A week ago, the World Federation of Trade Unions held in Brussels, inside the European Parliament, an important International Trade Union Conference about the consequences on the workers and trade union movement of the policies of embargoes,blockades and discrimination imposed by the EU, the NATO, the USA and their allies.
The participants of the Conference proved with evidence that these policies of the imperialists against peoples and countries have always the workers, the youth, the women and the pensioners as their final victims, depriving from millions of workers the hope that they can build their future with dignified work.
It was also proved that the embargoes, blockades and discrimination have nothing to do with democracy and freedom. These words are used as an excuse. They use them hypocritically. In reality, we are talking about competition withing the capitalist system, for rivalries and contradiction within the imperialist system, which happen for the control of the markets, the definition of new borders between countries, for new energy pipelines, for the profits of transnational corporations and of the monopolies.
- So, as a result of the imperialist interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria, thousands of women and children die in the Mediterranean Sea. For all those people, dignified work remains a mere declaration.
- As a result of the ongoing and long lasting blockade against Cuba, the peoples of the whole world are deprived of the great achievements of the Cuban Revolution in Medicine.
- As a result of the blockades and the policy of Israel against the Palestinians, the Palestinians still don’t have their own homeland, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
- As a result of the sanctions against Russia, poor farmers from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and elsewhere cannot sell their products, while Russian workers are losing their jobs.
- As a result of the discrimination against Iran, Venezuela, the peoples in other countries are deprived of cheap oil.
Another thing that proves the hypocrisy of the imperialists is that from the ILO list of countries whose governments are accused, Colombia, Israel and the USA are missing. In these countries, governments violate basic human rights, since trade unionists are assassinated, there is discrimination even concerning who will enter a public transport bus, policemen who kill African Americans, firing without any reason, are acquitted.
The World Federation of Trade Unions, that celebrates this year its 70th anniversary, will steadily continue in all international forums intervening based on its principles, its internationalism, the values of international solidarity. It will continue standing by the side of the People of Venezuela and the efforts of the government of President Nicolas Maduro Moros until the final defeat of the imperialist efforts.
It will support the right of the Syrian people to decide democratically for themselves on their present and future, without external intervention of thousands of foreign mercenaries from the five continents.
We will continue to demand the punishment of those responsible for the death of 48 innocent people in Odessa, Ukraine, when neofascists set the building of the Trade Unions on fire.
We will continue to express our solidarity in practice with the imprisoned trade unionists in the prisons of Asuncion in Paraguay. We demand the immediate release of Colombian trade union leader Huber Ballesteros, who is still imprisoned in the Colombian prisons.
We are ready to cooperate, coordinate and support Peoples and unions who are victims of blockades. We must fight together to stop the blockades, embargoes that aim to plunder the natural and economic resources.
We must uncover the geostrategic games that generate unjust wars and millions of refugees.
We must steadily promote the position of the class oriented trade union movement that the natural resources must belong to the peoples, be social property and function for the improvement of the live of the simple peoples.
Only through the struggles of all of us, we will be able to build a future with dignified work for all.
The WFTU stays loyal to these principles for 70 years now, and based on those principles that today have a more timely and rich content, we call upon all militant trade unions to fight together.
