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INTERNATIONAL NEWS |
Workers of the World Unite!
Edited extract from a speech by COSATU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi at the
Opening Session of the 17th World Congress of the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU) on 03 April 2000
It is a great pleasure and a rare privilege to welcome you to
this 17th ICFTU Congress.
To host you here, is a great honour, which we share with our
fellow African compatriots. The holding of this congress in our continent signals
confidence in the growing strength of the African trade union movement and is a strong
statement of solidarity with the African trade union movement and people.
At the opening of the last century many societies were under the yoke of colonial
oppression. That we meet in a democratic South Africa indicates humanity's progress to end
colonial and racial oppression. The defeat of apartheid must be celebrated as an important
victory for humanity and dispels the myth that we have no power to change our destiny.
This opening ceremony signals the beginning of the workers international parliament,
for the forthcoming five days the eyes of the workers around the globe will be focused on
the congress as we deliberate on the future of the trade union movement. Therefore we have
an important mandate and challenge. This watershed congress will shape the future of the
trade union movement and must meet expectations of our constituency and the progressive
movement.
We must emerge from this congress with a new sense of purpose, mission and a vision for
the trade union movement in the 21st century. In shaping this vision we must take stock of
the past to defend and secure the future. The thread running though must be Defending our
Gains and Securing our Future!
The congress takes place against the backdrop of the Seattle massive protest and the
global economic crisis. The Seattle and Davos protests signaled the end to the cozy,
secretive exclusive club comprising governments and big business shaping our destiny
without our participation. We have recorded the need for inclusivity, transparency and
democratic participation in shaping a new economic order.
The new global order threatens to plunge our world backwards into an epoch of social
disintegration, and the destruction of nations, on a scale which matches the depredations
of primitive colonialism over the last two millennia. Globalisation far from being a
powerful instrument of progress is deepening existing inequalities - which often take on a
racial and gender face - within nations and between rich and poor nations. When the market
goes too far in dominating social and political outcomes, the opportunities and rewards of
globalisation spread unequally and inequitably.
African societies are the worst affected by rampant global capital. Africa's human
development index is dismal when compared to some developing and developed societies. Most
of the African economies are poorly managed or reeling from structural adjustment
programmes. Most of the highly indebted countries are in Africa. Structural adjustment is
driven by the need of financial capital - countries must be forced to repay their debts.
Structural adjustment eroded even the minimal gains made by African countries after
independence such as improved health and education.
The dream of an "African Renaissance" will not be realised unless and until
the world economic order is fundamentally restructured. We are called upon as the
organised working class to lead the way in transforming the world economic order in favour
of the working class and the poor.
The patterns of globalisation do not only affect the poor and working people in
developing countries, but also affect those in developed countries. An increasing number
of the populations in developed countries live in income poverty. Within the developed
countries an increasing number of people and communities are falling into poverty. A
growing number of people are holding down part time, low paying jobs, as a result of
deregulation, casualisation, and contracting out.
Seattle was the beginning of a broader unity that should be consolidated. Progressive
forces need to begin to mobilise internationally to develop an alternative strategy
including:
- The development of an alternative platform for a new trade and
financial world order. - Democratisation of international multilateral institutions such as
the IMF. - Building a social movement both in the South and the North, which
begins to articulate a new development path.
Moreover, we need to build a strong trade union movement and develop strategies to
bring the 'new workers' into the fold. There is a new mood of resistance to the current
world order, which is beginning to emerge. This creates an historical opportunity to
challenge the 'globalisation paralysis', which has gripped the world over the last decade.
The following words uttered more than a hundred years ago ring truer today.
" Workers of the World Unite"
Contribute to Umsebenzi and the African Communist
Future articles and themes
This is to invite readers of Umsebenzi and the African Communist to contribute
articles on our future editions. Below are some of our future articles and themes.
-
African Rennaisance or Revolution? - During the
past two years, our country has seen the growth and development of the concept of an
ÒAfrican RennaisanceÓ. What does this mean for the African rural poor, women and the
working class? The 2nd quarter African Communist will be dedicated to this discussion.
This issue will come out in June 2000. -
Zimbabwe Ð Towards Co-option or Anti-Capitalism?
The last several months have seen a worsening of Zimbabwe's political and economic
situation. Already reeling from the prohibitive costs of maintaining thousands of troops
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, economic mismanagement, corruption and the human
and social costs of recent floods, the country is facing serious challenges. In the next
Umsebenzi, Dale McKinley will provide an analysis of events in Zimbabwe. -
Racism and gender equality - It has been six years
since we politically defeated apartheid. But what have been the challenges facing us in
defeating racism and transforming gender relations in our country? What are the links
between racism and gender?
How do poverty and class inequalities impact on racism and gender inequalities? The
third quarter African Communist will explore these questions in full.
Use the Workers Library and
Museum
Open Monday to Saturday, the Workers Library and Museum offers a
range of facilities to the labour movement.
- The library has over 3 500 books, 60 videos and 40 periodicals.
- The museum is a unique record of migrant labour and the compound
system. - The Zabalaza Conference Centre provides affordable rooms for
meetings, training and workshops.
NEW! The Workers Bookshop, supplying labour and progressive
publications, caps and t-shirts at the lowest price.
We also host monthly workshops on topical questions facing the
labour movement.
The Workers Library and Museum is situated next to the corner of
Bezuidenhout and Jeppe Streets, in the Newtown Cultural Precinct, Johannesburg.
Queries:
Tel: (011) 838-5672 Fax: (011) 339-8163
Workers Library and Museum, PO Box 6214,
Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa.
E-mail: Workers_Library@mail.com
Canadian Workers' Initiative
Adapted from Z-Net
By Judy Rebick. Judy Rebick is an activist, writer and broadcaster who lives in
Toronto, Canada. She is the author of a new book called "Imagine Democracy".
The Canadian Auto Workers' Union (CAW) has just launched "A Task Force on Working
Class Politics in the 21st Century."
Here is the introduction to the paper that introduces the task force to union members:
"We generally think of politics as being about who gets elected and what they
do - that is about governments. But even though this is how it's normally expressed, the
essence of politics is really about power and change; whose interests and values get
attention and results, and how people organize to affect that. So politics is really about
society and not just government. No matter who gets elected, as long as power in society
remains basically in the hands of a minority, our lives are shaped and limited by that
minority's control (power) over production, investment, finances and communications."
The CAW is the largest private sector union in Canada. It is a major force for social
change in Canada and its President Buzz Hargrove has been perhaps the most visible and
consistent spokesperson of the left in the country. In Canada the labour movement has been
working closely with women's, environmental, student, gay and lesbian and other social
movements for several decades.
The CAW has also historically been one of the strongest supporters of Canada's social
democratic party, the NDP (New Democratic Party).
The NDP like most social democratic parties around the world is moving further and
further right under the pressure of globalization and the right-wing ideological shift
which hit Canada with a vengeance in the 1990's. Like Tony Blair's Labour Party, the NDP
is also putting into question the nature of its relationship to the labour movement. That
provides an opportunity for labour to begin to ask some fundamental questions. The CAW
Task Force is the first attempt by labour movement or the left to come to grips with this
changed political situation.
Instead of either ignoring the NDP or just critically supporting it because there is no
alternative, the CAW is actively seeking other solutions. Some of the ideas that the task
force will discuss include: electoral reform, local councils to make politicians more
accountable, changing the union's relationship with the NDP or steps towards a new party.
As the NDP starts to look more and more like the mainstream capitalist parties,
fundamental questions are raised for the left. Many groups believe that social movements
alone can bring the kind of change we want. My own view is that a mass political party
with links to the labour movement and the social movements is essential to any lasting
change for the majority of people. The CAW Task Force on Working Class Politics could
provide a framework for activists inside and outside the labour movement to begin the
critical discussion of how to influence political change from inside the political system
as well as from outside it.
An alternative
view of SADC
A NEW PUBLICATION Ð AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF SADC.
Sometime during the year 2000 the
implementation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area
proposal is supposed to begin. Within a few years trade barriers within the region will be
totally eliminated or greatly reduced.
This is a major change in the region, yet it has been debated very little by trade
unions, community structures, NGOs and other progressive groupings.
This booklet, produced by the International Labour Resource and Information Group in
Cape Town, presents an introduction to the key issues at stake. Who benefits? What are the
details of the SADC Free Trade Area Proposal? What are the implications of the SADC FTA
for workers, for the poor, for the lesser developed nations of the region? How can
organised labour and other democratic structures participate the regional integration
process? These are just some of the questions addressed in the booklet.
An Alternative View of SADC is the fifth in ILRIG's Globalisation Series.
To order contact us: tel.: (021) 447 6357.
FAX (021) 448 2282. email: ilrig@wn.apc.org.
P.O.Box 1213, Woodstock, 7915, South Africa
Repression of Communists in IraqIn Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is imposing its rule by The The security forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan have arrested leaders and In February, the PUK's security forces arrested three leading cadres of the WCPI and The aim of this brutal campaign by the PUK is to restrict and ban the activities of the Why is the PUK attacking Communists?For the last 7 years, the WCPI has been engaged in a struggle for justice, freedom, Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991 there is no rule and law, no state, no defined The WCPI led and organized workers and popular council movement during the uprising of What can you do?The WCPI appeals to progressive parties and individuals, trade unions and human rights Write to the PUK showing your concern, distribute this information within your The PUK's contact numbers : |
Cuban medical school for poor students from the rest of the
world
Adapted from an article in Morning Star of 04 April 2000. The Morning Star is
the daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Britain.
THE Cuban government recently opened the Latin American School for Medical Sciences
offering free training for thousands of poor students from around the region who will
return to work in their nations' poverty-striken communities.
The school' is working to form doctors who have a profound concept of humanitarian
medicine for the people. "We don't want them to be doctors who, as happens with many,
view medicine as a trade and patients as their customers," said the school's rector,
Juan Carrizo Estevez.
At the opening ceremony Cuban president Fidel Castro told students that they would be
the "apostles and creators of a more human world. We want the students to absorb the
same doctrine as our doctors - total dedication to their future noble work, because the
doctor is a shepherd, a priest, a missionary, a crusader for physical and mental health
and well-being."
Just a few months after its official opening, the school now has 1881 students from 19
Latin American and Caribbean countries and Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Another 1500 are
currently arriving for the new academic year and the school will eventually have between
8000 and 9000 students for the six-year medical training.
Havana covers all food, transport and general living expenses and a modest monthly
income.
The students themselves express admiration for these acts of selfless solidarity.
"It's incredible. We can't believe how the Cubans, in the difficult economic
situation they are in, can do all this. They give us everything free, every book."
"We are so grateful", said a young Argentine student Patricia Legarreta, who
hopes to work in remote zones of Patagonia after graduating in Cuba.
Celeo Armando Solis Palma from a farm family in a poor, rural area of Honduras, said
that he had always wanted to study medicine but did not have the means before winning the
Cuba scholarship. "We feel proud to be part of what Cuba is doing. This is an example
to the world, the most humanitarian school in the world. The only way to pay Cuba back is
to return and serve the most needy people in our countries, the rural areas where people
are condemned to die for money problems," he said.
On top of this Cuba sends thousands of doctors to work in undeveloping countries every
year. According to Health Minister Carlos Dotres, Cuba had more than 3,140 medical
personnel on duty in 58 countries around the world at the end of last year.
In March, the Zambian Foreign Minister said that "Cuba has shown that it is a true
friend,", welcoming an announcement that Cuba was sending more doctors to join the
more than 1,000 already stationed in his country. He also said that his country would
continue with the rest of the world to oppose the long-standing US blockade on Cuba, which
today is only supported by Israel within the United Nations.
This growing support for Cuba has led the western media to claim that Cuba's
international medical assistance is a form of "imperialism" which forces poor
countries to depend on help from Havana. This warped and twisted logic only reveals
further the west's contempt for Cuba and the threat that Havana's very existence
represents to an economic system that rely's on greed and selfishness to justify itself.
20 million public service workers oppose privatisation
Reports Victor Mhlongo of SAMWU
Representatives of 20 million public service workers worldwide, including
SAMWU, made their critical presence felt at the water privatisation conference (World
Water Vision) organised in the Hague in March by the World Bank and multinationals.
They
insisted on delivering a message that has been suppressed by the organisers -
commercialisation of water is unpopular, unnecessary and undemocratic.
The World Water Vision exercise is undemocratic and unrepresentative of ordinary
people. It is a multinational's vision, organised by the "politburo of
privatisation."
The Public Service International (PSI) has released a dossier of
briefings, based on detailed research using a global database, which lays out the hard,
practical experiences of the problems created by water privatisation in developed and
developing countries alike, over the last decade.
"This is no longer the future, it is a 10-year old experiment with a dubious past.
We agree with the slogan 'it cannot be business as usual' - private business has proved
itself to be no friend of families, communities, or workers." Hans Engelberts, PSI
General Secretary.
There is an alternative, says the PSI: that the public needs for water and sanitation
should be met by public sector water organisations, as is done efficiently and
sensitively, with minimal extraction of profits, in many countries in the world -
including the Netherlands itself.
"We stood up in key sessions, insisting on making our voices heard, insisting on
presenting the evidence of what's wrong with commercialisation, insisting on presenting a
different vision, for water and sanitation by the people, for the people." -
Ferdinand Gaite, President, COURAGE/ Philippines.
PSI was joined by many members of civil society in opposing the direction and
composition of the World Water Vision and its proposals to impose market forces on water.
Under the banner the Blue Planet, these groups presented an alternative session where
participants and the media debated the issues that the conference organisers aren't
willing to deal with directly.
SAMWU lobbies Dutch municipal water company
Another mission for SAMWU was to meet with NUON. This is a Dutch municipal water
company - kind of a corporatised public entity but still completely in the hands of the
public sector. A few weeks ago, SAMWU heard that NUON had invested US$ 130 million in
Biwater. This is a 50% stake in the company!
SAMWU was very angry that NUON, a public company, had invested in a privatisation like
this. The union called on NUON to disinvest and set up public-public twinning between them
and Nelspruit municipality - "twins on an equal basis -- both in the public sector,
according to the Dutch model, with neither making a profit out of the other."
However, NUON dismissed all SAMWU's concerns in the meeting saying that Biwater was a
good company. They acted more like private company execs. Staring blankly and smugly at
SAMWU, they said that nothing would stop them from investing in Biwater.
This means that we are left with no choice but to flood NUON with e-mails and faxes
from all over the world. SAMWU is also hoping that Dutch public sector union, Abvakabo
will call on NUON to disinvest.
Victor Mhlongo is the International Officer of SAMWU.
Please assist! Send an e-mail of protest to NUON and a copy to the press. If you are in
Europe and you can fax, please do so. A draft letter is available from SAMWU. Please send
SAMWU a copy. The union will really appreciate this gesture of solidarity. Please copy to
the press in your country.
Write to -
NUON Executive -
Frans Duynstee, Director: Human
Resources frans.duynstee@nuon.com
Tob Swelheim, CEO
Fax +31 35 543 44 99
Solidarity for Mozambique
A broad grouping of civil society organisations including COSATU and Jubilee 2000,
called together by the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), met in March to
discuss issues related to development of the Southern African region. The meeting was
precipitated by the terrible floods, which have ravaged our region over the past weeks.
The grouping, called 'The Southern African Solidarity Forum', discussed measures to
provide relief to flood victims and to assist in long-term programmes to rebuild these
regions.
The meeting agreed that South Africa has an obligation to assist countries which have
been devastated by the floods. This country played a key role in South Africa's own
liberation struggle and for that we are deeply indebted. It is in this context that we
feel all South Africans should be involved in the efforts to rebuild Mozambique and other
Southern African countries.
As a key priority the group is supporting the calls made by the governments of South
Africa and Mozambique that the debt of poor countries should be scrapped. This would
result in freeing up huge amounts of money which could be used for reconstruction and
development programmes. We believe that this is important because efforts to reconstruct
the country should be based on the principle of a better life for all. The floods have
once again shown that the poor in society are always the most vulnerable and the hardest
hit by any disaster. Countries like South Africa and Mozambique are characterised by huge
inequalities between the super-rich and the very poor. This emphasises the need to
reconstruct our societies along the lines of creating comfort and security for our people,
meaning that every citizen should have shelter that provides comfort and safety to them.
We are calling on all South Africans to provide support and solidarity to this
programme. The Southern African Solidarity Forum calls on businesses (especially
pharmaceutical and clothing companies) and individuals to make specific contributions. It
is crucial on both a political and humanitarian level that we see ourselves as part of the
Southern African region and that we strive to build this area, just as these countries
helped to build South African during our time of need.
For more information contact
David Madurai at SANGOCO on
011 403 7746 (tel)
011 403 8703 (fax).
| May Day in East Timor |
| MAY DAY has begun to generate a considerable amount of interest amongst the East Timorese people. There is a strong understanding from LAIFET (The Labour Advocacy Institute of East Timor), who are coordinating the event, that the process of national liberation must include an understanding of worker's rights and that all of society must understand the rights and obligations of workers. They also understand that workers in East Timor need to strengthen their collective structures in order to bargain with employers and fight for a better life for all. To LAIFET MAY DAY is "one of the SUPPORT NEEDED It is vital that international trade unions and progressive organisations assist in Contact the May Day Committee at |
| -- |
Green Left
|
| In March, Green Left Weekly produced its 400th issue. This was a special occasion for all those people in Australia and the world who have contributed articles, photographs, cartoons, funds, and their time and energy to Green Left Weekly. Many readers and supporters of Green Left Weekly sent messages of solidarity which were published in the 400th issue. The SACP congratulates Green Left Weekly for this achievement. We look |
|
REVOLUTIONARY |
Celebrating the Communist Manifesto
Oration by John Foster, secretary of the Scottish Committee of the Communist Party of
Britain and a member of the party's political committee at the anniversary of Karl Marx's
death (12 March 1883).
Three years before the publication of the Communist Manifesto Marx wrote his famous
words: "Philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point however is to change
it." Marx counted himself among the millions who have struggled for change. This is
what the Communist Manifesto is about. How people collectively make history. Not as
individuals - however heroic. But people together. As classes.
The Manifesto was written precisely to win a mass understanding of how this could be
done. It is written sharply, plainly, with great brevity of expression. This is why it
remains a best seller. The Manifesto seeks to explain the secret of those moments when
working people as a whole take history into their own hands, become "the
self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority" - and change society.
One word sums up the answer given by Marx and Engels: democracy. Real democracy - and
not the weasel words of Blair, Clinton and Albright. Marx and Engels argued for a
democracy that liberated that eventually made it possible to secure a society "in
which the free development of EACH is the condition for the free development of ALL."
For Marx and Engels this meant addressing the issue of economic power and control. The
Manifesto argues what is still a hard, difficult idea for many people. Political
structures by themselves do not bring democracy. Class power intervenes. The key issue
remains who controls the means of production. Political power, say Marx and Engels, must
always represent "the organised power of one class to oppress another". To
pretend otherwise is simply to endorse this oppression - and to conceal how it can be
overcome. That was why, to secure democracy, the working class itself had to act
COLLECTIVELY as a class to change the economic basis of society. Marx and Engels put this
very precisely: "The first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise
the working class to the position of the ruling class, to establish democracy.
"The working class will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all
capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all instruments of production in the hands of
the state, that is of the working class organised as the ruling class." In 1848 this
statement was amazing not just for its clarity but for its foresight. Across almost all
Europe and the rest of the world most people were not workers, but peasants, small farmers
and self-employed producers. Only in one country, Britain, did the working class
constituted a majority. Marx and Engels stuck obstinately to this central point. Non-class
groupings might appear immediately more radical and revolutionary. Other sections of
society might suffer greater hardship. The working class alone had the potential to change
society. This was because of what created the working class - and what the working class
created. Collectivism. Capital's power depended on competition, on dividing workers among
themselves by whatever method, gender, ethnic background, skill. Workers had only one
weapon in return. They had to organise. The contradictions of capitalism itself forged the
organising principle for the new order. The grand historic sweep of the Manifesto was
designed to demonstrate two things. One was that human progress from one stage to the next
always depended on class struggle and class power. The other was that the working class
would do so in a new way: as a majority.
The Manifesto breathes working class internationalism in every sentence. Collectivism
can have no boundaries. But the Manifesto is also quite clear about state power.
"Though not in substance, yet in form, the struggle of the working class with the
bourgeoisie is at first a national struggle. The working class must first of all settle
matters with its own bourgeoisie. Working class internationalism can be no stronger than
the sum of each national contingent. These are the stakes. They remain exactly the same as
when Marx and Engels wrote the Manifesto. They demand the courage of the Communists of
1848. Working people still have nothing to lose but their chains. They still have a world
to win.
ebukhomanisini (iCommunist Manifesto), uMarx wabhala amazwi akhombisa ubunqalabutho athi
"Izinjuli seziwuhumushile umhlaba kwaphela, kodwa okusalele ukuthi awukaguquki".
U-Marx wazibeka njengomunye wezigidi-gidi ozabalazela ukuthi lubekhona uguquko.
Yilomkhombandlela womqulu wamakhomanisis oyikho. Obalula ngokuthe bha ukuthi ukubumbana
ekwenzeni izinto yikhona okuletha inqophamlanda. Kodwa uma singonkomo edla yodwa siyoba
izehluleki, ngisho ngabe silangazelela kanjani ubuqhawe. Sithi abantu mababumbane.
Lomkhombandlela
walotshelwa khona lokho ukuze kuzuzwe ukutholana ngokomqondo kubantu ngobuningi babo,
ekutheni lokhu kubumbana kungenzeka kanjani. Ubhalwe ngokushaya esikhonkosini, waqonda
nqo, ube futhi ubeka izinto ngesikhulu isibindi. Yingakho usathengwa ubuthaphuthaphu.
Lomkhombandlela uzibeka obala izimfihlo zesikhathi lapho abasebenzi nabampofu bakwazi
ukuzuza umlando, ngokuthi bathi "singabacindezelaw, siwumbutho omele abaningi
abazithola begqilazeka kwezomnotho, sizimisele ukuguqula impilo yabantu"
U-Marx beno-Engels babeka kanjena ngalokhu okuthiwa yintando yeningi (democracy).
Intando yeningi yangempela,hhayi lokhu kusengwa ezimithiyo koBlair, Clinton benoAlbright,
yintando yeningi lapho khona kunenkululeko eletha intuthuko kubo bonke abantu, hhayi
incosana. Ku-Marx beno-Engels lokhu kusho ukubhekana zinhlose namandla ezomnotjo
nokuphathwa kwawo. Lomkhobandlela ubeka izinto ezijulile esivame ukungazinaki, lezo
ezokuthi ukuzuza amandla ezepolitiki akusho ukuthi lokho kkusho intando yeningi. Yilapha
indaba enkulu ivela khona lena youbugaba (class). Okusemqoka ukuthi wubani ophethe amatomu
kwezomkhiqizo. Amandla ezepolitiki, abalule "amandla obunye ubugaba ekucindezelweni
kobunye"
Ukubalekela lamaqiniso kufana nokuzinikela encindezelweni nokubalekela ukuveza ukuthi
lokhu kunganqotshwa. Yingakho ke njena, ukuze sithole intando yeningin, isigaba
sabasebenzi bebonke kufanele sibumbane njengesigaba ukuze siguqule isimo somnotho sabantu.
U-Marx no-Engels bayishaya esikhonkosini, bathi "Igxathu lokuqala ekuthathweni
kombuso ngabasebenzi ukunyusela izinga labo libe sesigabeni sokubusa, ngokwakha intando
yeningi"
"Abasebenzi bayosebenzisa lamandla ezepolitiki,ngendlela ehlelekile bawathathe
amandla ezomnotho kozisu ezibomvu - ongxiwankulu bawabeke qithi ezandleni zesizwe esiyobe
sesibuswa ngamadlela-ndawonye" Lamazwi kawa ngathusa kakhulu ngoba ayeyishaya
esikhonkosini ebeka amaqiniso athi bha, ikakhulukazi uma ubheka ukuthi kwabe kuwunyaka
wo-1848. Ngalesosikhathi cishe i-Yurophi nomhlaba wonke abantu abaningi babengebona
abasebenzi kodwa babephila ngokulima nemfuyo abanye bengabakhiqizi abasafufusa.
Kwabe kungelamaNgisi kuphelaizwe lapho abasebenzi babebaningi khona. Amaqeqebane
amaqenjane angalwi impi yobugaba angabukeka eyizibodlamlilo ezimisele ngomzabalazo
woguquko olukhulu kanti mpeleni kusuke kuwumlilo wamaphepha . Abasebenzi bebodwa nje
yibona abanamandla okuletha izinguquko ezingunaphakade. Lokhu kungenxa yendlela abasebenzi
abakhele ngayo - nalokho osekwenziwa abasebenzi, ubumbano. Amandla ongxiwa ancike
emncintiswaneni nasekuhlukisaneni abasebenzi ngandlela zonke, ezifana nobulili, ubuhlanga
kanye nokuhwepheshe. Abasebenzi banesikhali samandla esinye nje vo, yileso sokuba
yinhlangano. Umlando omkhulu owenziwa umkhombandlela kwaba ukuveza izinto ezimbili.
Oyokuqala yileyo yokuthi abantu bathuthuka kusuka kwelinye izinga ukuya kwelinye kuncike
emzabalazweni wezigaba nasemandleni azo. Okunye wukuthi abasebenzi bangakwenza lokhu
ngendlela entsha, lapho ngisho beyincosana.
Lomkhombandlela ubalula ubuzwe-jikelele (internationalism) kwabasebenzi. Ubumbana
alunamingcele. Lomkhombandlela ucace bha ngamandla kahulumeni. Umzabalazo phakathi
kwabasebenzi nongxiwankulu uqala ekhaya. Abasebenzi kufanele baqale balwe nongxiwankulu
ezweni labo. Ubuzwe-jikelele kwabasebenzi angeke kuqine uma kungeyona inhlanganisela
yabasebenzi umhlaba wonke. Lamaqiniso ayohlale enjalo, njengoba abekwa uMarx benoEngels.
Adinga isibindi esavezwa amakhomanisi awo-1848. Abasebenzi namanje akukho okuyobalahlekela
ngaphandle kozankosi. Basalwele umhlaba okufanele bawunqobe.
The history of International Women's Day
The 08th of March is International Women's Day celebrated as a national holiday in many
countries around the world. The SACP issued a press statement saluting millions of women
throughout the world who fight gender oppression. We do not know of any other political
party, which did this in SA. Even worse, only the Sowetan newspaper covered the SACP
statement as a letter. Other newspapers did not even cover International Women's Day
itself!
When women of all countries come together to celebrate their day, they can look back on
a tradition of nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.
International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women making history. Over the
centuries, women have fought to take an equal part in society.
In ancient Greece, Lystriata started a sexual strike against men in order to end war.
During the French Revolution in 1789, Parisian women marched calling for the right to vote
and "liberty, equality, fraternity" for women.
The idea of an International Women's Day came up in the early 1900s. The early 1900s
were a period of expansion and struggle, booming population growth and radical ideologies.
In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared 28 February as the first American
National Women's Day in the United States. American women continued to celebrate it on the
last Sunday of February until 1913.
Socialist International calls for an International Women's Day
In 1910, the Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen established an International
Women's Day. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over
100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to he Finnish
parliament. No fixed date was set for this day.
As a result of this decision, International Women's Day was marked for the first time
on 19 March in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. More than 1 million women and
men attended rallies. They demanded the rights of women to vote, hold public office,
vocational training and equality at work.
Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the
lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This
event influenced an improvement in working conditions and labour legislation in the US.
Russian women set the pace of the Russian Revolution
As part of the peace movement against Wold War 1, Russian women celebrated their fist
International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or
around 08 March of the following year, women held rallies to protest war and to express
solidarity with their New York sisters.
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women chose the last Sunday in
February 1917 to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the
timing of the strike, but the women went ahead anyway.
The rest is history - 4 days later the Czar was taken out of power and the provisional
government granted women the right to vote. That historic day fell on February 23 on the
Julian calendar used in Russia then, but on 08 March on the Gregorian calendar used
elsewhere.
Since those early years, International Women's Day has become an international day for
all women. The growing international women's movement has helped make the commemoration a
rallying point for women's struggles internationally.
