International dockers movement lines up behind EUkrainian imperialism

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the dockworkers’ organizations are lining up to protect American/EU imperialism in Europe. This is somewhat disappointing given the strikes and work blockages against all weapon shipments by the COBAS/rank-and-file Unions in Italy as well as the dockers in the Greek port of Piraus/Athens.

In May, the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union (SDU), Svenska Hamnarbetarförbundet, an independent, militant, worker-run union gave notice about new industrial actions against Russian ships and marine traffic to and from Russia in all Swedish ports as a “nationwide solidarity action in support of Ukrainian trade union resistance against the Russian invasion”. In a press release, they state: “The new blockade will start on the 26th of May and will affect all marine transports going to or coming from Russia as well as ships owned or controlled by Russian interests in all Swedish ports until the 26th of June”.

The SDU press release later says: “Our trade union comrades in Ukraine have put a lot of effort into explaining the situation on the ground to our counterparts, to protect us from new attacks from the employers. All dockworkers have a very clear common interest at this point to cut off funding for this horrific invasion, as Russian bombardment as well as kidnappings and mass layoffs in occupied Ukrainian port cities is threatening to wipe out free trade union activity in the Black Sea, says [Svenska Hamnarbetarförbundet], President Berg”.

Unfortunately for the defenders of Ukrainian workers’ unions, that country has become worse for labor organization than that of the Russians. According to an article from openDemocracy:

“In March, the Ukrainian parliament passed wartime legislation that severely curtailed the ability of trade unions to represent their members, introduced ‘suspension of employment’ (meaning employees are not fired, but their work and wages are suspended) and gave employers the right to unilaterally suspend collective agreements.

“But beyond this temporary measure, a group of Ukrainian MPs and officials are now aiming to further ‘liberalise’ and ‘de-Sovietise’ the country’s labour laws. Under a draft law, people who work in small and medium-sized firms – those which have up to 250 employees – would, in effect, be removed from the country’s existing labour laws and covered by individual contracts negotiated with their employer. More than 70% of the Ukrainian workforce would be affected by this change.

“Against a background of concerns that Ukrainian officials are using Russia’s invasion to push through a long-awaited radical deregulation of labour laws, one expert has warned that the introduction of civil law into labour relations risks opening a “Pandora’s box” for workers”.

The SDU continues to try to be the best defenders of the EUkrainian imperialism. Also from the announcement of the action against Russia:

“Neither the Swedish Government nor the Swedish Parliament have so far been willing to go further than the EU’s utterly useless port sanctions. This lack of political action allows the Putin regime to keep funding this invasion with profits from trade with Sweden. Therefore, we feel we have an obligation to do what we can as an independent working class organization, says Berg”.

The International Dockworkers’ Council stated at their 2021 semi-annual conference held in New Orleans, USA:

“The war in Ukraine has failed to resolve what is already best in all of us, dockworkers all over Europe and the world refusing to deal with any shipment, which is thus owned or afflicted by a Russian company. We play our part to support the Ukrainian people against Putin’s aggression”.

But what about defending the Ukrainian working class against their own capitalists?

An ILWU faction – mostly older and retired militants aligned around the Trotskist “Internationalist Group” put out a statement:

“We, ILWU members and retirees, are very concerned about the Coastal Committee’s March 3, 2022 public statement on the war in Ukraine. It departs from the many anti-war positions our union has taken even when it was unpopular to do so. The ILWU has always been critical of NATO’s war actions. Since the end of World War II, we have opposed U.S. wars and coups in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Serbia (former Yugoslavia), Cuba (Bay of Pigs invasion), Chile (coup), El Salvador and Nicaragua”.

So far, so good! But what about the Russian bourgeoisie’s attacks on their own workers? Evidently the Trotskist “critical defense of the workers’ motherland” goes well beyond the products’ pull date, and the Militants defend Russia’s actions as being provoked by NATO, etc, etc. They are correct in seeing the march to war as internal to US capitalism but somehow, inanely, outside and inflicted upon the Russian capitalist State.

But at the end of all these dead-end defense of Russia and other equivocations, these fellow workers are correct:

“The ILWU must demand an end to the war. Above all, we must appeal to the port actions of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) for port workers around the world to refuse to handle military cargo. Both opposed the Zionist massacre of Palestinians last year. Now they can call for an end to the war in Ukraine. International actions by workers who refuse to move military cargo can stop it.

And while these fellow workers end up in the right place, the logic they pursue will end up supporting Chinese capitalism, since China is still a “workers’ State” worth defending