Bloodbath in S. A. Mining here ♦ Capitalism, Ever Given Disaster here ♦
Sign in car caravan in Seattle (US)
Bloodbath in the Mining Sector
SOUTH AFRICA, March 30— Just recently, Sibanye Gold, one of largest mining companies here, announced that they will retrench 7400 permanent workers and 3000 contractors. The company had to stop operations for a month because of a strike. Following this, they dismissed 99 workers and placed 407 on final notice.
The C.E.O of the company released a statement saying, “The long-term sustainability of the group is our only focus and is necessary if we are to continue to deliver superior value to all our stakeholders.”
The statement says a lot about how little the bosses value us. They forget the most important thing: that workers’ labour is the source of all value. Not the machines, but our labour power alone.
This week another company, Anglo Gold Ashanti, also said they will retrench 8500 workers. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. In the last five years, 100,000 workers have lost their jobs in the gold industry alone, excluding the recent announcements by Sibanye Gold and Anglo Gold. I’m convinced that other companies will follow these two. As a result, thousands of families will go to bed without knowing what they are going to eat.
This is why it is more important than ever for the party to win over these workers. So that they can fight for a communist society where they do not work for the bosses’ profit, but for the needs of the working class as a whole.
A Comrade
Capitalism: An Ever Given Disaster
March 29— The huge Japanese-owned container ship Ever Given, transporting goods from China to Europe, ran aground in the Suez Canal. It blocked traffic in both directions for a week. This exposed weaknesses in the seemingly mighty global capitalist system.
Hundreds of ships had to wait in the Canal. Others had to take weeks longer, rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. The circulation of capital slowed. Shipments of oil and natural gas were delayed.
The crisis rippled through the global economy. It showed how chokepoints like the Suez Canal and the Straits of Malacca and Hormuz are strategically critical, especially in wartime. And the key role of transportation workers.
The beaching of Ever Given shows that “the bigger they are, the harder they fall!” The international working class can take down the seemingly mighty capitalist rulers. That requires the bold leadership of a mass revolutionary communist party.
We can build communism, where all production and distribution are to meet the masses’ needs. No cheaply made (and often useless) goods to ship halfway around the world at a huge cost to the environment. Sharply reduced use of climate-changing carbon-based energy.
In communism, workers will share labor and products with our human family around the globe. But we will emphasize local production, wherever possible, using renewable energy, of well-made goods and locally sourced food that will best meet our needs.
Comrade in USA
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