Sunday, June 29, 2014
Ukraine: Right Sector neo-nazis attack trade union conference in Kiev
A trade union conference was violently attacked by fascist thugs on June 26 in Kiev. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine was holding its congress and was due to elect the union leadership, when it was interrupted by a violent attack by “Right Sector” and “Social-National Assembly” neo-nazi thugs, as well as the Maidan self-defence militia.
The police force arrived after most of the damage and violence have been done and have failed to intervene effectively, while several Afghan war veterans attempted to defend the conference on their own.
The attackers, who burned flags, used pepper spray against their opponents, broke glass doors and windows, and set fire to one of the corridors in the building, had declared the leadership elections illegitimate and demanded that the Federation adopt measures of “lustration” against most of its former leaders, especially Party of Regions members.
This is just another move towards suppressing dissent by the regime. Whether the FPU is bureaucratic or not is irrelevant in this case, this is a problem that workers in Ukraine have to deal with themselves, not neo-Nazi thugs.
As in other spheres of society, where secret police, aided by fascist thugs, carries out arrests against dissenters and left-wing activists, here the Kiev regime uses neo-Nazi militants in an attempt to push through politically loyal leadership into trade union organisations – like the so-called Independent Miners’ Trade Union, where the leadership is affiliated to the nationalist “Batkivshchyna” (Fatherland) party and has played a strike-breaking role during the Donbas miners’ industrial action.
The “Right sector” neo-nazis say they advocate the creation of “independent nationalist trade unions.”
This is not quite what it seems and the situation is far more complicated than what you might think. First of all, stop calling the RIght Sector "neo-Nazis". I do not support them at all but they are not "neo-NAzis" nor "fascist" and calling them this will certainly not help you understand the truth. The Right Sector are die hard opponents of the Yanukovych regime. Yes, that is for certain. But the Yanukovych regime and his "Party of Regions" were the greatest enemies of the working classes. They did more to impoverish the people of Ukraine than any other government since Ukraine's independence in 1991. The trade unions during the last many years were not real trade unions at all and did not represent the workers or the working class and certainly did not act in their interests. Instead, they were used to control the workers and keep them from demanding their rights. Therefore, what the RIght Sector did, in fact, is act to the benefit of the working class. This trade union conference was being held illegally against all trade union rules and was meant to again elect a leadership composed of members of the PArty of Regions who could not give a damn about the working class. Please don't listen to the Kremlin propaganda about Ukraine. There is not an inkling of truth to what they say.
ReplyDeleteThe Right Sector is composed of many groups some explicitly Nazis other less so.
ReplyDeleteFounding groups included Trident (Tryzub), led by Dmytro Yarosh and Andriy Tarasenko; and the Ukrainian National Assembly–Ukrainian National Self Defence (UNA–UNSO), a political/paramilitary organization. Other founding groups included Patriot of Ukraine, the Social-National Assembly,Carpathian Sich, and White Hammer. Hammer was expelled in March 2014.
Whilst not everybody in the Right Sector may not be a Nazis it is home for many Ukrainian Nazis and hence the description of them as "neo" nazis is correct
Concerning Yanukovych we agree with your description of him has being an enemy of the working class as are all the oligarchs and their supporters in the Ukraine including Oligarch in Chief Poroshenko.
The descrption of "neo" nazis also describes not just their theory but their practice and the attempts not just to smash trade union meetings but strikes of coalminers in the Donbass also qualifies Right Sector for the "neo" nazis description.Not forgetting the murders they have been involved in.