>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 06:47:01 EDT >Subject: After the elections: Repression, Labour Code the Pinochet road > >RUSSIA INFO-LIST >from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR >*********************************************************** >If you appreciate receiving this mail please distribute it to your friends and >post it to internet forums; if not, send a "no more" message to: >International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >*********************************************************** >After the elections, what is in store for workers in Russia? > > >part one: What does the new Labour Code mean for Russian Workers? > >The Labour Code (KZoT) which Putin hopes to force through by May was first >drafted when Primakov was Prime Minister. It is a wholesale removal of some >of the most important rights held by workers, some of which have existed for >decades. It will make trade unions impotent, destroying any ability of a >Russian worker to improve the condition of his or her life. > >Our correspondent in Moscow writes: > >"There practically won't be >collective bargaining, every one will have to sign an individual short-term >contract. And the administration is to decide if to prolong it or not. So >that the employee will be defenceless�Ķ" > >Under the existing regulations, in many cases a worker cannot be sacked >without the permission of the local union committee, which also has a say in >the matter of wage cuts, shifts etc.. Putin���s Labour Code will destroy these >rights. > >The generous rights to paid maternity leave that women have enjoyed for >decades will be cut in half, and they may be forced to work night shifts >while pregnant. > >Our correspondent informs: > >"Employers will get the right to hold investigations and collect information >about employees (including their private life, political militancy etc.) and >form special archives and black lists. 8 hours working day will be >practically eliminated. The working day will be 12 hours and the week 56 >hours." > >An all-Russia committee including Zaschita trade union, Oleg Shein (the sole >left-wing Duma deputy), representatives from famous struggles of recent years >such as the mass occupations of Yasnogorsk machine-plant and and Vyborg Paper >and Pulp Mill has come together, calling for a mass campaign of resisitance >against the new Labour Code. We must support them in every way possible in >this fight. (More details on practical actions will be out soon.) An attack >on workers in one country is an attack on workers everywhere! > >Please send protest emails regarding the Labour Code to the Russian >government: >Send protest e-mails to President Putin at the Duma: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Please also send copies to: shein72@mail. ru (Duma deputy Oleg Shein who >is campaigning against the Code) and to us at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Part 2: >Repression to rise as Putin takes his first steps down the "Pinochet" road: > >When Petr Aven, head of Russia's biggest bank, called on Putin to establish a >Pinochet-style dictatorship, he was only expressing the feelings of many big >businessmen, Russian and western, faced with the problem of forcing tens of >millions of Russian workers to accept the mass misery of privatisation - >quietly. And in fact the Russian state and powerful businessmen have already >taken the first steps down the Pinochet road: > > In 1999 workers occupying Vyborg paper mill were raided by special police >units. Two workers were shot. > After carrying out militant action in Astrakhan, Oleg Shein (co-chairman, >Zaschita trade union and Duma deputy) lost his friend and close collaborator >Oleg Maksakov, murdered with a sawn-off rifle. > Kusbass miners at Chernigovets pit saw their occupation violently broken >up by armed police raiders last December. > In Moscow, Krasnodar and other cities, anti-war and antifascist >demonstrators including a pregnant woman have been jailed in atrocious >conditions, framed on charges of terrorism. > Just before the March elections, two leading Zaschita (Defence) trade >unionists in Kirov faced repression after distributing leaflets telling >people not to vote for Putin. > In April, Aleksei Rybalko, co-chair of Zaschita in Baskortostan was >viciously beaten by police and thrown unconscious out of their van. > >For information on protest campaign in support of the most recent incidents - >Kirov, Rybalko etc, please see ISWoR website >http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html . > > British prime Minister Blair applauded the "strong" leadership of Putin >when the latter arrived in London for talks on 17 April.. > >In a quiet move which nevertheless has immense significance, Putin has now >made it legally necessary that all those entering or leaving Russia declare, >along with drugs, weapons etc., all printed material (books , newspapers etc) >and other "receptacles for information" (tapes, CD's , film) they have with >them. Russian television channel NTV reported that Putin said all Russian >citizens would face criminal proceedings if found to be having contact with >foreigners "beyond the call of their duties". > >************** >STOP PRESS >Reminder ISWoR supporters in Britain >Demonstrate against Russia Expo 2000 >Assemble outside Queen Elizabeth Conference centre >7pm today (WEDNESDAY 19 JULY) >Info 07940 915 011 or see http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/russiaexpo.html >************* > >*********************************************************** >The RUSSIA INFO-LIST >puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. >If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or >want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: >[EMAIL PROTECTED]< >Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England >*********************************************************** > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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