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ISA in Action — Photo Report

2022: As Multifaceted Crises Deepen, ISA Steps Up Action

Photo: Archive

As the world emerged from the COVID crisis, the economy was hit by new crises, climate change came back onto the agenda with a vengeance, further attacks on womens’ rights were made, and the world was shocked by the worst war in Europe since WW2. The ISA has stepped up to meet the challenge.

Saturday, 31 December 2022 17:04 (UTC)
Last Update: Saturday, 31 December 2022 17:08 (UTC)
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January 2022

The world had not awakened from its New Year celebrations before the first revolutionary crisis of the year hit the news. It took just five days for protests by workers and many others to force the resignation of Kazakhstan’s government. Despite the speed of events, the decision by the Tokayev regime to make concessions supported by the riot police and Russian troops, ISA actively intervened with analysis, demands and solidarity.

An unprecedented wave of grief and anger gripped Ireland following the devastating murder of 23 year-old Ashling Murphy in Tullamore. Tens of thousands participated in countless vigils in every city, town and village in Ireland, North and South, with Irish communities in London, New York and Australia also participating in large actions. ROSA and Socialist Party — ISA in Ireland took an active part.

On 27 January, the Workers and Socialist Party, along with International Socialist Alternative, called on trade unionists, community activists, women and young people to take part in an international day of working-class solidarity with the strike of workers at Clover in South Africa. ISA members in Israel and Palestine organised a successful picket outside the Clover affiliated plant there.

February

February may be the shortest month, but it will go down in history as a major turning point in world events. It started, however, with the launch of a fight-back against management attacks on the workforce at Ghent University, the largest employer in the Belgian Flanders region. ISA member Tim Joosen is a shop steward and explained the union’s strategy in an interview with ISA.

This month also saw widespread action by Starbucks workers across the US. With Starbucks continuing their union-busting, socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant said in her speech to the Seattle rally, “We need to use today as a launch pad to begin building for mass solidarity rallies, again on a common day of action nationally, to demand the reinstatement of the Memphis 7, to spread the word about this unjust firing, and to build broad community support for a Starbucks union!”

In Mexico, major protests developed over energy prices. ISA members took an active part to demand that electricity must be recognized as a human right, the nationalization of the electricity industry under workers’ control, and a green energy transition! In the video, an ISA member addresses the rally in Mexico City.

On 24 February, Russian dictator Putin launched his brutal war against Ukraine. Within hours ISA had issued its call demanding the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, for no confidence in the imperialist forces, the building of a mass anti-war movement based on an independent working class movement. It was actively participating in anti-war protests in Russia and elsewhere with the call “No to the war in Ukraine! Troops should return home. Build an anti-war movement in the workplaces and universities.”.

March

ISA turned all its efforts to the war in Ukraine. Analytical material was supplemented by articles outlining historical lessons. In Russia, the anti-war movement met huge repression, many fled the country. Refugees from the war fled into Europe and elsewhere. Whilst they met with a huge wave of solidarity from ordinary working-class people, governments did little in reality to help them. In Poland ISA members campaigned not just with abstract demands to help refugees, but for the provision of housing, healthcare and jobs for all refugees. This included demands to take over empty houses for refugee use, and for the money needed to be taken from the super-rich and corporations.

The war, of course, cast its shadow over 8 March — and protests on International Womens’ Day. In Austria, ROSA spearheaded a campaign for school students strikes in the capital on March 8. The original demands of the strike were against gender-based violence and femicide, against sexist oppression in schools, and for the improvement of working conditions for working class women. After the outbreak of the war, the initiative was broadened into a call for “striking on March 8 against sexism and war”, which incorporated demands such as for “massive investments in health — not for war & the military”.

In Britain, Chile, United States, Mexico, Germany and many other countries ISA members and ROSA International marked the day in different ways — from demonstrations, to public meetings, or pickets. Our members in Israel and Palestine, for example used the opportunity to organise a protest picket against the war outside the Russian embassy. In Russia itself, original plans for action on 8 March were reorganised to allow the maximum participation in the anti-war protests due the following day — which themselves were met with massive repression. In Ireland, over 700 participated in our demonstration, in Belgium there were over a thousand in the ROSA block on the 8 March demo. They carried slogans such as “No to the invasion of Ukraine”, “Against war and sexism”, and “For a mass international movement against the war”.

Chilean politics this year have been dominated by the attempt, eventually unsuccessful, to introduce a new constitution. A central part of the discussions were over womens’ rights. ISA in Chile welcomed proposals to include the right to abort and for LGBT+ rights, but warned:

“It is not enough to approve the right to abortion without also guaranteeing a financing policy for the construction of public services that allow working class women to receive comprehensive health care. Likewise, comprehensive sex education can only become a reality if the right to a public, free and secular education is guaranteed in the new constitution... Ultimately this will require the building of a mass feminist movement that remains mobilized throughout the process of the CC and beyond, linking up with wider struggles of the working class and oppressed in a common fight against Pinochetismo and capitalism.”

In Britain, March saw the brutal sacking by the P&O Shipping Company of 800 staff by pre-recorded video. ISA members stepped up to call for occupations and strikes to reverse the sacking and for the nationalisation of P&O. They linked this too with the need to bring down the Tory government, warning that a Starmer led Labour government would be no better. They called for “a workers’ movement conference to discuss launching a new left party of struggle that will stand with working people everywhere”.

April

Spring kicked off with a welcome victory in the vote by workers at the JFK8 Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York. They dealt a stunning blow to the corporate giant by voting ‘Yes’ for the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), 2654 for and 2131 against. ISA in United States played a role in this campaign, and its lessons were detailed in articles written by Amazon workers, so that the successful experiences could be used elsewhere.

Early April also saw incredible events break out in Sri Lanka, which found itself in the eye of the storm — or more accurately the storms caused by the ‘age of disorder’. The government was overthrown, but this was only the start of the tumultuous events which over the next three months saw a general strike, a hartel, the storming of the Presidential Palace by the masses. Eye-witness accounts from Sri Lanka enriched our understanding of these events.

As the campaign to unionise Amazon was stepped up, ISA in United States intervened to assist wherever possible. Ahead of the vote at LDJ5, Seattle’s socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative, gives a speech on what lessons the labor movement needs to learn from the victory of the Amazon Labor Union at #JFK8, and how elected representatives of working people in union offices and electoral offices need to fight to remain accountable to the movement.

May

In its statement to mark 1 May, International Day of Workers Solidarity, the ISA recommitted itself to the struggle for socialism. It concluded:

We need to fight for a new, democratic socialist society, in which the resources of the world are socially owned and planned under democratic workers’ control and management, in which all democratic rights — freedom of speech, to organise, to vote — are ensured, in which nations and ethnic groups have the right to self-determination as part of a global democratic socialist federation. To achieve this, it is necessary to build a revolutionary socialist alternative, and we use this year’s International Workers’ Day to not only recommit ourselves to that struggle, but to call on all workers, women, youth and those who agree with us to join us in building International Socialist Alternative.

Members of ISA in Northern Ireland demonstrated this commitment in practice just a few days later, by presenting, against all the odds, their candidate in the election for the Northern Ireland Assembly. They did so promising to provide a genuinely anti-sectarian, socialist alternative with candidates who are young trade union activists with impressive track records of campaigning on workers’ rights, gender oppression and environmental destruction. They campaigned in all working-class communities arguing for class unity against sectarianism, against the bosses and against their political representatives — whether green, orange or yellow.

Across the ocean, thousands of protesters gathered in cities across the United States to protest the leaked draft decision by the Supreme Court which would strike down Roe v. Wade. Socialist Alternative led major protests in Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, Madison, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Houston, and Seattle, among others, calling for escalating action with walkouts and strikes to build pressure to stop the ruling. In other cities, we led vibrant socialist feminist contingents within broader demonstrations.

A few days later ISA members from England, Wales and Scotland gathered for their Congress. Also attended visitors from our sister organisations in Ireland, France and the US, all part of International Socialist Alternative. The Congress was brimming over with enthusiasm. In part this was driven by the very successful intervention in COP 26 in Glasgow at the end of 2021. But other discussions on the age of disorder and new cold war, the French elections, the cost-of-living crisis, Scotland and the situation in the workers’ movement helped deepen the understanding, and develop the programme needed for intervention.

The anti-war protests in Russia met massive repressions. By year end over 20,000 people across Russia had been arrested by police for participating, mainly in anti-war protests. Many have spent periods in prison, hundreds of thousands have fled the country. ISA members have not been exempt from this — several have been imprisoned for short periods, others have had to go into exile in order to maintain the functioning of the organisation. In May, ISA organised a very impressive international campaign of solidarity with ISA member Javed Mamedov. This was truly international with protests on every continent — from Mexico to Nigeria, South Africa to Australia, as well as across Europe and the United States. Without this campaign, Javed would now be serving a long prison sentence, but he is now in a place of safety. This is the picket in Abuja, Nigeria.

June

June is ‘Pride month’. ISA intervened actively — typical was the call made by ISA members in the United States. We want, they said, “to put together the kind of fightback needed to defend and advance our rights, then we are going to have to connect it with broader battles of the working class. We should build labor contingents at Pride marches that include organizing Starbucks and Amazon workers. A mass movement for these demands would need to utilize escalating tactics like protests, occupations, walkouts, and strikes for which the labor movement would play an essential part. That kind of radical movement would need to be completely independent from the Democratic Party and their NGOs. Instead it should call into question the foundations of the capitalist system built on inequality and division, and fight for socialism and a world free of homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.”

This month also saw the stepping up of protests, that essentially took on revolutionary proportions in Iran. During the year we have carried analysis and on the spot reports from Iran, but have also stepped up our intervention with the publication and distribution of articles in Farsi.

Of course, ISA has not ignored the Climate crisis. After its tremendous intervention in COP 26, it mobilised for the climate protests at the UN ‘Stockholm+50’ Environment Summit in Stockholm. Speakers at the International Rally highlighted that the policies being pursued by the Swedish government in their ‘green transition’ actually require more exploitation of natural resources through things like energy. Promises of new sustainable power like batteries actually require further exploitation of unsustainable resources and expansion of mining practices.

Workers protests hit the streets of Belgium. ISA members were actively intervening, often as shop-stewards. They argued that organization at the grassroots is essential. General assemblies, even in places where young workers have little or no experience of this kind of organization, are crucial moments for getting arguments across, disseminating information, and creating commitment. But they can also provide an opportunity to create banners and slogans to prevent vague demands from dominating actions.

July

Even the summer moths did not relieve the pressures on the global working class. The energy and inflation crises did not take a summer break, nor was there any let-up in the climate crisis, or the war in Ukraine and elsewhere. The Johnson government began its downward spiral into humiliating collapse. ISA in Britain argued:

The Tories must be forced out. And the workers’ movement has the potential to do this. The trade unions must take this opportunity to massively step up the offensive, escalating action with more strike days, coordination across sectors, and rapidly pressing forward with ballots. Our movement has to move swiftly and decisively to push this hated government from power, using the combined strength of the organised working class, linked to the developing social struggles and cost of living protests, to create mass movement to bring the government down.

In China too, the signs of escalating crisis were becoming clear. In difficult underground work ISA in China is continuing its work to analyse the situation, develop a programme and develop its cadres. A key role in this is played by the regular publication of its journals.

In Northern Ireland, workers at Interface Europe, a flooring manufacturer based in Craigavon, won a 15.25% pay increase after taking a week of effective strike action which shut down production at the site. Neil Moore, the Unite regional officer representing the workers and ISA member said of the workers’ victory:

“This inflation-busting deal was won through militant, effective strike action which shut down production & forced bosses to share their profits with our members.”

July culminated with over 250 ISA members from over 20 countries and all continents meeting meet face-to-face in our world cadre school for a week of discussions and exchange, after two years of Covid. Other comrades, due to Covid rules, visa restrictions or because of repressive regimes participated on-line.

August

The benefit of such schools is that they help to consolidate new groups. One of those in the process of formation is in Romania. In August they stepped up their work. They produced a very good article dealing with the question of Pride in Romania, which, located as it is in Eastern Europe, is a particularly difficult task. They say there should be:

The removal of the church from any form of decision-making. Defund the church to fund shelters for queer people, victims of gender-based and domestic violence, including and especially refugees from the ongoing war! Use this demand to fight for housing and social shelters for all in need; The unity of the different movements against capitalist oppression. Link up with strikers, with people protesting against racism or homelessness. This has to be done on a working-class basis! Link up with other movements from across the Balkans and the world! For an international combined struggle against oppression.

Photo: Socialist Alternative
ISA WORLDWIDE
UNITED STATES
Socialist Alternative (SA)

In Seattle thousands of local activists and young people won a landmark victory in the abortion rights struggle — led by the office of socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant. We succeeded in our fight to make Seattle the first abortion sanctuary city in the United States since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade

Later in the month Socialist Party members North and South Ireland and visitors from International Socialist Alternative (ISA) joined together in Glendalough to participate in the Party’s annual Summer School, the first since the pandemic.

September

Back to Britain where the collapse of the Johnson government opened up a new, unprecedented crisis for the “sick man of Europe”. The new government lasted just 45 days! Not only has this seen a huge increase in strikes, which have overwhelming public support, it has also seen new discussions on the need for a left alternative around the organisation “Enough is Enough”. ISA members are playing an active role in all of these significant events.

In Brazil the struggle to ensure that Bolsonaro was defeated in the election was heating up. Some of the left chose the ‘lesser evil’ tactic of voting for the former President Lula. ISA in Brazil said:

we are calling for votes for the PSOL candidates, but, even though the majority of the party has decided to back Lula and Alckmin, we will not be voting for them in the first round. This is also true in the states where PSOL gave up its own candidacy for governor in favour of supporting the candidates of the PT, like in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Our vote will be for candidates of the socialist left who do not make alliances with the bourgeoisie, to carry out the necessary construction and dialogue. In the second round we will be in the streets campaigning, defending a vote for Lula to defeat Bolsonaro and his cronies in the states, as we already did in relation to Haddad in 2018.

The United States ISA summer school was the first time since the beginning of COVID that members of the entire national organization were able to meet in person. The weekend-long event was centered around discussing Marxist theory, the history of the workers’ movement, and the tasks for today. That so many people were willing to fly in or spend an entire day on the road for an event like this is a testament to the seriousness and energy of our organization.

The killing of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, a young Kurdish woman, by the “morality police” in Iran provoked a new, bold and explosive movement from below, challenging the rule of the mullahs and the regime. While expressing our deepest condolences to the family, relatives and friends of Zhina, we as ISA and ROSA international have been organising international protests and actions. One of the most successful was in Austria.

Back to the war, as it was going so badly for the Putin regime, he announced a 'partial mobilisation". This led to new protests, a new wave of people fleeing the country and deepened the crisis within the Kremlin. ISA actively supported the protests.

October

In Britain postal workers, rail workers and dockers in their tens of thousands were on strike on 1 October. They were joined by thousands of others rallying together in the “Enough is Enough” national day of action. ISA was involved in organising some of these protests, and elsewhere took an active part.

In the middle of October ISA published "Woman, Life, Freedom”: A Programme to Win" as a contribution to the discussions about the way forward for the movement in Iran. This, and other material, has been published in Farsi.

November

In Nigeria ISA members intervened in events around “World Teachers’ Day” to urge teachers to engage in their union and ensure participation in it, to use it to fight for their interests against government policies. By doing this, they argued, we will be able to pressurise the government to increase the allocation to public education that will help to increase the workforce in public schools, and improve teachers’ welfare, and adequately fund public education. Teachers in primary and secondary schools must unite, combining their strength, be democratically active in their union, and ultimately use the union to demand and organise initiatives in the interests of the workers.

In Belgium on 9 November, there was a nationwide strike and action against the cost-of-living crisis. There were hundreds of picket-lines and a willingness to take action — even if this lacked organization in many places. ISA members presented a programme to escalate the struggle with an action plan and fighting programme.

A few days later there were large demonstrations in France. Workers at 7 refineries across the country had led a 50-day strike that has shaken both the oil giants TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, as well as the Macron government and have opened the way for a large-scale struggle against all of Macron’s anti-social policies. ISA members were in Paris to intervene in the protests.

And then student protests at more than 80 universities across China broke out with slogans such as “Freedom or death” — a slogan from the 1989 struggle. Demands for democratic rights and an end to dictatorship have been combined with outrage against the dictatorship’s insanely unscientific insistence at any cost of killing off an unkillable virus using zero covid. ISA intervened across the world in solidarity demonstrations.

In Cote d’Ivore ISA members organised a campaign of international solidarity against the victimization of workers and trade unionists at the "Grands Moulins d’Abidjan.

25 November is the International Day for the elimination of violence against women. ISA was active in many countries. In Tel Aviv for example we held a protest:

In Austria ISA and ROSA members participated in demonstrations in Graz and Linz, and initiated a large demonstration inspired by the uprising in Iran in Vienna. Just over one thousand women and men participated in the largest and most militant 25 November demonstration the city has ever seen. “Jin, Jiyan Azadi” — “Woman, Life, Freedom” was the key slogan.

December

After a difficult year the last month has not relieved the pressure. In Britain the strike wave has only escalated. ISA members were active in organising in the workplaces, and in organising solidarity. They are saying “We need a general strike. Immediately, unions should join forces locally and nationally — all strike together on February 1! This could serve as a launching pad to reballot where workers have failed to meet the anti-democratic Tory strike thresholds and carry the struggle into the spring and win for workers everywhere.”

Elsewhere ISA members in Israel Palestine have used the opportunity to organise their Marxism School 2022. Organized against the backdrop of the final phases of coalitionary negotiations towards the expected swearing-in of the new government of Netanyahu and the far-right. Central discussions and workshops dealt with the National Question and with Socialist Feminism, along with various topics in correspondence with global and local developments.

And while in some parts of the world it is winter, in other parts it is summer. The Mexican ISA held the Rosalio Negrete School, in which comrades from different parts of Mexico and from some sections of Alternative Socialist International participated.

Although there are still hours left of 2022, maybe the class struggle will take a short break to celebrate the new year. But of one thing we can be sure, 2022 is only the precursor of even more dramatic events in the future. But what 2022 has demonstrated more than anything is the absolute rottenness of the capitalist system, and the need to build a revolutionary socialist alternative. If you agree with us, join ISA.

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2022: As Multifaceted Crises Deepen, ISA Steps Up Action (31 Dec 2022)

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