Biden names board to help end freight railroad and union contract disputes

By David Shepardson - 

Sunday, July 17,2022

(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday named the members of an emergency board tasked with helping resolve disputes between freight rail carriers and their unions, the White House said.

Biden signed an order on Friday ahead of a deadline to intervene in nationwide U.S. railroad labor talks covering 115,000 workers or open the door to a potential strike or lockout that could threaten an already fragile economy and choke supplies of food and fuel.

Biden named Ira F. Jaffe https://www.law.gwu.edu/ira-f-jaffe to chair the presidential emergency board. Jaffe, who has been involved in labor and employment arbitration cases for more than four decades and chaired or served on five other emergency boards, is a U.S. panelist on the Rapid Response Labor Panel under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

He also named Boston College Professor David Twomey, who has served on prior boards that helped resolve major rail and airline disputes, and Barbara C. Deinhardt, an independent arbitrator who has served as chair of the New York State Employment Relations Board and New York State Workers’ Compensation Board.

If Biden had not created the board by Monday, railroads and unions could have opted for operational shutdowns or strikes, respectively.

The board "will provide a structure for workers and management to resolve their disagreements. The Board will investigate the dispute and, within 30 days of its establishment, deliver a report recommending how the dispute should be resolved," the White House said.

Talks between major freight railroads, including Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF, and unions representing their workers have dragged on for more than two years.

The order triggers a "cooling-off" period to help the sides reach a settlement.

U.S. business groups representing retailers as well as food and fuel producers warned that failing to appoint a board would be "disastrous" for the softening economy.

Railroads move everything from Amazon.com Inc. packages to fuel oil and soybeans, and a shutdown of any kind could send prices for necessities higher and upend battered supply chains.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)

© Reuters/OCTAVIO JONESFILE PHOTO: Containers are stored at the Port of Savannah

New Biden order aims to punish groups, governments that detain Americans abroad

By Adam Schrader

President Joe Biden speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 11. On Tuesday, he announced an order intended to aid Americans held hostage abroad or detained by foreign governments. Photo by Shawn Thew/UPI | License Photo

July 19 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden announced a new executive order Tuesday that expands methods for U.S. agencies to help bring home Americans detained in other countries by increasing information and punishing foreign governments.

The order "Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home" came at a time of high-profile detentions of Americans abroad, such as WNBA star Brittney Griner's in Russia.

Biden's order says terrorist organizations, criminal groups and other malicious actors who take hostages for financial or political gain "threaten the integrity of the international political system" and the safety of Amercans and others abroad.

"Hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of United States nationals are heinous acts that undermine the rule of law," the order states.

"The United States government must redouble its efforts at home and with partners abroad to deter these practices and to secure the release of those held as hostages or wrongfully detained."

Biden's order authorizes federal departments and agencies to impose sanctions and visa bans on those directly or indirectly involved in the hostage-taking or wrongful detention of Americans.

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russian since February, when authorities found a small amount of hashish oil in her luggage. She's presently on trial. 

IT WAS CBD OIL IN A VAPE MEDICAL POT EXTRACT LEGAL IN THE U$A

File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI

It also introduces a new risk indicator, the letter "D," to travel advisories from the State Department to inform Americans of the risk of wrongful detention by a foreign government, the White House said in a statement. The "D" indicator joins the existing letter "K" which signifies a risk for kidnappings.

The D indicator was immediately applied on Tuesday to six countries -- Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar and North Korea, a senior administration official told reporters.

Russia is currently listed at the top "Level 4: Do Not Travel" designation with indicators for terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and health risks among other risks.

China, which is listed at the "Level 3: Reconsider Travel" level, currently only has two indicators -- one for health risks stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and an "O" for other risks that had included the risk of detention.

Tuesday's executive order also directs the federal government to share intelligence information with families of Americans who have been detained abroad in an effort to help secure their release.

Griner, 31, has played professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA off-season and was arrested at a Russian airport in February on drug possession charges for a small amount of hashish oil. For weeks, Griner's family appealed to Biden to help secure her release. Eventually, Griner pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month, but her trial continues.

In Russia, criminal trials go on even if a defendant pleads guilty. Griner, who pleaded guilty in a bid for leniency, faces as many as 10 years in prison.

Biden and administration officials have said that Griner and Paul Whelan, an American who's been held in Russia on spying charges since 2018, and other Americans are being wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world.

Demonstrations in Sudan demanding civilian government

Published: 17 Jul 2022 - 


Khartoum: The security authorities in Sudan repelled demonstrations in the Khartoum State today, called for by the Central Resistance Committees in Sudan.

Additionally, the security authorities also beefed up their deployment and presence in a number of vital locations, including closing bridges and roads leading to the vicinity of the presidential palace and the headquarters of the General Command of the Armed Forces in central Khartoum.

The demonstrations came after a series of sit-ins carried out by the resistance committees in a number of places in Khartoum state which lasted for 10 days.

Moreover, the Sudanese authorities had announced strict measures, according to which the main bridges were closed in the state of Khartoum, and called for keeping demonstrations peaceful, and not to allow saboteurs to derail the demonstrations from their peaceful character as to avoid any loss of life and property.

Furthermore, the authorities affirmed their commitment to protect the demonstrations and to deal with them according to the law.

Since October 25, Sudan has witnessed continuous demonstrations rejecting the decisions by the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan to impose a state of emergency and dissolve the Sovereignty Councils and the cabinet, calling for the abolition of these decisions and their consequences, as well as putting Sudan back on the democratic path and enjoying a full civilian rule of the country.

Boeing says ‘lessons learned’ from costly Air Force One deal

July 18, 2022


Boeing’s BA.N defense chief said on Sunday it had learned lessons from a contract to supply the US presidency with new Air Force One aircraft, which has cost the planemaker almost $1 billion in charges and is up to three years behind schedule.

Ted Colbert did not give details of learnings, but said they had contributed to a new schedule for the two planes that has seen deliveries pushed back to 2026 and 2027.

“The lessons learned are important to us and we’re applying them going forward,” Colbert told reporters at a briefing ahead of the Farnborough air show. “We’ve made changes to the program. We’ve made changes to the way we work on the program.”

“These are challenging programs and you learn as you go along and you adapt as you have to,” he added.

In April, Boeing recorded a $660 million charge after taking a $318-million one in April 2021 on the program “largely due to COVID-19 impacts and performance issues at a key supplier.”

Asked if Boeing could recoup those cost overruns, Colbert said: “If we can find a way to we will.”

Boeing received a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 for two 747-8 aircraft to be delivered starting in 2024.

In December 2016, then President-elect Donald Trump secured a promise from then Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg that the cost of replacing Air Force One would not exceed $4 billion. Trump had earlier urged the government to cancel buying Boeing’s new Air Force One, saying it was “ridiculous” and too expensive.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in April the deal was problematic.

“Air Force One – I’m just going to call a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation, a very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken,” Calhoun said. “But we are where we are, and we’re going to deliver great airplanes. And we’re going to recognize the costs associated with it.”

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.

The post Boeing says ‘lessons learned’ from costly Air Force One deal appeared first on New York Post.

RED SCARE 2.0

China infiltrating US judicial system: Reports

ANI
18th July 2022, 

Beijing [China], July 17 (ANI): Claiming that the majority of revenue for US-based law firm -- Paul Hastings LLP -- comes from China, some reports say that Beijing is trying to infiltrate the US judicial system.

Paul Hasting LLP is a global law firm based in the United States. Some social media handlers have claimed Chinese Communist Party's infiltration in the US Judicial System. These people made these claims by giving an example of Paul Hastings LLP's revenue from China.

They claim that there is evidence to support their arguments.

Meanwhile, a grand jury in the United States has indicted five people for 'stalking, harassing, and spying' on behalf of China in connection with a scheme to silence critics of the Chinese government.

"A federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned a superseding indictment yesterday charging five defendants, including one current federal law enforcement officer and one retired federal law enforcement officer, with various crimes pertaining to a transnational repression scheme orchestrated on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC)," the US Justice Department said in a press statement on July 7.

Defendants Fan "Frank" Liu, 62, of Jericho, New York; Matthew Ziburis, 49, of Oyster Bay, New York; and Qiang "Jason" Sun, 40, of the PRC were charged in March 2022 with allegedly perpetrating a transnational repression scheme that targeted U.S. residents whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government.

Among other items, these defendants allegedly plotted to destroy the artwork of a PRC national residing in Los Angeles, who was critical of the PRC government and planted surveillance equipment in the artist's workplace and car to spy on him from the PRC. Liu and Ziburis were arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint in March 2022, while Sun remains at large.

The superseding indictment adds two new defendants, Craig Miller and Derrick Taylor, to the scheme. Miller is a 15-year employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently assigned as a deportation officer to DHS's Emergency Relief Operations in Minneapolis, and Taylor is a retired DHS law enforcement agent who presently works as a private investigator in Irvine, California.

Miller and Taylor are charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence after they were approached by FBI agents and asked about their procurement and dissemination of sensitive and confidential information from a restricted federal law enforcement database regarding U.S.-based dissidents from the PRC. Both Miller and Taylor were arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint in June 2022.

"We will defend the rights of people in the United States to engage in free speech and political expression, including views the PRC government wants to silence," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen.

"As charged, these individuals aided agents of a foreign government in seeking to suppress dissenting voices who have taken refuge here. The defendants include two sworn law enforcement officers who chose to forsake their oaths and violate the law. This indictment is the next step in holding all of these defendants responsible for their crimes."Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, said, "This case exposes attempts by the government of the PRC to suppress dissenting voices within the United States. Actions taken by the defendants - two of which are current or former federal law enforcement officers - demonstrate how the PRC seeks to stalk, intimidate, and silence those who oppose it.""The FBI battles transnational repression because it is an evil in its own right, and an assault on the freedoms of an open society. Our community's safety and our nation's security were jeopardized by this criminal behavior, and we remain dedicated to combating transnational repression and bringing to justice those that perpetrate it."According to the Justice Department, Liu and Ziburis are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government. Liu, Ziburis and Sun are charged with conspiring to commit interstate harassment and criminal use of a means of identification.

Liu and Sun are charged with conspiring to bribe a federal official in connection with their scheme to obtain the tax returns of a pro-democracy activist residing in the United States. Both Miller and Taylor are charged with obstruction of justice, while Taylor is charged with making a false statement to the FBI.

If convicted, Liu faces up to 30 years' imprisonment; Ziburis, Sun and Taylor face up to 25 years' imprisonment; and Miller faces up to 20 years' imprisonment. The defendants will be arraigned at a later date. (ANI)

United Nations warn of rising death toll and rights violations in Haiti

July 18, 2022 1

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. human rights office on Saturday expressed concern about rising violence around Haiti’s capital, saying 99 people have been reported killed in recent fighting between rival gangs in the Cite Soleil district alone.

The warning came hours after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution renewing the mandate of a U.N. office in the troubled Caribbean nation and calling on all countries to stop the transfer of small arms, light weapons and ammunition to anyone there supporting gang violence and criminal activity.

WATCH: Hundreds of years after Haiti paid to be free from slavery the costs are still being felt

U.N. humanitarian agencies said they were ready to help embattled communities once it is safe to do so, and Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Council, laid out those dangers.

“We have so far documented, from January to the end of June, 934 killings, 684 injuries and 680 kidnappings across the capital,” he said Saturday. In addition, “Over a five-day period, from 8-12 July, at least 234 more people were killed or injured in gang-related violence in the Cite Soleil area of the city.”

He said most of the victims “were not directly involved in gangs” but were targeted by them.

Separately, the U.N,’s humanitarian affairs office reported that 99 of the recent casualties in Cite Soleil were deaths.

Laurence called on gangs to halt the violence, while also urging Haitian authorities to ensure that fundamental human rights are “placed at the front and center of their responses to the crisis. The fight against impunity and sexual violence, along with the strengthening of human rights monitoring and reporting, must remain a priority”, he said.

The Security Council resolution drafted by the United States and Mexico was approved 15-0 Friday. It demanded an immediate cessation of gang violence and criminal activities — a point stressed by China.

“The heavily armed gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their actions, conducting simultaneous, coordinated and organized attacks in different areas,” Laurence said.

The government, he said, has a duty to protect citizens’ right to life even from threats that come from private entities.

The U.N. agencies said some gangs even deny access to drinking water and food in order to control the population, aggravating malnutrition.

WATCH: Uncertainty looms in Haiti where interim president’s term nears end

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills said the new resolution will allow the U.N. mission to promote political dialogue and bolster the capacity of the Haitian National Police to control gang violence and protect human rights.

A year after the unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, gang violence has grown worse and many Haitians have tried to flee a country that seems to be in economic and social freefall. Attempts to form a coalition government have faltered, and efforts to hold general elections have stalled.

The United Nations has been involved in Haiti on and off since 1990, and the last U.N. peacekeeping mission was in the country from 2004 until October 2017. The political mission now there advises Haiti’s government on promoting political stability and good governance.

What Germany can tell us about cut-price public transport

Jan Tattenberg, Jul 18 2022

Jan Tattenberg recently completed a PhD in contemporary German history at the University of Oxford, and is now living in Auckland.

OPINION: The government has announced it will extend half-price public transport fares to January 2023.

But half-price fares are still not permanent, despite their extremely low cost compared to the fuel excise cut. With local elections looming, public transport remains a subject of debate, particularly in Auckland.

Is fares-free public transport good “value for money”? Will lower fares help increase passenger numbers? And, most importantly: will it reduce congestion?


These debates often lack foundation. But preliminary data on the effects of greatly reducing public transport fares is available. It comes from Germany, the country I grew up in.

READ MORE:
* Trains and buses crowded as half-price public transport takes effect
* Half-price public transport stretches dollars for many as fuel prices bite
* Germany to fight pollution with free public transportation

On June 1, 2022, the German government introduced a temporary pass, valid for public transport nationwide, which cost just €9 (~NZ$15) per month.

This amounts to a discount of 90% compared to the usual price for a monthly ticket in Berlin. In Munich, the discount is even greater.

In short, the German government came close to adopting fares-free public transport.

SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
Posters promoting 9-euro public transport tickets in Germany, where the measure was introduced to encourage people out of their cars at a time of high inflation.

Today, one pass unlocks buses, trains, trams, and subways anywhere, with the only exception being high-speed, long-distance trains.

Passengers can travel from Berlin to Munich, about 600km, without buying another ticket. Granted, it would take nine hours, rather than four by high-speed train. But driving takes at least six hours and on a bad day is no faster.

So far, 21 million tickets have been sold. Ten million people on an annual pass automatically received the discount and will be refunded the difference.

Munich public transport passenger numbers are up 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels. The railways report passenger numbers 15% higher than pre-pandemic.

Fare evasion in Berlin is down over 90%, even as passenger numbers increased. This suggests fare evasion is driven by high prices.

MARKUS SCHREIBER/AP
A busy time at Berlin’s main train station, where patronage has jumped with the introduction of a heavily reduced fare.

The new pass has had a positive impact on traffic, a study produced for news agency dpa suggests. Weekday congestion improved in 23 of the 26 cities studied. In Hamburg, where traffic is notoriously bad, drivers saved more than four minutes over a 30-minute trip.

Before he took office in late 2021, transport minister Volker Wissing positioned himself as an advocate for drivers. By early July, he declared the introduction of the €9 ticket a “colossal success”.

“We have significantly less traffic on the streets, significantly fewer traffic jams.”

The €9 ticket is unlikely to become permanent. But the discount is significant enough to show that seriously low-cost or fares-free public transport brings with it significant benefits.

RICKY WILSON/STUFF
Buses ply Auckland’s central business district. Fares-free public transport has proved a hit with commuters since April.

Some will argue that public transport in Germany is already good, and the benefits would be less great in Aotearoa. That is a generalisation.

Since 1955, more than 15,000km of railways have been abandoned across the country. In the last 30 years alone, 16% of the network have been lost.

Major cities across East Germany remain poorly connected. Cities like Hannover, Hamburg, or Munich were remade for cars after World War II – a little like cities in New Zealand. The railway network faces a spending deficit of over €30 billion.

Candidates standing for local elections in Aotearoa this year should take seriously the benefits of improving public transit and reducing its cost. Seventy-three per cent of Aucklanders already support fares-free public transport.

Jan Tattenberg recently completed a PhD in contemporary German history at the University of Oxford, and is now living in Auckland.

Fares-free public transport would come at a cost. But over the long term, fuel prices are likely to rise.

Reducing the cost of public transport will ease cost-of-living pressures as long as the bus is a viable alternative. That is what voters might demand from their candidates: better public transport that is either significantly cheaper or, even better, free.

It would make life better not just for those who end up taking the bus, but for those who cannot avoid the car, too.

MICHAEL PROBST/AP
Germany’s public transport, including trains, has seen increased patronage from people using the network to travel out of town on weekends.

A final lesson from Germany is many additional trips taken were taken on weekends.

People took the train or bus to swim in a lake or the sea, to hike in the mountains or forests.

This is public transport at its best: not just a way to get to work or do the shopping, but of realising the potential of one’s environment. A way, in other words, to lead a better life.

 UK

GMB union pushes through de facto pay cut at Cadent after blocking strike by 2,000 field engineers

Simon Whelan, Tony Robson

WSWS.ORG

Cadent has enforced a below inflation pay award on its 2,000 field engineers courtesy of the GMB, following acceptance of a deal in June. The company is the largest gas distribution network in the UK with profits of £900 million last year and is owned by Macquarie Group Limited.

The agreement accepted June 13 is for a basic pay uplift of just 2 percent for last year and 4 percent for 2022, which is substantially below the current inflation rate of 9.1 percent CPI and 11.7 percent RPI.

GMB officials presented the inclusion of a £750 lump sum as the equivalent of 2 percent in cash terms. But the one-off payment is non-consolidated and does not count in wages going forward. This sleight of hand is indicative of the union’s role in facilitating a real terms’ pay decline for workers while Cadent pumps out more profits from their labour.

Workers have been told to accept pay restraint, but Cadent CEO Steve Fraser received a salary last year of £1.4 million in 2021.

GMB and Cadent used back pay provisions to dress up their substandard agreement, cynically exploiting the company’s refusal last year to grant a pay rise. Even this has been applied inconsistently: this year’s pay award is backdated to May, while last year’s is from July.

The union waged a smoke and mirrors campaign to promote the company’s revised proposals as a “very good deal”. The vote to accept on June 13 was the outcome of conscious efforts by GMB officials to demobilise the fight for a genuine pay increase.

GMB members voted by 86.9 percent for strike action on April 11, following their earlier rejection of a 2 percent pay increase for 2021 and a 4 percent uplift for this year. The union originally said that a walk-out could start as early as April 22.

The mandate for action was turned into its opposite as GMB pleaded with the company to “treat workers right” and come back with a revised offer to avert strike action. GMB officials initially limited industrial action to an overtime ban from May 10-28 as a “gesture of goodwill”.

Seeking to maintain their control over the dispute, GMB officials announced a two-day strike from May 30. The stoppage across five regions in the UK would have demonstrated the tremendous power of Cadent workers, but this prospect was averted. Strike action was suspended by the GMB and it was drafted into company talks, drawing up a revised offer on May 26. It repackaged proposals already rejected, with some modifications, fulfilling the overarching goal of wage suppression.

Balloting on the offer was based on divisions fostered by the GMB since the sale of the National Grid in 2016, with a two-tier workforce at Cadent between Legacy Field Force workers transferred over and Cadent G Field Force on inferior rates of pay. The former voted for the deal by a margin of 74.5 percent and the latter by 69.5 percent.

Some Cadent field engineers on the Cadent G contract will be left earning just over £10 an hour. This will leave workers who perform the critical role of connecting households to the UK gas supply in the obscene situation of being less able than ever to meet the energy costs of running their own homes.

In April, domestic energy bills leaped when the price cap was increased by 54 percent to £1,971 for the average UK household. Energy experts believe this will possibly rise again by approximately 50 percent in October, to bring the average energy bill to an eye watering figure around £2,800.

Gary Carter, GMB National Officer announcing the vote to accept the deal stated, “I would also like to thank the Cadent GMB members, whose steadfast support for one another has brought the company back to the table and resulted in an improved offer that members have now accepted.”

Who does Carter think he is kidding? It was only Cadent management and the GMB which stood together against the fight of 2,000 field engineers for a genuine pay rise.

The “improved offer” by Cadent was even less than the meager 3 percent for 2021 and 5 percent for 2022 the GMB tabled at negotiations. The GMB’s starting position was a pay cut. When the union first announced on March 4 that it would authorise a strike ballot, RPI inflation was already running at 7.8 percent.

The GMB are proving their worth as corporatist partners to Cadent and the gas industry as an industrial police force over the workers. This was most graphically exposed in the GMB betrayal of the fight against fire and rehire at British Gas (Centrica) in April 2021. After 42 days of strike action by 7,000 engineers the GMB enforced the deadline to sign the contracts leaving the 500 workers who refused dismissed by the company.

In its coverage of the Cadent dispute the WSWS argued for the building of rank-and-file committees to reject GMB-Cadent’s below-inflation pay deals. Such committees would bring workers together and fight to overturn the two-tier system between Legacy and Cadent G workers.

The robbery of wages through the on-call system must be ended. Field engineers are not paid for all their rostered time, only when they are called out. Excessive hours are being worked to plug staff shortages caused by low pay.

The struggle at Cadent is part of a wider fight back among key workers in the oil and gas sector who have faced a major assault on pay and conditions amid rampant company profiteering. Recent months has seen strike action at the UK’s largest oil refinery in Fawley and wildcat action by oil and gas workers across 16 rigs in the North Sea demanding a “wages revolution.”  A network of rank and file committees can unite these struggles against the efforts of the GMB, Unite and other unions at dividing and  quashing workers’ fight, on behalf of the mega rich corporations.

The trade unions are currently suppressing a potential strike movement of around 3 million workers. Strike ballots of rail workers, postal workers, teachers and nurses are being delayed, blocked or divided and otherwise suppressed, preventing all-out strike action to bring down the Johnson government. The unions are working to prop up the Tories while a suitable right-wing successor to Johnson is found. The Labour Party functions shamelessly as de facto coalition partner to the Tories.

unions against revolution g. munis and j. zerzan

https://archive.org › download › unions-SCREEN

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Table of Contents. 6 Unions Against Revolution. G. Munis ... we are by well-meaning leftist activists and aspiring union organizers? Taking the long view,.

ASUU: Nigerian Labour Congress Declares Tuesday, Wednesday For Nationwide Protest Over Varsity Lecturers' Strike

The National Secretariat of the NLC disclosed these dates and days in a letter to the chairpersons/secretaries of NLC State Councils dated July 15, 2022, which SaharaReporters sighted on Sunday.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK.JUL 17, 2022

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has declared Tuesday and Wednesday, July 26 and 27 respectively as a national day of protest against the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The National Secretariat of the NLC disclosed these dates and days in a letter to the chairpersons/secretaries of NLC State Councils dated July 15, 2022, which SaharaReporters sighted on Sunday.


The letter tagged: "National Protest To Get Our Children Back To School," was jointly signed by NLC President and Secretary General, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja respectively.

It partly read: "We bring you fraternal greetings from the national secretariat of the
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

"In line with the decisions of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress held on the 30th of June 2022, we have scheduled as follows the National Days of Protest to get our children back to school and support our unions in Nigeria's public universities fighting for quality education.

"Dates: Tuesday, 26th July 2022 and Wednesday, 27th July 2022. Venue: All the State Capitals of the Federation and Abuja the Federal Capital Territory.

"Take off Point: NLC State Secretariats and the Labour House, Abuja

"You are requested to immediately convene the meetings of your SAC to disseminate this information and to fully mobilize workers in the States for this very important protest for good governance."

Lecturers in Nigerian federal and state universities have been on strike since February 14, 2022, to force the government to implement agreements reached by both parties in 2009 among other demands.

 

Solly Mapaila elected unopposed as SACP general secretary

Blade Nzimande has been elected as the SACP's national chairperson.

The newly elected general secretary of the SACP Solly Mapaila. Picture: Twitter/@SACP1921

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Solly Mapaila has been elected unopposed as the new general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) at the party’s 15th national congress in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.

SACP national congress

Mapaila, who was previously the SACP’s first deputy general secretary, takes over from Blade Nzimande after 25 years at the helm of the party. Nzimande was elected as the SACP’s national chairperson.

ALSO READ:  Blade simply couldn’t cut it: After 24 years under Nzimande, SACP communists in name only

The other elected national office bearers elected were Thulas Nxesi, Madala Masuku, David Masondo, and Joyce Moropa as deputy national chairperson, first deputy general secretary, second deputy general secretary, and national treasurer, respectively.

The SACP’s elective conference is expected to conclude on Saturday.

Relevance of tripartite alliance

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday defended the longstanding alliance between the African National Congress (ANC) and the SACP, hitting back at critics who say the partnership remained outdated and irrelevant.

The ANC is in a tripartite alliance with the SACP and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) that was formed during the struggle against apartheid.

Ramaphosa told delegates at the SACP’s congress the governing party remained firmly committed to the alliance and backed calls for the reconfiguration of the partnership.

“As many have called for the dissolution of the alliance [and] as many have called it an outdated and irrelevant alliance – we have continued to work together to advance the interests of the people of South Africa, in particular, the poor and the working class,” he said.

The ANC-led alliance has in the recent past been fraught with challenges over decision-making and government’s policy direction, with calls for the reconfiguration of the partnership.

The SACP had also threatened to withdraw its support for the ANC at the polls and contest elections independently due to corruption and state capture scandals bedeviling the ANC.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

NOW READ: Ramaphosa says ANC remains committed to alliance with SACP, calls for reconfiguration talks to conclude

SACP enters new phase as leadership positions are contested for first time

By.George Matlala
17th Jul 2022

Solly Mapaila has been elected as the new SACP general secretary. / SACP

The SACP broke new ground at its elective conference that concluded its business yesterday, with all positions except that of general secretary and first deputy general secretary contested.

Mainstay general secretary of the party, Blade Nzimande finally vacated the powerful position and his long-time deputy Solly Mapaila was elected unopposed.

However, other key positions were contested, breaking with the SACP’s long tradition of electing leaders by consensus.

Nzimande, who served on the central committee since 1994, was nominated by six provinces and the Young Communist League to become national chairperson.

Western Cape, Eastern Cape and North West led the resistance to the move, saying he had served his time and had to make way for others.

He was challenged by Gwebinkundla Qonde, the former director-general of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.

The two had a fallout out last year after Nzimande asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Qonde.

Nzimande painted a grim picture of the National Skills Fund, highlighting some of the worst audit outcomes and how Qonde and officials at the public entity could not account for irregular expenditure incurred since 2015.

Nzimande said when he heard that he was going to be challenged for the position of party chairperson, he told his supporters that he was not available.

“I have never contested for an official’s position in the SACP. I was feeling terrible and saying why can’t I move out with dignity? My saying goodbye the other day was emotional. And I was also overwhelmed by the response of congress. In a way they were saying ‘thank you, GS’,” he said.


Nzimande is one of the longest-serving general secretaries of the party, after Moses Kotane, who led the organisation from 1938 until his death in 1978. He had been at the helm of the organisation since 1998. In 1995, Nzimande was elected as deputy national chairperson and went on to act in the position.

“There is nothing wrong with contestation, it is part of the democratic process. But we always try to manage that. Usually those things tend to get out of hand. It allows opportunistic elements to want to come in. This is the lesson that the new central committee will have to refer to…”

His critics also said he would use the position of chair to outshine Mapaila and rule from the grave, an assertion he dismissed, saying he had worked with Mapaila for more than 30 years.

Nzimande said the highlights of his 24 years at the helm of the SACP included the financial sector campaign, which led to many poor South Africans being banked, the fight against state capture and the privatisation of SOEs.

Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo was elected unopposed as the party’s first deputy general secretary, while Mpumalanga’s Madala Masuka saw off a challenge from Eastern Cape’s Xolile Nqatha.

Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi retained his position as deputy chairperson, beating Nomalungelo Gcina. The SACP’s treasurer-general, Joyce Moloi-Moropa, also retained her position.

The SACP has often been accused of using its influence in the ANC to secure cushy government posts.

Many of the party’s leaders serving in its central committee were catapulted into the national executive as ministers and deputy ministers, MECs in provincial legislatures and as councillors following the party’s support for former president Jacob Zuma.

Nzimande reiterated that they did not regret supporting Zuma.