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July 20, 2009 - No. 141 Vale Inco Workers' Just Strike
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• Vale Inco
Workers' Just Strike Raises Important Issues
Honduras
• Coup Regime Rejects Proposed Solution to
Crisis - Eva Golinger, Postcards from the Revolution
• Hondurans Step Up Resistance
• UN Ignores Honduras Coup Leaders
Vale Inco Workers' Just Strike
Raises Important Issues
Who should profit
from Canada's natural resources -- the people or global monopolies?
Who should control the direction of the
economy?
The just strike by Vale Inco workers goes to the heart of what it means to have a self-reliant sovereign economy that serves the people. In Canada, self-reliance and sovereignty begin with control over natural resources and the direction of the economy. Mother Earth's bounty combined with hard work is our greatest strength. The product that arises from transforming the raw material of our forests and land into use-value is the material foundation of Canada's social fabric. This was true for thousands of years for Aboriginal Nations and today in modern Canada. The advent of machines increases the social product per worker but does not change the fundamental element of Mother Earth's treasure transformed into use-value by hard work and the necessity for ownership and control to be in the hands of the people.
The problem that has arisen is the intrusion of a human force that does not work directly in production yet controls and profits from it. This antagonistic force has no stake in the resource rich regions other than to take their raw materials using the work of locals. This hostile force is the global monopoly personified by distant rich investors -- distant in both space and outlook. From their far-away places, they imagine and demand a return on their stake that must be met regardless of the social and natural consequences. These owners of monopoly capital base their claim to natural resources and right to control and manipulate the economy and workers' lives on private ownership of Canada's land, resources and socialized means of production. These owners of equity and debt see all other claims on the added-value workers produce, as a cost to them and reduction of their return. The main claimant they refer to as a cost is the resident human factor that transforms the natural resource into value, the Canadian working class. The secondary claimant they abhor and denounce as a cost to them, but utilize as the main instrument to maintain their dictatorship, is the society represented by the Canadian state and particularly its spending on social programs and other needs of the people.
Vale (Inco) chief executive officer Roger Agnelli most clearly expresses this complaint of the rich and their global monopolies. Agnelli contends that the "Sudbury [mining and refining] operations are unsustainable at current cost levels." According to this monopoly capitalist from Rio de Janeiro, Canadian workers who produce the value his global monopoly and other investors covet must make concessions to lower their wages, benefits and pensions, their "cost" as he so ungraciously calls workers' claims on the wealth they produce, so that owners of capital can increase their profits. If workers are unwilling to transfer their claims for added-value through concessions to the owners of capital both equity and debt, then in the words of Vale Inco vice-president Steve Ball, "There will be little to talk about."
That is the privilege and arrogance of monopoly right, which Vale Inco workers are bravely resisting.
The "costs" Agnelli refers to as "unsustainable" are the
claims of miners and refiners on the social product they produce
through their
hard work to transform raw material into useable nickel and other
social product. The only legitimate claims on the value added by
workers,
according to Agnelli and others of his social class are those held by
owners of equity and debt. From the capitalist point of view, all other
claims
on added-value are "costs" even those claimants who are the producers
of the wealth in the first place, in this case Vale Inco workers. That
is the
hubris of monopoly right. A handful of global monopolies now control
the world's nickel resource and imagine they can manipulate prices,
supply
and where and when nickel shall be mined and refined. It is the
egocentrism of monopoly power, privilege and wealth that workers and
their allies
must consciously oppose and defeat with unity and determination.
Expanding the Vale Empire on the Backs of the International Working Class
Financial reports show that profit of enterprise taken out of Vale's Ontario Inco operations has been approximately $4.2 billion over the past two and a half years. Interest (and fee) profit for owners of Vale debt was US$1.765 billion for 2008 alone. Much of this interest profit derives from Vale's current US$18.245 billion long-term debt from the highly-leveraged purchase of Inco in 2007. Other Vale debt held by the international financial oligarchy has pushed its gross current and long-term debt and other payments due to US$37.375 billion. This debt has relentlessly grown despite high nickel and other basic commodity prices well into 2008. High market prices for what Vale workers produce resulted in a cash increase of around $10 billion during 2008. Instead of reinvesting this cash in operations such as Vale Inco, increasing the wages, benefits and pensions of its most poorly paid workers around the world including Brazil or paying down debt, the monopoly persists in its policy of acquisitions. News media reported July 16 that Vale is poised to acquire fertiliser monopoly Mosaic Co. for $25 billion. Mosaic is 64 per cent owned by U.S. food monopoly Cargill Inc.
A significant aspect of Vale's debt ownership is that its claim on realized added-value does not directly fluctuate according to market prices for what Vale workers produce or how much added-value is realized (sold). The return on debt ownership is tied to interest and fees and must be paid on pain of bankruptcy according to capitalist commercial law.
Also draining Vale added-value in 2008 was a more than
one billion dollar loss on the derivatives, currency and price hedging
trading
markets. Agnelli does not like to speak about his monopoly's attempts
for big scores in the financial sector that instead ended up draining
millions
from the company's coffers, squandering wealth originally seized from
Vale workers and their countries all over the world.
Sudbury, July 17, 2009
The Control and Claims of Owners of Monopoly Capital Are Unsustainable Mr. Agnelli!
Agnelli's class bias prevents him from correctly identifying those factors that are "unsustainable" within the socialized economy: the claims on realized added-value by the owners of Vale debt, which lessens the claims for profit of enterprise during "all business cycles"; the losses from the company's financial adventures; the instability of markets and their prices despite the monopoly's best efforts to control them by controlling and blocking global production; and the constant pressure from owners of equity for greater dividends and a higher stock market price.
Agnelli looks to Canadian workers and others around the world as a source from where he can take added-value for transfer to the rich. Another way is greater monopoly control of market prices through among other actions seizing resource rich regions and blocking others from producing there, which is what he is threatening to do with the Sudbury nickel belt under the hoax that it is "not sustainable." It is notable that during the current economic crisis, the worst since the 1930s, nickel and other commodity market prices have not fallen to historical lows because of greater monopoly control of supply and trading of basic commodities.
Ironically and unknown to Agnelli's consciousness, the power of monopoly right to control prices and supply also drives down workers' claims on the added-value they produce and deprives the masses of people around the world of the means to purchase social product, which then becomes a catalyst for even more severe economic crises sending many monopolies into bankruptcy and ruin. Anti-consciously, the empire building of monopolies is the architect of their own spontaneous ruin while the conscious resistance of the organized working class is the force that can save humanity.
When prices rise, as they surely will because of monopoly manipulation, Agnelli does not want Canadian workers' production bonuses and other claims to reduce his bonanza. This is what Agnelli means in his final offer to Canadian workers published July 7, which calls for a "restructuring to make each operation, including Sudbury and Port Colborne, cash-flow positive (after all costs) and self-sustaining in all business cycles." According to Agnelli, workers' claims must be low enough under all circumstances, whether boom or bust, to "sustain" the bloated claims of owners of debt and equity, cover any losses Vale may suffer in its pursuit of big scores in the financial sector and allow Vale to expand its empire through acquisitions.
Canadians must understand that the roughly $20 billion Vale paid to take over Inco's operations in 2007 was sucked into an economic black hole never to appear in Sudbury, Port Colborne or Labrador. It was not a reward for the hard work of the construction workers, miners and refiners who built Inco over the last more than one hundred years that could be reinvested in the region; it was a scam by fraudsters to sell the rights to Canada's natural resources and means of production -- rights to land and raw material that should never be in private hands, for that is an attack on the very being of Canadians and their future prosperity and well-being, which includes the hereditary rights of Aboriginal Nations.
The $20 billion sucked into an economic black hole created another monster, which is the annual $1.5 billion interest claim until the debt is extinguished. That $1.5 billion interest claim must come in part from added-value produced by Vale Inco miners and refiners. That claim by owners of debt and the additional claim by owners of equity that is taken out of Sudbury and the country are very unsustainable and a high cost to Canadians and their socialized economy.
Agnelli attacks the legitimate claim of workers on the social product they produce because he cannot easily dismiss those of the owners of debt unless he puts Vale into bankruptcy protection. Owners of debt are part of the ruling elite and the international financial oligarchy within the imperialist system of states just as Agnelli, Vale and owners of equity are members of that privileged and obsolete class, which always owns both equity and debt. Bankruptcy is a risky last resort that would imperil the current owners of equity and debt and the existence of the Vale Empire itself but fortunes change quickly in the restless reckless world of monopoly competition and boundless greed, where ruin is a constant threat.
Conscious Resistance to Monopoly Right and Control
How do Canadians assert
their sovereignty and restrict
the global monopolies from exploiting their natural resources and their
work
in transforming raw material into use-value? How do Canadians put the
country on the path to nation-building free of the destructive clutches
of
the global monopolies? That is a dilemma faced by Canadians and others
around the world that must be taken up for solution. For it is from the
control over resources, means of production and the state, and the
power of the enormous wealth they seize that the monopolies cause havoc
with
prices, leave the resource regions underdeveloped and whole economies
in crisis, squander money in parasitic schemes for big scores in the
financial
sector and use their power and wealth to finance private and state
armies to compete, fight, build and destroy empires and wage wars
against the
people and amongst themselves over control of natural resources,
chattel labour and spheres of influence.
The Vale Inco miners and refiners are on the front lines to restrict monopoly right through their fight against concessions and to maintain for new hires their Canadian-standard wages, benefits and pensions. Canadians should rally round this just strike and ensure that it is won.
This strike focuses attention on the broader issues of control over the country's natural resources and the direction of the economy.
Canadians should discuss the question of control over their work and lives, which means crucially control over the natural resources of this land and the direction of the socialized economy and who should benefit from it. Restricting monopoly right to exploit Canada's natural resources would be a great advance towards building a human-centred alternative. Defeating Vale Inco's attack on Canadian workers is part of restricting monopoly right.
Let us organize discussions on the necessity for the people to assert their sovereign right to own, control and profit from Canada's natural resources and decide the direction of the socialized economy, which includes new arrangements with Aboriginal Nations that restore their hereditary rights.
The just strike by Vale Inco workers goes to the heart of what it means to have a self-reliant sovereign economy that serves the people. In Canada, self-reliance and sovereignty begin with control over natural resources and the direction of the economy.
Whose Canada? Our Canada!
Whose economy? Our economy!
Who decides? We decide!
Concessions are not
solutions! Rally round the just strike of Vale Inco
workers!
Honduras
Coup Regime Rejects Proposed Solution to Crisis
TML is posting below
excerpts from a July 19 update from journalist Eva Golinger plus
related news regarding the mediation between constitutional President
Manuel Zelaya and his delegation and that of the coup leaders and their
president Roberto Micheletti. The talks, which began on July 10, are
being held in Costa Rica with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias serving
as mediator.
***
The talks are finished for now, with no resolution. The coup regime in Honduras, which ousted President Zelaya exactly 3 weeks ago, has rejected the 7-point proposal put forth by designated mediator Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica. Zelaya's delegation in Costa Rica had earlier stated they had accepted the proposal, but later said they accepted debating the proposal, and didn't comment on whether or not they had unconditionally accepted all seven terms laid out by Arias.
The coup regime today introduced a counter-proposal, which would not have allowed for President Manuel Zelaya's return to the presidency, but would have allowed his return to Honduras, to be tried and imprisoned for alleged constitutional violations. The coup regime and those participants in the June 28th coup d'etat that involved the violent kidnapping and forced exile of President Zelaya, have claimed that a coup did not take place, but rather a "rescue" of the constitutional [order]. They claim that President Zelaya was violating the constitution by proposing a non-binding national survey on the possibility of future constitutional reform. Most strange in this claim is that a non-binding survey, which means it doesn't legally matter what the outcome is, to consult the people's will regarding their constitution, is somehow a violent crime that justifies kidnapping, forced exile, and 3 weeks of imposed national curfew, suspension of constitutional rights and repression of the people. Who are the real criminals? [...]
President Zelaya's delegation reaffirmed their commitment to the mediation process and verified they had accepted the 7-point proposal from Arias as a point of debate, particularly point 1, the restitution of Manuel Zelaya to the presidency of Honduras. Even President Oscar Arias -- the mediator (via Washington) -- confirmed that point 1 was the essence of the entire negotiation. The Zelaya delegation declared the talks as "failed" and "over," but Arias called for another 72-hours to work on a solution that will prevent a civil war from erupting in the Central American nation. "Give me another 72 hours to work tirelessly on a solution, in order to avoid bloodshed," Noble Peace prize winner Arias said before the international media that were anxiously awaiting the outcome of today's meetings outside the presidential residence in San José de Costa Rica.
Another 72 hours? Stalling, or a sincere attempt to prevent civil war? Be it either, too much time has already passed that has allowed for the coup regime to violate more than a thousand citizen's human rights, assassinate and injure dozens others and consolidate itself in the government.
How will Washington react now? Will Obama-Clinton continue to skirt the issue of a "coup" and the return of Zelaya to power and back the 72-hour request by Arias? Probably. And Clinton lawyer and Advisor Lanny Davis will continue to make roadways in Washington for acceptance of the coup regime in Honduras. [...]
***
In related news, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he will return to his country next weekend after peace talks with the rival coup government broke down.
"Next weekend we will have all the necessary activities (in place) for my return," he said on Sunday.
Talking from Nicaragua, where he has been based since the Honduran army forced him into exile three weeks ago, Zelaya noted that internal resistance was being organized in his country for his return.
Earlier on July 5, Zelaya tried to return home, but he was forced to give up when the Honduran military parked military vehicles across the runway he was trying to use.
The deposed leader also urged the international community to support him as the democratically elected president of the country.
"I expect the international community to back us in restoring democratic order," said Zelaya.
For Your Information
News agencies report that Oscar Arias, who was designated by the U.S. Department of State to assume the role of mediator in the Honduran crisis is said to have presented a "document" to both parties, which include representatives from the coup regime and the constitutional government that was ousted in the coup on June 28. The document called on all parties to accept the following seven terms in order to resolve the political crisis:
1. Allow President Manuel Zelaya to return to his post as president until the end of his term on January 29, 2010.
2. Conform a new government (with Zelaya as president) based on "unity" and "reconciliation," composed on representatives from all political parties in the country to govern through the end of Zelaya's term.
3. Declare a general amnesty to those actors involved in the coup d'etat.
4. President Zelaya will have to renounce any effort to convene a referendum or consultation with the people of Honduras regarding future constitutional reform.
5. Hold early elections during the last weekend of October instead of November 29th, 2009.
6. The military will be commanded by the Supreme Court of Honduras as of September 2009 in order to "ensure" a smooth electoral process.
7. Creation of a truth commission composed of renowned
Hondurans and members from the international community, particularly
the Organization of
American States (OEA) to supervise the correct return of constitutional
order and the implementation of the above terms.
(Press TV, Prensa Latina)
Hondurans Step Up Resistance
People`s unity and their determination to reverse the military coup have consolidated the Honduran people`s hopes for achieving a truly fair participative democracy in Honduras, presidential candidate Cesar Ham told Prensa Latina.
Ham, who presented himself as candidate for the Democratic Unified Party (UD in Spanish) added that peoples' resistance confirmed the possibility of changing the conditions of misery and exploitation his country is living. There was the Honduras before the June 28 coup, and there is another after it, he said.
Ham pointed out that the constitutional order in the country was broken last June 28 when masked troops kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya and forced him into exile in Costa Rica. When the news was heard popular leaders and thousands of people gathered in front of the presidential house demanding Zelaya's return and condemning coup leaders. Marches and demonstration have been going on for 23 days, in spite of brutal repression by the armed forces, he pointed out. With such facts, we are hopeful that we will be able to make necessary changes in the exploitive structures that have plunged Hondurans into misery, he said.
Ham expressed his rejection and that of the UD to international manoeuvres aimed at trying to deprive the Honduras people of the opportunity to fight the oligarchy and military coup leaders. He also noted that the UD has clearly expressed its position regarding the U.S.-backed mediation by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. The dialogue process should only seek the unconditional return of president Manuel Zelaya to the government, he emphasized. He added that those who violated the Constitution, human rights and repressed the population must be punished.
(Prensa Latina)
UN Ignores Honduras Coup Leaders
The United Nations Security Council tossed aside a letter by Honduras coup leaders in which they requested its intervention after alleged threats and provocation by Venezuela.
UN diplomats told Prensa Latina that the letter has not received any attention, and it will not be distributed as an official document.
That decision was made by Ugandan Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, who received the document Thursday as Security Council chairman.
"The Security Council only receives correspondence from governments and organizations that it recognizes", the consulted diplomatic officials highlighted.
The letter is signed by Honduras de facto foreign minister Carlos López Contreras, who accuses Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of plotting to invade the Central American nation.
He also claimed that the jet with Venezuelan registration in which Honduran constitutional President Manuel Zelaya tried to return to Honduras on July 5 had violated Honduras airspace.
The UN Security Council considers the de facto government in Honduras illegal, after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the June 28 coup.
It has also called upon the UN 192 members not to recognize any government other than Zelaya`s.
(Prensa Latina)
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