“Greedy capitalists! “oil on the people’s table” you have made the bullet, jail and torture un-separated part of our and our children’s life! No need to pretend! You are afraid when we get organise and our poverty is your honour and glory. In belief, you want us cheap, silent, and unorganised and do everything to keep the status quo. We are full of unfulfilled desired for songs, dance and happiness. We are full of hope for the freedom and inevitable love for equality. We want to be united in every corner of the earth and build another kind of world. Quarrel and obstinacy with us has no future, if we the workers of the world get united you will be vanished from scene”
This is the First May slogan.
Workers throughout the world have lost more of their achievements in the war with neo-liberalism during the last year. Capitalists are trying continuously for the cheap labour in the world. Workers have witnessed the capitalist’s false propaganda’s flag, the flags that tries to paint and justify the contemporary capitalist’s crime as something humane and necessary.
Privatisation everywhere has been combined with direct or indirect attack on the workers rights, deterioration of their living standard, decrease in unemployment benefit, conditional payment and sickness benefit……. and increase in union fees. Thereby, for example, from the Nov 2007 when the right parties have come to power in Sweden till now, more 3000 have left the unions. Even though the unions under supremacy of employers, have completely distanced themselves from the workers interest and lost their main litter which were adopted from their tripartite tendency of welfare state. But still, the contemporary capital, consider the unions as intruder to capitalists freedom and endure them in the name of “defend of human right”. This neo-liberalism interpretation of human rights is going to broom whatsoever remain from the welfare state.
The capital’s war machine is in full swing. The imperialist is shamelessly implementing the “new world order” with bullet and blood in Middle East. War with Iran and Iranian atomic weapons is still headlines of the daily news. Religious-militarist regime of Iran, by its suppression of revolutionaries and freedom loving forces in Iran has created and continues to create a best situation for the victory of imperialists in the region, and serving the world capital by supporting and granting for Iranian capital in whole these years, is going to fulfil the final desire of international war monger by lightening the flame of another war. Suppression and intimidation of revolutionaries and freedom loving forces from one side and growth of reactionary religious nationalistic ideology which itself is the outcome of common activities of world capital and reactionaries regimes headed by the Iran and USA in the region, from other side, are the main factors for the keeping the war frame alive in the region. A war that has a duty to pave the way for establishment of “new world order” or read, as re-division of the world and complete supremacy over world natural resources. Eastern Europe (especially Yugoslavia), Iraq after Saddam, Afghanistan after Talibans ….clearly shows the real claim and devastating result of such a war. Needless to say the common people are the cannon fodder before and after such war.
Atomic weapons and weapons of mass destruction not only in the hand Iran but whole the world is symbol of barbarism and is the main concern of workers and freedom loving people throughout the world. Therefore disarmament of the world from the capitalist’s barbarism is universal and necessary demand. The world disarmament and opposition to the war has to be dependent on a social movement, as war mongers requires its own forces. Therefore real opposition to war whether in Iran or other part of the region should not end with empty slogans but should be depend on ceasing of power by freedom loving movements with working class as its vanguard. These movements should have an anti war and anti weapon of mass destructions content. Therefore the only practical way of opposing the war is to support these movements.
The pivotal point of workers struggle against religious militarist regime in Iran has been strike, protests, self organising and cooperation. The workers, through their long war against regime could slowly establish their independent organisations and imposed them on the regime. Future changes in Iran are very much depends on development of this ongoing process. Therefore the Islamic Regime with its full power is opposing this process. Arrest of Mahmood Salehi and others worker’s activist for fear of commemorating the First May is just one example or attacking the teachers, students and women gatherings and protests is another example that clearly show the fear of regime about these movements.
Refusal of state and capital controlled organisations and establishment of an independent organisation; that means an autonomous and independent organisation around class interest, is real demand that the Iranian working class is struggling for its achievement. This fundamental demand of workers is not only opposed and refused by the regime but whole the agents of capital. Such an organisation is the only one which can unite and organise the workers.
Elites are trying to define specific meaning for workers organisation in all the periods and confine the organisation in this definition while an independent workers organisation should only have the class interest as its main goal. For example how can one separate a political trade union from a none political or tripartite tendency that was the main pillar of welfare state has totally lost its meaning and can’t work even as it did in the past under the attack of neo-liberalism period, and in reality conversation with the armed capitalist has no meaning. That is why, only collective decision in proportion to the class force and ability and in view of workers life as whole and in proportion to the class struggle is decisive factor which can blow a real life in to the independent workers organisation.
Gender discrimination in its different form still exists throughout the world. The problem of gender discrimination in the Middle East and especially in Iran has been turned in to a dreadful manner. Political Islam is the main cause of this problem. But there is a movement in opposition to this sexual discrimination which shows itself in different form. Arrest and imprisonment of women in daily bases in Iran along with daily fighting of women with the passdaran in the street for different reasons shows that it is not possible to talk about the women’s freedom without the struggle against the religious regime in Iran. Freedom of women in Iran apart from collapse of Islamic regime and acceptance of gender equality has to be based on the social possibilities such as an acceptable standard of social welfare; like work for everyone, establishing kindergarten, pensions home…and decreasing the burden of domestic labour on women, decreasing of working hours…..are necessary condition for real freedom. It is the only working class who can be the flag bearer of such a struggle against the mad neo-liberalism. Keeping in view the decisive and main role of working class in over throw of religious regime in Iran, the relation of working class with general freedom from side and women’s freedom from other will become more and more important.
No to Iranian Regime, No to Economic Sanction, No to War, No to American Military Attack and Interference, No to Weapon of Mass Destruction
Long live freedom Long live socialism
Work, welfare, freedom, soviet republic
Hasteh Aghaliyat (Minority cell)
May 2007