To the
Interview asked
by the
Iranian Committee for Labor-Union Relations
1. What is your assessment of the prospect of the
general labor-union struggles?
The international trade union movement has
great responsibilities in the current developments and a significant potential.
All together, collectively and in solidarity we can achieve multiple results,
amassing forces on national, regional, sectoral and international level, thus
strengthening our national struggles, building internationalist solidarity. Our
irrevocable goal, which should be daily at the center of our struggle is to
unite the working class under its own interests, to contribute with all our
forces to rebuild the trade union movement and to coordinate our efforts on
national, regional and sectoral level, in order to strengthen our potential.
2. What is the effect of the economic crisis on
workers and the labor-union movement?
The capitalist financial crisis, which unfolded
in all developed capitalist countries has dramatically worsened the situation
for the working class in all aspects of their lives. In all capitalist
countries, in all continents, the capitalists, the monopolies took advantage of
the financial crisis in order to accelerate the anti-workers measures they had
elaborated long before the crisis with the aim to extort bigger surplus value.
They take advantage of the mass unemployment, so they can impose state and
employer sponsored terrorism, oppression and increase the exploitation rate for
the youth, especially the children of the working class and the popular strata.
The policies for an exit from the crisis
elaborated by capitalist governments, no matter the name or composition, and
the international imperialist organizations have as a main prerequisite very
low wages and salaries, their constant decrease, with a tendency to meet the
lowest wages and salaries of the world market. We can notice all this phenomena
and tendencies in every country and continent: in America ,
in Europe, in Asia .
3. How are the present-day labor-union movement
and the World Federation of Trade Unions’ role in the current era?
We, as workers, as the class-oriented trade union movement, as the World
Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), we have a duty to expose the plots of the
exploiters and to edify the workers of the world with a militant spirit of
struggles, of internationalism, of constant struggle against the imperialist
wars.
The WFTU and its members and friends around the world have conducted
important struggles during the last years.
The WFTU maintains strong presence in Arab
countries, where the major organizations are members and friends of the WFTU,
to curb the resistance of Arab workers, who are against the imperialist plans
for the so-called “New Middle East”. We will continue on the same direction,
forging solidarity with our class brothers in the Arab World against
imperialist aggression, constantly uncovering the plans of the imperialist
forces antagonizing in the region.
4. How are the World Federation of Trade Unions’
struggles and its achievements after the last Congress – the Sixteenth
Congress?
The 16th World Trade Union Congress
was a historic event for the international class-oriented trade union movement
attended by 828 delegates from 101 countries. It reflected the large open,
democratic, modern, internationalist and class-oriented character of the WFTU.
The "Athens Pact", the main
resolution, is an important legacy for the international trade union movement
as a collective, mature and democratic decision of the 16th World
Trade Union Congress which crystallizes the timely and critical analysis on
social and political and economic developments, and also the way out for the
benefit of workers and popular strata.
The rich action of
the WFTU on central, regional and sectoral levels has aimed to unite the forces
of the working class in class struggles; to unite the workers no matter their
ideology, religion, language, gender; unite the simple people in the struggle
against capitalist exploitation and against imperialism.
The organizational growth of the WFTU into more than 86 million members in 126 countries is one result of this progress.
5. How are the International Labor Organization
and the World Federation of Trade Unions’ activity within it?
The WFTU has permanent representation in the
ILO as well as all other international Organizations such as the UN, UNESCO,
FAO where it expresses its views and positions in favor of the working people.
However we are also realistic about the role of the ILO which is not in favor
of the working people rather than for the governments and employers interests.
In the best case the ILO easily
expresses wishes, generalities and vague promises. For long now, we have been
listening to nice words for dignity, for equality, for democratic rights etc.
but for the real issues and problems of the workers no action is taken.
On the contrary the ILO and its
Regional Offices are blocking the democratic, proportional representation from
the trade unions, are continuing to allow the monopoly of the ITUC within the
ILO and are discriminating a part of the trade union movement and the
affiliates of the WFTU. We will continue the pressure until this stops.
6. On several occasions, the World Federation of
Trade Unions, and you as its First Secretary, have called for release of the
detained Iranian workers and labor-union activists. As a large and well-known
labor-union center, what is the World Federation of Trade Unions’ role in
defending the labor-union rights, including the Iranian workers’ labor-union
rights?
The workers and the trade union internationally face similar problems
that relate to unemployment, dismissals, salary cuts, attack in social security
rights, for the age of pensions. The violation of trade union rights, the
persecution of trade unionists has to do with the establishment of such
policies and reforms.
The WFTU defends the rights in trade union freedom in every country. The
Convention 87 of the ILO ratified by many countries is an outcome of the action
of the class-oriented trade union movement and the WFTU.
The internationalist solidarity and support can and must continue
assisting the national struggle of each working class into making trade union
freedom a reality in every country.
