Support for workers urged
Belgium puts 13 union leaders on trial
By John Catalinotto
Since late November the Belgian government has put 13 steel
workers on trial for fighting too energetically and militantly
for the rights of the 1,800 workers of the Clabecq steel works.
The next session of the trial will be Feb. 18 in the city of
Nivelles.
The defendants' supporters are asking for international
messages of solidarity. They have also called for a March 7
demonstration in Tubize.
Belgian prosecutors have dredged up an 1887 anti-worker law,
passed after the first working-class rebellions in Belgium. The
law makes it just as much a crime to incite an action by
writing and speeches as by direct involvement.
For the Belgian ruling class, just as for the big bosses
here, any "violent" action to defend working-class rights is a
crime.
Using that 1887 law, the 13 unionists are charged with
"armed rebellion, attacking police with bulldozers, attempting
to set fire to a police station, kidnapping two secret-service
agents, blows and injuries against policemen, theft of material
and disruption of traffic."
The leaders of the Clabecq workers now risk years in jail
and ruinous fines for their efforts to organize to save the
jobs at the plant.
Issues and actions
In the early 1970s, some 6,500 workers were employed at
Clabecq. Only 1,800 were left in December 1996 when the company
declared bankruptcy.
The government of that region, which had compensated the
bosses and taken ownership of the factory, added insult to
injury by saying it would construct a jail on the factory site
as the new source of income.
The leaders of the Clabecq workers--who had a long-range
outlook of building for socialism--had prepared since 1992 to
fight the closure.
When the struggle exploded as 1996 ended, union
representatives demanded full maintenance of the site, no job
losses and investments to guarantee that the firm could go on.
They refused to negotiate a plan that would accept the plant's
closing.
Banks prevented payments of the last wages owed to the
workers. Workers then took bulldozers out for the first
time.
They crossed the small Clabecq-Tubize township, breaking the
banks' windows.
Wages were paid immediately.
Workers also noticed someone taking their pictures from
behind the windows of the police station. They took the station
by storm and confiscated the camera.
These actions are being used against the union leaders in
the trial.
As the result of a national mobilization to defend the
Clabecq workers, some 70,000 workers and supporters
demonstrated in the factory town on Feb. 2, 1997.
Unionist with a view
Worker-leader Roberto D'Orazio told the crowd that day:
"This march must be the beginning of victory for the workers.
What we want is for the economy to be at the service of the
workers, of education, of our children and of labor. Because
all the wealth in this country is produced by the workers, this
wealth belongs to us."
The two top union leaders in the Clabecq case--and those
singled out for the most repression--are from non-Belgian
backgrounds. D'Orazio, the main shop steward, is the child of
an Italian immigrant. The other leader, Silvio Marra, is
himself an Italian immigrant.
Since the group of unionists they led assumed union
leadership in 1992, the Clabecq workers have distinguished
themselves with solidarity efforts. For example, they made the
first "factory against racism" in Belgium when 75 percent of
the Clabecq workers signed a petition demanding automatic
Belgian nationality for anyone residing inside the country for
five years.
Because of his Marxist approach and because he is a symbol
of union militancy, D'Orazio and his closest associates face
the wrath of the Belgian capitalists. The Belgian Labor Party
(PTB), which has been active in organizing defense of the
Clabecq workers, is asking working-class activists around the
world to send messages of solidarity for the workers on
trial.
Readers are invited to send messages to Workers World
newspaper at 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011, or
email to ww@workers.org. WW will forward them to the PTB.
This article is based on a message from the PTB and
articles in their weekly newspaper, Solidaire.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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