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Roger ROMAIN
a/conseiller communal
B6180 COURCELLES
sites web : http://www1.brutele.be/users/r.romain
http://www1.brutele.be/users/r.romain/enbref.html
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Corlett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:@co2.brutele.be>
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2000 12:43 AM
Subject: Vyborg Defeat - A Tale of Treachery
> RUSSIA INFO-LIST
> from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR
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> Vyborg Defeat - A Tale of Treachery
>
> (nb: ISWoR would like to thank Moscow Union of Marxists and anarchist
> organisation MPST for information, as well as the Vyborg workers who
> requested to with-hold their name. Special thanks also to ISWoR
translators
> Steve Kerr and Willi Firth.)
>
>
> After more than two years the militant occupation, conducted by the
workers
> of Vyborg paper mill, has ended in scab treachery and defeat.
>
> Background to the Struggle
>
> Vyborg Paper and Pulp Mill, with its highly advanced machinery, is
situated
> in Sovietsky town, strategically located between St Petersburg and the
> Finnish border. Unpaid and threatened with wholesale sacking in a planned
> re-structuring by Alcem UK, the mill workers first took control over their
> plant about two years ago, resuming the production themselves, forcing out
> the company�s manager, and electing their own. They used the profits from
> the paper they produced to feed themselves and their families - the first
> time they had been paid regularly in a long, long time.
>
> During the long occupation the unarmed Vyborg workers managed to face down
> the repeated ferocious raids conducted by militarised special police units
> backed by the regional Government, determined to seize control of the mill
> by
> force. (See ISWoR website* for reports of those raids). A number of
workers
> received serious injuries during these raids; one lost an eye, and two
were
> shot. Nevertheless they fought on, refusing to give up control. One of the
> reasons for their success in keeping the firm, backed by the regional
> government, at bay for so long was the close solidarity between the
workers,
> who managed to mobilise hundreds at short notice when the mill was
attacked.
> Another, extremely important factor was the authorities� fear they would
> stage further mass blockades of the "Scandinavia Highway", a major road
and
> railway link connecting Russia with western Europe.
>
> Late in November last year a conference took place in Vyborg to which
> militant workers from all over Russia were invited. In the course of this
> conference, which had heavy involvement by the Communist Party (KPRF) and
> the
> Russian Communist Workers Party (RKRP), Vitaly Kiriakov was named as
leader
> of Vyborg workers. Reports differ as to how much influence the mill
workers
> themselves actually had on these proceedings. Whatever the case, it is
clear
> that Kiriakov, a municipal councillor who stood in the last Duma elections
> on
> the list of the RKRP, was a bosses� man in disguise. Weeks ago the
workers,
> comprehending that Kiriakov was moving to tie up a deal with the firm
Alcem
> UK, declared he was not their representative and elected mill worker
> Alexandra Zaikina instead.
>
> Defeat
>
> But the harsh boycott conducted by the authorities on behalf of Alcem UK
> against the militant workers was beginning to take its toll. The trucks
> carrying paper were barred from the roads; once again the workers were
> unpaid
> and hungry. A mill worker describes the situation:
>
> "In the week leading up to the events of the 16th of Jan, the families of
> the
> workers at Vyborg simply starved. Pay has not been issued for 5 months. In
> December cold was added to hunger. The factory had not received funds from
> the local council to pay for heating in a long time. The municipal and
> federal organs were closely organised against us with Alcem and Vyborg
> Cellulose�.
>
> "The local authorities instituted an economic blockade against us. They
> withheld shipments of cheese and butter. These actions had the political
aim
> of the destruction of our factory through the destruction of us, the self
> organised workers of the Vyborg mill and the thousands of other such
> collectives across Russia. .." (worker�s name withheld by request)
>
> Under these desperate circumstances, it is not surprising that some
workers
> agreed to sign petitions circulated by Kiriakov for payments respectively
> of
> 500 and 1000 roubles (approximately $17 and $35 dollars) per signature.
> These petitions declared no confidence in the workers� committee, and
called
> for the firm to be re-named Vyborg Cellulose (a trading name of Alcem.)
>
> Two weeks ago, on 16 January, just a few days before the Arbitration Court
> was supposed to investigate the shadowy events surrounding the purchase
of
> the mill by Alcem, Kiriakov, with the aid of company thugs, burst into the
> mill and seized control. Below is an eyewitness account of what happened:
>
> [At 8:20 PM he looked out the window and ten cars had come through the
> gate. ] "From the cars came many people who ran towards the doors of the
> mill
> and who were also 'neutralising' the workers� guards of the factory. Soon
a
> voice was heard in the Administrative building. We closed ourselves off on
> the fourth floor, (five of us, all members of the workers� committee) The
> gates of the factory were then blocked with fire-trucks. The shop floor
was
> taken over by unauthorised persons. At 10:22 we got a call.
>
> I answered and it was Kiriakov. He said, "So what are you going to do?" I
> said "We are going to wait." And I hung up the phone. Twenty minutes later
> we
> heard the sound of metal breaking. Ten to twenty people broke through the
> door from the 3rd to 4th floor and were trying to ascend to the 4th on the
> balcony. They told us that they were the new security at the factory and
> that
> we must vacate the premises�"
>
> The firm Alcem, via its scab intermediaries such as Kiriakov and Pavel
> Privalov, promised to pay off all wage arrears within two weeks, preserve
> all
> 2,550 jobs, provide a minimum wage of nearly $90 per month (not low by
> Russian standards), expand production and provide social benefits.
>
> These are fantastic claims for Alcem, which not long ago promised to sack
> the
> vast majority of the workers in a "downsizing" operation. It is very
> unlikely
> these promises will be kept. We know that the Vyborg workers, who have
> become
> known not just in Russia but now worldwide for their courage and
endurance,
> will not allow the bosses to ride over their backs. But now it is up to
us,
> workers of the international labour movement, to come to their aid when
they
> call us - with political support, money for strikers, solidarity actions
and
> whatever else is necessary, whatever they may request from us to ensure
that
> this time the bosses cannot starve, freeze, trick, beat or shoot them into
> submission.
>
> Lisa Taylor
> International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR)
> * ISWoR website http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html
>
>
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> The RUSSIA INFO-LIST
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> posted to Russia Info-List do not necessarily reflect the views of ISWoR.
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