Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

RUSSIA INFO-LIST from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR@aol.com Chernigovets mine

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Jon Corlett

unread,

Dec 25, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/25/99

RUSSIA INFO-LIST
from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - IS...@aol.com
***********************************************************
ISWoR web-site - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html
***********************************************************

MINERS' LEADER ARRESTED HOURS AFTER INTERVIEW WITH ISWoR

Workers fear Death at Hands of Armed Police

Act Now ... Protest!

by Lisa Taylor

Only hours after giving a telephone interview to International
Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR), Vladimir Belin, vice-chairman of
the union committee at the Chernigovets mine, (Kusbass region), has been
arrested.

Belin was not in the mine Administration building where 500 workers are
currently under siege by 200 armed police. These have been sent in to
forcibly seize the mine, even though as majority shareholders the workers
are
the legal owners. For the full story, see :

http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/news/kusbassdec.html

Further information and analysis also in article by ISWoR supporter
Stephen Kerr, who interviewed one of the miners' leaders -see :

http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/isworarts/kerrKusbassDec.html

It is essential that we do not allow the Russian State to muzzle
workers' representatives and halt the flow of communication between workers
and their brothers and sisters in the labor movement outside Russia. Protest
now! Contact all progressive journalists, TV, radio stations and newspapers
in your country now. Ask them to contact the Governor's office immediately
and demand to know why Belin has been arrested. Send your own protest
letters, demanding his release and the immediate lifting of the armed siege
of the mine. The Governor, Aman Tuleyev (a member of the Communist Party of
the Russian Federation) is working hand in glove with heartless tycoon
Berezovsky to seize, bankrupt and asset-strip this mine, leaving the workers
to starve. Meanwhile the miners, trapped in their building, are expecting
that, as in Vyborg, the riot police will charge and over the course of the
next few hours some of them may be shot.

Governor Tuleyev's Offices:
+ (7 - 3842) 36 46 33 tel. Tuleyev's secretary
+ (7 - 3842) 23 30 49 fax Tuleyev's 'press-centre'

***********************************************************
The RUSSIA INFO-LIST
We are a broad united front of individuals and organisations internationally
who support Russian workers struggles, who oppose the IMF-Yeltsinite
privatisation project, who oppose racism and fascism, and who want to
build international solidarity between workers of all cultures and lands.

If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or
want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: >IS...@aol.com<
Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England
***********************************************************
ISWoR web-site - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html

------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: "Babitsch Oleg" <smmo...@mtu-net.ru>
To: <komi...@Lists.EUnet.fi>
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 1999 11:02 PM
Subject: urgent!!! Vyborg #2

We have just recieved a phone call from Chernigovets. I wrote before about
this open pit mine in Kuzbass region now run by the workers. The region
governor CPRF member Aman Tuleyev acting in the interests of a well know
russian billioneer Boris Berezovsky have been pretending to take the control
over the enterprise. He failed to it. Tonight he wants to take a revange.
Hundreds of armed riot policemen brought from Kemerovo tonight have
surrounded the administration building and are preparing a night assault
just now. The local time is 4 a.m. !!! Members of the union and workers'
committees are now locked by police in their rooms. They are not let out.
the night shift refuses to start the work. The miners are ready to go on
strike at any moment if they start the assault.

Urgent action is needed right now!!!! Phone calls, telegramms, faxes of
protest. Articles in newspapers. If any progressive journalist could call
and say he will write an article it would be great, Tuleyev is very much
afraid of mass media those not controlled by him. He says a lot of lies
about workers of Chernigovets, but it's better to speak directly with the
workers' committee members.

Here are some phone numbers where you can find just right now union
committee members and some journalists working there. Please call them right
now. Hands off the wokers of Chernigovets!!!

(7 - 38445) 96 530 or
(7 - 38445) 96 487 or
(7 - 38445) 96 354

-------------------

Roger ROMAIN
a/conseiller communal
B6180 COURCELLES

sites web : http://www1.brutele.be/users/r.romain
http://www1.brutele.be/users/r.romain/enbref.html

e-mail: nouvelle adresse-new address: r.ro...@brutele.be

LU dans "SOLIDAIRE" du 22/12/1999:

Les Papeteries de Vyborg (Russie)

Occuper ou crever de faim
Depuis près de deux ans, les 2.200 ouvriers des Papeteries de Vyborg
occupent et font tourner eux-mêmes l’usine privatisée et mise en faillite.
Le dirigeant ouvrier Aleksander Nikolaïev était à Nivelles le 25 novembre
dernier, lors de la concentration pour l’arrêt du procès Clabecq.

Alexander Nicolaïev

'Nous nous battons pour notre droit à la survie, pour notre emploi, pour l’
éducation de nos enfants. Notre usine a été construite en 1989 et est dotée
d’une technologie ultramoderne. Nous en sommes fiers. L’Etat en était le
propriétaire. Nous fabriquons du papier à écrire, du papier d’emballage et
du papier peint.
Nos problèmes ont commencé avec la campagne de privatisation. En 1995, un
petit clan de la direction a vendu notre usine au capital privé, à la firme
américaine Alliance Cellulose Ltd. Celle-ci s’est empressée de vendre toutes
les matières premières. Ils n’ont payé aucun salaire, aucune dette, ils ont
laissé l’usine sombrer dans la faillite avant de la revendre à la firme
Nimonor. Celle-ci, fondée à Chypre quelques jours à peine avant la vente
publique, n’a payé que 187 millions de roubles, alors que l’usine valait 700
millions de $, soit cent fois plus.
Ils ont placé un drôle de type comme directeur, Bouzouleïev, qui avait joué
un sale rôle lors de la vente. En janvier 1998, il s’est amené à une
assemblée générale des travailleurs pour nous dire que nous ne produirions
plus de papier et qu’il y aurait des licenciements. Il ne garantissait rien
au collectif des travailleurs. Le syndicat n’y pourrait rien changer.
Les gens étaient désespérés. Depuis des années, ils n’avaient plus reçu le
moindre salaire1. A la maison, il n’y avait plus de thé, plus de pain, ni de
sucre. Les enfants tombaient d’inanition sur les bancs d’école. Plus d’
avenir en perspective. Les gens se sont révoltés. Au cours d’une conférence
syndicale, les ouvriers des ateliers ont fondé un comité de grève. Leurs
exigences: les arriérés de salaire, la sauvegarde de l’emploi et de la
production. Nous avons également constitué un groupe de défense des
travailleurs chargé de veiller sur les installations. Au tribunal, nous
avons contesté la procédure de privatisation, l’escroquerie des gros
emprunts et nous avons réclamé la propriété de l’usine. L’affaire est
toujours en cours. L’assemblée générale des travailleurs a élu Aleksander
Vantorin comme nouveau directeur. Malgré toutes les difficultés, nous avons
lancé une ligne de production, nous avons payé les premiers salaires.
C’est alors que nous aons eu des ennuis avec l’inspection des impôts. Notre
entreprise n’avait pas été enregistrée légalement. Nous avons cerné le
bâtiment du fisc. Il y avait surtout des femmes, avec des banderoles: 'Nous
voulons travailler et payer des impôts.' La population de notre petite ville
a décidé de remettre ça le lendemain, mais la police spéciale, l’Omon, a
bloqué les voies d’accès. Alors, nous avons eu l’idée de bloquer l’autoroute
Moscou-Helsinki et de le faire savoir au gouvernement régional. Nous n’
étions pas sur l’autoroute depuis cinq minutes que notre objectif était
atteint: l’entreprise était légalement enregistrée! Le comité de grève s’est
tout de suite mué en comité syndical pour organiser la première assemblée
des travailleurs.
Début 1999, toutes les lignes de production tournaient déjà. C’est alors que
nous avons lu dans la presse que la firme Nimonor avait vendu ses droits à
la firme britannique Alcem et que celle-ci exigeait la restitution de l’
usine. Nos gardiens d’usine veillaient 24 heures sur 24. Le 9 juillet, la
milice spéciale Typhon a envahit le site, occupé les bureaux de la direction
et enfermé le directeur. Les travailleurs se sont précipités en masse et ont
expulsé la milice. Il y a eu douze blessés, parmi lesquels plusieurs femmes,
mais l’entreprise était libérée.
Le 14 octobre, ils se sont à nouveau introduits dans l’usine, et cette fois,
ils ont été beaucoup plus violents. La justice et les 60 hommes du Typhon
ont jeté nos gardes au sol et ont occupé une fois de plus les locaux de la
direction. Au signal convenu, nos gars se sont amenés. Au bout de 20
minutes, ça faisait un sacré monde.
Les assaillants se sont repliés dans la cantine, prenant sept otages. Ils en
ont blessé deux par balles. L’un avait une balle dans l’épaule et est resté
sans soins pendant des heures. Les autres, ils les ont tabassés, aspergés d’
eau et enfermés dans les chambres froides. Après douze heures de
négociations, ils ont dû libérer les otages. Ils avaient saccagé les
meubles, criblé les murs de balles. Mais une fois de plus, nous avions
gagné.
Aujourd’hui, on tente de nous asphyxier économiquement. Notre but final, c’
est que l’usine redevienne propriété de l’Etat, avec une partie des actions
aux mains de l’assemblée générale des travailleurs. Ce n’est que si nous
adhérons au large mouvement ouvrier que nous serons forts et craints de nos
ennemis.'
Aleksander Nikolaïev
Président de l’Assemblée Générale des Travailleurs du Combinat Cellulose et
Papier de Vyborg.

1 De nombreuses familles ne vivent que sur un seul salaire et sur ce que
rapporte le potager, ou effectuent de petits boulots. Mais il n’est pas rare
de voir des gens mourir de leurs privations.

-----------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elimination of the exploitation of man by man!
Yours in solidarity
Per Rasmussen
Denmark

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: SM...@aol.com [mailto:SM...@aol.com]
Sendt: 22. december 1999 03:17
Til: SM...@aol.com
Emne: Fwd: Russia: Armed Siege Against Kusbass Mineworkers

Dear Comrades,
Now the Russian ruling class has manufactured a Chechen war to raise a
temporary chauvinist tidal-wave - ensuring the Kremlin's favourite
oligarch's
future - class struggle returns with a vengeance!
In solidarity - Steve Myers.

ARMED SIEGE AGAINST WORKERS ORGANISED BY "COMMUNIST" GOVERNOR AND TYCOON
BEREZOVSKY

22 Dec. 1999

At 4am Kusbass time, we received news of a siege by armed riot police now
taking place at the large open-pit Chernigovets mine, in the town of
Berezovsky, in the Kusbass region. This is the same pit from which we
brought
you an appeal in the autumn (see ISWoR website). They have been sent in by
the regional Governor, Aman Tuleyev. He is known to be in league with
infamous Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who is determined to wrest control
of the pit from the miners, the actual majority share-holders of the plant.
The mineworkers' representatives are right now being held prisoner inside
the
administration building. Tuleyev is a member of the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation.

Several weeks ago we informed you about a similar situation which occurred
at
the Vyborg Paper and Pulp Mill, near the Finnish border. Armed police units
acting on behalf of a shadowy firm Alcem UK attempted to break up a workers'
occupation by force. Though they were unsuccessful , they shot two workers
in
the course of the attack.

Comrades from the UM in Moscow inform:

"Hundreds of armed riot policemen brought from Kemerovo tonight have
surrounded the administration building and are preparing a night assault
just now. The local time is 4 a.m. !!! Members of the union and workers'
committees are now locked by police in their rooms. They are not let out.
the night shift refuses to start the work. The miners are ready to go on
strike at any moment if they start the assault...."

At 05:30 Kusbass time ISWoR spoke directly to the local union chairman
Vladimir Belin who confirmed that the workers were still being held in the
office and were not even being allowed out to the toilet. Further, if there
is a strike, the authorities ensure there will be no heating (in the middle
of winter) to the whole town of Berezovsky, where nearly all of the miners
and their families live.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The privatisation process in Russia has seen the concentration of enormous
wealth in the hands of a few big businessmen, while the majority of the
population now lives in deep poverty. It is commonplace for workers to have
received no wages for over a year. In a world where the market for many
manufactured goods is saturated and the west has long ago monopolised
existing demand, Russian owners of newly-privatised industrial enterprises
have found it more profitable to deliberately bankrupt their own plants,
shrugging off wage arrears and sacking thousands of workers, then buying up
any valuable machinery at rock-bottom prices at the auctions arranged by
their friends in local government. This has created a domino effect inside
the country, where the closure en masse of thousands of plants has
contracted
domestic demand even further, leading to more asset-stripping and deliberate
bankruptcies. Russia, once an industrial giant, has seen its manufacturing
output decline by more than 40% since 1992.

The Chernigovets miners are aware that Berezovsky's firm intends to bankrupt
and then asset-strip the mine. Already the corrupt local government has
colluded in this process by stopping the accounts of the mine several times
and by freezing the assets of the worker-shareholders. On 31 August Tuleyev
sent in the police in an unsuccessful attempt to seize control. The miners
are determined to resist, knowing that if they surrender they will be left
without any livelihood at all.

ACTION! Our Russian comrades write further:

"Urgent action is needed right now!!!! Phone calls, telegramms, faxes of
protest. Articles in newspapers. If any progressive journalist could call
and say he will write an article it would be great, Tuleyev is very much
afraid of mass media those not controlled by him. He says a lot of lies
about workers of Chernigovets, but it's better to speak directly with the
workers' committee members.

Here are some phone numbers where you can find just right now union
committee members and some journalists working there. Please call them right
now. Hands off the workers of Chernigovets!!!

(7 - 38445) 96 530 or
(7 - 38445) 96 487 or
(7 - 38445) 96 354....

You may also send your protests to Governor Aman Tuleyev's office:
(7 - 3842) 36 46 33 tel. Tuleyev's secretary
(7 - 3842) 23 30 49 fax Tuleyevs 'press-centre"

NEW INFORMATION from Steve Kerr (ISWoR Canada)
Just now at 7:20 Kusbass time (01:20 GMT), I spoke with a coal miner in
Cherni
govets, a man by the
name of Igor Usterzhanin. Igor is one of the leaders of the worker's council
governing the open pit coal mine which is currently under siege by the
forces described in the email below. He described a horrific situation under
way in his mine. Over 200 special forces troops are surrounding the mine as
I write these words. The workers are hold up in the office of the director
in a building surrounded by troops. Mr Usterzhanin told me that the workers
intend not to give up ever and pleaded with me to tell the world about the
horrible crime that is about to happen. The special forces troops are about
to launch an attack at any moment against the workers, and if this happens
people, perhaps Igor Usterzhanin will die.

It seems that after these disgusting stolen elections, bought with IMF cash,
the Kremlin feels confident to move in and crush the workers movement in
Russia. Chernigovets is the beating heart of that movement right now.

Please forward this email out to every press contact that you have, in
whichever city you live in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knowledge is Power!
Elimination of the exploitation of man by man
http://www.egroups.com/group/pttp/
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU!
Gator fills in forms and remembers passwords with NO TYPING at over
100,000 web sites! Get $100 in coupons for trying Gator!
http://click.egroups.com/1/340/1/_/22961/_/945844565

-- Talk to your group with your own voice!
-- http://www.egroups.com/VoiceChatPage?listName=pttp&m=1

----------

_______________________________________________________________________

REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! !

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/

LENIN & RUSSIAN REVOLUTION PAGES: http://members.xoom.com/joncorlett/

RCP SITE: http://corlett.j.tripod.com

CHINA COMREV SITE: http://joncorlett.tripod.com

E Mail: jcor...@home.com

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe; Click Reply in E Mail Program,

enter 'Subscribe' or 'Unsubscribe' on Subject line and Send to:

jcor...@home.com

If wish to receive only certain types of Revolutionary Communist Information
Please Specify.

_______________________________________________________________________

0 new messages