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Dear members of the expert committee on transgender issues set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, We would like to first of all thank the MSJE for taking up the issue of trans people in the country. We would also like to appreciate the steps taken by the ministry to address the […]

PEOPLE’S UNION FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS Press Release 23 January 2014 Racism, moral policing and authoritarianism- not the common man’s tools! In the drama of the last four days, the culpability of the Delhi Government and its Law Minister regarding the incident on January 15th 2014, against four Nigerian and Ugandan women in particular stands exposed. […]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bihar-death-row-convicts-families-fear-the-worst/article5615430.ece Bihar death row convicts’ families fear the worst Rahi Gaikwad For the family of death row convict Krishna Mochi, time has lost its value. Mochi was arrested and jailed in the Bara massacre case of 1992. He never got bail. Ten years have passed since he sent a mercy plea to the President, but […]

1) 2.43 lakh hectares of forests cleared for projects during UPA regime 2) Rio Tinto finds diamond reserves in Bastar, but says can’t mine due to Maoist problem 1) http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/243-lakh-hectares-of-forests-cleared-for-projects-during-upa-regime/article5615195.ece 2.43 lakh hectares of forests cleared for projects during UPA regime Nitin Sethi A whopping 2.43 lakh hectares of forests have been cleared for industrial […]

As we get some distance from the festive period Anticapitalist Initiative (ACI) activists across the country are getting back stuck in on a variety of fronts. Below is a brief round-up of just some of the work supporters are involved […]

The post Supporters Update – January 2014 appeared first on AntiCapitalists.

Meeting organised by FAMA to remember Abhee Dutta Majumdar 25th January, 4 PM, Bharat Sabha Hall, B B Ganguly Street, Kolkata

Minneapolis, MN – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in Harris v. Quinn, and the ruling could have a devastating impact on public sector workers and their unions.

The case was petitioned to the Supreme Court by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW), a right-wing anti-union group.  Harris v. Quinn narrowly looks at whether or not home care workers in the state of Illinois are public employees with the right to unionize. Illinois law allows home care workers to unionize, though in the case in question, the workers actually voted against having any union representation. Despite that, the NRTW appealed the case to the Supreme Court, seizing an opportunity to push the highest court to issue a sweeping ruling that would ensure no future unionization opportunities.

The NRTW is not content to have the court rule only on home care representation. They argued that it is unconstitutional for public sector unions to have exclusive representation rights and the ability to collect fair share fees for any public workers, even when the dues are used only for collective bargaining purposes. In essence, they want to turn every state into a ‘right to work’ state for public employees.

The questions posed by the most right-wing members of the Supreme Court made clear that they are salivating at the opportunity to strip the right to unionize from all public workers. A number of commentators have speculated that conservative Justice Antonin Scalia may end up the voice of ‘reason’ on this case. Though Scalia can in no way be considered a friend of labor, many speculate that he is less likely than the other conservatives on the court to reject 40 years of legal precedent recognizing the rights of public workers to unionize. Justice Scalia is also unlikely to want to restrict states’ rights to set their own laws. Union officials are counting on Justice Scalia to be the swing vote ruling in their favor on this case. A decision is expected later this year.

Harris v. Quinn is just the most recent in a series of court cases aimed at breaking unions. It is part of a concerted effort carried out in the courts, state legislatures and federal government to attack workers and defund unions (both public and private sector) by taking away a union’s ability to collect dues. These anti-union efforts have succeeded in Wisconsin, where public sector unions have lost at least 40% of their dues-paying membership since Governor Scott Walker succeeded in destroying collective bargaining for public employees. In Michigan, home of important sit-down strikes, ‘right to work’ is now the law.

Working people and the unions who represent us cannot rely on ‘moderate’ conservatives and narrow legal arguments to protect us. In fact, the law has been established to limit the effectiveness of union organizing and the Supreme Court has ruled time and again to strip us of our rights.

The more effective a strategy is, the more likely it is to be deemed illegal. Sit-down strike, where strikers occupy their worksite, thus preventing the company from bringing in scabs (‘replacement workers’) or finding other means to continue production, are a good example. This tactic was ruled illegal by the National Labor Relations Board after waves of sit-down strikes in the late 1930s led to significant gains for workers. The legality of the sit-down strike made it to the Supreme Court, which they ruled on Feb. 27, 1939, in the case of NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation, that sit-down-strikes were essentially illegal. The court ruled that workers who violated the law, regardless of whether that violation was provoked by a violation of the company, did not have to be reinstated. In other words, any worker who broke the law during a strike could be fired, no matter what.

As Joe Burns, labor lawyer and author of the book Reviving the Strike, states, “We cannot understand or overcome the weakness of the modern labor movement without addressing the role of the judiciary in suppressing labor rights. A century ago the labor movement had a crystal clear understanding of the role of the United States Supreme Court. From the early 1900s into the 1930s, labor activists railed against not just unfavorable labor law decisions but against the very idea that judges should be allowed to intervene in labor matters. From conservative AFL officials to radical unionists, labor activists understood that courts were engaged in judge-made labor law.”

As case after case is pushed to the Supreme Court by groups like the National Right to Work Foundation, labor activists must once again challenge the idea that judges can be trusted to determine labor policy. We must also challenge people to understand that if the laws are put in place to weaken our movement, those laws need to be broken.

The greatest upsurges in labor – the private sector in the 1930s and the public sector in the 1960s – were the result of hundreds of thousands of working people rising up and defying labor laws that were created to prevent us from winning. If we are to rebuild a strong movement of working people, we need to reclaim the tools of our historic successes, and not count on the courts to grant us the permission to use them.

Cherrene Horazuk is President of AFSCME 3800 which represents clerical workers at the University of Minnesota.

 

Los Angeles, CA – Carlos Montes, a nationally respected leader in the Chicano, immigrant rights and anti-war movements, donated his archive collection to California State University, Los Angeles, Jan. 16.

The Montes Collection will be added to the East Los Angeles Archive, which is housed in the University’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.

“I selected Cal State LA Library’s East Archive to donate my personal political files from the Chicano movement because Cal State LA is a local and respected educational institution that will make them available to the community, students, professors and the general public,” said Montes.

Montes was a co-founder of the Brown Berets, a Chicano working-class youth organization in the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s. He was also one of the leaders of the Chicano Blowouts, a series of walkouts of East Los Angeles high schools to protest against racism and inequality in Los Angeles-area high schools. He is portrayed by Fidel Gomez in the 2006 HBO movie, Walkout.

His first submissions to the archive included issues of La Causa, the Brown Beret newspaper, flyers of the political trial for the Biltmore case, legal transcripts of the court proceedings from the East LA high school walkouts prosecution, the Los Angeles Magazine with an article featuring Carlos Montes, and the Biltmore case grand jury indictment.

“Both of the cases addressed political repression against the Chicano movement, specifically the Brown Berets and myself,” Montes explained.

The East LA Archive at Cal State – Los Angeles documents the lives and events of an historical community central to the social, political and cultural history of the Chicano and Latino community in the U.S. It collects, preserves, displays and disseminates documents, artifacts and other materials related to the social and political life of the East Los Angeles region.

“The Montes Collection is an important addition to our East LA Archive, which supports the University’s commitment to civic and community engagement and learning,” said University Librarian Alice Kawakami. “Azalea Camacho, archivist, and Romelia Salinas, librarian liaison to the University’s Department of Chicano Studies, were actively involved in helping to bring this collection to our campus.”

The archive currently consists of The Gloria Arellanes Papers, The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) collection, the “Mexican-American Baseball in Los Angeles” Exhibit Collection, the Jose R. Figueroa Collection and the Claudia Baltazar Poster Collection.

   MARUTI SUZUKI WORKERS UNION  

(Registration No. 1923)

IMT Manesar, Gurgaon

Ref. No… IN23/1/2014                                                                  Date…23/1/2014

 

जनजागरण यात्रा का नौवा दिन
‘जुल्मी कब तक जुल्म करेगा शोषण़ के हथियारों से, हम भी उसको ध्वस्त करेंगे एकताबद्ध कतारों से।’

अन्याय के विरुद्ध मारुति सुजुकी वकर्स यूनियन की 15 जनवरी को कैथल जिला सचिवालय हरियाणा के सामने से शुरू हुआ ‘जनजागरण यात्रा’ आज 23 जनवरी 2014 को रोहतक पहुची। रोहतक शहर में आज पदयात्रा रोहतक बस स्टैंड, लघु सचिवालय, और मंससोवर पार्क होकर शहर में अपना प्रचार करते हुए गयी। दो नुक्कड़ सभा को संबोधित करके यूनियन ने हरियाणा मुख्यमंत्री भूपिंदर हुड्डा के नाम एक ज्ञापन दिया गया। मजदूरों ने मुख्य मांग रखते हुए कहा की 18 महीने से जेल मे बंद 148 मजदूरों को रिहा किया जाए, 18 जुलाई की घटना की उच्च स्तरीय न्यायिक जांच की जाए और सभी बर्खास्त मजदूरों को काम पर वापस लिया जाए।

 

आज सभा में मारुति सुजुकी वकर्स यूनियन के समर्थन में जनसंघर्ष मंच हरियाणा, सी.आई.टी.यू., इंकलाबी मज़दूर केन्द्र, क्रान्तिकारी नौजवान सभा, छत्तीसगढ़ मुक्ति मोर्चा- मजदूर कार्यकर्ता कमेटी, समतामूलक महिला संगठन, एस.एफ.आई., छात्र एकता मंच, रेवुलुसोनारी कल्चरल फ्रंट, सर्व कर्मचारी संघ सहित तमाम जन संगठन शामिल रहे, बात रखी और सांस्कृतिक कार्यक्रम किया। वकील रणबीर हुड्डा भी समर्थन में अपनी बात रखी। वक्ताओं ने बोला की यह सभी मजदूर और किसानो की संयुक्त लड़ाई है, और हरियाणा सरकार के अन्यायपूर्ण नीतियों के खिलाफ ये जारी रहेगा, और 31 जनवरी को दोपहर जंतर मंतर पर पहुचकर पदयात्रा को सफल बनाने की अपील की। इस दौरान मज़दूरों ने ऐलान किया कि ‘जुल्मी कब तक जुल्म

करेगा शोषण़ के हथियारों से, हम भी उसको ध्वस्त करेंगे एकताबद्ध कतारों से।’

वक्ताओं ने कहा कि एक तरफ तो तमाम अपराधी तो सत्ता में बैठे हुए हैं, लेकिन बेगुनाह 148 मज़दूर 18 महीने से जेल में बन्द हैं। गैरकानूनी कृत्यों में लिप्त प्रबन्धन तो ऐश कर रहा है और ढाई-तीन हजार मारुति के मज़दूर बेरोजगार भटक रहे हैं। वक्ताओं ने कहा कि पिछले 18 माह के दौरान यह बात साफ तौर पर देखने में आई कि कैसे जापानी मालिकों की सेवा में लगी सरकार और उसकी पुलिस-प्रशासन-श्रम विभाग सारे कानूनो को ताक पर रख कर निर्लज्ज रूप से काम कर रही है। 18 जुलाई 2012 की दुखद घटना के वास्तविक दोषी मारुती प्रबन्धन बेगुनाह बैठा है और बेगुनाहगार मज़दूर सजाएं भुगत रहे हैं,

दर-दर की ठोकरें खा रहे हैं।

यूनियन के प्रोविजोनल कमेटी के तरफ से राजपाल ने सभा को संबोधित करते हुए कहा की शासन सत्ता की बेरुखी के बाद मारुति के मजदूरों तथा जेल में बंद मजदूरों के परिजनों का एकमात्र सहारा आम मेहनतकश जनता का इस न्याय की लड़ाई में समर्थन है। जनता के वोट से चुनी हुई सरकार जापानी पूंजीपति की दलाली नंगे तौर पर कर रही है। इस सरकार को मेहनतकश जनता मुंहतोड जवाब देगी।

 

इससे पूर्व पदयात्रा कैथल से शुरू करते हुए प्योदा, देवबन, गुलियाणा, किठाना, सामदो और नागूरा गाँव समेत कैथल और जींद जिले के समस्त गांवों में अपना बात रखते हुए गयी। जत्था 19 जनवरी को जींद, 20 को गतोली और जुलाना और 22 को लाखन माजरा और भगवतीपुर होते हुए रोहतक पहुची।

 

मारुति मजदूरों के हल की दास्तान सुनने के बाद गाँव के लोगो का सरकार के खिलाफ गुस्सा बढ़ा है तथा लोग ये चर्चा करने लगे की सरकार एक जापानी कंपनी की दलाली में यहाँ तक उतर आई है की वे जेल में बंद 148 मजदूरों की ज़मानत तक नहीं होने दे रही है। जत्थे का ही असर यह है की सरकार तथा उसके नुमाइंदे गाँव गाँव पहुचकर जत्थे के रह में अवरोध पैदा कर रहे है जिसके चलते हमारा समर्थन दोगुना होता जा रहा है।

 

‘हमारे साथियों को रिहा करो’ नारे के साथ प्रारम्भ हुई इस पदयात्रा की गूँज कैथल से दिल्ली तक 16 दिनो में हर गाँव-शहर-गली-मोहोल्ले में पहुचेगी। हर जगह स्थानीय लोगो ने बोला की यह लड़ाई केवल मजदूरों की नहीं है, बल्कि अब यह लड़ाई हरियाणा की अस्मिता की भी लड़ाई बन चुकी है। क्योकि जुलाई 2012 के बाद फेक्टरियों ने हरियाणा के नौजवानों को काम पर रखना बंद कर दिया है। पदयात्रा के द्वारा हम न्याय पाने के अपने संकल्प को आम जनता तक ले जा रहे हैं।

 

मारुति सुजुकी वर्कर्स यूनियन ने विस्त्रृत कार्यक्रम घोषित करते हुए कहा कि आज रोहतक से होकर दिघल (झज्जर), 24 को चमनपुर व गुड्डा, 25 को झज्जर व दादरी, 26 को दादरी से फारूख नगर, 27 को गढ़ी और 28 को गुडगाँव में ट्रेड यूनियनो के समर्थन के साथ सभा होगी। इसके बाद पदयात्रा दिल्ली पहुचेगी। 29 जनवरी को छात्र-युवा संगठनों ने समर्थन में दिल्ली के जे.ऍन.यू. में सभा आयोजित किया है। 31 जनवरी को दिल्ली जन्तर मन्तर पर व्यापक कार्यक्रम होगा।

 

 

(रामनिवास, महाबीर, राजपाल, योगेश, कटार)
प्रोविसोनल वर्किंग कमेटी

मारुति सुजुकी वर्कर्स यूनियन

 

 

संपर्क: 08901127876, 9560564754, 9466167876, marutiworkerstruggle@gmail.com