Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 15:19:01 +1000
Subject: (en) European March Against Unemployment


Subject: (en) European March Against Unemployment
From: I-AFD/IFA - A-Infos Germany <i-afd_1-AT-anarch.free.de>
Reply-To: <a-infos-d-AT-tao.ca>
Date: 17 Mar 1997 23:01:00 +0200


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Dear friends and comrades,

The following text about the European March Against Unemployment has been
forwarded by comrades of the german anarcho-syndiacalist FAU (Free Workers
Union). They also passed us a short comment on the group CSR who wrote the
text:

"According to the french CNT the CSR is a group consisting of around 10
members. They want to organise a classfront and are mainly marxist
orientated. Contrary to anarcho-syndicalist principles, the CSR
participate in all kinds of elections and have some exempted work council
members. They are for an independant union movement but in a reformast
rather than a libertarian-communist way."

Nevertheless, we believe the text gives an interesting insight into the
state of preparations for the march.

Anarchist greetings,
Robert
(for the A-Infos Group in germany)

P.S.: Meanwhile, the umbrella-organisation of the german reformist unions,
the DGB, has urged its member-organisations not to participate in the
march. It argued that the fact that radical unions opposing the European
Union are envolved in the organisation of the march could see it drifting
in a direction that the DGB (who promotes the EU regardless of its pro-
capitalist and racist implications) does not want to support.

------

*Forwarded message*
*from:*kaou-AT-anet.fr


------------COMITE SYNDICALISTE REVOLUTIONNAIRE------------------
Reseau intersyndical des Syndicalistes-Revolutionnaires en France
Inter-unions network of Revolutionary-Unionists in France

write to: CSR, 40 rue du Stand, 95120 Ermont, FRANCE
fax: 33 2 99 09 20 46    http://altern.com/csr   e-mail: kaou-AT-anet.fr

Here is a text about the Euromarch. For European unionists, tell us
about the position of your union. Salut.
Kaou for the CSR.

FORWARD WITH THE EUROPEAN MARCH AGAINST UNEMPLOYEMENT !

The organisation of the european marches against unemployement is moving
on. The figure of 600 participants at the Brussels meeting on 22nd and
23rd February allows us to reckon the interest of the workers movement
for this initiative of a struggle coordinated at the european level. The
participants included: France, around 230 people belonging to
unemployed s associations (AC!, APEIS, MNCP, ADEC, CDSL, DAL, Droits
devants) or to trade unions (SUD, FSU, CFDT, CNT, some CGT unions) -
Britain, 60 to 70 people, some grass roots unionists, one delegation of
the Liverpool dockers who have been on strike for 6 months - Germany, 50
unionists, associatives - Belgium, 70 unionists, homeless - Italy, 30
unionists from COBAS, CGIL - Spain, the radical union CGT - Basque
Country, the radical union LAB - Ireland, the unemployed s association
INOU - Sweden, the radical union SAC...

Let us start with the negative points: an important part of the meeting
was composed of the usual militants of the .5 radical left + (Green
Party, sections of the 4th international - LCR in France). Althought the
unemployed were there, few of them spoke out during the debates. On the
other hand, all the different organisations present made a speech
boasting about themselves to the detriment of real analyses or concrete
experiences of struggles.
The organisers of this gathering (permanent members of the LCR,
Alternative Libertaire, the Greens) played to the large mobilization on
very consensual bases, putting forward above all their contacts with the
radicalised social-democrats (the .5 radical + left). Those who organised
the marches turn out to be reformist political organisations: the
italian PRC, the british Labour Party, the German PDS, and of course the
trotskyst sections of the 4th international.

This great event did not lack obscure manoeuvres either: the italian PRC
has recently set up some interprofessional unions, the SIN COBAS, whiche
take up the abbreviation of the BASe COmmittes (COBAS). COBAS are unions
of very fighting spirit which have appeared in Italy over the past few
years whereas the CGIL (the big confederation) colaborates with the
State. The COBAS militants claims the union s independence like the USI
(radical union) with which they have passed an agreement to be
representative as a Trade Union (Alliance for the representativity of
self managing confederations - ARCA). The PRC is trying with the SIN
COBAS to take control of those unruly unions which refuse the austerity
of the Prodi social-democrat governement backed by the PRC. The PRC
militants avoided giving any explanation at Brussels to take all the
more advantage from the abbreviation. One other dirty trick: a
commission met in order to write up the manifesto for the march but at
10 pm when the coaches were to leave at 10.30 pm to take the
participants to the dormitories. Nothing can be more efficient to
prevent the militants from participating !

In spite of all this, there were some interesting interventions during
the debates, especially about the development of precarity and
unemployment with a trend that confirms itself in some countries
(Britain, the USA, Germany, Switzerland) where the unemployed are forced
to accept low-paid jobs after a certain period of unemployment. This
once more allows the management to pull down the cost of labour.
The most important is that the european march is really going to take
place. There will probably be 10 or 11 great marches: two from
Spain-Portugal, two or three from Britain, one from Ireland, one from
Italy, one from Austria, one from the center of Germany and one from
Scandinavia. The simultaneous date for the great departures is set on
14th April, with a few variations. Three of the starting points should
symbolise the will to get out of the borders of the imperialist European
Union to stretch the solidarity to the workers of dominated countries in
the East and in North Africa. One of the marches from the South is
likely to leave from Tanger in Marocco on 14th April. One could depart
>from Poland, crossing Germany, and one from Sarajevo or Tuzla in Bosnia,
before Austria. Each march will be composed of a group of about twenty
international marchers (one or two from each country) and of about
twenty local marchers. Around 28th May, they will all converge towards
Brussels or Villevorde to support Renault workers. Then at the start of
June, five hundred marchers could walk throught the Netherlands. On 14th
June, on the day of the Inter Gouvernemental Conference (CIG) on
Maastricht s Europe, thousands of demonstrators are expected in
Amsterdam.

Even if the organisation is not yet finished, this Euromarch is sure to
mobilize the energies of the unemployed and fighting unionists. It is
all in the interest of unionists and militants of unemployed s
associations to participate, for it is an opportunity to make numerous
contacts on a concrete action and to set up a network of fighting unions
on the European level. One first step has been taken in this direction
by such unions as SUD-Education, some unions of CNT, the spanish CGT,
the swedish SAC and two fighting local unions of the British TUC,
Liverpool and Hull who have signed a common text, more radical than the
manifesto for the March, after this kind of move. As for us, we have
contacted the swedish SAC, the spanish CGT and the basque LAB to start
working on an unionist coordination.

The Euromarch is all the more important an event as it it clearly puts
forward the european dimension of the problems the working class is
confronted with. Indeed, for about twenty years, we ve been suffering
the incessant attacks from the Capital which aim to dismantle the social
rights (Social security, permanent contracts of employment, Status in
the civil service, the minimum wage, age limit to work at 16,
pensions...). The French bourgeoisie, like all the imperialist
bourgeoisies, since the 70 s .5 crisis + has had to face up to an ever
greater competition between national economies. In order to keep its
levels of profits, it is forced to attack social rights.
The signature of the Maastricht treaty has accelerated these antisocial
policies, because it sets deadlines to the European bourgeoisies to
integrate the European Union. Hence the creation of the single currency
which symbolizes these policies is programmed for 1999. That is why over
the past few years the attacks from the bourgeoisie have grown more and
more violent in Europe.

>From a tactical point of view, it is therefore very important to fight
against the achievement of the Maastricht Europe which increases
unemployment, precarity, poverty (lower welfare benefits), the
dismantling and privatization of the public service, of pensions of the
social security and as a consequence State and popular racism. For if
Maastricht manages to impose itself, it is easy to foretell a very fast
lack of interest and very strong frustration among the populations who
saw that most of the promises made at the time of the referendum by the
governements were not kept. What legitimacy would the worker s movement
have if it had not denounced that treaty ? It is self-evident that the
extreme-right will profit from the situation. And such a political
victory will be enough in some countries to allow it to come into power.

We can be all the more happy as the campaign does not limit itself to
unemployement, but it want also to set up a permanent front of struggle
against the Maastricht policies. Unfortunately, the campaign is not
organised on bases of class since social-democrat parties such as the
British Labour Party and the Italian PRC are also taking part. Thus a
struggle will have to be carried out in the campaign so that the unions
lead the campaign and the parties are put aside as much as possible. In
France, we will be up against the Greens and the LCR who want to prepare
the 1998 legislative elections by a recuperation of the social
movements. Besides, the .5 radical + left intends to take advantage of
the Euromarch to organize itself on a continental level. The LCR which
leads the mobilization throught SUD-PTT and AC! is ready for any
compromise. It will be also necessary to clarify the participation of
the Italian PRC (Rifundazione Communista) which coordinates the march in
Italy and whose MP s have voted in favor of the Prodi governement s
budget: the latter plans redundancies and new taxes to join the European
Union, which makes for the legitimate mistrust of basic unions (COBAS,
USI, CUB,...).  There is also the Labour Party that wants to take the
control of the march in Britain whereas it is about to win the elections
and to apply the Maastricht policies which contains the seeds of
unemployment. As for us, their commitment is merely opportunistic. These
tactics of re-building a social-democracy, utterly discredited by its
managing of capitalism, can only lead to the future disgust of
unionists.

In this setting, it will be necessary to make the really autonomous
unions sectors to converge, i.e. the proletarian organisations (as has
already started with the common text signed by SUD-Education, some
unions of CNT, the spanish CGT, the swedish SAC and two fighting local
unions of the British TUC, Liverpool and Hull) in order to radicalise
the campaign but also in the aim of taking the first steps of the class
front that we are willing to set up with all the unionists who want to
fight the capitalism. In this sense, we must insist in our own unions
for an unionist group to be present in the final demonstration in
Amsterdam around a radical unionist plateform.
A demonstration in Amsterdam is not sufficient a sign of strength. In
order to allow the greatest number of workers possible to participate in
the protest, it seems important to launch an interprofessional and
European strike on the eve of the demonstration, that is to say on
Friday 13th June.

Commit your union to support the march. Take part in the march if you
are out of work. Take contact with us for a European coordination of the
fighting unionists. Let us prevent the setting of a capitalist Europe by
the workers  mobilization.

For further information, please order our new brochure .5 Maastricht: the
end of the social peace +, 8 francs each, in French.


## CrossPoint v3.11 ##

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