Opinion
ARF must lead the fight for workers’ rights in Armenia
Thirty years after the formation of the second Republic of Armenia, our country continues to face a litany of domestic economic problems. The labor sphere is in shambles. The national poverty rate is not seeing dramatic changes. Workers have little to no practical rights. Illegal and unethical child labor is rampant, and the inflation rate far outpaces any salary increases. Meanwhile, the Civil Contract government has blocked the opposition’s bill to increase the minimum wage by 50 percent.
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While I agreee with the thrust of this article, i.e., the need to organize workers in Armenia, the author’s belief that the ARF can lead such a movement is ludicrous and more than naieve. The ARF in Armenia has been in bed with successive administrations, led by economic oligarchs, in a vain attempt to achieve poitical power despite low levels of popularity. The ARF is in no position, morally or ideologically, to spearhead such a movement. The author apparently has no historical understanding of the ARF’s role in Armenia’s socio-economic life since the country became independent. Such bravado stems, apparently, from the author’s own partisan political adherence and beliefs. He should look beyond these rigid perceptions and propose something that has an objective basis in fact rather than partisan politics.