Stand in Solidarity with European Workers

September 29: Day of Action or General Strike?



The financial crisis of 2008-2009 has resulted in the most sweeping austerity measures in recent European memory. These budget cuts, which are crippling everything from Romanian hospitals to English schools, have come amid a trillion-euro public bail-out for crooked financial services companies and banks. The Great Recession – now the longest in post-war history – has destabilized whole nations from Iceland to Greece. In Spain, the austerity measures imposed by the EU and IMF amount to $16 billion, and in Greece it is nearly double that figure at $30 billion. For the United Kingdom, the new Tory-Liberal Democrat government will push through even more draconian measures, to the tune of $91 billion. (EUobserver, 14 Jun 2010)



In response to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) organized a series of “Action Days” throughout Europe from 14 – 16 May 2010. These “Action Days” are not calls for a general strike, but very mild suggestions to demonstrate. This is the show of resistance which is being organized at the very top level of European trade unionism. This spring ETUC Action Days have mustered hundreds of thousands of its members to various rallies in Brussels and around Europe.



What is missing from this equation is news from workers’ organizations from below. Despite the anemic demonstrations organized by the Brussels labor bureaucracy, workers in France, just as one example, have mobilized between one and three million-worker general strikes all over the country, closing public transit, schools and airports in January and March of this year. The streets of Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Strasbourg and Seville have all been enveloped by millions of working people, unemployed, underemployed, pensioners and students alike.



All of this work from below caused the secretary-general of the ETUC to gain unusual confidence when he called for the EU to be “ambitious” and adopt “a new social deal” at the 7 May social affairs summit held in Prague.



Nothing happened. In fact, the austerity measures have already been passed into law, and in some countries have begun the evisceration of workers’ pensioners’ and students’ lives.



Now, nearly four months after the ETUC promised a “new social deal”, the situation has deteriorated for the swelling ranks of unemployed, underemployed and underpaid workers throughout Europe. This ineptitude and timidity reflects exactly the same program of defeatism that we suffer here in the United States and across the globe when it comes to big labor and political organizations. In response to calls by the Spanish unions for a general strike on the day of the next EU Finance Ministers’ meeting on 29 September, ETUC’s secretary-general said: “We can’t call Europe's unions out on strike - this has to be done at the national level and different people will react in different ways. Some countries have traditions of general strikes and some don't. They don’t like the idea, especially the Nordics, Germany, UK, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe. Half of the EU countries would not go for it.” Clearly, with this kind of leadership from the only pan-European union confederation, most workers in Europe won’t be involved in taking back their destinies if that task is left up to ETUC.



In spite of the reformist attitude of the ETUC, 29 September is becoming a rally cry for building an independent movement of working people in Europe. The anarcho-syndicalist CGT and CNT general strike in Spain is meant to explicitly oppose capitalism, the national-political economy, and the EU. On 14 August the CGT already began a 1700 km march from Zaragoza, Spain to Brussels. This action is not supported by ETUC, but the marchers are of course going to the Brussels Day of Action to bring their message. The aims of the march are to expose the “the exploitation of the working class, and the destruction and privatization of the public commons of all Europe.” (Confederación Nacional de Trabajo, 14 Aug 2010)



This march has arrived in France - The Red and Black marchers were greeted at the French border on Sunday, 22 August by more militants of the French CNT. The New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA) of France announced that it will be sending a contingent to join the marchers. Many socialists, anarchists and communists of various stripes are working together in a collective show of force and determination. For the first time in a very long time, the various ideological and political rays of the socialist spectrum are uniting and bringing meaning to the slogans that will be chanted in Brussels.



This movement was not begun by ETUC - it runs parallel to it. We can all support the manifesto of the Day of Action, but as socialists, we can and should show the world that the Socialist Party USA supports these workers in their march, and in their struggle against the state, capitalism and the corrupt trade union confederations which might stand in the way.





Of particular interest, daily reports come in indicating that the march and the general strike are snowballing in critical ways. The CGT of Spain has called for extending the general strike beyond the one day called for by the mainstream unions. Although a one-day general strike would be a huge step forward here in the US, in parts of Europe it has become an accepted tactic ignored by the government. In far-away South Africa, workers have called an indefinite general strike of public sector workers. In this spirit of continuing development, it should be stressed that the Spanish unions consider move forward with a weeklong general strike that will really challenged the system.



Together with the Red and Black marchers now on their way to Brussels, American working people must reject the latest onslaught of neoliberal attacks on students’ and workers’ rights, working conditions, social services for our youth, the elderly, and people living with disabilities. We in the US must call on labor unions, community organizations and working people, to stop hindering international solidarity and show common cause with European workers by striking and demonstrating on 29 September. Although there is not much time to organize, we can make a difference. Inasmuch as we call on the US and European governments to immediately halt austerity plans that are killing our people, we also remind our sisters and brothers in the movement that we cannot settle for reforms – we must reject capitalism as a whole. Just as globalization has opened borders to exploitation, we must stand united for the transformation of our interdependent societies from the rule of the wealthy few to the radically democratic governance of the many.