[Debate] "The Number of Labor Protests in Russia Has Increased Sharply This Year"

[peter waterman]

Boris K says 'might' not 'will', Yoshie. So I am not sure whether your
characterisation is fair. Moreover, he is not the only one who shares this
wish. I have been promoting the idea since I first wrote about 'Social
Movement Unionism' several yonks ago. It is also in my 'Global Labour
Charter', launched at least half a yonk ago.

Further, of course, such a hope is expressed in the Mayday Appeal of Occupy
in the USA - surely second to Russia in the labour movement Heart of
Darkness stakes.

Finally, if you are really interested and yourself hoping/working for a
global movement for social emancipation, you might like to check this item
from the Basque Country:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/136dedf86796315e

PeterW

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 3:13 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi <
critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:

> Kagarlitsky is engaged in wishful thinking, though, when he says "the
> protesting workers might join forces with citizens demanding political
> reforms."
>
> <
> http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/workers-actions-express-growing-discontent/457138.html
> >
> Workers' Actions Express Growing Discontent
> 20 April 2012
> By Alexander Bratersky
>
> The number of labor protests in Russia has increased sharply this
> year, propelling the total to its highest in five years, estimates
> released this week show.
>
> The Center for Social and Labor Rights published those findings on its
> website Thursday.
>
> There were 61 worker strikes and protests during the first three
> months of 2012. That compares with 53 during the same period last
> year.
>
> Although the numerical increase is not large, protests have become
> more intensive.
>
> In January and February 2011, fewer protesters participated in the
> demonstrations, the center reported.
>
> A partner of the USAID program, the center has monitored labor
> conflict in Russia since 2008.
>
> Center analyst Pyotr Bizyukov, who conducted the research, told
> Kommersant on Thursday that the number of protests might grow to
> between 40 and 45 a month.
>
> "There are grounds to predict that summer 2012 might become a hot
> period for political protests," Bizyukov said, Kommersant reported.
>
> The center's findings state that the protest over wages at the
> Benteler automative plant in the Kaluga region might be awarded the
> title of "protest of the month" because of its duration.
>
> That protest began at the end of March and ended earlier this month.
>
> More then 100 Russian employees of German-owned Benteler walked off the
> job.
>
> They demanded a salary increase, saying that their wage was lower than
> that paid by other automobile plants in the region.
>
> The plant's unions forced management to consider their demands after
> Governor Anatoly Artamonov stepped into the fray.
>
> Boris Kagarlitsky, head of the Institute for Globalization, said the
> increase in protests in Russia is connected with the aftermath of the
> 2008 economic crisis.
>
> The country weathered the crisis thanks to large financial reserves
> generated by high oil prices.
>
> Kagarlitsky compared the situation in Russia to the one after the
> Great Depression in the United States.
>
> "We survived, but things have not become better since then,"
> Kagarlitsky said. "The only thing is that we don't have a progressive
> government."
>
> Kagarlitsky contrasted the Russian leadership with the American
> administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal
> policies were aimed at restoring the failed U.S. economy in the 1930s.
>
> Government-affiliated economist Mikhail Dmitriyev said previously that
> Russia might go through a second wave of economic crisis.
>
> That could prompt political unrest and lead to social instability.
>
> Although the majority of workers protesting conditions at their plants
> do not express political slogans, Kagarlitsky said their distrust of
> the government could be seen in the poor election results for the
> ruling United Russia party in the regions.
>
> Kagarlitsky said the protesting workers might join forces with
> citizens demanding political reforms.
>
> In Astrakhan, for example, drivers of local shuttle buses who
> protested Mayor Mikhail Stolyarov's plans to cancel their contracts
> with the city have expressed support for the mayor's rival, Oleg Shein
> of the opposition A Just Russia party.
>
> Shein, who lost the mayoral election in March, is staging a hunger
> strike to call attention to his accusations that the election was
> rigged.
>
> Analysts said attempts to prevent protests by independent unions would
> mobilize the Federation of Independent Unions, led by the seasoned
> Mikhail Shmakov.
>
> Shmakov announced recently that his organization might be turned into
> a party to cooperate with United Russia on trade-union legislation.
>
> The Moscow Times
> --
> Yoshie Furuhashi
> <http://mrzine.org/>
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4. WorkingPaper *2012*: 'Emancipatory Labour
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