El Secretario General de la FSM, Pambis Kyritsis, intervino en la sesión plenaria de la 112ª CIT, analizando la situación mundial y reiterando las posiciones de la FSM para defender los derechos de los trabajadores en todo el mundo.
Al comenzar su discurso, expresó la solidaridad de la FSM hacia el pueblo palestino que se enfrenta al genocidio: “Mientras pronunciamos nuestros discursos, el genocidio de los palestinos en Gaza por parte del Estado asesino israelí continúa sin cesar, con el apoyo o la tolerancia de los Estados Unidos, la UE y sus aliados. Este crimen atroz está siendo vergonzosamente presentado como el derecho de Israel a la autodefensa. Exigimos un alto el fuego inmediato, justicia y libertad para Palestina…”.
El Secretario General de la FSM destacó las luchas de la clase obrera en todo el mundo contra los ataques del capital y sus representantes: “Los trabajadores y pensionistas no aceptan pasivamente esta realidad. Resisten los ataques neoliberales capitalistas y antiobreros. Exigen la satisfacción de sus necesidades contemporáneas. Se dan cuenta de que solo a través de la lucha pueden cambiar sus vidas…”
Destacó y condenó la monopolización de la representación de los trabajadores en el seno de la OIT: “Por supuesto, esta monopolización de la representación de los trabajadores no se mantiene por casualidad……… Les conviene mantener la práctica del doble rasero…”.
A continuación, la intervención completa del Secretario General:
Speech of Pambis Kyritsis
General Secretary of the WFTU
Plenary Session 112th ILC, 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
As we are giving our speeches, the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza by the murderous Israeli state continues unabated, with the support or tolerance of the USA, the EU, and their allies.
We demand immediate ceasefire, justice, and freedom for Palestine, through the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The struggle for peace for us has specific content: it opposes imperialistic wars and supports the right of every people to choose their own path without interventions, sanctions, blockades, and economic wars.
We are living in a period where the crisis of capitalism is generalized and deepening. Social inequalities, exploitation, and poverty are dramatically widening.
The high cost of living is brutally undermining the living standards of workers and pensioners. Individual contracts, privatizations, outsourcing, teleworking, and “service leasing” are just some of the methods being used to deregulate labor and intensify exploitation. The right to organize and engage in collective bargaining, as well as the sacred right to strike, is under attack.
Workers and pensioners do not passively accept this reality. They resist neoliberal capitalist, anti-worker attacks. They demand the satisfaction of their contemporary needs. They realize that only through struggle can their lives change.
Unfortunately, the harsh daily reality of workers is far from the pleasant slogans that abound in ILO declarations.
This year, a new grandiose terminology has been introduced in the General Director’s report: another slogan in luxurious packaging – the “new social contract.” But what the workers need are measures. Rights. Protect of the trade union freedoms and ensure permanent and stable employment regulated by collective agreements to meet their contemporary needs.
Colleagues, Ladies and gentlemen,
This year, as we all know, is an election year for the ILO but are these elections truly democratic? Do they ensure even minimal representativeness and pluralism? NO. Absolutely NO.
It is clear that the representation of workers is systematically monopolized, and the opinions of hundreds of millions of workers represented by the WFTU and other international organizations are marginalized and ignored.
Of course, this monopolization of the workers’ representation is not maintained by chance. It suits the ruling circles. It is convenient for them to have workers represented by unions that have long abandoned class struggle and do not challenge their omnipotence. It suits them also to maintain the practice of double standards, targeting countries like Cuba, Belarus, Syria, and many others for not aligning with their geopolitical plans, while they coddle Israel and obscure their own anti-worker practices.
The WFTU will not stop fighting and demanding a genuinely representative and pluralistic ILO, with democratic and participatory functioning, as dictated by its role and the reasons for its creation.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dear colleagues,
The weapon of the workers all over the world, is solidarity and internationalism. The WFTU will continue to fight for a world without wars and imperialistic interventions, without exploitation and discrimination. Where work will be permanent and stable, regulated and safe.
Thank you.