Statement by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Vanguard August 2014 p. 7

(Since this statement was issued on July 20,more than 850 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5000 injured.)

The Zionist enemy carried out a horrific massacre today against the civilians of Shuja’iya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, targeting homes with mortars, tanks, missiles and aircraft, killing dozens of martyrs and wounding hundreds, where many remain under the rubble of their destroyed homes amid a barrage of shells and rockets.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine pledged that the blood of the martyrs of the Shuja’iya massacre, of the war crimes and genocide committed by land, air and sea in every inch of Gaza against civilians in their homes, children, women, and the elderly, will not be wasted, and that the enemy will never be able to break the will and steadfastness of our people and their valiant resistance which will fight and resist this cowardly and criminal enemy until the last breath.

The Front noted that the Zionist criminal occupation has brought death, destruction and devastation to our neighborhoods, camps and cities, saying that the occupation forces were incapable of stopping the resistance or its qualitative strikes against occupation forces, and have expressed their cowardice by targeting innocent civilians in their homes.

The Front saluted the brave resisters in all the Palestinian military organizations who are willing to sacrifice in order to block the progress of the occupation forces, for our people to survive and confront the war machine, and praised its ongoing painful strikes to the enemy.

(Above, fighters of the PFLP)

Furthermore, the Front emphasized that the international community is responsible for the crimes against our people in Gaza with its ongoing military, financial, and political support to the occupation entity, providing it with political cover to commit crimes against our people.

The Front demanded that Palestinian Authority officials and spokespeople stop engaging in the language of defeatism and to instead respect the Palestinian popular mood, which shouts that no voice is louder than the voice of the resistance. Our legitimate resistance is a point of pride for all of our people; we are convinced that we will win, and we will mend our wounds, we will rise from the rubble and the ruins to rebuild our homes again.

The Front saluted with pride the steadfast people in Gaza from Rafah to Beit Hanoun who have suffered so much pain and yet refuse to concede to the threats of the occupation. People with such steadfastness will inevitably triumph and no war machine will be able to defeat them or to force them to abandon their embrace of the resistance.

The Front saluted the inspiring sacrifices and commitment of medical personnel, ambulance workers and civil defense, who faced extreme danger and came under fire in order to evacuate the dead and wounded, as well as the journalists who lost their lives in order to deliver the tragic images in the streets of Gaza to the world.

The Front called upon the Palestinian people throughout Palestine, in the West Bank, Jerusalem and ’48 and everywhere in diaspora and exile, saying that the land of the West Bank must burn under the feet of the occupiers, in their settlements and everywhere the occupation is. It is time that the earth is turned to flame beneath the feet of the criminal enemy. There can be no more waiting as the horrific massacres continue in Bureij, Rafah, Khan Younis, Beit Hanoun, Shuja’iya, Gaza.

It also demanded the Arab people and the democratic and progressive forces of the world to remain in the streets and squares, to occupy, surround and storm the Zionist and U.S. embassies and consulates in response to the crimes of the occupation forces, and to condemn the international and Arab official silence and complicity, demanding an immediate end to the siege on Gaza and the unconditional opening of Rafah crossing and in particular to facilitate the entry of medical personnel and aid.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine confirm that the crimes of the occupation will not go unpunished and resistance to the Zionist genocide against our people is our path. The banner of resistance and confrontation will be raised high by the Palestinian people.

The PFLP demanded that the PLO leadership immediately act to join the International Criminal Court and act to prosecute the fascist occupation war criminals for their massacres against the Palestinian people. The Front expressed its highest honor and salute and deepest mourning for the blood of the martyrs whose blood was shed on the land of Gaza, pledging to march on the path of freedom, self-determination, return and liberation, for which they were killed.

Poor safety - taking its TOLL

Vanguard August 2014 p. 8
Marcus H.

 

Angry maritime workers occupy the offices of Toll in Sydney

A recent death on the Melbourne waterfront was the latest fatality in the stevedoring industry in Australia, and the latest safety issue on a workplace controlled by Toll Holdings.

Statistically, waterside workers are more likely to be killed on the job than any other Australian worker.

Anthony Attard, a father of three and a delegate of the Maritime Union of Australia, was crushed to death on May 20, when in the process of loading cargo onto a ship docked at the Port of Melbourne; the forty-two year old was crushed by a trailer.

At the time of the fatality, a National Stevedoring Code of Practice was in the process of being drafted through a tripartisan body consisting of regulators, stevedoring companies and the Maritime Union of Australia.

Just one week after Mr. Attard was tragically killed, Michael Kilgariff, General Manager of the Australian Logistics Council, of which Toll Holdings is a member, condemned the code, “We would prefer the stevedoring code of practice not go ahead at all.”

The death of the unionist, who MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin described as “a family man and comrade to all” represented his colleagues on the Enterprise Bargaining committee, was the third death in the stevedoring industry this year.

With his members coming to terms with yet another needless, and preventable fatality, Crumlin, also the President of the International Transport Federation, said "The MUA has long campaigned for better safety and now demands that this crisis in waterfront safety be addressed by regulation, safety must be mandatory and it must be law”

You’re killing us no more!

On June 18, MUA members from around Australia, descended on the Toll Groups headquarters to demand safety on the waterfront, occupying the head office, the members sent a clear message to the executives; “Safety must be law, you’re killing us no more!”

Chris Cain, State Secretary of the Western Australian branch of the MUA said “Anthony Attard’s death has again highlighted the need for a national code of practice” Cain added “our members have a right to go home safely”

According to Bobby Patchett, assistant secretary of the Victorian Branch, a Toll manager briefed the deceased man’s workmates, stating; “this death is no different to a pedestrian fatality, we have got to move on.” Patchett said this disrespectful statement equated to ‘we have got to move forward with business and unload this ship’

In a similar incident in November 2004, a driver was run over by a prime mover at a truck depot. In 2009, Toll was fined $220,000 for breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 for failing to ensure the premises were safe and without risks to health.

Bullying uncovered in Melbourne

At the Toll Distribution Centre in Somerton, located in the solid working class northern suburbs of Melbourne, bullying and intimidation tactics handed down by Toll management was revealed in a recent survey conducted by the sites Occupational Health and Safety Representatives.

The workers at the Somerton Distribution Centre, members of the National Union of Workers, provide their labour to service the Coles supermarket stores across the state of Victoria. In June 2012, the NUW members at Somerton waged a heroic two week long strike, fighting for justice with other Coles Distribution Centre’s around Australia.

Earlier this year, in February, the workplace Union Delegates took up another fight, this time in defence of casual workers at the Coles shed. Toll management, in a pathetic example of human relations, sent a threatening text message to these casual workers.

Abruptly, the text read; “We require you to work. If you are unavailable to work, you will need to speak with HR and explain your circumstances. Pls reply YES. If you are unavailable, pls reply NO AND THE REASON, and contact will be arranged with HR. Pls DO NOT ignore this text. Texts ignored will result in no further shifts being sent ’

In this current period of the casualisation crisis, in which 40% of Australian workers are placed in insecure, precarious employment, the National Union of Workers are leading the fightback against casualisation, ensuring dignity, respect and permanent, secure jobs are reinstated into workplaces.

In early May results from a survey relating to the treatment of Toll Somerton workers were handed down. The Toll Somerton OHS Survey was conducted by the site Safety Representatives and workers had the opportunity to voice their concern regarding bullying and harassment perpetrated by Toll management.

73% of those surveyed responded by saying they had experienced harassment or bullying while performing their warehouse duties. 72% of respondents felt they had been pressured into meeting pick rate targets. Most workers surveyed stated that humiliation was the predominant form in which the bullying had prevailed.

Just a few container lengths from the Toll shipping yard in which Mr. Attard was killed, Toll operates a warehouse, in which it is understood a majority of workers are placed through a third party labour hire provider.

Reportedly, these casualised workers are believed to not receive an hourly rate, but are paid on a rate per unloaded container. One worker said that this was creating an unsafe workplace, and one that created an individualised environment.

The casual worker said “we don’t receive an hourly rate; we are paid by how many containers we unload in a day. This causes workers to take short cuts, and work unsafely, just so they can get a shift the next day”

In 2012, the union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters produced a report Toll Group: An Inside Look at Toll’s Exploitation of Workers in the U.S. The Teamsters investigated low wages and poor working conditions inside Toll facilities in the United States.

At one site in California, it was discovered Toll had provided only dirty portable toilets for workers to use as bathrooms, did not provide potable water, and did not provide sheltered areas for workers to take breaks or to eat their meals.

Workers at the Somerton site said often times management would come onto the warehouse floor in groups of two and three to question and intimidate workers who they had considered had not met their ‘pick rate’. As the workers point out, the Enterprise Agreement, negotiated between the employer and the employees does not provide for ‘pick rates’, nor did the company seek this in the latest round of negotiations.

Visitors to the Toll shed are confronted by the Toll Holdings mission statement in relation to safety, which states; Embedded in our Toll values is the belief that all injuries are preventable and everyone has the right to go home safely.

Anthony Attard should have had that same basic right; every worker does have the right to go home safely and in the same condition they started work that day.

Iraq: the criminal legacy of US imperialism

Vanguard July 2014
Bill F.

What has been the result of the US led “war on terror”? Is the world a safer place? Has the promise of freedom and democracy been realised in countries occupied by US troops and bombarded by US missiles?

Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria – all victims of US aggression and interference – are now devastated countries spilling out millions of refugees. Apart from the hundreds of thousands killed and maimed, their infrastructure and social fabric have been destroyed, their museums and national treasures looted, their water supplies and natural environments poisoned.

In unbelievable acts of hypocrisy, American and European corporations have made billions from the sale of weaponry and then “reconstruction” of infrastructure blown apart by the weaponry supplied.

In Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, corrupt elections have resulted in corrupt governments run by people complicit with US imperialism from day one, stooges and puppets ruling by fear and nepotism.

Terrorists

As for ‘terrorists”, many of the fanatical Islamic fighters have been armed and supported by the CIA to carry out its dirty work of undermining and subverting previous governments that the US didn’t like. ISIL (ISIS) and other groups like it are the direct result of US foreign policy, the policy of imperialism.

Like many of the monsters created in the past (Diem, Ky, Noriega, Suharto, Mubarak, Marcos… a long list) the US has been unable to control their grab for more power and their blatant abuse of human rights.

ISIL armies now threaten the puppet leader of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, installed by the US in 2006 and now under US pressure to cobble together a “more representative” government.

The same forces are being rolled back in Syria by the Syrian people and army, but not without terrible suffering for the masses.

The essence of imperialism

Some people might consider the mess in the Middle East to be the result of misguided leaders or simply poor diplomacy.

They forget that Obama came to office opposing the invasion of Iraq. Once in power, however, he poured more troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, and supplied weapons and support to the rebel fanatics in Syria.

Obama was elected to implement the policies of US imperialism – he is in the cab of a runaway train that cannot be diverted, it can only be stopped in its tracks!

Some, like Hugh White (professor, Australian National University) don’t want to face up to the fact that systemic imperialism is the the driving economic, ideological and military factor in United States foreign policy.

“The reality is that Iraq is falling apart, and the choice facing America is whether it should try to hold it together. Should it try to preserve Iraq as it used to be?  Whether America itself has caused Iraq to come apart is irrelevant to this question.”

White only wants a solution that does not condemn the US, does not expose the nature of imperialism, and does not educate decent people to struggle against it. Nothing could be more relevant.

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Further reading:  The US - most responsible for sectarian civil war in Iraq and Syria

People power can push back the austerity budget

Vanguard July 2014
Alice M.

The Australian people are angry with the Abbott government and the austerity budget.  The harsh budget attacks people’s livelihoods and delivers to the profiteering local and foreign big business corporations.

The Abbott government has done the people a favour in openly exposing big corporations and their peak representative bodies, the Business Council of Australia and the Mining and Minerals Councils, as the real architects behind the anti-people budget.

The tiny handful comprising big business, banks, mining corporations and multinational monopolies are the only ones to reap the benefits of this country’s wealth. This is the monopoly capitalist and imperialist class rulers in Australia who own and control Australia’s economy and parliament.

The mass anger and desire to fight back the Abbot government and the budget is wide and strong.   It’s publicly expressed in the grass roots March Australia and in unions’ rallies, the union delegates and community meetings, newspapers flooded with letters and on radio talk back.

More than 30,000 angry workers and community supporters took to the streets of Melbourne (above) on Thursday June 16 in the “Bust the Budget” rally organised by the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

In Sydney hundreds of union delegates packed an angry meeting, calling for immediate action by unions to “Bust the Budget”. 

The ruling class is sensing the growing public anger and the determination to resist the attacks.  Laws to ban protests and jail the protestors are rushed in.

Queensland and Victorian state governments are now joined by the Tasmanian government pushing through anti-democratic laws that openly intimidate and suppress peoples’ struggles.

The main target of these anti-democratic laws is the organised working class. When organised and mobilised, armed with an independent working class agenda and programme for a new society, working people collectively have the power to challenge the rule of capital and big business.

The ruling class of big business has its own class agenda that demands the economic burden of imperialist and capitalist crisis is shifted on to the people.  It instructs the capitalist state to crush peoples’ resistance.

The working class advances an independent people’s agenda that’s not tied to the profiteering interests of capital and its lackeys in parliament. 

An independent working class agenda and immediate demands that extend beyond the state and federal parliamentary elections will unite many diverse and large sections of the people, from different walks of life.  90% of Australian people are under attack.

Workers, city and rural communities, pensioners, small and medium farmers, environmentalists, artists, scientists, professional workers and many small businesses are all attacked by imperialism and monopoly capital.  

The lessons of the Your Rights @ Work are Worth Fighting For campaign should serve as a reminder. In channelling this entire broad grass roots, unions and communities campaign into parliamentary elections, and then shutting it down once Labor was elected in 2007, has left the working people weaker in fighting the present attacks.

The unions and all working people would be in a stronger position today to resist the attacks had the Your Rights @ Work Are Worth Fighting For campaign not been taken out of the hands of the people and dismantled.   

This was followed by the Labor government again hosing down the strong and wide public support for the imposition of a 40% super profits tax on the multinational mining corporations.  The Rudd/Gillard governments caved in to the demands of mining monopolies, and ended in a mini coup.

This budget is only a prelude to capital’s more severe attacks on the working people.

People’s demands for justice and fairness are being put forward around people’s needs and livelihoods.   Union and working people’s rights to organise; people’s democratic rights to protest; free health and education; decent community and welfare services, child care, affordable housing, public transport, environment.  Many will unite around these core demands of the people.

Nationalising the banks, mining corporations and other key sectors of the economy will enable the realisation of these people’s needs, and a first step towards building an independent Australian economy for the people.

An independent working class agenda collectively developed and built by the people in workplaces and communities, will fight for the interests of the people, unite the many, and lay the ground towards an independent and socialist Australia.

Inequality gap widens as the rich get richer

Vanguard July 2014
Bill F.

Once upon a time there was a far away country where people worked hard, but were able to live reasonably well, pay off their own house, educate their kids, and even have a holiday once a year. When they retired, they could still get by on the age pension…

Most people were proud of the fact that Australia was considered a nation where people were treated equally and were given a “fair go”.

What has happened to the fairytale? No happy ending?

According to the latest Oxfam report, Still the Lucky Country? Even though the wealthiest people are not paying enough tax, they still have disproportionate influence in society.

“Inequality threatens to further entrap poor and marginalised people and undermine efforts to tackle extreme poverty. By concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few, inequality robs the poorest people of the support they need to improve their lives, and means that their voices go unheard.”

In the Oxfam survey of more than 1000 people, 79% said the gap between rich and poor had widened over the past ten years, 76% thought the rich didn’t pay enough in taxes and 64% said inequality was making Australia a worse place to live.

Life is getting tough enough for the working poor and a damned sight tougher for the unemployed, especially young people trying to get a foothold in the employment market.

In the race to the bottom called globalisation, (fanned by the greed of imperialism) Australian workers are considered expensive and surplus to requirements.

Capitalism likes to have a reserve army of desperate unemployed to put pressure on wages and divide the working class (working vs unemployed, old vs young, Australian-born vs migrants/refugees, etc.).

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert spoke out, saying “The government is imposing what they call reasonable compliance requirements on young jobseekers, telling them to apply for 40 jobs a month and attend appointments with employment service providers, all while they’re receiving no income support at all”.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has brushed aside criticism of his austerity budget as “old-style socialism” and went on to say that the social welfare system in Australia was “unsustainable”.

Yet a survey by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research has revealed that the percentage of people aged 18-64 receiving welfare payments had fallen from 23% to 18.5% over ten years.

 Inequality will continue to grow and life will get harder still for many working people.

We need to break free of the domination of the foreign corporations, the banks and the other parasites and rebuild our country for the majority – “new-style” socialism could fix a lot of things. Then our story could have a happy ending.