From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 13:34:25 -0400 To: "NY Transfer News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Judi Ann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Forward from mart, URGENT NEWS FROM TURKEY via KIM in Leningrad Russia [EMAIL PROTECTED] PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! ================================================================ THE PARTY OF LABOUR Tel: +90 212 588 43 32-38 Fax: 588 43 41 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] June 17, 2001 Today, 17 June 2001, the Organization Committee of the 3rd International Trade Union Conference has organized a protest meeting at the United Nations Square in Geneva at 11.00 a.m. This protest has been organized in relation to the ILO meeting that is being held and which will most probably mean the bringing on of new standards in favour of the representatives of international capital and the governments. Trade unionists and shop stewards from many countries will be participating in this protest meeting. A press statement has also been organized on 15 June 2001 in order to show solidarity with the trade unionists protesting in Geneva. The following is the declaration made by the trade unionists of Turkey who have participated in the preceding International Trade Union Conferences. This declaration has been made in the name of the Organization Committee of the 3rd International Trade Union Conference in Turkey. We present it to your attention: NO TO THE PRIVATIZATION OF SOCIAL SECURITIES One of the agendas of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) meeting that is being held in June this year is the social securities system. The fact that this topic is one of the agendas of the ILO interests us very closely. For, using this as a pretext, the employer and government representatives in the ILO will try to change the standards regarding social securities that are a part of the ILO Contract, according to their own interests. This initiative cannot be dealt with separately from the policies of privatization and 'rearrangement', both of which aim to restrict and liquidate the rights of representation gained as a result of the long years of struggle carried out by the workers and labourers. For some time now, along the direction of the decisions of the EU, IMF and the World Trade Organization, the system of social securities has been made the target in almost all countries. In many of the European countries, there is evident effort to privatize the social securities, raise the retirement age and pensioner fees and limit the health services as a result of the decisions taken at EU's Stockholm Summit. The load of such initiatives on the other hand is being burdened upon the shoulders of the labourer people. While the social security of millions of workers and labourers is being placed under serious risk due to such initiatives and measures, new opportunities for profit is being created for the financial capital, beginning with the private insurance companies. The social limitations in question are generally justified on the grounds of the necessity to economize in public expenditures and the budget deficit. However, the governments bent on restricting the rights of the workers and labourers continue to reduce the employer taxes. Enormous amounts of money are being transferred to the capital in the name of "conjuncture encouragements". Billions and billions are being spent in order to finance armament programmes. On the other hand, they want us labourers to close the deficits that are in fact formed in the state budgets due to these reasons. As if all this weren't enough; they are also trying to burden the bill of the so-called social and economic reforms -that only serve to strengthen each capitalist against their own rival- on us as well. As if increasing the competition power of the capital is not synonymous with decreasing the labourers' wages, destroying the workplaces, increasing the pressure at work and the widespreading of flexible working... As if the accumulation of wealth in the hands of monopolies and the banks is going to lessen the impoverishment of the labourers... As if the source of the wealth accumulating in their hands now is not the labour of the labourers... While the capital and the governments carry on an intense attack around the world, the trade unions are left unable to do anything on the pretexts of social agreement. The social agreement councils formed under such names as the 'Refondation Sociale' in France, 'Unity for Work, Education and Competition' in Germany and the 'Economic Social Council' in Turkey are directed at obstructing the development of struggles against these restrictions. We believe that trade unions should defend the rights of the workers and labourers without any compensations and are against the kind of trade unionism that is based on the understanding of 'social collaboration' and in a state of compromise with the capital. The "reforms" in the field of social securities in the European countries are confronting the rightful reactions of the labourers and trade unions. In many of the European countries, beginning with Greece and France, strikes, general strikes and other massive demonstrations are being held against these attacks. We support these activities of protest and are organizing an international demonstration in the location of the ILO meeting due to this reason. The representatives of capital and governments will try to "equalize" the social conditions of various countries at a backward level and legitimize the privatization attack in the ILO meeting. We oppose these attacks of the international capital and bourgeois governments directed at the social security system and vehemently condemn these attacks. We call on the trade union representatives in ILO to also oppose the attack plans of the employers. As trade unionists and shop stewards who have come together from various European countries, we call on all labourers and trade unionists to participate in the protest meeting we have organized with the following demands: * No to privatization of social securities! * No to raising the age of retirement, the increase in pensioner fees and the restriction of pensioner salaries! * Social rights and opportunities should be raised to a level that enables all labourers to meet their necessities. * Financial capital should pay the bill of the 'economy policies'! * Long Live International Solidarity! Organization Committee of the 3rd International Trade Union Conference ===================================== _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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