Shameful silence on imperialism
The action day for workers’ rights in Iran on June 26 falls seriously short, writes Peter Manson
Supporters of Hands Off the People of Iran, including CPGB comrades, will be joining the ‘global solidarity action day’ on June 26 demanding workers’ rights in Iran - while at the same time we will express our strong criticisms of the political shortcomings of the protest.
Four major trade union internationals - the International Trade Union Confederation, International Transport Workers Federation, Education International, and the snappily titled International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations - have come together to organise the June 26 events, together with Amnesty International. There will be brief lunchtime gatherings outside the Iranian embassy in London and in central Newcastle.
First of all, let us make it clear that we support the demands being put forward:
- The immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned trade unionists, including Mansour Osanloo, Ebrahim Madadi and Farzad Kamangar.
- Unconditional recognition of all independent workers’ organisations in Iran and reinstatement of workers who have been disadvantaged as a result of their support for these organisations.
- Ratification of core ILO conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining by the Iranian government.
- Conclusion of collective bargaining agreements between the independent unions and the relevant employers.
Clearly these are basic demands, even if they are framed in the language of the trade union bureaucracy. But it is not enough to leave things like that. We must also deal with what is not said.
Take a look at the Justice for Iranian Workers website and you will find details of the Iranian regime’s clampdown on workers’ rights and conditions, its continued suppression of genuine trade unions and imprisonment of union leaders and militant workers, its cuts and its privatisations (www.justiceforiranianworkers.org).
But none of this is placed in the context of ongoing imperialist sanctions and threats of war against Iran. The dire economic situation has been caused in no small measure by those sanctions, which have cost the jobs of thousands of Iranian workers and produced shortages of all kinds of essential goods, which have particularly hit workers and the poor. And, of course, the regime’s neoliberal-driven privatisation policies were themselves dictated by the imperialist-sponsored World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
However, at the previous day of action called by some of the same organisations on March 6 2008, participants objected to our criticisms by stating that the pickets and demonstrations were “trade union actions” and that it would be wrong to broaden them to take in other questions.
There are two obvious counters to this. The first is that the organisers are not at all shy about making wider criticisms of the Iranian regime - its general repression and its flouting of democracy, particularly in relation to this month’s presidential elections. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but the very fact that these questions are alluded to clearly demonstrates the falsity of the claim that the ITUC, ITWF, EI, etc are exclusively concerned with narrow trade union questions.
The second and more important point, however, is that there is a concerted imperialist-led campaign for regime change in Iran - one that has encompassed not only sanctions, but very real threats to devastate the country through blanket bombing and other military means.
There is a truth in the claims of pro-Tehran apologists that criticisms of and attacks on the theocracy can be used by the imperialists to help justify their aggressive plans. That is why it is essential to make clear the vehement opposition of working class organisations to those plans. It is why Hopi is first and foremost an anti-imperialist and anti-war solidarity campaign.
But the same cannot be said of the ITUC, ITWF, EI, etc. In reality their anti-Ahmadinejad protests are totally in concert with imperialist schemes for regime change from above. The leaders of these union internationals view themselves as part of the western mainstream. For them union rights would best be achieved precisely through such regime change - and certainly not through the self-activation of militant workers imposing their own programme for change.
These bureaucrats appeal to the bourgeoisie for support and are more than pleased to publicise the results - the March 6 2008 action day received statements of support from representatives of the UK and Australian governments, two of the USA’s closest allies.
The very least that can be said about organisations like the ITUC that are silent on imperialism - and those on the left that uncritically tail them - is that they unwittingly provide a cover for further imperialist attacks, including military attacks, on Iran.
