Europe

Workers of the world: ROUND-UP

By Pablo Velasco Bolivian general strike Muchtar Pakpahan to stand in Indonesian elections Good news from Greece Bolivian general strike Bolivia is on the verge of a third uprising in the space of a year - with trade unions calling for an indefinite general strike this month. The uprising in October 2003 led by trade unions, peasant associations and neighbourhood organisations forced President Sanchez de Lozada to resign. The key organisations were the trade union federation COB, the rural workers' union CSTUB and the neighbourhood organisations in La Paz's satellite-city of El Alto. Vice...

Get rid of Greek weapons too!

By Akis Gavriilidis In Greece we have had enormous protests against the war. The day of the attack and the next one we had massive demonstrations in all big cities - and in several smaller ones - of the country. These were the biggest for years - in some towns, they couldn't even remember when they last had a popular demonstration. On Saturday 22 March the crowd gathered in front of the American Embassy in Athens was an estimated 200,000. Most importantly, many of these people were school students, 15 years old or even younger, so this is an excellent way for them to establish a relationship...

Anti-war protests in Greece

Akis Gavriilidis sends this report In Greece we have had enormous protests against the war. The day of the attack and the next one we had massive demonstrations in all big cities - and in several smaller ones - of the country. These were the biggest for years - in some towns, they couldn't even remember when they last had a popular demonstration. On Saturday 22 March the crowd gathered in front of the American Embassy in Athens was an estimated 200,000. Most importantly, many of these people were school students, 15 years old or even younger, so this is an excellent way for them to establish a...

14 March ETUC call heeded: Europe-wide, workers act against the war

Millions of workers stopped work at midday Friday 14 March in protest against a possible attack on Iraq, following a call from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The ETUC called for trade unionists to demonstrate their disagreement by halting work for 15 minutes at noon. In Germany, where polls show an overwhelming majority of people opposing a war, the strikes briefly halted vehicle production at three Volkswagen factories and a DaimlerChrysler plant. Trams ground to a halt in the eastern city of Halle. Unions said more than 150,000 workers took brief strike action. Italian unions...

Germany: strikes called off for 0.7% (sorry, I mean 2.4% of course)

(Also: Lufthansa strikes) So, only a week ago, it looked like Germany was on the verge of a massive indefinite public sector strike. The "super union" (I refer only to its size), Verdi, had made a "realistic", "honest" demand of 3% from the government and was supposedly willing to accept nothing less. At the same time the government, represented by Social Democrat, ex-Green and one-time Baader-Meinhof lawyer Home Secretary Otto Schily was threatening no pay rise whatsoever should any strike take place, and little more without a strike anyway. By Matt Heaney, Berlin (Verdi, pers. cap.) In...

Germany: national public sector pay strike?

From Solidarity 3/21, 11 January 2003. By Matt Heaney, Berlin, Member of Verdi (pers. cap.) As I write (Wednesday January 5, 6.30pm) last minute talks have begun in Potsdam between representatives of the trade union Verdi and the finance ministries of the German regional states to prevent a national strike of workers in public services. Previous arbitration attempts have all broken down without a result - the "compromise" proposed by Verdi and the "neutral" arbitrator had been rejected by the employer. Verdi originally went into the pay round with a "honest, realistic" goal of a pay rise of...

Yes to the United States of Europe!

One of the proposals coming out of the European Convention now in session is to rename the expanded European Union, which in a few years' time will number 25 member states, as the United States of Europe. The United States of Europe is what is in fact taking shape, and it would be good to call it that. Solidarity is emphatically for a United States of Europe. The united Europe we want is a Socialist United States of Europe, but even a bourgeois United States of Europe is better than the available (bourgeois) alternative: a Europe in which the conflicts between states such as France and Britain...

Italy : millions join general strike

Millions of workers joined a general strike in Italy on 18 October called by the country's biggest trade union federation, CGIL. Protests were held in 120 towns and public transport was brought to a halt. The strike was called to oppose massive cuts to health and education services proposed in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's 2003 Budget. Many school and hospital workers joined the action, as did car workers from Fiat, where bosses are trying to slash jobs. Twenty per cent of the Fiat workforce faces redundancy. By Lucy Clement The strike also highlighted the CGIL's ongoing campaign to save...

The end of the German welfare state - with union backing ?

"Reform and modernisation also means the disposal of some rights, rules and benefits of the German welfare state. Some [rights, etc.] that go back to the beginning of the social state under Bismarck and may have been obvious and just even perhaps 30, 40 or 50 years ago, have today lost their necessity and therefore their right to continue to exist." - German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, lining out his plans for the next four years, on 29th October. Matt Heaney reports from Berlin on plans, backed by the labour movement's leadership, that will mean a huge attack on the working class, presented...

Swedish centre-left increases vote

In contrast to Germany the governing Social Democrats in Sweden, led by Goran Persson, not only held on to power, but increased its vote. Persson has enjoyed three terms as prime minister. His government relies on The Left Party and the Greens for a majority. However the biggest gains in the elections were made by the Liberals, who campaigned for tougher laws on immigration.

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