International Workers of the World

This is the official web-page of the International Workers of the World, IWW/AI - affiliated to the IFA - L'Internationale des Fédérations Anarchistes - The International of the Federations of Anarchists - The International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) and the Anarchist International (AI). For the history of IWW/AI in general, see link to the history of IFA/IAF/AI, at "Links" below. The Confederation consists of anarchosyndicalists in the Anarchist Federations of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Finland, and in several other countries of the Anarchist International broadly defined, from Iceland to the New Artisan and Workers' Union in Mauritius (click on: NAWU ), etc. i.e. world wide.

This section of the Anarchist International was founded/reorganized at the The First Nordic Anarchist Congress 15-17 october 1982 in Oslo, and further developed at later congresses, and it is rooted back to the in Geneva 1886 founded 1st International's i.e. the IWMA - International Workingmen's Association's conference at Saint-Imier, in The Swiss Confederation, 15-16.09.1872. At this conference it was decided an anarchist resolution denouncing all forms of political power, i.e. political/administrative and economically broadly defined. Also a solidarity and fellowship pact was decided upon by the delegates. The resolution put forward by Michael Bakunin 16.09.1872, under the title "The political action of the proletariate", at the Saint-Imier congress, should not be forgotten. The Anarchist International had meetings several times during the years passing by, first within the framework of the IWMA 1872-77, later related to other international anarchist congresses.

Bakunin's famous word of wisdom: "Liberty without socialism is privilege, injustice; socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality", is still valid. Another important event in the international anarchist and labor movement's history is the "Haymarket affair" related to the Chicago anarchists in 1886, the backround and origin of May Day as the international workers' day, see May day .

The Anarchist International (IFA) was reorganized at a congress in Carrara (Italy) 31/8-5/9 1968. The purpose of the congress was, among other things, to create a world wide anarchist organization as an alternative to "Cohn Bendit et autres gauchistes", also called "the children of Marx". Anarchists were tired of people presenting basically marxist or marxian ideas as anarchism. In the following years, several congresses were organized, see the History of the Anarchist International IFA/AI .

The anarchosyndicalist branch was as indicated above officially confirmed as a section of the Anarchist International at the IFA-congress in Oslo 1982, deciding a.o.t. the following: "El principal tema de este congreso ha sido la cooperación anarquista nórdica. El acuerdo se ha hecho sobre la aceptación de una cooperación muy ampllia. La cooperación ideológica [i.e. political] económica y cultural ha sido enfocada sobre los ountos siguientes: la acción de los anarquistas en los sindicatos, el movimiento colectivista, cooperativista, el movimiento ecologista, feminista, el apoyo a los jovenes..." This is a.o.t. documented in the Bulletin C.R.I.F.A. no 42 novembre 1982 p. 4. , plus Folkebladet No 4/1983 and IFA-Solidaritet No 8/1983. The Anarchist Manifesto ISBN 82-90468-09-1 of the Northern sections of IFA published in 1983, confirms the branch of "anarko-syndikalister (fagbevegelse), i.e. anarcho-syndicalists (labor confederation/movement)" within the general program.

The anarchosyndicalist section was later expanded universally when the Anarchist International world wide was officially confirmed at the International Anarchist Congress in Oslo medio December 1998 and later.

In 1997 the term Anarchist International (AI) was officially introduced, although mentioned several times before, say, in International Journal of Anarchism, IJ@ no 10/26 (15) in 1985. The constitution of the Anarchist International AI was as mentioned officially confirmed on the International Anarchist Congress, i.e. the 5th Anarchist Biennial, arranged by the NAC/IFA/AI in Oslo medio December 1998. The AI is a broader organization and network than the IFA anarchist federations of some countries in the South and North, see the Anarchist International .

The International Journal of Anarchism, IJ@, is the only officially mandated and publicly registered organ of the Anarchist International AI-IFA-IAF, the IWW/AI included. There are sections/federations for support work, community action, research and different tendencies of anarchism broadly defined, among them as mentioned the anarchosyndicalist section International Workers of the World - IWW/AI.

The IWW/AI, i.e. the Anarchist International-WW must not be mixed up with the Industrial-WW, founded in 1905 in the USA. The Industrial-WW is mainly a leftist marxist/marxian* organization, neither anarchist, libertarian nor anarchosyndicalist, i.e. outside the anarchist quadrant on the Economical Political map, see System theory and economic-political map .

The IWW/AI forms a junction between the Anarchist International in general, and the general syndicalist and trade unions world wide.

The network of the IWW/AI broadly defined is usually just called the INTERNATIONAL.

IWW/AI promotes anarchosyndicalism, anarchism; decentralism, free contracts, federalism and real democracy etc. as opposed to statism, centralism, slave-contracts and other authoritarian tendencies in the unions and generally, see the Oslo Convention and www.anarchy.no all around.

Especially IWW/AI works for 1. Citizen remuneration above the powerty line. 2. A significant higher minimal salary - it must pay to work! The purpose of this is to do away with relative slave-contracts in the different countries, i.e. "wage slavery". Furthermore IWW/AI is for 3. unconditional support to free research from the people's perspective as opposed to the national or authorities' perspective, based on the non-dogmatic, non-dialectical, scientifical method suggested in Peter Kropotkin's "Modern Science and anarchism" (1903-13), i.e. the hypothetical deductive method. Thus, also the left-Hegelian dialectical ideas of, say, Bakunin and Max Stirner, and later Daniel Guerin, Sam Dolgoff and Murray Bookchin, must principally be rejected as pseudoscience, similar to Marx and his followers' ideology. Also central theorems in marxist economics are not compatible with the hypothetical deductive method, and thus are pseudoscience.

IWW/AI works against 4. party political and state-socialist rule of unions, and 5. support to political parties from the budgets of the unions. The main strategy of IWW is direct action .

This is the general program of IWW/AI. There are however also some other cases that may be mentioned:

IWW/AI is also against the "all workers - one big union" strategy of the Industrial-WW and others, that reminds us of the Soviet Union; and their intrigues, lies and smearstories related to Jamal Hannah & co at jah@iww.org against the Anarchist International and its sections, similar to Marx's intrigues etc. against Bakunin in the First International. There is not so much new under the sun! Nobody should link up to this student commie type joke of an "industrial union" nor take it seriously. Boycott "Industrial-WW" in America!

There are also other marxist groups and fascists/neonazis posing as "anarchosyndicalists", "anarchobolsheviks", "anarchonationalists", "revolutionary syndicalists" etc., see the Anarchist Press Tribunal IAT-APT for an update. Say, in Sweden 1999 a real anarchosyndicalist Björn Söderberg of SAC was killed by two nazis, after trying to stop the fascist infiltration in a union-club. 23.10.1999 about 20-40000 persons all over Sweden demonstrated against fascism and to honor the memory of the brave syndicalist.

At the Anarchist Conference in Stockholm, arranged by the Nordic IFA secretariate and the Swedish section of the Anarchist International, in 1983, neonazi skinheads tried to infiltrate the movement, but strong measures were taken to stop these dangerous intruders. These efforts of the Anarchist International were however a good investment.... Our fellows at SAC have, as mentioned, been less successful dealing with this problem.

The IWW/AI calls on all anarchists, anarchosyndicalists included, to be on the alert against authoritarian infiltration: Fascists, nazists, trotskyites, lubbeists, red brigades, etc. - and ochlarchists (ochlarchy = mob rule broadly defined). A stitch in time saves nine - better look before you leap, i.e. organizations ruined, persons being wounded or be killed:

"The fight against fascism begins with the fight against bolshevism"
- Otto Rühle -

Click on Links to see some federations related to the IWW/AI network broadly defined, i.e. organizations with significant factions of anarchosyndicalists. There are however more!
There are no unions without anarchists, click on:
International Workers of the World in Global Unions

IWW protest against Toronto G20:
The policy of a) the uninformed of real economics and b) bureaucracy economics

Ad violent clashes with police etc, i.e. ochlarchy, in Toronto 2010 related to the G20 meeting.
No anarchists involved

1. The anarchists condemn marxist vanguardism, hallmarked by symbolic violent attacks on state and capitalism, say, banks, government buildings and other symbols of wealth and power, i.e. ochlarchy and ochlarchist, futile from anarchist point of view, and the opposite of anarchism and anarchist. Such symbolic violent actions are typically marxist vanguardism, similar to RAF-ml (Baader-Meinhof), etc. and the opposite of anarchism and anarchist. Arrest the marxist 'vanguard', the marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, i.e. terrorists, vandals and hooligans, see also point 2. for more information.

2. Ad so called "anarchists" that use/used firebombs (Molotov coctails) and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc.

The thruth is that terrorism, including bomb, arson attacks and firebomb attacks and similar - including threats of terrorism and calls for terrorism, is a form of ochlarchy, and very much a top down approach, ultra-authoritarian and extremist, and not anarchist. The anarchists condemn terrorism and are strongly opposed to all forms of extremism. These terrorists using firebombs, so called "anarchists", are anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, and ultra-authoritarian. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and should not be called so by the media.

Ad so called "anarchists" that do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc. They are also in reality leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists and not anarchists. Such violent attacks on police etc. are ochlarchist, very much a top down approach, ultra-authoritarian and extremist, and not anarchist. The anarchists condemn these violent attacks on police etc., and are strongly opposed to all forms of extremism. These so called "anarchists" are anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, and ultra-authoritarian. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists. Arrest the criminal marxist ochlarchists!

As indicated above, these so called "anarchists", that use/used firebombs (Molotov coctails) and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, i.e. throwing stones at police etc., are in reality not anarchists, they are extremists and ochlarchists. The only violence anarchists accept is defensive violence, proportionate in pure self defense, not terrorism, i.e. extremism and ochlarchy. Other violent actions are ochlarchy and ochlarchist, and not anarchistic.

No anarchist groups have been involved in the terrorism, including bomb, firebomb and arson attacks and similar and/or do/did vandalism and hooliganism, in Toronto, not now and not before. These so called "anarchists", are in reality marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, and thus not anarchists. Anarchists and ochlarchists are opposites. Such marxist, extremist ochlarchists, including copycats, have already long time ago got Brown Cards from the IAT-APT, meaning they are expulsed from the anarchist movement. NB! They are thus not anarchists! IAT-APT hands out fresh Brown Cards to these ochlarchists, to 'hooded ones', black clads', etc, also the ones falsely posing as "anarchists" and using anarchist flags, so called "anarchists", to underline that they are expulsed from the anarchist movement, and thus are not anarchists, according to the (click on:) Oslo Convention.

People doing ochlarchy, i.e. ochlarchists/ochlarchs, are clearly authoritarian, and not anarchistic and anarchists. The difference between ochlarchs/ochlarchists and anarchists is per definition dependent on what you do, not what you say you are or flag or be called in the media or by others! Anarchism means anarchist, i.e. non-authoritarian, non-ochlarchical means and methods, as well as anarchist ends and aims. There must be consistency between means and ends. This is the only strategy that works. The real aim is in general the consequences of the use of the means involved, not some ideological manifesto with good intentions, if any.

Anarchism and anarchist strategy are to change the societal organization in horizontal direction, not attacking persons or things... Anarchists see extremist symbolic actions on capitalism and statism as futile vis-a-vis changing the social organization in horizontal direction - the anarchist aim and strategy, and thus such actions are practically certain not done by anarchists, and not in this and similar cases. 'Hooded ones', 'black clads', 'black blocs/blocks', etc., falsely posing as "anarchists", are as mentioned in reality marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists, and not anarchists. Ad 'hooded ones', 'black clads', 'black blocs/blocks', etc. - anarchists are against political uniforms, this is used by authoritarian groups, not libertarians. A so called 'black bloc/block' is a very hierarchical, uniformed and para-militarist ochlarchist group, very authoritarian, and far from anarchistic and anarchists.

3. As mentioned anarchists and ochlarchists are opposites. To mix up opposites as anarchists with marxist ochlarchists is equally authoritarian as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984" newspeak. Such notes in the media also produce copycat ochlarchists - mainly mislead youths, falsely posing as "anarchists". It should be stopped, and the IAT-APT hands out Brown Cards, as free criticism of this authoritarian tendency.

4. The Anarchist International and the International Workers of the World call for direct actions, i.e. demonstrations with dignity and without ochlarchy, against the authoritarian policy of the G8-G20 and for horizontal organization, i.e. socialism and autonomy, now and later. The IWW, AI and anarchists in general arrange, support and participate in direct actions, i.e. strikes, general strikes, rallies, etc., against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide, but are clearly - and fight - against ochlarchy and ochlarchists/ochlarchs and authoritarian tendencies in general!

The anarchists are against the State in the meaning of societal x-archy, where 'x' is a lot, but not 'an', and do and support direct actions against the State, i.e. top heavy societal pyramid, economical and/or political/administrative. Cut bureaucracy costs - increase the demand of the people - the people seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income - for full employment - against the unenlightend plutarchy of IMF, WB, euro and the Euro-zone, EU in general, and the G8 and G20 countries.

Associated Press reports 27.06.2010 about the G20 meeting: World leaders pledging to reduce global deficits. As global deficits equal global surplus, this is the same as doing away with surplus, and is the policy of a) the uninformed of real economics and b) bureaucracy economics. It is typical unenlightened plutarchy. This is counterproductive, especially when the world economy very likely is entering a double dip depression, and with about 10% unemployment in many countries, including USA and the Euro-zone. Economic depression is per definition equal to or more than 5% unemployment ratio. This is certainly not the right time for reducing surplus = deficits, but time for proper demand management. Mandated persons! Do it now! Especially, weakening the over-evaluated US $, the British £ and the Euro, i.e. the currencies of the main "deficit countries", is a good thing in the present situation, not the opposite.

5. Reuters and Pav Jordan falsely report 26.06.2010. "G20 protesters burn police cars, smash windows. Black-clad "anarchists" separated from what began as a peaceful procession, fanning out through the core of a city generally known for its civility, and forcing police to rush to keep up... Anarchist groups, which led the violence, had specifically mentioned banks as targets in the run-up to the G20, and a Royal Bank of Canada branch in Ottawa was firebombed last month by a group saying they would protest at the summit." These so called "anarchists" are ochlarchists, the opposite of anarchists. They are practically certain marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists - and thus not anarchists. In fact no anarchists participated in the violence, and "Big Brother" Reuters and Pav Jordan get Brown Cards according to the Oslo Convention for publishing this liestory.

6. Euronews reports 27.06.2010. "G20. Violent anti-G20 summit protests in Canada. ... What started off as a peaceful rally, transformed into ugly scenes as anarchists, dressed in black, broke away from the main group... At least two police cars were set on fire, one in the financial district of the city. Shop fronts were destroyed, as people wearing masks continued to cause havoc, moving to just blocks away from the three meter fence around the summit site." These so called "anarchists, dressed in black", are ochlarchists, the opposite of anarchists. They are practically certain marxist leftwing extremist ochlarchists - and thus not anarchists. The truth is that no anarchists participated in the violence, and "Big Brother" Euronews gets a Brown Card according to the Oslo Convention for publishing this liestory.

7. NRK-Dagsrevyen translated 'anarchy' to 'kaos/chaos' in their report about the G20-meeting, but put the blame for the ochlarchy in Toronto falsely on 'black bloc/block anarchists/anarkister', and joins Reuters and Euronews with a Brown Card from IAT-APT.

8. The IAT-APT hands out Brown Cards to all newsmedia that have similar reports as Reuters and Euronews. It must be mentioned that Euronews later had a report without falsely calling ochlarchists, "anarchists".

9. The other main international newsmedia including CNN, BBC and Associated Press, reported quite objectively about the violent ochlarchy in Toronto, and did not falsley call the ochlarchists "anarchists". BBC-TV Saturday showed a lot of red, marxist, flags, directly connected to the violent ochlarchy.

AP reported: "Police made more than 400 arrests after black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful protesters at the global economic summit and went on a rampage in downtown Toronto that lasted into the early morning hours, authorities said Sunday. The roving band of protesters torched four police cruisers and shattered shop windows with baseball bats and hammers for blocks, including at police headquarters, then shed some of their black clothes, revealing other garments, and continued their rampage. Some demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles at police. Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said Sunday that at least 412 people had been arrested in the rampage that began Saturday afternoon. Burrows said many of the violent protesters were Canadian. He added that authorities had known of their plans for some time. "We're not sure we have the leaders, but we have a large proportion of those people and the people who decided they wanted to be influenced by these violent protesters and join with their cause," Burrows said. "A lot of them were home grown. There's a lot of Canadian talent in the group."

CNN later Sunday reported: "G-20 protests plagued by violence, vandalism. Police fired tear gas Sunday to tame groups protesting the arrest of G-20 demonstrators in Toronto, Canada, said Nena Snyder, a spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit. An old film studio was converted into a prisoner processing center specifically for handling G-20 protest arrests. Police released tear gas outside that center where other people were protesting the arrests, Snyder said. "I do not believe that the individuals bent on vandalism and violence in our city have finished with their intent, so we will remain vigilant," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said Saturday night. Police have made a total of 562 arrests since June 18, said Constable Rodney Petroski of the Ontario Provincial Police. From 6 a.m. ET Sunday through late afternoon, 224 people were arrested, he said. Some of those have been released from the prisoner processing center, while others were being held for bail, according to Petroski.

Mobs [ochlarchs/ochlarchists] were scuffling with police in multiple locations, Snyder said. Of the Sunday arrests, 70 took place on Bancroft Avenue, she said. "At no time was there risk to the safety of summit participants," according to the ISU. There were no reports of serious injuries to either protesters or police, said Integrated Security Unit spokeswoman Jillian Van Acker. Blair told reporters that packs of disruptive demonstrators infiltrated peaceful protests in order to cause chaos [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy] and distract police. "These criminals rely on the anonymity of hiding in a larger group of the curious and the naive," he said."

10. The anarchists condemn the violent marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, and welcome the arrests. The anarchists call for arrest of all criminal marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, now and later. The anarchists are not naive in these matters, see Direct action against the World Bank etc. at the ABCDE-conference.

11. Associated Press 28.06.2010 reported: Police arrest more than 600 at Toronto summit. Police raided a university building and rounded up hundreds of protesters Sunday in an effort to quell further violence near the G-20 global economic summit site a day after black-clad youths [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] rampaged through the city, smashing windows and torching police cars. The violence shocked Canada, where civil unrest is almost unknown. Toronto police Sunday said they had never before used tear gas until Saturday's clashes with anti-Globalization activists [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists]. Police said they have arrested more than 600 demonstrators, many of whom were hauled away in plastic handcuffs and taken to a temporary holding center constructed for the summit.

Police adopted a more aggressive strategy Sunday by going into the crowd to make arrests, compared to the previous day when they stood back as protesters torched four police cars and broke store windows. No serious injuries were reported among police, protesters or bystanders, Toronto Police Constable Tony Vella said Sunday. Thousands of police officers in riot gear formed cordons to prevent radical anti-globalization demonstrations [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] from breaching the steel and concrete security fence surrounding the Group of 20 summit site. Security was being provided by an estimated 19,000 law enforcement officers drawn from across Canada. Security costs for the G-20 in Toronto and the Group of Eight summit that ended Saturday in Huntsville, 140 miles (225 kilometers) away, were estimated at more than US$900 million.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper deplored the actions of a "few thugs" [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] and suggested the violence justified the controversial cost. "I think it goes a long way to explaining why we have the kind of security costs around these summits that we do," he said. The disorder and vandalism [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy] occurred just blocks from where US President Barack Obama and other world leaders were meeting and staying. On Sunday, protesters gathered at a park near the detention center - about 2 1/2 miles (four kilometers) east of where the leaders were meeting. Plainclothes police jumped out of an unmarked van, grabbed a protester off the street and whisked him away in the vehicle. The protest was then quickly broken up by riot police, who set off a device that created a cloud of smoke that sent protesters running down the street. Vella said it was not tear gas.

Bridie Wyrock, 20, from Cleveland, Ohio, said she was arrested for public mischief for sitting on a street in the financial district. Wyrock, held for 19 hours before being released, said there weren't enough toilets and said some people resisted detention, but said police treated most people with respect. "They put us in cages, blocked off on all three sides," Wyrock said. "It was cold and dirty." An anti-poverty group called The Global Call to Action Against Poverty [and anarchists] criticized the protesters who committed violence [ochlarchy, the opposite of anarchy]. "A bunch of pimply faced teenagers trashing shops and burning cars does not help anyone," said Rajesh Latchman of GCAP South Africa. "These hooligans [leftwing extremist marxist ochlarchists] obscure the real issues."

Previous global summit protests have turned violent. In 1999, 50,000 protesters shut down World Trade Organization sessions in Seattle as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There were some 600 arrests and $3 million in property damage. One man died after clashes with police at a G-20 meeting held in London in April 2009.

101 syndicalists murdered in 2009 world wide. Pressure on workers' rights grows. Direct actions by IWW

101 syndicalists murdered in 2009 world wide, most in Latin America. Pressure on workers' rights grows as economic depression hits jobs. The International Workers of the World does, and calls for more, direct actions against this trend, and for anarchy, world wide.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of syndicalists*) murdered in 2009, with 101 killings – an increase of 30% over the previous year. There is also growing pressure on fundamental workers' rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened. Say, USA and the Euro-zone seen all in all, are in economic depression, with Spain as the worst Euro-zone country with about 20% unemployment ratio per 2010. Of 101 murdered syndicalists in 2009, 48 were killed in Colombia, 16 in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six in Mexico, six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines, one in India, one in Iraq and one in Nigeria. Twenty-two of the Colombian syndicalists who were killed were senior trade union leaders and five were women, as the onslaught of previous years continued. The rise in violence in Guatemala and Honduras also followed a trend developing in recent years.

Colombia was yet again the country where standing up for fundamental rights of workers is more likely than anywhere else to mean a death sentence, despite the Colombian government's public relations campaign to the contrary. The worsening situation in Guatemala, Honduras and several other countries in Latin America is also cause for extreme concern. ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights for 2009 presents an extensive list of violations suffered by syndicalists struggling to defend workers' interests, this time in 140 countries. Many other violations remain unreported, as working women and men are deprived of the means to have their voices heard, or fear to speak out due to the consequences to their jobs or even to their physical safety. Along with the appalling list of killings, the Survey provides detailed documentation of harassment, intimidation and other forms of anti-syndicalist persecution.

A further ten attempted murders and 35 serious death threats were recorded, again mostly in Colombia and Guatemala. Furthermore, many syndicalists remained in prison and were joined by around hundred newly imprisoned in 2009. Many others were arrested in Iran, Honduras, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey and Zimbabwe in particular. The general labor and trade union rights' situation has continued to deteriorate in a number of other countries, including Egypt, the Russian Federation, South Korea and Turkey. Anti-democratic forces continued to target labor confederation's activity, aware that unions are often in the front line in the defense of democracy, semi- and real-democracy, and in the fight against totalitarian systems. This was evident in Honduras during the post-coup violence and in Guinea during a protest demonstration against the ruling junta which turned into a terrible massacre on 28 September 2009. Anarchy and anarchism are real democracy...

Numerous cases of strike-breaking and repression of striking workers were documented in each region. Thousands of workers demonstrating to claim wages, denounce harsh working conditions or the harmful effects of the global financial and economical crisis faced beatings, arrest and detention, including in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Burma, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey. Dismissals of workers due to their labor confederation's activities were reported in many countries. In Bangladesh, six garment workers on strike for a pay increase and settlement of outstanding wages died after a police intervention.

Union busting and pressure continued to be widely used by employers. In several countries, companies threatened workers with closure or transfer of production sites if they organized or joined a labor confederation. Often employers simply refused to negotiate with legitimate workers' representatives while the authorities did nothing. Some labor codes were amended to permit more "flexibility" and to unravel social welfare systems, which often impacted the existing industrial relations systems and thus curtailed trade union rights.

The undermining of internationally recognized labor standards saw more and more workers facing insecurity and vulnerability in employment, with some 50% of the global workforce now in precarious jobs. This affected workers in export processing zones, especially in South East Asia and Central America, domestic workers, particularly in the Middle East and South East Asia, and migrants and agricultural workers. Many of the worst affected sectors have high concentrations of women workers. Furthermore, the growth of informal employment and the development of new "atypical" forms of employment were seen across both regions and industrial sectors. The difficulties faced by these workers to organize or exercise their trade union rights are directly related to their highly vulnerable position in the labor market.

The Survey also highlights many cases where, while labor confederation's rights are officially protected in legislation, restrictions on legal coverage and weak or non-existent enforcement added to the vulnerability of workers already struggling in the depths of the crisis. Severe restrictions or outright prohibition of strikes also exist in a large number of countries. Furthermore, complex procedural requirements, imposition of compulsory arbitration and the use of excessively broad definitions of "essential services" provisions often make the exercise of syndicalist rights impossible in practice, depriving workers of their legitimate rights to union representation and participation in industrial action.

The ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining has still not been ratified by countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Thus, approximately half of the world's economically active population is not covered by this Convention.

The majority of the world's workers still lack effective protection of their rights to organize labor confederations and bargain collectively. This is a major factor in the long-term increase in economic inequality within and between countries. Inadequate incomes for much of the world's workforce contributed and contribute to the global economic crisis and depression, and is making it much harder to put the economy on a path of sustainable growth, i.e. environmental sustainable growth, says a spokesperson for the World Economic Council, WEC. The International Workers of the World does, and calls for more, direct actions against this trend, and for anarchy, world wide. Sources: ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights (for 2009), ILO, WEC, IWW, AIIS.

PS. Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for those exercising the right to freedom of association, and Colombia accounts for 63.12% of syndicalists murdered over the last decade around the world. At least 10,887 acts of violence were committed against syndicalists between 1 January 1986 and 30 April 2010, including 2,832 murders. Five hundred and fifty seven syndicalists have been murdered during President Uribe's time in office. At least 48 such murders were committed during 2009, and 29 trade unionists have been killed thus far during 2010. The IWW is aware that there is a protection programme and a special unit of public prosecutors, but expresses its concern because, in spite of these measures, syndicalists are still being killed and the rate of impunity remains at 97%.

The Colombian government will not recognize the serious and persistent violence facing people belonging to syndicates of workers, and seek to conceal the situation with figures and declarations that contradict the facts. The IWW demands that the Colombian government will comply with the recommendations of the Committee on the Application of Standards, which underlined in 2009 that a syndicalist movement can only exist in a climate that is free of violence, and urges the Colombian government to bring an end to the current climate of violence, ochlarchy, and impunity through the application of continuous innovative and effective policies and measures. Ochlarchy is mob rule broadly defined. Although Colombia was not included in the list of 25 countries to be examined by the Committee on the Application of Standards, the government has had to agree to a high-level tripartite mission of the International Labour Organisation. The ILO does not send a mission of this magnitude to a country where trade union rights are not violated. More information about the economic-political system in Colombia, see the note 'Colombia - A right-fascist system with severe ochlarchy' at Anarchy Debate. Sources: ITUC and IWW. 11.06.2010.

*) The concept 'syndicate' is defined in general as 'an association of people formed to promote a common interest', and is especially related to the labor movement. The concept 'syndical' broadly defined means 'of a labor union or labor confederation, i.e. of a syndicate of workers'. Thus, a 'syndicalist' broadly defined is any man or woman 'of a labor union or labor confederation, i.e. of a syndicate of workers', thus including all labor union or labor confederation members and activists, i.e. 'union men and women', members and activists of syndicates of workers. 'Syndicalist' narrowly defined is one who believes in or advocates 'syndicalism', a theory and movement of trade unionism originating in France, in which all means of production and distribution would be brought under control of syndicates of workers, i.e. labor confederations and labor unions, by direct action, such as general strike. The IWW above, and often, makes use of the term 'syndicalist' broadly defined, as 'union men and women', i.e. members and activists of syndicates of workers.

May Day 2010: The fight against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide - and more...

The IWW adopts the resolutions of the World Economic Council regarding the fight against the unenlightened plutarchy in USA, the Euro-zone including Greece, and world wide, see the WEC resolutions, and calls on all syndicalists and the people in general, to do the same. Workers of the world, i.e. the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income! Unite and fight the unenlightened plutarchy world wide! In general, the International Workers of the World and the anarchists at large support the strikes and demonstrations against the unenlightened plutarchy, as long as they are direct actions, i.e. without ochlarchy. A wave of strikes and demonstrations directed against the unenlightened plutarchy are - and will be - happening all over Europe and more. The IWW regularly participate in, and is holding, direct actions against the unenlightened plutarchy.

Related to... May Day 2010: The fight against the unenlightened plutarchy world wide - Direct action by the International Workers of the World!

IWW backed the general strike in Greece 24.02.2010, and supports most of the protests and strikes against the unenlightened plutarchy in the country, see the situation in Greece for more information. This Web-site about the situation in Greece is often updated, follow the news, comments and direct actions.

French air traffic controllers went on strike Tuesday 23.02.2010 as labor unrest continued to roll across Europe despite the suspension of a strike by Lufthansa pilots after just one day. The action comes a day after German-based Lufthansa and its pilots' union agreed to suspend its standoff and return to the bargaining table. The suspension will expire on March 8, barring an agreement before then, both sides said in a Frankfurt labor court.

On Monday British Airways cabin crew voted to strike, although no dates were announced. A planned 12-day walkout by Unite, the union which represents the workers, during the Christmas holidays was blocked by a judge. Unite said it is continuing negotiations with the airline. Like Lufthansa pilots, British Airways staff are concerned about wages and job security as larger, older airlines deal with the twin blows of the global recession and increased competition from low-cost carriers. "These are not mindless militants looking to bring the company down, these are ordinary, decent people who do a highly professional job, and very evidently they have a deep set of grievances," Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite said. (See also note on strike at BA 24.05.2010 below)

Airline industry: Strike, strike, everywhere a strike... European airlines were not the only ones hurting. Japan Airlines de-listed its shares from trading in Tokyo Saturday as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. And in Australia, Qantas Airlines announced this week it would eliminate first class travel from its flights. Industry watchers expect to see more industrial actions at airlines across the world. Beyond the airline industry, other labor disputes are spilling into industrial action in Europe.

French gas giant Total said about 100 of 4,000 gas stations in the country are beginning to run out of fuel as a strike by oil refinery workers enters a second week. However on Wednesday the strike ended after workers at all but one of the oil refining plants voted to halt their walkout. Workers at five of oil giant Total SA's French refineries that had been striking since last week voted in separate ballots to go back to work. A sixth refinery, near Dunkirk in northern France, will remain shut until a scheduled meeting with management over the refinery's future on March 8. The walkout had been sparked last week by concerns about Total's plan to convert the Dunkirk refinery for other uses, as well as about as the future of refining in general. The oil company pledged Tuesday to neither close nor sell other plants in France for the next five years.

Disruption in France during day of strike action 12.03.2010. There has been widespread disruption in France today due to a series of strikes organized by trade unions. In Paris, hundreds of nurses and hospital employees gathered outside the outside their health authority headquarters, which had been occupied by dozens of demonstrators overnight. They want an end to the organization's restructuring plans and projected job cuts. Riot police were brought in to calm the crowd. Some secondary school teachers also decided to spend the night in their classrooms, in protest over the government's education reforms. They want an end to job losses and better training for teachers. Eight trade unions called for the action, angry at the way the government is managing the education system.

But the action is really making itself felt in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, where rubbish collectors have already been on strike for a week. Eight thousand tonnes of rubbish are produced in Marseille every day, the saving grace being that the weather here is still relatively cold. "We are walking around the rubbish but there are rats everywhere. Rats on the streets, that means a great reputation for Marseille." said one householder. Rubbish collectors here are employed by a private company, and are demanding guarantees from management over job security. One-day rubbish collection strikes were also held in several other major French cities, by workers angry over pay rises and changes in the retirement age.

27.04.2010. Thousands of French farmers are protesting in Paris to call for more financial aid to help them through the economic downturn. Falling prices and rising costs mean many are struggling to make ends meet. They want President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene as they say they could go out of business. Yet direct aid looks unlikely. The French public deficit currently stands at a record 7.5 percent, twice the amount allowed under EU rules. Paris is already the biggest beneficiary of the EU's Common Agriculture Policy. France currently swallows up 20 percent of the bloc's 40-billion-euro farming subsidies. The French government has offered tax breaks and interest-free loans to the farmers but that has failed to quell the discontent.

24.06.2010. France strike over pension age reform. Public sector workers in France are staging a series of strikes, affecting transport and disrupting schools across the country. Trade unions have called the strikes over government plans to reform the pensions system and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Strike organizers say they have 200 rallies planned and are hoping for at least one million protesters, although they have said that figure might be higher.

And in Spain, labor confederations, including the anarchosyndicalist CGT, protested on Tuesday 23.02.2010 against a government plan to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67. Thousands of workers protested in Spain's major cities against government spending cuts and the plans to raise the retirement age. The rallies were the first mass labor protests in the six years of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government. Spain is a major industrial economy still in recession and has one of the European Union's highest unemployment rates, of about 19 percent. For workers under 25, the jobless rate is about 40 percent, the government reports. The government plan to raise the retirement age to 67 aims to prevent, in the coming decades, the pension system from going bust, as Spaniards live longer and collect retirement benefits for longer periods, with a projected declining number of workers paying in to the social security system, government officials have said publicly in recent weeks.

13.05.2010. Spain's efforts to bring its budget deficit down with wage and spending cuts, i.e. unenlightened plutarchy, have sparked an angry response from the country's two biggest unions. They said they would strike in protest. Union leaders met Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and told him they 'totally disagreed' with his plan to cut public sector wages this year, freeze them next year and slash public investment spending by six billion euros. The head of the UGT union, Cándido Méndez, said that after talking to the prime minister they were unconvinced and are completely opposed to the austerity measures. He added "They are a sharp blow to the chances of maintaining certain levels of consumption and will lead to delays in economic recovery." Ignacio Fernández Toxo, the general secretary of Comisiones Obreras, said: "The prime minister has just presented the worst solution at a time when the crisis has not yet been solved, just to respond to the demands of the financial markets." They plan a public sector strike for the second of June affecting hospitals and schools, and have threatened to call a general strike.

08.06.2010. Spanish public sector on strike against austerity plan. Spanish public sector workers have been holding a strike in protest against an average 5% cut in pay that comes into effect this month. The cuts are part of a government austerity package aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit, swollen by almost two years of recession and depression. Several thousand protesters gathered in front of Madrid's finance ministry blowing horns and chanting slogans. The city was bracing for a major rally and march on Tuesday evening. Spanish unions said 75-80% of public sector workers had joined the day-long strike.

29.06.2010. Unions in Spain's Basque country have been holding a general strike - huelga general, in protest at the government's belt-tightening measures. In Bilbao, hundreds of people took the streets forcing shops and businesses to close. Police made several arrests as anger turned into violence. Elsewhere, striking workers protesting over a five percent pay cut forced the closure of Madrid's metro. The move is expected to be repeated on Wednesday as union anger spreads over the austerity measures. The anarchosyndicalist confederation CGT participated in the strike, called for sharing and social justice, and sent the secretariate of the International Workers of the World and the Anarchist International a report/link with the following picture:

Portuguese civil servants walked off their jobs on Thursday 04.03.2010, hoping to close schools, courts and hospitals in a protest strike against austerity measures imposed by the so called Socialist government. The strike was the biggest in years in Portugal and will test the minority government, which has been pressed by financial markets to cut spending after Greece's fiscal crisis turned the focus on weak euro zone members. Portugal's unions say they have had years of worsening conditions as public pensions and other benefits were cut by the government, which this year froze public wages in its effort to win investor confidence by cutting the budget deficit.

"There is immense discontent which you can see in the way workers behave," said Manuel Carvalho da Silva, leader of the 725,000-strong General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP). The Iberian country of 10 million people is slowly, too slowly, recovering from its worst economic downturn in decades and unemployment, at 10 percent, is the highest in a quarter of a century. The strike, which comes on the heels of industrial action in Spain and Greece, raises pressure on the government just as it prepares a long-term budget plan to cut the budget deficit to below 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2013. Portuguese unions have threatened more strikes if the government extends the freeze on civil servant wages beyond this year -- something which has been under consideration.

Tens of thousands marched in Lisbon on Saturday 29.05.2010 against the government's austerity measures, with the leader of CGTP vowing to intensify resistance. Manuel Carvalho da Silva said that the union plans to escalate protests against the financial cutbacks. His union has left open the option of calling a general strike. "We are committed to all the forms of resistance the constitution allows, and will decide on their timing and form depending on the government's actions," Carvalho da Silva said.

And in Italy there were strikes and protests against the populist light brown & blue Berlusconi regime Friday 12.03.2010. A large workers' strike to demand a.o.t. job protection grounded dozens of planes and idled buses and trains across Italy. The four-hour strike snarled traffic in some cities, and Alitalia had to cancel or reschedule some flights as a result of the protest. Hospital and school workers were staging an eight-hour strike, causing delays and forcing some schools to shut down. The walkout was called by Italy's largest union, CGIL, to protest cuts at companies including Fiat, which plans to end auto production at a plant in Sicily next year, and to press Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government to come up with employment-boosting policies.

There were also demonstrations on the streets in Rome, with protesters demanding lower taxes and better job security. If the unenlightened plutarchy in the country continues, "consumer spending in Italy will take as many as five years to return to the level enjoyed before the economy entered the worst recession since World War II," retailers' organization Confcommercio said: "Spending won't regain its pre-crisis level until 2015. It's painful but necessary to note that both per capita gross domestic product [GDP] and consumption - are today, corrected for inflation, on the same level of 10 years ago." After falling into a recession in the third quarter of 2008, the $2.3 trillion economy exited the slump a year later, only to contract again in the three months through December. Consumers were a drag on growth with their spending falling 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, national statistics institute Istat said this week.

The anti-Berlusconi protests in Rome continued 13.03.2010. Tens of thousands of Italians have been taking part in a protest in Rome's main square against the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The demonstrators, called out by the opposition and unions, accused him of changing laws for his own benefit. The protest organizers also called for employment, education and health to be at the centre of campaigning for this month's regional elections. A recent opinion poll showed only low levels of support for Mr Berlusconi. His so called "People of Freedom" party has seen its preparations for the regional elections on 28 and 29 March marred by problems over electoral lists.

Italy's top administrative court, the State Council, refused on Saturday to reinstate the ruling coalition's candidates for the Lazio region, which includes Rome. The government had passed an emergency decree to ensure its list was included, despite a "People of Freedom" official missing a deadline to submit the required documents to local electoral officials. Mr Berlusconi has said the list was excluded as an attempt to damage his party, and that he only acts in the interests of Italian democracy. Italy's political atmosphere has rarely been more intense since he came to office two years ago.

25.05.2010. BBC reports: Italy joins euro austerity drive. The Italian government has approved austerity measures worth 24 billion euros (£20bn; $29bn) for the years 2011-2012. Italy will take measures to reduce public sector pay and will put a freeze on new recruitment. Public sector pensions and local government spending are also expected to be hit. Added to these, a clampdown on tax avoidance is also planned. The cuts are equal to some 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). Similar reductions in spending measures have already been announced by Greece, Spain and Portugal. Some Italian workers have already been out protesting. In Rome, workers at the Italian Institute for the Professional Development of Vocational Training of Workers (Isfol) held protests against the cuts at their headquarters.

One worker, Simone Casadei, said the public sector had already paid a heavy price. "The sector of public research has already paid its toll and suffered cuts in the past," he said. "So we are asking for our sector to be left out of the new budget cuts." He added that the money should be raised by getting tough on tax evasion. "We also demand that the money needed to face this problems... is obtained through a tough action against tax evasion. The state cannot always take the money from the same sources, that is workers and pensioners." The government hopes to bring its deficit down to below 3% of GDP by 2012 - from 5.3% now - in order to help maintain the confidence of international investors and prevent the spread of a Greek-style debt crisis. The IWW agrees with Simone Casadei in this case, and reminds about the fascist 'Berlusconi-Mussolini connection', search for Mussolini in the International Anarchist Tribunal - Anarchist Press Tribunal. Fascism has never been 'worker friendly'...

25.06.2010. General strike in Italy. There was a general strike in Italy, called by the country's biggest union in protest at the national austerity plan, known as 'la manovra'. The strike was a major blow to Silvio Berlusconi's populist, moderate fascist government, and 'la manovra'. Growing discontent over the proposals is threatening to affect the Berlusconi-government's popularity. It's clear not everyone in Italy is singing from the same hymn sheet: "Our contracts might not be renewed – and they have already run out. This has brought us out onto the streets to show how angry we are," said one protestor. The effects of the stoppage was far-reaching. Burials at municipal cemeteries were postponed – and the country's airports were deserted. The general strike was throwing transport and state services into disarray.

19.05.2010. Romanians protest over pay cuts. Tens of thousands of Romanian public workers took to the streets of Bucharest protest at planned pay cuts. Their pay packets will shrink by 25 percent as part of an IMF -brokered deal, while pensions funds will be cut by 15 percent. Romania must slash public spending to receive any of the remaining 8-billion euros from a 20-billion-euro aid package agreed last year. But unions argue ordinary people are bearing the brunt for politicians' shoddy economic management. One protesting policeman said it should be government ministers made to feel the pinch of a lighter wallet. "We are working day and night and doing unpaid overtime. All the police unions from all over the country are here and we will be back if necessary," he said, declining to give his name.

24.05.2010. British Airways cabin crew begin 5-day strike. The union representing British Airways cabin crew has begun a five-day strike but the airline says it will still be able to carry 70 percent of passengers who have booked flights. Monday's strike follows the failure of weekend talks between the Unite union and the airline. A key issue is the union's demand that the airline restore employee travel benefits which the airline suspended following an earlier strike. The union's joint leader, Tony Woodley, says BA already has secured its aim of cutting 1,700 jobs. Woodley said the dispute has turned personal because he believes the airline dislikes the cabin crew union. British Airways says it has accepted an invitation for more negotiations, and says it believes the union will also accept.

Strike and demonstrations in Italy 12.03.2010. General strikes in Greece 11.03.2010, 20.05.2010, 29.06.2010 and 08.07.2010, the sixth this year. And more! Direct actions by IWW and others against the unenlightened plutarchy and crisis world wide continue with full strength!

01.05.2010. May Day protests and demonstrations world wide: Tens of thousands of workers marched in cities world wide Saturday to mark international worker's day, demanding more jobs, better work conditions and remuneration for the people seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income. There were also protests against the unenlightened plutarchy, the crisis, and the rule and mismanagement of the superiors in rank and/or income in general. Anarchosyndicalists and anarchists in general participated in the protests and demonstrations. BBC reports: ... May Day rallies. In many countries, May Day, also known as International Workers' Day or Labour Day - is traditionally a time of political demonstrations organised by trade unions, anarchists and [other] socialist groups.

About 140,000 jubilant workers gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square in the first celebrations at the site since dozens of people died there in a May 1 gathering more than three decades ago. The demonstrations in Istanbul, which sits on both European and Asian continents, marked a special victory for the Turkish unions, which had been denied access to the Taksim Square since 1977, when 34 people died after shooting triggered a stampede. The culprits were never found and workers demanded Saturday an inquiry into the deaths of the demonstrators.

Most of the annual May Day marches were peaceful, but in the Chinese territory of Macau police used water cannons and pepper spray against protesters who tried to break away from the approved route. Hong Kong radio RTHK reported at least eight people injured, including a photographer. Athens also witnessed riots, with police using tear gas to disperse demonstrators who threw firebombs and stones in a large May Day rally against austerity measures needed to secure loans for near-bankrupt Greece. In the Anarchy of Switzerland, the Swiss Confederation, Zurich police used water cannons in an attempt to disperse dozens of stone-throwing protesters as unions and politicians protested against "excessive" Swiss banking bonuses, but most of the demonstrations were peaceful - non-ochlarchical. In the Anarchy of Norway, the demonstrations were without any tendencies of ochlarchy.

May Day demonstrations in the Anarchy of Iceland. The event is being celebrated with marches, demonstrations and family entertainment all over Iceland. In Reykjavik a large coalition of unions and associations have come together to host a rally starting at 13.00 at Hlemmur and moving down to Austurvollur, Parliament Square. Once at the square, a series of speeches begins at 14.10, and due to end at 15.00. Two brass bands and the popular rock band Hjaltalin are also taking part. After the speeches, most big labor unions and political parties will be offering coffee and cakes to the public and some of the political parties are taking the opportunity to formally open their election offices today for the upcoming local elections. Today is an official flag day in Iceland.

German police detained 250 neo-Nazis who attempted to attack them in downtown Berlin, while they braced for further clashes after sundown. Nadine Pusch, a spokeswoman for Berlin police, said 7,000 officers were scattered throughout the city in an effort to ensure peaceful demonstrations. Overnight in Hamburg, 17 officers were injured in clashes on the eve of May 1 and at least nine demonstrators were detained, the German news agency ddp reported Saturday. The turnout in Cuba was massive, as expected, and authorities falsely claimed the march by hundreds of thousands of Cubans amounted to approval of the island's communist system amid mounting international criticism over human rights.

Thousands joined peaceful May Day marches in Stockholm, where the opposition blamed the present government for failing to stem rising unemployment and eroding the nation's cherished welfare system. Several thousand demonstrators in Paris also took to the streets amid concerns about conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to overhaul the pension system. In Manila, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced she had ordered the labor secretary to speed up negotiations between unions and employers on a 75-peso ($1.67) increase in daily minimum wage.

In Indonesia's capital, thousands of workers marched on the presidential palace, shouting: "Workers unite! No more layoffs!". Rally organizer Bayu Ajie said a free trade agreement with China had cost jobs, decreased wages and encouraged corruption. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to create safer working conditions and improve job prospects if the workers maintained political and economic stability. Thousands of Communist demonstrators, carrying red balloons, red Soviet flags and portraits of Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin, called for the Russian government's resignation over rising prices and unemployment in Moscow. Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov led hundreds of opposition activists in a separate rally. They also called for the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom they accuse of stamping out democracy. A few thousands also rallied in Ukraine's capital.

In Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo and Taiwan, thousands marched for better working conditions and permanent jobs. Jeong Ho-hee, spokesman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Union, vowed to fight against long working hours and high death rate related to industrial accidents. In the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, several hundred workers protested a proposed 4 percent goods and services tax while about 1,000 protesters, including janitors, construction workers and bus drivers, demanded the government in Hong Kong to introduce a minimum wage of 33 Hong Kong dollars ($4.30). This freewheeling capitalist Chinese enclave is one of the world's wealthiest cities, but critics say its wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. "A lunch box at a fast-food restaurant costs about HK$30 ($4). It's an insult if you can't afford a lunch box after working for an hour," pro-democracy legislator Leung Yiu-chung said on the sidelines of Saturday's protests.

The AI, IWW and ACLA condemn the murder of syndicalist Pedro Antonio García in Guatemala

The murder took place as Pedro Antonio García was on his way home in Malacatán. For the past year, municipal workers have suffered serious breaches of syndicalist organization's freedom and labor rights. These abuses were committed by the State of Guatemala, in its capacity as their employer. The syndicalist organized employees of the municipality of Malacatán, with spokesperson Pedro Antonio García, organized actions on 5 and 6 January 2010 to demand the payment of salaries owed to them from 2009, compliance with the collective agreement and payment of other benefits.

In this resolution, sent as e-mail to the Guatemalan authorities, anarchists and syndicalists, newsmedia, etc. world wide and also published at the IWW website - AI, IWW and ACLA call on President Álvaro Colom to take urgent measures to find and punish the perpetrators of the crime and do his utmost to ensure that human, labor and syndicalist organization's rights are respected in his country. The government must also make all state aid to the municipal administrations subject to full observance of the ILO's fundamental conventions, which were ratified by Guatemala.

Alarming increase in anti-syndicalist violence: AI, IWW and ACLA are seriously concerned at the alarming increase in anti-union violence seen in Guatemala since the year 2007. The poaching of members and the rise of "parallel" "labor" confederations aimed at dividing the labor movement, robbing it of its independence and making it serve the interests of the government rather than the genuine interests and needs of Guatemala's workers, are a cause for grave concern, together with the recurrent violence against syndicalists.

AI, IWW and ACLA call for direct actions and other actions against the State of Guatemala, and for a movement of the economic-political system of the country in libertarian direction, i.e. towards significant socialism and autonomy = Anarchy! 10.02.2010

The world is facing its gravest economic crisis in over 60 years. Tens of millions of jobs are being lost due to the greed, plunder and incompetence which have, through decades of "free" market deregulation, led the world into deep recession. Global poverty and inequality are increasing fast, and working women and men everywhere face levels of insecurity unprecedented in recent times.

We accept no leaders of the world, be it USA, Russia, EU or China. However guidance is a must. Look to the three anarchist, the only real democratic, countries of the world, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, guided by a.o.t. the International Workers of the World, the Anarchist International, AI, and the International Institute For Organization Research, IIFOR. They will probably be the first to solve the economic recession problem, balancing 1) Total demand nominally = (Price level)(Labor productivity)(Total labor force). Where 2) Total demand nominally = Public and private consumption + Public and private real investment + Export - Import, 3) Price level = (1 + Inflation %/100) and Labor productivity is national product volume per employed, averagely, and inflation is measured by the price index for the national product. How to achieve this aim? Read A SHORT NOTE ON THE GENERAL THEORY OF ANARCHIST ECONOMICS: http://www.anarchy.no/aneco1.html . The traditional Keynes type countercyclal monetary and fiscal policy measures, may not be sufficient to solve the problem. Measures to lower inflation and to achieve a modest increase in labor productivity, taking into account green economics, should also be introduced, etc. For the world seen all in all Export - Import = 0, thus protectionism must be avoided. Anarchies have the best conditions to do proper demand management. The other most libertarian countries should follow them in coordinate efforts to solve the recession problem. The rest of the world should also join in. The sooner the better! Proper demand management now!!!

THE 25 HIGHEST RANKING COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LIBERTARIAN DEGREE ETC.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Countries:	Rank of country according to libertarian degree, and type of system	Libertarian degree and (authoritarian degree) %	Degree of socialism and (capitalism) %	Degree of autonomy and (statism) %	Gini-index
Norway	1 Anarchy	54,0 (46,0)	55,0 (45.0)	53,2 (46,8)	25,8
Switzerland	2 Anarchy	53,0 (47,0)	51,0 (49,0)	55,1 (44,9)	33,1
Iceland	3 Anarchy	52,0 (48,0)	54,0 (46,0)	50,1 (49,9)	25,0 (est.)
Liechtenstein	4 Soc.dem.	49,5 (50,5)	51,4 (48,6)	47,7 (52,3)	32,0 (est.)
Luxembourg	5 Soc.dem.	49,2 (50,8)	52,1 (47,9)	46,5 (53,5)	30,8
Denmark	6 Soc.dem.	48,8 (51,2)	55,3 (44,7)	43,0 (57,0)	24,7
Japan	7 Soc.dem.	48,5 (51,5)	55,2 (44,8)	42,6 (57,4)	24,9
Belgium	8 Soc.dem.	48,2 (51,8)	54,0 (46,0)	43,0 (57,0)	25,0
Finland	9 Soc.dem.	47,9 (52,1)	53,8 (46,2)	42,6 (57,4)	26,9
Sweden	10 Soc.dem.	47,5 (52,5)	54,0 (46,0)	41,7 (58,3)	25,0
Netherlands	11 Soc.dem.	47,2 (52,8)	52,0 (48,0)	42,8 (57,2)	30,9
Canada	12 Soc.dem.	46,8 (53,2)	50,9 (49,1)	43,0 (57,0)	33,1
Austria	13 Soc.dem.	46,5 (53,5)	52,1 (47,9)	41,4 (58,6)	30,0
Ireland	14 Populist	46,2 (53,8)	45,0 (55,0)	47,4 (52,6)	35,9
Germany	15 Soc.dem.	45,9 (54,1)	53,0 (47,0)	39,6 (60,4)	28,3
Spain	16 Soc.dem.	45,5 (54,5)	51,5 (48,5)	40,1 (59,9)	32,5
Australia	17 Populist	45,0 (55,0)	48,0 (52,0)	42,2 (57,8)	35,2
United King.	18 Populist	44,5 (55,5)	44,7 (55,3)	44,3 (55,7)	36.0
New Zealand	19 Populist	44,0 (56,0)	44,6 (55,4)	42,4 (57,6)	36,2
France	20 Soc.dem.	43,5 (56,5)	51,4 (48,6)	36,6 (63,4)	32,7
Italy	21 Populist	43,0 (57,0)	44,7 (55,3)	41,3 (58,7)	36,0
USA	22 Cons. lib.	42,5 (57,5)	24,5 (75,5)	69,8 (30,2)	40,8
Israel	23 Populist	42,3 (57,7)	47,8 (52,2)	37,3 (62,7)	35,5
Hong Kong	24 Cons. lib.	42,1 ( 57,9)	22,1 (77,9)	74,8 (25,2)	43,4
Greece	25 Populist	42,0 (58,0)	47,9 (52,1)	36,6 (63,4)	35,4

The estimates are approximately figures. © IIFOR/IJA ISSN 0800 – 0220 2007 and later.
Anarchy = here social-individualist anarchism; Soc. dem. = social democrat marxism; Populist = here moderate parliamentarian democratic fascism; Cons. lib. = Conservative liberalism. See economic-political map. Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, estimates of the libertarian degree in general, and information on methodology, see http://www.anarchy.no/ranking.html and http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html . For the libertarian vs authoritarian, capitalist vs socialist and statism vs autonomy degree we have used " , ", the European standard instead of American/UK standard, i.e. " . " as decimal separator. For other figures on www.anarchy.no we have usually used the American/UK standard. The term "ca" is an abbreviation for the latin circa, which means about or approximately.

*) The stars indicate the position of the Norwegian economical-political system after the revolutionary change in 1994/95. Read more about the anarchist velvet revolutionary change in 1994/95 and the development afterwards at http://www.anarchy.no/a_nor.html and http://www.anarchy.no/ija1994-96.html

The International Workers of the World, the AI and IIFOR demand far-reaching, urgent and coordinated actions to pull the world out of recession. Public sectors must act to keep the working class broadly defined, i.e. the grassroots, the people, seen as a class in contrast to the superiors economically and/or political/administrative, in work and create new jobs, to avoid an even deeper and longer-lasting crisis. These actions are essential, but alone they are not sufficient.

We demand nothing less than a full-scale transformation of the world economy. A new global economy is required, which is built on the anarchist principle of social justice and the other anarchist principles and which:

• Is based on effective, real democratic and accountable global management, self management - autogestion - which puts the needs of the people first;

• Ensures strong financial regulation, putting finance at the service of the real economy and the real economy at the service of people;

• Guarantees respect for the rights of all working people and puts an end to poverty, inequality, discrimination, repression and exploitation; and,

Public sectors have the responsibility and the possibility to build the new global economy. The trade union movement and civil society in general, including the anarchists, will press forward the demand for public sectors to fulfill this responsibility, and insist on full involvement at every level in making it a reality.

We will not accept a return to the politics of greed, which allowed a tiny elite to amass vast wealth at the expense of the many, robbing workers of their dignity and security. Central to this is restoring the role of public sector in regulating the private sector and ensuring public provision to meet fundamental social needs. Decades of "free"-market ideology have weakened the essential functions of public sector as regulator and provider, with the IMF and the World Bank playing a major role in ensuring that public sectors comply with that discredited ideology. These institutions have now been given huge responsibilities and resources to combat the recession. Their structures and their policies, and those of the WTO, must be changed dramatically in order for the new global economy to be possible. Direct actions etc. are means to achieve this aim.

The central role of decent work in the new global economy must be fully realised. It is essential to meeting the needs and aspirations of people everywhere, and is the only sustainable way to restore demand for goods and services. The rights to organize and bargain collectively are central to maintaining and improving living standards and to stimulating growth. We call upon world's mandated persons to agree urgently on a Global Jobs Pact to deliver decent work, and we insist that the ILO be placed at the heart of the management of the world economy.

The removal of rules for managing banking and finance has been the biggest single cause of the crisis. Strong regulations are required. But in a global economy, no country can properly regulate in isolation, nor can any country alone stop taxpayers being cheated by the vast flow of money into tax havens. Public sectors have to work together to design the new rules and put them into place, and they must do this without delay.

The world's mandated persons have come together many times to pledge to defeat poverty and hunger, to promise development and guarantee that fundamental rights at work and in society would be respected. Yet the economic system they built ensured that many of the pledges they made would remain just words, while the crisis today is being used as yet another excuse to strip working people of their rights and entitlements. The new global economy must support, not undermine, the timeless and universal rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, interpreted in a libertarian way, see http://www.anarchy.no/anrights.html , and the ILO core labor standards.

Time is running out to save the planet from the ravages of climate change. The new global economy must be a green economy, where high-carbon jobs are transformed into low-carbon jobs, and where investment in this transformation and the creation of new green jobs is assured. The world community must agree this year, at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, to far-reaching measures to cut emissions, build green infrastructure and jobs and ensure that the transition to the green economy is efficient, just and fair.

The world's biggest economies, at the G20 Summit in London, responding to direct actions, opened the possibility for work on the new global economy to begin. They agreed that jobs are central to recovery, and that there must be new regulations, global cooperation and reform. They committed to work on a Charter for Sustainable Globalization, which could become a guide for the kind of world economy which working people demand. But these are still no more than the first few steps along the necessary path.

The trade unions of the world, including the International Workers of the World, and civil society in general - including the anarchists - will carry forward our quest for the new global economy. Building on our firm traditions of global solidarity, our capacity to mobilize for change and our determination to hold decision-makers to account for their actions, we will pursue our agenda for change with public sectors, at the UN and the G20 and in every other place that matters.

From the ruins of the crisis, a new era of prosperity, equality, real democracy and peace must arise. We proclaim our continued resolve to bring this new sustainable era into being, and to oppose, with every libertarian means at our disposal, those who stand in its way.

May Day 2009 was honored worldwide with millions of people who took to the streets and whose main slogans focused on better labor relations, the combating of unemployment and poverty.

The Anarchist International protests against the sacking of CNT's Juan R. Dominguez at Magma Tratamientos SLU- Spain. He must immediately get his job back!

L. Jakobsen - International Workers of the World, affiliated to AI
H. Fagerhus - International Journal of Anarchism
A. Quist - The Anarchist International
07.10.2008

Nos hemos enterado hoy mismo. Juan R. Dominguez, delegado sindical de la sección sindical de CNT en la empresa Magma Tratamientos SLU ha sido despedido de su puesto de trabajo como camionero y emprendemos acciones de lucha. De momento pedimos faxes de solidaridad, correos electronicos y el miércoles en asamblea estudiaremos emprender más acciones.

Juan R
Responsable de la Web del S.O.V de C.N.T. Sagunto
Adherida a la A.I .T. (Internacional Revolucionaria)
Valencia – España

La presente es para agradecer las muestras de apoyo
Por el envió de faxes y corros electrónicos
gracia.

The www.anarchy.no has about 15 000 visitors and 50 000 hits per month. We hope our resolution will contribute to a victory in this case...

The International Workers of the World supports
CGT's (Spanish anarchosyndicalists) actions against the Returns Directive. 21.06.2008: The anarchists, including anarchosyndicalists, step up their direct actions against the Returns Directive.
see http://www.anarchy.no/andebate.html

May Day 2008 - Hunger demonstrations, it's the struggle of the people!

Capitalism and statism deprived us of anything to force us to work

When they don't need our labor force anymore, they let us dying

State and capital kill and don't have anything else to offer

Dying or struggling, there is no other alternative for the people world wide

Hunger and suburbs demonstrations - these struggles are ours

Let's support our struggling class brothers and sisters, let's fight everywhere against exploitation and repression

Our enemy is everywhere the same - the superiors economically and/or political/administrative

This system is in crisis! May it die?

The anarchist International Workers of the World, IWW/AI, today expressed its strong condemnation of a police raid last week, on 6 December in the evening, against the office of the Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP). Police officers detained several young activists present in the office for printing information about a meeting of entrepreneurs and sealed or confiscated BKDP equipment and documents. The detainees were later released but were called up to appear in court for alleged "hooliganism".

The BKDP considers the matter as a clear provocation orchestrated by the Belarusian authorities to attack the independent labor movement. The BKDP is the largest independent labor organization in the country. It has for many years been fighting for labor rights and freedoms, its members are regularly being harassed and discriminated and its delegates have repeatedly been arrested for their commitment to - and defense of - fundamental rights of workers and democracy,

The IWW/AI condemns the raid and calls on the authorities to respect and protect the work of the BKDP and of all its structures, including its central office, to remove the charges against its members and to repair damage made to its office and equipment. It is outrageous that in a country which is under the close supervision of the ILO and which has been denied EU GSP preferences precisely for labor rights violations just half a year ago, the police raids this labor confederation's offices, removes its documentation and equipment and brutally interferes with union activities. The methods the authorities are using to undermine the independent labor movement leave no place for hope that the regime is serious about respecting its ILO obligations and repeated commitments to its own people and to the international community. (11.12.2007)

The IWW/AI calls for an International treaty to protect domestic workers. The question of a possible International Standard for the tens of millions domestic workers in the world will be discussed next month at the International Labour Organization (ILO). "Domestic workers lack protection under both international and national laws" says the document tabled for discussion by the ILO. "They represent an important and growing segment of the labor and their work is enabling others to improve their living standard" it adds. Domestic workers are a vital link in every country's economic chain, carrying out essential tasks for millions of households.

Domestic work is often not recognized by national legislation. Domestic workers therefore do not enjoy the protection of the labor rights laid down in such legislation, so the door is open for all kinds of abuse by their employers. A large number of domestic workers are migrant women. In their countries of origin, many of them hold qualifications that are considerably higher than those required for domestic workers, but the social reality and the obvious need of money to survive push those women to accept to travel and to work as domestic workers.

The IWW/AI is calling for actions worldwide to obtain support to develop an international instrument, i.e. the ILO will have to decide to put this on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 2010 with the prospect of having a treaty adopted in 2011. Domestic workers must have protection just like others workers. We strongly urge the ILO to take the right decision in this case. An International Convention will make a good framework for direct actions in this matter. 01.11.2007

Working people in all corners of the globe, gathering together on the 1st of May, celebrate the tremendous achievements of the anarchist and labor movement in general, and commemorate all those who have given so much in the cause of justice, equality and human dignity. Especially we remember the Chicago anarchists and the origin of the May Day as the special day of workers' demonstrations, see http://www.anarchy.no/mayday.html .

Each and every person has the right to decent work and a decent life. For the vast millions to whom these rights are but an aspiration, it is through the determination and collective will of the anarchist and labor confederations that this aspiration can become a reality, and for those who today enjoy these rights in their daily lives, it is through their confederations that they will be defended and maintained.

The International Workers of the World, affiliated to the Anarchist International, (IWW/AI) gives us means and renewed vitality in our quest for a better world. We will harness the fight for workers' rights to its very maximum, to bring solidarity to all those who need it, and to change the course of the global economy to make it serve the interests of the many rather than the few.

Our commitment to build a better world, where economic progress serves social needs, where those who live in poverty and at the margins of society are empowered to live decent and fulfilling lives, remains steadfast. The universal values which have underpinned more than a century of proud anarchist and labor movement history, remain as valid today as they did at the very birth of our movement.

We oppose all forms oppression and exploitation, and proclaim our determination to continue the struggle against all those who seek to profit from deprivation, discrimination and despair. We stand united with all women and men who suffer violations of their rights as workers and as human beings and will come to their aid in every way we can. We condemn all those who profit from the misery of others and will carry forward the fight against the rapacious excesses of corporate greed. We will maintain our struggle for a world where all can live secure and peaceful lives, free from authority, the threat of violence, war and destruction, see http://www.anarchy.no/anarchism.html .

The generations of today hold the very future of the planet in our hands. Our actions will leave an indelible mark on the lives of the children of the world and those to come. We shall fulfill our solemn duty to work for sustainable economic and social progress, to play our part in tackling climate change, in providing health and education for all and confronting the enormous challenges which we face as a world community. See http://www.anarchy.no/eam.html .

We seek a world where all countries can cooperate to the common good, building and sustaining fairness, efficiency and social justice in economic and political/administrative relations, where no country is left behind and where the aspirations of all men, women and children to a decent life are met in full. We pledge, in furtherance of the great and durable traditions of our movement, to turns these dreams and hopes into reality.

May Day 2006, on international workers' day, we celebrate the fruits of decades of collective struggle, and pay homage to all those who have made sacrifices in the name of freedom, equality, solidarity, social justice and human dignity. We pledge to continue to use our collective strength to bring about a safe and just world, where every woman and man has the chance of a decent job, based on free contract, not slave contract.

In the face of great challenges confronting working people, the hope that springs from the tenacity of the human spirit is evident everywhere. From young people demanding their rights at work, to migrant workers fighting exploitation, to millions of women in export processing zones or trapped in informal work and striving for justice, people across the world understand better than ever that our common struggle is truly global.

Our international resolve is strong. Long before globalization became a household word, anarchists understood that the fate of workers in one country is inextricably linked with the fate of workers in another. We will continue to confront those who seek to divide, and to profit from division, by pitting worker against worker. We will carry forward the fight to those who advocate xenophobia and racism. We will stand, as ever, in solidarity with all those who face oppression, discrimination and violation of their rights. We remain steadfast in our determination to end global poverty, and to build a global economy that serves the interests of people rather than capital, where the rules of trade and finance support workers' rights and development instead of promoting a race to the bottom.

2006 is a year of historic importance for international anarchism. It is 120 years since the Haymarket affair that initiated the celebration of May Day as the international workers' day, see http://www.anarchy.no/mayday.html . We will use our strength to transform the world of work and the world at large in the interests of all men and women. By reaching out to all workers, standing with those who fight for their rights against exploitation and dictatorship, and campaigning for global peace and security, anarchists around the world will have a significant voice.

Global action on global issues is essential to realizing our primary tasks of fighting for fundamental workers' rights, for equality and for safe, sustainable and healthy work for all. It is indispensable in the fight against HIV-AIDS and the other great crises facing humanity. We pledge to fight for a world in which each human being is empowered to fulfill their potential, no matter where they live. We pledge to fight for a world in which each worker is treated with dignity and respect. Our collective aspiration is timeless, and will live on in the hearts and minds of the working men and women world wide. Anarchy and anarchism mean "system and management without ruler(s), i.e. co-operation without repression, tyranny and slavery". Anarchy and anarchism are coordination on equal footing, without superiors and subordinates, i.e. horizontal organization and co-operation without coercion. This means practically or ideally, i.e. ordinary vs perfect horizontal organization respectively. Thus, anarchy and anarchism mean real democracy, economical and political/administrative, in private and public sector. The best political road ahead is in general towards real democracy, i.e. anarchy, and more of it. Long live the Anarchist International. See http://www.anarchy.no/ai.html and http://www.anarchy.no/iwwai.html .

Warm greetings on this international workers holiday to our sisters and brothers, compañeras and compañeros around the globe.

The fifth year of the 21st century is filled with heroic fight for more libertarian organization and against authoritarian rule world wide. Salutations to the brave working people on every continent who are fighting to protect their children, their water, food, jobs, pensions, birth control, libertarian human rights and lives from authoritarian rule, overpopulation and misery.

Let us turn today’s strong fight into an advance toward universal human fulfillment, a significant horizontal social organization in each country. A radical, anarchist, international, force of workers, women and oppressed peoples could end the current conflicts and construct a new improved economic system based on libertarian cooperation and meeting social needs. Stand up for your rights, organize in labor unions and cooperatives world wide. Onward to a libertarian socialist, feminist, egalitarian world in our time!

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in most countries. The United States of America and Canada are among the exceptions. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the USA, linked to the battle for the eight-hour day, and the Chicago anarchists, see (click on) http://www.anarchy.no/mayday.html .

Today, May 1st 2004, workers all over the world are celebrating the achievements of trade unions, and expressing their hopes for the future. More than ever before, in this globalised world, the situation of workers in one part of the world is linked to the challenges faced by workers in another. More than ever, an injury to one is an injury to all. Never has the need for effective international solidarity been more pressing.

This is why we are adding our voices to the call for Respect for workers wherever they live, wherever they work.

We want RESPECT for workers' rights. Worldwide, many employers try to gain unfair advantage by undermining workers' rights. Strong and inclusive unions, anarchosyndicalist and others, are the only real way for workers to get respect at work.

We want RESPECT for women workers. Unions need women as much as women need unions. Women workers are especially vulnerable in the globalised, liberalised labor market. Organising and protecting women workers must be a priority for labor federations all over the world.

In this Olympic year, we are making a special demand that the Olympic values of "fair play" be brought not only to the games in Athens, but also to the millions of mostly women workers who produce sportswear under often appalling conditions.

We want RESPECT for those working in poverty. A "race to the bottom" is forcing entire countries and their workforces to compete against each other for trade and investment. Trade union rights are violated and workers are being pushed into poverty wages, not least in the world's export processing zones. And in the informal economy, lacking legal and social protections, it's harder and harder for workers to join and form unions. Let's get some respect for these workers, so that they can work their way out of poverty with the help of strong workers' federations.

On May 1st workers' federations will be calling for prosperity. In this time of continued threats to peace and stability strengthening of the international community, we salute the common front for peace and against terrorism which is supported by labor federations and their members the world over.

The labor movement hereby pledges to expand its struggle for the rights and livelihoods for working women and men, for democracy, human rights, peace and Respect for all.

Long live international labor solidarity! Long live the Anarchist International and the International Workers of the World of AI.

We, labor-activists in the International Workers of the World, feel obligated to stand-up and offer our solidarity to our fellow-workers of Italy in this fight for workers' rights. Berlusconi's attack on labor is an attack upon our families and children, world wide. We must fight against these attacks. Relative slave contracts, Orwellian "1984" newspeak "At-will" employment, etc. are horrible. You must not allow it to become the legal standard in Italy! Please, strike and take to the streets on April 16th! The International Workers of the World support the general strike in Italy the 16th of April. Get on the road to anarchy in Italy!
Press release about the general strike etc at (click on) : http://www.anarchy.no/italy1.html .

THE ICC AND THE NORWEGIAN SECTION
OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD ETC.

The Norwegian section of IWW/AI, Anarkosyndikalistisk Føderasjon i Norge - AFN, is hosting the International Confederal Council of the IWW/AI. The ICC is an autonomous organ of the IWW/AI and works anarchosyndicalistical as a coordinating organ within the general framework of the Anarchist International, similar to the Anarchist International Embassy, and was founded and mandated at the same congress in 1998, see http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html . The Norwegian anarchosyndicalist section of the AI/IFA/IAF has worked with several important struggles of the anarchist and labor movement broadly defined. The support actions for "Solidarity" in Poland together with the Anarchist Black Cross Norwegian Division and the Polish section of AI/IFA in 1982 and later, may be mentioned, see, say, IJ@/folkebladet No 1 - 1982. Today the fight against the blue & brown right populist Carl Ivar Hagen and his so called "Progress Party", i.e. reactionary, say, calling for a broad based front against this fascistoid element in Norwegian politics in a manifesto called "Breifront mot Fremskrittspartiet", published 30.04.2002 may be mentioned. See http://www.anarchy.no/dugnad.html , and search for Hagen and IWW. People that don't understand Norwegian may try the translation tool at http://www.anarchy.no/links.html .

The IWW/AI celebrated the 20 & 130 years anniversary, 1872 - 1982 - 2002, also on Internet May Day 2002. We thank everybody that wrote comments/congratulations for interesting feedback world wide. They will not be forgotten. We however quote only a short one here: "Peace brother" from J.A. to the anarchosyndicalists in AFIS, later reported to ICC- IWW/AI. The answer was "O.K". Also the International Anarchist Tribunal was in action on the day of celebration, see http://www.anarchy.no/apt.html , search for, say, Genoa, organ, WW, and May Day... By the way, the web-counter reached an all time high ca 200% above the usual number of hits on a good day.

For freedom, equality, solidarity and other anarchist principles! May Day is no party day. Anarchosyndicalist greetings from L. Jakobsen S.G. ICC - IWW/AI

07.06.2002: English summary: Journalists' strike ends. Newspapers and their web sites in Norway were cranking back into business on Friday after a nine-day journalists' strike that had shut most of them down. The newspaper owners and the journalists' unions came to terms late Thursday night. The agreement includes an extra week of holiday, meaning that all journalists will now get a fifth week off every year. Additional vacation days will be phased in over the next few years, while journalists with more than 18 years' seniority will get a sixth week of annual holiday. Pay will also rise, by an average NOK 8,000 a year (about USD 900) for all union members. Both sides claimed they were pleased with the new agreement. All newspapers were expected to be back in full production over the weekend. The AIIS-club of the Norwegian section of IWW/AI joined in with a solidarity strike one hour per day as long as the strike in general was going on, although as an autonomous co-operative not being directly a part of the pay and holiday conflict.

THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE INDUSTRIAL
AND THE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

*) As mentioned the Anarchist International Workers of the World, must not be mixed up with the mainly marxian Industrial-WW. "We are Marxian ... in our critique of capitalism", Jim Crutchfield NYC General Membership Branch, Industrial Workers of the World, expresses in a mail to the International Workers of the World sent Wednesday, April 10, 2002. Steve Ongerth, Web Site Administrator of the Industrial Workers of the World partly agrees in a letter sent Tuesday, April 16, 2002 "When Jim Crutchfield says that the IWW's critique of capitalism is "Marxian", he is correct, but so what? ... There's nothing to be ashamed of. Marx was correct about the evils of capitalism." Furthermore Jim Crutcfield in a letter sent April 11, 2002 declares: "You are correct in saying that the Industrial Workers of the World is outside the anarchist quadrant on (the) political map, and that is as it should be." We on the other hand declare that the International Workers of the World is significant within the anarchist quadrant on the Economical Political Map, see http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html.

Thus, these two organizations are quite something different related to the economical political map: 1. The International-WW is anarchist /anarchosyndicalist, and 2. the Industrial-WW is mainly not, and they should never be mixed up by the media or others. Both organizations declare they are against capitalism, but the Industrial-WW has mainly a marxist criticism, the International-WW an anarchist criticism. These are significantly not the same as the anarchist criticism is based on libertarian principles and anarchist political economy broadly defined, while the Marxian is based on historical materialistic dialectics and labor theory of value etc, marxist economics and sociological ideology, i.e. mainly pseudoscience. Furthermore the International-WW has a clear cut anarchist alternative and aim, while the Industrial-WW says they have no clear cut ideology, but indirectly they mainly operate with a) a rather vague marxian communist, socialist and syndicalist mixed partly contradictive type of program, with a dash of libertarian rhetoric, based on "one big industrial union", without b) a clear cut anarchist, consistent, system based on all of the libertarian principles as practical policy and aim. The important question is not what you are against, but what you are for, i.e. the real alternative directly or indirectly indicated by the policy. No union is non-political. If a union have no political actions, they are in reality for status quo. If nothing is clear cut, it is vague fogarchy, i.e. authoritarian. Thus Industrial-WW mainly claiming to be non-ideological and not political, may practically not be so. The policy will be found by investigations based on the general theory of revealed preferences.

In the 1950s, the Industrial-WW earned a place on the list of "subversive" US organizations, because they refused to agree to the provisions of the Taft-Hartley act (which required that Labor Unions renounce "Communism"). The Industrial-WW was then considered a "Communist" organization. It may also be mentioned that the Industrial-WW in the early 1990s overwhelmingly voted against joining the AIT/IWA/IAA, that no doubt convinced some syndicalists that the IWW was marxist and not anarcho-syndicalist. Neither are they members of the Anarchist International. What we have seen from so called libertarians, i.e really ochlarchs, in the Industrial-WW, such as Jamal Hannah & Co, have nothing to do with anarchist, anarchy or anarchism. The typical marxian bully ochlarchy of the Industrial-WW of today is also documented from somebody that have been mobbed just for speaking out and using his right to free speech. IIFOR has the documentation. If this goes on the International-WW will take actions against this marxian ochlarchy of the Industrial-WW. Conflicts must be solved in other ways than with ochlarchy against fellow workers. Consent if possible should not be manufactured by persecution and ochlarchy, but achieved freely in a libertarian way based on dialog and free, matter of fact, criticism. This does not mean that all members of the Industrial-WW are of this ochlarchical type. The dialog between the International Workers of the World and the so called Industrial continues so far.

But the International Workers of the World's point of view is that seen all in all the Industrial-WW is not significantly anarchist, but mainly some kind of marxian type organization on the economical-political map, mainly with some socialist, communist and syndicalist mixed tendencies and sometimes a bit vague libertarian rhetoric, sometimes a bit semilibertarian leftist, sometimes a bit more autoritarian and militant similar to "non-dogmatic" IS-trotskyites, some members this - and some members that, with no clear consistent policy, an thus also a bit chaotic authoritarian. The IIFOR also has documentation stating several "former" trotskyists and trotskyite friends were involved in the reorganization of the Industrial-WW after a long time where the union was practically finished after medio 1900s. Thus, the organization has developed into a typical "student commie type" joke of an authoritarian union, from a more or less libertarian or semilibertarian past in the beginning of the 20th century, - although not so many students perhaps. The boycott of the American Industrial-WW will continue as long as a faction of the Industrial-WW is spreading smearstories and making intrigues against the Anarchist International, and as long as they are posing and (wrongly) labeled as an anarchosyndicalist and libertarian syndicalist union, i.e. what they mainly not are. The Industrial-WW in America and other places is mainly marxian syndicalist - not anarchosyndicalist and anarchistic.

Welcome to THE INTERNATIONAL Workers of the World The anarchosyndicalist trade union, workers' confederation and section of the Anarchist International