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OWC
CAMPAIGN NEWS
(Open
World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic
Rights)
IN THIS MESSAGE:
1 - Presentation: International Conference Against War and in Defense
of Public Education was held in Paris, on June 14-15, 2003
2 - Appeal of International Conference Against War and in Defense of
Public Education
3 - Conference Continuations Committee to Publish Correspondence Bulletin
********************
1. The International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public
Education was held in Paris, on June 14-15, 2003
The
conference organized by the International Liaison Committee of Workers
and Peoples (ILC) against war and in defense of public education allowed
unionists from Algeria, Benin, Togo, the United States, Mexico, Peru,
Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany,
France and Switzerland to exchange information about their experiences
in the struggle against the lethal attacks on the public education systems
throughout the world.
For
the international institutions -- the OECD, WTO, World Bank, IMF, European
Union, etc. -- what's involved is doing away with schools as we now
know them.
Is
this an exaggeration?
At the beginning of the 21st century, 250 million children are at work
-- and half of them have NEVER seen a school.
In
many countries in Africa, in particular, AIDS, the multiplication of
wars, and the drastic budget cuts imposed by the payment of a US$360-billion
debt to the IMF have reduced the educational system to shreds.
The
delegate from Benin, mandated by his 25,000-member union federation
to participate in the conference, explained the system of "community
education workers": only a 9th-grade level of education required
to teach elementary school, wages of between US$25 and $60 per month,
full-time secondary teachers paid by the hour and only for the nine-month
school year -- all of them recruited among families of a local community.
In
other parts of the world, even in the so-called "developed"
regions, the educational policies are moving in this direction. The
delegate from the California Federation of Teachers (100,000 members)
indicated that the U.S. budget for the first Gulf War -- US$80 billion
dollars -- was financed largely by taking $75 billion from public social
spending over two years. He noted further that the budget for the current
war on Iraq, totaling more than $200 billion dollars as of March 2003,
would be financed in the same way. The Community College system in California,
for example, saw its budget cut by 10%. Two bombers are worth more than
the entire budget for higher education in that state. The registration
fees are going to double, which could exclude from the Community College
system as many as 200,000 students from low-income backgrounds.
The
report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on "Horizon 2020" (educational perspectives for the
coming decades) notes that "economic, political and cultural globalization
has rendered obsolete this geographically fixed institution known as
'school'." The report continues: "[T]hanks to new technologies,
we must move toward the establishment of network educational structures
linked to local communities." The delegate from the California
Federation of Teachers indicated that university professors have been
compelled to put their courses and preparation materials on-line, so
that the university can commercialize what is sellable.
The
term "life-long education and training" was coined by the
European Union for what is, in fact, the programmed end to fixed education,
employment and retirement.
These
testimonies contributed to giving the conference participants an understanding
that the processes of decentralization/privatization aren't fundamentally
about "transforming education into a commodity"; first and
foremost, they are about destroying public education as an institution
on a world scale. Only a small part of the education market -- that
which deals with solvent clients -- can be profitable for the private
organizations.
When
education is regionalized, as in Germany for example, it is decentralized
down to the level of the local school itself, which can then define
a third of its educational programs. In Italy, 20% of teaching time,
or 10 hours a week, are reserved for classes of a specific grade level;
the rest of the time is spent in groups of different age levels.
What
is at stake in all these measures of disintegration is the destruction
of the diploma and, as such, of the possibility for the future education
worker to negotiate a salary with the employer based on collective-bargaining
contracts. The term "qualification" has been replaced everywhere
with the notion of "competencies." Several delegates from
France explained the meaning of the law of December 2001, which allows
for the validation of university diplomas based on "points"
and "credits" acquired on the basis of "association,
union or family experience." Thus, the students elected by the
administration councils at the University of Paris-Jussieu are awarded
automatically one fourth of the points they need toward their diploma.
The
struggle waged by the education workers to defend education is therefore
linked to the struggle of the working class and their union organizations
to defend their conquests.
As
the delegate from the California Federation of Teachers said, "The
corporatization of higher education -- with the growth of casualization,
merit pay, flexibility and contingency work -- is leading university
instructors to see themselves as workers. There is a real emergence
of unionization among the faculty in higher education in the United
States."
A
delegate from Portland, Oregon, explained that the workers in education
currently represent 25% of the total number of unionized members in
the United States.
The
Algerian delegate, a member of the UGTA trade union federation, explained
that the entire federation mobilizes when a single one of its sectors
is attacked. During a general strike two years ago, for example, virtually
the entire public education sector of the union participated in the
strike.
The Peruvian delegate from the SUTEP education workers' union explained
the massive movement of the entire working class initiated by the strike
of the education workers. The Brazilian delegates of the CUT indicated
the strong role of the education workers in the mobilization that has
begun against the Lula government's projected reform of the retirement
system.
All the French delegates highlighted the unity of the demands expressed
by the general assemblies of the National Education workers and other
sectors; namely, the defense of the National Education workers, particularly
the janitorial and support staff (TOS), which the government wants to
remove from the civil service rosters.
The agreement of all of the delegates on these questions allowed for
political clarification on the nature of the "social forums."
A delegate explained that the city of Geneva voted a hefty grant for
a "counter-summit" organized this past June 2nd for the European
Social Forum, when this same municipality has refused to heed the demands
of the unions in the city.
A
French delegate cited the documents that arose from the Social Forum
in Florence, which praise all the "new forms of public services,"
and speak of the need to "re-found the current public systems."
He indicated that "the unionists are not very open to these questions."
Another
delegate mentioned the proposals on education formulated in the closing
speech of the Social Forum in Florence. One, in particular, states:
"The establishment of various collective spaces, among them schools,
will be places for sharing, where one can find men and women of all
ages." These are the very same formulations that one can find in
the memorandum from the European Union on life-long learning, everywhere
in society, and above all, in companies -- with schools being just one
place among many for education.
It
is therefore understandable how French Education Minister Luc Ferry,
who is seeking to dismantle public education in France, could feel perfectly
comfortable at the workshop on education at the World Social Forum in
Porto Alegre.
Finally,
it should be remembered that the mayor of Saint-Denis [in the suburbs
of Paris], who will host the European Social Forum next October, privatized
half the public services in his region.
The
interventions from the delegates from Mexico, Peru, Brazil, France,
Italy and Germany insisted on the struggle for the independence of union
organizations with respect to all the "education reform" attempts,
as a condition to defend and win union demands.
The
developments that unfolded at the recent congress of the CUT trade union
federation of Brazil demonstrated that the 2,700 delegates, mandated
by 9 million members, were capable of taking their union federation
into their own hands. The decision of the CUT to demonstrate on June
11 against the Lula government's attempt, under pressure from the IMF,
to reform the retirement system is an indication of this determination.
The
conference unanimously adopted a declaration that summarizes its conclusions:
No to privatizations! Defense of the public services, beginning with
the public service of education! Money for schools, for heath care and
for all public services, not for bombs! The unity of workers will forge
the road to peace in the world!
On the basis of the work of the conference, a complete Record of Accusation
regarding the dismantling and destruction of public education on an
international scale will be published.
A conference Continuations and Correspondence Committee was established
to carry out the mandate determined by the conference participants and
to publish a liaison bulletin in three languages.
A delegation was mandated to participate in the ILC conference in Geneva
on June 15 in Defense of the ILO Conventions and for the Independence
of Labor Organizations.
Another
mandated delegation, opposing the revision of ILO Convention 142 and
ILO Recommendation 150 will be received in Geneva by the ILO director.
This revision is slated to be implemented in 2004. It would propose
that the axis of education should now be the "employability for
life" of the worker, on the basis of his or her individual effort
toward graduation in an informal framework (outside of school). The
conference delegation will thus alert the entire labor movement to what
is at stake with this revision, which would constitute such a serious
regression for working people.
----------
2-
International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education
(Paris, June 14-15, 2003)
Declaration
The
International Conference Against War and in Defense of Public Education
was held on June 14-15 in Paris. At the initiative of the International
Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC), it brought together
delegates from 21 countries. After having debated, exchanged experiences
and made proposals, they decided to approve a declaration.
We
are raising a cry of alarm: With the extension of war throughout the
world; with the destructive "reforms" and counter-reforms
in the schools, in healthcare, in Social Security; and with the destruction
of workers' and peoples' rights, the very basis of human civilization
is threatened.
Today
Iraq is occupied by the military forces of the U.S. and British coalition.
The Security Council of the UN granted these occupying forces full powers
to control the economy and the future politics of Iraq. The protectorate
imposed on the Iraqi people is based on the organization of chaos, which,
in turn, is aimed at terrorizing the population. Iraq's national wealth
is being looted, along with its cultural heritage and its oil.
The
Iraqi people are being subjected to the occupation. The country is being
subjected to breakup and dismantlement. Other countries are occupied
by imperialist armies.
All
peoples are threatened by policies that are imposed everywhere through
military force, policies aimed at breaking up existing nations. It is
a global political strategy that undermines all the foundations of nations,
all the democratic and social conquests of the people -- in particular
public services, education, Labor Codes, etc. Iraq is the new "model"
that imperialism wants to impose on the world.
Indeed,
the governments -- whether they opposed the war or not -- that are subjugated
by the international institutions (G-8, World Bank, IMF, European Union,
or "free-trade" agreements like the FTAA on the American continent)
implement policies of "structural reforms" and counter-reforms
that are totally directed against the rights that have been conquered
by the workers and peoples. Far from resolving the crisis, these reforms
worsen it.
What
we want for the workers and the peoples of the world is peace and justice
-- not bombs and misery. We want schools, hospitals and public services
-- not war budgets. We want democracy, not domination.
This
is the aspiration that tens of millions of protesters have expressed
throughout the world, for example on February 15th, with the rejection
of the war on Iraq. Now we have to continue this same struggle.
Everywhere,
in all countries, the very institution of public education is threatened.
We are faced with:
*
Cutbacks in public expenses, in particular those designated for public
education, which is threatened with elimination.
*
Privatization, denationalization, and schools subjected to the guidelines
of the private sector or even of churches. There is a concerted effort
-- promoted by the OECD, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization
and the European Union -- of developing a world market of education
in the framework of the General Agreement on Trade of Services (GATS).
The undermining of free and compulsory education and is becoming generalized.
*
Destruction of titles and qualifications that protect youth from super-exploitation,
an aspect of the policies aimed at the reduction of labor costs. The
objective of this concept of "life-long learning" is to replace
the principle of an initial education before entry into the workforce.
With "life-long learning," the bosses could impose on workers
any job, at any age, under any conditions. With "life-long learning"
individuals would be considered just "human resources" and
their right to education would be restricted. The workers would be subjected
internally to the demands of the companies; it is about preparing the
way for flexibility.
*
Questioning of full-time education in the framework of schools for the
benefit of precarious work and the discontinuance of the knowledge that
is transmitted to new generations of young people.
*
An explosion in the number of study programs and certificates for the
benefit of "non formal education" (through companies and churches)
and informal education (through life experience).
*
The break-down of personnel statutes and of the institutional framework
of the national systems of public education in the name of the policies
of decentralization.
In certain countries the public education system has been completely
destroyed (Bangladesh, Mali). In Haiti, education and all public services
have been replaced by NGOs, which have no responsibilities and are totally
unaccountable. In Mexico, where education is public, mandatory and free,
the successive budget cuts have reduced the portion dedicated to education
to 0.5% of the GDP (private investment already represents 3% of the
GDP).
The
application of the system of education vouchers in the United States,
whose logic is to purely and simply put an end to the public financing
of the schools, indicates clearly that the same policies are being applied
everywhere.
Child
Labor: A True Disaster
Currently
there are 250 million child workers (under the legal minimum working
age), in total contradiction with convention 138 of the International
Labor Organization (ILO). Half of them, that is to say 125 million children,
have never seen a classroom. This situation even reaches the developed
countries. To give those children an education would cost US$13 billion
a year. This sum is equal to the money spent on military expenses in
only four days.
According
to official statistics, nearly a billion human beings are deprived of
the right to read and to write.
According
to a report released in 2002 by UNESCO, 70 countries will not be in
any condition to reach the goal that was fixed at the International
Advisory Forum on Education For All that took place in Dakar in 1999:
to provide universal primary education for all ... between now and 2015.
In
Defense of the Norms of the ILO
ILO
Convention 142 (along with by ILO Recommendation 150), which deal with
the valuing of human resources, affirm that the signatory states will
develop complete and concerted orientation and professional training
programs. They establish that "these programs will help all people,
on equal footing and without any discrimination, to develop and use
their professional aptitudes in their own interests and according to
their aspirations."
For
this reason we decided to alert labor organizations to speak out against
the proposed revision of ILO Recommendation 150, scheduled for 2004.
This revision would place the axis of worker training on "employability,"
individual investment of the workers (co-investment), flexibility, informal
education and privatization.
Public
Education Is Not a Rescindable Right
The
national public education systems, in different forms, were established
as an answer to the will of the peoples and workers to secure the right
to education. To defend the right to education and mandatory schooling
today is to defend public education, its institutional framework and
personnel statutes.
The
right to education is being questioned everywhere; the public education
systems and the personnel statutes are threatened by the offensive of
privatization-liquidation. In the name of "lifelong learning"
this offensive is being developed by the IMF, the World Bank and the
international institutions that dictate their politics to all governments.
Those
who tell us in the Social Forums that education is not a commodity declare:
"It is not necessary to be limited to the defense of the public
and state services, it is necessary to look for new forms of democratic
public services and the transformation of the public services to include
more participation". (Declaration of the spokesperson of the European
Forum Social of Florence -- November 2002, in the closing session).
The
struggle in defense of public education can only be carried out in total
independence from the IMF, the World Bank and the international financial
institutions. This is so, because the multinationals see a market in
education of US$2.2 trillion dollars a year; a market that today largely
escapes them.
We
are opposed to the privatization and dismantling of education in any
form: private teaching; subcontracting or externalization of public
school and university work to private companies, associations, or non-governmental
organizations (NGOs); transnational "free-trade" agreements;
decentralization and the fragmentation of public services; the establishment
of voucher systems and the substitution of "competencies"
for "qualifications."
For
Democracy and Trade Union Independence
There
must be no misunderstandings: If one really seeks to defend public education,
can it be done in the framework of Social Forums that are put on with
funding from the same governments that are doing the privatizing or
from foundations sponsored by multinational corporations (Ford Foundation),
and in the company of the same government ministers who implement the
policies with which the workers and the peoples are clashing?
In
all countries the independence of union organizations, without which
one cannot speak of democracy, is threatened by those who are applying
this policy through the Social Forums. They want to transform the forums
into engines for the implementation of these anti-worker policies, integrating
and assimilating the workers and their organizations into on-governmental
organizations (NGOs).
In
countries around the world, the workers are resisting. In the education
sector there have been dozens of strikes and demonstrations these past
months against the policies of privatization and destruction of public
education. In all these strikes, the workers have used their organizations
to fight back and put forward their demands.
For
Peace and for Labor Rights in Iraq
A
threat weighs over the peoples of the world. The military occupation
is subjecting hard-working Iraqis to merciless exploitation and the
negation of the most elementary workers' rights, under the leadership
of the multinationals that supported Bush's electoral campaign and that
have subsequently obtained the "reconstruction" contracts.
We
decided to respond to the call to organize an international campaign
for the rights of the workers in Iraq, for the right to organize independent
unions and to collective negotiation, launched by the coalition of U.S.
Labor Against the War (USLAW) and the Continuations Committee of the
Open World Conference for Labor Rights For All (OWC).
We
Have Formed a Correspondence and Continuations Committee
Our
initiative doesn't enter into competition with any existent labor organization.
It doesn't seek to build a new organization, but rather to establish
a framework for dialogue and information exchange to better organize
the fight in defense of workers' rights and conquests, in defense of
youth and more generally, for the future of human civilization.
We
decided, on the basis of the debates and contributions presented to
this conference, to publish a Record of Accusation of the dismantling
and destruction of public education on an international scale.
We
decided to form a Correspondence Committee whose mandate is to guarantee
the exchange of ideas and the circulation of information through the
publication (in English, Spanish and French) of a liaison bulletin,
in continuity with the preparatory bulletin for this international conference.
No
to privatizations! No to deregulation!
Defense
of the public service of education!
Money
for schools, healthcare and public services, not for bombs!
The
unity of workers will forge the road to peace in the world!
********************
3.
Formation of the Conference Continuations Committee
The conference decided to form a Continuations and Correspondence Committee
whose headquarters will be established in San Francisco (USA). It was
proposed that the two coordinators of this committee be Dan Kaplan (USA)
and Jacque Paris (France). The conference proposes that for each country
represented at the conference, at least one delegate will participate
in this Continuations Committee.
Germany:
Michael Futterer, Heiner Becker, Hendrick Lange
Algeria: Abdelghain Larbi-Vouamrane, Mustapha Mernache, Tahar Benhomar
Argentina: Toni Marques
Belgium: Nadine Negleman
Benin: Assogba Innocent
Brazil: Cleide Donizettide Olivera Rosa
Chad: Gami N'Garmadjal
Spain: Enrique Herrero
United States: Claude Piller, Dan Kaplan
France: Hubert Raguin, Jacques Paris, Donna Kesselman
Italy: Lorenzo Varaldo, guido Montanari
Portugal: La Salette Silva
Switzerland: Albert Anor
Togo: Tétévi Gbikpi-Bbénissan
The
Continuations Committee will have the responsibility of editing a correspondence
bulletin, initially in three languages (French, English and Spanish).
The first bulletin will be published in September and will include excerpts
from the interventions and contributions presented at the conference,
along with two introductory reports.
Without
further delay the following will be published:
-
The declaration adopted by the Conference;
-
The decision to form a continuations committee;
-
The report from the delegation to Juan Somavia, director of the ILO,
concerning the revision of ILO Recommendation 150;
-
The intervention of Amy Newell, on behalf of US Labor Against War, to
the delegates of the Conference.
The
conference gives the Continuations Committee a mandate to put together
a formal accusatory document establishing the reality of the offensive
to destroy public education systems.
Initiatives
Proposed:
*
Preparation of public reports from the conference directed at workers
and youth.
*
The conference places its work in the framework of the initiative of
the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) and
mandates a delegation to participate in the Tenth International Conference
of unionists organized in Geneva on June 15th in defense of the Conventions
of the ILO.
*
The Conference decided to publicize the ILC initiative for a European
Conference that will take place next September 21st and 22nd against
the European Constitution.
*
In the same way, the Conference will report on the Conference that will
be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, next December 12-13 against the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA).
*
The Conference decided to link to the campaign for the liberation of
a union leader in Oaxaca (Mexico) and it demands the liberation of the
union leader and demonstrators jailed in Peru, as well as the lifting
of the state of emergency in that country.
*
The Conference, after having read the message sent by Paul Nkunzimanna,
the head of the Union of University Workers of Burundi, decided to send
him a message of solidarity and to send the authorities of the university
a letter of protest against the prohibition on Nkunzimanna leaving the
country.
*
The conference decided to continue the campaign undertaken by the ILC
against the "endless war" that Bush wants to impose worldwide,
in particular with respect to the countries that are directly threatened
in Africa, Cuba, Iran and Syria.
Distributed by the
Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic
Rights
c/o
S.F. Labor Council
1188 Franklin St., #203
San Francisco, CA 94109
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