THE 17th Congress of World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was held in Durban in South Africa from October 5-8, 2016 with the slogans ‘Struggle – Internationalism – Unity’ and ‘Forward, for the attainment of the contemporary needs of the working class against poverty and wars generated by capitalist barbarism!’

The Congress was hosted by COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions), NEHAWU (National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Unions), POPCRU (Police and Prison Civil Rights Union), CEPPWAWU (Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers’ Union) and the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa.

Around 1500 delegates representing 132 trade unions affiliated to WFTU from 112 countries participated in the Congress. 340 of them were women trade unionists. 69 percent of the total participants were from unions of private sector employees while 31 percent were from unions in the public sector. India had a large delegation comprising representatives of all the affiliated trade unions of WFTU – CITU, AITUC, AICCTU, AIUTUC and TUCC. CITU was represented by 23 delegates from different sectors. Swadesh Dev Roye, Hemalata, AR Sindhu, all national secretaries of CITU and Amitava Guha, member of its working committee participated from the CITU centre.

Today, the WFTU is the only international class oriented trade union that stands for the principles of class struggle and solidarity of the working class at the global level. The activities of WFTU have expanded during the period since its 16th Congress in Athens five years ago. The membership of WFTU increased from 78 million to 92 million, by 18 percent, since the last Congress. At present WFTU affiliated unions exist in 126 countries.

The report presented by George Mavrikos, general secretary of WFTU, dealt mainly with the perspective of the WFTU about the present situation in the world, the conditions of the workers and their struggles and the way forward for the working class in its fight against capitalist onslaught.  It reiterated the role of the working class in achieving a world without exploitation.

The report traced the roots of the present structural crisis of capitalism to its exploitative nature and the fundamental contradiction of the ‘social nature of production and its private appropriation’. Capitalism is adopting the ‘classic solutions’ of destroying productive capacity, shifting production to low wage countries, privatisation, dismantling of strategic companies and industries and public services, generating and maintaining high levels of unemployment, abolishing the fundamental rights of the workers and attacking public social security systems etc to overcome this crisis. But these measures are proving to be futile.

The scientific and technological innovations available today with the toil of the workers have resulted in the creation of enormous wealth and the means to provide all human beings with decent living conditions. But because of the inherent character of the capitalist society, large numbers of workers live in poverty or are at a risk of slipping into poverty. Casual labour is increasing. Today 45 percent of all paid labour is casual.

The wages and other hard won rights of the workers including their basic rights – their right to organise and collective bargaining, to protest, to strike etc are under severe attack all over the world. Workers’ struggles are being banned; ruling classes in many countries are resorting to various methods to divide the workers, particularly targeting the class oriented trade unions.

Women continue to be the main victims of exploitation and impoverishment, slavery, inequalities, precariousness and violence. They are subjected to discrimination in wages, in access to employment, jobs, social security etc. Children are denied free education; their human rights are being violated.

Despite such brutal onslaught, workers all over the world are fighting for their rights, for a dignified life and decent living and working conditions. Innumerable struggles, big and small, organised and spontaneous took place in almost all the countries across the world during this period.

The report exposed the role of the mainstream corporate controlled media, which plays a key role in manipulating the minds of people. People are made to passively and uncritically accept what the ruling classes want – that labour must serve the interests of big business. Consumerism and individualism are promoted. Debt is projected as the solution to increase demand, whereas wage rise is opposed.

The discontent among the workers due to the impact of these policies is sought to be utilised by right wing, fascist and neo Nazi groups that are emerging in different countries. These are being utilised by the monopolies to act as their shock troops. Racism, xenophobia, backward and obscurantist values are encouraged. Under the false pretence of fighting terrorism, international offensive is being launched to subvert hard won rights and freedoms of the people and the workers.

NEED FOR

CLASS ORIENTATION

Asserting that the working class world over has the same needs, same interests and same enemies, the report emphasised that class orientation in the trade union movement is the only way capable of attracting broad masses of workers. WFTU will fight with all its might for the unity of workers and strengthening class orientation in the trade union movement. The report also stressed the importance of the trade union movement taking the initiative for developing alliance with other sections of the toiling people like the poor farmers, agricultural workers, self employed, employed intellectuals and progressive artists.

The WFTU Congress expressed its solidarity with the peoples of Palestine and demanded the dissolution of NATO and dismantling of its military bases.

The Platform of Action adopted by the WFTU Congress included the demands to be taken up for campaigns and struggles in the next five years, up to 2020. These included stable full time employment for all, 35 hours working week, national minimum wage, collective bargaining right, social security for all, protection of the right to strike and protest and other democratic rights of the workers. The WFTU Congress also called upon all its affiliated unions and members to fight against privatisation of strategic sectors of economy, of health care, education, transport etc and for the right to free, compulsory and quality education, for public modern quality and universal health system and for the right to safe, quality housing with access to electricity, water etc for all.

The report also made several proposals for strengthening the organisation including strengthening the base units. It was proposed that the term of an individual as president of WFTU be limited to one term and that of general secretary to three.

112 delegates and observers from as many organisations participated in the discussions and supported the formulations presented in the report. Swadesh Dev Roye, deputy general secretary of WFTU placed the report of the Committee on Resolutions. On behalf of CITU, Hemalata participated in the discussions.

The Congress re-elected George Mavrikos as the general secretary of WFTU. Mzwandile Makwayiba, from South Africa who is also the president of NEHAWU was elected as the president. Swadesh Dev Roye from CITU and H Mahadevan from AITUC from India were re-elected as deputy general secretaries. A seat in the presidential council was kept vacant to be filled in by CITU, after its all India conference to be held in November.

Jacob Zuma, the South African president, Blade Nzimande, general secretary of the South African Communist Party and minister for higher education and Mildred Oliphant, labour minister addressed the Congress. Sidumo Dlamini, president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomed the delegates. A huge colourful rally of workers was held on the concluding day of the Congress, with slogans in different languages in the world reverberating in the streets of Durban.  

Intervention by the CITU

Below we publish the text of the speech made by Hemalata, national secretary of CITU at the WFTU Congress.

THE delegation of CITU from India supports the report placed by the general secretary Mavrikos. The 16th Congress of WFTU noted ‘The capitalist crisis is not something sudden and unexpected. It is neither the first nor the last. The capitalist mode of production cannot exist without the violent manifestation of increasingly larger and more destructive crises’.

The crisis which started nearly a decade back continues unabated. Every now and then we hear from the corporate media that there are some green shoots here, some hope there. But the conditions of the working class, whether it is in the developed countries or the developing countries, continue to worsen. Unemployment and inequalities are growing. The hard won rights of the workers are under attack. Governments are increasingly working to protect the profits of the corporate – national and multinational – putting more burdens on the people and workers who have elected them to power.

It is an indictment of the criminal state of affairs that today, in the 21st century, when the unprecedented advances in science and technology can ensure decent living conditions for the entire humanity on the globe, large sections of our people are mired in poverty, illiteracy, ill health and deprivation. Scientific and technological advances are being utilised, not for the welfare of the entire humanity but to satisfy the greed of the few by robbing the people of their basic rights.

But, there is no point in just lamenting at the present state of affairs. As a class oriented militant international working class organisation, WFTU, has to address this situation and evolve effective strategies to counter these attacks at the global level. In the aftermath of the crisis, particularly after Brexit, questions are being raised on the sustainability of the present mode of globalisation. WFTU and all its affiliated organisations, its TUIs have to create awareness among their members about not only the unsustainability of the present international finance driven globalisation but also about the unsustainability of the capitalist system itself. They have to create awareness among the working class about the need to change this exploitative system and the leading role of the working class in achieving this. We may not achieve this in one day. This may not be possible immediately. But I think this is the most opportune time to seriously start these efforts. Even while taking up the day-to-day issues of the workers, the issues of their wages, social security benefits, and working conditions etc, the workers have to be made to understand the link between these issues and the policies being pursued by their respective governments, the link between these policies and the politics behind these policies. I think this is the foremost task of the WFTU and all its affiliated unions today.

Consciousness and confidence in the working class about its leading role in bringing about a revolutionary transformation in society can be created only when it realises that its strength lies in its unity. Today, all over the world, including in our country India, the ruling classes are trying to disrupt the unity of the toiling people. Religion, race, region, caste, gender, ethnicity etc are being used to divide the working people and weaken their united struggles against imperialist globalisation, finance capital driven neo-liberalism and the onslaught of the systemic crisis of capitalism. Right wing forces are seeking to divert the discontent of the people against the neo-liberal policies into fratricidal fights against one another instead of directing their struggle against the common enemy, the big private corporate and business both indigenous and foreign. In several parts of the world, we see the rise of right wing forces, which is posing a big threat to the unity and struggle of the working class.

In the face of increasing attacks by capitalist class the working class both in developed and developing countries have been conducting big struggles including strikes and massive demonstrations mobilising millions on the questions of livelihood, social security and other fundamental rights.

In the countrywide general strikes in 2015 as well as in 2016 we have noted that workers who are entirely unorganised, who are not members of any trade union are also participating in big numbers spontaneously in the struggles. This provides an opportunity for us to organise them and turn their discontent and anger on individual issues into huge struggles against the anti-people and pro-rich policies pursued by the capitalist class. WFTU needs to take the initiative to mobilise support and solidarity to the struggles of workers in various parts of the world.

We also feel that it is important to mobilise popular support, the support of other sections of the toiling people, like the poor peasants, the agricultural workers, the youth, unemployed, women etc in the effort to change the correlation of the forces in favour of class struggle. By mobilising all sections of people, who are adversely affected by the international finance dictated neo-liberal policies can only the working class play its due role in bringing about a favourable change in the correlation of forces on its way  to end the present exploitative system.

In India, CITU has been trying to strengthen the unity of the working people and intensify struggle against the neo-liberal policies. We have been trying to put into practice the slogans of our 14th conference to ‘reach the unreached’, ‘link up issues with policies and policies with politics’ and ‘strengthen struggle to change policies’. We will be reviewing our efforts in our 15th conference scheduled in the last week of November and decide upon our future tasks, in line with the tasks that would be decided in this 17th Congress of WFTU.

Our organisation CITU congratulates the working class and trade union leadership of South Africa, particularly COSATU for accepting the political responsibility to host this Congress, making excellent arrangements and providing an environment conducive for the grand success of the Congress.

In this Congress, CITU reiterates its ideological commitment to carry forward the internationalism of the working class under the leadership of WFTU. We believe there is huge un-harnessed potential in the Indian trade union movement as well as all over the world to mobilise millions of workers under the banner of WFTU. Let us resolve to harness the unharnessed strength of the working class and intensify class struggle.