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1 VOLUME 3. NUMBER 33 20 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2015 Contents Contents .. 1 NEHAWU FULLY BEHIND THE PHARRELL PROTESTS .. 1 COSATU SUPPORTS THE pHARRELL pROTEST .. 2 WFTU CONDEMNS THE MILITARY COUP IN BURKINA FASO .. 3 ANC IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR UN REFORM .. 3 TRADE UNION ACTION AGAINST THE ANTI-REFUGEE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION .. 3 SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY STILL MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR AFRICA AND ARAB COUNTRIES .. 4 MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION OF PAME AGAINST THE ANTI MIGRANT POLICY OF THE EU .. 5 JEREMY CORBYN: A MAN WHO DIDN T TRY TO FASHION A CAREER .. 5 THE KIND OF SOCIETY WE WANT .. 9 PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT URGES ISRAEL TO STOP 12 NEHAWU FULLY BEHIND THE PHARRELL PROTESTS 22 September 2015 NEHAWU Statement NEHAWU adds its voice in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions {BDS} Campaign against Pharrell Williams and Woolworths.

2 We view his collaboration with Woolworths as shameful, unprincipled, and morally obscene. It is tantamount to feasting on the carcasses of the slaughtered and mutilated Palestinians and a slap in the face of the exiled and incarcerated ones. Globally, there is now an accepted indictment of the government of israeli ; that its practices against the Palestinian people are in breach of the prohibition on apartheid under international law. Apartheid like slavery is a step up above the grave for those who are subjected to it. The apartheid state of Israel has not just slaughtered and displaced many Palestinians, but it has also persecuted Christians and other minorities. In 2012 hundreds of African immigrants were attacked by israeli nationalist protestors in Tel Aviv neighbourhood of Hatikva, with the connivance of the state. They assaulted, destroyed and looted the properties of African immigrants after provocative statements by members of the israeli Knesset {assembly}.

3 Miri Regev an israeli lawmaker and member of the Knesset called the Sudanese Immigrants a cancer in our body during an anti-immigration protest. This was followed by the statements from Danny Danon a member of the Likud party who proposed that the city s African residents should be deported to the detention facilities and be removed from population centres. Artists like Pharrell Williams should remember that by collaborating with organisations like Woolworths, they are giving indirect support to the racist, xenophobic and neo-fascist practices of the israeli state. Currently, the israeli regime is busy detaining young Palestinian children and is also busy drafting draconian laws meant to ensure that the israeli Arabs remain second class citizens in their own country. We call on all our members and the workers in general to join in the ongoing BDS campaign .All of us have a moral responsibility to speak out against the abuse of Palestinians by the israeli government and also to stop the crime of silence.

4 We reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Palestine and we are calling for an end to the military aggression against Palestinians. All political prisoners and detainees must be released immediately and we support the formation of an independent Palestinian state with West Jerusalem as its capital. The Israelis must affirm the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office Source: NEHAWU COSATU SUPPORTS THE PHARRELL PROTEST 21 September 2015 COSATU Statement The Congress of South African Trade Unions supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] Campaign led by International Social Justice Activists today in Cape Town, Western Cape against Pharrell Williams due to his deliberate and un-informed decision to collaborate with Woolworths. COSATU has continued to campaign that companies must discontinue doing business with Apartheid israeli regime as an instrument to isolate the intransigent regime against ill-treatment meted against the people of Palestine.

5 COSATU agrees with BDS-South Africa that International mobilisation, mass protests, global boycotts and specifically the cultural and sports boycott against the oppressive and racist Apartheid system in South Africa were used as ways to mobilise huge pressure on the Apartheid regime in the 1980s, largely accelerating our struggle towards freedom . And today, we cannot put wool in our eyes with injustice meted against the people of Palestine. COSATU reiterates its solidarity with the people of Palestine, who continue to suffer from political repression and apartheid from Israel. COSATU welcomes the Western Cape High Court judgment which declared the attempts by the City of Cape Town to restrict attendance to only 150 people, invalid and unconstitutional. Equally, COSATU condemns the act by some political parties who have visited the Middle East on a ticket of the oppressor, the israeli regime. COSATU also appreciate the recent decision by the United Nations to have the flag of Palestine flying high at its Headquarters.

6 COSATU urges workers to actively participate in the #PharrellProtest at the Main Entrance of Grand West Casino, Jakes Gerwel Drive in Parkwood, and Cape Town from 16h00 as planned. We, the South Africans are not free until the people of Palestine are free! Issued by COSATU Source: # WFTU CONDEMNS THE MILITARY COUP IN BURKINA FASO 21 September 2015 WFTU Statement The World Federation of Trade Unions strongly condemns the military coup in Burkina Faso and expresses its solidarity to the people and working class of the country. Supports the call for general strike of the Trade Union Federations and calls the workers to denounce the coup. We call the Burkinabe people to continue their struggle to overthrow the coup of the Presidential Guard. We strongly believe that the workers have the power to secure their rights and independence against every enemy in and out of their country. The WFTU, representing 92 million workers in 126 countries, endorses the demands of the trade unions in Burkina Faso: the unconditional dissolution of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), calls the workers ant the trade unions in every country of the world to express their solidarity in every possible manner and mean to the working class of Burkina Faso who is struggling to defend its rights against the military coup.

7 Source: ANC IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR UN REFORM 21 September 2015 Prensa Latina The African National Congress (ANC) urged today in South Africa to the extension of the United Nations Security Council as part of the reform of the UN on the occasion of its 70th anniversary. During a meeting with the press, the head of the International Relations subcommittee, Obed Bapela, favored the change, because of the 15-member council only five have a veto (United States, France, Britain, Russia and China). South Africa along with the rest of it continent demanded a reform of the United Nations, but this point, was apparently overshadowed by the debates at its headquarters in New York regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, stated experts. Last week, President Jacob Zuma outlined as one of the priorities of the South African foreign policy the issue of UN reform in order to make it more inclusive, democratic and representative. The countries of this part of the world warn that there would no be any valid transformation in the Security Council if it continues to ignore and exclude the 54 member states included in the African Union.

8 Source: TRADE UNION ACTION AGAINST THE ANTI-REFUGEE POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 23 September 2015 WFTU The class trade union Organizations of Europeaffiliates, and friends of WFTU, condemn the Hypocrisy of the European Union and the Governments of its Members states which is a provocation to all refugees and the working class of Europe. The EU, USA and NATO who cause the imperialist wars now talk words of sympathy for their victims. They are murderers and hypocrites. Declaring their solidarity with the refugees and the migrants, the class Trade Union forces in Europe are taking initiatives and organising militant actions. In Greece, PAME is holding a militant protest on Wednesday, September 23 condemning the hypocritical Summit of the EU on the Refugees and demands immediate measures for the protection of all migrants and refugees who are uprooted by imperialist wars and poverty. In Cyprus, PEO organizes a campaign for Humanitarian Aid for the Refugees and held an event of Solidarity with the Refugees on September 3rd.

9 In Portugal, CGTP-In is organized on 18 September a public debate on the Issue of Refugees and Migrants in Lisbon. In Italy, USB along with CISPM, a coalition of asylum Seekers, Refugees and Migrants will be going to hold an International Demonstration in Calais on 25th of September and are calling for a national week of Action on 17-24 October 2015 in Italy. In Austria, the Left Bloc is organising a militant protest on October 3rd, on the anniversary of the WFTU declaring the support of the class trade unions to the refugees. WFTU calls all trade union organisations to take initiatives against the Anti-Refugee policies of the EU, against racism and xenophobia. The class trade unions must multiply the initiatives of Solidarity and Support with the Refugees. Source: SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND INEQUALITY STILL MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR AFRICA AND ARAB COUNTRIES 24 September 2015 PSI Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, opened the 12th Regional Conference for Africa and Arab Countries (AFRECON) in Gaborone, Botswana, emphasising the challenges that public service workers face nowadays in the region.

10 To an audience of over 200 public sector trade union leaders from 33 countries, Ms Pavanelli said she was particularly pleased to see for the first time nearly half of women delegates attending. It would be a sad world, where half of the population was not fairly represented. However, she also expressed her frustration that delegates from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea could not obtain a visa and participate in the Conference, as these are the three African countries most affected by the Ebola virus disease. Ebola has exposed the failure of a system that has challenged public governance of health care in Africa. It has shown to the whole world the importance of public investment in the health sector, of decent work conditions and of research against such diseases. Ms Pavanelli said that a major reason for such lack of investment is tax evasion, corruption and tax havens that are also widespread across Africa. Paraphrasing the slogan of AFRECON Solidarity, Strength, Service , PSI General Secretary mentioned the current refugee crisis around the Mediterranean and called on Europe for more solidarity towards African and Middle Eastern countries.