Germania, lotta di classe
Wsws 061024
Germania: Dimostrazioni di massa contro i tagli sociali
e al welfare
Tesi Wsws: Le manifestazioni contro la Hartz IV del 2003 e
2004 furono organizzate in modo indipendente dai sindacati, che ora invece
lanciano un segnale alla Grosse Koalition: per il vostro bene prendeteci a
bordo e noi faremo il possibile per evitare rivolte sociali.
-
200 00 lavoratori, con le loro famiglie e con
giovani, hanno manifestato in 5 grandi città, Berlino (60 000
manifestanti), Stoccarda, Francoforte, Dortmund e Monaco, contro i tagli
sociali e al welfare imposti dal precedente (SPD-Verdi) e dall’attuale governo
(SPD-Union).
A sfondo delle manifestazioni il dibattito aperto la scorsa
settimana sulla cosiddetta sottoclasse… (cfr. art Welt16/17.10), a cui ha
contribuito fortemente la riforma del mercato del lavoro (SPD-Verdi) con la
cosiddetta Hartz IV. Le manifestazioni sono state indette dalla federazione
sindacale tedesca DGB.
-
Forte contraddizione tra i discorsi dei
funzionari sindacali e la loro quotidiana collaborazione con il governo;
diversi nuovi accordi che hanno portato a chiusure di fabbriche, tagli
salariali e attacchi alle condizioni di lavoro sono stati sottoscritti dagli
stessi leader sindacali che durante queste manifestazioni denunciano tagli al
welfare, disoccupazione e l’aumento dei “poveri che lavorano”. -
Le
misure più aspre anti-welfare della Germania dopoguerra sono state prese con Jürgen
Peters a capo di IG-Metall e dirigente SPD. -
Il capo presidente del sindacato servizi Ver.di
e capo del partito Die Grünen, Frank Brsiske ha accusato i lavoratori polacchi
di mettere a rischio le prospettive dei
lavoratori tedeschi, e che sono disposti a lavorare per €1/h in Renania.
L’ineguaglianza sociale è una bomba sociale a tempo… -
Brsiske
ha collaborato con il senatore (ministro) per l’Economia di Berlino a imporre
un taglio salariale del 10% i lavoratori dei trasporti; nel precedente
governo i Verdi hanno avuto un ruolo fondamentale nella repressione
dell’opposizione alle leggi anti-welfare.
Il presidente DGB, Michael Sommer, ha ammonito contro le
conseguenze per la democrazia in Germania derivanti dall’aumento delle disuguaglianze
sociali: «Le vittorie elettorali dei neo-nazisti, la crescente disillusione per
la politica, l’allontamento dai grandi partiti , il continuo calo dei
partecipanti al voto, dovrebbe essere un monito, e non solo per noi».
-
Sommer lancia il monito al mondo politico ed economico:
non possono permettersi di escludere i sindacati dall’elaborazione delle future
scelte politiche.
La DGB non è riuscita ad organizzare una sola protesta in
una città dell’Est, dove disoccupazione e povertà sono a livelli quasi doppi
dell’Ovest.
Tra le
denunce dei manifestanti: aumento del numero alunni per classe e mancanza
insegnanti; calo posti apprendistato, taglio alle pensioni, con piani SPD per
aumento dell’età pensionabile a 67 anni.
Wsws 061024
Germany: Mass demonstrations against social and welfare cuts
By our reporters
– An estimated 200,000
workers, their families and young people took to the streets in five major
German cities (Berlin, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Dortmund and Munich) Saturday to
protest against the social and welfare cuts imposed by the previous Social
Democratic Party (SPD)-Green Party government and the current grand coalition
government of the conservative parties—Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
Christian Social Union (CSU)—and the SPD.
The demonstrations were called by the Federation of German
Trade Unions (DGB). Union members turned out to express their anger and
frustration with the policies of the current government and its predecessor,
which have led to unprecedented levels of social inequality.
– The speeches made by
leading trade union functionaries stood in stark contrast to their record of
day-to-day collaboration with the government. Many recent contracts that have
resulted in factory closures, job losses, cuts in wages and attacks on working
conditions bear the signatures of the very same union leaders who denounced
welfare cuts, unemployment and the growing population of “working poor”
at Saturday’s demonstrations.
The cynicism of the union officials was
underscored by their failure to organise a single protest in an eastern
German city, where unemployment and poverty are nearly double the levels in the
former West Germany.
Ignored by the union bureaucrats, many workers from the east nevertheless made the trip to Berlin to express
their disgust and anger with government policy, as well as the pernicious role
played by the unions themselves.
– Some 60,000 gathered in
the German capital of Berlin, carrying placards and banners protesting government policies that
have led to a deterioration of living conditions for millions of German citizens.
Many placards took up specific issues, denouncing government attacks on a wide range of social issues, such as
education (increased class sizes and a lack of teachers), the decline in
apprenticeships for young people, and pensions cuts (including plans put
forward by the SPD to increase the average retirement age to 67).
Drawing attention to the growth
of poverty in Germany
and the rise in the number of “working poor,” many demonstrators wore
jerseys bearing the slogan “Employed, but Poor.”
The background to the demonstration was the public discussion last week of the so-called
underclass in Germany.
Figures released in connection with an official report revealed wide levels of poverty throughout the country,
including up to 25 percent of all citizens living in the former East Germany).
Other statistics pointed to growing economic insecurity and increasing
disillusionment with all of the official political parties.
The single measure that has contributed the
most to the deterioration of living standards is the Hartz IV anti-welfare law
implemented by the former SPD-Green government. While union leaders at the
demonstrations drew attention to the growing social divisions in Germany
and the attendant threat to democracy, they avoided any mention of their own role in developing and implementing
the Hartz IV law.
The
main speaker at the rally held in the city of Dortmund
was Jürgen Peters, the head of the IG Metall union, the largest union in Germany and one of the largest in
the world. Speaking in the former iron and steel centre of the Ruhr, Peters criticised the policies of the current grand
coalition, but made no mention
of his own role in the implementation of anti-social policies.
– As the chairman of IG
Metall and a leading member of the SPD, Peters sent leading officials of his
union to participate in the Hartz Commission. Under the leadership of fellow
SPD and IG Metall member Peter Hartz, the most
draconian anti-welfare measures in the history of post-war Germany were developed on behalf of
the SPD-Green government.
–
The main speaker in Berlin, Frank Bsirske,
chairman of the public services
trade union Verdi and a leading
member of the Green Party, underlined the hypocritical stance of the
trade union bureaucracy. Bsirske
denounced the growth of social inequality in German society, expressed
in soaring profits and booming salaries for corporate managers and bankers on the one hand, and increasing social
misery on the other.
– Social inequality, he
said, was “not a demographic problem, but a social time bomb,” which had to be “defused.” He attacked government proposals to increase the value-added tax,
which he said would endanger Germany’s
economic recovery, demanded a
minimum wage, and called for a fairer distribution of the tax burden. In an ugly and xenophobic
swipe at eastern European workers, Bsirske denounced Polish workers who, he said, endanger the prospects for
German workers and are prepared
to work for 1 euro per hour in the state of Rhineland.
While criticising the growth of poverty and
the ranks of the “working poor” in Germany, Bsirske neglected to mention the part he has
personally played in assisting such a development. It was Bsirske who
collaborated with Berlin Economics Senator Harald Wolf to impose a 10 percent
wage cut on Berlin
transport workers; and just this year, his Verdi union played the role of strike-breaker in a
series of strikes by doctors and health service workers. Moreover, for the seven years of the SPD-Green
government, Verdi played a crucial role in suppressing opposition to that
government’s anti-welfare legislation.
On a number of occasions, Bsirske’s speech was
interrupted by shouts and calls from a delegation of workers who are currently
on strike in Berlin,
and who stood with their banners near the podium at the front of the crowd.
Workers from the Bosch Siemens
factory in Berlin
cried out, “We want to strike!” Two thirds of the workforce recently voted to continue strike action at
their factory to defend jobs, although their union leaders are advising a
return to work.
In Stuttgart, the chairman of the DGB, Michael Sommer,
warned of the long-term consequences
for democracy in Germany
arising from the growth of social inequality, and declared,
– “The election victories for the neo-Nazis, growing political
disenchantment, the turn away from the big people’s parties, the fact that
fewer and fewer people are taking part in elections should be a warning, and
not just for us.”
When Sommer (an SPD member since 1981) speaks of a “warning, and not
just for us,” he is advising
German ruling and business circles that they cannot afford to exclude the
unions from the elaboration of future policy. Sommer went on to criticise the plans of Vice
Chancellor Franz Müntefering (SPD) to raise the retirement age, and
called for an end to the politics of ultimatums that characterised the latter
stages of the SPD-Green government of Gerhard Schröder.
Two
years ago, widespread demonstrations against Hartz IV and other social and welfare
cuts played a major role in the decision of then-chancellor Schröder to call
early elections so as to clear the way for a government better able to
carry through his big business agenda. Significantly, the wave of protests and demonstrations against
Hartz IV in 2003
and 2004 were organised independently of the unions.
– This time around, the union leaders are sending a clear signal to
the grand coalition government. At Saturday’s demonstrations, they spoke above
the heads of the protesters to address the most influential economic and
political circles of the German bourgeoisie. “For your own good, take us on
board, and we will do our best to prevent a social upheaval.” Such was the
subtext of the speeches from the podium.
And the message was received. Amongst those warmly applauding the speeches in Berlin
were the Left Party-Party of Democratic
Socialism (PDS) finance senator in Berlin,
Harald Wolf, and the chairman of the Left Party-PDS, Lothar Bisky.
In the front row at the rally in Frankfurt was
the former chairman of IG
Metall, Franz Steinkühler, who initiated the turn to the right by the union in
the 1980s. Forced to quit
the union in 1993 following accusations of insider trading, Steinkühler is
active today as a property and management consultant.
Teams of Socialist Equality Party members and
supporters intervened at many of the rallies, distributing thousands of copies
of the statement, “Fight against job and welfare cuts requires an international
socialist perspective”, which was warmly received by demonstrators. Dozens of signatures were collected
in support of the call by the SEP of Sri Lanka for an
investigation into the murder of SEP supporter Sivaparagasam Mariyadas.