European Marches against Unemployment, Job Insecurity and Marginalisation
First we take Brussels, then we march
Mark Johnson
An all-Europe co-ordination meeting of the campaign was held in Brussels on November 30th 1996. It was decided to change the date of the European Hearings against Unemployment, Job-insecurity and Marginalisation to 22-23 February, at the request of the British and Spanish participants. It seems that a number of congresses and trade union meetings are planned for the original Hearing date, the first weekend in February. The next, essentially "technical" all-Europe co-ordination meeting will be held in Brussels on Saturday February Ist.
Participants discussed both the routes and the type of march planned. These ideas will be circulated to national organising groups in a later document. There was also discussion about the European secretariat for the marches. The general idea is to move as quickly as possible (i.e. from JanuaryFebruary) towards a genuinely European secretariat, with participation of all the countries which wish to do so. The presence of the Belgian and Dutch organisers seems indispensable, given that most of the proposed march routes pass through these countries, with the potential for larger events in Brussels in Amsterdam
The European Network of Unemployed (ENU) has agreed to support the Marches. At their recent conference, in Ireland, contacts were also made with an Austrian group, and with organisations in Hungary and Poland, non EU countries. The Dutch ENU network (which represents the ENU secretariat) will co-operate with the march organisers in the reception of the marchers in Amsterdam. For this, they will need to know which towns the marches will pass through as soon as possible.
Kairos Europe and various national groups of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, two networks of "civic" movements concerned with political and cultural questions, have also indicated their interest in the marches. Following the Florence Appeal, the European Christian Forum wishes to be represented in the European secretariat. Country-by-country presentations
In Belgium, the March organising group' held its first meeting on November 4th, and decided to seek broader contacts, including the trade union federations. On December 12th, working groups stressed that the march title and slogans should be positive expressions. It was also felt important that participation in the marches be an individual initiative, rather than the simple expression of organisational decisions. There was a suggestion to prepare a "Marcher's Card"
The group also discussed the relationship between the marches and other initiatives, so 16 International Viewpoint as to enable the establishment of the widest possible reception committees, and the reception of the marchers by the mayors of the towns they pass through.
At the February Hearings, the Belgian organising group suggests putting the emphasis on the testimony of the excluded, and reports on activities, rather than "big debates." To link the Hearings with the broader social movement, it is planned to organise five small Belgian marches, which will converge on Brussels. It was also suggested that the Hearings enable people to attend "as a family". This obviously creates the problem of child-space.
In the Netherlands, a conference "For a Different Europe" was held on 19 October. This is a step towards the organisation of a counter-summit, larger than the reception of the marches, with workshops on ecology, democracy, etc. Participants offered to support and prepare the marches in the AprilJuly period, with groups coming from all over the Netherlands, and including trade unions, unemployed groups, and individuals. There was a strong demand for precision about what marchers from other countries will expect from the Dutch organisers, particularly in logistic and financial terms. Who will pay for the section from the Dutch border to Amsterdam?
A representative of the Irish group INOU reported that the idea of a "Celtic" march (Ireland, Wales, Brittany) is gathering strength. local marches in Ireland will be received by the mayors of the towns they pass through. Irish participants in the 30 November all-Europe planning meeting expressed sharp criticism of the monetary union and its consequences, and enquired about the position of the European Trade Union Confederation. They stressed that Ireland is further away from continental Europe than people often think, and that there will be a problem with financing the transportation of the Irish marchers.
The British Committee for the European Marches held a conference in Manchester on 26 October, with about 50 participants, including trades councils and unemployed groups. There were participants from London, Birmingham, South Wales... but no-one from Scotland. British participants at the Brussels meeting raised mainly tactical questions. It will be necessary to pay something to unemployed participants in the British marches, since by leaving their place of residence, they will loose their unemployment benefit payments.
Since the Manchester meeting, the organisers have received the support of more trade councils, and a group of left parliamentarians from the Labour Party. The organisers are currently seeking concrete offers of support, including trade union sponsorship of 250 marchers, work with homeless groups, etc. They hope to organise a coach to the Brussels initiative.
The German organisers held a meeting with unemployed organisations, left currents and parties on 31 October. The Socialist Democracy Party (PDS) gave its support. A secretariat was established for regional co-ordination. There was discussion on the programme, and the orientation of the marches, the rights of immigrants, links to Eastern Europe and the South, and monetary union. The next meeting will be held on 19 January in Hannover. A conference to discuss and prepare the marches will be held in Mann-
* * SOCIAL EUROPe * PLONTiL heim on 15-16 March. A meeting of left oppositionists in the DGB trade union federation will also be held. This should make it easier to win the support of local trade union bodies.
In Switzerland, ADC Lausannewants to organise a march segment between La Chaux-de-Fonds (Jura), Laussane and Geneva. They are seeking wider contacts. Switzerland is not in the EU, of course, but organisers felt this did not prevent Swiss participation. "this is a march against unemployment, " one said. "Not about whether we are for or against the EU."
Spain's CGT [anarcho-syndicalist] trade union confederation will participate in the marches. The Madrid CGT considers the Florence appeal to be very weak, and would like to see an explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-Maastricht text. The Madrid CGT is for the absolute autonomy of the marchers, and will be on the watch for any attempt to "capture" or take credit for the marches.
In Catalonia, the march will be coordinated by the "Civic Round-Table for Social Rights" (Mesa civic pels drets
on Amsterdam socials) which organised a series of smaller marches in 1995. The Mesa, which brings together trade unionists, unemployed groups and intellectuals, also benefits from the indirect participation of the "critical sector" in Iniciativa per Catalunya, the local version of Spain's United Left.
The French organising associations' meet regularly in the interim European secretariat, which seeks to deepen the preparation of the marches, and widen support, particularly among trades unions. A common meeting is planned for December, with local committees, civic groups, and trade unions. Contacts have already been made with the FSU, the etc). They will seek the support of parliamentarians and political organisations, while preserving the autonomy of the movement.
The Hearings of the AC! movement (which has about 100 local committees) resolved to participate actively in the marches, to denounce neo-liberalism and Maastricht, "without limiting themselves to a narrow EU framework in our discussion of Europe". The General Estates of the Social Movement, which were created during the social movement of November-December 1995, and which bring together actors from those movements, trade unionists, and intellectuals, hope to generate similar support all
France will obviously be a host country for marchers coming from Spain and Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and, to some extent, Ireland and Great Britain, as the various marches converge towards Belgium and Amsterdam *. 1. Groupe d'initiative Belge pour les Marches europeennes, Coordination Bruxelles Wallonie Flandres Sans-Abris (Homeless Co-ordinations), Mouvement de la Paix (Peace Movement), Kairos Europa 2. AEC (HCA-F), Comite des Sans-Logis, Chomeurs et Precaires de Paris, CNT-AIT Nord-Pas de Calais. Collectif national AC!, Coordination moins de 25 ans, Droit au Logement, Droits Devant!, Etats Generaux de Mouvement Social, Movement National des Chomeurs et Precaires, Organisation Communiste Libertaire, Precarite left in the CFDT, the Group of Ten, SUD,
Brussels, 22-23 February 1997 over Europe.
The Hearings will have three functions.
• Exchange information and experience between unemployed groups, associations and trade unions at the European level. This implies organising lots of workshops, so that the militants can express themselves, and allowing for sufficient free time for the informal exchanges. • In-depth discussions on the positions of each participant, given his/her country of origin, militant activity, and ideological convictions. • Preparing joint activities, above all the Spring marches. The working languages for these hearings are English, French, Castillian, German, Italian and, probably, Dutch. Saturday 12:00 Reception, greetings, reading out messages, short videos 13:00 Presentation of the agenda and the material conditions of the hearings, presentation of the general project at the European level. 14:00 Workshops • Unemployment in the various countries, systems of support it Unemplo and benefit, the work of associations.
• rising job insecurity and flexibility. The role of trade unions in the struggle against unemployment.
• housing
• social and cultural marginalisation
• public service, defending
"welfare" • the right to asylum, and the situation of non-nationals Saturday 17:30 Parallel workshops for each march route, including (probably) • Ireland, Britain, France, Belgium, Holland: to discuss one or two marches: Ireland, Britain via London, northern France, Belgium, Holland; and Wales, Brittany, France via Paris, Belgium via Brussels, Amsterdam. • Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland: starting in Italy, then joined by the Swiss of the Lake Geneva region and the French from Grenoble, continuing to Basle, and then descending the Rhine valley into Holland. • Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland: a Nordic march... • Germany, Holland: starting in verany, no. starting in exclusion Jeunes 18-25 ans, SSIPPE-CNT Nord-Pas de
Calais, SUD Cheminots, Secretariat des Marches.
ment. Job Insecurity and Evadi ment, Job insecurity and Exclucion a security and exclusion
Berlin, with a possible south
• Abolishing unemployment,
German march, passing via reducing the working week,
Munich. This would allow the full employment (introduced by
Austrians to start a march.
AC!, Michel Husson and/or
Ireland's INOU)
• There will also be an
"Amsterdam" workshop,
• Specific women's demands which will discus the problems
(introduced by Germany)
of reception, tasks linked to the
• Finance, the resources demonstration, and the needed for such a policy debates during the counter- summit.
Saturday 20:00
Sunday 13:00 dinner and social evening (but
Plenary session, lunch break, with a "Manifesto" working approval of the manifesto and group, in which representatives the principle points of the of each working group will try march strategy.
to amend the text.)
Invitations and
Sunday observers
09:00 workshops on the
The proposal is to have a wide general orientation of the range of invitations and marches observers, going beyond the forces which will actually
• European institutions and participate in the organisation their policies (single currency, of the marches. We will invite etc.) and the consequences for employment (introduced by associations and trade unions,
Kairos?)
intellectuals engaged in the struggle against unemployment
• The Europe we want to build.
and marginalisation,
What opening to the East and parliamentary groups in the the South? Refusing Fortress
European Parliament, and
Europe (introduced by various political currents. These someone from the Spanish invitations do not imply the state, maybe the CGT).
obligation to make a speech
• Essential emergency
(although anyone who wants measures for Europe, social can express him/herself in the
Europe (introduced by the workshops). The president of reporters of the Saturday the hearings will read out a list workshons)
workshops).
of invitees and excuses
Ot invitees and excuses.
January 1997 #284
17
European Hearings again:
Europe