The
Workers’ Struggles in Russia
By
Vladimir Nikiforov
Workers
of GUP "Omsktransmash" on the 11.10.07 arranged a meeting of protest
against the long-term
salary delay. About 200 people participated in the rally. Official
factory trade union (FNPR) named those
holding the rally "provocateurs". Some of the workers threatened to
begin hunger strikes on the premises
of the enterprise if their requirements are not met. The complaint of
several workers is accepted for
examination by the European Court of Human Rights.
In Saratov region in the city of Shihany
workers of chemical enterprises declared hunger strike. They
were not paid their wages for many months. The government of Saratov
region decided to allot workers 8
Mill rubles, which is 10% of the amount demanded.
Almost a third of the workers of the repair shop "Mazeikia Nafta"
threatened to leave the enterprise in
the New Year, if management does not increase wages to the average
level. The hunger strike, which is a
request to the masters of the enterprises and to the Russian state "to
sympathise conscientiously and to
have empathy with the starving workers and their families situations",
causes the same feelings as
bothersome beggars on the streets. The majority of workers have long
ago understood that capitalists are
not concerned either with the workers' lives, or with the lives of
their dear ones, be it an individual
capitalist, or a capitalist group in the form of a bourgeois state, be
it in Russia or in any other country.
Especially clearly this is manifested in the enterprises of former
defence industry which does not generate
export production. The workers of the defence industry during the long
years of Khrushchev-Brezhnev's
revisionism got accustomed to being well taken care of by the state
enterprises. Under the old
management they used to enjoy a very comfortable life, and when thrown
as blind puppies into the water
of free market, they howl miserably asking for pity. Appealing to
international courts brings no results
either.
Thanks to the efforts of the Krasnoyarsk regional organization of the
trade union of agricultural industrial
workers of Russia a trade union leader and a deputy chairman of the
trade union committee of poultry
processing facility "Zarya" S. Teobald was restored to his job at the
factory by the decision of the regional
court on 26.09.07.
Members of the executive committee of Ivanovskiy provincial trade union
(FNPR) decided to organise
a strike committee. They intend to defend the interests of workers by
all legal methods, up to strike. This
was triggered by increase in the prices of basic commodities.
At one of the oldest enterprises of the aluminium industry in Russia,
Severo-Uralski bauxite mine, trade
union declared that they intend to begin a strike any moment.
One worker of the factory "Autoselkhoztechnika" (agricultural
machinery) in Togliatti was fired for
participation in the strike on 01.08.07. The trade union affiliated
with FNPR consented to his release. On
20.09.07, the workers of "AutoVAZ" (automotive industry) who are
members of independent trade union
"Edinstvo" ("Unity") held a meeting where they demanded: to restore to
work those discharged (fired), to
conduct negotiations of administration with the trade union "Edinstvo
", and to increase wages from 7-10
thousand to 25 thousand rubles. The leadership of FNPR has been aware
of the competition of "free"
trade unions as well as a rapid drop in its membership. In the attempt
to portray itself as the defender of
workers' interests FNPR pretends to play the role of legitimate
opposition to the ruling bourgeois regime,
sometimes even appealing to courts or even threatening the regime with
strikes, but only according to all
laws of the bourgeois state.
On 04.10.7 at Bogdanovski china factory in Sverdlovsk region one shop
completely stopped production,
other shops worked with reduced capacity. Approximately 200 people
participated in this strike. As a
result, 2 months' of owed wages were paid to the workers.
On 01.10.07 on Kachkanarski GOKe (Sverdlovsk region) after the rally an
"Italian" strike started, which
means work according to the rules. After 4 days the workers attained
victory: their salaries were increased
by 20% and in a year the average salary will rise to 17,000 rubles.
In October 2007 during their strike, the workers of water supply
facility in Zverev (Rostov region) had
shut off the city's water supply and turned it back on only after a
portion of their wages, owed to them
since March 2007, was paid.
On 09.10.07 in Saint-Petersburg workers of the shop of No. 226 of
Leningrad Metallurgy Plant started
"Italian" strike of the brigade of metal craftsman-testers. The workers
demanded improvement in the
working conditions and increasing of wages from 18,000 rubles upwards.
If their requirements are not met,
the workers intend to turn for help to free trade unions and to the
state Inspectorate of Labour.
On 08.10.07 about
200 workers of Lugansk industrial factories of Ukraine declared a
strike. The workers
demanded from the management to stop layoffs and to pay off owed salaries.
Workers of "Evrazkholding" (Sverdlovsk region) declared an "Italian"
strike requiring an increase in
wages by 20%.
Starting on 03.08.07 railway administration workers of OAO "Karelski
Okatysh" in Kostomuksha city
returned to work. Trade union organization "SOTSPROF" reached an
agreement with their employer. All
workers, 5,120 in total, will have their wages increased; moreover, up
to 70% of the increase is
permanent.
On 01.10.07 an "Italian" strike began at the enterprise of 000
"AEK" in Kostomuksha in Karelia.
Workers
required an increase in wages, which at the time of strike averaged 13,900 rubbles.
To be continued
in March NSC
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