THE COURSE AND EXPERIENCES OF WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE IN TURKEY AND NORTHERN KURDISTAN
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Struggle against privatisation conducted in all big enterprises that suffered from the privatisation attack through active resistances and ac-tions. When we look at the course of the struggle, it is being observed that there is an increase both in the number of workers participating in the actions and also a militant-tendency in the form of actions.

The neo-liberal attacks continuing on the working class and labouring masses in the whole world under the conditions of imperialist globalisation are also continuing with spreading into time and increasingly in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. The concrete frame of attack such as privatisation, outsourcing, disunionazation, flexible work, freezing of the wages and redundancies, are drawn by the imperialist institutions like the IMF and World Bank, and bring into life by the fascist dictatorship, the local collaborator of the monopolist capital. The letter of intention, which was presented even in July 2005 to the IMF by the government and adopted, was foreseeing the sacking of 18 thousand workers from their works in public sector.

The fascist dictatorship wants to give a legal frame and legitimacy to these attacks through many regulations that it has introduced; tries to repress, prevent the actions and resistance of the working class through these fascist-reactionary regulations, organisations, militarism and state terror. In the statements of the Prime Minister Erdogan, saying "It is my duty to market all Turkey", and Unakitan, the Finance Minister, saying "We are going to sell all of them whether they make profit or detriment", it can be seen clearly that AKP government with Islamic motives is under the service of the imperialist and collaborator capital. Also confessing that half of the privatised enterprises are closed down, Unakitan thus expresses that he imprisoned workers to unemployment, poverty and hunger.

KITs are on the Target of Privatisation

For the last few years, the selling as a gift of the state enterprises to the imperialist and collaborator monopolies is standing in the centre of attacks against the working class. KITs (State Economic Enterprises), which were created after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey (especially in 1930s') and are a sphere of employment that cannot be minimised, were for many years on the target of privatisation. KITs, which are active in the big and key sectors such as the petroleum, chemical, paper, tobacco, telecom, docks and tea, are closed down or sold one by one to the imperialist and collaborator monopolies with the lies, " KITs are not making profit", of governments of the capital and war. On one way or the other, the fascist regime has prevented the development of a united and sanctioning class movement from the below by spreading into time the wave of privatisation and unorganisation attacks, bringing enterprises into the agenda singularly, making reconciliation or temporary proposals of solution. The AKP government had also announced that it is going to privatised about 41 big public enterprises in 2003. And the privatisation attack continued to process.

Each privatisation attack has, before anything else, brought together with itself massive redundancies. The monopolies, which bought the state enterprises, started their work at first by reducing the number of workers. And the following attacks were conducted in the forms of disunionisation, disorganisation, freezing or lowering of wages, setting of the working hours in accordance with the interests of the bosses under the name of flexible work, increasing the working hours, circle of quality and etc.

Turkish bourgeois governments have always implemented the privatisation attacks together with reactionary laws. The head of these laws is the "New Working Law-Number 1857", known as the "slavery law" in the public opinion, and the "Reform for Personal Regime and Public Management Law", the name of the attack against the public labourers. All these attacks of governments were making obligatory the united actions of the working class and the public labourers movement and development of a united struggle against the attacks. The way of repulsing the attacks were possible by the working class to use its power coming from the production applying the weapon of "General Strike, General Resistance" supported also by the other labouring sections. However, the weakness of the working class's organisation both in political sense and in the trade unions, the reformist, traitorous and, even in some places, reactionary characteristics and stance of the union administrations, and the pacifist line of the petty bourgeois reformist and bureaucratic currency that surrounded the head of public labourers movement have prevented the slogan, "General Strike, General Resistance" to become a slogan of resistance.

Examples of Resistance against the Privatisation Attack

Struggle against privatisation conducted in all big enterprises that suffered from the privatisation attack through active resistances and actions. When we look at the course of the struggle, it is being observed that there is an increase both in the number of workers participating in the actions and also a militant-tendency in the form of actions. The workers -who at the beginning tried to repulse the attacks via marches, meetings, leaving work for short period or daily strikes- carried the struggle to a new momentum through the occupation of workplace for indefinite period by the workers from SEKA (Cellulose and Paper Factories) enterprise, and have shown the way to be followed against the privatisation to the working class.

TEKEL (Tobacco and Tobacco Products, Salt and Alchol Enterprises) and PETKIM (Petrochemistry Holding) workers have given the message of resistance through their struggle against privatisation in the year of 2003, and came forefront. While PETKIM workers occupied the factory in order to prevent the sell of their workplaces, the TEKEL workers have applied different methods of struggle including not letting collaborator monopolist purchasers enter into the factory. In the face of TEKEL workers' struggle, the government took back steps even that they were temporary, and postponed the sell of workplace for some period.

The privatisation terror continued by gaining speed throughout the year of 2004. TEKEL, PETKIM, TUPRAS (Turkish Petroleum Rafineries Corporation), Sumerbank, Telekom, Turkish Airlines and Eki Krom (Chromium Enterprises) have represented the main places under the target of privatisation. While the singular strike and resistances of the working class became widespread, the use of new tools and forms of struggle such as the general strikes of the labourers in public and health sector, the decision of general strike against the liquidation of SSK (Social Security Authority), leaving of work by workers against the NATO Summit, breaking of the chain of Abide-i Hurriyet on May Day, new experiences on organising the workers without-insurances, blocking of motorways have became the struggles that advanced the determination of the working class in struggle.

Whilst the year of 2004 started with the strike in Sisecam (Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Enterprises) of 5 thousand workers organised in Kristal-Is (Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Industries Workers' Union of Turkey), later it has continued with the government's banning of both this strike and the decision of strike taken by Lastik-Is (Tire Industries Workers' Union) in Goodyear, Pirelli and Brisa factories. The strike decision of Petrol-Is (Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union of Turkey) in SASA, Dupont-sa and Toros Manure Chemical Industry factories faced with the bosses' lockouts. Despite the workers' demand for de facto legitimate struggle, the union bureaucracy could not overcome the circle of prohibition and bowed their heads to those prohibitions. The workers' reaction also did not overcome the union bureaucracy's circle of traitorousness.

In the struggle against privatisation, the Sumerbank workers' struggle also come forefront together with the struggle of the workers in Izmir Aliaga. But the Sumerbank workers could not prevent the privatisation of their workplaces towards the end of 2004. As a result, it is possible to say that, in the year of 2004, the resistances of the working class were singular, partite and sectional.

SEKA Resistance Has Shown the Way

SEKA workers have warned the government by various actions towards the end of 2004. But, when the government refused to change its decision to close SEKA, on 19 January 2005, the workers occupied for indefinite period the workplace. The action of the workers, who stopped production and occupied the workplace, was important in terms of showing the way to the class and putting in panic the bourgeoisie. SEKA was a spark of fight against the neo-liberal attacks and privatisation. MLCP tried to organise support and solidarity with SEKA under the slogan: "Everywhere is SEKA, Resistance in everywhere". Having seeing the importance of the action, the revolutionary and communist forces run to the side of the SEKA resistance. They set tents in front of the factory and conducted an intense work to get the support of the people in Izmit, the town where SEKA is situated. A "Solidarity Platform with SEKA Workers" was set up in Istanbul under the leadership of communist workers. The platform, involving unions also, have organised many actions. The influence of the action in SEKA went beyond the borders of the town in a short time and spread into the entire country. On the 18th of February, the police attacked the action, but could not break the resistance. After the police attack, the solidarity with the resistance did not limit itself with statements or visits; it took the form of supporting actions in practice.

The SEKA resistance led the workers, who in other enterprises are struggling against the privatisation or closure of their workplaces, to unite their struggles with the solidarity to the SEKA resistance and to organise actions going beyond the union lords.

For a long time, the TEKEL workers had also wanted to organise much more effective actions in order to repulse the privatisation attack. But, somehow, the unions were not taking the decision for much more effective actions. The workers, therefore, have many times raided the union bureaus and made pressure on the union to take decision for actions. Through spark spread out by the SEKA, they went beyond the union lords and organised actions by taking the streets throughout the country. They organised demonstrations by blocking the roads. They blocked the Prime Minister's way. They replied the police attacks by clashing with them.

The tolilers from education sector combined their struggle against the banning of EGITIM-SEN (Education-Union) with the struggle for solidarity with SEKA.

Throughout March, the finance labourers have organised two strikes and actions of slowing down the work against outsourcing and personnel with contracts.

The dockyard and council workers have left their works in order to support the SEKA resistance.

Numerous solidarity and support actions were organised throughout the country. There were messages of support and solidarity even from outside the country.

Trough the influence of the solidarity built around it, the SEKA resistance turned into a resistance that targets the state. The state stood against SEKA with its government, courts, municipals, police, gendarme and media. That is to say, the SEKA workers, who did not want to lose their work, found the state against them. Thus the workers got both to know the government, its party AKP, the state and the IMF. The resistance politicised the workers. When politicised, the workers showed a much more determined and militant stance. They continued with the resistance by making necessary preparations in order to safeguard their resistance against the possible attacks. Yet they began to see that they are resisting not just for themselves. The workers saw who their friend is and who their enemy. They have tested them with their own experiences. In practice, they saw that the state and its institutions, which they are trusted, were their enemy and the instruments of the power of the capital.

Different sections of the working class, who suffered from the attacks of the bourgeoisie, have shown their reactions through various tools and methods of struggle. They organised giant, magnificent resistances. Through actions such as meetings, rallies, demonstrations, leaving their works, blocking roads, occupying the buildings of political parties and marching towards Ankara, the capital city, they tried to defend their rights, jobs and workplaces. Although they were singular, especially the occupation of workplaces and strikes, which went beyond the union bureaucracy and represented an advanced method of struggle, entered into the agenda of the class, and time to time led government to experience tough moments.

On the other hand, the unionists tried to limit the anger that developed against the state by directing it towards the government. They only criticised the government and its policies in their statements. Later, the resistance is ended due to an agreement made between the union lords and the governments. The reached-agreement, as a result, was on the direction of closure of SEKA.

Seydisehir Resisted Together with all the People of the Town

Privatisation of the Seydisehir Eti Aluminium Factory, which is situated in Konya-Seydisehir and involves about 1500 workers, become the field of months-long great resistances. By participation of their families, the Seydisehir workers have turned the town into an area of action. Seydisehir followed SEKA. One of the other characteristics of Seydisehir is the defending of the action by all the people, whether they are workers, labourers and small shopkeepers. The workers, who did not allow the capitalists, purchasers to enter into the factory in each time when they heard that they are coming, began to act in commitment to defend their workplaces when they heard that their factory was sold to the CE-KA (Construction, Machinery, Mining Corporation). The workers welcomed the representatives of CE-KA, who came to the factory on 29 July, with stones, sticks and slogan: "Seydisehir is going to be a grave to CE-KA". Due to the workers' anger, which battered a jeep and 3 cars belong to CE-KA, the representatives of CE-KA were taken out of the factory only under the police security. Despite leading capital into mortal fear, the militant resistance of the Seydisehir worker was ended through an agreement made in Ankara by the headquarters of Celik-Is (Steel-Union). Only 200 of the workers accepted to continue to work in CE-KA. While 200 of the rest of the workers become pensioners, the others have left the factory by taking their compensations without accepting to work as slaves. As the SEKA resistance, the Seydisehir resistance has also functioned as a school and led workers to know better the government and the state.

The Next One was Erdemir

On 3 October 2005, Erdemir (Eregli Iron and Steel Factories Corporation) have been sold, together with all of its enterprises, to the OYAK (Armed Forces Pension Fund), one of the five biggest monopolies of Turkey. By purchasing Erdemir, OYAK has seized the monopoly of Turkey's steel industry. As being the 18th biggest flat-iron producer of the world, the biggest of Turkey, Erdemir is an enterprise that trenchers the appetites of the capital and monopolies show great interest. The workers have organised many actions against the privatisation of Erdemir. The Erdemir workers, who followed the footstep of SEKA and Seydisehir workers, did not allow the directors of the monopolist firm, who wanted to see the factory, to enter into the factory by not leaving the factory and through blocking the roads.

But, unfortunately, the workers could not go beyond the class collaborator fascist administrators of Turk Metal-Is (Metal, Steel, Ammunition, Machinery, Metal Products, Automobile Assembly and Allied Workers Union of Turkey). Turk Metal-Is tried to avoid from the workers' anger by organising some actions. Through the slogan, "Erdemir cannot be sold to foreigners", they propagated that Erdemir can be sold to native collaborator holdings rather than foreigner capitalists. Thus both it has played the role of a star in calming down the anger of the workers against the selling of their workplaces and weakening their struggle, and showed that it collaborates with the government and OYAK. During awarding of their workplaces to OYAK, the Erdemir workers organised protest action in front of the Headquarters of the Privatisation Administration. The workers, who came to Ankara by 10 busses, cried out their anger over the selling of Erdemir.

In Turkey, the army, upon OYAK, has got a great economic force within the state, and strengthens it place on the power also with this economic monopoly, besides with political instruments. By 743 million annual profit, OYAK is proud with itself by being in the forefront in Turkey in terms of profitability. As in all the fascist dictatorships, the army, while raining fascist cruelty on the working class and labourers, on the other hand, it steals the labour and work of the working class through OYAK.

TUPRAS

In TUPRAS, which is the biggest firms of Turkey and tried to be privatised, the workers showed that they are not going to accept the privatisation of their workplace and, therefore, are going to resist by going strike in the same day with workers from Izmir Aliaga, Kirikkale, Kocaeli and Batman refineries and in Yarimca petrol-chemical enterprise. On 2 September, the workers went on strike by using their power coming from the production and stopped the transportation of fuel-oil and fuel-oil products. There are about 9 imperialist and collaborator monopolies who want to buy TUPRAS, and this shows that the privatisation attack is a many sided attack and how TUPRAS feeds the appetites. The workers, who come across directly with the privatisation attack, also feel and experience the necessity of the class solidarity. One of the good examples of this was shown by the CAYKUR (General Directorate of Tea Establishments) , PETKIM and TEKEL workers who run along to the TUPRAS workers on strike. Leaving their work, the CAYKUR workers, who were also the target of the privatisation attack, marched to the side of TUPRAS workers in Kirikkale. The PETKIM and Telekom workers were also with the resistant workers in Izmir-Aliaga. All these solidarity actions showed the way to all victims of privatisation as well as being a source of moral and motivation to them.

Resistences in the dockyards

The AKP government want to close down the Istanbul Haydarpasa dockyard and to award the Izmir Alsancak, Iskendurun, Samsun, Bandirma, Izmit Derince and Mersin dockyards to the native or foreign capitalists. The Mersin dockyard, which has got strategic importance for the Middle East and where the USA makes its military and weapon deployment, has been sold for 36 years. The Mersin dockyard workers, who oppose the privatisation, began to resist by opening tents from 13 July. And on 11 August, the Mersin dockyard workers left their work for 24 hours, while the Iskendurun, Haydarpasa, Izmir and other dockyard workers left for 8 hours. Many unions and organisations, including Tekstil-Sen (Textile-Union), Istanbul Worker's League and EKB (Union of Labourer Women), have organised visits to support the workers.

TELEKOM

While struggling to prevent the selling of Telekom, which is in the frame of privatisation, the workers, on the other hand, have taken the decision to strike as their collective agreements entered into impasse. Through their actions, the Telekom workers said that they will not allow purchasers into the Telekom as following the footsteps of Seydisehir workers. And after the decision to sell in November, the workers went on to strike for indefinite period and occupied the workplace. The Telekom workers, having being suffered from the police attack, showed that they will resist in commitment.

A resistance in Northern Kurdistan

About 700 workers in Akyil Textile factory in the city of Amed in Northern Kurdistan have started to resist as a result of not getting their wages and the lack of payment of their insurance premiums. The resistance, which bears the characteristic of being the first massive worker action that was realised in Amed after the 12 September 1980 military fascist coup, ended in success and, therefore, it will heighten the working class struggle in Kurdistan. Having being witnessed to the TEKEL workers' struggle last year against the selling of TEKEL, Northern Kurdistan has this year also met with the workers' determinant struggle against the privatisation in Akyil textile factory and Batman oil refinery. The actions in Kurdistan, where the working class struggle steers comparatively low, carry the consciousness and motivation of struggling against privatisation, hunger, poverty and unemployment. Amed branch of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed ( ESP ) showed that they are together with the Akyil workers through their actions.

Communists, knowing that a nation which oppresses other nation cannot be free, said that the freedom of the working class of Turkey and taking the real class consciousness to the class can only be possible by de-fending the Kurdish national and democratic rights and by struggling for them. They also underlined that a working class which does not fight for the political demands of other classes and social stratus neither can fight for their own demands , and leaned their revolutionary activity and practice to this idea.

The Level of the Working Class organised in the Unions

The working class, which reached to an important level of organisation in the unions in 1970s', today is quite unorganised as a result of the disunionisation attack. The level of the organised working class in the unions was about 2.5 million in the years of 70s'. By the 12 September 1980 military fascist coup, the organisational level of unions dropped, liquidated for important portion due to the banning of unions -at first, DISK (Confede-ration of Revolutionary Workers' Unions) where revolutionary and progressive workers were organised- and so the unionist activities. The unionist organisation began to grow again only by the second half of 80s'. But it again come face to face with the disunionisation attack of the state in 97s' and, as a result of the attack, it went down to the lowest level in our day. According to the data received from DIE (State Statistic Institution), there are about 23 million people employed in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan and more than half of them are unregistered. About 9.5 million of them are paid workers and about 2 million are working with daily-fee. The unregistered workers are working without all forms of secured work, without insurances and unions. The number of organised workers in the unions is about 700 thousand. But an important portion of these are the workers working in the public enterprises which are face to face with privatisation attack and some of them already privatised. Privatisa-tion and outsourcing is always pulling down the level of organisation in the public sector.

The public labourers have de facto created their unions and its umbrella organisation, KESK (Confederation of the Public Labourers' Unions), through a tough struggle that they conducted on the streets in the years of 90s'. However, similar situation is being observed here in this front also. The petty bourgeois reformist sections, which surrounded the heads of the unions created via heavy prices paid by the public labourers, are far from practicing a struggling line in the face of the bourgeoisies' political, ideological and organisational attacks. As it happened in the industrial action throughout the country on 27 April 2005, they are trying to ease the voices heightening from the base and the base pressure, and come out of the situation through some actions organised time to time and in certain calendared-days. But all these actions do not go beyond protesting and reach to the result-achieving level. Today the number of the organised public labourers in the unions is also about 700 thousand. Considering the organisation level of the working class, it can be seen that the public labourers are relatively organised. However, the privatisation and outsourcing attack is also lowering the organisation level of public labourers.

Today, as it was yesterday, bringing consciousness to, organising and raising the class against the neo-liberal attacks is standing before us as a burning task. And the unions, the tools of organising the working class against these attacks, are blocking the resisting workers' struggle rather than repulsing those attacks. What we mean here is of course the union management that acts with the understanding of union bureaucracy and yellow unionism. The unionist line, which is far from the understanding of class unionism, is doing unionism for wages, conducting fight to get-protect their seats instead of fighting bourgeoisie and its attacks. When this combines with the bourgeoisie's many sided attacks, including disunionisation and disorganisation, puts before the working class a two-sided task: Both to struggle against the unionist bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie.

There is no doubt that there are unions struggling on the basis of class unionism in the industrial branches such as textile, dockyard and leather. In Turkey, where the textile industry is developed, workers are working in a way without being organised, unionised and with lack of every form of work-guaranty in small or large thousands of workplaces and factories. The daily working-hours are much higher than 8 hours. Having being formed on the basis of class unionism in this branch of industry, the Tekstil-Sen started to organise workers in many workplaces since its foundation, recorded modest but valuable progresses.

Besides Tekstil-Sen, Limter-Is (Port, Dock and Vessel Construction-Restoration Wor-kers' Union), Nakliyat-Is (Transportation Workers' Union) and Deri-Is (Shoe Industry, Leather and Leather Product Workers Union of Turkey) also do not consider the struggle only limited with the struggle for workers' economic-democratic rights. It is the task of the period to grow unions acting on the line of class unionism such as Tekstil-Sen, Limter-Is and Deri-Is, and to create similar unions.

The struggle conducted by Limter-Is and its protest demonstrations with mass participation of workers against the hard working conditions and the killings while working bring dockyard bosses face to face with tough and fearful moments.

The work carried out in the textile and leather branch of industry in order to organise workers in the unions very often replied by throw out of workers, who have organised in the union, to the street by the bosses. But the determinant stance of the unions meets with the workers' defence of their workplaces, and de facto resistances develop in front of the workplaces. The resistance of the leather workers in Ileri and Birsenler factories in Corlu against the redundancy because of organising in the union, the resistance of the Gonen leather workers, the resistances of Polaris, Evita, Dalkiran and Anil Textile that were led by Tekstil-Sen in 2004 and ended with some achievements, the resistance of the Eris Textile workers against their sacking from their works because of being organised in the Tekstil-Sen in Izmir, the resistances took place in Serna Seral, Desan Weaving, Texture Sock and Antalya Rivienna Inter Textile are some examples of these resistances. While some of these resistances, which spread into long period, resulted with achievement of workers to return to their work, in general, resistances made workers to gain experiences in the struggle. Having being suffered from the police and gendarme attacks, many of these resistances cause new sparks of consciousness in terms of showing workers the necessity and importance of bringing together these singular actions and turning them into a great force.

Some results which should be taken from resistances

Above-mentioned resistances (of course there are many other resistances we could not mention) points out a development and changing in the methods of struggle of the working class and the tools of struggle that it has been using. Although strikes and resistances are in most of the time conducted in the form of singular and local resistances, it has been seen that they make the capital and the government to have tough and stressful moments when they are especially supported by the other stratums of the working class and the people. The resistances have entered into a militant line like occupation of workplaces, blocking roads, clashing with the police, which all of them give the signal of going beyond the borders of routine and traditional protesting. Especially the occupation of workplaces has developed the consciousness and spirit of united action, organisation and fight among the workers. The occupation of factories is a challenge against the state's privatisation attacks and so against the state, militarism and the regime parties. The workers have experienced the obligation and practice of uniting, organising and struggling against the bourgeoisie on the basis of their objective class interests, with their real class state of belonging and instinct, and without considering the difference of political tendency, religion, language, region and sex.

However, as it is seen in SEKA, Seydisehir, Erdemir and other resistances, the militant struggle in combination with the lack of a revolutionary leadership does not enough for the class to succeed. Although they have delayed the neo-liberal attacks and represent a school for politicisation of workers, such form of singular resistances could not ensure repulsing the neo-liberal attacks as a whole.

On the other hand, approaching the problem only within the frames of economic struggle and not seeing that the privatisation, at the same time, is an ideological and political attack of the capital, blocks the development of a struggle gaining rights. This is also what happened in SEKA, Pasabahce (Glass and Ceramic sector) and Seydisehir. Because unions limit the struggle with the economic demands, the capital's united attack is not being repulsed. When the conciliatory and traitorous attitude of the union bureaucracy is added to this, the resistances always share the same faith and end with defeat.

In the face of capital's united aggression, the organisation of the united stance of the working class is still continuing as being a burning task. In order to break resistances, the capital mobilises its forces in all. But on the working class front, the resistances are left singular in general. The workers, who in most of the time do not come across directly with attacks, show no interest to the resistances continuing in other workplaces. This situation weakens the local resistances and leads them to come face to face with the defeat. Yet, the workers resisting in the factories such as SEKA, Seydisehir and Erdemir were resisting against the privatisation on the name of whole class, and the anger exploded there wad the anger of whole class.

Although the resistances we mentioned have not resulted with the achievements that are equivalent with the struggling practices of the workers, there are important experiences that these resistances led the working class to gain. Each resistances advanced by taking the heritage of the one before. Whilst Seydisehir marched from the footsteps of SEKA, the Erdemir and Mersin dockyard workers have followed the footsteps of Seydisehir. The workers have apprehended the necessity of the united struggle. They have understood the importance of getting the support of families, other workers and the people in order to win. Each of the resistances became the rehearsal of a "General Strike, General Resistance" in the local area. Once more they have tested in practice the historical and social role of the working class. The working class have activated, dragged other social classes and stratus, i.e. women, youth, small-shop owners.

These resistances become the new struggling schools of the working class. The resister workers have shown in practice to their class brothers and sisters that they have to go beyond them because it is possible. They revealed that the privatisation, which is a political attack, can only be repulsed by a struggle with political content.

The families of workers have played an important role in the resistances. Workers' families, women and children did not leave alone their spouses or mothers-fathers, they stood together against all type of attacks. Beside workers, the families have also seen the enemy face of the state against the workers and labourers; they apprehended in the struggle that the existing AKP government, which come to the power through great promises to the workers and labourers, is the friend of the capital, but the enemy of the labour and workers. As it happened in Seydisehir, the workers have collectively resigned from the regime parties and AKP.

Women in the Resistances

The women, whether they are workers or wives of the workers, have always taken part within and the forefront of the resistances that developed against the privatisation and other neo-liberal attacks. While the workers have resisted inside the factory when they occupied the SEKA, the women were in a competition in outside to grow the resistance. The efforts of the women have got determining place in defence of the Seydisehir resistance by the people of Seydisehir. The women, who run to the resistance by taking their children with them, have worked and are still working with heart and soul to spread the voice of the resistance to everywhere and to grow the support. It was the women who designed supporting actions in front of the factories with demonstrations, blocking of roads and meetings, and resisted against the police attacks.

The people's and small shopkeepers' support, which was partially created, has come to clear rather evidential in the Seydisehir resistance. The people of Seydisehir have owned the resistance and supported it by joining in the actions. The support of the people and the small shopkeepers gave strength and moral to the workers.

Despite of being valuable achievements, sample works and methods of struggle, the platforms established by vanguard workers and some unions in order to defend the resistance were not effective in mobilisation of the class whose organisational level is already very low and under the influence of the reformist and reactionary union lords that cannot be minimised.

The resistances mainly started as the spontaneous actions of workers facing with loosing their workplaces, but reached to a point going beyond the unionist frames in the sector where they held. This situation both worried the state and the union lords. The attitudes of various union branches who sided with workers were tried to be broken by their headquarters.

As it happened in SEKA, the revolutionary parties and organisations were not able to make active intervention to the resistances with some exceptions. This situation, once more revealed the weakness the revolutionary parties' and organisations' ties with the class.

But the Marxist Leninist Communists have shown an important practice in setting relations with the resistances, defending and spreading out them. They come forefront both in the worker assemblies at the beginning of the year and making workers to discuss the struggle against privatisation, or through the tents that they opened in order to grow and generalise the spark lighted in SEKA and to be a barricade against the state's attacks, and to spread out the Resistance into the city of Izmit.

The rounds of unionist traitorousness have played the determining role in finishing the resistances. The task of the communist vanguard is to lead the workers to ensure its unity of the class-will by breaking the surroundings of the unionist traitorousness, and to enlighten their way.

Approach to the Class Movement and Some Experiences

In its 3rd Congress organised in 2002, MLCP has evaluated its ties with the class and work within the class with a critical eye and took concrete decisions. As a result of these decisions, it has entered into an intense effort in order to develop its ties with the working class, to enlighten the working class against neo-liberal attacks, to increase the consciousness of united and organised struggle and to fulfil the mission of being the vanguard party of the class. It conducted a practice also in the sphere of work among the class to bring into life the parole, "Let's Go to the Masses" that aims to develop ties with the working class and labouring masses.

It has putted forward the "demand85'Let's Defend Our Workplaces against the Privatisation Terror', which is the most massed and systematic way of redundancy, in order to stand against the seizure of hard-achieved rights of the working class and the awarding of enterprises to the internal and external monopolies accompanied with the ideological attack: 'the private property is almighty and unique', 'the state property and social property is bad'". And it organised activities under perspective of mobilising the vanguard workers and the unions to repulse the attacks such as privatisation, disunionisation, redundancies and slavery wages. In order to repulse the attacks faced by the working class and to let them overcome the situation that they are in, it acted under perspective of conducting struggle by leaning on to its own forces and together with undertakings to develop base initiatives such as the Workers' Mass Meetings, the Labour Plat-form and the Platform of Union Branches, and bring together in various platforms the unions or their branches.

It is the task of the Marxist Leninist Communists to enlighten, to organise and to pull into struggle the working class with a socialist perspective against the capital's neo-liberal attacks by the activation of its own forces. Here are some of the examples of their works that they carried out in that direction:

In 2003, there have been a concentrated enlightening activity was carried out under the name of "Flag March" in order to enlighten workers against the slavery laws and privatisations. The activity, which was started in Istanbul in workers' catchments, factories and neighbourhoods, in a short period spread into other cities. The vanguard workers from ESP (Socialist Platform of the Oppressed) organised a widespread agitation and propaganda work against the slavery laws and the neo-liberal attacks thereby talking with workers and labourers, distributing leaflets, putting up posters and collecting petitions in front of the factories, workers' catchments, dockyards, train stations, cafE9 shops and houses. The enlightening campaign, which was carried out in commitment despite to the attempts of state prohibitions such as threats, attacks, detention and torture, provided communists to mobilise their own forces and to improve their self-confidence.

Throughout the year of 2004, in which division and disorganisation of the working class continued, the overall attacks of the capital continued with speed against the working class and the rights gained through struggle by the working class. On the other hand, the actions and reaction of the class on these attacks were divided, singular and were far from solidarity, politics and militancy. MLCP, which took the intervention within this situation into its agenda, decided to organise workers' assemblies in certain cities in order to debate on the problems and the ways of solutions together with vanguard workers, at first, and the workers as a whole. In the leaflets produced for assemblies, the aims were formulated as follows: "The assemblies are aiming at opening the ways of developing a common initiative and will in the working class base. The assemblies are aiming at developing a search for solution of the problems by bringing together the organised and unorganised workers, the unionised and non-unionised workers, the insured and uninsured workers, public labourers, women working at home or as a cleaner and the unemployed. The assemblies are being organised in order to overcome unionist divisions, to increase the class solidarity and to develop the workers' initiative against the capital's attacks. The assemblies are aiming at uniting the singular workers, workplaces, and the struggle of workers and labourers, to open the way for the working class to act in the frames of a united, common programme of struggle against the capital."

The preparatory work for the assemblies with concrete agendas carried out through local and regional meetings. By involving workers and labourers in the preparatory works, the organisers followed a perspective to workers to own the assembly right from the preparatory works. The assemblies were organised in January 2005. Hundreds of workers, who came together in assemblies, discussed commonly the problems they face and the proposals for the solution. It was the turn of workers in the assemblies, which were supported by attendance of many unions and organisations. The ones who were always quite-kept in silence, listeners went on to the podium, spoke and discussed about their problems.

In the assemblies, where the workers working in the branch of industries such as textile, metal, oil-chemical, transportation, dockyards, leather, service and food came together and discussed on what should be done in order to bring into open and strengthen the common will of all workers and labourers with insurance or not, unionised or not, it was underlined that the repulse of the attacks can only be possible by political stance, united will and militant struggle of the working class. For this, it was said, it is necessary to go forward by taking the de facto and legitimate struggle as the main, and the united and militant workers movement and a united popular resistance as it happened in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea can be sample.

Having been taken the defence of workplaces against the privatisation and the solidarity with continuing struggles in the workplaces targeted by privatisation as the task, the assemblies showed that it is the foremost duty of every worker to develop class solidarity, the break of individualism and estrangement can only be possible by action and the necessity of increasing the tools for the class solidarity and to come together in different branches of industry on local and regional levels without making a separation between insured and uninsured workers, between workers who have organised in the unions and unorganised ones, between workers, public labourers and unemployed workers.

It was said that the union bureaucracy divides and breaks the working class, and this division can be overcome by common organisation and class solidarity. It was noted that it is necessary to bring into open the grassroot initiative against the dividing efforts of the union lords and bureaucrats, and in order to do that the unification at the base must be strengthened by uniting in the common platforms of struggle through developing the collective movement of the struggling workers and the struggling unions.

It was said that overcoming of unionist crisis would be possible by organising workers from factory to factory, workplace to workplace because the unionist bureaucracy cannot do this. The workers were called to struggle in order to save unions from the ideological hegemony of the bourgeoisie, the union lords, and to make the class unionism dominant.

In the assemblies, where the decision of founding Worker's Leagues in the regions and catchments was taken, it was expressed that the Worker's Leagues are the unions of accion of the struggling workers and are the common will created by organised and unorganised, insured and uninsured workers, public labourers and unemployed workers.

And emphasising of the formation of associations of unemployed and workers, and the creation of forms of organisations -that develop the workers solidarity with the unemployed- in order to organise the fight for unity of social solidarity and support in the spheres of living of workers and unemployed, was paying attention to the common problems and the struggle of working and not working sections due to lack of employment of the class.

In the assemblies, it was noted that the attacks of the imperialist monopolies have an international characteristic, therefore, the working class should also organise with more strength its international unity and solidarity against capitalism. A proletarian internationalist stance was shown by saluting the German workers and unemployed struggle against Hartz IV, the strike actions of South Korean and Italian workers and the struggles of the working class and labourers in Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil and Russia. It was stressed that the agendas and demands of international workers' movement are gradually combined, in connection with that, the opportunities of the regional solidarity and regional struggle of the working class has been increased, therefore, there is a need for observation of opportunities of solidarity and development of concrete relations between the working class of Turkey, the Middle East, Balkans and Caucasus.

The Worker's Assemblies have not only become the discussion places, they ended with series of concrete decisions for action and struggle on the subjects that were mentioned above and regarding the actual political struggle. Followings are some of the decisions that have been taken at the assemblies: to take concrete actions against the privatisation, to work for 8 March and 1st May to be paid holidays, to organise campaigns against uninsured and non-unionised working, to organise Worker's Leagues in the neighbourhoods and catchments, to create opportunities in order to organise unemployed workers and to form associations where it's possible, to defend and support all resistances against the capital's attacks, to organise a campaign against getting tax from the minimum wage. Taking into account that the workers and labourers do not know their rights, it was decided to organise meetings under the name of "We are Learning Our Rights" and education activities explaining the class interests of the workers, and to fight against the cultural degeneration.

The workers, who organised meetings after the assemblies in order to bring into life the decisions, have founded Worker's Leagues in the neighbourhoods and regions as it was the necessity of the decisions. The assemblies represented a modest contribution in the struggle of the working class through achieving the Worker's Leagues and activating a section of the class even though it was a small step. The results of the assemblies have become a pushing force in developing solidarity with many resistances, at first with SEKA and Seydisehir, which developed after January, in increasing the struggle against privatisation and in the struggle for other problems of the class.

The campaign, which was started at the beginning of summer of 2005 by Tekstil-Sen and Worker's League under the heading "We want to work 35 hours a week with insurance and to organise in unions" provides the workers to develop the consciousness of getting organised and having rights such as insurance and social security.

The light carried to the textile sector by the Tekstil-Sen spreads speedily. Tens of workers getting consciousness, organised and thrown out from the workplace are developing obstinate and determent resistances under the leadership of Tekstil-Sen. Some of these resistances are ending in successes and, therefore, give strength and morale to other sections of the working class.

There is no doubt that the resistances we mentioned above, took results from and explained some experiences does not mean the working class has overcome the attacks that it faces. But the development and militancy in overcoming the problems and in the line of struggle will speed up the class's march forward.

MLCP, with the consciousness and responsibility of being the working class party, will continue until crowning with victory its efforts to enlighten, organise and lead the working class to fight along the perspective of revolution and socialism.

 

 

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THE COURSE AND EXPERIENCES OF WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE IN TURKEY AND NORTHERN KURDISTAN
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Struggle against privatisation conducted in all big enterprises that suffered from the privatisation attack through active resistances and ac-tions. When we look at the course of the struggle, it is being observed that there is an increase both in the number of workers participating in the actions and also a militant-tendency in the form of actions.

The neo-liberal attacks continuing on the working class and labouring masses in the whole world under the conditions of imperialist globalisation are also continuing with spreading into time and increasingly in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. The concrete frame of attack such as privatisation, outsourcing, disunionazation, flexible work, freezing of the wages and redundancies, are drawn by the imperialist institutions like the IMF and World Bank, and bring into life by the fascist dictatorship, the local collaborator of the monopolist capital. The letter of intention, which was presented even in July 2005 to the IMF by the government and adopted, was foreseeing the sacking of 18 thousand workers from their works in public sector.

The fascist dictatorship wants to give a legal frame and legitimacy to these attacks through many regulations that it has introduced; tries to repress, prevent the actions and resistance of the working class through these fascist-reactionary regulations, organisations, militarism and state terror. In the statements of the Prime Minister Erdogan, saying "It is my duty to market all Turkey", and Unakitan, the Finance Minister, saying "We are going to sell all of them whether they make profit or detriment", it can be seen clearly that AKP government with Islamic motives is under the service of the imperialist and collaborator capital. Also confessing that half of the privatised enterprises are closed down, Unakitan thus expresses that he imprisoned workers to unemployment, poverty and hunger.

KITs are on the Target of Privatisation

For the last few years, the selling as a gift of the state enterprises to the imperialist and collaborator monopolies is standing in the centre of attacks against the working class. KITs (State Economic Enterprises), which were created after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey (especially in 1930s') and are a sphere of employment that cannot be minimised, were for many years on the target of privatisation. KITs, which are active in the big and key sectors such as the petroleum, chemical, paper, tobacco, telecom, docks and tea, are closed down or sold one by one to the imperialist and collaborator monopolies with the lies, " KITs are not making profit", of governments of the capital and war. On one way or the other, the fascist regime has prevented the development of a united and sanctioning class movement from the below by spreading into time the wave of privatisation and unorganisation attacks, bringing enterprises into the agenda singularly, making reconciliation or temporary proposals of solution. The AKP government had also announced that it is going to privatised about 41 big public enterprises in 2003. And the privatisation attack continued to process.

Each privatisation attack has, before anything else, brought together with itself massive redundancies. The monopolies, which bought the state enterprises, started their work at first by reducing the number of workers. And the following attacks were conducted in the forms of disunionisation, disorganisation, freezing or lowering of wages, setting of the working hours in accordance with the interests of the bosses under the name of flexible work, increasing the working hours, circle of quality and etc.

Turkish bourgeois governments have always implemented the privatisation attacks together with reactionary laws. The head of these laws is the "New Working Law-Number 1857", known as the "slavery law" in the public opinion, and the "Reform for Personal Regime and Public Management Law", the name of the attack against the public labourers. All these attacks of governments were making obligatory the united actions of the working class and the public labourers movement and development of a united struggle against the attacks. The way of repulsing the attacks were possible by the working class to use its power coming from the production applying the weapon of "General Strike, General Resistance" supported also by the other labouring sections. However, the weakness of the working class's organisation both in political sense and in the trade unions, the reformist, traitorous and, even in some places, reactionary characteristics and stance of the union administrations, and the pacifist line of the petty bourgeois reformist and bureaucratic currency that surrounded the head of public labourers movement have prevented the slogan, "General Strike, General Resistance" to become a slogan of resistance.

Examples of Resistance against the Privatisation Attack

Struggle against privatisation conducted in all big enterprises that suffered from the privatisation attack through active resistances and actions. When we look at the course of the struggle, it is being observed that there is an increase both in the number of workers participating in the actions and also a militant-tendency in the form of actions. The workers -who at the beginning tried to repulse the attacks via marches, meetings, leaving work for short period or daily strikes- carried the struggle to a new momentum through the occupation of workplace for indefinite period by the workers from SEKA (Cellulose and Paper Factories) enterprise, and have shown the way to be followed against the privatisation to the working class.

TEKEL (Tobacco and Tobacco Products, Salt and Alchol Enterprises) and PETKIM (Petrochemistry Holding) workers have given the message of resistance through their struggle against privatisation in the year of 2003, and came forefront. While PETKIM workers occupied the factory in order to prevent the sell of their workplaces, the TEKEL workers have applied different methods of struggle including not letting collaborator monopolist purchasers enter into the factory. In the face of TEKEL workers' struggle, the government took back steps even that they were temporary, and postponed the sell of workplace for some period.

The privatisation terror continued by gaining speed throughout the year of 2004. TEKEL, PETKIM, TUPRAS (Turkish Petroleum Rafineries Corporation), Sumerbank, Telekom, Turkish Airlines and Eki Krom (Chromium Enterprises) have represented the main places under the target of privatisation. While the singular strike and resistances of the working class became widespread, the use of new tools and forms of struggle such as the general strikes of the labourers in public and health sector, the decision of general strike against the liquidation of SSK (Social Security Authority), leaving of work by workers against the NATO Summit, breaking of the chain of Abide-i Hurriyet on May Day, new experiences on organising the workers without-insurances, blocking of motorways have became the struggles that advanced the determination of the working class in struggle.

Whilst the year of 2004 started with the strike in Sisecam (Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Enterprises) of 5 thousand workers organised in Kristal-Is (Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Industries Workers' Union of Turkey), later it has continued with the government's banning of both this strike and the decision of strike taken by Lastik-Is (Tire Industries Workers' Union) in Goodyear, Pirelli and Brisa factories. The strike decision of Petrol-Is (Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union of Turkey) in SASA, Dupont-sa and Toros Manure Chemical Industry factories faced with the bosses' lockouts. Despite the workers' demand for de facto legitimate struggle, the union bureaucracy could not overcome the circle of prohibition and bowed their heads to those prohibitions. The workers' reaction also did not overcome the union bureaucracy's circle of traitorousness.

In the struggle against privatisation, the Sumerbank workers' struggle also come forefront together with the struggle of the workers in Izmir Aliaga. But the Sumerbank workers could not prevent the privatisation of their workplaces towards the end of 2004. As a result, it is possible to say that, in the year of 2004, the resistances of the working class were singular, partite and sectional.

SEKA Resistance Has Shown the Way

SEKA workers have warned the government by various actions towards the end of 2004. But, when the government refused to change its decision to close SEKA, on 19 January 2005, the workers occupied for indefinite period the workplace. The action of the workers, who stopped production and occupied the workplace, was important in terms of showing the way to the class and putting in panic the bourgeoisie. SEKA was a spark of fight against the neo-liberal attacks and privatisation. MLCP tried to organise support and solidarity with SEKA under the slogan: "Everywhere is SEKA, Resistance in everywhere". Having seeing the importance of the action, the revolutionary and communist forces run to the side of the SEKA resistance. They set tents in front of the factory and conducted an intense work to get the support of the people in Izmit, the town where SEKA is situated. A "Solidarity Platform with SEKA Workers" was set up in Istanbul under the leadership of communist workers. The platform, involving unions also, have organised many actions. The influence of the action in SEKA went beyond the borders of the town in a short time and spread into the entire country. On the 18th of February, the police attacked the action, but could not break the resistance. After the police attack, the solidarity with the resistance did not limit itself with statements or visits; it took the form of supporting actions in practice.

The SEKA resistance led the workers, who in other enterprises are struggling against the privatisation or closure of their workplaces, to unite their struggles with the solidarity to the SEKA resistance and to organise actions going beyond the union lords.

For a long time, the TEKEL workers had also wanted to organise much more effective actions in order to repulse the privatisation attack. But, somehow, the unions were not taking the decision for much more effective actions. The workers, therefore, have many times raided the union bureaus and made pressure on the union to take decision for actions. Through spark spread out by the SEKA, they went beyond the union lords and organised actions by taking the streets throughout the country. They organised demonstrations by blocking the roads. They blocked the Prime Minister's way. They replied the police attacks by clashing with them.

The tolilers from education sector combined their struggle against the banning of EGITIM-SEN (Education-Union) with the struggle for solidarity with SEKA.

Throughout March, the finance labourers have organised two strikes and actions of slowing down the work against outsourcing and personnel with contracts.

The dockyard and council workers have left their works in order to support the SEKA resistance.

Numerous solidarity and support actions were organised throughout the country. There were messages of support and solidarity even from outside the country.

Trough the influence of the solidarity built around it, the SEKA resistance turned into a resistance that targets the state. The state stood against SEKA with its government, courts, municipals, police, gendarme and media. That is to say, the SEKA workers, who did not want to lose their work, found the state against them. Thus the workers got both to know the government, its party AKP, the state and the IMF. The resistance politicised the workers. When politicised, the workers showed a much more determined and militant stance. They continued with the resistance by making necessary preparations in order to safeguard their resistance against the possible attacks. Yet they began to see that they are resisting not just for themselves. The workers saw who their friend is and who their enemy. They have tested them with their own experiences. In practice, they saw that the state and its institutions, which they are trusted, were their enemy and the instruments of the power of the capital.

Different sections of the working class, who suffered from the attacks of the bourgeoisie, have shown their reactions through various tools and methods of struggle. They organised giant, magnificent resistances. Through actions such as meetings, rallies, demonstrations, leaving their works, blocking roads, occupying the buildings of political parties and marching towards Ankara, the capital city, they tried to defend their rights, jobs and workplaces. Although they were singular, especially the occupation of workplaces and strikes, which went beyond the union bureaucracy and represented an advanced method of struggle, entered into the agenda of the class, and time to time led government to experience tough moments.

On the other hand, the unionists tried to limit the anger that developed against the state by directing it towards the government. They only criticised the government and its policies in their statements. Later, the resistance is ended due to an agreement made between the union lords and the governments. The reached-agreement, as a result, was on the direction of closure of SEKA.

Seydisehir Resisted Together with all the People of the Town

Privatisation of the Seydisehir Eti Aluminium Factory, which is situated in Konya-Seydisehir and involves about 1500 workers, become the field of months-long great resistances. By participation of their families, the Seydisehir workers have turned the town into an area of action. Seydisehir followed SEKA. One of the other characteristics of Seydisehir is the defending of the action by all the people, whether they are workers, labourers and small shopkeepers. The workers, who did not allow the capitalists, purchasers to enter into the factory in each time when they heard that they are coming, began to act in commitment to defend their workplaces when they heard that their factory was sold to the CE-KA (Construction, Machinery, Mining Corporation). The workers welcomed the representatives of CE-KA, who came to the factory on 29 July, with stones, sticks and slogan: "Seydisehir is going to be a grave to CE-KA". Due to the workers' anger, which battered a jeep and 3 cars belong to CE-KA, the representatives of CE-KA were taken out of the factory only under the police security. Despite leading capital into mortal fear, the militant resistance of the Seydisehir worker was ended through an agreement made in Ankara by the headquarters of Celik-Is (Steel-Union). Only 200 of the workers accepted to continue to work in CE-KA. While 200 of the rest of the workers become pensioners, the others have left the factory by taking their compensations without accepting to work as slaves. As the SEKA resistance, the Seydisehir resistance has also functioned as a school and led workers to know better the government and the state.

The Next One was Erdemir

On 3 October 2005, Erdemir (Eregli Iron and Steel Factories Corporation) have been sold, together with all of its enterprises, to the OYAK (Armed Forces Pension Fund), one of the five biggest monopolies of Turkey. By purchasing Erdemir, OYAK has seized the monopoly of Turkey's steel industry. As being the 18th biggest flat-iron producer of the world, the biggest of Turkey, Erdemir is an enterprise that trenchers the appetites of the capital and monopolies show great interest. The workers have organised many actions against the privatisation of Erdemir. The Erdemir workers, who followed the footstep of SEKA and Seydisehir workers, did not allow the directors of the monopolist firm, who wanted to see the factory, to enter into the factory by not leaving the factory and through blocking the roads.

But, unfortunately, the workers could not go beyond the class collaborator fascist administrators of Turk Metal-Is (Metal, Steel, Ammunition, Machinery, Metal Products, Automobile Assembly and Allied Workers Union of Turkey). Turk Metal-Is tried to avoid from the workers' anger by organising some actions. Through the slogan, "Erdemir cannot be sold to foreigners", they propagated that Erdemir can be sold to native collaborator holdings rather than foreigner capitalists. Thus both it has played the role of a star in calming down the anger of the workers against the selling of their workplaces and weakening their struggle, and showed that it collaborates with the government and OYAK. During awarding of their workplaces to OYAK, the Erdemir workers organised protest action in front of the Headquarters of the Privatisation Administration. The workers, who came to Ankara by 10 busses, cried out their anger over the selling of Erdemir.

In Turkey, the army, upon OYAK, has got a great economic force within the state, and strengthens it place on the power also with this economic monopoly, besides with political instruments. By 743 million annual profit, OYAK is proud with itself by being in the forefront in Turkey in terms of profitability. As in all the fascist dictatorships, the army, while raining fascist cruelty on the working class and labourers, on the other hand, it steals the labour and work of the working class through OYAK.

TUPRAS

In TUPRAS, which is the biggest firms of Turkey and tried to be privatised, the workers showed that they are not going to accept the privatisation of their workplace and, therefore, are going to resist by going strike in the same day with workers from Izmir Aliaga, Kirikkale, Kocaeli and Batman refineries and in Yarimca petrol-chemical enterprise. On 2 September, the workers went on strike by using their power coming from the production and stopped the transportation of fuel-oil and fuel-oil products. There are about 9 imperialist and collaborator monopolies who want to buy TUPRAS, and this shows that the privatisation attack is a many sided attack and how TUPRAS feeds the appetites. The workers, who come across directly with the privatisation attack, also feel and experience the necessity of the class solidarity. One of the good examples of this was shown by the CAYKUR (General Directorate of Tea Establishments) , PETKIM and TEKEL workers who run along to the TUPRAS workers on strike. Leaving their work, the CAYKUR workers, who were also the target of the privatisation attack, marched to the side of TUPRAS workers in Kirikkale. The PETKIM and Telekom workers were also with the resistant workers in Izmir-Aliaga. All these solidarity actions showed the way to all victims of privatisation as well as being a source of moral and motivation to them.

Resistences in the dockyards

The AKP government want to close down the Istanbul Haydarpasa dockyard and to award the Izmir Alsancak, Iskendurun, Samsun, Bandirma, Izmit Derince and Mersin dockyards to the native or foreign capitalists. The Mersin dockyard, which has got strategic importance for the Middle East and where the USA makes its military and weapon deployment, has been sold for 36 years. The Mersin dockyard workers, who oppose the privatisation, began to resist by opening tents from 13 July. And on 11 August, the Mersin dockyard workers left their work for 24 hours, while the Iskendurun, Haydarpasa, Izmir and other dockyard workers left for 8 hours. Many unions and organisations, including Tekstil-Sen (Textile-Union), Istanbul Worker's League and EKB (Union of Labourer Women), have organised visits to support the workers.

TELEKOM

While struggling to prevent the selling of Telekom, which is in the frame of privatisation, the workers, on the other hand, have taken the decision to strike as their collective agreements entered into impasse. Through their actions, the Telekom workers said that they will not allow purchasers into the Telekom as following the footsteps of Seydisehir workers. And after the decision to sell in November, the workers went on to strike for indefinite period and occupied the workplace. The Telekom workers, having being suffered from the police attack, showed that they will resist in commitment.

A resistance in Northern Kurdistan

About 700 workers in Akyil Textile factory in the city of Amed in Northern Kurdistan have started to resist as a result of not getting their wages and the lack of payment of their insurance premiums. The resistance, which bears the characteristic of being the first massive worker action that was realised in Amed after the 12 September 1980 military fascist coup, ended in success and, therefore, it will heighten the working class struggle in Kurdistan. Having being witnessed to the TEKEL workers' struggle last year against the selling of TEKEL, Northern Kurdistan has this year also met with the workers' determinant struggle against the privatisation in Akyil textile factory and Batman oil refinery. The actions in Kurdistan, where the working class struggle steers comparatively low, carry the consciousness and motivation of struggling against privatisation, hunger, poverty and unemployment. Amed branch of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed ( ESP ) showed that they are together with the Akyil workers through their actions.

Communists, knowing that a nation which oppresses other nation cannot be free, said that the freedom of the working class of Turkey and taking the real class consciousness to the class can only be possible by de-fending the Kurdish national and democratic rights and by struggling for them. They also underlined that a working class which does not fight for the political demands of other classes and social stratus neither can fight for their own demands , and leaned their revolutionary activity and practice to this idea.

The Level of the Working Class organised in the Unions

The working class, which reached to an important level of organisation in the unions in 1970s', today is quite unorganised as a result of the disunionisation attack. The level of the organised working class in the unions was about 2.5 million in the years of 70s'. By the 12 September 1980 military fascist coup, the organisational level of unions dropped, liquidated for important portion due to the banning of unions -at first, DISK (Confede-ration of Revolutionary Workers' Unions) where revolutionary and progressive workers were organised- and so the unionist activities. The unionist organisation began to grow again only by the second half of 80s'. But it again come face to face with the disunionisation attack of the state in 97s' and, as a result of the attack, it went down to the lowest level in our day. According to the data received from DIE (State Statistic Institution), there are about 23 million people employed in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan and more than half of them are unregistered. About 9.5 million of them are paid workers and about 2 million are working with daily-fee. The unregistered workers are working without all forms of secured work, without insurances and unions. The number of organised workers in the unions is about 700 thousand. But an important portion of these are the workers working in the public enterprises which are face to face with privatisation attack and some of them already privatised. Privatisa-tion and outsourcing is always pulling down the level of organisation in the public sector.

The public labourers have de facto created their unions and its umbrella organisation, KESK (Confederation of the Public Labourers' Unions), through a tough struggle that they conducted on the streets in the years of 90s'. However, similar situation is being observed here in this front also. The petty bourgeois reformist sections, which surrounded the heads of the unions created via heavy prices paid by the public labourers, are far from practicing a struggling line in the face of the bourgeoisies' political, ideological and organisational attacks. As it happened in the industrial action throughout the country on 27 April 2005, they are trying to ease the voices heightening from the base and the base pressure, and come out of the situation through some actions organised time to time and in certain calendared-days. But all these actions do not go beyond protesting and reach to the result-achieving level. Today the number of the organised public labourers in the unions is also about 700 thousand. Considering the organisation level of the working class, it can be seen that the public labourers are relatively organised. However, the privatisation and outsourcing attack is also lowering the organisation level of public labourers.

Today, as it was yesterday, bringing consciousness to, organising and raising the class against the neo-liberal attacks is standing before us as a burning task. And the unions, the tools of organising the working class against these attacks, are blocking the resisting workers' struggle rather than repulsing those attacks. What we mean here is of course the union management that acts with the understanding of union bureaucracy and yellow unionism. The unionist line, which is far from the understanding of class unionism, is doing unionism for wages, conducting fight to get-protect their seats instead of fighting bourgeoisie and its attacks. When this combines with the bourgeoisie's many sided attacks, including disunionisation and disorganisation, puts before the working class a two-sided task: Both to struggle against the unionist bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie.

There is no doubt that there are unions struggling on the basis of class unionism in the industrial branches such as textile, dockyard and leather. In Turkey, where the textile industry is developed, workers are working in a way without being organised, unionised and with lack of every form of work-guaranty in small or large thousands of workplaces and factories. The daily working-hours are much higher than 8 hours. Having being formed on the basis of class unionism in this branch of industry, the Tekstil-Sen started to organise workers in many workplaces since its foundation, recorded modest but valuable progresses.

Besides Tekstil-Sen, Limter-Is (Port, Dock and Vessel Construction-Restoration Wor-kers' Union), Nakliyat-Is (Transportation Workers' Union) and Deri-Is (Shoe Industry, Leather and Leather Product Workers Union of Turkey) also do not consider the struggle only limited with the struggle for workers' economic-democratic rights. It is the task of the period to grow unions acting on the line of class unionism such as Tekstil-Sen, Limter-Is and Deri-Is, and to create similar unions.

The struggle conducted by Limter-Is and its protest demonstrations with mass participation of workers against the hard working conditions and the killings while working bring dockyard bosses face to face with tough and fearful moments.

The work carried out in the textile and leather branch of industry in order to organise workers in the unions very often replied by throw out of workers, who have organised in the union, to the street by the bosses. But the determinant stance of the unions meets with the workers' defence of their workplaces, and de facto resistances develop in front of the workplaces. The resistance of the leather workers in Ileri and Birsenler factories in Corlu against the redundancy because of organising in the union, the resistance of the Gonen leather workers, the resistances of Polaris, Evita, Dalkiran and Anil Textile that were led by Tekstil-Sen in 2004 and ended with some achievements, the resistance of the Eris Textile workers against their sacking from their works because of being organised in the Tekstil-Sen in Izmir, the resistances took place in Serna Seral, Desan Weaving, Texture Sock and Antalya Rivienna Inter Textile are some examples of these resistances. While some of these resistances, which spread into long period, resulted with achievement of workers to return to their work, in general, resistances made workers to gain experiences in the struggle. Having being suffered from the police and gendarme attacks, many of these resistances cause new sparks of consciousness in terms of showing workers the necessity and importance of bringing together these singular actions and turning them into a great force.

Some results which should be taken from resistances

Above-mentioned resistances (of course there are many other resistances we could not mention) points out a development and changing in the methods of struggle of the working class and the tools of struggle that it has been using. Although strikes and resistances are in most of the time conducted in the form of singular and local resistances, it has been seen that they make the capital and the government to have tough and stressful moments when they are especially supported by the other stratums of the working class and the people. The resistances have entered into a militant line like occupation of workplaces, blocking roads, clashing with the police, which all of them give the signal of going beyond the borders of routine and traditional protesting. Especially the occupation of workplaces has developed the consciousness and spirit of united action, organisation and fight among the workers. The occupation of factories is a challenge against the state's privatisation attacks and so against the state, militarism and the regime parties. The workers have experienced the obligation and practice of uniting, organising and struggling against the bourgeoisie on the basis of their objective class interests, with their real class state of belonging and instinct, and without considering the difference of political tendency, religion, language, region and sex.

However, as it is seen in SEKA, Seydisehir, Erdemir and other resistances, the militant struggle in combination with the lack of a revolutionary leadership does not enough for the class to succeed. Although they have delayed the neo-liberal attacks and represent a school for politicisation of workers, such form of singular resistances could not ensure repulsing the neo-liberal attacks as a whole.

On the other hand, approaching the problem only within the frames of economic struggle and not seeing that the privatisation, at the same time, is an ideological and political attack of the capital, blocks the development of a struggle gaining rights. This is also what happened in SEKA, Pasabahce (Glass and Ceramic sector) and Seydisehir. Because unions limit the struggle with the economic demands, the capital's united attack is not being repulsed. When the conciliatory and traitorous attitude of the union bureaucracy is added to this, the resistances always share the same faith and end with defeat.

In the face of capital's united aggression, the organisation of the united stance of the working class is still continuing as being a burning task. In order to break resistances, the capital mobilises its forces in all. But on the working class front, the resistances are left singular in general. The workers, who in most of the time do not come across directly with attacks, show no interest to the resistances continuing in other workplaces. This situation weakens the local resistances and leads them to come face to face with the defeat. Yet, the workers resisting in the factories such as SEKA, Seydisehir and Erdemir were resisting against the privatisation on the name of whole class, and the anger exploded there wad the anger of whole class.

Although the resistances we mentioned have not resulted with the achievements that are equivalent with the struggling practices of the workers, there are important experiences that these resistances led the working class to gain. Each resistances advanced by taking the heritage of the one before. Whilst Seydisehir marched from the footsteps of SEKA, the Erdemir and Mersin dockyard workers have followed the footsteps of Seydisehir. The workers have apprehended the necessity of the united struggle. They have understood the importance of getting the support of families, other workers and the people in order to win. Each of the resistances became the rehearsal of a "General Strike, General Resistance" in the local area. Once more they have tested in practice the historical and social role of the working class. The working class have activated, dragged other social classes and stratus, i.e. women, youth, small-shop owners.

These resistances become the new struggling schools of the working class. The resister workers have shown in practice to their class brothers and sisters that they have to go beyond them because it is possible. They revealed that the privatisation, which is a political attack, can only be repulsed by a struggle with political content.

The families of workers have played an important role in the resistances. Workers' families, women and children did not leave alone their spouses or mothers-fathers, they stood together against all type of attacks. Beside workers, the families have also seen the enemy face of the state against the workers and labourers; they apprehended in the struggle that the existing AKP government, which come to the power through great promises to the workers and labourers, is the friend of the capital, but the enemy of the labour and workers. As it happened in Seydisehir, the workers have collectively resigned from the regime parties and AKP.

Women in the Resistances

The women, whether they are workers or wives of the workers, have always taken part within and the forefront of the resistances that developed against the privatisation and other neo-liberal attacks. While the workers have resisted inside the factory when they occupied the SEKA, the women were in a competition in outside to grow the resistance. The efforts of the women have got determining place in defence of the Seydisehir resistance by the people of Seydisehir. The women, who run to the resistance by taking their children with them, have worked and are still working with heart and soul to spread the voice of the resistance to everywhere and to grow the support. It was the women who designed supporting actions in front of the factories with demonstrations, blocking of roads and meetings, and resisted against the police attacks.

The people's and small shopkeepers' support, which was partially created, has come to clear rather evidential in the Seydisehir resistance. The people of Seydisehir have owned the resistance and supported it by joining in the actions. The support of the people and the small shopkeepers gave strength and moral to the workers.

Despite of being valuable achievements, sample works and methods of struggle, the platforms established by vanguard workers and some unions in order to defend the resistance were not effective in mobilisation of the class whose organisational level is already very low and under the influence of the reformist and reactionary union lords that cannot be minimised.

The resistances mainly started as the spontaneous actions of workers facing with loosing their workplaces, but reached to a point going beyond the unionist frames in the sector where they held. This situation both worried the state and the union lords. The attitudes of various union branches who sided with workers were tried to be broken by their headquarters.

As it happened in SEKA, the revolutionary parties and organisations were not able to make active intervention to the resistances with some exceptions. This situation, once more revealed the weakness the revolutionary parties' and organisations' ties with the class.

But the Marxist Leninist Communists have shown an important practice in setting relations with the resistances, defending and spreading out them. They come forefront both in the worker assemblies at the beginning of the year and making workers to discuss the struggle against privatisation, or through the tents that they opened in order to grow and generalise the spark lighted in SEKA and to be a barricade against the state's attacks, and to spread out the Resistance into the city of Izmit.

The rounds of unionist traitorousness have played the determining role in finishing the resistances. The task of the communist vanguard is to lead the workers to ensure its unity of the class-will by breaking the surroundings of the unionist traitorousness, and to enlighten their way.

Approach to the Class Movement and Some Experiences

In its 3rd Congress organised in 2002, MLCP has evaluated its ties with the class and work within the class with a critical eye and took concrete decisions. As a result of these decisions, it has entered into an intense effort in order to develop its ties with the working class, to enlighten the working class against neo-liberal attacks, to increase the consciousness of united and organised struggle and to fulfil the mission of being the vanguard party of the class. It conducted a practice also in the sphere of work among the class to bring into life the parole, "Let's Go to the Masses" that aims to develop ties with the working class and labouring masses.

It has putted forward the "demand85'Let's Defend Our Workplaces against the Privatisation Terror', which is the most massed and systematic way of redundancy, in order to stand against the seizure of hard-achieved rights of the working class and the awarding of enterprises to the internal and external monopolies accompanied with the ideological attack: 'the private property is almighty and unique', 'the state property and social property is bad'". And it organised activities under perspective of mobilising the vanguard workers and the unions to repulse the attacks such as privatisation, disunionisation, redundancies and slavery wages. In order to repulse the attacks faced by the working class and to let them overcome the situation that they are in, it acted under perspective of conducting struggle by leaning on to its own forces and together with undertakings to develop base initiatives such as the Workers' Mass Meetings, the Labour Plat-form and the Platform of Union Branches, and bring together in various platforms the unions or their branches.

It is the task of the Marxist Leninist Communists to enlighten, to organise and to pull into struggle the working class with a socialist perspective against the capital's neo-liberal attacks by the activation of its own forces. Here are some of the examples of their works that they carried out in that direction:

In 2003, there have been a concentrated enlightening activity was carried out under the name of "Flag March" in order to enlighten workers against the slavery laws and privatisations. The activity, which was started in Istanbul in workers' catchments, factories and neighbourhoods, in a short period spread into other cities. The vanguard workers from ESP (Socialist Platform of the Oppressed) organised a widespread agitation and propaganda work against the slavery laws and the neo-liberal attacks thereby talking with workers and labourers, distributing leaflets, putting up posters and collecting petitions in front of the factories, workers' catchments, dockyards, train stations, cafE9 shops and houses. The enlightening campaign, which was carried out in commitment despite to the attempts of state prohibitions such as threats, attacks, detention and torture, provided communists to mobilise their own forces and to improve their self-confidence.

Throughout the year of 2004, in which division and disorganisation of the working class continued, the overall attacks of the capital continued with speed against the working class and the rights gained through struggle by the working class. On the other hand, the actions and reaction of the class on these attacks were divided, singular and were far from solidarity, politics and militancy. MLCP, which took the intervention within this situation into its agenda, decided to organise workers' assemblies in certain cities in order to debate on the problems and the ways of solutions together with vanguard workers, at first, and the workers as a whole. In the leaflets produced for assemblies, the aims were formulated as follows: "The assemblies are aiming at opening the ways of developing a common initiative and will in the working class base. The assemblies are aiming at developing a search for solution of the problems by bringing together the organised and unorganised workers, the unionised and non-unionised workers, the insured and uninsured workers, public labourers, women working at home or as a cleaner and the unemployed. The assemblies are being organised in order to overcome unionist divisions, to increase the class solidarity and to develop the workers' initiative against the capital's attacks. The assemblies are aiming at uniting the singular workers, workplaces, and the struggle of workers and labourers, to open the way for the working class to act in the frames of a united, common programme of struggle against the capital."

The preparatory work for the assemblies with concrete agendas carried out through local and regional meetings. By involving workers and labourers in the preparatory works, the organisers followed a perspective to workers to own the assembly right from the preparatory works. The assemblies were organised in January 2005. Hundreds of workers, who came together in assemblies, discussed commonly the problems they face and the proposals for the solution. It was the turn of workers in the assemblies, which were supported by attendance of many unions and organisations. The ones who were always quite-kept in silence, listeners went on to the podium, spoke and discussed about their problems.

In the assemblies, where the workers working in the branch of industries such as textile, metal, oil-chemical, transportation, dockyards, leather, service and food came together and discussed on what should be done in order to bring into open and strengthen the common will of all workers and labourers with insurance or not, unionised or not, it was underlined that the repulse of the attacks can only be possible by political stance, united will and militant struggle of the working class. For this, it was said, it is necessary to go forward by taking the de facto and legitimate struggle as the main, and the united and militant workers movement and a united popular resistance as it happened in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea can be sample.

Having been taken the defence of workplaces against the privatisation and the solidarity with continuing struggles in the workplaces targeted by privatisation as the task, the assemblies showed that it is the foremost duty of every worker to develop class solidarity, the break of individualism and estrangement can only be possible by action and the necessity of increasing the tools for the class solidarity and to come together in different branches of industry on local and regional levels without making a separation between insured and uninsured workers, between workers who have organised in the unions and unorganised ones, between workers, public labourers and unemployed workers.

It was said that the union bureaucracy divides and breaks the working class, and this division can be overcome by common organisation and class solidarity. It was noted that it is necessary to bring into open the grassroot initiative against the dividing efforts of the union lords and bureaucrats, and in order to do that the unification at the base must be strengthened by uniting in the common platforms of struggle through developing the collective movement of the struggling workers and the struggling unions.

It was said that overcoming of unionist crisis would be possible by organising workers from factory to factory, workplace to workplace because the unionist bureaucracy cannot do this. The workers were called to struggle in order to save unions from the ideological hegemony of the bourgeoisie, the union lords, and to make the class unionism dominant.

In the assemblies, where the decision of founding Worker's Leagues in the regions and catchments was taken, it was expressed that the Worker's Leagues are the unions of accion of the struggling workers and are the common will created by organised and unorganised, insured and uninsured workers, public labourers and unemployed workers.

And emphasising of the formation of associations of unemployed and workers, and the creation of forms of organisations -that develop the workers solidarity with the unemployed- in order to organise the fight for unity of social solidarity and support in the spheres of living of workers and unemployed, was paying attention to the common problems and the struggle of working and not working sections due to lack of employment of the class.

In the assemblies, it was noted that the attacks of the imperialist monopolies have an international characteristic, therefore, the working class should also organise with more strength its international unity and solidarity against capitalism. A proletarian internationalist stance was shown by saluting the German workers and unemployed struggle against Hartz IV, the strike actions of South Korean and Italian workers and the struggles of the working class and labourers in Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil and Russia. It was stressed that the agendas and demands of international workers' movement are gradually combined, in connection with that, the opportunities of the regional solidarity and regional struggle of the working class has been increased, therefore, there is a need for observation of opportunities of solidarity and development of concrete relations between the working class of Turkey, the Middle East, Balkans and Caucasus.

The Worker's Assemblies have not only become the discussion places, they ended with series of concrete decisions for action and struggle on the subjects that were mentioned above and regarding the actual political struggle. Followings are some of the decisions that have been taken at the assemblies: to take concrete actions against the privatisation, to work for 8 March and 1st May to be paid holidays, to organise campaigns against uninsured and non-unionised working, to organise Worker's Leagues in the neighbourhoods and catchments, to create opportunities in order to organise unemployed workers and to form associations where it's possible, to defend and support all resistances against the capital's attacks, to organise a campaign against getting tax from the minimum wage. Taking into account that the workers and labourers do not know their rights, it was decided to organise meetings under the name of "We are Learning Our Rights" and education activities explaining the class interests of the workers, and to fight against the cultural degeneration.

The workers, who organised meetings after the assemblies in order to bring into life the decisions, have founded Worker's Leagues in the neighbourhoods and regions as it was the necessity of the decisions. The assemblies represented a modest contribution in the struggle of the working class through achieving the Worker's Leagues and activating a section of the class even though it was a small step. The results of the assemblies have become a pushing force in developing solidarity with many resistances, at first with SEKA and Seydisehir, which developed after January, in increasing the struggle against privatisation and in the struggle for other problems of the class.

The campaign, which was started at the beginning of summer of 2005 by Tekstil-Sen and Worker's League under the heading "We want to work 35 hours a week with insurance and to organise in unions" provides the workers to develop the consciousness of getting organised and having rights such as insurance and social security.

The light carried to the textile sector by the Tekstil-Sen spreads speedily. Tens of workers getting consciousness, organised and thrown out from the workplace are developing obstinate and determent resistances under the leadership of Tekstil-Sen. Some of these resistances are ending in successes and, therefore, give strength and morale to other sections of the working class.

There is no doubt that the resistances we mentioned above, took results from and explained some experiences does not mean the working class has overcome the attacks that it faces. But the development and militancy in overcoming the problems and in the line of struggle will speed up the class's march forward.

MLCP, with the consciousness and responsibility of being the working class party, will continue until crowning with victory its efforts to enlighten, organise and lead the working class to fight along the perspective of revolution and socialism.