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NEWS&VIEWS FROM (THE FORMER) SOVIETSKY SOYUZNo.2, Sept.1993 ANARCHIST CHRONICLE SOLIDARITY WORKS! MOLDAVIAN ANARCHISTS WON THE TRIAL BECAUSE OF INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN Two Moldavian anarchists, Tamara Burdenko and Igor Hergenreoder, recently won their trial against the administration of the magazine "Kodry" where Tamara worked. Tamara was fired soon after her husband's articles criticizing the Moldavian national-authoritarian regime appeared in some papers. But for about a year (since May 7, 1992) the authorities denied the political character of that act. Because of the international solidarity campaign with Tamara and Igor it was possible to force the judges to make a just verdict. Numerous protests were send by anarchists and human right activists to the Moldavian authorities and in January 1993 the Moldavian prosecutor general had to make an appeal to the court himself asking for another trial. Tamara and Igor insisted that all the articles that started their repression be put into their file and refused to go to court until this was done. On May 11, 1993 the court handed down its verdict - the firing was judged illegal and they ordered that Tamara be paid. Ironically, the sum is ridiculous - 18,500 roubles for almost a year of lost work (about US$18). However, the administration refused to pay even this and told Tamara that she will be taken to court again. Still, the decision of the court is certainly a victory and now it's much easier for Tamara Burdenko and Igor Hergenreoder to resist the attacks of the Moldavian authorities. Tamara and Igor are very grateful to all the comrades who have helped them to fight the injustice. MAY DAY IN THE EX-USSR On May 1st anarchists in Moscow didn't hold their own demonstrations. Members of the Initiative of Revolutionary Anarchists (IREAN) and Group of Radical Anarcho-syndicalists (GRAS) (about ten people in total) joined the trade union demonstration. Since they denounced the unions as "nomenklatura unions" the organizers tried to kick them out of the demonstration and even appealed to police. The incident didn't end badly and the radicals continued their rally near the union one. In Donetsk (Ukraine) the local anarcho-syndicalist group joined the demonstration of the ex-CPSU groups, but was asked to leave it because of their black banners. In spite of all reservations some groups tend to look at the communist organizations as potential allies - this is rather sad. In Tomsk activists from the Tomsk and Seversk (Tomsk-7) local anarcho-syndicalist groups held a May Day rally.Communists which held their rally nearby called on the anarchists to join it and even to join the Russian Communist Workers Party, but surely get a refusal. (Also see the story about May Day riot in Moscow.) BYELORUSSIAN ANARCHISTS AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT GOMEL (BYELORUSSIA). On May 25th, the Gomel organization of the Byelorussian Anarchist Federation, the Union of the Unemployed and a local of the Byelorussian Confederation of Labour from the Gomel AgriculturaL Machinery Factory, held a demonstration outside of the factory, where many people had recently lost their jobs. Several hundred workers from the factory attended the demo. The workers who spoke criticised the management of the factory who are actively involved in speculation using the factory's products and demanded that salaries be raised.(In the foundry workers earn just 9,000 roubles a month - less than 9 US dollars.) There were also demands for worker control. The organizers of the action hope that the 880 workers at the factory who may be fired will stand up and join the Byelorussian Confederation of Labour's independent union which is capable of protecting them from getting fired. WHAT'S SO ANARCHIST ABOUT LIBERALISM? MOSCOW. On June 19-20 the founding congress of the Libertarian Workers Union (SVT) was held in Moscow. The name, however, is very misleading as the Union is composed of anarcho-capitalists, many of whom are entrepreneurs. Currently the Union has member groups in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tula and Kazan. The Union stands for the limitation of state interference into economy, reduction of taxes and liquidation of state economy. All very anarchist. As a result of discussion at the congress the decision was made that SVT will have a strong structure with central coordination committee and will be registered as a political party. The social base of the new organization will be the middle class. A theoretical magazine called "The Black Line" will be published by Saint Petersburg group, which already publishes "information bulletin of the anarchist movement An-Press". The bulletin will also be sponsored by the SVT. The founders of the American state who wrote the Declaration of Independence would have been very surprised to know that there is somebody to the right of them, who calls himself an anarchist. KAS MEETING IN MOSCOW MOSCOW. On June 26-27 an impromptu meeting since activists from Tomsk, Omsk and Khabarovsk simultaneously arrived to Moscow. Current political and social situation was discussed, there were reports about the Information Bureauof KAS (run by KAS activists in Tomsk), publishing anarcho- syndicalist magazine "Obschina" (Moscow). Also a proposal was made to organize the next convention of KAS in Moscow in the end of May 1994. Proposed topics for discussion were the problems of building independent unions (it is possible that it will be a joint seminar together with Swedish syndicalists and Labour Information Centre KAS-KOR) and anarcho-syndicalist press. One day of the congress will probably be devoted to the 180th anniversary of Mikhail Bakunin. These proposals are to be discussed through KAS information bulletin. ARE THERE ANY EAST EUROPEANS IN EASTERN EUROPE? ZAPOROZHYE (UKRAINE). On July 16-20 "the second conference of East European anarchists" was held in Zaporozhye. Strange as it may seem none of the ex-Soviet anarchists were invited. In spite of that people from Donetsk, Moscow (IREAN) and Byelorussia came to the conference. None of the East European participants came, there were only some people from Germany, England, Holland and Belgium (obviously invited by the organizers to "strengthen international contacts" and probably get some money). Some discussions on the current situation in the ex-USSR took place, foreign participants spoke about their activities. The participants of the anarcho-syndicalist meeting in Moscow (see the info above) send greetings to the organizers of the conference stating that since they were not invited to the East European conference, they consider themselves to be Northern Eurasians and are very grateful to the organizers of the conference for the help in their self-identification. AGAINST NOMENKLATURA PRIVATIZATION SEVERSK (TOMSK-7). We already informed the readers about the activities of local anarcho-syndicalist group and their struggles against bureaucratic privatization. (See News&Views No.1.) On March 19 and 20 late in the evening two activists of KAS were attacked and severely beaten. This happened soon after the information about the maneuvres of the administration aimed at privatization of the factory behind the backs of the workers was published in the newssheet "Worker" published by anarcho-syndicalists. Vladimir Yefimov and Piotr Melnyk, the victims of these two attacks, had to spend about a week at home recovering from the wounds. After Vladimir Yefimov appeared at the factory he was told by the administration that it would be better if he quits his job. On April 15 the workers collective discussed whether the establishment of the small business by administration of the factory was legal or not. The bosses had to retreat saying that the business was already liquidated and the money invested illegaly from the factory fund were returned.Nevertheless, as a result of these events Vladimir Yefimov quited from the factory, but anarcho-syndicalists from Seversk don't regret about the work done to fight back against bureaucratic privatization. POLICE/PRISONS COPWATCH IN KALININGRAD (KONIGSBERG) On April 20 an activist from the libertarian socialist group "Solidarity" and a deputy of the city Soviet Alexander Zhidenkov was attacked by policemen. After he got several blows with a rubber baton, he was taken to the police department, where his deputy mandate was confiscated and he was held there for about an hour. Later on when he was released local authorities refused to open a case against policemen. Solidarity together with other groups (Ecodefence and anarchists) decided to organize an information centre and launch a campaign called "People Against Police Terror". They will be gathering information about all the cases of police abuse, spreading them through mass media and assisting in taking the police to courts. You can contact the organizers of campaign at: Press centre "People Against Police Terror", 30-8 Ulitsa Nevskogo, Kaliningrad/Konigsberg 236041, Russia/CIS PRISON RIOT BRUTALLY SUPPRESSED 5 people were killed and 40 injured (including 20 policemen) while supressing a riot in a correctional institution in the city Vladimir, north-east of Moscow. The riot started early in the morning July 7. About 1000 people made barricades on a small territory and demanded that representatives from the Ministry of the Interlnal Affairs come to speak to them. The demands included the liquidation of local zones, the introduction of permanent waiters in the canteen, the possibility to have meals whenever one needs, smoke whereever one wants and wear slippers instead of heavy boots. The negotiations which lasted until the evening didn't bring any results and the riot was crushed with 400 policemen and soldiers supported by two armoured cars. 70 people were taken to the special cells until the end of the investigation. The riot in Vladimir was the biggest one this year. STRUGGLES AGAINST PRIVATIZATION IN RUSSIA THE BARBERS HAVE TO TAKE THE PATH OF WAR NOVOSIBIRSK. The Labour Collective of Barber's No.5 has occupied the premises in the centre of the city and have been protecting them round the clock for almost two months. The barbers are struggling for their existence. Thedesperate struggle of the barber's No.5 collective stands out against the quiet background of the Novosibirsk workers' movement like something extraordinary. The Novosibirsk public, however, takes the events cooly, the more so, as the action is presented as an ordinary strike. But this is not the case. The collective of 16 does not leave the premises of the barber's day-and-night, does not let in the managers and takes other precautions. Round-the- clock protection is the only means to prevent the planned lock-out, the barbers believe. "We are put up for sale and we don't know about it!" says one of the placards in the barber's window. The thing is that the management of the lease association "Diana" determined, against the will of the labour collective, to reconstruct the premises of the barber's and open a commercial shop. They do not admit to this decision publicly and the director promises that after the reconstruction there will be a hairdressing saloon of an international category instead of the barber's and accompanying goods traded by it. But the labour collective doesn't believe him, and not without reason. A case like that has already taken place at barber's No.7. Last year after the summer leave the employees found a commercial shop in the building of their barber's and in the former auxiliary room there were two seats for work. Thus eight out of ten barbers became unemployed. The labour collective of barber's No.5 applied to the city federation of trade unions but with no result. Then the employees left this union and set up a cell of the Sotsprof regional association. The collective of the barber's No.7 has declared that they will proceed with their action until the mayor cancelles the lease with "Diana"'s director and concludes an agreement directly with the labour collective. On June 1st the head of local adminisrtation signed the new statutes of the lease association "Diana" according to which all the workers are the owners of the association and have the right to participate in decision-making. On June 2nd the barber's No.5 opened to the customers. The workers collective forced the former director to resign and elected their union leader to that position. PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI. In the last few days of May, the residents of the microregion of "Dachny" have spoken out against the transference of their local food store to a private company called "Yaroslavl". The store was privatized at a closed auction. This is against privtization laws which state that businesses in the regions of the Far North can be privatized only in agreement with residents of the area and its workers. A crowd of demonstrators blocked traffic in a number of city streets. The privatization of the store was put off. Soon a resolution signed by Boris Yeltsin was recieved which said that the store should be given to the workers collective. But the present situation is still troublesome,because according to the plans of privatization the store should be privitized by the end of this year and it is quite probable that at the next auction the price of the store K8will be much higher and the workers won't be able to buy it. Currently the store is closed for repairs and all the sales are taking place out in the street. The struggle of the workers of the store against nomenklatura privatization was supported by dozens of protests sent by fishermen, who are the main dwellers in the region. Workers of some enterprises thretaened the authorities with holding mass hunger-strikes if the store will be turned into a commercial enterprise. Now the prices in the store are lower compared to the other commercial stores and thus the workers can afford themselves to shop there. ONE MORE VICTORY FOR "DEFENCE" MOSCOW. On March 29 the labour collective of store No. 53 set up a cell of the trade union "Defence." This action was undertaken in order to prevent the director of the store from privatizing the store on her own - thus evading the law and ignoring the labour collective's opinions. The store is a lease enterprise and cannot be put up for sale at auction. However just that was done and all the employees were dismissed. The labour collective representatives applied for help to the prefect and the public prosecutor, but in vain. Then the labour collective voted against the director at a general meeting and elected a new director. After that, in the presence of the prefecture's representatives and municipal militiamen, the seals were removed from the doors and the labour collective went back to their routine work. OMSK. For a week since July 8 workers from the "Rakurs" photostudio held an occupation strike protesting against a deal made between the city administration and a Chinese- Russian joint venture (the Russian side of that enterprise is being represented by only one person) allowing the joint venture to occupy the premises of the studio. On July 7 twenty five workers from the photo studio were told to move the equipment out of the premises and take it to another building in the suburbs of the city. In response the workers locked the doors and refused to leave the building. The court refused to take their appeal about privatization of the studio by the labour collective. The mayor of the city refused to make any negotiations with the strikers untill they are all arrested (!). On July 14 police troops surrounded the building threatening to break the blocked doors with a truck. The strikers surrendered to the police and left the premises, but they continue their struggle. Some public organizations from Omsk, including the Workers' Movement Support Committee, ecological groups and even Cossacks. You can support the labour collective of the studio by sending protests to: the Committee of CityProperty, Ulitsa Lenina 13, Omsk 644001, Russia/CIS. TRADE UNIONS People continue to leave formerly official trade unions in Russia. >From Jan. 1 , 1992 - Jan. 1, 1993, membership in the ex-communist Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FNPR) decreased from 72.6 million people to 64.3. But according to the leadership of the FNPR, this decline in membership is related to the number of people who have left their permanent place of residence for other countries, to the number of businesses that have closed down and to the transference of workers to commercial enterprises. Still it was announced that only 1.6 million members had left the FNPR voluntarily. Unions affiliated to FNPR are the only unions at the majority of workplaces. Currently they unite not only wage labourers but administration too. Membership fees are taken from the workers automatically ECOLOGY There have been a number of ecological actions this summer organized by anarchists and radical ecologists. One of them is an ecological camp in the city of Cherpovetz which started on July 1st. In Cherepovetz there is a giant metallurgical factory which has caused great environmental damage to the area. The factory, which was built in the 50's uses outdated technology; the factory emits a gas which is similar in composition to the poisonous gases used by the military. Cherepovetz is one of the top 5 polluted sites in Russia; the population suffer from certain diseases at least twice as much as the general public and more than half of the children born die within the first year of life. For this reason they decided to hold a camp at this site. Participants from Russia, the Ukraine and Tartarstan came to hold pickets and to talk to the inhabitants of the city and workers at the plant. They did not demand that the plant be shut down as it is the main source of employment in the city (2/3 of the population is in some way connected with the enterprise). Instead they propose that money be invested to build a new, ecologically safer plant using Japanese technology. On July 16 a rock-concert to support the camp was organized by local bands. On July 19 participants of the camp went to the office of the director of the plant and demanded to negotiate with him. He refused saying that the ecologists were "criminals" and are not competent enough in ecological issues. After that protesters locked the doors of his cabinet and forced him to negotiate. In half an hour policemen arrived and detained the troublemakers. Soon they were all released. The incident was covered by the local TV and newspapers and has been favourably greeted.Unfortunately the participants of the camp were few and although they received verbal support from the inhabitants of the city they didn't get active assistance. Besides that there were some unpleasant incidents in the camp caused by some people who were using alchohol and drugs. Some people (including those who were the initiators of the camp) decided to leave and finally did so, but others didn't. They understood that if the camp will achieve no concrete results it will be impossible in the future to get the people in Cherepovetz to hold any ecological campaigns - they will think it's absolutely useless. So two of the protesters decided to hold a hunger strike on the chimneys of the metallurgical plant (five people were on a hunger strike before but they quit). On the second day they were taken down by police force but public opinion was on their side. The local television program made a favourable report. As a result the municipal ecological committee decided that the administration of the plant should make a program to reconstruct the plant. Of course, the protesters understand that this really means nothing, but the official decision can serve as a ground for further campaigns. The numbers of the protesters at that time were already very low, so the camp stopped on August 8