UNT leader Marcela Maspero speaks to Canadian labour congress
- 30 November 2004
My organization, the National Union of Workers of Venezuela is very pleased with the honour of being able to share with you about our struggle in Venezuela to create a more democratic society with social justice during these outstanding moments in which our country and the workd in living.
For forty years, our country was marked by neo-liberal policies - a recipe imposed by the International Monetray Fund which for years created more poverty and exclusion, increased unemployment, decreased national productivity, increased the export market, privatization of state enterprises like the national airline, telecommunications and energy. This plan benefited the few who became richer while the majority became poorer.
During this time our governments and politicalparties were manipulated like marionettes by the IMF and capitalists who were making huge profits as a result of the privileges gratend them by the governments. The labour movement of which the CTV was the most representative body was complicit with the governments and the political parties had imposed leadership and received huge benefits from the state companies and financial institutions. These benenfits which were gained on the backs of the workers were given only to the leadership of the unions.
In 1995, the CTV agreed to democratize their electoral process but once again ignored this decision and made pacts to re-elect their own leadership. We are talking hre of a labour movement without any credibility amongst its members, suspected of enormous actso f corruption and implicated in the privatization of state companies - a labour movement who's legitimacy was in question.
In this Venezuela, the end result of failed democracy, and with institutions questions because of their involvement in the neo-liberal policies and with people desiring profound changes, and struggling against the corruption and the exclusionary model of governing, into all of this Hugo Chavez Frias assumed the presidency with the majority vote of the people including the Venezuelan workers.
The first reforms made were political, the most of these was the National Constituent Assembly which developed a plan of constitutional reform with the broad participation of all the sectors of society. The constitutional reform proposal was approved by a majority of the people in a national referendum. The constitution included a change in the model of representative democracy to a model of participatory and active democracy. It greatly improved the social and labour rights, prohibited the privatzations of state companies and promted social control over public spending.
IN 2000 union elections were called by the workers. Major changes to the way the elections would be held were developed with the participation of the leadership of the CTV, workers and the electaol commission. Nevertheless after elections at the base and federation level, 48% of the results were lost and never recognized by the leadership of the CTV. The new ledership of the CTV was formed from the very same political parties as always.
The reform of the state advances and in November of 2001 49 laws to regulate the base of the ecomony were brought forward, including the fisheries law which regulated commercial fishing and protected small fishers. And the land reform bill which promted land distribution to campesino and cooperatives designed to promote agricultural development. The new banking bill made financial institutes microcredit and created public lending institutes, a women's bank and a fund for small businesses. These changes affected the privileges of the business elite, FEDECAMARAS who with the CTV organized a work stoppage on December 9. the only time in the world that private sector workers with their salary.
Political actions against the reforms continued with FEDECAMARAS and the CTV at its head. On April 9, 2002 they convoked a total work stoppage which led to the coup d'etat on the 11 of April where they imposed a provisional president, the president of FEDECAMARAS and various ministers who were from the leadership of the CTV. Within hours the new government had revoked the new constitution, the National Assembly.
The Venezuelan people took to the streets and took over military bases and the principal highways and roads to demand a return of their democratically elected president. ON April 13 Chavez returned to the country and convoked a national dialogue with representatives of al sectors, including trade unions and three members of the CTV.
I had the honour of being part of the commission which allowed for important dialogue with the government, business leaders and workers from the base. It resulted in important agreements to reactivate the economy in sectors such as automobile manufacturing, textile production, transport and pharmaceuticals. The presence of President Chavez throughout this dialogue was key to its success.
The different poitical currents which supported changes in our country among them the Colivarian Workers Force, in which I am a member, discussed the necessity of creating a new union central in the face of traitorous acts by the CTV. Our ideas was the country needed workers to participate in its development. On September 6 2002 we organised a national meeting. We were not successful in reaching an agreement to form a new central because there still existed a desire for some to maintain untiy within the trade union movement. We developed a final statement which was presented to President Chavez at the end of the conference. As a result, the counter-revolution called for another work stoppage for December 9 of 2002. this led to complete economic sabotage - 20 billion dollars were lost thanks to the involvement of the management of the oil companies. This cause great difficulties for people as there were shortages of gas and cooking gas. People ined up for more than 24 hours to get gas and tyr to continue working. It is important to underline the people strong commitment although they were suffering, they stayed strong and kept fighting for the Bolivarian process and to prevent their President from being overthrown
During the sabotage the working class acted as a class, and our position was key in order to recover production. The oil workers replaced the managers and re-started production, at first manually and then at full production. Thousands of workers from the private sector gathered outside the gates of the factories and demanded that the bosses opened them.
The Presidents of the CTV and FEDECAMARAS transmitted through private television stations inciting the people to rebel against the president and to contiune with the work stoppage.
After this latest act of treason on the part of the CTV, various progressive political currents within the labour movement met and spurred on by the absolute rejection of working class ideals demonstrated by the CTV decided to call for antoher national assembly. On April 5, 2003 we founded the UNT with a horizontal leadership structure of 21 members respresenting all the fundamental sectors and regions. We developed a constitution and statutes. With the mandate of the unions, we developed proposals for regional and national structures. On August 1 and 2, 2003, we held the First Congress of the UNT and approved a Declaration of Principles, a Code of Labour Ethics, a Platform for Struggle and a shared analysis of the coutnry's context. As part of the discussion of the reform of the statues we decided to hold broader discussions on these reforms with the base of our unions.
The Regional sections of the UNT were formed all over the country as were national federations to discuss collective agreements. Our May Day march this year had as its theme No to Imperialist Interference in Venezuela. Our march had greater participation than the CTV march!
The UNT has maintained a clear position against the constant attacks by the US Department of State and other actors who want to continue generating a crisis in our country.
When the Presidnetial referendum was called for August 15, the UNT called its members to -vote no to neo-liberalism, no to the flexibilizacion of labour, no to union bureaucracy, no to social injustice, and to demonstrate their affirmation of our president Chavez.
We have attended conferences of the ILO to defend Venezuela against the charges of violations of trade union freedom brought by the CTV and FEDECAMARAS. Who is violating who's rights?
We are an union independent of international affiliation, we call ourselves autonomous, internationalists, democratic, accepting a plurality of views and commited to social justice.
We are preparing a new Congress in February 2005, to which many trade union organisations from all countries have asked us to be invited, amongst them the Canadian Labor Congress. This congress will ratify the reform of the statutes and the electoral rules and call a democratic and clear election, which will elect a new UNT election.
Venezuela lives a new process, outside of all established schemes, as an expression of real class struggle. We are building a new path, a path towards equality, social justice, a change of the model, against neoliberalism, against adjustment programmes, towards a sovereign nation, integrated with the other peoples of Latin America, as our Liberator Simon Bolivar dreamt.
Our autonomy and our class commitment leads us to take a position and to support this process because:
- it has lifted 80% of illiterate people out of illiteracy
- gives the opportunity to all to finish their primary and secondary education
- has extended basic primary health care to 60% of the population, so far, through health care centres in the poor neighbourhoods.
- offers basic foodstuffs at reduced prices to the poorest sections of the population
- has created the Bolivarian University, which aims to give all equal opportunity to access to higher education
- strengthens the education and professional training of workers, creating endogenous development nucleus which can generate high quality jobs
- the minimum waged is revised according to inflation on a yearly basis
- bosses are legally prevented from conducting mass lay offs
- collective bargaining agreements are being discussed in all sectors.
- pensions are raised to the level of the minimum wage.
- promotes the participation of workers in the management of the state.
- we are living through the best ever period of trade union freedom.
Canadian brothers! the enemy of the working class is one, is homogeneous, and all our strength is concentrated in deepening the peaceful and democratic bolivarian revolution. This invitation by the British Columbia Workers Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress is a gesture of solidarity. Thank you for listening to our thruth, thank you for spreading it and giving us support.
However, the shwadow of our common enemy still haunts us, we need to your help to prevent in Venezuela what hapenned in Chile. We need you to be vigilant of the movements of the US empire, so that it does not trample on us.
The world trade union movement has a fundamental challenge thrown by a process which goes beyond the borders of Venezuela, of America, and that might become a key pillar in the building of a world with more humanity, more social justice and more democracy.
The working class united will never be defeated!"
"I bring greetings of solidarity to all the delegates here at the BC Federation of Labour Convention in the name of our sisters and brothers of the Venezuelan working class.
My organization, the National Union of Workers of Venezuela is very pleased with the honour of being able to share with you about our struggle in Venezuela to create a more democratic society with social justice during these outstanding moments in which our country and the workd in living.
For forty years, our country was marked by neo-liberal policies - a recipe imposed by the International Monetray Fund which for years created more poverty and exclusion, increased unemployment, decreased national productivity, increased the export market, privatization of state enterprises like the national airline, telecommunications and energy. This plan benefited the few who became richer while the majority became poorer.
During this time our governments and politicalparties were manipulated like marionettes by the IMF and capitalists who were making huge profits as a result of the privileges gratend them by the governments. The labour movement of which the CTV was the most representative body was complicit with the governments and the political parties had imposed leadership and received huge benefits from the state companies and financial institutions. These benenfits which were gained on the backs of the workers were given only to the leadership of the unions.
In 1995, the CTV agreed to democratize their electoral process but once again ignored this decision and made pacts to re-elect their own leadership. We are talking hre of a labour movement without any credibility amongst its members, suspected of enormous actso f corruption and implicated in the privatization of state companies - a labour movement who's legitimacy was in question.
In this Venezuela, the end result of failed democracy, and with institutions questions because of their involvement in the neo-liberal policies and with people desiring profound changes, and struggling against the corruption and the exclusionary model of governing, into all of this Hugo Chavez Frias assumed the presidency with the majority vote of the people including the Venezuelan workers.
The first reforms made were political, the most of these was the National Constituent Assembly which developed a plan of constitutional reform with the broad participation of all the sectors of society. The constitutional reform proposal was approved by a majority of the people in a national referendum. The constitution included a change in the model of representative democracy to a model of participatory and active democracy. It greatly improved the social and labour rights, prohibited the privatzations of state companies and promted social control over public spending.
IN 2000 union elections were called by the workers. Major changes to the way the elections would be held were developed with the participation of the leadership of the CTV, workers and the electaol commission. Nevertheless after elections at the base and federation level, 48% of the results were lost and never recognized by the leadership of the CTV. The new ledership of the CTV was formed from the very same political parties as always.
The reform of the state advances and in November of 2001 49 laws to regulate the base of the ecomony were brought forward, including the fisheries law which regulated commercial fishing and protected small fishers. And the land reform bill which promted land distribution to campesino and cooperatives designed to promote agricultural development. The new banking bill made financial institutes microcredit and created public lending institutes, a women's bank and a fund for small businesses. These changes affected the privileges of the business elite, FEDECAMARAS who with the CTV organized a work stoppage on December 9. the only time in the world that private sector workers with their salary.
Political actions against the reforms continued with FEDECAMARAS and the CTV at its head. On April 9, 2002 they convoked a total work stoppage which led to the coup d'etat on the 11 of April where they imposed a provisional president, the president of FEDECAMARAS and various ministers who were from the leadership of the CTV. Within hours the new government had revoked the new constitution, the National Assembly.
The Venezuelan people took to the streets and took over military bases and the principal highways and roads to demand a return of their democratically elected president. ON April 13 Chavez returned to the country and convoked a national dialogue with representatives of al sectors, including trade unions and three members of the CTV.
I had the honour of being part of the commission which allowed for important dialogue with the government, business leaders and workers from the base. It resulted in important agreements to reactivate the economy in sectors such as automobile manufacturing, textile production, transport and pharmaceuticals. The presence of President Chavez throughout this dialogue was key to its success.
The different poitical currents which supported changes in our country among them the Colivarian Workers Force, in which I am a member, discussed the necessity of creating a new union central in the face of traitorous acts by the CTV. Our ideas was the country needed workers to participate in its development. On September 6 2002 we organised a national meeting. We were not successful in reaching an agreement to form a new central because there still existed a desire for some to maintain untiy within the trade union movement. We developed a final statement which was presented to President Chavez at the end of the conference. As a result, the counter-revolution called for another work stoppage for December 9 of 2002. this led to complete economic sabotage - 20 billion dollars were lost thanks to the involvement of the management of the oil companies. This cause great difficulties for people as there were shortages of gas and cooking gas. People ined up for more than 24 hours to get gas and tyr to continue working. It is important to underline the people strong commitment although they were suffering, they stayed strong and kept fighting for the Bolivarian process and to prevent their President from being overthrown
During the sabotage the working class acted as a class, and our position was key in order to recover production. The oil workers replaced the managers and re-started production, at first manually and then at full production. Thousands of workers from the private sector gathered outside the gates of the factories and demanded that the bosses opened them.
The Presidents of the CTV and FEDECAMARAS transmitted through private television stations inciting the people to rebel against the president and to contiune with the work stoppage.
After this latest act of treason on the part of the CTV, various progressive political currents within the labour movement met and spurred on by the absolute rejection of working class ideals demonstrated by the CTV decided to call for antoher national assembly. On April 5, 2003 we founded the UNT with a horizontal leadership structure of 21 members respresenting all the fundamental sectors and regions. We developed a constitution and statutes. With the mandate of the unions, we developed proposals for regional and national structures. On August 1 and 2, 2003, we held the First Congress of the UNT and approved a Declaration of Principles, a Code of Labour Ethics, a Platform for Struggle and a shared analysis of the coutnry's context. As part of the discussion of the reform of the statues we decided to hold broader discussions on these reforms with the base of our unions.
The Regional sections of the UNT were formed all over the country as were national federations to discuss collective agreements. Our May Day march this year had as its theme No to Imperialist Interference in Venezuela. Our march had greater participation than the CTV march!
The UNT has maintained a clear position against the constant attacks by the US Department of State and other actors who want to continue generating a crisis in our country.
When the Presidnetial referendum was called for August 15, the UNT called its members to -vote no to neo-liberalism, no to the flexibilizacion of labour, no to union bureaucracy, no to social injustice, and to demonstrate their affirmation of our president Chavez.
We have attended conferences of the ILO to defend Venezuela against the charges of violations of trade union freedom brought by the CTV and FEDECAMARAS. Who is violating who's rights?
We are an union independent of international affiliation, we call ourselves autonomous, internationalists, democratic, accepting a plurality of views and commited to social justice.
We are preparing a new Congress in February 2005, to which many trade union organisations from all countries have asked us to be invited, amongst them the Canadian Labor Congress. This congress will ratify the reform of the statutes and the electoral rules and call a democratic and clear election, which will elect a new UNT election.
Venezuela lives a new process, outside of all established schemes, as an expression of real class struggle. We are building a new path, a path towards equality, social justice, a change of the model, against neoliberalism, against adjustment programmes, towards a sovereign nation, integrated with the other peoples of Latin America, as our Liberator Simon Bolivar dreamt.
Our autonomy and our class commitment leads us to take a position and to support this process because:
- it has lifted 80% of illiterate people out of illiteracy
- gives the opportunity to all to finish their primary and secondary education
- has extended basic primary health care to 60% of the population, so far, through health care centres in the poor neighbourhoods.
- offers basic foodstuffs at reduced prices to the poorest sections of the population
- has created the Bolivarian University, which aims to give all equal opportunity to access to higher education
- strengthens the education and professional training of workers, creating endogenous development nucleus which can generate high quality jobs
- the minimum waged is revised according to inflation on a yearly basis
- bosses are legally prevented from conducting mass lay offs
- collective bargaining agreements are being discussed in all sectors.
- pensions are raised to the level of the minimum wage.
- promotes the participation of workers in the management of the state.
- we are living through the best ever period of trade union freedom.
Canadian brothers! the enemy of the working class is one, is homogeneous, and all our strength is concentrated in deepening the peaceful and democratic bolivarian revolution. This invitation by the British Columbia Workers Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress is a gesture of solidarity. Thank you for listening to our thruth, thank you for spreading it and giving us support.
However, the shwadow of our common enemy still haunts us, we need to your help to prevent in Venezuela what hapenned in Chile. We need you to be vigilant of the movements of the US empire, so that it does not trample on us.
The world trade union movement has a fundamental challenge thrown by a process which goes beyond the borders of Venezuela, of America, and that might become a key pillar in the building of a world with more humanity, more social justice and more democracy.
The working class united will never be defeated!"
Please help build the campaign by