MOUVEMENT ANARCHISTE DU CANADA/CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-MONTRÉAL:
LANCEMENT DE LIVRE/BOOK LAUNCH 'ANARCHY ALIVE' À MONTRÉAL:

Le suivant est du Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal. L'événement se passe demain soir. / The following is from the Montréal Anarchist Bookfair.
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Jeudi/Thursday: Lancement de livre "Anarchy Alive!" / Launch of "Anarchy Alive!" (Montreal)‏:
[français ci-dessous]
Book Launch - "Anarchy Alive!" by Uri Gordon

Anarchists Against the Wall and the Joint Struggle in Israel/Palestine

Presented by the Institute for Anarchist Studies and the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair

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Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Café Cagibi, 5490 St-Laurent

6:30pm

$5 (suggested donation) All proceeds go to benefit the DIRA anarchist library

**whisper translation to french available

****Cagibi is a child-friendly café, bring your kids!**

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Featuring a presentations from:

Q-Team - speaking on: Queers Coming Out Against Israeli Apartheid

Uri Gordon - Speaking on Anarchists Against the Wall and the Joint Struggle in Israel/Palestine (http://www.awalls.org/)

Anarchists Against the Wall is an Israeli action group supporting the popular Palestinian struggle against segregation and land confiscation in the West Bank. Uri Gordon, a participant in the group and author of the book “Anarchy Alive!”, will discuss the group’s activities and examine the achievements and limitations of the joint struggle, as well as anarchist perspectives on national liberation and the future of Palestine/Israel.

-->About "Anarchy Alive" (http://www.anarchyalive.com/)

Anarchist politics are at the heart of today’s most vibrant and radical social movements. From squatted social centres and community gardens to acts of sabotage and raucous summit blockades, anarchist groups and networks are spreading an ethos of direct action, non-hierarchical organizing and self-liberation that has redefined revolutionary struggle for the 21st century.







Anarchy Alive! is a fascinating, in-depth look at the practice and theory of contemporary anarchism. Uri Gordon draws on seven years of activist experience and on interviews, discussions and a vast selection of recent literature to explore the activities, cultures and agendas shaping today’s explosive anti-authoritarian revival.







Anarchy Alive! Also addresses some of the most tense debates in the contemporary movement, using a theory based on practice to provocatively reshape anarchist discussions of leadership, violence, technology and nationalism.







This is the ideal book for anyone looking for a fresh, informed and critical engagement with anarchism, as a mature and dynamic political force in the age of globalisation.
-->About Uri Gordon

Uri Gordon is an Israeli anarchist theorist and activist. He is a lecturer at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Ketura, Israel. One of several anarchist theorists to come of age during the anti-globalization movement at the turn of the twenty-first century, he has worked with anarchist and radical movements including Indymedia, Peoples' Global Action, and Anarchists Against the Wall. Active primarily in Britain and his native Israel, Gordon has participated in protests at international summits across Europe.
-->About Q-Team (http://www.qteam.org/)

In a climate of corporatized gay agendas and whitewashed homogeneity among queers, Q-Team strives to provide an alternative space and vision through exciting programming and engaged political action. Q-Team collectively organizes to foster radical, anti-racist, anti-capitalist queer politics. Q-Team recently organized a contingent in the Montreal pride parade under the banner "Queers Come Out Against Israeli Apartheid". A member of Q-Team will be talking about anti-authoritarian, queer solidarity with Palestine.







For more information, contact: antizionistjews@gmail.comhttp://www.anarchist-studies.org/http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/

[For more info about DIRA, contact dira@riseup.net or 514-843-2018]
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Lancement de livre - "Anarchy Alive!" de Uri Gordon Anarchistes contre le mur et les luttes des israéliennes et palestiniennes uniés:

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Mardi 8 octobre 2009

Café Cagibi, 5490 St-Laurent

18h30

5$ (don suggéré)

Tous les bénéfice iront au DIRA bibliothèque anarchiste

*De la traduction chuchotée vers le français sera disponible

Bienvenue aux enfants Le cagibi est un café ouvert aux enfants

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Au programme:- Q-team: présenation sur "Les queers sortent contre l'Apartheid israélien"- Uri Gordon: Les Anarchistes contre le mur et les luttes des israéliennes et palestiniennes unies

Anarchistes contre le murs est un groupe israélien appuyant la lutte populaire palestinienne contre la ségrégation et les voles de terres en Cisjordanie. Uri Gordon est membre du groupe et auteur du livre "Anarchy Alive!". Il nous parlera des activités du groupe et partagera les expériences positives et les limites qui ont été rencontré. Il nous donnera un point de vue anarchiste sur la question de la libération nationale, du future d'Israël et de la Palestine

--->À propos de "Anarchy Alive!"(http://www.anarchyalive.com/)

Le mouvement anarchiste est au cœur des luttes sociales les plus vibrantes et radicales de notre époque. Des centres sociaux squattés, aux jardins communautaires en passant par le sabotage et les blocages de sommets internationaux, les groupes anarchistes pratiquent l'action directe, l'organisation non-hiérarchique, et l'autodétermination redéfinissant ainsi les luttes révolutionnaire du 21ième siècle."Anarchy alive" est un ouvrage fascinant qui examine en profondeur les pratiques et les théories de l'anarchisme contemporain.







Partageant ses 7 ans d'expériences, des entrevues, des débats et une vaste sélection de littérature, Uri Gordon dresse un portrait des activités, de la culture et des luttes qui entourent le retour en force des mouvements anti-autoritaires."Anarchy Alive!" soulève aussi des questions parmi les plus controversées du mouvement contemporain, utilisant une théorie basée sur la pratique pour rediscuter les débats entourant le leadership, la violence, la technologie et le nationalisme à la lumière de nouveaux éléments pour le moins confrontant.Ce livre est idéal pour qui cherche à découvrir l'anarchisme d'un point de vue critique et contemporain, il illustre avec précision ce qui fait du mouvement anarchiste une force politique dynamique en pleine maturité.
--->À propos de Uri Gordon

Uri Gordon est un activiste et philosophe anarchiste israélien. Il est conférencier à l'institut Arava des études environnementales à Ketura, en Israël. C'est un philosophe anarchiste émergeant du mouvement anti-globalisation dés l'aube du 21ième siècle, il a milité avec des anarchistes et des mouvements radicaux comme entre autres avec Indymedia, l'Action mondiale des peuples, et les Anarchistes contre le mur . Tout d'abord actif en Angleterre et en Israël où il est né, Gordon a dans les dernières années participé aux mobilisations en marge des sommets internationaux à travers l'Europe.

--->À propos de Q-TEAM

Dans un contexte dominé par le corporatisme gay et l'homogénéité des Queers blanchi, Q-team tente d'offrir un espace et une vision alternatives par des activités excitantes et l'engagement dans l'action politique. Q-team s'organise sur des bases politiques radicales, anti-raciste, anti-capitaliste et queer. Q-team a récemment organisé un contingent dans la marche de la fierté gay sous la bannière "Les queers sortent contre l'Apartheid israélien". Un membre du Q-team présentera un point de vue anti-autoritaire de la solidarité queer avec la Palestine.

Pour plus d'information :

antizionistjews@gmail.comhttp://www.anarchist-studies.org/http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/
DIRA (Documentations, Informations, Références et Alternatives)

DIRA a été créé dans le but de favoriser l’esprit critique afin de contrer la désinformation dont est victime la pensée libertaire. Il s’agit d’une bibliothèque libre et gratuite diffusant ces idées et contenant de nombreuses variétés de documents portant sur différents thèmes. C’est aussi un lieu fournissant un espace où les gens peuvent se rencontrer et discuter gratuitement. Coordonnées complètes : 3 ème étage du 2035 St-Laurent, Métro St-Laurent, Montréal;

[Pour plus d'information sur le DIRA dira@riseup.net ou 514-843-2018]

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MOLLY NOTE

Molly has not read the above book yet, though I have read several reviews. The reviews haven't given me much hope that it is worthwhile, but I have to admit that the reviewers have all had their own axes to grind. the part that I object to, from the reviews that I have read is not the descriptive part of the actions of the Israeli 'Anarchists Against the Wall'. I very much admire them, even though I have certain reservations about how much anarchists today tend to gloss over the less savoury aspects of the local opposition to Israeli imperialism. At the same time I hope , with a certain amount of scepticism, that the general line of the AAtW can capture the admiration of both Israelis and Palestinians.







My own objection is to what I have read in the reviews about some great historical gulf between some so-called "new anarchism" and a so-called "old anarchism", or, to put it another way between "Big A" and "Little A" anarchists. No doubt this has a certain grain of "truth", but, taking the long perspective, it has only been in countries where there has not been a mass anarcho-syndicalist presence that this has not always been true. Even in some countries such as France where there has been such a presence in the past this observation held true even at the height of the influence of the French CGT before it became a communist tool.







Speaking of 'CGTs' it is also a simple fact today that the membership (60,000 to 100,000) and the sympathizers (2 million who voted for them in Spanish union elections) of the Spanish CGT today outnumber all the other members of 'anarchist coalitions' and their sympathizers in all countries combined by a factor of 10. The anarcho-syndicalism of the Spanish CGT is, of course, very much 'Big A', and it is also very much 'old anarchism'.







Here is where historical perspective comes into play. Anarchism has always been divided between the 'Big A" and the "Little A" in most countries for most of the last 150 years. If the blurb above is accurate, which I doubt it is, comrade Gordon has been an anarchist for all of seven years. In my more than 35 years as an anarchist I have observed a few things that he has obviously not yet assimilated. One is that the idea that anarchism should be nothing but a collection of issue oriented campaigns is far older than comrade Gordon is. There is nothing new about it. As for those who claim that anarchism should have no organization, I've been fighting them for all of those years, and others in the times of our great,great, great grandfathers were fighting them in their time. The question is not new. It's ancient. in each generation supporters of one trend or the other try to claim the label of "new".







A great number of the ideologues (mostly American) from whom this idea takes it modern wings are older than I am. Some are old enough to have been dead and buried for some years now. On the other hand most (all ???) of the supporters of the 'new syndicalism' and 'platformism' in various countries are much younger than I am. A balanced account of any 'new anarchism' should take account of the growth of this trend as well.







Then there is the ultimate in balance. If you want to divide the "anarcho-world" into 'new As' and 'old As' then you have to take into account (unless you are biased towards the 'fashion' of 'militant protest') the way that libertarian ideas have penetrated into the ordinary population, both in terms of personal liberty (individualist), community politics (anarcho-communist) and self-management (syndicalist). This outweighs the visible manifestations of protest by the 'new anarchists' by much more than a factor of 10. Even most left-socialist parties and regimes have to cast their aspirations in libertarian terms these days to gain public support. The history of this far greater "Little A" tendency has yet to be written.







As i said, I haven't read the book, and I hope that the author is not the sort of ideologue that the reviews make him out to be. There is a great amount to celebrate in the self-organization of the new protest movements, and their minor attempts at alternatives, that comprise what has been called the 'new anarchism'. Anyone, however, who cannot see its limitations is probably willfully blind. In its present form it is not a movement towards anarchism, and in its more spectacular protest oriented forms its is not even a movement towards a slightly freer society. When it adopts taking psychpathology into politics via terrorist actions it is a movement away from a free society. No amount of Jesuitical causistics will make it otherwise.

CANADIAN POLITICS-TORONTO:

A SOUP LINE FOR FLAHERTY:

A soup line for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty ? Well it's a dream, but the Good Jobs For All Coalition recently took the message of just how serious the recession is to the doorstep of the 'honourable' Minister. Here's the report of their demonstration from the online news service Rabble.Ca.

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

Coalition sets up soup line outside Federal Finance Minister's office:
By John Bonnar October 5, 2009
On a cool September morning, a server lifts the lid on a steaming container and carefully ladles soup into plastic bowls while standing on the northwest corner of Bay and University in the heart of Canada’s financial district. She hands a bowl to John Andras, a portfolio manager at a nearby investment company and chair of the Recession Relief Coalition, a broad-based group of organizations and individuals concerned about the impact of the recession on Canada’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents.

Andras and his colleagues have assembled outside 150 King Street West, where the Federal Finance Minister has a regional office, to send Jim Flaherty a message: Things are getting worse for the unemployed, students and people of colour and something must be done about it now.

“For the agencies that are trying to help people, it’s absolutely brutal,” says Andras. “Demand is way up and donation levels are down.” One agency told him that they’re serving forty four per cent more people in their food program than they were a year ago. “People are desperate. They’re relying on agencies for their basic needs.”

At the same time, government and foundation grants, private sector sponsorships and individual donations are down; fundraising events aren’t pulling in the same kinds of revenues they did in the past. “So a lot of the agencies are hanging on by their fingernails, praying and hoping for better times,” he says. “And I don’t think those better times are going to come for a while.”

Andras anticipates that over the next six months, some agencies are going to have to close their doors because they’ve gone bankrupt or they’ll be forced to cut back on a lot of their programs. To prevent that from happening, the Recession Relief Coalition wants additional EI reforms. While they admit the $1 billion already pledged is going to be very valuable, they’re waiting to see when and if that actually happens.

In addition, the Coalition wants widespread reform to social assistance. “For a single person to try to survive on $572 a month is absolutely ludicrous,” says Andras. “It can’t be done.” To even qualify for welfare, people have to be destitute. That means selling all their liquid assets. “So you’re being maintained in poverty with very little hope.”

But according to the headlines the recession is over, so it appears the government has little interest in helping those in need. Mainstream media is full of reports about how stimulus funding has fueled unprecedented growth in the North American economy.

So if the economy has rebounded, why has the Recession Relief Coalition and its supporters gathered at King and University on Wednesday?

“You scratch the surface of the headlines,” says Andras, “and the story isn’t so great.”

In July, with stimulus spending at full tilt, there was no growth. The decrease in the numbers receiving EI benefits may be the result of people having run out of EI without finding employment. Experts predict that even if the recession is over, unemployment will continue to rise for several years; most of the unemployed aren’t even eligible for EI.

What happens to them? Their stories appear to be of little interest to the Harper government.

But Jenny Ahn of the Good Jobs for All Coalition (GJFAC) says she’s fighting to improve living and working conditions for all people, regardless of employment status. She knows that the so-called economic recovery is, in fact, a jobless recovery. In the last two recessions, the unemployment insurance system was the most powerful economic stabilizer. But now, less than half of all workers qualify for a benefit that insures them for less than a year.

“We need serious EI reforms,” says Ahn. “Not just some hokey, pokey change because of a possible election.”

Last week the GJFAC met with unionized workers, students, non-unionized workers and members of the community at Ryerson University in Toronto and promised to challenge the Harper government and Jim Flaherty to make the much needed changes to the EI system. Besides signing petitions and lobbying the government, the GJFAC wants a standard 360 work hours in every region of the country to qualify for EI.

“Not in some regions but in every region,” says Ahn. “Why should one area differ from another area in Canada?” Right now, the hours (420 to 700 hours) are based on where you live and the unemployment rate in your economic region at the time of filing your claim for benefits. But with a $57 billion dollar surplus, Ahn sees no reason why the qualifying hours can’t be reduced and standardized with the payout and benefit periods increased.

Unemployment amongst students (rarely discussed by governments) reached 19.2 per cent over the summer months, the second highest rate since comparable data became available in 1977. In addition to a high unemployment rate, the average number of hours worked during the summer by students was the lowest since 1977, at 23.4 hours per week.

“Students can’t access EI,” says Nora Loreto of the Canadian Federation of Students. “So they drop out of school because they can’t afford to attend.” Others can’t access the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) because they’re attending school part time or their parents’ employment earnings are too high. Students say they’re at the end of their rope and need help.
“Flaherty, where is our bailout money?” yells Loreto as she addresses the crowd outside Finance Minister Flaherty’s regional office. “Where is the bailout money for the workers and the students and for low income Canadians and for people who are down on their luck?”

Bob Rose sees where the money is.

“It’s up behind those closed doors,” he says, pointing at the building where Flaherty has his regional office. “And it’s in those banks and that’s got to end because the dough is not going where it needs to go – into the hands of people, into the hands of children, and the lonely and the elderly and the traumatized.”

While Rose admits life can get complicated and people can get down, he says they should never be left out. But that’s exactly what’s happened. People have been forgotten because the recession has focused solely on economic recovery, economic formulas and projections of the week.

“But that kind of talk is the kind of talk that sacrifices lives,” says Rose, who wants to talk about the recovery of people. “That means talking concretely about specific steps to provide funding that can be used to save lives that this recession is taking and preparing to take in very large numbers.”

Rose and his colleagues, who work with the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless, need money to sustain their programs that ease poverty. They spend most of their time and energy trying to prevent soup lines, like the one set up outside Bay and University last Wednesday. But in spite of their efforts, thousands of people line up outside drop-ins every day in Toronto waiting for a spot at a table to get a meal.

Rose works in a drop-in in the west end of the city that will serve 89,000 meals this year to the 1,000+ people who come through their doors every day. “We are the biggest food support program in the west end and we are grossly under funded,” says Rose.

His drop-in receives no money from the Ministry of Health and only a small sum from the city of Toronto. It survives on donations from Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest. He says they never planned to have a food program nor did they plan to grow as they have.

“It was forced on us in the last recession and it grew in response to the rising cost of housing, the end of social housing construction and income assistance that got slashed to the point that people couldn’t live on it. That’s when our attendance numbers doubled. So we invented a food program.”

Now that the recession has returned, all food programs are in financial trouble.

In unison they ask the same question: Will we have enough to serve every one? Community meal programs need help to meet the current demand and deal with the onslaught when things don’t get noticeably better for several years.

“We know the drill,” says Rose. “First the loss of job, then the personal trauma, the disappearance of home, families splintering, drifting to the street, then finally arrival at the drop-in.”

CANADIAN LABOUR-MANITOBA:
NO STRIKE PAY FOR HYDRO WORKERS:
Sometimes while I am driving around during the day, listening to the radio, I hear something that gives me reason to doubt my hearing. This was definitely the case the other day when I heard that the local members of the IBEW who are on strike against Manitoba Hydro were not receiving any strike pay. I had to see if this was real, and indeed it is. See the following report from the CBC. Apparently a decision was made some 25 years ago that it was unlikely that this union local would ever be involved in strike action, and so there were no assessments towards any future strike fund. To say this was short sighted is a great understatement. Every union can expect to be in a strike position at least sometime in the future. The friendliness, or lack thereof, of any government in power, temporarily, is no guarantee against such a situation. Neither is a temporary accommodation by management, allowed by huge profits, such as was the situation with Hydro. From a management point of view huge profits are an irresistible temptation to overspend (this is also the situation of Hydro), and when push comes to shove the employees are expected to take the hit. There is, of course, another lesson to be learned, that workers should keep a closer eye of their unions and always revisit old decisions that may not be appropriate for newer times. It's a hard lesson to learn, that the benefit of unions is directly proportional to the care and control that ordinary members exercise over them. Let things slide, and unfortunate things can happen...just as they have here. Here's the report.
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Hydro strikers not being paid:
Nearly 3,000 unionized workers at Manitoba Hydro are walking the picket lines without strike pay.





Lauris Kleven, business manager with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), said workers knew going into the strike that they wouldn't be getting any money.





It was a decision the union made years ago, thinking they would never be in this position, he said.





"I think the people 25 years ago figured, 'Ah we won't worry about 25 years from now. Maybe not a wise decision, but there's nothing we can do about it now," he said.





Having no income will be financially difficult, but it's a case of short-term pain for long-term gain, workers hope.





"I am willing to do what it takes to get this resolved," said Debbie McNab, a lab technician with Hydro. "We have to stick together. Solidarity. You know, the whole bit."





'I am willing to do what it takes to get this resolved. We have to stick together. Solidarity. You know, the whole bit.'—Debbie McNab, Hydro lab technician





Johann Schreiner, who has worked for Hydro for 28 years as a technician, said he backs the union 100 per cent.





The financial obstacle, however, prompted him to take out a line of credit from his bank.





"It's going to hurt. It always does," he said. "The fact we are out here right now — nobody wins."





Another worker who commutes from outside of the city to take his turn on the picket line told CBC News he might have to go to a closer location because the cost of gas is going to have an impact on his wallet.





Groups of placard-carrying IBEW members have been striking in front of various Hydro facilities since Friday evening.





Nearly 3,000 electrical workers, truck drivers, transmission technicians, clerical and customer service employees walked off the job after conciliation talks between management and the union broke down.





The workers gave the corporation a 48-hour strike notice last Wednesday after rejecting the latest contract offer. They are seeking higher salaries and a shorter contract term.





It is the first strike to hit Hydro in the utility's 48-year history.





The union has a scheduled meeting with management at 1:30 p.m. Monday. The hope is that a new contract offer will be put on the table, said Kleven.





Two other unions in strike position
Another 1,600 workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), as well as 300 more who belong to the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), are also in negotiations with Hydro.





Members in both unions have already endorsed strike action.





Contracts between Hydro and all three unions have expired.





There are reports that representatives with CUPE and CEP met with Hydro management Monday morning but there has been no information released about those negotiations.
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Meanwhile, over at the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog supporters of the Hydro workers are helping to build solidarity. Here's a recent post from there, reprinting picketing instructions from the IBEW website, promoting the Solidarity With Manitoba Hydro Workers Facebook site and offering the Wobbly Blog as a forum for strikers who may have something to say. The Wobbly Blog has also published an interesting item on the ins and outs of strike solidarity. Drop on over for a look.
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Local: Manitoba Hydro on Strike: Instructions for Picketers and a callout from our Brothers and Sisters on the line:
From the IBEW site, here's some instructions for those going to picket:
Instructions to Picketers
1. Report to the picket captain at the start of your shift. They will be identified by red arm bands located on their left arms.
2. Picket signs or aprons must be worn at all times. These will be available through your picket captains .
3. Patrol your assigned work area.
4. Keep track of those who cross the picket lines and inform your picket captain.
5. Don’t engage in debate or arguments with those whom choose to cross the picket line. SCABS or strike breakers should be told how you feel.
6. Do not obstruct the general public.
7. Refer all media requests to the Local Union Office at 1-866-356-2034.
8. Keep the picket lines neat and please do not litter.
9. We expect nothing less than to have peaceful picket lines and for members to obey all applicable laws.
10. Picket captains have the authority to remove anybody causing a disturbance by fighting, uttering threats, being drunk, etc. If necessary the picket captain will contact local authorities to have the individual removed from the picket line or have charges laid. Illegal activities will not be tolerated by Manitoba Hydro or IBEW Local 2034.
11. Retired workers may be contacted by Manitoba Hydro to perform our work. If they show up to cross the picket line they shall be treated as any other SCAB.
12. In some larger locations port-a-potties will be provided.
Remember:
The purpose of the picket line is to:
1) convey to the public that you are on strike.
2) to restrict Manitoba Hydro’s business.





You have a legal right to picket and inform the public. The public has the right to cross or not to cross your picket line. Do not worry about inconveniences that are created by your picket actions, they are legitimate.

THE WOBBLY OFFER
We would also like to send out a call to all strikers on the line: We want to here from you! This blog is a blog for you, lets hear your experiences on the line. Drop us an email at: winnipegiww@hotmail.com.




Also remember to join the Solidarity with Manitoba Hydro workers! Facebook group.
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In other news on the Hydro strike the two other unions that were in a strike position with Hydro management, CUPE and the CEP Union, have reportedly settled. Here's the report from the CBC. One can only imagine the resentment that this is likely to cause amongst Hydro workers, especially as the wage increase offered to CUPE and the CEP seems higher than that offered to the IBEW. The length of the contract, four years, however, is the same as that which the IBEW find unacceptable. This settlement is not yet a done deal as members of both the CEP and CUPE still have to vote on its ratification. As was said before on this blog, this is outstanding proof of the fact that strike action should have been coordinated amongst the three unions. did somebody say, "divide and conquer"?
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Hydro strikes deal with 2 unions:
Manitoba Hydro has settled labour contracts with two out of three unions.





Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider said Tuesday the Crown corporation has reached agreements with workers from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (CEP) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).





CEP represents Hydro's gas utility employees, while CUPE represents Hydro's office and support workers.





The deal, which is retroactive to Jan.1, 2009, means more than 1,500 Hydro employees will receive pay and benefit increases of 9.6 per cent over four years.





However, almost 3,000 striking workers from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are still walking the picket line awaiting Hydro management's response to a proposal sent about 24 hours ago.





Schneider said the deals with CEP and CUPE are good news — and the corporation is optimistic the IBEW strike will soon conclude.





"We're delighted we're able to arrive at a settlement … and we're hopeful we can arrive at a settlement with IBEW," Schneider said.





Electrical workers, truck drivers, transmission technicians, and clerical and customer service employees in the IBEW walked off the job Friday night after rejecting the utility's latest contract offer. They are seeking higher salaries and a shorter contract term.





In a statement Tuesday, CEP local 681 said ratification meetings will be held in Brandon Wednesday night and in Winnipeg on Thursday. The union is recommending the contract be accepted.





CUPE is currently contacting members about when to hold a ratification vote.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-NEW ZEALAND:

SUPPORT NEW ZEALAND DAIRY WORKERS:

Here's one from the antipodes, New Zealand to be exact, where dairy workers are fighting a lockout on the part of the Open Country Cheese Company. Reading the following, one has to exclaim, "Cheesus Christ, what some bosses won't do". Pretty cheesey of them.OK, now that I've gotten that little pun out of the way by milking it for all it is worth here's the story and appeal from the international union federation the IUF.

ILILILILILILILIL

New Zealand Dairy Workers Face Vicious Assault on Union Rights:

The New Zealand Dairy Workers Union is engaged in a tough battle with a ruthless employer assaulting fundamental workplace rights, and needs your support.

The dispute is at the Waharoa plant of Open Country Cheese, one of the company's three cheese and milk ingredients plants. Open Country is New Zealand's second largest dairy producer. It was set up in the wake of the government's 2001 industry restructuring which abolished the single-seller status of the Dairy Board, allowing independent dairy companies to produce and export. Open Country has used deregulation to pursue a "low road" model for the industry. At Waharoa, workers recently joined the union in response to management proposals for degrading already precarious working conditions characterized by long and unsocial hours and the abusive use of "temporary" workers - often for years on end.

Open Country's response to the formal start of bargaining, with the union seeking a collective agreement with improved job security and a voice on staffing and hours, was to immediately set up a sham labour hire agency and shift the temporary workers onto its books to exclude them from the bargaining unit. “OCC’s proposals would have turned most workers into seasonal and temporary workers and seen them subject to major and disruptive roster changes at short notice,” according to union National Secretary James Ritchie, The company immediately began aggressively pressuring workers to resign from or not join the union, threatening them with dismissal. In response to the bargaining impasse and management's anti-union aggression, the union filed a 14-day notice for industrial action. Open Country's response to this was to declare a six-week lockout. The day the strike was scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM, the company marched the workers off the site at 1.30pm and began running the factory with management, temporary workers and scabs.

Management viciousness has intensified in the course of the conflict. An Open Country boss slammed one union member's head in a sliding window; the union has filed an assault claim. A temporary worker who was seen on the picket line supporting his striking brother was immediately sacked. On September 21, the company released waste sludge into the Waitoa River - and blamed it on an act of union "sabotage".

On September 25, the Employment Court ruled the lockout illegal and called for a return to work. The company maintains that all workers are suspended pending an investigation of sabotage, though neither the union or any of its members have received suspension letters The Court has not yet ruled on the company's claim that the replacement workers are legal - because they are not directly employed by Open Country Cheese by its parent company Open Country Dairy Ltd.

Effective control of Open Country lies with the Talley's Food Group, a leading New Zealand processor of seafood, vegetables and dairy products with a long history of right-wing political ties and financial support.

“When workers stood up for some basic fairness at work and job security, they were met with aggression", says Ritchie. The assault on the Waharoa workers is an attack on fundamental rights, New Zealand and international law, and basic standards in one of New Zealand's vital industries. New Zealand unions and the IUF have pledged their support - you can support the Dairy Workers' struggle - CLICK HERE to send a message to Open Country Cheese

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THE LETTER

Click on the link above or go to THIS LINK to send the following message to Open Country Cheese Management.

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To Mark Fankhauser, CEO Open Country Cheese Ltd.
Sir,
The actions of Open Country Cheese in intimidating workers for joining a union and refusing to negotiate a collective agreement are a breach of New Zealand and international law. Locking out workers and replacing them with strikebreakers in pursuit of individual contracts is deplorable. Please obey the court injunction and lift the lockout immediately. Your false accusations of worker sabotage are a smokescreen as no factual evidence has been produced. We urge you to immediately enter into genuine negotiations with the NZ Dairy Workers Union to conclude a collective agreement.
Yours sincerely

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS-HONDURAS:

END MILITARY REPRESSION IN HONDURAS:

The following appeal is from the website of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

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Stop the military crackdown in Honduras:
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was forced into exile following a military coup in the country on June 28, defied the coup regime's efforts to keep him out of the country by staging a return to Honduras on September 21. Despite a hastily-imposed curfew, thousands of Hondurans defied the coup regime's orders and gathered in front of the Brazilian embassy in the capital, Tegucigalpa, where Zelaya is currently in refuge, to support the democratically-elected President.

The coup regime is responding with a brutal crackdown on the Honduran democracy movement. We are receiving reports by the hour of cases of brutal military repression and assaults which have resulted in a large number of injuries and an unconfirmed number of deaths, including that of an eight year old child. The military has surrounded the Brazilian embassy and is out in force in poor neighbourhoods. The national stadium is reported to have been converted into a large holding center for the detained.

The coup regime leader, Roberto Micheletti, has threatened to cancel the embassy's immunity if Zelaya is not handed over to the de facto regime.

In the face of this escalation of violence, Canada is one of the only countries that has failed to act effectively to isolate the coup regime. We need to speak out now and demand action from the Canadian government, before it's too late.

PHONE:

Call Canadian Minister of State for the Americas Peter Kent and deliver the following message:
“I want Canada to work for the unconditional immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya and to pressure the Honduran military to stop the violence against the people and their democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya. Canada should make clear that it will not recognize the November elections and announce further sanctions against the coup regime and its leaders.”
Call numbers: 1-800-267-8376 (toll-free in Canada) or 613-992-0253.

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EMAIL:
Send Peter Kent an email at: kentp@parl.gc.ca. You can write your own, or use the following letter.
Dear Minister Kent:
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was forced into exile following a military coup in the country on June 28, returned to Honduras on Monday afternoon, September 21.

The coup regime is responding with a brutal and violent crackdown on the Honduran democratic movement.





Despite this escalation of violence, Canada remains one of the only countries that has yet to act effectively to isolate the coup regime.





Canada must take a strong stand for democracy and against the military coup. I ask that our government:
**call on the coup leaders to order the immediate return of the Honduran military and police forces to their barracks;
**condemn the large scale repression of civilians and demand that the coup leader immediately release all protesters incarcerated since the June 28 coup;
**declare its unconditional and public support for the immediate return of the entire constitutional government of President Zelaya;
**announce publicly that Canada will not recognize the results of the November 2009 elections if the coup regime is still in place;
**announce publicly that the coup perpetrators will be held responsible for their actions under international law; and
**institute concrete and targeted economic economic, military and diplomatic sanctions against the coup perpetrators.
Sincerely,

CANADIAN LABOUR-TORONTO:

ANTI-SCAB RALLY:

The following item comes from the Steelworkers strike support site Fair Deal Now. Yes, yes, yes, I know who is sponsoring the rally, but the thought is good anyways. So good in fact that the NDP in power has never introduced such legislation in any province. Any guesses why such bills are an useful thing when they cannot pass, like the present situation in Ontario.

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Anti-Scab Rally at Queen’s Park – Oct 8th:
Support the Ontario NDP’s Anti-Scab Bill
Join workers from across the province. Come to Queen’s Park and let the McGuinty Liberals know that it’s time for balance and fairness in Ontario’s labour relations.

On Thursday October 8, Peter Kormos’ anti-scab bill (Bill 86, Labour Relations Amendment Act) will be voted on at Second Reading in the legislature. A rally in support of the bill is being organized for noon at Queen’s Park.

Striking workers will be arriving by bus from Sudbury, Fort Erie and other locations around the province in support of the need for anti-scab laws in Ontario.

Folks will then go into the galleries for the vote – which will likely take place around 3:00 or 4:00 pm. Please help make this day a success by attending the rally and/or vote and by distributing this poster widely among your contacts.
RALLY to Support the introduction of NDP’s Anti-scab Legislation
Thursday, October 8th
12:00 noon
South Lawn, Queen’s Park
For more information: ndpcaucusoutreach@ndp.on.ca

AMERICAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

COMMON ACTION GENERAL ASSEMBLY:

The following item from the Anarkismo website is about the platformist organization Common Action which is based in the American northwest. Molly wishes them all the best in their efforts.

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Common Action General Assembly Report:
From Saturday, September 19th to Sunday, September 20th members of the anarchist organization Common Action met in Seattle, WA for our fifth general assembly. Common Action members from Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia were in attendance. There was an incredible amount for us to talk about, vote on and brainstorm together! We also had several skill shares and open working group meetings. In upcoming months our members will be facilitating workshops at the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair and the ecoNvergence in Portland, OR. Our publication Intersections has just enjoyed another recently printed issue, with the next issue coming out in December. At general assembly we agreed to sponsor the Northwest tour for John Duda’s new book Wanted: Men to Fill the Jails of Spokane! January 2010. Common Action branches have been very active over the past six months, engaging in local struggles and developing our own projects.

• The Seattle branch has been busy with numerous projects, but focused heavily on hosting several public events this summer. In July along with Casa Latina Workers Defense Committee and Seattle Solidarity Network, members’ hosted Vancouver based No One Is Illegal for a two-part event on migrant justice movements.

• The Kitsap branch has been focusing on issues of local public transportation, and they are preparing to hold an interest meeting.

• The Olympia branch launched their free clinic campaign with success, gaining local media attention and involvement from the community. Olympia branch members have also begun working on a foreclosure resistance campaign.

We spent a good portion of the weekend focusing on internal education. Through clarifying activities we continued working on our conceptions of transformative justice, and began our introduction into the ideas of collective liberation. This included group conversations and exercises to engage all of our collective experiences in the process. Throughout the weekend we continued to discuss and question our strategy and tactics as an anarchist organization in the northwest. How best can we connect with other organizations and struggles regionally and nationally? How can we be most relevant? By the end of the two days our strengthening theoretically and tactical unity was clear. As times goes on Common Action continues to develop in line with our collective principles and communal struggles.

Contact us at nwcommonaction@gmail.com or join the Common Action Announcements listserv: http://groups.google.com/group/nwcommonactionannouncement for the occasional e-mail about sponsored events, publications, reports, and other fun stuff.
Related Link: http://www.nwcommonaction.org

ANARCHIST VIDEO

SATAN MACNUGGIT NEWS:

Here's the October news bulletin for Ontario video artist Jonathan Culp and his Satan Macnuggit productions.

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[Satanm-announce] October news - Trash Palace x 2!‏:
SATAN MACNUGGIT NEWS

OCTOBER 2009

* * * * *

September was a super-busy month in Satanville. The GSS Video Yearbook DVD debuted to raves, a mere 20 years after its VHS edition shocked the nation. Order your copy now before they're gone!

And the Trash On Wheels Film Party is a wrap! Seven very well-received shows rocked the regions from London to Montreal to Picton, and everyone who showed up had a great time. I never get tired of watching this stuff; let's do it again soon!

Lots in the works - zine fair season kicks into overdrive in November! - but for now, we're settling back into Toronto in style, with two big screenings at Trash Palace!

Friday, October 2 - A STAR IS LOST!

This 1974 film is a mind-boggling attempt by the National Film Board to produce a "Singin' in the Rain" style razzle-dazzle musical. Directed by John Howe (he also wrote the songs), a ton of showbiz glamour and glitter is given an almost cinema-verite treatment; the resulting concoction will make your head spin!

Friday, October 16 - THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE

Another Canadian film, Nicholas Gessner's 1977 opus is a minor classic, and a staple of 80s TV (however tonight's print is UNCUT). Jodie Foster plays a kid who lives alone with a secret in the basement, until the landlord's son - a creepy turn by Martin Sheen - starts making the moves on her. To round off this screening, we're including an incredible rarity, Sheen's extremely early (1961?1962?), Brandoesque turn as a juvenile delinquent in one of the most genuinely well-made educational films I've ever seen - "The Price Of A Life".

As usual these here flicks screen at 9:30 at Trash Palace's SECRET CINEMA - buy advance tickets at Eyesore Cinema, 801 Queen Street West, and the address is on the ticket. More info on our nefarious doings is available at www.trashpalace.ca .

See you there!

Jonathan

List worker, satanm-announce

Join Satan Macnuggit on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=satan+macnuggit&init=quick#/group.php?gid=19369342945&ref=search&sid=1077311751.1436857113..

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-CHINA:

NEW CHINA STUDY GROUP WEBSITE:

The following announcement comes via the Asian Anarchist Network.

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China Study Group Relaunch:‏
China Study Group is pleased to announce the launch of its redesigned site: http://www.chinastudygroup.net .

China Study Group is a global group of scholars and activists concerned with carrying on the critical tradition of China-focused analysis best exemplified by William Hinton. The site has been completely redesigned, and a raft of new bloggers have joined our ranks. China Study Group provides alternative perspectives on China —both its revolutionary past and today’s China in the context of globalization.

Highlights of the new site:

*reviews of Li Minqi's "The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy" and William Hinton's "Through a Glass Darkly: U.S. Views of the Chinese Revolution"

*overview of recent workers' struggles in China

*translations of important works by the Chinese left

*daily China-related news updates

*new bibliographies on China-related topics

*much, much more!

http://www.chinastudygroup.net

contact: chinastudygroup@gmail.com

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:

ZABALAZA FRONT ON LGBTI PREJUDICE:

The following communique from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front came to Molly's attention via the Anarkismo website. Molly has to say that this communique shows a certain political courage insofar as the Zabalaza Front wishes to agitate amongst the average person in South Africa. In that part of the world there are no liberal shibboleths amongst the general populace that prevent attacks on gay people. At the same time the question of "sexual identity" has been presented to the average South African via the persecution of the athlete Castor Semenya. Hence the "I" for "Intersex" in the above title. There has never been a greater opportunity to advance the interests of gay people in South Africa, and the Zabalaza Front has to be commended for their political sense of advancing this issue at this time. At the same time I would like to add my own "disagreement" to what follows below. Just like the ZACF I am in favour of "sexual liberation". My position, however, puts such things before some presumed anarchist or socialist "revolution". I am fully confident that our present ruling class, the managers, can more or less "solve" such "questions", whether, they be racial, sexual or any thing else in nature. My own opinion is that we are still very much in the stage of "completing the managerial revolution", and that the "managers" are the best ruling class that that we have seen in human history. These people can and will solve the demands of the general left as to opportunities for racial minorities, sexual minorities and gender. They will also solve any other problem that does not require the surrender of their power of decision.

This, of course, is far from the subject of the present item. Here it is from the Zabalaza Front. I cannot but help admire their skill at raising this issue at this time in their country.

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Anarchists are Queer and Proud:
Anarchism is an ideology that fights against exploitation and all forms of oppression. We fight for a world in which women will be equal to men, a world without racism and class inequality, a world in which LGBTI and queer people are treated with respect. These struggles are part of the anarchist struggle against hierarchy and inequality, for an equal and free world.

Anarchists have been at the forefront in the struggle against LGBTI discrimination

From the beginning of anarchist theory, anarchism has been the first ideology to actively support LGBTI people long before other ideologies. It is believed that one of the key anarchist thinkers, Mikhail Bakunin, was rumoured to have been homosexual and that this was one among many reasons Karl Marx threw him out of the First International, which caused the split between authoritarian communism and anarchism.

Also, Oscar Wilde, who called himself an anarchist( Full stop here via Molly; Wilde never called himself anything but "great". His connection to anarchism is weak to say the least. ), criticised Marx. His famous trial and conviction of sodomy in 1895 prompted anarchists to engage in an examination of the social, moral, and legal place of same-sex desire. The efforts of the famous anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman (the first advocate for homosexual rights in America) and other anarchists on Wilde's behalf constitute the first articulation of a politics of homosexuality in the United States. After his trial, Wilde became "a totemic figure" for the anarchists, and at a time when the American productions of Wilde's plays were closed down and forbidden and his books pulled from library shelves, anarchist journals reprinted his texts and poems.

It was thanks to American anarchist writers and propagandists that the defense of homosexuality developed in Europe crossed the Atlantic - at a time when no other political movement or notable public figure in the US dealt with the issue of same-sex eroticism and love.

Anarchism stands for free love

Since the end of the 19th century anarchism has stood for free love and fought for it, from Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, who wrote about his homosexual experiences in his Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, to the free women of Spain in the Spanish Revolution of 1936 to today’s feminist and queer anarchists around the world. Queer anarchists were part of the Stonewall riots, at the forefront of Queer Nation (launched in New York in 1990) and many other gay liberation groups.

The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) stands in this tradition. We know that gay people in South Africa have more legal rights than in most other places on earth. But we also know that the constitution alone will not be enough to stop the chauvinism that is so persistent in our country. Crimes against LGBTI people happen on a regular basis.

Last year we voiced our anger against the murder of gays and lesbians (http://www.anarkismo.net/article/9140). This year we voice our anger against the discrimination of Caster Semenya who is believed to be intersex, or at least not clearly enough a woman as many people would want her to be. The discrimination against intersex people, so common in the sporting world, always pops up when women do extraordinarily well in sports. This shows sexism but also heterosexism. We are sick of the fact that in our world everyone has to fit into two clearly defined and separated gender categories. We have to stop asking ourselves if Caster Semenya really is a woman or a man, but embrace diversity that is so natural to all living beings on this planet (just like homosexuality, and even more bisexuality). Every time we fill out an official form we have to let the state or institution know if we are male or female, and in South Africa we still have to state whether we are black, white, Indian or “coloured”. Many people don’t fit into these categories, others don’t want to fit in. Many people don’t even fit into the categories “homo”, “bi” etc. The gender binary is a creation of certain cultures that does not exist in other places of this planet. In India there are, for example, three genders. In other places even four. We stand in solidarity with Semenya, regardless of whether she's intersex or biologically female. We are appalled at her humiliation. We stand for the liberation of intersex people and reject the gender binary.

While we support the struggle against LGBTI oppression we urge comrades to rethink some of their strategies. We cannot have faith in the police, constitution or criminal courts. Throwing criminals into overcrowded prisons in which they get raped by fellow prisoners and discriminated against by prison wardens will not solve our problems. Prisons need to be abolished, they do not transform people, they destroy them. We need to build a world in which crime does not even come about. Central to this world is the end of inequality and hierarchy. Creating more and more laws just creates a bigger bureaucracy, not a free and equal world.

The oppression of people is linked to class

Our struggle also has to be united. There should not be any divisions of race or gender within the LGBTI movement. Nor should the working class be divided by gender, sexuality or race. All people who are oppressed and exploited need to unite to build a better world together. The oppression of people is linked to class. If you are poor you cannot afford the security you might need to be safe from oppression. That is why poor LGBTI people are the main victims of homophobic violence. If you are trans but poor you cannot afford the operation you so desperately want. Most LGBTI people are part of the working class and poor. As a class we get oppressed by the state which only supports the interests of the ruling class. This oppression, at the hands of the state and capitalism, is something that unites us as a class, across gender and sexual divides, across colours, ethnicities, abilities and age. Our struggle has to be united, it has to be anti-capitalist, it has to be internationalist and it has to be against hierarchies in general.

We have not only seen an increase in crime but also in rape and other chauvinistic crimes. This is directly related to the global economic crisis and growing inequality. This growth also indicates that it has to do with wider circumstances, such as poverty and the lack of service delivery which leads to frustration which in turn gets directed at society's weakest. Instead of fighting against the system that causes poverty in the first place and which bails out the rich, the poor turn against other poor or the middle class because they are so desperate. We turn against each other instead of uniting against a common oppressor. If we want to stop any form of crime we need to fight against inequality. The struggle against sexism and heterosexism is directly linked to the fight of the working class, which consists of a majority of women and includes most LBGTI people.

Anarchists fight for a world free of exploitation and discrimination

Anarchists fight for a world free from sexism, homophobia, ableism, racism and other forms of oppression. We support movements of people resisting oppression based on identity but we believe that it is important for them also to work with - and be supported by - the broader social movements and to engage in a broader struggle because we believe that many forms of oppression are rooted in capitalism and the state system. This means we believe that as long as capitalism and classes exist, LGBTI people from poor communities in particular will be discriminated against.

The fight for lesbian and gay liberation as well as fights against racism and sexism must be rooted in the class struggle - only the working class, as the exploited class, has everything to gain and nothing to lose in fighting oppression. Oppressed people can fight for more rights but only the working class can bring about a revolution in a general strike and through mass action. But only a working class that takes the struggle for the emancipation of women, LBGTI people and other oppressed groups seriously can bring about an equal and free world.

Fight for a social revolution

We cannot rely on the constitution or the police to help us, we have to organise ourselves and change people's ideas and behaviour through education. It is not enough to fight for more legal rights. We have to fight for a completely new and better world. Only a social revolution can bring about such a world. We should not fight for the legalisation of marriage only but also fight against the institution of marriage, so that people who live together, no matter of their sexuality, can do so without needing any legitimisation by the state. Not that we are against the constitution or more legal rights. We have to fight for every gain we can get now. But this can only be one part of our struggle. We have to criticise traditional gender roles, the nuclear family, marriage, compulsory monogamy and one-sided male polygamy (a man can have more than one wife, but his wives are not allowed to have other husbands) which are based on patriarchy, capitalism and conservative religious values. Anarchists have a long tradition in criticising these institutions.

The dangers of relying too much on the constitution are shown by recent actions of President Jacob Zuma. Zuma is known for his sexist and homophobic views; and the claims that he is “progressive” and “a friend of the working class” have no basis in fact. Since he won the presidency, he and his friends have been building up links with right-wing churches that want to remove abortion rights and gay marriage. With their links to the state, and widespread support for reactionary views, they pose a serious danger. Such conservative views divide oppressed people – the vast majority – among themselves. They hurt the working class by making it easier for the state to control and oppress everyone. And they are a direct attack on women and LGBTI people. We must defend ourselves, by all means necessary. We can use the constitution, but if we rely on the constitution alone, it could be changed against us. What the state gives, the state can take away; but what we force the state to give is truly ours. Anarchists call for working class unity to defend women's and LGBTI rights.

Anarchism is about reclaiming our full humanity from Capitalism and the State. Our social revolution is about creating a society in which we can live as humans, not as workers, or blacks, or women, or any other socially-defined category. Accepting social, cultural and sexual diversity is a prerequisite of the human liberation which is anarchism's objective.

Two of the most important things in life are love and sex. We have to fight for a world where people can love whoever they want and make love to whomever they want, as long as there is mutual consent. This includes non-monogamous relations and other forms of sexual desire.

The South African and global LGBTI and queer community, of which many of us are part, will always have our solidarity and support.

Anarchism is only possible with queer liberation, queer liberation is only fully possible with anarchism. So let us struggle together, for queer liberation and for anarchism.

We raise our black and pink flags with pride!

Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front

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MOLLY NOTE

As I have said before I have nothing but admiration for the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front for raising this question in their country, and I have to admire their skill at raising the question in the context of the athlete Castor Semenya. Questions of gender are very much in the "upper mind" of South Africans today. Those questions, however, are not uppermost anywhere else in the world. As I said..."completing the managerial revolution". At the end of the revolution that began with joint stock corporations over 100 years ago there will be no more complaints about "isms". There will be a "rational "world in which various ethnicities and genders will be very well accommodated.

Until said revolution is indeed completed, whatever its backs and forths, it is a dream world to hope for any "next stage" of human history where we can dispense with the services of the managers. The managers will eliminate discrimination because of sexual orientation, and in the end this will be world wide. That is one of their historical missions. This doesn't mean that anarchists, who have a more inclusive ideal of equality, shouldn't support any advance to their ideal. The exact opposite is the case. Anarchists should support every project of ethnic and life style equality because the granting of such inevitable reforms brings the ultimate question of power and self management closer and closer. It's the question/treasure at the end of the leftist rainbow.

What is the"big question" of our age. No, it's not whether we should collaborate or oppose the American Empire.Neither is it whether we should advance "peace" by any mechanism that exists today. The "big question" that this little blogger who can claim an ethnicity of French, German, Russian. Ukrainian, Armenian, Irish and God knows what else when "the name" is spread across Central Asia and as far as Korea is something other than the nationalism that we have all been taught .

The "big question" of our age is not that this or that anarchist policy, no matter how explicit or important will be the "real" position for years to come. The big question is whether we can gain control over our own political system which is out of control today. This is a long and hard road, especially in such a country as South Africa. The South African comrades give their opinion below about a situation that all libertarians should have the same opinion about ie sexual relations should not be the subject of state legislation.

CANADIAN LABOUR-MANITOBA:

MANITOBA HYDRO STRIKE:

Well it's official now. The scandal plagued Manitoba Hydro has now been hit by am official strike on the part of the IBEW. Two other unions, the CEP and CUPE may also come out soon, and the sooner the better so as to focus the minds of management away from their political scandals. Here's the latest news on this matter from our local Winnipeg Wobbly Blog. Stay tuned there for updates.

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Local: Manitoba Hydro on Strike!:
As reported a day or so ago, workers organized in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2034 who work at Manitoba Hydro, have gone on strike.

Please join the Solidarity with Manitoba Hydro workers! facebook group to show your web support. We're a little late with this notice, but there still is time to get to one of the meeting places to show up when the media is around tonight:
How you can help:

http://www.ibew2034.com/negotiations.asp

Tomorrow, Saturday October 3 at 2:00 pm please join us as we stretch our legs for an hour outside of Manitoba Hydro's new Corporate location ......"Hydro Place" at 360 Portage Ave.

The longer the line..the shorter the strike!

To show your support and solidarity….join your brothers and sisters on the picket line this evening at 6:00pm at any one of our 24 hour locations.

*35 Sutherland. The media will be showing up at this location at 6:00pm.

*Central Dispatch Center 951 Grant Ave.

*System Control at 453 Dovercourt.

On Monday please go to the picket location closest to your residence.

The longer the line the shorter the strike!

If and when the branch organizes some solidarity support, we will post it up here.

SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-UZBEKISTAN:

CHILD LABOUR IN UZBEKISTAN:

The following story and appeal is from the AFL-CIO blog in the USA.

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Children as young as seven spend months of arduous labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan.


As the harvest season for cotton in Uzbekistan begins, 2 million Uzbek children, some as young as six or seven and ranging up to 15, will be forced to spend their days picking cotton instead of attending classes.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department included cotton from Uzbekistan on a list of goods produced by forced and child labor. Each year during the three-month harvest, Uzbek authorities shut down hundreds of schools, hospitals and public offices. Along with the children, thousands of teachers, doctors and public administrators are forced into the fields.

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has joined with AFT and a broad range of organizations in the United States and Central Asia to call for an end to forced child labor in Uzbekistan. You can act today to stop this shameful practice by signing a petition here.

All supporters who sign the petition by Oct. 2 will have their names put on a special cotton quilt that will be unveiled at a rally in front of the Uzbek embassy in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 14. To get more involved in this action, e-mail volunteer@ilrf.org.

Every day more than 200 million children around world—one in every six between ages five and 17—go work instead of school, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Child labor, says U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, continues to be a serious global “problem in 21st century society,” and she says the United States “must do everything in our power to end these shameful practices.”

Uzbekistan is the world’s third-largest exporter of raw cotton and generates some $1 billion a year in cotton exports. Up to one-third of the country’s workforce labors on cotton farms.

Independent union representation is almost nonexistent for workers.

Some children who work in the cotton fields are required to work in remote areas where they are forced to stay in dormitories while they pick cotton. Children are even compelled to apply toxic pesticides in parts of Uzbekistan without appropriate protective gear, according to ILRF.

The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center reports that the children working in the fields must meet daily cotton quotas, and those who fail or refuse to take part can face corporal punishment and expulsion from school. Consequences for parents who protest also can be severe: Their social benefits may be revoked, they may be shamed at public meetings or their utilities may be cut off.

The Solidarity Center is part of a broad-based coalition of concerned organizations, led by ILRF, urging the Uzbek government to put an end to these brutal practices. Click here to download an ILRF report, ”We Live Subject to Their Orders: A Three-Province Survey of Forced Child Labor in Uzbekistan’s 2008 Cotton Harvest.”

In an op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says forced labor in the cotton fields benefits the Uzbek dictatorship, while the children and other workers get only meager meals for their work.

President Islam Karimov, the strongman leader in Uzbekistan since Soviet times, has not only suppressed democracy, he has maintained his regime’s rigid monopoly as the sole purchaser of cotton grown in the country. Uzbek farmers are required to sell their cotton to state trading agencies at less than one-third the world market price. In turn, the government sells the cotton on commodity exchanges at the market price, guaranteeing huge profits.

Consumers and companies in the United States and Western Europe prop up this “monstrous system” by unwittingly purchasing cotton harvested by forced child labor, Harkin says. Most Uzbek cotton is sold to countries in South Asia and Eastern Europe. From there, the cotton is processed and turned into garments sold in retail stores in the United States, Canada and Western Europe.

Harkin says an international network of nongovernmental organizations, U.S. retailers, manufacturers, faith-based investors and others has come together to try to persuade the Uzbek government to end its use of forced child labor. But the Uzbek government has refused to end the practice despite making promises to do so. He warns:

It is time for the Uzbek government to begin acting in good faith. It should immediately invite the ILO to send an expert observer and assessment mission to Uzbekistan as a prelude to the long-term engagement necessary to reduce and ultimately end forced child labor in that country’s cotton fields. It should allow Uzbek children to leave the fields and return to school.

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THE PETITION

For reasons best known only to themselves (likely simply an oversight) the AFL-CIO has restricted signatures to this petition to the USA. If you are an US citizen please go to either the link above or to THIS LINK to sign the following petition to the Uzbekistan authorities.

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Full Petition Text:
The undersigned group of individuals call for the government of Uzbekistan to: immediately cease the mobilization of children and adults for forced labor in the cotton sector; immediately implement commitments under the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions and other international treaties; invite an ILO high-level mission during the upcoming harvest; allow independent journalists and human rights advocates unfettered access to fact-find during 2009 harvest without fear of harassment or reprisal; and, cease its harassment of human rights defenders.
Signed by:

[Your name]

[Your address]