Socialist Worker Monthly Review #8 • June 2003 • $2 As Labour Bows to Bush & Business

Socialist Worker Monthly Review #8 • June 2003 • $2 As Labour bows to Bush & business...

UNI STUDENTS KINLEITH MILL WORKERS

PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS SUPPORTERS

WEST COAST MINERS UNIVERSITY STAFF PEACE & JUSTICE CAMPAIGNERS People stand up for peace & justice

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 1 What’s on of the owners have their own public, right- wing political agendas. Who owns our news Auckland media and does it mater? Presented by Bill Palestine / Israel, rally for peace Rosenberg. Support justice and peace, based on re- Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, moval of Israeli Occupation, right of re- Grey Lynn. Tuesday, June 17, 2003 at turn for refugees, sharing Jerusalem, ces- 7:30pm. GPJA Organising Committee will sation of Jewish-only settlements in occu- be at 6:30pm, before the forum, at the pied Palestine. Unite Office, Trades Hall. Anyone willing WHO SAYS? Aotea Square (Queen St, Auckland), to help is welcome. 2pm, Saturday June 7. Organised by Pal- “There was no doubt in my mind as estine Human Rights Committee. Phone I went through the intelligence... David Wakim 520 0201. the evidencec was overwhelming Fourth of July that they had continued to develop Aceh—the New East Timor? The Fourth of July is US Independ- these programmes.” The political background, the human ence Day. This year it will be a global Colin Powell, US secretary of state. rights crisis and how New Zealand can day of protest against the US occupa- help. Speakers include Margaret Taylor tion of Afghanistan and Iraq and their “In intelligence there is one (Amnesty International), Maire military threats against Iran, Syria and unpardonable sin – cooking Leadbeater (Indonesia Human Rights Cuba. So far, both Wellington and intelligence to the recipe of high Committee), Keith Locke (Green Party Christchurch are planning to take part. policy. There is ample indication foreign affairs spokesperson). ■ Peace Action Wellington will protest this has been done with respect to Saint Columba Centre 40 Vermont St, outside the US ambassador’s residence Iraq.” Ponsonby (opposite the Mosque. Entrance in Woburn Rd, Lower Hutt, on the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for and parking at rear of building). Monday evening of July 4 (time to be con- Sanity, a group said to be made up of CIA June 16 at 7:30pm. Organised by Pax firmed). The theme of the demonstra- agents, in letter to George Bush on May 1. Christi and Indonesia Human Rights Com- tion is: Whose independence? Phone mittee. E-mail [email protected] or write 382 8129, e-mail “We’re still on the road to peace. to box 68-419 Auckland. [email protected] It’s just going to be a bumpy road.” ■ Peace Action Network Otautahi will George Bush on recent terrorist attacks. Who owns New Zealand’s news media. protest outside the US Airforce base at Can we afford to let them own our news? Christchurch Airport/Harewood. Meet by “What does it say to you that half Global Peace & Justice Auckland the totem poll at 4:30pm. Phone 981 2 of all 15 year olds in South Africa (GPJA) Public Forum. Most of our news 825, e-mail and Zimbabwe could lose their media are owned by three – shortly to be [email protected], lives to AIDS? What does it say to four – transnational media empires. Most webpage: http://peaceaction.net.nz/ you that 11 million children, roughly, die every year from preventable diseases? What does it say to you that of the 4 million ATCH ... IRAQ OCCUPATION WATCH ... IR babies who die within their first month, 98 percent are from poor countries? What do those statistics Thousands died... lost the capacity to deal with even com- tell you about the world?” An independent organisation, Iraq mon problems.” Journalist Bill Moyers questioning Body Count, has put the number of dead He condemned the coalition forces, billionaire Bill Gates from the US bombing and invasion at saying, “They haven't even bothered to between 4,065 and 5,223 civilians. provide hospitals with what they need “It really is a failure of capitalism.” The figure comes from meticulous to keep functioning.” Bill Gates’ response to Moyers. checks of casualty reports. The actual number of dead is likely to be far greater The real use of WMDs as Iraq Body Count use a conservative Dust from depleted uranium muni- “Where did this idea come from method of counting the casualties. tions means civilians will be dying for that everybody deserves free Their single largest entry – between many years to come. education? Free medical care? Free 1,482 and 2,009 dead – comes from the 19 The US and Britain dropped up to whatever? It comes from Russia. It Baghdad hospitals most likely to receive 2,000 tons of depleted uranium on Iraq. comes straight out of the pit of the dead and injured in the capital, accord- This is three times the amount used in hell.” ing to the Red Crescent. This was during the first Gulf War. Debbie Rindle, US Republican Party the period 19 March to 9 April. This toxic heavy metal is used in representative in Texas. shells and missiles and can contaminate ...more children will water and food supplies with radioac- “My film is about an Afghan The US and Britain have left a deadly tivity for years. woman who has no power but legacy in Iraq. Cluster bombs are still This death and destruction in Iraq who wants to be a president one maiming and killing children. was necessary, we were told, because day. I don’t want to be a president The US has still not reconnected the Saddam had weapons of mass destruc- myself if the best-known president water, sewerage and electricity supplies tion (WMDs). in the world is George Bush.” it bombed during the war, which is en- But now US and British officials have Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf dangering the health of thousands of admitted that evidence of this may after winning an award for the film Five in families. never be found. the Afternoon at the Cannes film festival. The charity UNICEF brings in 67 This was the last desperate excuse tankers of water via Kuwait every day. Bush and Blair came up with to justify These service less than 10 percent of their war. Iraq's population. Some 40 percent of They claimed Saddam could launch Basra in southern Iraq still have no water. chemical or biological attack in 45 min- Kenny Gluck of Medecins Sans utes. Now Britain’s foreign secretary Frontieres says, “The health system is in Jack Straw says it’s “not crucially impor- such disarray that healthcare staff have tant” to find any of the alleged WMDs. 2 Socialistd Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Editorial Socialist Worker Monthly Review War, corporate http://au.geocities.com/swo_nz rule & resistance Editorial 3 Two months after the end of the war in Iraq, Helen Clark’s News Review 4 refusal to publicly support the US can increasingly be seen for what it was – a blip. Homophobia Labour’s reservations were always based on fears that war Student protests could stoke tensions between the US and Europe and under- Genetic Engineering mine multilateral free trade talks in the World Trade Organi- sation (WTO). Now that US bullying and deal-making has won European FEATURE: WORKERS STAND

backing for their colonial occupation of Iraq, Labour’s swing- UP TO CORPORATE POWER ○○○○○○○○ ing back firmly into the US camp. ○○○○○○○○○○○○ Helen Clark’s apologies to George Bush were re-played for weeks. Now Labour is stepping up support for Bush’s “war on Uni staff, nurses, miners 6 terrorism”. Kinleith workers 7 Last month, New Zealand’s military contribution was boosted with the departure of an air force Orion. A Hercules aircraft has been committed, to help in ferrying US forces. FEATURE: ASIA-PACIFIC

Further New Zealand troops are promised, including a SELF-DETERMINATION ○○○○○○○○ possible contingent to boost the occupation force in Iraq. ○○○○○○○○○○○○ Foreign minister Phil Goff has even offered to send troops into Palestinian areas to police Bush’s “road map”. Bougainville 8 Meanwhile, Labour has carefully avoided condemning Aceh 10 Indonesia, America’s Asian ally in the “war on terrorism”, for their latest onslaught to suppress self-determination in Aceh. In swinging back in behind Bush, Labour is bowing to FEATURE: PEACE & JUSTICE

pressure from business at home. IN THE MIDDLE EAST

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ A flick through any issue of the National Business Review shows that New Zealand’s biggest corporations remain Palestine 12 obsessed about a free trade deal with America. They also want US muscle to impose corporate globalisa- Reordering the Middle East 13 tion for their mutual benefit. Islam and the left 15 This is why Labour has signed up to America’s WTO case to Terrorism 16 force open European markets to genetically engineered food. The top leaders of the Council of Trade Unions scarcely

lifted a finger against the war in Iraq. They remain wedded to COLUMNS ○○○○○○○○ “partnership” with Labour and business. ○○○○○○○○○○○○ But increasingly – like an iceberg, 90 percent invisible below the surface – ordinary people are gearing up to fight. Industrial Action 20 They join rising resistance around the globe. ‘What can I do in my union?’ All that Labour has to offer is a world of war and corporate

rule. But out of this resistance is emerging a new left who LEFT ALTERNATIVES ○○○○○○○○ demand an alternative. ○○○○○○○○○○○○ National Peace Workshops, British elections 17 Cover photos: Canterbuty students protest against the Budget, 14 May; Kinleith workers picket CHH AGM, 30 April; Banner drop at Auckland’s “Round the Bays”, 16 March; Wellington protest at Indonesian Embassy, 21 May; Coal miners strike, Letters 18

7 May; Uni staff unionists plan national bargaining campaign, 12-13 March. ○○○○○○

SUBSCRIBE Name: ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

TODAY Address: ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ One year (11 issues) $26. Make cheques to “In Print Publishing”. Post to Box 13-685 Auckland.

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 3 News review ‘The system discriminates’ against gays and lesbians

By DAPHNE LAWLESS son that right wingers are so in- structure. The survey also showed that tent on supporting the tradi- It’s only since the mid-19th self-harm was much more An attempt by two gay men to tional kind of family. century that “homosexuals” prevalent among those who become surrogate parents last Colin Wilson, author of have been considered a sepa- had experienced same-sex at- month evoked strong opposi- Socialists and Gay Libera- rate class of people. traction. tion from the Catholic Church tion, points out that such peo- Before then, gay sex was According to Wilson, “Soci- and the Society for the Protec- ple “argue for ‘family values’ thought of as something any- ety gives only two categories – tion of the Unborn Child. because the family saves one might do. gay and straight – for us to fit Both groups said that “a them money.” But the mid-19th century our own sexual development child needs to be brought up by In the nuclear family, was the time when Victorian into. This is a very restricted its biological father and women are expected to bear ideas of the nuclear family, of choice.” mother”. and raise children, and do the women’s and children’s obedi- It’s not surprising that peo- Because of the “delays, costs housekeeping, without being ence to men, were being ple who have to make that and prejudice” which they en- paid. pushed. choice suffer from depression countered, the gay couple were This is a great saving of It became useful to pretend and other mental illness. forced to withdraw their surro- money for the bosses – their that same-sex attraction was There’s no reason children gacy application. profits couldn’t bear having to something that only happened can’t be raised, happy and They told the Sunday Star pay for such services. to a “sick” minority. healthy, by any kind of family Times that the system was fun- Right wingers also approve Modern science, however, is or parents. damentally discriminatory. of “traditional families” where increasingly showing that this Conservative “family val- The opponents of the surro- children are trained to strictly isn’t true. ues” aren’t about the rights of gacy bid claimed that children obey their parents. This pre- A survey published by the child. They’re about pro- being raised by a mother and a pares them for a lifetime of Otago University in April has tecting profits. father is “genetic”. obeying bosses and govern- shown that 26% of women Gay relationships and solo They said that any other ments. have sexual feelings for other mothers are equally a threat means of raising children, such Capitalism oppresses gays women at some stage in their to the idea that men should as by two men, is bad for the and lesbians for the same rea- life. But only 2% of those sur- do paid work while women children. son it oppresses women – to veyed described themselves as have kids and keep house for But that’s not the real rea- support the nuclear family entirely homosexual. free. Students’ anger at Labour rises

“The government’s objective, ised to ‘cut the cost to stu- broadly expressed, is that dents of tertiary education’.” every person, whatever his “Labour has betrayed the level of academic ability, people who put it into power.” whether he be rich or poor, The fee rises have out- whether he live in town or raged students around the country, has a right, as a citi- country. zen, to a free education of the On Budget day itself, kind for which he is best fit- more than 300 students pro- ted and to fullest extent of his tested in Christchurch. powers.” Christchurch Polytech stu- These words from the pen dent president Mark Taylor of post-war educationalist Students rally at the University of Canterbury before marching with told the demonstrators, Clarence Beeby came to- others from the polytech and college of education on May 14. “When it comes to fee setting wards the end of a speech by [later in the year], there will tertiary education minister speech he was lost for words. stitutions. be even bigger protests.” Steve Maharey at Victoria Four days earlier, he had re- Instead, the government Thousands of students University last month. ceived a smiliar reception from will set maximum fees na- marched against the war in Beeby’s words, said Maha- students in Palmerston North. tionally. Iraq. This revival of campus rey, were “a wonderful state- Around 50 Massey Uni- The new fee maxima will activism is now spilling over ment”. But by then, few in versity students disrupted his see course costs rise by up to into other channels. the audience were listening. speech at Te Manawa Art $1,000 a year while the gov- National student co-presi- As he rose to speak, around Gallery with loud chanting ernment sits on a $4 billion dent Fleur Fitzsimons pre- 50 students started chanting and noise-makers. budget surplus. dicted that “we could well see “Labour lies, fees rise!” Labour had earlier an- In a letter to Maharey, the sort of conflict-ridden Maharey was visibly nounced in the Budget that Victoria student campaigns council fee-setting meetings shaken by the militant pro- student fees will no longer be officer Nick Kelly said, “In with protests and occupations, test and at times during his determined by individual in- 1999 the Labour Party prom- that we saw in the 1990s”.

4 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 News review W.T.O. spells GE free wake-up call

By DAVID COLYER

Labour’s policy of supporting “a rules- based international order” gained credibil- ity when it was the justification for not supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq. During the war Socialist Worker pointed out that this “international order” also included US-led institutions of global capitalism, like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Monetary Fund. In May, this side of the policy was re- vealed when the government announced their support for an American attempt through the WTO to force Europe to accept genetically engineered (GE) food. One of the reasons Labour declined to support the war, was their fear that war- related tensions – between the US and Britain on the one hand, and France and Germany on the other – would hinder negotiations in the WTO. Now the Americans, spurred by apparent success in Iraq, are flexing their economic muscles. 20,000 march on September 1, 2001 Labour is not simply bowing to Ameri- can pressure (although that no-doubt plays tion with Labour. portant part of a wider plan for the future a part). They themselves are determined There has also been a change in the ar- of New Zealand business – the so-called to use the WTO and other economic agree- guments put forward by the GE free move- “Knowledge Wave”. ments to win access to overseas markets ment. It has become increasingly common for New Zealand exporters. for statements from groups like GE Free Corporate system The development of a high-tech genetic NZ, Mothers Against Genetic Engineer- This vision is also central to Labour’s engineering/bio-tech industry is also a key ing and the Green Party, to emphasise the economic plans and to their hopes of main- part of Labour’s business plan. damage that not being GE free could have taining business support. on New Zealand’s farming and tourism As finance minister Michael Cullen said GE free movement industries and the so-called “Brand NZ”. in a speech to business leaders in March The case should be a wake up call for This is an attempt to turn the govern- 2001, “I firmly believe that a large part of supporters of a GE free Aotearoa. It shows ment’s rhetoric against them, and appeal the process of economic transformation that with only five months before the end to New Zealand business. will have to involve the development and of the moratorium on commercial release, They hope a majority of capitalists can application of new biotechnologies.” Labour remains totally committed to GE. be convinced that GE is bad for business. At the height of the GE free movement The moratorium was introduced a year- Some GE campaigners think this will work many activists placed the dangers of GE and-a-half ago to pacify the massive GE because they believe that Labour has been in the context of a system dominated by free movement, which had just held a hijacked by foreign biotech bosses, against corporations and politicians who con- 20,000 strong march in Auckland. the “national interest” of New Zealand. stantly put profits ahead of people and our The moratorium was a sure sign that the environment. movement had the politicians worried, but Industry Labour Party and business leaders it also helped to deflate it. It is certainly true that democracy is be- rightly saw the GE free movement as a Since then, there has been one other big ing undermined by Labour’s slavish devo- threat to their ability to shape the economy protest last November. Other than that, tion to corporate interests. But corporate as they see fit. They knew that if the GE there’s been a big fall off in the number of support for GE is not restricted to a small free movement was successful then they people actively involved in the movement. group of capitalists in the biotech industry. would face greater resistance to their A comparatively small number of ac- Fonterra, New Zealand’s biggest mul- profit-motivated agenda in other areas. tivists have continued to make submissions tinational corporation, is totally commit- For these reasons, the strategy of ap- to various government bodies, but these ted to GE. The dairy giant sees GE as a pealing to New Zealand business in the submissions have had little effect. bridge into the lucrative pharmaceuticals name of the “national interest” and “Brand Together with the worse than expected industry. Fonterra is jointly owned by thou- NZ” will fail. To stay GE free we need to results for the Green Party in last year’s elec- sands of dairy farmers. This alone gives GE rebuild the GE free campaign into a move- tion, this has left many GE free activists feel- a strong local support base. ment of tens of thousands. ing powerless and pessimistic. This is linked The forestry industry, another huge We must also revive the anti-corporate to a number of changes in the movement. player in the economy, also sees GE as a politics which helped show people how GE Last month, Green co-leader Rod Don- potential cash cow. was linked to other issues that affected ald called on his party to soften its opposi- Other capitalists, who don’t expect to them, and how the fight against the GE is tion to GE as the price of a future coali- benefit from GE directly, see it as an im- part of a wider struggle for a better world.

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 5 Workers stand up Uni staff unite for strength By GRANT BROOKES and AUS activist tertiary education into “little more than a At present, staff at each university ne- DAPHNE LAWLESS factory to produce the specific skill needs gotiate their own employment agreements. of business”. This means, as a recent AUS Bulletin The three unions covering staff at New Labour also wants to see closer partner- puts it, that outcomes at each university Zealand’s eight universities – AUS, ASTE ship between business and university re- have reflected not only how well-funded and PSA – have launched a joint campaign searchers to kick-start their “Knowledge each individual university is, but how to establish national collective bargaining. Wave”. strong the unions are at each individual Members of the biggest union, AUS, will Already, universities do more research university are. vote this month on a campaign for a single for private corporations than anyone else. Overall, salaries have slipped to 35 per- agreement covering academics and another The University of Auckland earns over $40 cent below Australian levels as workloads national agreement for non-academic staff. million a year in private work. have skyrocketed. Uniting workers nationally could boost The main beneficiaries are multina- National bargaining, on the other hand, their power to challenge Labour’s whole tional drug companies like Bristol Myers would mean that the unions could bring corporate agenda on campus – if union of- Squibb, who use the university as their their whole nationwide strength to bear ficials are prepared to lead such a challenge. publicly-subsidised research department. on employers. Labour launched their Tertiary Educa- The workers doing the research see no The May issue of the AUS Bulletin tion Strategy last year. Under the guise of benefit, and often face job insecurity. rightly says that a national agreement will “nation-building”, they want to gear terti- On top of this, Labour is lining up with “increase employee voice in decision- ary education even more towards the the US in free trade talks for a General making”. needs of business. Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). But union leaders must encourage NZUSA student president Andrew GATS increases the pressure to open up members to use that voice to speak up Campbell said that the Strategy will turn education to multinational corporations. against corporate control of education. Nurses raise women’s equality

By NZNO activist GRANT BROOKES tion of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). For the first time since 1991, the nurses’ CEDAW is the main international union (NZNO) has held a national se- treaty upholding the right of women to ries of stopwork meetings. vote, own property and access educa- Over April and May, NZNO members tion – and to earn equal pay. around the country were voting on a bar- The US is one of a handful of countries gaining strategy for the next 12 months. that has not ratified CEDAW, alongside The strategy proposes a return to a sin- the likes of Iran, Sudan and Somalia. gle, national employment agreement for all Bush has also withdrawn funding to UN Solid strike 30,000 nurses employed by district health family planning programmes because they By KYLE WEBSTER boards and seeks big pay rises, based on accept abortion rights for women. the principle of pay equity for women. USAID, the aid agency overseeing Coal miners employed by Solid Energy at Nursing remains 92 percent female. the “reconstruction” of Iraq, is barred Spring Creek and Strongman mines Women’s average take-home earnings in from funding any organisation which walked off the job for 48 hours on May 7 New Zealand are just 79 percent of men’s. upholds abortion rights or which pro- in support of their claims for pay parity. As an NZNO Backgrounder put it, motes debate on abortion law. The miners are amongst the lowest “Nurses’ remuneration is intimately The pay equity proposal put to the paid in the country and are seeking a 20% bound up with decades-long struggle for NZNO stopwork meetings includes pay increase. This would give them the equal pay for women in the workforce”. “benchmark” figures of $40,000 for a same rate as Solid Energy miners at In a bid to forestall an industrial cam- nurse’s starting pay, rising to $52,000 af- Huntly. paign, Labour last month announced a ter five years. Holding up signs and placards outside taskforce to look at pay equity in the This would mean long overdue pay rises the entrance to the Strongman mine near health and education sectors. of $7,000 to $19,000, depending on where Rapahoe, the miners were hopeful of a But real equality runs counter to the she worked and her years of experience. positive outcome. corporate forces behind Labour’s policies. The meetings were fronted by NZNO The miners picketed the railway junc- Business NZ executive director Anne strategist and Alliance leader Laila Harré. tion at Stillwater. Rail workers in the RMT Knowles was blunt. She said it was “com- Harré says, “We need to work Union refused to cross the picket line. pletely unacceptable to set up a pay eq- through with the government now EPMU organiser Tane Johnson said the uity scheme – run by unions and the state whether we are confident that that is support from the railway drivers had been sector – that will inevitably impose large enough – to integrate our approach into “absolutely brilliant”. In total, 10 trains costs on the private sector”. the taskforce – or whether we need were stopped. Pay equity also runs against the glo- something additional”. Other unions including the RMTU and bal right wing agenda of the Bush ad- It will require an industrial campaign the Nurses Organisation (whose members ministration. to defeat corporate interests and win recognised that the issues affecting the Last year, Bush blocked ratification justice for nurses and a victory for work- miners were similar to their own) sent of the UN Convention on the Elimina- ing women. messages of support.

6 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Workers stand up Kinleith workers’ fight against corporate power

By GRANT BROOKES present the company with a Tradenz workers at IP plants flowed in from award for excellence. Australia, Canada, Sweden and the US. The longest-running strike in the history The strike at Kinleith was sparked by Some Kinleith workers had argued of Carter Holt’s Kinleith mill is over. On the company’s moves to endanger work- that spreading the strike to other Carter May 28, after 82 days on strike, 277 ers’ safety by scrapping the on-site fire Holt and IP plants was the way to win. workers belonging to the EPMU union brigade and to cut pay. Whisky Hastie told Socialist Worker voted to return to work. But deeper down, the issue underly- Monthly Review, “I heard people say, Their determined fight for justice in- ing the strike was power. The company ‘call the whole country out’.” spired an out-pouring of support from wanted to break union control over job Whisky talked to dozens of meetings workers around the country and at worksites around the country, forced back-downs from the com- and even across the Tasman. pany. “In Australia”, he said, “we had But disgracefully, top officials in sites that wanted to walk off the job, the EPMU and the Council of Trade even though it’s illegal. We got that Unions actively undermined solidar- reaction locally, too.” ity action by other unionists. As a re- But top officials from the EPMU sult, Kinleith workers also lost some and the Council of Trade Unions points they shouldn’t have. scotched the idea, and Hastie The strikers at Kinleith were agreed with them. taking on not only Carter Holt but Disgracefully, top union officials also their parent company, US mul- convinced Kinleith workers to call tinational International Paper. off their picket. As EPMU national International Paper (IP) is one industrial officer Paul Tolich put it, of the world’s leading forces for “we withdrew the pickets and al- corporate globalisation and a lowed the railway workers to move staunch backer of US president the wagons”. George Bush. CTU secretary Paul Goulter told Wellington unionists that calling off Republican Party the picket was “for the best”. Since 1990, IP has given over $6 As a result tonnes of paper million to Bush’s Republican Party. stock-piled in the mill made it to In 2000, they funded a bash to cel- market, keeping the company’s ebrate his selection as the Repub- cash-flow ticking over. lican presidential candidate. Today, the third-ranked member Settlement of Bush’s cabinet is a former presi- But more importantly, calling off dent of IP. Another IP executive is the picket and undermining the the special assistant to defence sec- solidarity action from rail workers retary Donald Rumsfeld. also dashed the chances of spread- IP is also America’s biggest ing the strike. spender on research into genetic Air emissions at IP’s plant in Maine, 13 June 1988. IP has The settlement accepted by the engineering of trees. a long, long record of environmental breaches. workers on May 28 retains the on- And it’s channelling funds into site fire brigade “for now” and of- the “Plan Puebla Panama”, a secretive assignment and promotions, undermine fers a small pay rise. scheme designed by advisors from the the culture of equality and stamp their But it also includes salarisation (an World Trade Organisation and World authority on the workers. end to hourly overtime pay) and 12- Bank to open up Central America for As strike leader Whisky Hastie put hour shifts. A chance to beat a multina- Western corporations. it, “In our mill we have promotion lines tional, watched by workers around the The company is also on friendly – equal opportunities for everyone, world, was lost. terms with the Labour government here whether Pacific Islander, Maori, Pakeha, The core issue of promotions has in New Zealand. or women to work their way up. been shunted into new union-manage- IP executive Chris Liddell sits on the “They [the company] want the boss ment committees. The struggle for Knowledge Wave Trust, a business to have the sole right to appoint peo- power is not over. think-tank close to the prime minister. ple. Innocent people, people who speak The spirit of Kinleith workers re- Liddell’s wife is the Trust’s head. up, won’t get the opportunity.” mains strong. Once they voted to go The day before Kinleith workers The strike won massive support. back, management wanted them at work walked off the job, prime minister Helen Hundreds of thousands of dollars the next day. Clark was guest of honour at the annual poured into the strike fund. Workers at “We had a meeting and debated it”, prize-giving dinner for local managers Carter Holt’s Whakatane mill refused to said Whisky. “The workers said, ‘no, from Carter Holt. take on work from Kinleith. we’re going back Tuesday’. And a week into the strike, trade Train drivers refused to cross a 24- “If we go back and they start kicking minister Jim Sutton visited Carter hour picket set up across the rail line arses”, he said, “the workers are gonna Holt’s corporate headquarters to into the mill. Messages of support from retaliate”.

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 7 Asia-Pacific self-determination Dishonest brokers in Bougainville

By GRANT BROOKES backed PNG in the war. They funded the PNG military and supplied them The six-year deployment of New with training, ammunition, aircraft, Zealand troops in Bougainville is weapons and even personnel. scheduled to end on June 30. The Phosphorous bombs that were returning soldiers will be hailed as dropped on villages in 1994 were sup- champions of peace. plied by Australia. So were the aircraft But when troops were dis- that dropped the bombs and the pi- patched by the National govern- lots who flew the aircraft. ment in 1997, they were sent for a Phosphorous is a weapon of indis- very different purpose. criminate terror that incinerates tar- Bougainville is formally part gets like the napalm bombs used by of Papua New Guinea (PNG). US forces in Vietnam. New Zealand troops went to the Australia opposed independence island as part of a “peace process” to end went to paying off the International Mon- for Bougainville in the same way they op- a nine-year war between the etary Fund and the World Bank. posed an independent East Timor (until Bougainville Revolutionary Army and Yet only 1 percent of the profit went 1999), and just as they oppose independ- the PNG government. back to the people of Bougainville. ence for Aceh today. The roots of the conflict lie in the so- Over 200 hectares of rainforest were They saw independence as a threat not cial and environmental destruction caused clear-felled. More than a billion tonnes of only to Rio Tinto’s control of Panguna, but by the giant copper mine at Panguna and tailings from the mine, contaminated with a spur to unrest in neighbouring Lihir is- a long-held popular desire for independ- toxic waste, were dumped in the rivers, kill- land (where Rio Tinto is part-owner of a ence. ing fish, birds and other animals. gold mine) and in PNG’s remote Western The Panguna mine is owned by Tribal lands, home to the spirits of an- Province (home to the huge, Australian- Bougainville Copper Limited, a joint ven- cestors, were desecrated. owned Ok Tedi mine) as well. ture between the PNG government and After unsuccessfully trying protests, “The Australian government’s real in- Australian multinational Rio Tinto. With a petitions and court cases, traditional land- terest”, said Ona, “is to allow the safe re- 53% stake, Rio Tinto owns the lion’s share. owners led by Francis Ona blew up power turn of Rio Tinto to mining Panguna”. When it opened in 1972, Panguna was pylons supplying the mine with electricity. At the height of the war, Australia’s the biggest copper mine in the world. Over PNG responded by sending troops to department of foreign affairs admitted that the next 17 years, it produced 3 million the island and declaring all-out war on its its goal was “the maintenance of the au- tonnes of copper, 300 tonnes of gold and people. In 1990, Bougainvilleans declared thority of the central government for the nearly 800 tonnes of silver. independence and established the continuing viability of the existing (and This made billions of dollars in profits Bougainville Interim Government (BIG). potential) substantial Australian invest- for Rio Tinto and provided the PNG gov- Francis Ona was made president of the ment”. ernment with a fifth of its income. BIG and leader of the Bougainville Revo- Over 10,000 Bougainvilleans – out of a Panguna accounted for nearly half of lutionary Army. population of 160,000 – were killed in the PNG export earnings – much of which For the next nine years, Australia war. A third of the people were driven ‘No outcome’ on the causes of conflict ❛The only outcome [of the truce with to generate a lack of tolerance. Many peo- sanctuary for their customs and their iden- PNG] is that there is peace on the ground. ple, for instance, criticise and dismiss tity. That is a fundamental human right. But there is no outcome in terms of why Francis Ona. [The peace process has] installed for- we started the struggle in the first place. He has many credentials; these may eign concepts like village courts and uni- We often hear that the TMG [Truce not be so obvious to people in the devel- formed village constables. Too much time Monitoring Group] and the peace process oped world who have a “TV-induced” was spent hearing court cases instead of itself was New Zealand facilitated; that image of what makes an effective politi- organising people into productive work New Zealand has a special relationship cian and where elections have to be played programmes in the village. with Bougainville which Australia does not out on the “open market”. But in Bougainville’s future depends on lead- have. I don’t really go along with all that. Bougainville it is quite different. ers who will be smart and subtle, who will New Zealand had to get involved at the Academics have criticised us for being maintain ideals, will know what outset to open the door for Australia. My “an island of lost causes”, and condemned Bougainvilleans need, and who will not belief that it was engineered this way was our insistence on independence as ex- be intoxicated by outside influences. confirmed by New Zealand handing the tremist. Bougainville must have independence. leadership of the TMG to Australia [in But what they will not accept is that But without the highest quality leader- 1998]. Bougainvilleans are an island people with ship, it is not going to work.❜ One of the negative aspects of the a soul. A people cannot be condemned ■ REUBEN SIARA, legal advisor to the peace process has been that it has helped for wanting to maintain their island as a Bougainville Interim Government, June 2000

8 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Asia-Pacific self-determination ‘NZ is not neutral’ ❛The truce was supposed to stop the war and enable our people to decide their political future by a referendum on independence. It provided for a ‘neutral’ monitoring group. Australia is clearly not neutral because it was a major party to the nine-year war on Bougainville. It provided Papua New Guinea with training, finance, military hardware and pilots to help the PNG Defence Force fight its war against our people and blockade our island. A Bougainville independence fighter overlooks the Panguna mine, 1994. Twelve thousand Bougain- villeans died in this war. from their homes. tralia going to humanitarian projects organ- New Zealand provided pilots But by 1997, the cost of the war was crip- ised by the BIG”. to fly the Australian-supplied pling the PNG economy. The army mutinied At the same time, New Zealand and Aus- Iroquois helicopters which were and brought down the government. PNG was tralian peacekeepers pressed ahead with col- used as gunships to strafe our vil- forced to enter peace talks. lecting and destroying weapons on lages and kill our people. Thus After 8 years of war, the people of Bougainville. New Zealand is not a neutral Bougainville wanted peace too. But they also Having largely disarmed the Bougainville party either. wanted a commitment on independence and Revolutionary Army, they have now made Unless there is a clear commit- a guarantee that Rio Tinto would not re-open Rio Tinto’s job of getting the mine back a lot ment to a referendum, there will the mine. easier. be a lingering suspicion that the Australia and New Zealand ensured that On April 11 this year, New Zealand for- involvement of Australia in host- the “peace process” contained no such com- eign affairs minister Phil Goff held a press ing “peace” negotiations is just a mitments. Australian foreign affairs minister conference in the PNG capital, Port Moresby. way of quietly burying the issue Alexander Downer said “we worked very He announced that “weapons collection is of independence.❜ hard to make sure we keep the mine out of almost complete”. ■ FRANCIS ONA, president of the sight for all of these talks”. That same day, another press conference Bougainville Interim Government, PNG eventually agreed to a poll on inde- was being held in Port Moresby. The chair of November 1997 pendence, but not for another 10 to 15 years. Bougainville Copper Limited told Austral- And the poll result will not be binding. ia’s ABC radio that “now the peace process Not surprisingly, the people of Bougainville is well advanced, the company stands ready refused to accept Australian peacekeepers on to discuss the mine’s future”. their island. In November 1997, New Zealand He told shareholders at the company’s peacekeepers went instead. annual general meeting the signs were “en- Australian military historian colonel Bob couraging”. Breen later wrote that Australian army offic- Two weeks later, the PNG government ers were unhappy at New Zealand’s leading added its voice and called on Bougainville role. But government officials reassured them leaders to start talks on re-opening the mine. it “would serve Australian national interests”. The Green Party, who believe that the Five months later, in April 1998, 250 Aus- New Zealand military can be used for peace tralian troops were landing on Bougainville and humanitarian purposes, supported the and New Zealand was handing over com- troops going to Bougainville. mand of the operation to brigadier Bruce Green MP Keith Locke called New Zea- Osborne of the Australian army. land an “honest broker” in the conflict. Noth- Osborne later told reporters that his mis- ing could be further from the truth. sion was “to protect PNG sovereignty” over PNG and Australia were unable to secure Bougainville. a victory for multinational corporations over The following six years of the “peace proc- the people of Bougainville using military ess” were used by New Zealand and Aus- means. tralia to foster divisions among New Zealand peacekeepers provided the Bougainville’s leaders. disguise for Australian corporate interests to They cultivated a “moderate” leadership sneak back onto the island, while securing who might compromise over independence “regional stability” for New Zealand inves- and the Panguna mine. tors and exporters. In 1998, the foreign affairs minister in the The people of Bougainville want peace, Bougainville Interim Government accused but lasting peace in Bougainville can only be Australia of channelling aid to moderate based on justice. leaders. Throughout the conflict, New Zealand Francis Ona (right), former president “BIG village areas are being starved of governments – both National and Labour – of the Bougainville Interim Govern- aid that other areas are receiving”, he said. have worked to deny justice to Bougainville ment, with vice-president Joseph “There has been no aid from PNG or Aus- for the sake of corporate profits. Kabui (left).

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 9 Asia-Pacific self-determination Brutality in Aceh

On May 19, the Indonesian government ings were destroyed by groups of heavily launched a new military offensive in Aceh armed men. aimed at crushing opposition to its rule. “The Indonesian government has accused Lesley McCulloch, a human rights activ- the separatist movement, but local people ist who spent five months in prison in Aceh report that these acts have been carried out last year, said the current level of repression by the military operating together with is “extreme”. groups of militia.” Aceh is the northernmost region of the “It’s increasingly difficult to get informa- Island of Sumatra, part of the Indonesian ar- tion on exactly what is happening in the vil- chipelago. The Acehnese hope to follow the lages and towns of Aceh as NGOs [non-gov- example of East Timor and win independence. ernmental organisations] have been ordered “Since martial law was declared on May to leave, and journalists not embedded with 19, more than 140 civilians including 14 chil- the military are being prevented from trav- dren have died”, said McCulloch. elling to trouble spots. Seventeen cases of rape have been re- “More worrying, humanitarian workers ported and 75 people have been taken by and human rights defenders have been the military and are presumed dead, McCul- threatened and harassed, and many have loch told Australia’s Green Left Weekly. been arrested”, said McCulloch. “In the first nine days, 300 school build- [Source: www.greenleft.org.au] Helen Clark betrays Aceh for trade By DAVID COLYER exander Downer, who called on separatists ministry of foreign affairs describes Indo- to surrender and said independence would nesia as “an important trading partner for “The situation in Aceh is different to that lead to a “disastrous security situation in New Zealand”. of East Timor. South East Asia”. Last year, exports to Indonesia were $431 “International backing always kept a Both are acting in accordance with US million. New Zealand corporations also hope alive in Timor that there would be a wishes. In February, George Bush pres- have significant investments in Indonesia. day when they would get to determine sured the US congress to restore full mili- Indonesia is the largest country in the their own future.” tary links with Indonesia. Association of South East Asian Nations With these words, prime minister Helen Bush sees Indonesia as an Asian ally in (ASEAN). Both Australia and New Zea- Clark turned her back on the people of his “war on terrorism” – alongside New land want free trade with the ASEAN block. Aceh. Ruling out independence, Clark said Zealand and Australia. The Cairns Group of countries pushing the only solution for the Acehnese is to The US has set aside $100 million for for free trade in the World Trade Organi- accept “autonomy” within Indonesia. military aid to Indonesia. Already, US-sup- sation includes Indonesia, alongside Aus- Clark’s position is aligned with that of plied Bronco counter-insurgency aircraft tralia and New Zealand. right wing Australian foreign minister Al- are rocketing Acehnese villages, while US- Indonesia’s vast archipelago of islands supplied Hercules drop feared Indonesian spreads across the major trade routes be- paratroopers from the sky. tween New Zealand in the south, China By siding with the US against Acehnese and Japan to the north, and West to India, independence, Helen Clark gives unspo- the Middle East and Europe. ken support to the brutal Indonesian oc- All of these connections means that cupation and the latest crack-down, which New Zealand business and government aims to stamp out the independence move- have an interest in keeping Indonesia ment. united under the rule of a pro-Western The Acehnese know that “autonomy” leader, whatever the cost in blood. offers no protection from the brutality of ❛Aceh was an independent political Indonesia’s police and army. Nor will it entity for centuries. It has a distinct give them a fair share of their nation’s min- language and culture. eral wealth. The same military machine that Safe in the knowledge that “international colluded in the rape of East Timor are community” will not support independence again involved in the brutal crackdown for Aceh, Indonesia’s civilian and military of the Aceh liberation movement. leaders have no intention of granting real They do not wish to cede any real autonomy to any of their subjects. power to the Aceh people. Instead, under cover of Bush’s “war on If countries like New Zealand stand terrorism”, they have decided to crush dis- aside or don’t protest strongly enough, sent with military force. the Acehnese can expect the same Last year Helen Clark’s government treatment as the Timorese. apologised for New Zealand’s “failure” to The Indonesian military’s atrocious act when Indonesia invaded East Timor in human rights record would make this a 1975. They are repeating that failure over particularly brutal war, which is why Protesters outside the Indonesian Embassy Aceh, and for the same reasons. New Zealand should do everything it can in Wellington demand an end to the brutal New Zealand businesses have signifi- to stop it.❜■ Green MP KEITH LOCKE crack-down in Aceh. cant economic links with Indonesia. The

10 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Asia-Pacific self-determination The Acehnese resistance By DAVID COLYER Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance the independence movement had a strong Front (FPDRA). Last year, Erwanto, a relationship with the FNPBI, Indonesia’s Coverage of the Acehnese independence young leader of FPDRA toured Aotearoa, socialist-led trade union federation. movement focuses on the guerilla fighters to highlight his people’s struggle. The Acehnese resistance was very much of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). It is Erwanto told of the massive general involved in the revolution which overthrew easy for the Indonesian government to strike against the Indonesian occupation the Suharto regime in 1998 and led to East portray these fighters as “terrorists” and in November 1999, which saw two million Timor’s independence. The second point of “Muslim extremists”. of Aceh’s five million inhabitants take to the FPDRA’s programme (after independ- However, there is another side to the the streets. Many of those not on the street, ence for Aceh) is the overthrow of all that Acehnese independence movement. “Civil he said, played their part, by preparing remains of Suharto’s New Order regime by society” activists believe the path to inde- food and accommodation for protesters. a democratic revolution in Indonesia. pendence is one of mass mobilisations and Aceh has an important oil and gas in- The Indonesian government claims it is international solidarity, rather than armed dustry, much of it run by Exxon-Mobil. fighting GAM, as part of the global “war struggle by a small number of guerillas. During the general strike all the oil work- on terror”. But their first victims will be A number of civil society organisations ers – the majority of whom are Indone- the activists of groups like FPDRA, who are grouped under the umbrella of the sians, not Acehnese – struck. Erwanto said work openly in the towns and villages. Independence activist speaks DAVID COLYER talked to Erwanto, an Aceh democratic movement in Jakarta: how to independence activist, in Auckland last year. make Suharto not the president any more, how to destroy the military’s What should people in New Zealand know power, how to destroy New Order. about Aceh? The political structure in Indonesia is Suharto is gone, but you say things haven’t still the same as it was under Suharto. really changed. New Order [the political parties and Yes. Golkar [Suharto’s party] is still a structures of president Suharto’s regime] strong party, the second strongest party is still strong. The military is still strong in the state and it plays almost the same and still political. They use the military role. The military is still everywhere in- to force the people to keep silent. side Indonesia. And Megawati [the current president] When we got the revolution [we can do nothing without agreement from wanted to] destroy New Order and stop the military. One thing you must know is the military having a political role. But the that when Megawati became president, political system is still the same. The elite the military in Aceh became more brutal Erwanto (centre) and friends hold the in Indonesia join with international capi- – killing and raping. Acehnese flag, after an Auckland meeting. talism to exploit people in Indonesia. Because Indonesia is a bankrupt coun- The democratic movement in Indone- try, they can only pay for 25 percent of sia is fighting for a democratic revolution military operations. So 75 percent the 2000. Our concern is how to build a to get rid of New Order. We support that. military have to fund by themselves. strong civil society movement. In Aceh they get that from logging, Before, those who wanted independ- East Timor has been forced to adopt free from selling marijuana and from the big ence only used armed struggle. It was the market policies. What sort of society do companies like Exxon-Mobil. They some- Acehnese thing, if you want to get lib- you want once Aceh is free? times rob our people. When they come eration there is only one way – armed A welfare state. to a village, if they find money, they will struggle. We want to make sure that take it. Acehnese people have another way, that What can people in New Zealand do? is through civil society movement. That Make sure Helen Clark doesn’t restore Why do people in Aceh want to be means non-violence. military ties with Indonesia as John independent from Indonesia? Howard [in Australia] has done. Because Indonesia is not their coun- How do you see independence coming try, not their motherland. They have their about? What do you think about the global anti- own motherland, they have their own It will happen because we have good capitalist movement? language, their own culture. support from the democratic movement We respect the anti-globalisation pro- Jakarta has betrayed them many, in Indonesia, and we hope that interna- tests, we have the same purpose – to many, many times. They want independ- tional solidarity becomes stronger. This make a better world. We have Exxon- ence, they will not compromise any more. pressure will force Jakarta to give Aceh Mobil in Aceh. But mostly we are con- And because the military has killed al- a referendum. sumed by our own struggle for independ- most 10,000 Acehnese people. [As well ence. It is good for us to discuss with as] raping, torturing. Almost every day It took the revolution in Indonesia in 1998 other activists all over the world and our people have been killed. to free East Timor. Do you think it will take learn about each others’ struggles. the same thing to free Aceh? What is the group you belong to? Oh yes. For more information about Aceh and the I’m from the Acehnese Popular Demo- democratic movement in Indonesia, cratic Resistance Front. That is an um- You said you had good relations with the contact the Indonesia Human Rights brella organisation of the civil society democratic movement in Indonesia. Committee. Phone Maire (09) 815 9000 or movement. We founded on 23 March, In 1998 we had the same issues as the email .

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 11 Peace & justice in the Middle East ‘Road map’ to more Labour’s record Palestinian suffering October 2000: The UN general assembly overwhelm- ingly passes a resolution con- The visit by Labour foreign demning Israel’s “excessive minister Phil Goff’s to Pal- use of force” in the Occupied estinian president Yasser Territories by 92 votes to 6. Arafat last month caused a Helen Clark’s government stir in the media. Afterwards, abstains. Israeli prime minister Ariel February 2001: Helen Clark Sharon refused to meet him. phones Ariel Sharon to per- Goff defended his deci- sonally congratulate him on sion, saying, “I’ve got a very his election as prime minis- clear message that I have to ter. Sharon is a convicted war deliver”. criminal, found guilty by an That message was for Israeli court of overseeing Arafat to stick to George the massacre of 2,000 refu- Bush’s “road map” for the gees in Beirut in 1982. Middle East. September 2001: The min- Bush was stung into ac- istry of foreign affairs admits tion by the mass support for they “opposed efforts to the Palestinians raised in the make the Middle East conflict global protests against war Good friends: Foreign minister Phil Goff greets Israeli ambassa- [and Israel’s apartheid] a cen- on Iraq. dor Gabby Levi in April. Goff was attending the 55th anniversary tral topic at the World Con- But his road map will do celebrations of the creation of the Israeli state. ference Against Racism”. nothing to end the injustice October 2001: Acting prime and suffering of the Palestin- month, “The roadmap is no against Israeli occupation. minister Jim Anderton says ian people. more than an entrance ticket They will continue to po- he is “appalled” at an “ab- The problem with the to the dance hall where the litically, militarily and eco- horrent and criminal act” – road map is it ignores the Israelis will play the same nomically dominate any new the assassination of Israel’s reason for the conflict in the old tunes against ‘terror’.” Palestinian state that tourism minister, Revaham first place. The following stage two is emerges from the road map. Ze’evi. Israel was created in 1948 meant to lead to the creation The five million Palestin- Ze’evi was a far-right ex- when Israeli settlers drove of a Palestinian state with ian refugees will have no tremist who publicly advo- 750,000 Palestinians out of provisional borders. Again right to return to their cated a “final solution” for their homes and grabbed 78 this is reliant on “a Palestin- homes inside Israel. the Palestinians. There was percent of Palestinian land. ian leadership acting deci- Bush’s road map could no condemnation of the 50 Israel is now only prepared sively against terror”. swing even more favourably Palestinian leaders assassi- to negotiate what happens to The third phase will reach towards Israel. nated over the previous 12 the remaining 22 percent. a final agreement by 2005 Israel has made it clear that months. And they only want the “ending the conflict”. it sees the roadmap as “open April 2002: PLO represen- Palestinians to get half of Israel demands that the to further negotiations”. tative Ali Kazan seeks diplo- that for their “independent” current Palestinian Author- Bush, and the right wing matic recognition in New state. ity represses its own popula- hawks around him, see Israel Zealand. Phil Goff turns him Israel’s population is five tion and crushes the second as an integral part of con- away. The ministry of for- million. There are eight mil- intifada, or uprising, which tinuing US dominance of the eign affairs explained, “rec- lion Palestinians. Nearly half broke out in September 2000 Middle East. ognition will be considered the Palestinian population when the Palestinian leader- are refugees, descendents of ship has formally declared those expelled in 1948. Arafat and Abbas statehood”. Many live in the West Bank Statehood was declared and the Gaza Strip. Israel in- Israel wanted Phil Goff to meet with Palestinian prime min- in December 1988. Other Pa- vaded these areas in 1967 and ister Mahmoud Abbas instead of president Yasser Arafat. cific countries like Papua occupied them. It has control- Until April, there was no post of “prime minister” in the New Guinea have recog- led them ever since. Palestinian Authority. It was created in response to demands nised it, but the US has not. Under the first phase of from the US government. The US wanted a role for Abbas, Labour is terrified of get- the road map, the Palestin- their preferred leader. ting off-side with the US in ians have to undertake an Abbas is a former negotiator who has worked closely with case it hurts New Zealand immediate cease-fire. Israeli and US officials. He lives in a $3 million villa in Gaza, business. Yet time and again the Is- built amid some of the world’s most wretched poverty. Their mouthpiece, the Na- raelis have provoked the His favour in the West is down to his willingness to give tional Business Review, com- Palestinians by attacking up on the right of Palestinian refugees to return home. plained last month that Phil their homes and slaughter- Arafat has ruled areas under his control with intimida- Goff’s visit to Yasser Arafat ing families. tion and repression. But unlike Abbas, he is a Palestinian “is certain to put New Zea- This is a ready-made excuse leader who has been elected by the Palestinian people. land even further down the for the Israelis to renege on Links: http://electronicintifada.net, www.palestinemonitor.org, American administration’s their part of the deal. www.palsolidarity.org list of friends”. It’s unlikely As Said Ghazali wrote in Actions: Auckland Palestine/Israel RALLY FOR PEACE, June 7 at 2pm, to be repeated. Britain’s Independent last Aotea Square. Contact Palestine Human Rights Campaign, 520 0201.

12 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Peace & justice in the Middle East Re-ordering the Middle East The history of British and French rule in the Middle East makes uncomfortable reading for Iraq’s new conquerors. ANNE ASHFORD reports

“I’ll never engage in creating kings again: it’s too great gary and Germany at the outbreak of the First World a strain.” As they struggle to impose a compliant gov- War brought the Middle East directly into the conflict ernment on Iraq, Pentagon officials may well reflect on between the imperialist powers. the words that Gertrude Bell wrote in 1921. France and Britain occupied much of the Levant and Bell, an adviser to the British High Commissioner Mesopotamia, restricting the area of Ottoman rule to in Baghdad, played an important role in creating a new Turkish Anatolia. Hoping that an Arab revolt would colonial order for the Middle East. Out of the debris of help them defeat the Ottoman armies, British com- the Ottoman Empire, the imperialists of an earlier gen- manders encouraged the embryonic Arab nationalist eration fashioned a network of client kingdoms under movement that had emerged in many areas of the em- British and French tutelage. pire during the late 19th century. However, as Gertrude Bell admitted more than 80 Gertrude Bell In 1915 British officials agreed with Sharif Hussein, years ago, each redrawing of the political map has gen- the ruler of Mecca and a descendant of the prophet erated resistance. British officials eventually imposed Mohammed, that Ottoman rule would be replaced by kings on Iraq and Egypt, only to face renewed pressure a new state headed by an Arab prince. Although the from independence movements a few years later. borders of this new country were left vague, the prom- British, and later US, support for Israel’s expulsion ise of independence helped to cement an alliance be- of the Palestinians from their homeland has created a tween traditional Arab rulers and the emerging Arab permanent focus for anti-imperialist protest. If the ex- urban middle class on the one hand, and British impe- perience of the past is anything to go by, far from be- rialism on the other. coming a pivot in an “axis of democracy” spanning the While Sharif Hussein’s sons gathered an army to Middle East, postwar Iraq may play a similar fight the Ottomans, British and French officials were destabilising role. already deciding the real shape of the postwar Middle The experience of earlier generations holds other East. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 carved important lessons for today. In 1915, just as today, rep- the region into British and French spheres of influence. resentatives of the Great Powers invoked the watch- This act of imperial horse-trading demonstrated that words of “liberation” and “self government”, although despite their talk of “liberating the oppressed” neither Ottoman despotism, rather than Ba’athist tyranny, was Britain nor France would permit the creation of a genu- the bogeyman of the hour. inely independent Arab state. Tactics of ethnic and religious divide and rule also And for the first time Middle Eastern oil was now have a long history in the Middle East. And rather than lubricating the wheels of international diplomacy. Both support democracy, colonial officials – old and new – Britain and France recognised the crucial role that oil have always preferred repression. played in the conflict. British control of BP’s Persian oil- Today’s discredited Arab leaders also have a long fields played an important part in the defeat of Germany. pedigree – every new imperialist intervention has found As Anthony Sampson describes, the postwar parti- local rulers willing to cooperate with the occupiers. tion of the Ottoman Empire was driven by competi- The Ottoman Empire’s alliance with Austria-Hun- tion over the as yet untapped oilfields of Mesopotamia and the Gulf. “Turkey was paying for defeat by having her dwindling possessions carved up between Britain and France. Both countries, while pretending that oil was not foremost in their minds, were specially con- cerned with two regions along the River Tigris... the regions of Baghdad and Mosul which were suspected of containing huge oil reserves.” The British administration of occupied Iraq was modelled on the colonial system of India. From the highest levels of government to local political districts, Brit- ish officers controlled Iraq. As the historian Phebe Marr explains, colonial administrators actively discouraged Iraqi participation: “The philosophy guiding this group was largely based on 19th century ideas of ‘the white man’s burden’, a predilection for direct rule, and a distrust of the ability of local Arabs for self government.” Maintaining this hated system proved costly and difficult. British officials strengthened the role of the tribal sheikhs, who became their local tax collectors and law enforcers. However, even the support of the tribal lead- Under the Sykes-Picot agreement, Britain and France ers for the British administration failed to contain an carved up the Middle East after the Ottoman Empire

explosion of anger in 1920, when the League of Na-▲ collapsed at the end of the First World War

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 13 Peace & justice in the Middle East ▲

tions awarded Britain a mandate over Iraq. wards rebellion. The insurrection of 1920 swept away British control Despite the demands of the nationalist movement in large areas of central Iraq. Nationalist slogans united for complete independence, once again the colonial Sunni and Shia communities in protests in Baghdad, administrators had the final say. In 1922 Britain de- while tribesmen rose in revolt across the country. clared Egypt an independent state – making sure in Although the insurrection was eventually crushed the process that the authoritarian King Fu’ad as- at the cost of hundreds of Iraqi lives, British forces also cended to the throne. British officials also retained lost 400 soldiers and the British taxpayer was left to control over Egypt’s foreign and defence policy, and foot the £40 million bill. The revolt did not win inde- reserved the right to police the Suez Canal. pendence for Iraq, but it forced the British government The Wafd was eventually allowed to form a gov- to drop the hated “India Office” policy of direct rule. ernment. However, the middle class leaders of the Iraqis were still to be denied the chance to choose nationalist movement now turned against the work- their own government, however. Britain’s preferred ing class. The newly founded Communist Party was candidate to lead Iraq was the Emir Faisal, son of closed down and the trade unions repressed – not by Sharif Hussein of Mecca. the British this time, but by the Wafd. Gertrude Bell described how British officials strug- In Lebanon and Syria – designated as spheres of gled to impose the new king on his subjects. In August French influence by the Sykes-Picot agreement – the 192O she wrote, “It’s not all smooth yet. We get reports mandate government left a poisonous legacy of sec- about the lower Euphrates tribes preparing monstrous tarianism for future generations. petitions in favour of a republic... I don’t believe half of Nationalist agitation culminated in an insurrection them are true but they keep one in anxiety.” against French rule in the Jabal Druze area of Syria in To the strains of “God Save the King” – no one 1925. In an attempt to contain nationalist protests, the had yet composed an Iraqi national anthem – he was French authorities played Syria’s religious sects off crowned in August 1921. Following the political tradi- against each other. tions established under Ottoman rule, his government In Lebanon the Maronite Christians, long regarded was dominated by Sunni Muslims. No Shia figures as France’s most loyal clients in the area, were the were appointed except in the holy cities of Najaf and greatest beneficiaries of the carve-up, winning the Karbala. And while the all-powerful political officers presidency and control of the army. However, all the were replaced by Iraqi officials, British advisers re- sectarian leaders had something to gain from the ar- mained behind the scenes. rangement. In return for policing their own commu- In Egypt, a rising tide of nationalist anger proved nities, the rich and powerful were given access to the even more difficult to control than the insurrection in corridors of colonial power. Iraq. Under British occupation since 1882, Egyptians The fate of the local leaders promoted by Britain had already experienced decades of colonial rule by and France under the Mandate period also holds les- the outbreak of the First World War. When a delega- sons for the new administrators of Iraq. tion of Egyptian intellectuals applied for permission By the 1950s most of the client kingdoms that to attend the postwar peace conference in Versailles Gertrude Bell and her colleagues had fought so hard to to put the case for Egyptian independence, British create had been swept away in a wave of mass nation- officials refused. alist protests. It was in this era that the US, which had A nationwide campaign of protests and petition- replaced Britain and France as the major imperialist ing merely provoked the enraged authorities to de- power in the region, turned decisively towards Israel as port four of the delegation’s members to Malta. The the guarantor of its interests in the Middle East. fate of the Wafd – Arabic for delegation – and its Today’s generation of Arab leaders may well feel leader, Sa’ad Zaghlul, sparked off a wave of huge pro- the shock waves of the war on Iraq sooner than their tests across Egypt. Thousands took to the streets of predecessors. Globalisation accelerates both the eco- Cairo and Alexandria. British property was attacked, nomic and military impact of imperialist intervention. and the railway lines were torn up by angry crowds. But while CIA agents call in air strikes by satellite Unlike Iraq, where the insurrection against Brit- phones, activists across the Middle East can use text ish rule remained largely confined to the countryside, messaging to organise demonstrations. Egypt’s working class movement played a crucial role The rich vein of anti-colonial protests in the region in the revolt of 1919. also shows that the peoples of the Middle East need Strikes by tram workers, cigarette rollers and gov- no lessons in democracy from George Bush and Tony ernment employees marked the urban working class’s Blair. However, the historic role of local elites in prop- entry onto the political stage. Class and nationalist de- ping up the imperialist order also demonstrates that mands frequently intersected, as foreigners owned the enemies of freedom in the Middle East are not many of Egypt’s key industries and transport compa- only to be found in Washington and London. Ridding nies. Years of rising prices and wartime food short- the region of corrupt Arab rulers will also be the task ages also played their part in pushing thousands to- of a new generation of anti-imperialist activists.

1919: Emir Faisal (centre) and Britain’s colo- March 2003: US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak nel Lawrence “of Arabia”(third from right) at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, 50,000 Egyptian anti-war protesters denounce Mubarak at the Versailles talks at the end of WWI. and battle riot police in Cairo.

14 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Peace & justice in the Middle East

United against the war – but also over other issues A common struggle DR GHAYASUDDIN SIDDIQUI is leader of tion like Hizb ut Tahrir issued a statement the mass movement. the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain saying we should have nothing to do with Bush’s war is not a war about Islam. The and a prominent member of the Stop the the Stop the War Coalition, that it was led massive demos around the world negate War Coalition. He spoke to Britain’s So- by the left, and so on. the argument. If this is a war against Is- cialist Worker newspaper about the im- We took the view that the future of Iraq lam, why are all these people who aren’t pact of the anti-war movement on the will be decided by Bush and Blair, and big Muslim marching? Muslim community in Britain. business which ultimately they represent. It is a war between the oppressor and Dr Siddiqui uses the term Islamist to re- Historically the Islamists have always the oppressed, and we are the oppressed, fer to groups the mainstream press would been accused of working with big business. millions of us from all kinds of back- usually call Islamic fundamentalists. We said, is that what you want to be grounds. remembered for? For goodness sake re- We must go out and build bridges, and ❛If you start from 11 September, immedi- consider your position. make it a common struggle. ately after there were a number of meet- They had one demonstration on their There are other issues. The Asian Times ings which led to the formation of the Stop own and I was told it wasn’t very big. That asked me to comment on the Labour per- the War Coalition. is not to say people like this will disappear, formance in the local body elections. We were there from the very beginning. but their space is shrinking. I gave two reasons for their poor per- We saw this development as very positive, That has been a major result of the anti- formance. One was Labour’s participation one that would allow the Muslim commu- war movement. in Bush’s war on Iraq and the other is pri- nity to get out of their ghettos and play a A debate is beginning to happen about vatisation of public services. role in mainstream politics, in this case a what is the best way of pursuing political The problem at the moment is that in a mass protest movement. issues arising in the Muslim community. general election there is no other alterna- I remember sending a statement to all I think that the old barriers are break- tive so the Labour Party will still get elected. Muslim community leaders saying that we ing down. Ordinary Muslims are discuss- There is a great challenge for the move- must realise this. ing, and they often find that the arguments ment, to build an alternative people can There is a lot of pent-up put forward by their own leaders are not trust. frustration, especially so powerful as some of those put forward In the recent elections only around 30 among our youth. by others. percent of the electorate voted. Through this move- Issues like secularism, human rights and Some say this showed people were not ment we showed them civil liberties are being discussed. interested in politics. But then in the move- there is a real alterna- In the Islamist view these are secular ment a huge number of people were very tive to being supporters issues that the faithful are not supposed interested in politics. of Bin Laden. to be interested in. But now people are We are against ghettoisation. Govern- For them to see being seriously discussing all these issues. ment and council policies have to ensure part of wider society A number of us feel we need a youth that people interact at all different levels. and a mass move- movement for the Muslim community, one We can build a movement which can ment as the way that addresses issues like globalisation, the counter this globalisation process and US forward is very environment and such things. hegemony. important. We are hoping such a group will be We have to come together if we want An Islam- launched soon. This would be a major de- any chance to counter the forces against Dr Siddiqui ist organisa- velopment and a result of engaging with us, otherwise we will all be losers.❜

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 15 Peace & justice in the Middle East A world without terror Devastating bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco shattered 75 lives last month, and with them the great lie at the heart of George Bush’s “war on terrorism”. Bush’s war has not made the world safer, but more dangerous. Labour’s Phil Goff condemned the attacks, and then used them to justify sending more New Zealand troops to join the frigate and air force Orion already in the region. Faced with terrorist attacks, socialists have a clear attitude. We abhor violence, and oppose indiscriminate bombings of civilians. But as RACHEL SAMBRANO writes, our stance is based not on Goff’s selective morality, but on the writings of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Trotsky argued 80 years ago that socialists have “nothing in common with those bought and paid for moralists who, in response to any terrorist act, make solemn declarations about the ‘absolute value’ of human life. “These are the same people who, on other occasions, in the name of other absolute values shove millions of people into the hell of war.” His statement rings just as true today. George Bush condemned Aftermath of the bomb attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 12. the “terrorist acts” after launching a colossal invasion of Iraq under the banner of “freedom and democracy”. ism” legislation. Goff’s denunciation came after his government sent SAS Terrorism can also serve to drive the mass of the population troops to Afghanistan, where they helped to direct US air strikes. into the hands of our rulers, even if many of these people sympa- US bombs killed thousands of innocent Afghani civilians. thise with the terrorists’ cause. In any conflict between imperialist or capitalist forces and the This is dictated by the very nature of terrorist organisation, “terrorist” who represents the oppressed, our sympathies are un- which involves highly secretive acts carried out by an elite, inde- reservedly with the “terrorist”. pendently of the working class. While we share none of the hypocritical condemnations of ter- These acts represent a desperate attempt by a minority to sub- rorism with the ruling class, socialists believe that terrorism as a stitute themselves for mass action. political strategy is flawed. Even in times when terrorist groups have had mass support, Firstly, a bomb does not discriminate between ordinary people such as Palestinian liberation groups like Hamas, these organisa- and those who have been responsible for murder and repression. tions see the mass backing as merely a backdrop to their own Secondly, the exploitation and oppression we are fighting actions. against is not the work of a particular government, a minister, or Terrorist acts encourage passivity among workers and ordi- even their armies or security forces. nary people. They perpetuate the idea that liberation will come We are fighting a world economic system based on exploita- from above or outside their own actions. tion. This fight can only be won by engaging the entire working Terrorism, according to Trotsky, “belittles the role of the masses class in mass action. in their own consciousness, reconciles them to powerlessness, and Trotsky argued that terrorist acts could, at best, temporarily turns their eyes and hopes toward a great avenger and liberator shake the ruling regime. who some day will come and accomplish his mission.” “The smoke from the explosion clears away, the panic disap- The use of terrorism is not simply another form of struggle pears, the successor of the murdered minister makes his appear- but is a tactic that runs counter to the fight for socialism. ance, life again settles into the As Trotsky asked, “If it is enough to arm oneself with a pistol old rut, the wheel of capi- in order to achieve one’s goal, why the efforts of the class strug- talist exploitations turns gle? as before – only police “If a thimbleful of gunpowder and a little chunk of lead is repression grows more enough to shoot the enemy through the neck, what need is there savage and brazen.” for a class organisation?” Not only is it inef- Yet we cannot remain neutral on the question of violence. fective at combating in- The history of the 20th century is littered with examples of justice, terrorism pro- governments resorting to severe repression to crush popular duces an atmosphere of movements. fear and uncertainty. The ruling class espouses a message of the need for non-vio- These conditions allow lence while its instrument of rule – the state, embodied in the for the introduction of new police and army – carries out routine violence in the name of measures of state repression. “maintaining order”. Laws in the US allow im- Violence is unavoidable because the ruling class will never prisonment without trial. surrender its wealth and privilege voluntarily. Freedom of speech is However real liberation will be achieved not through acts of being steadily cur- individual violence but through the collective power of the work- tailed. ing class. And our own This violence must not be against individuals but against the Labour govern- roots of the capitalist system. ment is stripping The power to end capitalist injustice and exploitation lies in democratic rights the factories, offices, schools and mines across the world. under the guise of As the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg said, “where Leon Trotsky “counter terror- the chains of capitalism are forged, there they must be broken.”

16 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Left alternatives to Labour British elections bring socialist breakthrough

By GRANT BROOKES politicians, the socialist MSPs will not become cut off from There was no “Baghdad working people. bounce” for prime minister They will accept only Researcher and author Nicky Hager leads a session on campaign Tony Blair in last month’s elec- £24,000 a year – half an MSP’s strategy at the National Peace Workshops. tions for local councils and the salary and the average wage of Scottish and Welsh assemblies. a skilled worker in Scotland. Pundits who predicted that The remainder will be do- the speedy end to war in Iraq nated to the SSP for use in fur- NZ left unites for would benefit Blair’s Labour ther campaigns. Party were proved wrong. The socialist MSPs have Labour’s vote collapsed. said they will subordinate their peace & justice Support flowed not to the Con- work in the parliament to the servative (National) Party, but struggles going on outside it. to socialists and Greens whose Over 120,000 people voted By DAVID COLYER conference talked of their campaigns grew out of the anti- for the SSP. If the party can good and bad experiences of war movement. turn those supporters into cam- The National Peace Work- trying to campaign against The biggest gains were in paigners in the unions and shops 2003 were held in Christ- the war within their unions. Scotland, where as one news- communities of Scotland, then church from May 9 to 11. This was the last session paper headline put it, “Peoples’ the balance could be tipped in They brought together ac- on Saturday, and the need to Power Marches On Parlia- the fight against capitalism and tivists from across the left. build links with the union ment”. war. Participants debated a wide movement remained a theme The Scottish Socialist Party South of the border in Eng- range of questions for the until the end of the confer- (SSP) went from one seat to six land, the Socialist Alliance (SA) anti-war movement, but ence, and hopefully beyond. in the 129-member Scottish also notched up its best ever re- agreed on the need to A sign of progress was parliament. sults in council elections. broaden the focus and that the conference was en- “This is a political reflection Across Manchester, Eng- strengthen connections with dorsed by the National Dis- of the international radical- land’s third city, the SA polled the trade unions. tribution Union, the Council isation against the war and glo- between 4 and 8 percent and Despite the apparent end of Trade Unions and the Sea- balisation”, said newly elected in Sheffield they polled be- of the war in Iraq, over 150 farers Union. MSP (member of the Scottish tween 5 and 8 percent. people attended. This in itself Debates about the role of Parliament) Frances Curran. In Preston, Michael Laval- marked how far the move- the UN, or how we can achieve The Green Party also dra- ette was elected to the council ment has come since the Af- a different kind of world, saw matically increased its share of after he beat the Labour candi- ghan war, when most cam- a wide variety of views. the vote, going from one MSP date for the Town Centre ward. paign groups folded after the The biggest turnout came to seven. “The election victory in fall of the Taleban. from Christchurch. There “We are very pleased for Preston had its roots in the Nearly two dozen activists was a large contingent from the Greens”, said Curran, “and Stop the War Coalition”, he from the Greens, including Wellington, and others from again it is a reflection of the said. party co-leader Rod Donald around the South Island. movement against the war.” “I am coordinator of Pres- and MP Keith Locke, came to- Only two people came Across Scotland as a whole, ton Stop the War. People gether with Alliance members, from Auckland. However, the the SSP polled 7.5 percent. In thought I was the best candi- socialists, anarchists, Labour influence of Global Peace the largest city, Glasgow, they date.” Party members and many un- and Justice Auckland averaged 16 percent. The socialist electoral affiliated campaigners. (GPJA) was clearly felt. Unlike the vast majority of breakthrough in Scotland and The conference included Peace networks in both England has fuelled debate meetings on “The American Wellington and Christchurch over the future of the trade agenda”, New Zealand’s are following GPJA’s example union movement’s links to La- links to the US war machine, by taking up a broad peace and bour. the role of the UN, Te Tiriti justice agenda and holding Like big unions in New Zea- O Waitangi in peace and so- regular public forums. land such as the Engineers cial justice and “Merging the The conference decided to Union, British unions are affili- anti-globalisation and anti- establish a national co- ated to the Labour Party. war movements”. ordinating committee to link But during the election Activists who – like So- these peace and justice groups. campaign, the leaders of the cialist Worker – look to the Protests on America’s In- rail workers RMT Union and organised working class as dependence Day, July 4, will the civil servants PCS union the main force for positive see the fist national day of ac- backed the socialists. social change, were encour- tion of the newly united The Socialist Alliance na- aged by a session on the role movement. tional conference a week after of the labour movement in Building a national broad the elections agreed on a per- fighting for peace and justice. left movement against war spective of re-launching the SA Wellington socialist Don and corporate globalisation Rosie Kane, one of six new so- as part of an even broader coa- Franks and Maxine Gay, which takes these ideas out cialist Members of the Scottish lition of left wing forces that president of the Clothing into the unions can start to Parliament, raises her right hand can challenge Labour in elec- Workers Union, presented create a real political pole of to be “sworn in”. On it is writ- tions to the European parlia- this session. attraction to the left of Helen ten, “My oath is to the people”. ment next year. Union members at the Clark’s Labour Party.

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 17 Letter Opportunity squandered In the May issue of Socialist youth to unionism. Worker Monthly Review, I re- But worse was to come, as ported that the special meet- the postponed meeting was ing of the Wellington Local Af- also cancelled “because the key Bob (left) leading the Wellington Mayday march, 2003. filiates Council of the CTU players were involved in nego- “ended positively, with the tiations”. practical suggestion from a Although support for the working union activist that a Kinleith workers came from as Obituary – Bob Plunkett striker from Kinleith be invited far away as Australia, the Wel- to speak at a special LAC meet- lington LAC sat on it’s sorry arse By GORDON FARRIS ing on the evening of May for 82 days and organised no Day.” combined public solidarity ac- It is with immense sorrow that we record the sud- I concluded hopefully, “May tion. den death of Bob Plunkett. that small step from below be Who knows, had Wellington Bob’s commitment to the interests of the work- the first of many more in the unions offered the whole- direction of regular union soli- hearted combined solidarity ing class was absolute. darity”. To the detriment of that was deserved, the mill A member of Socialist Worker for over a decade, workers progress, we never did workers might have got a bet- he was instrumental in establishing a public face for take that step. ter final settlement. socialist politics on the streets of this city. The May Day meeting was As one frustrated unionist e- Bob was a prodigious paper seller. postponed for a fortnight, be- mailed me, “Next time we hear He spent many hours of his time selling Socialist cause, it was claimed, no of an Engineer’s union dispute Worker and encouraging people who expressed an speaker from Kinleith was (also some other unions), we interest in socialist politics to “come on board and available on May Day. That was will unfortunately probably join us”. a rare opportunity squandered. need to make direct contact Bob was a socialist, an internationalist whose ex- A Mayday meeting could with the workers ourselves”. have drawn a number of young DON FRANKS tended family included the worlds oppressed. Wellington anti-capitalists. At Wellington He was a toiler who understood the meaning of present many of these activists alienation and exploitation from practical experi- see individual direct actions as ence. the best way to oppose capital- Associates who worked closely with Bob in the ism. Write a letter to Socialist Worker. peace, union and socialist movements know his spe- The Kinleith example of col- Post to PO Box 36-106 Moera, Lower Hutt or email cial qualities will be hard to replace. lective workers power could [email protected] Please include phone number to Bob was farewelled by comrades, family and have demonstrated another verify authorship. friends to a moving rendition of the Internationale. option and attracted more Socialist books Socialists in the trade unions Millions of people belong to trade unions. The National government Governments and bosses of the 1990s left students have failed to break the po- burdened with fees and tential of the unions. But how debt. This pamphlet, pub- can we realise that strength? lished in 2000, argues that This book looks at how Labour would keep things rank and file workers can use much the same. the power of unions. It dis- Throughout the decade, cusses the role of trade union however, resistance by stu- leaders, the state and political dents and staff blunted at- organisation. tacks and pointed to a real It looks at the history of un- alternative. ion struggle in Britain. It re- This pamphlet shows veals how socialist politics and how students’ position in organisation remain central to the system enables them to union strength. ($12 inc p&p) fight effectively for change. ($3 inc p&p) Students and the Education Factory Available from PO Box 13-685 Auckland

18 Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 Socialist Worker info Contact the socialists near you Socialist Worker ★ NORTHLAND WHERE WE STAND Phone: Vaughan (09) 433 8897 Email: [email protected] SOCIALISM We are internationalists because ★ AUCKLAND Capitalism is a system of exploita- socialism depends on spreading Meets 7.30pm every Tuesday at the tion which generates inequality, crisis working class revolutions around the Trade Union Centre, 147 Great North and war. Although workers create world. Rd, Grey Lynn. Transport available. society’s wealth, it is controlled by the ruling class for its own selfish ends. LIBERATION FROM Phone: Len 634 3984 Socialism can only be built when OPPRESSION the working class takes control of We fight for democratic rights. We ★ HAMILTON social wealth and democratically plans oppose the oppression of women, its production and distribution to meet Maori, Pacific Peoples, immigrants Phone: Anna 847 6303 human needs, not private profits. This and refugees, lesbians and gays. Email: [email protected] will eliminate all class divisions in All forms of oppression are used to society. divide the working class. ★ TAURANGA Stalinist countries such as China We support the right of all op- and Cuba, just like the former Soviet pressed groups to organise for their Phone: Tony 544 1859 Union and the Eastern bloc, have own defence. Their liberation is Email: [email protected] nothing to do with socialism. They are essential to socialist revolution and state capitalist. We support the impossible without it. ★ ROTORUA struggles of workers against every dictatorial Stalinist ruling class. Phone: Bernie 345 9853 TINO RANGATIRATANGA Email: [email protected] We support the struggle for Maori REVOLUTION NOT self determination. ★ WELLINGTON REFORMISM The government’s approach to The present system cannot be Treaty claims has benefited a Maori Meets 7.30pm every Monday at Room reformed to end exploitation and elite while doing little for working class 2, Crossways (upstairs – use back/ side oppression, contrary to what Green, Maori. entrance), Elizabeth St, Mt Victoria. Labour and union leaders claim. It Tino rangatiratanga cannot be must be overthrown by the working achieved within capitalism. It will only Phone: Grant 566 8538 class. become a reality with the establish- Fax: (04) 566 8532 Capitalism’s parliament, army, police ment of a workers’ state. Email: [email protected] and judiciary protect the ruling class. Write: PO Box 36-106 Moera, Lower These institutions cannot be taken over REVOLUTIONARY PARTY Hutt and used by the working class. To achieve socialism the most To pave the way to socialism the militant sections of the working class ★ GREYMOUTH working class needs a new kind of have to be organised into a mass state—a democratic workers’ state revolutionary socialist party. Phone: Kyle (03) 762 6055 based on workers’ councils and We are in the early stages of Email: [email protected] workers’ militia. building such a party through involvement in the day-to-day struggles of ★ CHRISTCHURCH INTERNATIONALISM workers and the oppressed. Socialist Worker must grow in size Phone: Don 385 5268 Workers in every country are and influence to provide leadership in Email: [email protected] exploited by capitalism, so the struggle for socialism is global. the struggle for working class self- emancipation. ★ TIMARU We campaign for solidarity with workers in other countries. We fight We need to revitalise the unions Phone: Vaughan 686 6498 racism and imperialism. We oppose all with a rank-and-file movement. immigration controls. We support all If you like our ideas and want to ★ NATIONAL OFFICE genuine national liberation struggles. fight for socialism, then join us. Socialist Worker members elsewhere in Aotearoa and our sister organisations overseas can be contacted through Socialist Worker’s national office. Want to fight for a better world? Join Socialist Worker I want to help distribute Socialist Worker leaflets Phone: (09) 634 3984 c Fax: (09) 634 3936 c I want to join Socialist Worker Write: PO Box 13-685 Auckland Email: [email protected] NAME…………………………………………… PHONE………………… Socialist Worker ADDRESS……………………………………………………………………… Monthly Review EMAIL…………………………………………………………………………… is on the internet Post to Socialist Worker, PO Box 13-685 Auckland http://au.geocities.com/swo_nz/ or, Phone (09) 634 3983 or, Email: [email protected]

Socialist Worker Monthly Review June 2003 19 Industrial Action A regular column by DON FRANKS ‘What can I possibly do in my union?’

At the National Peace Workshops in Christchurch last month, I workplaces and unions. called for activists to spread the anti-war message inside the trade Outreaching activities can include setting up an information union movement. stall, inviting a lunchtime speaker, starting a workplace newslet- After my talk, a woman rose and said, “Well look, I’m a mem- ter, and writing a leaflet to distribute at another workplace. ber of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – what could All these activities are based on a concept of unionism as work- I do where I am?” Her tone suggested that she wasn’t very hope- ers’ combined self-activity. That’s not the only view of unionism, ful about pushing peace issues in her workplace or union. nor is it the prevailing one in Aotearoa today. Negotiation with As she spoke, I recalled a previous workers’ struggle in the employers and lobbying of MPs by professional union function- streets of Wellington. Hearing the sounds of a particularly rowdy aries is what passes for unionism in most quarters. The basic role demonstration, I turned the corner and saw that the racket came allotted to most union members is payment of dues and passive from bank tellers, protesting outside their workplace. acceptance of service rendered by the expert professionals. I can’t recall what their dispute was about, but vividly retain This model of unionism can’t develop a strong movement be- the image of those neat, tidy, customer-service trained staff in full cause it avoids making full use of unionism’s main asset – the battle cry. united activity of the members. Beneath different surface appearances, the problems and re- During the recent wave of anti-war protest, only a tiny minor- sponses of all of us who live by selling our labour power are very ity of union officials called meetings of members to discuss the similar. That’s why methods of organising in blue-collar unions war. apply to professional workers’ associations. Most officials ignored the issue and some actually moved to The following (with some additions) is my response to the deflect members’ calls for action. Most of the union members medical worker’s question. who marched against the war did so as individuals. Widespread Workers’ organisation on the job has huge potential for social anti-war organisation of workplaces could conceivably have built change. As consumers, workers are scattered, powerless individu- up to a national stoppage, such as was taken by Greek and Italian als who can be pushed around by the market. But as producers, workers. in combination, we’ve got unlimited potential power. Day to day industrial issues also depend on united action from On our jobs we have, between all of us, the production of soci- below. ety’s needs in our hands. This gives us the opportunity to use our Last year’s school teachers’ strikes were fought without active workers’ organisation to effect social change. support from other unions. Instead of mobilising support for the Organising for social change in your union starts right where strikers, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson publicly you work. attacked them. To their credit, the workers were undeterred. First off, talk to the other people working in your section about Rank and file teachers from different schools contacted and your concerns and suggest taking some action together. encouraged each other, creating the militant groundswell of pro- That might sound too elementary to be worth mentioning, but test that finally forced concessions from the government. in real life it doesn’t happen as much as it should. Unionism first began in exactly this way, by workers getting More common is individuals calling on an MP, city councillor together, deciding on and taking their own action, in defiance of or union official and asking them to do something. All too often the employers and the state. A more effective way for workers to this results in a dead end; the problem’s passed to an official pre- advance the cause of peace and justice has yet to be discovered. occupied with other matters and no more is heard of the matter. Collectively organising inside your own section means you can keep ownership of your protest and keep it developing. Two or three heads are better than one; your workmates will have all sorts of ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of by yourself. Having got some measure of agreement with your workmates on the issue, the next thing is to get some collective action happening. Collective action can begin with a joint letter, a petition or a resolution to put at an upcoming union meeting or conference. Why not compose a remit for your union to put at the upcoming Council of Trade Unions conference in October this year? This is an under-used organising tool with a lot of potential. The process of compiling a remit in your section and winning further support for it can lead to other workers sharing ownership of the issue. Then, if the remit is passed at the conference, it can involve others again in the struggle to carry it out E-mail is a handy organising tool, as long as it’s used in con- nection with other methods. The currently popular e-mail petitions highlight issues, but generate negligible political pressure. It should also be remembered that not everyone has e-mail. Com- The Maritime Union was one of the few unions to hold meetings puters can’t substitute for direct contact with people in other where members discussed the war.