April 15, 2010 - No. 71

Poland

Dilemma Over Where to Bury Polish Reactionary

Poland
• Dilemma Over Where to Bury Polish Reactionary

Postal Workers
• Stand with the Postal Workers -- Fight for a Truly Modern Post Office
• Postal Workers Defend Their Jobs and Strive to Stop the Wrecking of the Public Postal Service - Peggy Askin
• More Cuts Coming at Canada Post - CUPW

Weston Bakeries, Boucherville, Quebec
• Weston Workers Say No to Monopoly Intimidation - Normand Chouinard

98th Anniversary of Birth of Korean Leader Kim Il Sung
• Striving to Build a Prosperous Nation

Poland

Dilemma Over Where to Bury Polish Reactionary

A row has broken out in Poland over the decision to bury Polish President Lech Kaczynski in the Royal Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, a place reserved since the 14th century for Poland's "kings, heroes and poets," news agencies report. Mr. Kaczynski died in a plane crash on April 10 along with his wife, Maria, and many other senior national figures. The decision was made by the Archbishop of Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz at the request of the president's twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland's main opposition "Law and Justice" party. The deceased president was expected to run in the next election under this party's banner. It is reported that the Kaczynskis will be buried in a crypt close to Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, said to be the "founding father of modern-day Poland."

The row over the choice of burial site is reported to be a disagreement over whether or not Kaczynski, who is clearly neither a king nor a poet, is a hero worthy to share hallowed space with the likes of Jozef Pilsudski. The protests have been by all accounts extensive. On Tuesday April 13, in Krakow, about 500 people staged a protest against the burial. The demonstrations spread to the capital Warsaw and other cities on Wednesday. A Facebook group called "No to the Kaczynskis burial in Wawel" had attracted more than 26,000 members by Wednesday morning. Polish film director Andrzej Wajda stated in an open letter published on the website of the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza: "President Lech Kaczynski was an ordinary and good man, but there is no reason for him to lie in the Wawel among the kings of Poland and Marshal Jozef Pilsudski."

Why then have the ruling elite decided to bury him with the likes of Pilsudski and why is Pilsudski considered a hero?

The story of Jozef Pilsudski takes us back to the early 20th century. In 1916 Pilsudski broke with his political organization because it wanted to assist the Russian revolutionaries in toppling the Tsar. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Pilsudski insisted that troops under his command only fight the Soviets. In fact, his subsequent lifetime political guiding idea was called "promethism" the core of which was to break up the Soviet Union. In pursuit of this agenda in the service of the Polish landlords, gentry and militarists Pilsudski conducted active military operations against Soviet Russia from 1919-21, along with the twenty other imperialists powers which were trying to destroy the new socialist state. In 1926, Pilsudski instigated a fascist military coup in Poland where 379 people were killed and more than 900 wounded. He imprisoned many of his political opponents, establishing a special prison for them in 1934, and ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1935. Pilsudski also conciliated with the Nazis. His foreign minister, Jozef Beck, a former Austrian secret agent who outlived him, has become a lasting symbol of criminal pro-Hitler policy and national betrayal. Despite this sordid record, Pilsudski is considered by the restored remnants of the old aristocratic landlord and militarist elite to be the father of modern Poland.

For his part, Lech Kaczynski was active in the imperialist-supported, anti-communist Solidarity movement from the beginning and was the main adviser and supporter of the traitor Lech Walesa when the latter was elected President of Poland in December 1990. In 2001, Kaczynski founded the ultra-reactionary Law and Justice party with his twin brother, Jaroslaw. During his presidential inauguration in 2005 Lech Kaczynski stated that one of his main goals would be "bringing justice" to those who were responsible or affected by "communist crimes" in the People's Republic of Poland.

Thus Kaczynski is cut from the same cloth as Pilsudski. By seeking to bury him in the cathedral the Polish ruling class is trying to cement the anti-people, anti-communist and Nazi path for Poland forever and ever.

One thing is certainly clear about the controversy over where to bury Kaczynski: it is not the Polish people who made the decision!

Postal Workers

Stand with the Postal Workers --
Fight for a Truly Modern Post Office

Canada Post is slashing jobs and eliminating service in the name of modernizing the Post Office, claiming that it is becoming more efficient and optimizing its operations. What Canada Post means when it speaks about "efficiencies," and "optimizing operations" and its claims of modernization is an important issue for postal workers and all Canadians. Canada Post is spending billions of dollars to introduce new technology and upgrade plant facilities. It calls this creating a modern Post Office. Canada Post also uses the term as a cover for launching attacks on the workers who produce the added-value at Canada Post, but who it considers a "cost of production." It is also a cover for attacking the services which Canadians need from their public Post Office. This is not modernization, it is nation-wrecking.

It argues that the "success" of the Post Office is measured by how much it can reduce payroll costs by seeing how many jobs can be eliminated. How can nation-wrecking and an assault on the rights of the producers of the wealth be considered modern? Adding to the ranks of the unemployed while slashing service to communities will actually deepen the economic crisis.

"Modernization" in Canada Post's lexicon also refers to launching an all-out assault on the collective rights of postal workers. Canada Post's stated intention is to gut the collective agreements of everything which it decides will get in the way of its plans for "increased labour productivity."

All of this is being done in the service of the monopolies and their aim to enhance their competitive position on the world market. At the end of the day it means the exploitation of the workers increases while their working conditions, including the mental and physical well-being of the workers, deteriorate at an even faster rate.

Canada Post is one of the national institutions which are part of the Canadian social and economic reality, established as part of Canada's nation-building. By definition, it will be modern if it is organized in such a manner as to be consistent with the needs of the society. A modern Canada Post must be organized to contribute to a nation-building project. This would include developing all the means of communications which Canadians require as a public institution serving the public good. It also means that the post office must be organized on the basis of recognizing the rights of workers.

When Canada Post conducted a Strategic Review, in 2008 it received hundreds of submissions from cities, towns and villages across Canada and from workers and their collectives. Canadians said in no uncertain terms that they value their postal services and want them retained in their communities. Canadians also made many proposals for new and enhanced services. Canadians clearly stated what they consider as Canada Post's social responsibility.

CUPW and PSAC, the unions whose members are targetted, are standing firmly on the basis that Canada Post must uphold its social responsibility. TML calls on all Canadian workers and people to stand with the postal workers in their fight for their rights and for a truly modern post office.

For more information, go to the CUPW website at www.cupw.ca

Postal Workers Defend Their Jobs and Strive to
Stop the Wrecking of the Public Postal Service

- Peggy Askin -

On April 8, Canada Post notified the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that it would be slashing 166 mail processing jobs in several regions across Canada. The job cuts will take place in the Atlantic and Pacific regions and in southwestern Ontario. The elimination of mail processing jobs will begin in August 2010. This assault on the livelihood of postal workers and cuts to services to Canadians involves the communities of Moncton, New Brunswick; Kitchener, Guelph, and Cambridge, Ontario; and Victoria, British Columbia. In a bulletin published on April 8, CUPW explained that Canada Post is moving mail from street letter boxes from Moncton to the mail processing plant in Saint John. Admail and originating parcels from Kitchener is being moved to the Gateway processing plant in Toronto. Originating forward and incoming lettermail and incoming admail products from Victoria will be moved to the processing plants in Vancouver.

Postal workers have aptly described this as an attack on their livelihood and the invaluable public service they provide. The announcement that postal workers' jobs are to be slashed across the country came less than a week after Canada Post's announcement that they are outsourcing 300 jobs at their Contact Centres and the National Philatelic Centre. These call centre workers represented by the the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) component, the Union of Postal and Communication Employees (UPCE) currently work in Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Antigonish and Fredericton. This elimination of jobs and service is all-out nation wrecking. Many of the areas facing cuts are already reeling from the wrecking of manufacturing and/or forestry in their regions.

There is no doubt that slashing jobs and cutting out local mail processing and sorting in the affected regions will impact customer service. In December of last year Canada Post eliminated all local sorting by postal workers on Vancouver Island in communities such as Campbell River, Courtenay, Port Alberni, and Nanaimo. All parcels and mail were to be trucked up and down the Island and sorted in Victoria and Vancouver. Canada Post's media statements when these cutbacks occurred referred to the potential job loss and the deterioration of service as an issue of "efficiency."

On March 22, Canada Post announced that it was planning to review the possibility of sending all mail from Vancouver Island to Vancouver for sorting and then return the processed mail to Victoria. At the same time some of the planned cuts to mail processing in Ontario and New Brunswick were also announced. Canada Post stated that they "intended to review the national network with a view of optimizing operations." Responding to this announcement, John Bail, National Director of CUPW Pacific Region, stated in a press release issued on March 24, 2010:

"This change represents further serious service cuts on Vancouver Island that could affect hundreds of jobs on Vancouver Island in all the communities. [...] We can now expect to see serious delays in mail destined to arrive and leave from Vancouver Island. Everyone who lives on Vancouver Island is used to serious weather delays to the ferry service, as ferries cannot run under adverse weather conditions. These delays will now affect your mail service. The results of these changes will reduce employment in these communities and lengthen the time it takes for business to communicate by mail."

CUPW President Denis Lemelin stated in a media release on April 8: "This is an abdication of Canada Post's social responsibility as a publicly owned institution that is supposed to serve the public interest. [...] We need jobs in our communities, not jobs outsourced by CEO's." Lemelin stated that the workforce in the Victoria and Kitchener plants alone will be virtually cut in half, while the economic impact on the affected communities may add up to millions of dollars...." He stated that "At stake are hundreds of post worker jobs, many of them held by 'temporary' employees who have been with Canada Post for years."

The postal workers are facing this onslaught by upholding their honourable tradition of defending their rights and fighting for a service that serves the needs of the people.

Weston Workers Say No to Monopoly Intimidation

- Normand Chouinard -

At the end of March, workers at Weston Bakeries, located in Boucherville, Quebec and owned by the Weston empire (Loblaw, Maxi, President's Choice, etc.), learned the company had decided to close the operation in December 2010. Last February the bakery products monopoly in Canada had threatened its 145 plant workers with a shutdown if demands for concessions were not accepted.

Saturday, February 20 marked the first time that workers unanimously refused the demands for concessions. Negotiations to renew the collective agreement had begun last November 10 and 13 bargaining meetings had taken place without an agreement. The company threatened that if its offer was not accepted, it would close the facility. It set the deadline to accept its offer for Saturday, March 13, 11:59 pm. Union President Éloi Lévesque responded to the threat by saying that "It shows a flagrant lack of respect towards the men and women who work here. It is a total refutation of what we have been doing all these years. They have the gall to tell us that it's not about profits but about bakery operating costs and the result of above-average working conditions. We offered our assistance in finding solutions, but they preferred to ignore us, as if we know nothing about baking." Wayne Wilson, union advisor at the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD), questioned Weston's motives, accusing it of noncompliance with the labour code: "The labour code clearly stipulates that the parties must bargain in good faith."

For a second time, the workers rejected by 95 percent the demands for concessions on a vote held the same day as the March 13 ultimatum. Lévesque pointed out that the results show "the determination of the members to be treated with respect." "No to the President's Choice, Yes to the Union's Choice!" he declared. "Threats are not an appropriate means of bargaining. Union members have shown great solidarity and it is entirely to their credit," added Wilson. Finally on March 26, for a third time, the workers again rejected the concessionary demands by 68 percent, this time despite the presence of a negotiation mediator. The union leadership summed up the anti-labour tenor of the negotiations this way: "There was Plan A, which consisted of accepting the employer's offer and Plan B, which consisted of closing the plant." The monopoly's proposal also demanded greater work schedule flexibility and the layoff of 75 employees, as well as poorer working conditions and a reduction in wages.

It was after the third vote to reject its offer that the company decided to definitively close its Boucherville plant in December 2010. In a CSD press release, Lévesque denounced the announced closure: "We are presently experiencing a huge injustice. This is tragic for everyone. When the company states there are recurring problems in performance and that we've never attained the productivity expected of us, then I ask how is it that management was never interested in discussing with us? When the company asserts it is experiencing a situation of over-production in its Quebec plants, then I ask why it is producing bread at Multi-Marques, its direct competitor? We want to be part of the solution and they simply want to crush us."

Weston Corporate Profile

George Weston Limited is a Canadian public company, founded in 1882, engaged in food processing and distribution. The Company has two reportable operating segments: Loblaw Companies Limited and Weston Foods, and holds cash and short term investments. The Loblaw operating segment, which is operated by Loblaw Companies Limited and its subsidiaries, is Canada's largest food distributor and a leading provider of general merchandise, drugstore, and financial products and services. The Weston Foods operating segment is a leading fresh and frozen baking company in Canada and is engaged in frozen baking and biscuit manufacturing in the United States.

Weston seeks long term, stable growth in its operating segments through continuous capital investment supported by a strong balance sheet, thereby providing sustainable returns to its shareholders through a combination of common share price appreciation and dividends. In order to be successful in delivering long term value to shareholders and to fulfill its long term objectives of security and growth, Weston employs various operating strategies. Weston Foods concentrates on brand development, low operating costs and maintaining a broad customer base, with the objective of being the best provider of bakery solutions and fresh dairy products to its customers. Loblaw concentrates on food retailing, with the objective of providing Canadian consumers with the best in one-stop shopping for everyday household needs.

Weston is committed to creating value for its shareholders and participating along with its more than 155,000 employees in supporting the communities in which it operates.

(Source: George Weston Limited website)

98th Anniversary of Birth of Korean Leader Kim Il Sung

Striving to Build a Prosperous Nation

DPRK President Kim Il Sung
1912-1994

April 15, 2010 marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Kim Il Sung, legendary leader of the Korean people in the Anti-Japanese Liberation War, the Korean War and the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic (DPRK) as a sovereign, modern and socialist nation.

On this occasion, TML sends its warmest greetings to the Korean people with confidence that they will exceed all expectations in their historic nation-building project.

In the DPRK, all manner of festivities have been underway to celebrate the anniversary, with many foreign delegations coming to pay their respects while overseas friendship associations and other bodies are holding commemorative events.

Besides the celebrations in the DPRK, the memory and legacy of Kim Il Sung is being honoured with all kinds of projects undertaken to constantly improve the well-being of the people, which was his fervent desire throughout his life. These projects are part of a program to increase living standards, accomplish major construction projects and strengthen the economy by 2012, the centenary of Kim Il Sung's birth.

Korean youth enjoy the new pool facilities at Kim Il Sung University.

A report on the results of the implementation of the DPRK state budget for last year and its state budget for this year delivered to the 2nd Session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly on April 9 shows how this plan is being implemented by increases to expenditures in light industry, expected to go up 10.1 percent, an additional 9.4 percent for the metallurgical, power and coal industries and 7.3 percent for railway transport as compared with last year. Expenditures for the machine-building industry are also expected to go up and an 8.5 percent greater financial allocation will be made for scientific research and the introduction of new technologies, amongst other increases. Meanwhile, the Korean Central News Agency reports that production in the key sector of pig iron and steel production in the first quarter of 2010 has exceeded its targets.

Legacy of Kim Il Sung

A press release from the DPRK Permanent Mission to the UN outlines the major achievements of President Kim Il Sung. It points out that during the military occupation of Korea by the Japanese imperialists (1905-1945), Kim Il Sung organized and led the anti-Japanese armed struggle for 15 years and brought about Korea's liberation. He successfully organized a people's army and employed guerrilla tactics that constantly put the Japanese forces on the defensive. Unable to defeat the highly organized guerrilla units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in battle after battle, the Japanese ultimately surrendered to the Korean forces at the end of World War Two.

In 1948 the DPRK was established. Not long afterward, President Kim Il Sung and the Korean people were forced into battle by the U.S. imperialists whose provocative actions led to the Korean War. The U.S. was overconfident about a quick victory over the nascent DPRK. Despite the U.S. surprise attack at dawn on June 25, 1950 which began the war, Kim Il Sung and the KPA were not caught off guard. Under his orders, the KPA units checked the enemy's offensive a few hours after the start of the war, switched over to a counter-offensive and moved south steadily gaining momentum as they advanced. In little over a month the KPA liberated 90 percent of the territory of south Korea and 92 percent of its population.

President Kim Il Sung, addressing the First Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1945 (left)
and making a radio address in 1950 during the Korean War (right).

The United States, attempting to "encircle and annihilate" the KPA units, sent troops of 15 other countries to the Korean front, as part of an infamous and illegitimate UN "police action." In response, President Kim Il Sung ordered the KPA to make a strategic and temporary retreat, thus keeping the initiative in the hands of the DPRK.

He then turned the tide of the war by ensuring that the KPA units formed the second front, harassed the enemy in their rear and made a new counter-offensive. The KPA soldiers, taking advantage of the mountainous terrain of their country, developed tunnel warfare and dug deep into the mountains and employed a wide range of tactics to frustrate and weaken the enemy's forces. Through the use of innovative tactics and daring operations, Kim Il Sung as Supreme Commander always took the initiative and adapted to the ever-changing situation, ultimately leading to the defeat of the U.S. aggressors. After forcing the U.S. to sign the Korean Armistice Agreement, a document of the U.S. surrender, General Mark Clark, commander of the UN forces confessed that the KPA had emerged victorious thanks to General Kim Il Sung's command.

Left: President Kim Il Sung with KPA troops at the front during the Korean War.
Right: U.S. forces withdraw south of the 38th parallel following their defeat in the war.

The U.S. imperialists' spirit of revanchism and striving for global domination has meant that ever since the end of the Korean War, the U.S. has maintained a brutal economic blockade, continued to garrison troops in south Korea as well as various weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons. In addition, it has committed innumerable acts of espionage, military provocations and war games which continue to the present.

In the early 1960s, when the situation was getting worse owing to the U.S. schemes to ignite a new war, President Kim Il Sung advanced the line of simultaneously pushing ahead with economic construction and defence building. The military was further strengthened and modernized and defence training provided to all citizens, thus turning the whole country into a veritable fortress against foreign aggression.

A short biography of President Kim Il Sung posted on the DPRK website Naenara notes his decisive contributions to the central issue of Korean reunification, in which he set forth the three principles of national reunification (May 1972), the plan for founding a Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo (October 1980) and the 10-Point Program of the Great Unity of the Whole Nation for the Reunification of the Country (April 1993).

Far from permitting the DPRK to be isolated by the U.S. imperialists, Naenara points out that President Kim Il Sung did his utmost to build links with the peoples of the world on behalf of the Korean people. He met more than 70,000 foreign guests including heads of state and government and party leaders, and paid official or unofficial visits to 87 countries on 54 occasions.

He received more than 180 top decorations from more than 70 countries and international organizations, titles of honorary citizenship of more than 30 cities, titles of honorary professor and honorary doctor from 20 renowned foreign universities, and 165,920 gifts from heads of state and government and party leaders of 169 countries.

In June of 1994, he met former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Pyongyang and created favorable conditions for the opening of DPRK-U.S. negotiations about the nuclear issue and for a north-south summit.

He worked tirelessly for the Party and the revolution, for the country and the people, for global independence until the last moment of his life when he died of a sudden illness in his office at two o'clock on the morning of July 8, 1994.

TML salutes the great achievements of President Kim Il Sung as reflected in the revolutionary spirit of the people of the DPRK today, in the work to reunite Korea, free from outside interference, and build a bright future for themselves. At a time when the peoples of the world are striving to defeat imperialism around the world, a great debt is owed to President Kim Il Sung and the Korean people for the incalculable sacrifices made to establish the DPRK which has been an implacable bulwark against U.S. imperialism.

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