War in the north • repression in the south
"Enough is enough!"
Many strikers, especially in the most militant workplaces, and a large number of shop stewards were confused and bitter about this sudden reduction in strike activity, especially since the combination of radical strike tactics combined with innovative outreach to the non-striking population seemed to be winning support for labour demands among a majority of Koreans. Partial victory, or total defeat?
Top KCTU leaders were under extreme pressure to negotiate ever since the strike started. None wanted to share the responsibility for a severe crackdown which would reverse the democratic gains of recent years. They seem to have attached a lot of hope to signs of division within the ruling elite. The problem, as Kwon Young-gil admits, is that now that the strikers have suspended their action, "now it is the turn of the President and the ruling party to make their play."
President Kim Young-sam might make a few minor amendments, but there is no indication that he has any intention of reversing the new legislation. Indeed, his behaviour from the beginning suggests that he wanted a showdown with the unions. Employers would probably be willing to accept an amendment making it possible for the KCTU to organise alongside the discredited FKTU. After all, this would be simply recognising the reality of trade union membership today. Alternatively, the government may demonstrate their "social concern" by improving South Korea's virtually non-existent unemployment benefit system. With official unemployment at 2.2%, this could be an acceptable price for soothing the sullen anger of so many workers. It would even make it easier for employers to implement the new legislation without provoking local disputes.
One thing is sure. Now the strikers are back at work, it will be much more difficult to call them out again if union leaders and the parliamentary opposition are unable to win concessions from the government. * Notes 1. 15% a year measured in Korean won, about 10% in real terms. 2. from a total of 160 KCTU-affiliated federations, with 200,000 members. 3. Health unions made special arrangements to staff all intensive care, emergency, and urgent surgery units, so as to minimise inconvenience and avoid any crisis in medical delivery. This was the system they had followed in South Korea's first ever health service strike, earlier in 1996. They understood from that experience that such emergency cover arrangements alleviate the public's concern and anxiety about the possible chaos that a hospital strike could provoke. The size and popularity of the current general strike has almost certainly lifted any remaining taboos attached to industrial action by health workers. 4. Including chemical, metal and auto workers, banking staff and taxi drivers About 50,000 unionised banking personnel participated in their first nation-wide strike since the modern banking system was introduced to Korea about 100 years ago. 5. The Economist, 18 January 1997. For more information Korean General Strike page http://kpd.sing-kr.org/strike/index-e.html Korean Confederation of Trade Unions http://kpd.sing-kr.org/kctu/index.html Korean Central News Agency (North Korea's one and only news agency http://www.kcna.co.jp/
Vickramabahu Karunarathne has a message the Sri Lankan government would rather not hear: withdraw all troops from the Tamil homelands, respect human and civic rights in the rest of the country, and refuse IMF-inspired economic reforms. Such arguments are common enough in émigré circles in London. But Karunarathne is a leader of the Nava Sama Samaja Party, which fights for these policies inside Sri Lanka. International Viewpoint: What is the effect of IMF policies in Sri Lanka? Karunarathne: These policies, introduced by the previous, right-wing government, have been a disaster for the workers, and most of all for the rural peasants. There is impoverishment in all rural areas. Indeed the breakdown of the rural sectors is one reason behind the growing force of the Tamil liberation struggle. In the south of the country, rural impoverishment contributes to the growth of the radical Sinhala JVP party.
The peasants are being robbed of their livelihood, access to water, and land. Their existence itself is threatened Tamil peasants are increasingly marginalised. They are becoming a kind of human dust, without rights whatsoever. The issue is no longer agrarian reform, but a revolution of the outsiders, of people who are no longer considered human, by a system which has proved its inhumanity.
There are persistent campaigns to encourage peasants to give up paddy production. The IF say it is unprofitable, and that peasants should be re-oriented towards export production. To attract investment, the IMF argues, Sri Lanka must ensure that land becomes a marketable commodity. In other words, peasants must be encouraged to sell or rent their land, and become waged agricultural workers on export-oriented plantations. Gherkins and tobacco are among the new products being introduced.
The government claimed that this transformation of agriculture would make life easier for peasants. Instead it is making them into slaves. Entire families work constantly, just to pay their ever-increasing debt to their multinational landlords.
Several multinationals even demand that the state allow them to carry out police functions in the areas round their plantations. Nestlé is one of the main culprits, taking over resources, and making peasants totally
Sri Lanka * dependent on the company for accom modation and livelihood. And the fishing communities?
Large private companies, mainly Korean and Japanese, are threatening the livelihood of small scale fishers. Big boats are now allowed much closer to the coasts. These modern vessels, equipped with the latest technology, have entered into direct competition with smaller, local boats. As a result, those fishers who can't go more than five or six miles (8-10 km) out don't find any fish any more. They are totally pauperised.
This is an ecological, as well as a social disaster. Some of this "sophisticated" technology destroys entire fish crops. Several varieties of fish have vanished completely. As we speak, over-fishing in Sri Lankan waters is destroying further varieties, which used to be in abundance. This technology is also destroying our undersea vegetation, with unforseeable, but potentially disastrous con-
The same is happening inland, as multinationals take over the shrimp farming industry. Salt water and chemicals from un-supervised inland shrimp farms are destroying the surrounding vegetation. The local population is finding it harder and harder to make a living as a result.
Several fishermen's' groups have joined our campaign against privatisation. How are the peasants reacting?
Pauperisation is obviously leading to resentment. We have already witnessed large scale protests against the multinational take over of agriculture. Indian campaigns against Nestlé and other companies are crossing over, and being adapted to the Sri Lankan experience with some signs of success. Several peasant-organised NGOs have even joined the NSSP-sponsored campaign against privatisation.
February 1997 #285 19
* Sri Lanka
If the peasants loose their human rights, they loose the very right to exist. Fortunately, mass movements were very strong in the countryside during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and provided a significant part of the support for the PA election campaign. Since she depends on the organised peasants to remain in power, Chandrika cannot reverse all the gains which peasants have won over the years. But there are signs that we are slipping back to the bad old days, when peasant resistance led to "disappearances" There have recently been some worrying examples of peasant protests meeting with state violence. NGOs in the rural areas increasingly protest against police use of emergency powers. Civic groups find themselves unable to organise even peaceful protest marches against the encroachment of the
On 11 August 1996 our party, the NSSP, participated in a combined campaign in the North-Central province, an important farming area near the Tamil-speaking zone. As well as supporters of the NSSP Campaign against Privatisation, IMF and WB Policies and the War in the North, there were many people from peasants organisations, and local groups dedicated to the protection of the natural resources of the region. And, of course, local electricity and bank workers, very concerned about privatisation. We set up a picket in the centre of the provincial capital. The police came to stop us, invoking the emergency regulations to say we could not hold a static picket, and we could not march! We resisted, and we forced them to retreat. But things could have turned nasty. And in the cities?
In the urban areas, privatisation is causing untold suffering. Large numbers of workers have been made redundant. In most cases, their meagre compensation payments evaporate in a few months, because of inflation. For those still in work, the ferocious post-privatisation management is increasing the rate of exploitation by curtailing trade union and civic rights in the workplace.
Privatisation is generating a new national question in the central part of the island.
Companies taking over privatised plantations claim that the workers there have no right over the land. As a result, unemployed youth are now thrown off the plantations, which did not happen before. There is a growing mass of landless, jobless, desperate Tamil ex-plantation workers, with no outlet but struggle against the system.
This explains the militant strikes in the first half of 1996
Exactly. Even those government ministers with a trade union base were forced to acknowledge the justice of many strikers claims. The electricity workers' strike was particularly important. There was a virtual nation-wide blackout for almost a week. The government responded by playing the Sinhala chauvinist card. President Chandrika appealed to the mostly Sinhala strikers not to
20 International Viewpoint damage the war effort and the struggle to regain control over the north west of the island. They totally ignored her. The government then sent its chauvinist goondas (thugs) into the streets, to try and agitate against the strikers. But again, there was no reaction from the mass of Sinhala-speaking workers. So Chandrika had to call in the
The government not only arrested trade union leaders, but took family members, including children and old women in to custody. They tried to force the strikers back to work, literally at gun point.
The Telecom sector strike also met with state violence. Unknown gunmen attacked one union leader at home. And many bank workers were arrested while preparing their token strike in solidarity with the electricity
All this shows the real antagonism among the workers towards privatisation and cutbacks in welfare and subsidies. People can see that it is the World Bank which is making the rules in Sri Lanka. Your own party has suffered several repressive measures
The government is repressing not only the Tamils in the North-East, but the working class and peasant masses in the south. Our party is leading a dynamic campaign against privatisation, against cuts provoked by compliance with IMF and WB programmes, and against the repression in the North. So it is no surprise that the government sent police to attack our May Day demonstration, and even raided our party offices. This second attack on the NSSP came during the electricity strike, which we had vocally supported. We say openly and loudly that the armed forces should withdraw from the Tamil homelands, and that a devolution package acceptable to the Tamils must be implemented. The Sri Lankan government cannot tolerate anti-IMF agitation, or pro-
Tamil statements by organisations in the Sinhala-speaking south of the country.
The government wants to repress progressive campaigns in the south. But because of the strength of the mass movement, which brought Chandrika to power, she is unable to use the police as she wishes. For example, the government is now trying to wriggle out of its role in the violent repression of last year's NSSP May Day meeting, blaming everything on police officers.
But the Peoples Alliance came to power as a left wing alternative
The Peoples Alliance came to power thanks to the help of opportunist working class leaders in the industrial and plantation sectors. In their electoral programme, promised to break with the previous administration's subservient policies towards the
IMF and WB. They pledged to withdraw the army from the North, and implement a substantial devolution package. They talked of constitutional changes, of an end to Sri
Lanka's dictatorial executive presidency system, of a workers charter, and of defence
Having come to power on the basis of these slogans, President Chandrika and her ministers "suddenly realised" that they actually had no alternative economic policies to those dictated to the previous government by the WB. She is completely dependent on her IMF and WB advisers. Her government has reversed its promises, and continues with the reactionary policies of the previous government. She is allowing the Americans and other imperialists to dictate her policies. It is they who demand that the backbone of the Tamil liberation struggle be broken before any kind of devolution is introduced.
As a result, Chandrika's Tamil policies are unacceptable, even to the most moderate Tamil parties in the south, like the EPDP, which supports the government, and even participates in the war in the North with its own armed band. One EPDP leader now complains that they have lost confidence in Chandrika, and that his only options are to join the Tamil Tigers or commit suicide. This shows how isolated the president has
She has reversed a number of popular social policies. As a result, there have been strikes in the plantations, banks, railways and in the telecommunication sector. As well as demonstrations and protest in most of the sectors which are being pushed towards privatisation. She has also provoked unrest in the private sector, because of delays in introducing the labour charter which was one of the PA electoral promises. What role does the NSSP play in the
Unless properly organised, and with political leadership, the current of resistance will not be able to stand firm. The police wil be able to disband meetings and preven strikes. Following our successful defence of our own May Day rally, the NSSP increasingly receives requests to participate in meetings across the country. Partly becaus of our prestige and partly because of ou organisational strength. People believe tha our party can break through the police lines
- as we did on May Day
People perceive the NSSP as a party which is willing to stand up against repression. And they think we sometimes have the capacity to make the government retreat. Because of this hard-won reputation, almost all sections which enter into struggle are keen to work
In the near future, we have an idea of the kind of common programme which can win the widest effective support. We remain committed to the coming together of trade unions, political groups, intellectuals, NGOs, peasant groups and youth organisations in a unified campaign against IMF and WB-inspired policies, and against the racist war in the North, which is, in the final analysis.
dictated by imperialism.
We have been able to bring together in this campaign almost all the trade unions in sections affected by privatisation, peasants,
fishermen, political groupings of the far left, including the Militant
(CWI) group, and other groups prepared to struggle against the government.
We have appealed to the left of the Peoples Alliance, those who protest from within, to join us.
They say they will participate on a case by case basis, but cannot join a campaign which is against the war in north. In effect, they are willing to campaign against the effects of
IMF and WB policies in the south, but not the genocidal war in the north. Fortunately, some trade unions, youth groups and NGOs close to these PA affiliates have broken away and joined our campaign.
We have also appealed to the youth organisation of the JVP. After all, this groups was responsible for the 1971 and 1981-2 insurrections in the south, and claims to be
Marxist. They have not agreed completely. They don't want a unified campaign, but they have organised joint protest meetings on a party-to-party basis, against both privatisation and the war in the north. On the campuses, their stronghold, they have organised meetings on similar lines to our own, and have often invited us to participate. But they are not prepared to join the trade unions and other groups in a new mass protest movement.
They are more interested in classic "political"
campaigns, always with an eye on the next
What about the national and religious minorities?
Since all the Tamil parties in the south one way or another support the government, they can hardly come into a campaign which is not only against the IMF agreements, but calls the war in the north a genocide.
Nevertheless, some affiliated organisations of these Tamil parties have joined the campaign.
So has the Muslim United Liberation
Front. They recently invited us to participate in the protests they organised, together with
Hindu religious groups, after the government made sectarian cuts in the entitlement of
Hindu and Muslim citizens to take time off work for their religious festivals.
In this manner, even the normally conservative religious organisations of the minority faiths have been drawn into a radical, unified campaign grouping all sectors affected by world bank policies, government authoritarianism and the genocidal war against the
Genocide is a strong word
A strong word which describes the situation. We recognise that this is a genocidal war against the Tamil minority, and call for the unconditional withdrawl of the Sinhala army from the Tamil areas, and the granting of whatever level of autonomy is acceptable
+
The PA won the last election on the basis of promises to call a constituent assembly, in order to amend the constitution, and permit a real autonomous status for the Tamil regions. After coming to power, for many months Chandrika didn't come out with any proposal, or make any noises about the constituent assembly. And instead of withdrawing the troops, she sent them into Jatina, the main town held by Tamil rebels.
This was a doubly irresponsible policy. Not only did it fly in the face of the wishes of the people who voted for the PA in the hope of a just settlement of the Tamil question, but it came at a time when, in the face of massive pressure from their base, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elaan (LITE), the main rebel group, agreed to meet the Sri Lankan government for talks. When the day came, Chandrika had no proposal to put to them. This is why we say that she is entirely responsible for the return to a bloody confrontation
The conflict has escalated into a total war against the Tamil people. Chandrika says it is a war against the LTTE, but she has ordered troops to destroy several Tamil cities, including Jaffina, the largest city in the North, with a pre-war population of about 500,000. A large area of the north is populated by displaced persons and soldiers. And 30-40% of Sri Lankan Tamils have left the country. There are almost half a million refugees in Europe alone. Only the poor are left behind Refugees, even within the Tamil homeland.
No way is this a war against, or to put pressure on the LTTE. It has become, and is seen by everyone in Sri Lanka, as a genocidal war against the Tamil people. Not even the Tamils who support the government
Sri Lanka * could approve the destruction of their cultural centres, their national identity, and their beloved city of
Jafina.
What role does the NSSP see for international solidarity?
This is particularly important in the imperialist countries, where it is possible to press the government not to support repression and destruction in countries like Sri Lanka. As I have said, there are three key demands:
stop the war in the north; stop the repression in the south; and stop the economic policies. which are destroying the living standards of the workers and peasants.
Surely activities along these lines can be organised in the main cities of
Europe and North America, where there are large communities of Sri
Lankan émigrés, mainly Tamils abut also some Sinhalese. A sustained solidarity movement on these three points can mobilise these people.
What kind of group are the
Tamil Tigers?
The western media always talk about
LTTE terrorism. But terror is only a method
- of struggle or of repression. Where there is unbridled terror from the oppressor, there will be terror from the oppressed. So terror is not the defining criteria for judging a political
The LTTE is a Tamil nationalist party based mainly on the poorer peasants and fishermen, with support from some radical parts of the Tamil bourgeoisie. In New York and London, those who speak for the LTTE are professionals and businessmen. Under their influence, the LTTE could become a national bourgeois party.
The Tigers' programme is one of national independence, in a struggle relying almost exclusively on their own resources. They are intolerant of other tendencies. They don't even like independent workers organisations.
Our party, the NSSP, is not tolerated in the areas under their control. They want
For some time, they had big illusions, thinking that western imperialism, would force the Sri Lankan government to grant them some form of autonomy.
But now they realise that American imperialism and the others are virtually conducting the war against the Tamils. The Sri
Lankan army is equipped, trained and has some key personnel supplied by the imperialist powers.
How is your relationship with the LTTE?
Before, they considered us to be a hostile organisation. They were not prepared to listen to us, and did not accept our presence among Tamils in the north east. But now, under heavy repression, and having realised that their enemy has the solid backing of the imperialists, they are increasingly willing to
February 1997#285 21