|
February 11, 2010 - No. 31 Oppose Monopoly Attempts to Raise
|
|
• Oppose
Monopoly Attempts to Raise
Anarchy to Authority
U.S. Steel
• Steelworkers Protest U.S. Steel's 'Wholesale
Indifference'
Vale Inco
• Voisey's Bay Workers Burn Latest Company Offer
Xstrata
• Workers Demand Moratorium
on Xstrata Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site Closure
• CAW Press Release
Monopolies Versus the People and Their Communities
• Resolving the Contradiction in the Economy
Between the General and the Particular Will Open a Path to a People's
Canada - K.C. Adams
Oppose Monopoly Attempts to Raise
Anarchy to Authority
The following item gives evidence of U.S. Steel's contempt for the law and collective agreements. In Canada U.S. Steel signed a contract under the authority of the Investment Canada Act when it took over Stelco. Almost immediately, it broke the contract and Canadian law. This is called raising anarchy to authority and workers must do everything in their power to stop it.
Monopolies have the same attitude towards collective bargaining agreements (CBA). Vale Inco's "one mine" program for restructuring wants to do away with the CBA so that the monopoly can run Inco in complete anarchy without law and rules that have been agreed to by the workers. It is already doing this by trying to break the USW strike and union by hiring anti-worker mercenaries to restart the mines and metallurgical sites.
This anarchy raised to authority must be stopped by organized resistance!
U.S. Steel
Steelworkers Protest U.S. Steel's
'Wholesale
Indifference'
 Detroit, Michigan, February 10, 2010: Demonstration against U.S. Steel. (Photo: Jim West) |
Ask a union member what's the bedrock of a union contract, and most will answer "seniority." Long established as the way to keep the manager's brother-in-law from getting the good jobs, companies have learned to live with taking turns and following recall lists.
But not U.S. Steel. At its Great Lakes Works south of Detroit, the company came off a nine-month shutdown last summer picking and choosing who it wanted to work in the mill. Some workers with more than 35 years' seniority are still on the street while some with less than three years are inside. Asked what reason management gave for not calling her back, 31-year member Doriscine Wesley said, "Low seniority."
Rank and filers called for action, resulting in a 200-person picket line outside company HQ Wednesday. A Steelworkers Local 1299 leaflet decried management's "wholesale indifference" to parts of the contract:
- An employment security clause signed in 2008 is
supposed to guarantee a job to those with at least three years'
seniority.
- A "manning level" clause is supposed to cut contractors in favor of
USW electrical and maintenance workers -- but nearly 100 skilled
technicians remain on the street.
- A promise to train workers is a dead letter, as management bases its
call-backs on "ability to perform the work."
- Health and safety is ignored as janitors remain laid off and
restrooms, locker rooms, and lunch rooms go uncleaned.
Local 1299 President Marc Barragan announced that Great Lakes turned a small profit in January -- by "doing as much or more with fewer workers." Many workers on the job are working seven 12-hour shifts a week, or longer. "Every day we read about an economic recovery with the exception of the unemployment rate," Barragan told the crowd. "US Steel and other companies are resuming operations but without the numbers of workers."
Added a machinist, "They're making a profit because they're working them to death in there."
Some workers brought their children to the march, which was accompanied by continuous honking from passing motorists in the blue-collar town of River Rouge. Fifteen-year-old Miranda Branstator, one of five children of laid-off electrician Everett Branstator, took advantage of a snow day to "show everyone how many people it affects."
Twelve-year electrician Dave Erskine, now on his second unemployment extension after 14 months off, said, "This is the first time I've had to stand up for anything in my life." Asked why U.S. Steel -- signatory to one of the oldest labor contracts in the U.S. -- thought it could get away with ignoring that contract, Erskine said, "Because they're ruthless and they have deep pockets."
Vale Inco
Voisey's Bay Workers Burn Latest Company Offer
On January 30 striking Vale
Inco workers of USW Local
6480 from the Voisey's Bay operations held a militant demonstration in
Goose Bay, Labrador. They marched through the streets and
burned copies of the company's latest offer. It was a militant
rejection of an unacceptable offer and a show of
strength, determination and solidarity
with the striking Vale Inco workers in Sudbury and Port Colbourne,
Ontario.
The Voisey's Bay workers have been on strike since August 1. Boyd Bussey, a USW negotiator said, "Members here are just as resolved as the first day of the strike and still solidly determined to win a fair deal, that keeps the nickel bonus and provides contracting out protection as well as health, safety and environmental protection."
In December, Vale Inco Newfoundland (VINL) filed a "bargaining in bad faith" claim with the labour relations board in Newfoundland against the Steelworkers. Vale Inco wanted to orchestrate a situation whereby they could secure a settlement with the 135 striking workers at Voisey's Bay, resume production there and use that to undermine and defeat the 3,000 striking workers in Sudbury.
Those talks collapsed and VINL subsequently declared on
January 25 that the company will begin training scabs with the aim of
resuming production. It is "the most responsible
course of action for the business," it said.
TML calls on Canadian workers to vigorously denounce Vale Inco for using scabs and inciting violence as a way to impose its dictate for concessions, at the expense of the workers who actually produce the wealth, and against Canadian society. Vigorously support the striking Vale Inco workers in Labrador and Ontario!
Xstrata
Workers Demand Moratorium on Xstrata Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site Closure
CAW Local 599 President Dennis Couvrette and Bargaining Committee Chair Ben Lefebvre, met with Michael Gravelle, Ontario's Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry in Timmins on January 11 to oppose the closing of the Xstrata Kidd Creed Metallurgical Site. The union officers refuted the arguments Xstrata has advanced to justify the closure of the Met Site. They asked the minister pointedly, "Did Xstrata Copper Canada speak to you or your ministry staff about their plans before the announcement on December 7, 2009?" They also asked what investigation the minister had done to inform himself and the government of the impact of Xstrata's decision to shut down the value-added production at the Kidd Metallurgical Site.
The union officers also told the minister precisely what the union expects.
Firstly, CAW Local 599 is
demanding the provincial
government institute a three-year moratorium on the closure of the
value-added
facilities at Kidd Creed so as to explore alternatives to shutting down
the only metallurgical plant of this nature in the province.
Secondly, they are calling on the government to work with both Xstrata and the union to find solutions to the company's alleged dilemma, including the possibility of developing a northern industrial hydro electric policy in order to reduce Kidd's massive electricity bills.
Thirdly, CAW Local 599 also called for changes to Ontario's Mining Act to stop Xstrata from proceeding with what they have already set in motion and to ensure similar situations do not occur at other mines or at mines yet to be developed.
Fourthly, CAW Local 599 told the minister, "If all else fails we must encourage Xstrata to divest themselves of their Canadian assets so we can get on with the business of adding even more value to our natural resources right here in Northern Ontario."
CAW Press Release
Government Must Make Xstrata Divest Assets in Timmins If Closure Ensues
The CAW is calling on the federal and provincial governments to thoroughly investigate international mining giant Xstrata, including the reason for closing its Timmins Kidd metallurgical site. This call comes hours before Xstrata releases its annual report with its profit for 2010.
Should this investigation conclude that Xstrata has little reason to close the Timmins site, both levels of government must force Xstrata to divest their Timmins assets, says the CAW.
"Xstrata must not be allowed to extract local resources without creating local jobs," said CAW President Ken Lewenza.
The closure is slated for May 1, a move the CAW is calling wholly unnecessary. Currently Xstrata plans to shift production from Kidd to smelters and refineries in Quebec, cutting approximately 670 jobs.
According to the Investment Canada Act, the federal industry minister retains the power to review the implementation of an investment (by a foreign company) and determine whether it varies from the original application and still results in a "net benefit" to Canada. If this is not the case, federal Industry Minister Tony Clement can force a company to remedy the situation or even sell some of its assets.
In Ontario, the Mining Act requires that ore and minerals be treated and refined in Canada. Failing to do so allows the minister of natural resources to withdraw the company's mining rights.
"We're calling on the federal and provincial government to enforce a moratorium on the closure, until this matter can be properly investigated," said Lewenza.
According to a CAW report released today, Xstrata's revenue remained steady despite a sharp downturn in resource prices in 2008 and 2009. Now prices are on the rise, with analysts expecting them to reach the highs of the recent boom of 2006-2008.
Some other key findings from the report "Our Resources Stay Here: Seven Reasons Why the Xstrata Metallurgical Site Must Stay":
-In the last number of months, metal demand has improved sharply, acid demand is returning to historically high levels and the Canadian dollar is trading at the same range as during Xstrata's bid for Falconbridge in 2006.
-As the global economy continues to recover and metal prices climb further, analysts forecast that revenue will climb by 27%.
-The Kidd operations remain highly profitable and the metallurgical site is among the most environmentally sound in the industry.
Monopolies Versus the People and Their Communities
Resolving the Contradiction in the Economy
Between the General and the Particular
Will Open a Path to a People's Canada
Global monopolies have grown so
large a
contradiction has developed between their overall general operations
versus the particular needs of specific facilities, the people in their
communities and the local and countrywide economy. This means that a
specific enterprise may be a net benefit to a particular
community and people but does not fit in with the general plans of the
monopoly and is cratered or downsized. Such is the case with the Kidd
Metallurgical Site in Timmins Ontario that the global monopoly Xstrata
wants to shut down, the Eurocan Paper Mill in Kitimat, BC that West
Fraser Timber has closed saying
it was "not profitable enough," the Inco nickel facilities controlled
by Vale, which the monopoly wants to restructure to fit its global
operations, U.S. Steel's attacks on Stelco, AbitibiBowater in the
forestry sector, Olymel, Kraft, Nestlé and others in the food
industry and the list goes on and on.
Monopoly control of the economy presents a contradiction between the general and the particular. The general is controlled by monopoly aim, which to make the most profit in the fastest time to build a global empire in competition with other monopolies. Each particular facility must serve the general and its monopoly aim. The general clashes with the particular and forces it to submit regardless of the consequences.
Monopolies guided by their aim demand concessions from workers, their communities and governments generating disharmony, insecurity and hardship. The monopolies' global operations clash both with domestic needs to build a self-reliant economy and with the needs of society to fund social programs, public services and infrastructure. The state under the control of the most powerful monopolies refuses to claim the bulk of taxes from enterprises, instead claiming most taxes from individuals reducing their claims on the added-value they produce and the services they provide, which reduces consumption and intensifies periodic crises.
Monopoly aim directs the general to use social product from the particular towards risky investments in hopes of the greatest return. This practice often starves the particular of needed reinvestment leading to decay and uneven development within regions and countries and loss of their economic base and income causing insecurity and crises.
Capital-Centred Aim Is Obsolete
Many Canadians who marvel
at the changes in Canada since
the Second World War argue that the capital-centred aim of making the
most profit in the fastest time built the country's industrial base and
transformed the economy from petty to mass production. They
suggest that what worked in the past should continue in the present.
Aside from the reality that workers did the actual building, one could
now argue that such an aim, which may well have succeeded in building a
particular enterprise in the past, is now too narrow when dealing with
global monopolies. Particular
enterprises such as Stelco, Inco, Falconbridge and Eurocan, which in
their own right are profitable and viable, have become only small parts
of global conglomerates. The particular parts are now expected to be
profitable according to the aim of the general. No matter how viable a
particular enterprise may be in its
own right or could be with investments in its productive capacity, the
particular may be sacrificed by the general guided by its monopoly aim
and dreams of global conquest through wiping out its competitors.
Nation-building under a capital-centred aim at this time in history has
turned into its opposite -- nation-wrecking,
and in particular in Canada, the destruction of manufacturing.
In their particularity, Falconbridge and its Kidd Metallurgical Site, Eurocan, Inco, Stelco and many others are profitable or should we say viable for their communities and the socialized economy. The problem arises from being trapped within a global operation that views the particular only from the narrow aim of serving the general and its insatiable greed for the most profit in the fastest time to wipe out competitors and build a world empire.
For manufacturing workers it is most important to grasp that China, India and other developing countries are not the problem even though the monopolies and their allies want us to hate them. The transformation of China, India and hopefully all of Africa from petty to mass industrial production is a great stride forward for all humanity. The problem does not reside with them and their development; the problem resides with us and the control of our economy by the global monopolies that are blocking us from building our own self-reliant independent economy based on the success of the many particular enterprises that make up Canada's economic base. Nation-building in the here and now begins with restricting monopoly right and ensuring the success of Canada's particular enterprises based on a new human-centred aim.
Modern Aim of the Particular
The particular must be imbued with a modern human-centred aim to strengthen the socialized economy to serve the well-being of workers, their communities and the nation. The modern aim of the particular clashes with the obsolete aim of the monopolies. The aim of the monopolies is too narrowly focussed on return on investment regardless of the consequences for the social and natural environments. Given the monopolies' global reach, influence and power over the direction of entire sectors and countless enterprises and their singular fixation on the highest rate of return, their actions have become increasingly destructive.
The human-centred aim of the particular to serve a self-reliant socialized economy and the well-being of the people is blocked by the general and its monopoly aim. To survive, the particular must combat and restrict the general. To flourish, the particular needs mass ideological and political mobilization and the conscious participation of workers in politics so that the power of the country's political institutions can level the playing field in the battle with the general, the global monopolies.
Those
who belittle the
power of politics and disdain
from actively participating, except possibly attempts to vote
strategically, should think about the history of the anti-social
offensive of
the last twenty years. Examine the active role of governments in
facilitating monopoly right over public right and the annexation
of Canada into the U.S. Empire. The monopolies have dictated changes to
legislation to undermine the particular and Canadians sovereign right
to control the direction of their politics and economy. A few examples
are the Free Trade Agreements, Security and Prosperity Partnership
of North America
and the gutting of the Foreign Investment Review Act and its
replacement with the Investment Canada Act that has become a
diversionary neo-liberal tool to serve monopoly right. The anti-social
offensive, in particular since the time of Prime Minister Mulroney in
Ottawa and Premier Rae
in Ontario, underscores the necessity to participate in politics to
exercise your sovereign rights, defend the rights of all and restrict
monopoly right.
Worker politicians that uphold the modern aim of the particular are not currently found within any of the political institutions in Canada. No Workers' Official Opposition yet exists inside or outside our political institutions. That absence has allowed the monopolies and their politicians and neo-liberal line to run amuck and define the aim of the socialized economy according to their own narrow aim, which is to make the most profit in the fastest time to build their empires at the expense of the modern aim of the particular. At this time, no Worker Politician in the federal Parliament, the Quebec National Assembly or provincial Legislatures is standing up for the particular in opposition to the general. No Worker Politician in authority is demanding that the monopolies be restricted to allow Canada's particular enterprises, economies and communities to live and flourish. That problem, that lack of Worker Politicians and Workers' Official Opposition inside and outside the political institutions must be taken up and solved.
Not long ago, Canada had national public enterprises in many sectors serving Canada's particular economy and needs. Canadians had their own national airline (Air Canada), railway (Canadian National, BC Rail), oil and gas producer and distributor (PetroCanada and others), uranium development and even several public steel companies. These and many more have all been privatized in favour of monopoly right, in favour of the general demands of monopolies over the particular. The few public companies that remain, such as the hydroelectric producers and distributors, are public in name only, as they have become subservient to the claims of owners of debt and subsumed in endless payments of interest to the financial oligarchy similar to so-called public debt at all levels of government.
The neo-liberal hold on political thinking and the mass media has become so intense that the concept of nationalization as an instrument to serve nation-building has been banished. This has been replaced with terms such as "monopolies too big to fail," which require public bailouts to rescue their private empires, and obsequious concepts such as "making concessions so our monopoly is competitive in the global marketplace." Nationalization as a progressive concept to serve the public good and nation-building has been turned into its opposite and must be rescued and redefined. It has become a pay the rich concept to serve the general aim of the monopolies against the people, their communities, particular enterprises and projects and a modern aim. In the U.S. under President Obama's Troubled Asset Relief Program, (TARP) bailouts of the big financial institutions, the concept has been satirized as "nationalize the losses and privatize the profits."
The concept of the particular serving the general needs of the global monopolies has reached ridiculous proportions where entire communities are sacrificed, homes foreclosed, millions thrown out of work, the public treasury looted, and aggressive predatory wars waged to save the monopolies and their failed system.
The situation has become so extreme that a change of ownership, such as witnessed at Stelco, Inco and Xstrata, is consummated with billions of leveraged dollars changing hands within a small group of financial oligarchs with nothing coming to the actual facilities except the burden of servicing an enormous debt. The particular is forced to serve the general owners of capital and debt whoever they may be and wherever they may live.
Worker Politicians Must Usher in the New
Worker politicians must bring progressive concepts back into the political lexicon and most importantly right into our political institutions. Nothing is wrong and everything is right with nationalizing profits for the public good. Nothing is wrong and everything is right with nationalizing Canada's particular productive facilities to strengthen the socialized economy to become self-reliant and immune from the business cycle and to serve the well-being of workers, their communities and nation. Nothing is wrong and everything is right with public and cooperative not-for-profit financial enterprises serving the banking, borrowing, investment and insurance needs of the people and business.
Everything is wrong and
nothing is right with standing
on the sidelines and complaining about politics, rotten politicians and
the abuses of the monopolies yet not uniting with fellow workers and
middle strata, and pitching in to get Worker Politicians elected.
Everything is right with organizing a Workers'
Official Opposition that will stand up against monopoly right, that
will stand up for the particular in opposition to the general onslaught
of the monopolies.
For workers and their allies the issue is to become active and consciously participate as Worker Politicians and organize a Workers' Official Opposition. Through conscious participation in politics, workers will discover how to do all those things necessary to build a modern prosperous nation. They will discover how to resolve this contradiction between the particular needs of themselves, their communities and enterprises versus the general aim and operations of the monopolies. Canadians have a stake in what they have already built and what they are capable of building. By uniting and fighting to resolve the contradiction between the general and the particular as it now presents itself, workers through their own conscious efforts will bring into being new political and economic content and forms that guarantee their stake in what they have and will produce and will bring into being a new general in harmony with the particular. They will give birth to a People's Canada.
Fight for Rights of the Particular at
Kidd, Inco, Stelco, Eurocan and Elsewhere!
United Together in a Workers' Opposition, We Can Restrict Monopoly Right
and Build a Bright Future in a People's Canada!
Let's Elect Worker Politicians to Parliament, the National Assembly and
Legislatures!
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca