The fight against fascism has now reached the ITUC and we are losing
As soon as I had recovered from my shock from hearing about Alexei Issaev, First Vice President of the FNPR, addressing the national congress of the Front National in France, last November, I wrote the letter below to Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC.
To date (May 7) I have not received an answer. I am now making this an open letter because the issues involved should be of concern, indeed alarming, for all our movement.
The Swiss Trade Union Federation also sent a letter raising the same questions and did not receive an answer either.
The two major French trade union confederations (CGT and CFDT) wrote directly to the FNPR demanding an explanation and received a reply from Mikhaïl Shmakov, FNPR General Secretary, who wrote that the FNPR did not know that Issaev would attend the Front National congress (i.e. the General Secretary of the FNPR does not know what his First Vice President is up to) and anyway he did not represent FNPR but United Russia (Putin’s party) (i.e. the FNPR is connected at top level to the Russian government party and has to jump through whatever hoops it is ordered).
Shmakov’s reply of course does not answer any of the real questions arising from Issaev’s venture into FNPR international politics, nor was it meant to.
What happened next: Sharan Burrow attended the FNPR congress held in Sochi on February 7, addressed the congress, called Shmakov her personal friend, praised the active role of FNPR in the international trade union movement, said that Russia under Putin is at the forefront of the struggle against inequality in the world and can be a peacekeeper in the international arena.
This, together with other incidents in recent months involving herself and her deputy, Jaap Wienen, in problematic situations, is raising the issue of whether the ITUC still understands and accepts the traditional acceptance of what is a trade union (an independent, democratically run workers’ organization) or if she is prepared to accept the legitimacy of any institution anywhere that claims to be a trade union, although the entire evidence,based on historical tradition and practice, and international law, would disqualify this institution as a workers’ organization.
Where is the ITUC going?
11.01.15
Dear Sharan,
It will not have escaped your attention that the Russian government has started last year a policy of massive support of far right and neo-fascist political parties in Europe, most of which are in turn supporting Russian government policies, such as the intervention in Ukraine. There has been considerable publicity around large loans by the Russian government to the leading fascist party in Europe, the French Front National, as well as personal loans to its founder and honorary chairman, Jean Marie Le Pen.
The national congress of the Front National, held in Lyon in the last week in November, was attended by fraternal delegates from seven far-right parties including two from United Russia (the government party): Andreij Issaev, Vice President of the Duma (lower Chamber of Parliament) and Chairman of its Social Affairs Committee, and Andreij Klimov, deputy chief of the Commission for International Affairs of the Council of the Russian Federation (the higher Chamber).
Andreij Issaev, however, is not only a deputy for United Russia in the Duma, but also First Vice President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), a major affiliate of the ITUC. His appearance at the FN congress is a historical first: no affiliate of a democratic international trade union confederation has ever before sent a representative to bring fraternal greetings to a congress of a fascist party, an enemy of everything the labour movement stands for.
I presume you share my view that it is unacceptable that a representative of an ITUC affiliate should address meetings of fascist parties and express political solidarity with these parties. I’m not aware whether the ITUC has ever adopted a formal position on fascism since its creation but would presume that the historical experience, and the accumulated positions and statements of its predecessor organizations, the ICFTU and WCL, would mean that the ITUC would strongly share my view. In relation to the times we face in Europe and beyond it would be opportune and politically important, particularly at this time, for the ITUC to express its view with utmost clarity and some urgency.
The FNPR presence at the Congress of the FN raises some specific questions in this regard and I wonder if the ITUC has raised those with its affiliate as yet.
Questions this situation raises might include:
Did Issaev go to Lyon because the Russian government demanded that that happen or was it a decision that the FNPR was voluntarily a party to? If the former then what would that mean for the independence of the FNPR? If the latter what would it mean for its legitimacy as an ITUC affiliate? In either case the question around its legitimacy as an ITUC affiliate remains highly relevant.
The ITUC secretariat might also wish to consider proposing to the Executive Bureau and the General Council that they adopt a strong statement denouncing all forms of extremist identity politics and reaffirming the fundamental values of the labour movement. Whilst some might feel such a statement unnecessary or even inconvenient I am confident that ITUC governing bodies, ITUC members and our wider movement would see such a statement as particularly useful at this time.
In solidarity,
Dan
Post Script:
Not having received any reply, Dan Gallin sent the following message to Sharan Burrow:
11.05.2015
Dear Sharan,
Since I did not receive a reply to my letter of January 11, I have now made it an open letter.
I believe that the issues involved, explicitly and implicitly, are important enough to be shared and discussed in a wider circle of our movement.
With best wishes,
Dan
On the same day, he received the following reply:
Dear Dan,
I apologise if you didn’t get my response as I know that it was written.
In summary these issues have been addressed by both the ITUC and the PERC and all matters of democracy, rights and peace will be high on our list as we see increasing atrocities in too many parts of the world.
I also addressed the FNPR Congress and I will do a video for the KTR Congress shortly and our President, Joao, will be in attendance.
Likewise we certainly raised the issue of the attendance at the Front National Congress both with the individual concerned and the FNPR leadership. I am satisfied that the FNQPR did not know in advance and did not sanction the visit.
Thank you for your attention to these matters
Kind regards
Sharan Burrow
ITUC General Secretary