Aubry: "Cair Para works to destroy the social contract"
Today, Jacqueline Aubry, leader of the ADA and its sole member in the municipal assembly, delivered a speech strongly criticizing the government in Cair Para, accusing it of trying to undermine democracy, the social contract, trade unions, and small business. Though known as a hardline Anastasian nationalist, Aubry stayed away from mentions of an "Anastasian nation," choosing to focus on populism and economic issues throughout the address, in a reflection of the marginalization of her stances within her party.
"In the name of the people," she began, "the elites in Cair Para have decreed their destruction. In the name of the people, the elites in Cair Para have placed the people on the altar of profit to be sacrificed to Mammon. They have sold this country, this city, to the oligarchs and their yellow unions, to the cartels and the speculators. They press down, more, more, on the workers and small proprietors, until they can no longer withstand the pressure and bend to their eternal reign."
"What they have done is simple. It is the right of associated capital and associated labor to negotiate their conditions themselves, on equal ground. In this way, demands are made by the people on a consensual basis. This is the foundation of any real democracy. What those in Cair Para do is undermine this system, this sacred social contract. They increase - and that is good - but by increasing they weaken the power of the red unions, of the real unions. The state becomes responsible for workers' conditions, and the institutions that defend workers' rights atrophy in favor of the dominance of yellow unions and paternalists. And when the state inevitably falls into these hands, there will be a lowering, and no one will be able to do anything about it."
"The puppets of the oligarchs will accuse us of being anti-worker. We do not care, because we know that they are the ones who are against the worker. They are the ones who whittle away at what remains of the power of the true workers' associations, at what exists of workers' democracy in this country, and they are the ones who will, when they have whittled enough, turn and brutally attack the workers until they are slaves in all but name."
"And why believe us? Look at their record. These people hold to the belief that talking to your coworkers at work is immoral. If one does not empty one's head of any and all human thoughts - of love for one's family, of desire for one's party, of want for companionship, of simple fantasy - then one is, in their eyes, the ultimate failure. This alone is proof enough of their alignment. For them, workers are not human. They are automatons who must do their task, without stopping, without fail, without any need to fulfill the basic desires and needs of any living thing, until the clock runs down. We, on the other hand, have always been on the side of workers' democracy and workers' rights. We are the ones who have assisted the cooperative movement, the autogestionary movement, in this city. We believe in the essential dignity and humanity of everyone, whether at home or at work, the innate right to freedom that everyone is entitled to."
"Here are our immediate demands. We want an end to the dictates from Cair Para. It is the right of the Irmgardian workers, and no one else, to negotiate their wages as a collective. We want to replace the system of state-mandated minimum wages with one based on democratic bargaining between major unions and trade associations, represented in special chambers of labor and commerce we want the Irmgardian government to establish. In businesses with more than 100 employees, we want to establish real workers' councils to monitor working conditions and ensure that humanity and democracy, in the place of a paternalism that demands the sacrifice of humanity, prevail."
"Cair Para works to destroy the social contract. We work to heal it. Here is what we say:"
"Away with the yellow unions!"
"Away with the oligarchs!"
"Away with the cartels!"
"And up, always, always, the people and our beloved Irmgardis!"
