Protest at the Iranian Embassy

ZSP took part in the international day in solidarity with repressed unionists in Iran. We made an exhibition about the unionists and displayed it outside the embassy.

Amnesty International also decided to hold a picket at the same time, although more generally against repression - not particularly about the unionists. From the left side there were also members of Workers' Democracy.

For more information about what is going on with unionists in Iran, see:
www.justiceforiranianworkers.org Read more!

ZSP Statement on the Educational Strike in Germany and the Bologna Process

ZSP supports the Educational Strike in Germany taking place from June 15-19 and is planning an information action on June 19 on the 10th anniversary of the Signing of the Bologna Declaration. Our support for the struggle against the commercialization of education doesn't mean though that we support the preservation of educational institutions as they exist now.

The Educational Strike in Germany is ony one of many action against changes in the financing of education and other sectors. Protestors are against changes which put profit above people and which restrict access to education, making it even more limited to the already priveleged parts of society. Introducing commerical aspects to education adjusts it to the needs of capital, but not to the needs of students.

People are also protesting against the tendency of the state to reallocate public funds meant for a wide group of society. These changes will also have a negative effect on the working conditions of teachers, doctoral candidates, professors and other scholars and educational workers. Many of them may find themselves on the edge of precarious employment a some will lose their jobs.

We support the struggles of students and teachers who do not support systematic changes which would cause the gap between the rich and poor to increase. The growing barrier betwen them will increase the structural causes of poverty and declining living conditions of many working people, including educational workers.

Many of the changes introduced throughout Europe in the field of education are concentrated arond the vision drawn by the initiators of the Bologna Process. Although we are against the assumptions of this Process, we do not believe that the Process itself is the main cause of the problems. The deeper roots of the problem are connected with capitalism and the role of education as a tool to create elites and mould individuals in accordance with the values of the class society.

We do not agree with some of the social-democratic positions which are often stated by some opponents of the commercialization of education. Among these are that "education should be run by the state" or "the university must be maintained in its current form". As in many other fields of life, it could be that maintaining the current system is better than that future which the neoliberals have prepared for us. That doesn't mean however that we are in favour of supporting the status quo. The university already is a tool for creating elites, hierarchy and conformism. The poor's access to education is often fictional. Educational institutions are a tool of social indoctrination.

For us, education is rather a constant process than an institution. Education does not have to be connected to diplomas, careers and the needs of the labour market. Our vision is education open for all - but really for all, not just for a small group of people who can afford it and for fit into the conformist model of hierarchy and marks. The model of education we want is based above all on cooperation, on sharing knowledge according to libertarian principles.

We call on all proponents of libertarian education to take part in the protests and to use the occasion to open discussion on models of education which do beyond both the neoliberal and social-democratic framework.

Union of Syndicalists (Poland)
June 15, 2009 Read more!

Tenants' Protest Against Rent Increases

On April 20, tenants from all over Warsaw protested in front of City Hall against dramatic rent increases. The increases, which come into effect as of May 1, will raise rents in municipal housing, often as high as 200-300%. The increases will effect over 100,000 families in Warsaw which live in public housing.

Tenant protests have been going on frequently over the last two months in this city. Some tenants are protesting against the reprivatization of public housing. In many cases, heirs of pre-war owners of property or other claimants have be awarded ownership of buildings with tenants, many who have live their all their lives. Many of these new owners begin to engage in typical slumlord behaviour, raising rents to extreme levels, cutting off heat and water to the tenants and trying to evict them. In the Prague district alone there are over 200 claims to such buildings and 40 buildings have been privatized. In a response to protests in Praga, the city proudly announced it is "doing something" by building new public housing - 39 new flats in Praga North. In the meanwhile, over 700 families are already waiting for housing and, as reprivatization is increasing, this number is growing rapidly.
A couple of street meetings in front of houses in Praga and two demos at City Hall have been organized by the Tenant's Defense Committee. The Warsaw Tenant's Association joined in organizing yesterday's protest, which was also supported by members of the Office of Social Justice, Union of Syndicalists and Left Alternative. Another protest will be held next Monday and on May Day, when the rent increase is set to take place. The Union of Syndicalists are calling for a Rent Strike but realizes that the level of organization of tenants is not high enough yet. Many tenants obviously will not be paying these news rents because they simply cannot afford them, but unless people make more efforts to organize themselves, people will be fighting isolated, individual battles against the city which will eventually move to evict many of them. The Tenant's Defense Committee is hoping that people will begin to take a more organized approach to the problem.

In the meanwhile, tenants, especially from the Praga district, are outraged by the rent hike. People in Praga point out that most public housing is in tragic condition. Most buildings do not have central heating and many even to do have hot water, bathrooms or toilets in the flats. In addition, there are many health and safety violations in the building and the dangerous incidents, including fires are on the increase.

The tenants complain that, despite the fact that they pay rent to their slumlords in the city, nothing is done to improve the condition of the buildings or even to maintain them. A recent order from the offices in charge of housing in Praga shows the attitude the city slumlords take towards the tenants. After two fires broke out in Warsaw and a tragic fire killed many people in another Polish city, the government ordered that the city control the situation in public housing and make sure there were no fire hazards in the buildings. In many old buildings in Praga, the attics and basements - even the buildings - are filled with old garbage of unknown origin. Notes were posted on buildings ordering tenants to clean the buildings - which not only is difficult without special equipment, but requires the renting of garbage containers. The city threatened that if they do not do so, they will hire a company to do it - and charge the tenants.

A resident of one building told us about the city's companies. Once the tenants in his building offered to make some repairs but petitioned the city to deduct the costs from their rent. They were quickly told that they couldn't do this and were offered the services of "the firm the city deals with" - whose prices turned out to be 300% above those of other firms on the market.

Members of the Warsaw Infoshop collective, who also are tenants of the city, also point out that City Hall has adopted outrageous rules for tenants of non-residential space which require them to pay the property tax on all space, despite the fact that they are the not the owners. The city has also decreed that the decision on this matter cannot be appealed to court, meaning that the local courts, acting in collusion with the municipal government, will not hear such cases.

Members of the Union of Syndicalists believe that since the city slumlords have no regard whatsoever for the state of public housing, they should be abolished immediately and all housing matters should be placed in the hands of the tenants. They point out that had the money wasted on the bureaucratic apparatus been invested in the maintainance and repair of the buildings, the houses would be in much better state. ZSP calls on people to spend the rent money on collective repair of the houses and to organize against the slumlords and against possible repression and eviction.
Read more!

Upcoming Protests and Event

Some upcoming protests that we will take part in (not necessarily related to workers' struggles):
April 15 - Demonstration of residents of Praga. In particular against reprivatization of houses, evictions, rent increased.
April 16 - Demonstration of refugees.
April 17 - Demonstration in support of the squat Elba which is threatened with eviction.
April 20 - Demonstration against rent increases.
April 24 - Demonstration in Bielsko-Biała in support of hospital workers.
April 26 - Demonstration against building nuclear power plants in Poland.
April 27 - Demonstration against rent increases.
May 1 - Picket, Hyde Park against rent increases. May Day march and festival. May Day will stop at several places - Praski Hospital, Post Office and Carrefour supermarket to speak about workers' struggles there. Possible stop at immigrant market place.

In addition, we'll have a discussion about the Bologna Process sometime at the end of April in the university. Read more!