Автономна спілка трудящих | Автономный Союз Трудящихся | Autonomous Worker's Union
Автономна спілка трудящих | Автономный Союз Трудящихся | Autonomous Worker's Union
In the late evening on the 8th of March several left-wing activists were attacked in central Malmö by members of the fascist Svenskarnas Parti (Swedes Party). They were on their way home after having taken part in an International Women’s Day demonstration against violence against women. The atta
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We, the collectives and members of Ukrainian leftist and anarchist organizations, announce that “Borotba” union is not a part of our movement. During the whole time of this political project’s existence, its members tended to be committed to the most discredited, conservative and authoritarian
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deutsche Übersetzung On February 27, 2014, pro-Russian chauvinists of Crimea, supported by Berkut riot police and Russian Black Sea Fleet committed military coup in Crimea. Right now it’s already obvious that the government of “Russian Unity” movement headed by Aksionov is no more than a pupp
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The overthrow of the authoritarian regime of Yanukovych by no means signifies for us the end of our fight. New dictators hasten to take the place of the Party of Regions. They will not hesitate to rely not only on considerably weakened security agencies, but on the far right militants as well. The r
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For weeks and weeks, we have been looking at Ukrainian events, trying to make sense of what has been happening in Kyiv and other cities. We had read many texts, comments and interviews and discussed about Maidan, but we had been always arriving only at new questions to be answered. Thus, when a pos
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Вчера в Украине началась гражданская война. Не очень мирная демонстрация под Верховной Радой столкнулась с силами правоохранительных органов и подразделениями с
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This interview with a comrade from the Autonomous Workers’ Union in Kiev was done on January 28, 2014. It sheds some light on the events around the Maidan: the array of reasons behind the protests, their focus on the hated president, the differences to the “orange revolution”, the role of the right, the weakness of social struggles and possible scenarios. Q: Looking at the pictures from Kiev (for instance, here) it seems that all kinds of people are at the barricades. In your opinion, what brings them together? What do the people at the barricades and all the supporters discuss? Merely the practical issues of the fight against the cops? Or are there assemblies, or other forms of “organized” debates, at the barricades or elsewhere? A: The main motive for the protests right now is extreme unpopularity of the president. Of course, the actual reasons are economic crisis, social inequality, corruption, decay of social services, poverty, unemployment – the usual set of grievances which make people go into the streets these days. This is not a leftist dogma; people do speak about all these issues. But nevertheless the force which made them stop grumbling at their kitchens and protest loudly is their feelings towards
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The laws which were passed on January 16th showed that the faction of the ruling class which now controls the government is ready to install a reactionary bourgeois dictatorship on the model of the Latin American regimes of the 1970s. The “dictatorship laws” criminalize any protest and limit the freedom of speech; also, they establish responsibility for “extremism”. Parliamentary mouthpieces of the class dictatorship of corrupted bureaucracy and monopolist bourgeoisie are the Party of Regions and the so called “Communist” Party of Ukraine which has long ago become a political force serving interests of capital. The Ukrainian repressive system leans on the police apparatus and street gangs of pro-government stormtroopers. Sometimes such paramilitary structures are commanded by retired police officers. Death squads are also in action. According to confirmed information, two people were kidnapped from a hospital and tortured. One of them died in a forest. Special forces use pinpoint firing against protesters, and not only from traumatic guns. One of the killed, according to a photo of his body, was shot in his heart. According to all indications he was a victim of a sniper. In the morning of January 23 the number of the killed constituted from 5
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To the members of GUE/NGL faction in the European Parliament, Gabriele Zimmer Dear comrades., We, the members of leftist, trade union and human rights organizations in Ukraine, as well as individual activists, would like to draw your attention to the recent events in our country. On Thursday, 16th of January 2014 without the discussion and contrary to its own regulations and to the Constitution of Ukraine, the Ukrainian parliament, passed a series of laws directed at limiting freedom of speech and citizens’ right to peaceful protest. One of the approved items is the infamous amendment to the Criminal Code which bans so-called “extremism”. In this amendment “inciting social discord” is defined as “extremism”. It is clear that any kind of drawing attention to social problems, to the blatant inequality that exists in Ukrainian society, can be qualified as “inciting social discord”, therefore the activities of left, trade union and social activists in Ukraine can be criminalized to a large extent. The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) plays a particularly shameful part in these events. Not only did the Communist Party’s faction unanimously voted for the repressive bills, but the CPU official website also features materials that condemn the recent protests
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AWU-Kiev Statement on the Crackdown Against Euromaidan, Nov 30 We consider the police crackdown against peaceful protest demonstration to be a sign of increasing authoritarian tendencies in the Victor Yanukovich’s regime. We are consistent supporters of the freedom of assembly, while the government’s actions are an encroachment upon this fundamental right. We don’t urge to support the EU Association or the politicians from the parliamentary opposition, but we consider the call for Yanukovych’s resignation to be even too soft, given the situation. We don’t share the views of the organizers of Euromaidan. We don’t think that a stroke of a pen under a piece of paper can really bring about a better life for workers. Still, we have been long-time opponents of the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, for it enables unification of repressive labour laws according to the “best” Eurasian traditions, which naturally produce events like the Zhanaozen massacre two years ago. The problem is, as long as the current government system stands, Yanukovych may only be replaced by another bourgeois autocrat who will continue to suppress protests with police and Interior Ministry troops at his or her disposal – if only under a new slogan, “hail
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