NIGERIA PLATFORM
Building on the strength of the historic and momentous WFTU 17th World Trade Union Congress, the first to be held in the African Continent in October 2016, Durban International Conference Centre (ICC), South Africa, the WFTU convened the 3rd Pan-African Conference in Abuja, Nigeria on the 25-28 July 2017. The conference was attended by 200 representatives of militant trade unions from 41 African countries, in the presence of our friends and allies.
THE WFTU HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE! BY THE SIDE OF AFRICAN WORKERS
The conference recalls that since it was established in 1945 and until today, the WFTU continues relentlessly the line of proletarian internationalism principle, in fraternal solidarity with struggles to secure the satisfaction of basic material and cultural needs of the African people and for all their social, political and economic rights in the African continent.
It fought shoulder to shoulder, occupying the front ranks of the anti-imperialist struggle, for 72 years, in solidarity with the working class of this continent against slavery, imperialism, colonialism, racism, and for national independence. When the class struggle in Africa was impeded by imperialist subterfuges in collaboration with yellow unions, and when for many decades obstacles were placed in trade union activity, to weaken and divert the rising tide of national liberation, the WFTU was vitally contributing to the organization of workers and to the creation of genuine class oriented trade union organizations, to the strengthening of their political, ideological and organizational level.
The WFTU stood by the side of every worker and trade union in struggle all over the world, expressing in practice, its solidarity, demonstrating its militant trade unionism, in support of all workers of the world irrespective of their language, colour and religion, placing at its disposal, the immense moral, political and material support to secure the victories of struggles for national liberation and against capitalist exploitation. Following the principle that all workers are brothers and belong to the same social class, the pioneer Working Class, with the aim of social emancipation and liberation from the bonds of exploitation, the class oriented WFTU did not waiver its obligations. It enlisted in the fight against apartheid, racism, xenophobia and discrimination.
Having assessed the deep seated challenges, the conference is reassured of the WFTU trade unions determination to fight for the attainment of rights by the working class, for the social and ideological education, the creation of militant trade unions and the emergence of the decisive role of the working women of Africa.
It assessed satisfactorily, the steady rise in the course of class oriented trade union militancy, the demonstration of increased unity in action, on internationalism and class orientation.
The struggles of workers in Africa show how strong the WFTU is, since it does not deny the basis for workers capitalist exploitation and it gives priority to the most affected and plundered continent of all, the continent which is the richest in terms of natural resources, but which has the poorest and most exploited workers.
The conference analysed the deep crisis of the capitalist system and its sharpening contradictions, in which wealth is concentrated and centralised, with the destructive and exploitative impact of the monopolies. It evaluated the role of the multinationals in driving down the working peoples standards of living; the impact on wages, on the health system; in denial of African children of education; in rolling back the most basic functions of the state; in deepening hunger and poverty and generating imperialist conflicts. As the capitalist crisis attempts to restore grotesque profit maximisation results in abysmal failures, conditions for effective resistance have been maturing. We now have a steady potential for class action. The trade union militancy is rising and workers have at its disposal, better ideological instruments for the final victory against capitalist exploitation are at the workers’ disposal.
As this crisis of the capitalist system intensifies, the conference discussed the meaning and significance of dignified work and to the class oriented trade union movement. As part of this, it guarantees a strong counter-offensive for the right to a minimum wage, to salaries and pensions which cover the contemporary needs of popular families; to an 8-hour work per day; social security for all workers suffering capitalist exploitation; to health and safety measures in the workplace; for collective bargaining; the universal right to publicly delivered health care and medicine for working people and their families; free public health and education and the prohibition of child labor.
Dignified work is also full rights to work without accidents; to food security and proper nutrition, against GMO’s consumption and it is the guarantee to full labour rights to immigrant workers.
No work is dignified unless accompanied by stability, adequate wages, social security, less working hours, health care and social services, safe houses and safe workplaces and such could only be established if raw materials and agricultural production were not plundered by monopolies and local capitalists but controlled and used by the peoples of Africa for their interests and needs.
THE CLASS COUNTER-OFFENSIVE AGAINST CAPITALISTS AND THEIR MONOPOLIES
From the contributions of all the affiliates in the class oriented family of trade unions, our friends and allies, the WFTU in the African Continent considers its basic tasks, the main features of the Plan of Action, for a future without exploitation, with the ruthless class struggle and the counter-offensive against the capitalists, the multinationals and monopolies, for the relentless defence of our rights and the intensified struggle for dignified work.
The WFTU in Africa, places priority to the concrete expression of the following coordinated activities:
(a) The strengthening of the class oriented trade union movement in Africa with massive, democratic and open trade unions with respect for their ordinary members, for the base.
(b) Trade unions that will unite all African workers irrespective of race, religion, language and colour and that forges unity of the workers with the overriding principle that they all belong to the same social class, to the working class.
(c) Building of unions that will strengthen their class and militant characteristics. That will be schools of class struggles for workers and younger generations.
(d) Trade unions which will be internationalist and in solidarity with workers all over the world.
(e) Who will fight against imperialist wars and imperialist interventions.
(f) Trade unions which, along with everyday demands for the economic claims of workers, will also reinforce workers’ awareness of the necessity for liberation from capitalist slavery.
(g) Trade unions which will utilize and put pressure on International Organizations not to limit their action to wishes and ineffective declarations.
(h) Trade unions which will care on a permanent basis for the emergence and utilization of young and women trade unionists.
(i) Trade unions which will struggle against yellow trade unionism, against trade union bureaucracy and careerism.
(j) Trade unions which will have economic power from their own resources, from the financial support of their members. Which will not sell their role for dirty money.
(k) Trade unions and trade union leaders who will fight corruption within the trade union movement. Corruption is not a simple economic problem. It is a complex social problem with ideological implications. Corruption is a deadly risk for the future of the trade union movement.
THE MAIN DEMANDS OF THE WFTU FOR AFRICA
Only class oriented trade unions, with above attributes can secure in the terrain of class struggle, demands for:
The immediate cancellation of the African debt; the socialization of the main means of production; the limit to and drastic reduction of military expenditures, improvement of the life expectancy and elimination of social inequality and discrimination, creating dignified employment for the poor, the unemployed and the immigrants; guarantee of access to portable drinking water, the creation of safe, quality housing for working families, the nationalisation of African land; to stop the export of waste into Africa; to preserve our environment and the ecosystem to prohibit harmful waste imports; to end the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s); prevention and control of infections.
In addition, we demand an end to all imperialist interventions in Africa; to tackling the root cause of migration and refugees, to the destructive role of the multinationals.
The WFTU in Africa will also wage an offensive against reformism within the ranks of the labor movement, the yellow trade unions in Africa as in all parts of the world, who try to serve their own purposes, which are none other than the promotion of class cooperation, social dialogue between workers with their exploiters so that workers can never be emancipated and come into conflict with the policies of employers who literally destroy their lives. The ITUC reformists serve the interests of their bosses in their countries within the labor movement, with their institutes such as FES and AALC and when they come to Africa it is the same interests they want to serve, as modern colonizers who wear the mask of unionists.
THE NIGERIA PLAN OF ACTION
Our trade union are committed to their duties today, the duties to Internationalism and solidarity among our ranks, directing this to the people of Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela and many resisting imperialism; to the Palestinians, the Saharawi people and many oppressed nationalities across the world. In this regard the WFTU conference undertakes to intensify the class confrontation and struggle, on the basis of the Nigeria Platform of the WFTU in Africa:
(1) Participation in the Trade Union School of Training for our trade union cadres of Africa. Greece.
(2) Celebration of the centenary of the Great October Socialist Russian Revolution and the WFTU International Day of Action (72 years anniversary), 03 October 2017
(3) WFTU Africa international event against the role of big private monopolies and multinationals. South Africa, October 2018
(4) Pre-Congress women’s conference {English speaking }Uganda 2017
(5) Pre-congress women’s conference {French speaking} Senegal 26 February 2018
(6) WFTU Women congress, Panama, 8 March 2018
(7) Congress of WFTU working youth, Rome, Italy, 02-03 November 2017
(8) Energy TUI meeting, Harare, Zimbabwe, 22-23 November 2017
(9) Africa summit on land and the agrarian question, 2018
(10) WFTU Africa continental anti-imperialist summit, annually
(11) Africa summit on dignified work, 2018-2019
(12) Africa regional meeting of TUI’s and WFTU Africa regional structures.
(13) Africa meeting on the struggle against privatisation of public services.
(14) International Africa conference against precariousness and for job stability.
(15) Africa WFTU event, for the right to exercise trade union activity and collective bargaining.
(16) Seminars on the history of the WFTU and its role in the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist struggle in the African continent.
In this regard, we commit to the development of WFTU Africa research capacity, to underpin all the above actions.
Inspired by the 3rd Pan-African conference outcomes, we now move on to the 4th Pan-African conference stronger, more united, militantly, decisively, with a fighting spirit.
To this end, we commend the Nigeria Trade Union Council for hospitably hosting a successful summit.
WFTU
ABUJA, NIGERIA
27 JULY 2017