02) "NO TO EUROPEAN AUSTERITY"

By Adrien Welsh, Paris

     "No to European austerity!" the main labour unions of 23 countries across the continent chanted on November 14th, from Portugal to Hungary, overwhelming the continent with crowds of workers responding to the call of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to mobilise against austerity.

 France

     According to the General Labour Confederation (CGT), the most important and militant French trade union, 15,000 people gathered in Paris from Montparnasse to Ecole militaire, while in Marseille 20,000 people responded to the call. People demonstrated in 130 cities across the country behind the slogan "For jobs, European solidarity and against austerity".

     The general feeling of the crowd in Paris was one of deep discouragement about the socialist government of Francois Hollande, elected under the promise of change but behaving almost exactly like his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, by following the austerity policies dictated by EU troika. It is urgent to act, otherwise "we'll get caught like the Greeks," a teacher from the Saint‑Denis suburb in northern Paris told me.

     In the same mood, Bernard Thibault, general secretary of the  CGT, historically linked with the Communist Party of France, told the crowd that, "Certainly in France we're not on the same scale of austerity as in Greece or in Spain. But austerity policies are in Europe and in France: as soon as wages are frozen, the announcement of higher income taxes and less public investments, is an austerity policy!" The Hollande government is allocating 21 Billion Euros to the rich as tax cuts.

     The Paris demonstration followed a massive protest on Sept. 30 for a public referendum on the European Fiscal Compact. Formerly known as the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG, or the Fiscal Stability Treaty), the Fiscal Compact is a coercive system developed by big business to accelerate the economic integration of Europe to more effectively strong‑arm austerity measures on the people.

     The treaty institutes the principle that no budget exceeding 0.5 percent of the structural deficit could be voted on by the French parliament. If this were to happen, "consequent corrective measures" would be applied by the EU. Concretely, it means that the French parliament will have to cut 33 billion Euros in useful public services.

     Despite strong popular opposition in which the Front de Gauche (an electoral coalition including the Communist Party of France) played an outstanding role, all aspects of the treaty were voted by the National Assembly, with the Senate confirming the vote on Oct. 29.

     The most important contradiction here is that when Sarkozy and Merkel presented the first version of the TSCG, the opposition Socialist Party were clearly opposed. This position was reiterated even more strongly during the presidential campaign. Hollande told voters, several times, that as President he would "renegotiate" the Fiscal Compact and "change the global orientation of Europe."

     Hollande was elected, but unsurprisingly, not only did he drop his call to "renegotiate" the treaty, but he imposed it on the French people.

     "When we see how the government, which was elected thanks to the 11 million votes from the Front de Gauche and the Communists, is making fun of us, we want just one thing: go into the streets and cry out loud our opposition," one trade unionists from the RATP (Paris public transportation network) told me, adding "if it worked for you guys in Québec, why wouldn't it work for us too?"

 Iberian Peninsula

     Strikes were also organized in Portugal, where the official unemployment rate is around 16% (the global data for Europe is around 10.6%). Armenio Carlos, the general secretary of the General Portuguese Workers' Confederation (CGTP), the only major labour central which called for a general strike, described the action as "one of the biggest strikes since April Revolution" in 1974.

     The strike came right after a massive demonstration against a visit to Portugal by Angela Merkel, who kept repeating that the Portuguese would eventually understand the long term benefits of austerity measures.

     Portugal is a country where the population keeps getting poorer after experiencing the troika of European Union, International Monetary Found and European Central Bank policies. The general strike showed how the people, and especially the organized workers, are determined to fight together for their rights, highlighted by the unity of social movements and major trade unions during the mobilizations.

     Meanwhile in Spain, homeland of the Indignados who launched the Occupy movement, and where 54% of the youth are unemployed, the movement went further than just indignation. According to the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), the strike experience was "globally positive" despite an unmeasured presence of the police forces. November 14 was the second general strike in eight months.

     According to Luis Centella, PCE General Secretary, the strike was "one of the strongest since democracy returned" after Franco. Indeed, the country was paralysed: 75% of employees went on strike to oppose the austerity policies of the Rajoy government and its next 40 Billion Euro budget amputation. The trade unions are calling for a referendum on these imposed on the Spanish people.

 Belgium's "tsunami"

     "No to our industry's genocide", was a slogan of the workers in Belgium, where the Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB) obtained a historically high vote in recent municipal elections. People gathered to express opposition to deindustrialization and the massive loss of jobs. October 2012 will be designated as "Black October", due to the loss of 30,000 jobs in one month. The brutal situation is compared to a "social tsunami."

     The major trade unions didn't call for a general strike, but many rallies and actions were organised, especially in Brussels, the EU capital, in front of the different embassies. Strikes are being planned among the most impacted workers, including railway workers and the steel workers from Arcelor Mittal.

 "No to fascism" in Budapest

     In Hungary, anti‑austerity demands were boosted by strong opposition against the ultra‑right or quasi‑fascist Orban government. Elected in 2010 in a period of economic and social crisis, the new government imposed authoritarian measures, restricting freedom of the press. The government adopted a new nationalist Constitution, affirming the Christian roots of the nation and preparing for action against labour unions and social movements to allow debt refunding and market flexibility. Every opponent of the government could be a traitor to the nation!

     These policies are supported by the neo‑fascist Jobbik party, which attributes Hungary's problems to "Roma criminals". The party uses the Roma as a pretext to form paramilitary groups, charged with "re‑establishing social order."

     The intransigent attitude of the European governments as well as the whole EU troika, in the face of such popular opposition, and the poor results of their austerity plans, all suggest that tensions on the continent will continue to sharpen.

     Nevertheless, the perspective of fighting the EU itself is not yet envisaged by many social movements and unions. The main trade unions, including the ETUC itself which called the action, and many progressive parties such as European United Left/Nordic Green Left, believe this battle has to be fought within the EU framework.

     This debate within the people's movements is also sharpening. Strike actions in Greece, led by the PAME labour union and the Communist Party of Greece, did not hesitate to recognise the imperialist nature of the EU. If this more global perspective doesn't overtake the current understanding, the Greeks point out, the struggle could fail.

     Nevertheless, many left and progressive commentators agreed that the success of this "Day of Action" shows the European people's struggle against austerity measures has reached a further step, beyond just outrage. More and more people, especially youth, are willing and ready to organise themselves and act in a united and militant way, which has to be the way forward for the working class of Europe.

     (Adrien Welsh, originally from Montreal, is currently a student and journalist based at the National Institute of Eastern Languages and Civilization in Paris.)

(The above article is from the December 1-31, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)