have to gauge where you think the struggle has the best chance of success and give it your best shot.  By its very geography and institutional relationships with labor, South Seattle is still the place where there’s important union and population density, more union presence on campus, more union locals in the area, and therefore greater possibility for survival.

 

Having said that, I do want to acknowledge our debt to the many, many people at Evergreen who have helped to build up the Center over the years.  This includes former directors and founders Dan Leahy and Helen Lee, who laid a pedagogical and philosophical foundation for the Center that we honor to this day.  It also includes all the staff, students, and volunteers (including members of the Advisory Committee) who have worked with the Center over the years.  During my ten years I’ve been privileged to work with some remarkable people, not only the existing staff (Juan José Bocanegra, Sarah Laslett, and Nina Triffleman) but also the folks who preceded them:  Sue Hirst, Dennis Otterstetter, Lucilene Lira, and, for a brief time, Paul Bigman.  All amazing folks who made the Labor Center a rich place to work, despite the financial austerity we always faced.

 

If the crisis for the Center weren’t so real, and the prospects for survival and expansion on campus so grim, I’d say we wouldn’t have the right to support the  move from Evergreen to South Seattle.  You don’t make a decision like that casually.  However, since we’re meant to be a Labor Center for all of Washington state, and for unions and worker organizations in particular, our most important responsibility is to survive, thrive, and hopefully expand so that we can fulfill this broader mandate.  We’ve been Evergreen’s Labor Center, yes, but more importantly we’ve been Washington’s Labor Center at Evergreen, and we need to remember this distinction even as we acknowledge our roots.  In addition, we don’t expect our origins at Evergreen to be lost in coming years.  Representatives from Evergreen will (hopefully) continue to serve on our Advisory  Committee, the Center may continue to offer the Summer School for Union Women on that campus, and Center staff will be available as consultants (and classroom speakers, etc.) to academic programs.  The details all need to be worked out, but there’s no desire, on my part at least, to wipe out our historical connection with Evergreen.

 

Are there ways you can help us out as we transition to our new home?  We’ll be in touch about opportunities to contribute money once the move has taken place – of course – but in the meantime, I welcome any statement you would like to make about what the Labor Center has meant to you, what you don’t want to see lost, what you value in the way of independence in labor education, and/or what you want the Labor Center to become.  Send your statements to me, and I’ll collect them and if it seems appropriate send copies to union leaders and college administrators with whom we will be working.

 

One final thing to remember – even though we’re moving to a community college in Seattle, we’ll still be a state-wide program.  This we’ve been assured by the South Seattle administration, and is something that is understood by our supporters among Seattle unions.  So please make sure you keep in touch about programs you’d like to see offered in your union and your region.

 

Wish us luck with the move, and if there are ways you can help us with it, please get in touch.

 

In solidarity,

 

Peter Kardas

 

From: "Kardas, Peter" <KardasP@evergreen.edu>
Date: Tue, May 4, 2010

Statement by Evergreen Labor Center Director Peter Kardas on the Labor
Center Move to South Seattle Community College

May 4, 2010

The Governor has signed the state's operating budget, and what was rumor
is now fact: the Labor Center is moving to South Seattle Community
College, effective July 1st, 2010. After 23 years the Labor Center will
no longer have a physical presence at The Evergreen State College. Why is
this happening? Who or what is behind the move? And what are the
prospects that South Seattle will be a good home for the Labor Center?

The main reason that Labor Center staff began a year ago to explore the
idea of a move was the 50% cut to our budget that took effect July 1st,
2009. That cut, which was imposed by the Evergreen administration, came
only two years after the legislature and governor, with the encouragement
of the Washington State Labor Council and many labor unions, doubled our
budget, giving a taste for the first time in the Labor Center's history of
what an adequate amount of funding might look like. The cut also came
with the suggestion that the college might impose further cuts in 2011 to
all public service centers, including the Labor Center, if state revenues
did not pick up. The prospects for holding on to current funding, let
alone returning to our high budget mark or expanding beyond it, seemed
very grim. Therefore, it seemed smart to explore the possibility of
transferring what funds we have left to another institution that might be
more willing to support us for the long haul. And so last summer we
approached the Washington State Labor Council and allies in labor unions
to explore that possibility.

The idea of moving to South Seattle Community College (and the Georgetown
campus in particular) was suggested by a number of folks (including people
who don't live in Seattle!). Why South Seattle? The highest union
density in the state (and therefore the greatest potential demand for
labor education) is in the central Puget Sound region. There are a number
of apprenticeships and other union education programs on the Georgetown
campus, and dozens of unions have their headquarters within a 15 mile
radius of the campus. In addition, labor leaders in that geographic
region have expressed strong support for the Center's move to Georgetown.
So has the faculty union on campus, as have legislators with union
backgrounds from the region. In other words, there's lots of interest in
the move to South, lots of support from key players, lots of need for
labor education in that geographical area - and therefore, lots of reasons
to think that the move will be good for the Labor Center's fundamental
mission of "providing direct educational and research services to labor
unions and worker-centered organizations."

The work of negotiating the Center's transfer from Evergreen to South
Seattle was done by Rick Bender, Al Link, and Jeff Johnson from the
Washington State Labor Council. Many thanks to them for their excellent
diplomatic efforts. They met twice and communicated frequently with both
Evergreen President Les Purce and the presidents of South Seattle in the
weeks leading up to the legislature's authorization of the transfer
through a budget proviso. Through these negotiations, Les Purce came to
support the idea of the move as a way of positioning the Labor Center to
best serve unions and working people in the state. He authorized the
transfer of all state operating funds the Center currently receives from
Evergreen, meaning the Center will have some $164,000 per year available
to begin the rebuilding process at a new institution. This will be enough
money for two full-time staff: one director and one labor educator. We
don't know yet who those people will be because South Seattle will be
holding open searches for the two positions, a requirement we hadn't
anticipated. We have been told that Sarah Laslett and I will be offered
interim short-term contracts beginning July 1st while the open searches
are conducted.

I know many people reading this will be disturbed by this news and
concerned that something important will be lost in moving the Labor Center
from Evergreen to a more conventional college. After all, there's been
some important chemistry between Evergreen's participatory,
interdisciplinary educational practices and the popular education model
valued by the Labor Center. In addition, Evergreen's position at the edge
of the educational system, and geographically at the edge of the Puget
Sound itself, has encouraged a similar relationship between the Center and
labor unions. It has been argued that being at the edge as a Labor Center
has provided some protection for critical thinking by workers, union
members, union officers, and staff about the work which needs to be done
to revitalize the labor movement. Those who have valued this marginality
may be worried about the Labor Center moving closer to the centers of
union power. Will we lose our ability to offer something valuable to
institutions that sometimes get stuck in counterproductive patterns of
survival?

I understand the spirit that underlies this concern. However, the reality
is that the Labor Center has always been closely connected to unions, even
if the unions we've worked with have shifted over time. A core part of
the Center's existence since the beginning has been providing direct
educational services to unions and their members. In addition, we've
depended on unions and organizations like the Washington State Labor
Council to advocate on our behalf with the governor and the legislature
and to defend and expand our budgets. Wanting to strengthen our ties to
unions is not counter to the Center's history, but very much in keeping
with it. It's also necessary to our continued survival.

In terms of providing a space at South Seattle for continued critical
reflection about the labor movement, it's fortunate that a lot of unions
have formal connections with the college - everything from the faculty
union (AFT Local 1789) and the staff union (WFSE Local 304) to
construction unions and manufacturing and health care unions. That
diversity means lots of stimulation to Labor Center staff offering
educational programs for the labor movement and the organizations and
people who compose it (including those folks not currently organized into
unions). The union diversity on campus is supplemented by the connection
between formal organized labor and the community college system. The
Washington State Labor Council has a seat on the State Board for Community
and Technical Colleges, and unions have representation on the boards for
the individual colleges as well. So the Center won't be isolated from
union allies as everyone in the public sector deals with inadequate
budgets in the coming years.

Nevertheless, might there still be risks in moving the Labor Center from
one institution to another? Absolutely, there are huge risks. We've
already seen that South's administration is requiring existing staff to
reapply for our jobs. In addition, the college's initial plan for where
we will be placed administratively has us reporting to a business-oriented
program, a totally inappropriate choice which we and our Advisory
Committee are challenging. So there's a risk that no current Labor Center
staff will end up at South Seattle, and that whoever staffs the Center
will have to quickly take up a struggle for respect and independence. But
with all these challenges I still think the prospects for long-term
survival and growth are better at South Seattle than they would have been
at Evergreen. We've got a good Advisory Committee that's already
grappling with these issues, the faculty union at the college is keeping a
close eye on things, there are many excellent faculty on the campuses of
the Seattle Community Colleges who care about labor, and legislators from
the area are concerned. The Labor Center will have to struggle no matter
where it is located, so you have to gauge where you think the struggle has
the best chance of success and give it your best shot. By its very
geography and institutional relationships with labor, South Seattle is
still the place where there's important union and population density, more
union presence on campus, more union locals in the area, and therefore
greater possibility for survival.

Having said that, I do want to acknowledge our debt to the many, many
people at Evergreen who have helped to build up the Center over the years.
This includes former directors and founders Dan Leahy and Helen Lee, who
laid a pedagogical and philosophical foundation for the Center that we
honor to this day. It also includes all the staff, students, and
volunteers (including members of the Advisory Committee) who have worked
with the Center over the years. During my ten years I've been privileged
to work with some remarkable people, not only the existing staff (Juan
José Bocanegra, Sarah Laslett, and Nina Triffleman) but also the folks who
preceded them: Sue Hirst, Dennis Otterstetter, Lucilene Lira, and, for a
brief time, Paul Bigman. All amazing folks who made the Labor Center a
rich place to work, despite the financial austerity we always faced.

If the crisis for the Center weren't so real, and the prospects for
survival and expansion on campus so grim, I'd say we wouldn't have the
right to support the move from Evergreen to South Seattle. You don't
make a decision like that casually. However, since we're meant to be a
Labor Center for all of Washington state, and for unions and worker
organizations in particular, our most important responsibility is to
survive, thrive, and hopefully expand so that we can fulfill this broader
mandate. We've been Evergreen's Labor Center, yes, but more importantly
we've been Washington's Labor Center at Evergreen, and we need to remember
this distinction even as we acknowledge our roots. In addition, we don't
expect our origins at Evergreen to be lost in coming years.
Representatives from Evergreen will (hopefully) continue to serve on our
Advisory Committee, the Center may continue to offer the Summer School
for Union Women on that campus, and Center staff will be available as
consultants (and classroom speakers, etc.) to academic programs. The
details all need to be worked out, but there's no desire, on my part at
least, to wipe out our historical connection with Evergreen.

Are there ways you can help us out as we transition to our new home?
We'll be in touch about opportunities to contribute money once the move
has taken place - of course - but in the meantime, I welcome any statement
you would like to make about what the Labor Center has meant to you, what
you don't want to see lost, what you value in the way of independence in
labor education, and/or what you want the Labor Center to become. Send
your statements to me, and I'll collect them and if it seems appropriate
send copies to union leaders and college administrators with whom we will
be working.

One final thing to remember - even though we're moving to a community
college in Seattle, we'll still be a state-wide program. This we've been
assured by the South Seattle administration, and is something that is
understood by our supporters among Seattle unions. So please make sure
you keep in touch about programs you'd like to see offered in your union
and your region.

Wish us luck with the move, and if there are ways you can help us with it,
please get in touch.

In solidarity,

Peter Kardas

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

[olympiaworkers] Teachers clash with police in Greek State TV Headquarters

Libcom.org May 3 2010

Clashes erupted between teachers and riot police inside the Headquarters
of the Greek State TV after the former entered the building trying to
interrupt the speech of the Minister of Education

On Monday 4 May evening teachers invaded the Greek State TV (ERT)
Headquarters in order to interrupt the interview of the Minister of
Education Mrs Diamadopoulou concerning the new educational reform which is
expected to lead to a radical devaluation of the greek educational system.
Ms Diamandopoulou was rescued by a back door of the building, while ERT
interrupted its main news broadcast refusing to let the teachers present
their demands live. At the same time, strong police forces surrounded the
building which they entered attacking the teachers. During the clashes
within the building many people were reported as wounded. Soon hundreds of
protesters gathered in solidarity outside the ERT Mansion forcing the riot
police to allow the exit of the teachers. After their exit representatives
of the teachers have gone public calling the PASOK government a "quisling
government" comparing it to the Tsolakoglou Nazi-collaborator government
of the 1940s. The teachers and solidarity protesters formed a demo and
marched down Mesogeion Avenue.

The teachers have declared a 48h strike for the 4th and 5th of May in
opposition to the educational reform which is believed will lead to a
sharp devaluation of the educational system.

videos of the ERT incident can be seen at
http://www.zougla.gr/page.ashx?pid=2&aid=131022&cid=9

May 4 2010 15:44

Update: new clashes erupted today during the march of the teachers. The
march numbering around 10,000 teachers clashed with riot police outside
the Greek Parliament after the teachers attacked police lines with sticks
and projectiles.

Meanwhile, PAME activists dropped huge banners calling for the people of
Europe to revolt from the Acropolis, while a series of occupations have
taken place during the day in the country: Aspis Bank was occupied in
Marousi, most of schools of the Upper Polytechneio in Athens were occupied
by students, while grassroots unions have blockaded the High Courts of the
city of Pyrgos.