Quim Boix speech at the Presidential Counsel of the WFU Hanoi, Vietnam, 5&6 march 2016

Quim Boix speech at the Presidential Counsel of the WFU

Hanoi, Vietnam, 5&6 march 2016

Comrades,

It is always a pleasure and a responsibility to be able to participate in a reunion of our Presidential Counsel, and more if this one is made at the country that knew how to defeat the imperialist monster, and did it. This monster that, since it is still not destroyed worldwide, unluckily, continues to attack today other countries with the same aim as in Vietnam: take control of the natural resources and exploit its citizens. Capitalism will act in this way while it exists.

But this capitalism continues from crisis to crisis until between all we shall push it to the final crisis, forecasted by the Marxist science crisis that it will not be able to overcome.

Few days ago, in the name of the direction of WFU, substituting our General Secretary, comrade George Mavrikos, I spent almost a week at Dakar, Senegal. The 4 syndicates that are there affiliated to the WFU, besides carrying a great work of coordination of their activities, joined efforts at a Seminary of Syndical Formation and hoisted the Reunion at Francophone Office of Africa of the WFU. Between the activities I want to

point out their compromise to make at Dakar, Senegal, the First African Conference, Francophone and Anglophone, of Class Organizations of P&R of the WFU, probably this November.

Thus, the European conference of P&R that we will hold this July, 20th, at Copenhagen, Denmark , and the one of Asia, that we hope to hold in Pakistan, we will accomplish what we accorded at the foundational congress of our UIS-IUS –International Union of Syndicates- (Barcelona, Spain, February 2014).

At Senegal, the syndicates affiliated to the WFU took us to visit the Museum of Slavery that they have at the island Gorée, near Dakar, There, in the honor book, I wrote this phrase:

“As WFU we are working not only for the slavery that affected mainly millions of black persons of Africa not repeating, but we also work for overthrowing Capitalism (destroying it), since it is a new form of slavery. Before and now few persons, rich and powerful militarily, exploit the majority of Humanity, placing their egotism and thirst for riches over any other thing. Class syndicates of the planet we are going to play a decisive role in this task to overthrow Capitalism.”

This phrase outlines what the P&R of the correspondent IUS of the WFU have set as our objective.

The 17th Congress of the WFU will help, no doubt, to advance in that direction and aim.

I attach, written and in several languages, the resume of 5 years of syndical works of our IUS, so I will not repeat it now.

Yes I beg you, comrades, you help our IUS of R&P to make a big success the Regional Continental Conferences, convened by our IUS. We do not have still an organized structure, so we depend on your help.

Organize the P&R is a way of giving continuity to the many years of struggle of thousands of syndical leaders when they arrived to a well-deserved age of retirement. Our WFU must not leave unorganized those who do not have a Company and yet result to have all the hours of the day

to continue the fight for improving the living conditions of the working class.

There are syndicates that prefer to keep the P&R in their federative structure, but this must not be incompatible with their collaboration and work at the structure of the P&R depending on the territory where they live.

Each day, the P&R, the syndical classist militant that because of his age does not work, when he walks out of home, meets other P&R that live near his place. As organizers of the working class, the WFU must boost the P&R to be organized in the defense of their rights: sufficient public pension and life with dignity (this is, decent house, food, health, transport nearby and entertainment payable with the pension paid by the State).

Capitalism means to privatize all the public systems of pensions so in this way the enormous quantities that are now controlled by the State will pass on to private hands. Do not forget, comrades, that P&R we are almost 20% of the world population and 30% of the voters of the political elections. Organize P&R is fundamental to change this society.

The syndicates of the CSI-ICS (International Conference of Syndicates) help capitalists to spread the idea that private pensions are good. In this way, they get commissions as managers of private pension funds, and other extra economical aids, to finance luxuries for their reformist syndical leaders. In Spain I can give you many examples and data that confirm this reality. May one serve as example: January, 2011, the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Party) with CCOO and UGT (Reformist Syndicates) signed a pact that delays the retirement to 67 years, and cuts the money paid as pension as much as 30%. Thus, besides betraying the working class, boosts the private pensions.

As this is the Spanish reality, at Bolivia, by an agreement of Evo Morales with the syndicates of that country affiliated to our WFU, in 2010 the age of retirement was lowered to 58 years (some 10 less than at Europe) with the positive discrimination for women, that have an year less for every conceived child (with a limit of 55 years).

Class syndicalism is, and always will, against any privatization of the public, and thus against all private funds for pensions. I use this opportunity to salute the great International Journey that is boosted by the IUS of Public Services against privatizations due next April, 4th.

Today in our planet there are 62 persons that accumulate the same money as half the humanity. This means that each one of this 62 persons is, in average, as rich as 57,5 million persons. Thus, there is enough money in the world for the P&R, for free health and public quality teaching. We only need to establish Socialism so human needs may be fulfilled by society’s work.

I end my mention to the work of our IUS of P&R remembering that reformist syndicates, following what the great capital orders, do not organize P&R. A World IUS equivalent to the WFU does not exist. They only have of a European Office to canalize through it the subventions given by the multinational companies. In other continents the CSI-ICS cannot organize the P&R since few public pensions exist so they, as reformist syndicates, favor individual and private pensions.

Making reference to the reality of the syndical struggle at the Spanish State, only tell you that CCOO and UGT are confirming their alliance with the capitalist managers. As they have shown recently, supporting the possible new government promoting capitalist interests that are decided these days at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, while we are in Vietnam.

I regret to say that, even with the help given by the Secretariat of the WFU, it was not possible for the syndicates of the Spanish State affiliated to the WFU to join efforts to carry a great act in Madrid to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the WFU.

I must point out that in Spain sympathies for the WFU continue to grow. Thus, new proposals of affiliation arrive to this Presidential Counsel which I propose we approve.

Not to surpass the accorded time for this speech, I manifest my agreement with all the proposals that our comrade George Mavrikos has presented. Thank you comrades for your attention.