Fw: Kazakhstan Workers Fighting Back! Action Alert!
margaret (margaret@rie.net.au)
Mon, 27 Sep 1999 17:21:30 -0700
> RUSSIA INFO-LIST
> from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR@aol.com
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>
> BACK THE KAZAKH WORKERS
> FIGHTBACK NOW!
>
> Dear friends and supporters,
> Below is a description of three major struggles by Kazakh workers.
The
> political situation in Kazakhstan for workers basic democratic rights is
> worse than it is in any other part of the former Soviet Union. Kazakhstan,
20
> times the size of England, had many centres of industrial significance
that
> were integrated into the economy of the former USSR.. The economic and
social
> devastation that capitalism and the break up of the FSU has wrought in
> Kazakhstan is comparable only with the far east of Russia - it is an
> understatement to describe it as extremely bad.
>
> Such are the lack of freedoms in the country, and general problems
with
> communications, that the appeal below on behalf of all Kazakhstan workers
had
> to come to the attention of the outside world via Russian organisations:
the
> Union of Workers Unions of Russia "Defence", and the Strike Committee of
> Samara, a large Russian industrial city near the border with Kazakhstan.
Many
> of you will be familiar with these two organisations from articles and
> appeals ISWoR have put out in the past on their behalf.
>
> The letter below speaks of the enormous impact that the outcome of
the
> present Kazakh workers struggle will have on Russia. We would add, that
the
> outcome of the class struggle in Russia, one sixth of the global land mass
> and still a nuclear giant, in its turn will have an enormous impact on the
> whole world.
>
> We urge all sisters, brothers and comrades internationally to take
the
> immediate actions - as requested below - and we ask you to keep ISWoR
> informed of any and all activity you take, including protest and
solidarity
> messages.
>
> Yours in solidarity - Steve Myers for ISWoR
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
>
> STOP THE NEW WAVE OF REPRESSION
> AGAINST WORKERS IN KAZAKHSTAN!
>
> Translation by Vladimir Bilenkin
>
> Comrades,
> Kazakhstan workers are waging a determined, if unequal, struggle for
> their human dignity against the police regime of Sultan Nazarbaev. We have
> received news reports about the brutal repression of recent labor protests
> and the regimes preparation for even worse repressions against labor
> activists.
>
> JAMBULA (Dzhambul) CHEMICAL WORKERS
> On 20 August, the labor organizations of chemical workers in the city of
> Jambula (Taraza) opposed the humiliating decision of the regional governor
> banning their meeting within the city limits. After a battle with the riot
> police, two hundred workers managed to break through and have a short
rally
> in front of the regional administration building. In response, the
> authorities began criminal proceedings against many activists. The
chairman
> of the union committee of the plant "Khimprom", Chernogorov, had to go
into
> hiding. The head of the labor union, Baiganov, was put on trial in
> mid-September. Also in the middle of the month workers disabled by their
jobs
> in the chemical industry planned to go on an indefinite hunger strike
> demanding their disability cheques.
>
> CHIMKENT CHEMICAL WORKERS
> On September 3, in the city of Chimkent the workers from the chemical
plant
> "Phosphor" attempted to organize a march on Astana (the capital of
> Kazakhstan) after their two-month long hunger strike had failed to
convince
> the authorities to pay many months worth of back-wages. Immediately after
the
> marchers had left the central square they were attacked and brutally
beaten
> by a strong force of the riot police and the agents of the National
Security
> Service (NSS). Many activists and union leaders were arrested and detained
> for 3-5 days. The authorities are now preparing severe reprisals against
the
> chemical workers of Chimkent.
>
> URALSK METALWORKERS
> Since the 1st September the workers of the Uralsk military plant
"Metallist"
> have been on an indefinite strike and set up pickets around the plant
gates.
> They have established a Strike Committee and a Commission of Workers
> Representatives to audit the balance sheets of the administration and its
> economic activities from 1997 to 1999. The workers collective holds daily
> meetings which decided early on that workers should not enter the
territory
> of the plant. They intend to control and manage their enterprise. They do
not
> allow any materiel, like non-ferrous metals, to leave the plant. The
members
> of the strike committee are subjected to 24-hr surveillance by state
> agencies. The co-chairman of the Strike Committee, Ainur Kurmanov, has
been
> summoned to the regional prosecutor to discuss his "political" activities.
>
> Comrades!
> Kazakhstan now serves as a testing ground for bourgeois regimes to
> develop methods of repression against those workers who refuse to die
> quietly. What is happening in Kazakhstan now will happen in Russia and the
> rest of the FSU tomorrow.
> The puppet parliament has already passed, without debate, the new
> anti-workers Labor Code. This year Kazakhstan also adopted a new Criminal
> Code, containing a number of articles directed against labor activists.
> Kazakhstan courts have already carried criminal trials of labor
> leaders. In 1997 the co-chairman of the Kazakhstan Labor Movement
> "Solidarity", Madel Ismailov, served a one year sentence for "defamation
of
> the President". The first secretary of the Communist Youth League, the
> Secretary of the western regional committee of the Communist Party of
> Kazakhstan, Ainur Kurmanov, and the League member Sergei Kolokolov, were
all
> sentenced to one year of imprisonment (suspended). The latter died soon
after
> his imprisonment because he was denied medical help while in custody. Only
> thanks to the powerful international protests of foreign labor
organizations,
> the Nazarbaev court did not dare to prosecute these comrades for
"organizing
> a criminal group," that "involved children in criminal activities," and
> "terrorism".
> The harshness of the state repressions can be explained by the fact
> that while privatization was conducted very fast in Kazakhstan, labor
> collectives had not yet been destroyed, as they were in Russia. As a
result,
> in 1993-1994, Kazakhstan workers were able to put up a serious and
successful
> resistance which halted the transfer of the energy sector and a number of
> large industrial enterprises into the hands of foreign corporations. The
> workers successfully used occupations and strikes and in some instances
even
> achieved administrative control over entire cities.
> The stubbornness and the scope of industrial actions last August,
and
> the swiftness and brutality of reprisals by the state, are such that we
need
> to begin immediately developing a powerful international campaign in
support
> of Kazakhstan workers. We should not wait until their labor leaders are
again
> thrown behind bars. WE HAVE TO ACT PREVENTATIVELY RATHER THAN
> REACTING TO EVENTS. And only if our protests are broad and systematic
will it
> be possible to stop the cycle of repression.
> The present moment is fortuitous for putting international pressure
on
> the Nazarbaev regime. Kazakhstan is in the midst of the campaign for
> parliamentary elections and spreading information about the anti-labor
> repressions may have a sobering effect on the authorities.
> THE WORKERS OF KAZAKHSTAN ARE NOW IN THE VANGUARD OF THE WORLD LABOR
MOVEMENT BECAUSE THEY ACT UNITED, IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS, FIGHTING ON TWO
FRONTS, BOTH AGAINST THEIR OWN AND THE FOREIGN CAPITALISTS WHO ARE NOW
UNITED.
> This is why we have to do our best to help our comrades in
Kazakhstan.
> The conditions of labor struggle in Russia will depend on the outcome of
their struggle.
>WE ASK LABOR AND DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATIONS, ALL HONEST PEOPLE, TO JOIN THE
CAMPAIGN OF PROTESTS AGAINST THE NEW ROUND OF REPRESSIONS IN KAZAKHSTAN.
>
> 1. To send telegrams, letters, faxes, demanding the payment of back wages
and
> to stop the persecution of labor activists by law enforcement agencies in
the
> cities of Chimkent, Dzhambul, and Uralsk to:
> -- the President of Kazakhstan, Nazarbaev
> Office of the President
> pl. Respubliki 4
> Akmola 480091
> Tel: 00 7 3272 62 30 16 or (62 77 58)
> Fax: 00 7 3272 63 95 95 or (63 76 33)
>
> -- the embassy of Kazakhstan in your country (1)
>
> -- the governors of Chimkent, Dzhambul, Uralsk.
>
> 2. To disseminate this information about these repressions in the mass
media.
>
> 3. To set up pickets in front of Kazakhstan embassies abroad.
>
> 4. To send letters of solidarity to our comrades in Kazakhstan:
> Dzhambul, 484000, ul. Schuseva, dom 78, Chernogorovu, M.I.
> Chimkent, 486038, 16 mic-on, dom 18, kv. 22, Pentiukovu, V.V.
> Uralsk, 417000, ul. Urdinskaya, dom. 1/1, kv. 9,
> Pozhidaevu, V.T.
>
> SUPPORT THE LABOR MOVEMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN!
>
> Signed
> The Strike Committee of Samara
> The Union of Workers' Unions of Russia "Defence"
>
> (1) Diplomatic representation in the US:
> chief of mission:
> Ambassador Tuleutai S. SULEYMENOV
> chancery:
> (temporary) 3421 Massachusetts Avenue,
> NW, Washington, DC 20008
>
> telephone: (202) 333-4504,
> (333-4505), (333-4506), (333-4507)
> FAX: (202) 333-4509
>
>
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>
> We are a broad united front of individuals and organisations
internationally
> who support Russian workers struggles, who oppose the IMF-Yeltsinite
> privatisation project, who oppose racism and fascism, and who want to
> build international solidarity between workers of all lands.
>
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