Dear comrades, Please read and act on the following message from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR). Steve Myers, WorkersFIGHT Astrakhan Struggle from ISWoR bulletin Jum 1999 Below is a short version of an appeal which we are asking you to support. It was put out to the intenational labour and trade union movement by workers of Astrakhan, Russia. One of their leaders, whom the workers saved from arrest, has now been elected to the four-person executive committee of the All-Russia Congress of Strike Committees (organised by Samara Strike Committee) which we asked you to support some weeks ago. The Astrakhan region borders the Caspian Sea and is the object of intense interest from western oil companies. Recently militant local worker Maksakov was killed with a sawn-off rifle. Desperate for western investment, to what lengths is the administration prepared to go to show it is 'in charge'? The full text of the statement is available at http://www.geocities.com:80/CapitolHill/Senate/4580/astrakh.html ASTRAKHAN STRUGGLE - SOLIDARITY NEEDED NOW! extracts from letter sent by Oleg Shein, leader of trade union 'Defense'. Translated by Vladimir Bilenkin. 'Astrakhan' (Southern Volga). On May 5, 1999 about 130 workers-members of the union "Defense" from the Plant of Concrete Constructions (PCC) blocked the central avenue. They had not had their wages since February 1998. .. . '... investors [fearing bankruptcy] were allowed in to meet with regional representatives, but the door remained shut for the workers. The workers...proceeded to march down the central avenue where they were attacked by the police (50 men)... the street was blocked. The picket was then set up right next to the Regional Police Office... support [was gained] from nearby construction workers and salesmen. They all knew well the union Defense which enjoys the reputation of a radical working-class organization that has organized and led all strikes, blockades and occupations in the city. ' [The police tried to ]... arrest Dmitry Simakin, a PCC worker, who is also a member of the All-Russian Strike Committee and the Co-Chairman of the Regional Federation of Workers Labor Unions. The workers shielded Simakin from the cops and threatened to stay on the street permanently... The police not only backed down but even allowed the workers to block the street right in front of the Governor's Office for two hours! ' As the result of [this and other recent Defense] union actions, two plant directors were fired, part of the back wages paid and a criminal investigation of the previous plant administration started. A commission has been formed to investigate the property transactions which put the plant on the brink of bankruptcy. The commission includes representatives from the union Defense.. 'The struggle continues. We ask all labor activists to spread around this information and send us letters of solidarity to the following addresses: Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Postal address: Astrakhan, 414000, Volodarskogo, 15, Shein Î.V. Phone/fax contacts of trade union leaders: Fax 8-8512-222248 (Shein, Î.V.) Also: Tel: 8-8512-573951 (home, Simakin, D.S.) In addition, Governor Guzhvin's email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can also send him a letter of protest through his web page: http://www.astu.astranet.ru/rus/astra/OFICIAL/HOTLINE/index.htm In solidarity, Oleg Shein Please email ISWoR copies of your letters at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
