{"id":15078,"date":"2017-06-22T22:03:01","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T14:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=15078"},"modified":"2017-06-23T22:40:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T14:40:54","slug":"hong-kong-socialist-action-is-a-growing-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/22\/15078\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong: Socialist Action is a growing force"},"content":{"rendered":"

Success in recruiting migrants, women and youth in 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dikang, Socialist Action<\/p>\n

Socialist Action is a growing force. While we are not a large organisation \u2013 yet \u2013 we are having a bigger impact and doing our part in laying the ground for a powerful left force to emerge in Hong Kong. Over the past six months Socialist Action has had our fastest ever rate of membership growth. This is also the case for our comrades in Taiwan and mainland China, whose progress is a great inspiration and spurs us forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur membership target was to win 20 new members during the first half of 2017. We are almost there, 19 have joined,\u201d says Sally Tang Mei-ching who is Socialist Action\u2019s chairperson. \u201cIn Hong Kong, we\u2019ve recruited more women than men \u2013 around two-thirds \u2013 which is a change and a big step forward,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

More members, but also a bigger role in several important struggles \u2013 this is how 2017 is turning out. Our organisation has organised protests with refugees, migrant workers and also trade unionists fighting for their rights. We are continuing and stepping up our campaigns among women and youth \u2013 against sexism, racism, homophobia, and the injustices of capitalism.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Migrant groups march with Socialist Action on June 18 for 8-hour working day, equal pay for equal work, and against racism.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

United against racism<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the democracy struggle running into trouble, a concerted crackdown by the Chinese dictatorship especially after the Umbrella Movement<\/a>, there\u2019s been a general downturn in protests \u2013 smaller, fewer and not so many young people. But Beijing is living in a dream world if they think they have won \u2013 bigger movements are coming and not just in Hong Kong but in China itself!<\/p>\n

Ethnically, Socialist Action is also a diverse organisation with new members from Indonesia, the Philippines, America and Myanmar as well as Hong Kong born. This means the organisation\u2019s propaganda \u2013 magazines, websites \u2013 and also the members\u2019 meetings have become more multinational.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hold some meetings in Indonesian as well as in Cantonese, English and Putonghua and we have started a new socialist blog in Indonesian language<\/a>,\u201d says Sally.<\/p>\n

Socialist Action helps to publish four different magazine editions and sales of the English language magazine have increased a lot in 2017 because of so many campaigns with migrant workers, refugees and foreign students.<\/p>\n

The shock election of president Trump meant the year began with a bang for Socialist Action. The global \u2018Trump effect<\/a>\u2019 was not so noticeable among Hong Kong people. Some had illusions that Trump was an ally against the Chinese dictatorship! But Muslims such as Hong Kong\u2019s Indonesian community, and young women and refugees, were shaken and angered by Trumps\u2019s racist Islamophobic policies and statements.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Selling Socialist magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Socialism and feminism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Socialist Action\u2019s demonstration on International Women\u2019s Day (IWD, 8 March)<\/a> was part of the global women\u2019s protests against the Pussy-grabber-in-Chief. It was a success not just in terms of numbers \u2013 our biggest IWD to date<\/a> \u2013 but also because of the different groups who came and spoke up about their struggles, including refugee women, relatives of rape victims, migrants who face daily discrimination and feminist students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one working class no matter what nationality. United struggle has much greater chance of winning victories.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This laid the ground for Socialist Action\u2019s first ever May Day demo<\/a>, another really important step forward, organised together with the radical migrant group Kobumi. The morning demo and rally gathered over 100 people and later joined the main HKCTU (Confederation of Trade Unions) march. The slogans of Socialist Action\u2019s demo were for an 8-hour work day, HK$45 per hour minimum wage and increased protection for migrant workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference with our May Day demo was its clear internationalist and anti-racist platform \u2013 for united struggle,\u201d says Sally. \u201cUnfortunately, most labour unions and activists think \u2018migrant issues\u2019 are separate from the issues facing Hong Kong workers. This is wrong, they need to be linked together; we are one working class no matter what nationality. United struggle has much greater chance of winning victories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Socialist Action members have supported workers in the catering industry, a stronghold of union-busting companies. The sacking in March of Chef\u2019s Union chairman Ng Chi-Fai<\/a> by multinational company LSG gave a powerful reminder of this. We responded helping the union to run protest actions at university canteens and with a Facebook page. We set up international solidarity against the mother company (Lufthansa) getting protest resolutions from airline workers\u2019 unions in Germany, Bulgaria and other places.<\/p>\n

\"\"
June 4 anniversary of the 1989 Beijing massacre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Political purge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Socialist Action also started an international campaign for \u2018Long Hair\u2019<\/a> Leung Kwok-hung and other opposition legislators threatened with disqualification by the courts. Socialists and CWI (Committee for a Workers\u2019 International) members in a dozen cities from Bangalore to Vienna responded with solidarity actions condemning this blatant political repression. The defence campaign\u00a0for \u2018Long Hair\u2019 <\/a>is extremely important as the government is stepping up the purge and the number of political court cases is growing.<\/p>\n

The demise of right wing localism<\/a> in Hong Kong, falsely seen as a radical anti-government alternative, will hopefully open more space for internationalism and awareness that Hong Kong\u2019s struggle for democratic rights cannot win in isolation or by hoping for support from foreign capitalist governments. Socialist Action explains the need for a working class political force which is linked with mass struggle in China and globally.<\/p>\n

This was the message belted out from our loudspeakers and with our special commemorative video at the June 4 vigil<\/a> to commemorate the Beijing massacre \u2013 attended by over 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe collected money to help our mainland comrades and show the need for underground political organisation in China,\u201d says Sally. \u201cOn June 4 we had the most international team, with many different nationalities, which also shows that resisting repression and dictatorship is not a Chinese or Hong Kong thing, but part of a global struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many who are thinking about joining Socialist Action the first thing they notice is our activity and the bold way we organise. But a strong organisation needs a solid political foundation, which is the clear socialist programme we stand for. The inability of decaying capitalism to solve today\u2019s intolerable problems of inequality, corruption, racism and destruction of the planet, means the need for a socialist alternative is getting more urgent. If you agree with this then don\u2019t wait any longer \u2013 Join the growing ranks of Socialist Action!<\/p>\n

To join: click here<\/a><\/h4>\n

Visit Socialist Actions Facebook page<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Success in recruiting migrants, women and youth in 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[133,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hong-kong","8":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nHong Kong: Socialist Action is a growing force - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/06\/22\/15078\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hong Kong: Socialist Action is a growing force - 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