Workers' Control - Instead of Commercial Secrets!

The second working meeting on working out of Uniform requirements of labour collectives during strikes and mass actions took place in Moscow at Institute of Problems of Globalization. This time fifteen people gathered for the meeting including members of the forbidden party and the Russian party of Common Sense, trade-union active workers and left participatin in the meeting via Skype spoke up much more actively and argued among themselves. M.Delyagin, A.Baranov, A.Vorobjev, A.Prigarin, I.Ferberov, A.Nikolaev, P.Basanets, A.Lyapin, L.Razvoszhaev, V.Akimov, A.Sahnin, D.Cherny, D.Gilyazov, professor Klotsvog took part in meeting.

After opening words of director of Institute Doctor of Science Michael Delyagin and editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk Anatoly Baranova where they stated that for the period which passed after the first meeting there were a lot of changes in sphere of state "care" of large enterprises (report of Krichevsky and Inozemtsev "Russia after Pikalevo" is a good illustration: how to make nationalization without nationalization), the member of Moscow Council of the Left Front Leonid Razvoszhaev made public speech.

He noticed that not only proletariat but also small businessmen today show the will to self-organizing in struggle against officials and large business: everywhere in Russia, not only in Moscow where they are going to build trading complexes occupying place of markets - and really there's such tendency, there are protest actions and businessmen unite demanding more and more rights in those territories where they sell the goods produced by them and their small working collectives. Actually here a kind of analogue of the working control appears - only in trading territories where criminals and officials get every possible taxes in no way lawfully appointed - all is covered under the name "rent". Experience of struggle of workers of Cherkizovsky market showed that protest actions in this sphere of small business can gather from one and a half to three thousand participants - when the situation for them becomes stalemate. Protest movement of self-organizing small business makes only first but confident steps on the background of crisis moods all over the country.

Here Anatoly Baranov at once asked a question: "To what extend small businessmen are ready to share in legal relations means of production with the subordinates, that is with those who work for them, whether they are ready to carry out workers' control "at home"?" Leonid didn't stated full confidence in relation to all businessmen as working relations in different spheres of small business are quite different but he noticed good will and beyond legislative interaction with subordinates among businessmen known to him - help in getting of credits for apartments and so forth. Here, in small labour collectives class contradictions are rare.

The member of Executive committee of the Left Front Alexey Sahnin noticed that in the leading article of the newspaper "Ultimatum" expressing position of the Left Front already in July he expressed an opinion similar with today's nationalization position: at bourgeois state it's no more than fiction and a way to "let off steam" of protesting. In their turn, those who will carry out such pseudo-nationalization - will appear no other than favourites of the ruling grouping, new oligarchs, only under state "front", consisting of the same oligarchs.

Anatoly Baranov continued in this connection a thought figured out already in the opening words:

- If the state was seriously going to carry out nationalization, it had to become willy-nilly socialist. Gosplan should become the first establishment if true nationalization takes place - however we don't see any Gosplan. For example, during industrialization in 1920s branch banks were created - whether they are being created today? No, banks as they were remain independent financial subjects - at that some of them have huge preferences thanks to a personal contact of bankers with statesmen. Conversations about nationalization which we hear both from Luzhkov and from the Kremlin and "laboratories" of near-to-Kremlin economists remain just conversations, it is a drain of public moods following favourable to privatizers of the Soviet industry channel. Privatization, as a matter of fact, proceeds - as everything started by Putin already in struggle against Khodorkovsky is in the pink all over the country. In their turn working collectives have not learnt to demand what the state could give them - it's not impossible nationalization for but workers' control at the enterprises and then individual share in management, funding and so on. To demand impossible in this connection - is silly. But it's what happened on AvtoVaz when workers on meeting which they had been preparing for whole two years demanded nationalization of already state enterprise.

Participants of Internet conference again, as well as at the first meeting, stood for the workers of AvtoVaz via Skype: for example, Andrey Lyapin representing Inter-branch trade union of workers of car industry noted only asking for impossible the workers managed to attract attention and to achieve the start of conveyors - both in Pikalevo and on AvtoVaz. The fact that it's necessary to participated in protest actions constantly - workers understood only after real gains, nevertheless keeping position "standard of living already reached is better, than political requirements".

Anatoly Baranov asked comrade Lyapin:

- May be it's easier to ask for possible things? Whether there were no real levers on AvtoVaz, which workers would like to use? Or it's better to use every time such extravagant  and distressing method (after all there's no strike fund in the country, I should remind) to complain to "barin" in Moscow so that he would teach local bourgeois?

Andrey Lyapin stood fast: rigid and unattainable requirements led to the effect and workers of AvtoVaz were satisfied. However they wish to keep today the salary ten thousand at least and workplaces, rather than to encroach on commercial secrets and management of factory.

Pavel Basanets added remark from China:

- Dear comrades, how do you think if management would offer all the workers a daily ration in the form of a piece of linked sausages, loaf of bread and a bottle of vodka - many would agree on such life?

Both participants of the discussion in IPG and those who listened meeting via Skype were compelled to agree: a level of consciousness of the working class has been degrading all twenty years of privatization. Thereupon Pavel Basanets noticed that the working class is heterogeneous today and not consolidated, it needs organizers similar to the participants of this working meeting, forming requirements of workers to owners in advance.

The member of Organizing Committee of the Russian Party of Common Sense Vladimir Akimov here again as at the first meeting informed that many trade unions and strike committees on places don't have any idea about those legal levers of influence on proprietors which exist in legislation. In remote places ways of struggle for the working rights boil down to protest actions which by means of TV inform Moscow "barin": put things in order! At the same time they at a factory can have no idea that in the near city there is an Office of Public Prosecutor and persons0 obliged to solve similar labour disputes.

Participants of the meeting reacted to the remark expressing opinions that to achieve a sentence in favour of the protesting collectives - is almost impossible. Moscow representative of RKWP-RPK Ilya Ferberov and his party member Alexander Nikolaev turned attention of the participants to those positions in trade-union struggle that were stated at last Congress of workers in Moscow - it was stated there that only in class trade unions working class would get stronger. Only thus is possible to gain strength which bourgeois is afraid of. Only where trade union does not unite the exploiter with those who are exploited - precise requirements to management appear. Class trade unions - the best means of implementation of clear and supported here Uniform Requirements of Labour Collectives during strikes and mass actions. Notorious commercial secret will retreat here - the requirement of its cancellation is vital on all large enterprises where management "blindly" makes frauds with actives.

Here Michael Delyagin also noticed that transparency of monetary movement in the enterprise - is very important and simple requirement which workers could further use to establish own control. Simple answer of management "we have not money" - can mean that there are no money only for workers, that they were used for bonuses to management, that really there are no money and equipment have been sold long time ago...

Not all from the present at the meeting expressed themselves. Thus, Damir Gilyazov and his young companion only listened but they will obviously state in the future their "forbidden-party" positions about Uniform Requirements of Labour Collectives - which, by their recognition, they are not authorized to express meanwhile.

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