conferences
• look at strategies for work within and alongside the trade union movement at national and international level
• determine outline agendas for action towards and by such bodies as the United Nations, the International
Tuzla international trade union conference March 14-15 1998
Bosnia-Herzegovina's Autonomous Trade Union of Coal-mine Workers (Samostalni sindikat radnika rudnika uglja) is organising an "International workers' conference against privatisation, casual labour and unemployment." Contact: Resad Husagic, Secretary, Tuzla Miners, Mije Kerosevica Guje 1, 75000 TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tel: (++387) 75 282 111 ext. 542. Fax: 283 412 Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference Sydney, Australia, April 1998
Organised by the Asia Pacific Institute for Democratisation and Development. See full page advertisement in September 1997 issue.
The Institute welcomes applications to present papers at the conference, and suggest specific themes for discussion under the general framework of supporting democratisation, self-determination and social justice and opposing the neo-liberal austerity offensive. Contact: Dr Helen Jarvis, School of Information, Library and Archive Studies, (SILAS) University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052 Australia. Or Email to: [email protected]. Or fax to: 02-96901381 EuroMarch Assizes Brussels, Belgium, 18-19 April
EuroMarches against Unemployment will hold new 'hearings' to look at unemployment campaigns in 1997, and plans for the future. Special focus on European institutions, the reduction in the working week, debates on minimum revenue, and links between civic groups and associations and trade unions in building the European unemployment movement. Registration: through your national EuroMarch network, or at Rue Potagère 103, 1210 Brussels, Belgium. Tel. +32.2.223 3533. Fax 223 3982 Socialist Action (Canada) May Day celebration, Saturday 2 May, 7 p.m. 58 Cecil Street, Toronto
Theme: Fight for an Unlimited General Strike. Speakers (so far) include: Sid Ryan, CUPE; John Clarke, OCAP; Joe Flexer, CAW and SA. Music by InfraRed, Marie-Lynn Hammond and Len Wallace. East Indian veg. and nonveg. multi-course buffet dinner. Tickets: advance $15 waged, S8 non-waged; at door S20 waged, S12 non-waged Info: 416-535-8779, fax 416-535-9079 Finnish young commuists
Finland's Young Communists and others will organise a Solidarity meeting in Helsinki on June 5-6. A summer camp will be held at the end of June. PL 288, 00171 Helsinki, Finland. <[email protected]> Internet: www.dic.fi/-komnuor/ 2 International Viewpoint #298
International socialist youth camp i Jutland, Denmark. 25-31 July 1 Denmark's Socialistisk Arbejderparti, ; (SAP) will host the 15th European camp, iof youth organisations in solidarity with i ¡the Fourth International. ! This year's theme is "Reclaim Freei dom." In the North, our democratic free | i doms end when we confront economic i power. In the South, economic exploita-i ,tion is often combined with authoritarian, (regimes. This camp will be a place for! i young women fighting to liberate them-! Iselves from discriminatory traditions! ,and rules, for unemployed youth, ¡demanding decent work and decent! i pay, for activists in solidarity work with! |freedom movements in Latin America, i ¡Africa and Asia, anti-racists, and, i students opposed to elitist education.
Costs inside the camp are adjusted toi reflect the differential revenue of youngi people across Europe. Participation! costs from US$100-200. For more information contact your International . Viewpoint distributor or write to SAP, Box 547, Nørre Allé 11 A, DK-2200, Copenhagen N. fax +45-35373217 i E-mail <[email protected]> Trade Unions, homosexuality & work Amsterdam, 29-31 July 1998
The 1998 International Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work will bring together lesbian and gay workers from all over the world to discuss ways of building on the work that is already being carried out and to develop proposals for action by trade unions, employers, and other bodies. The aim is also to bring together representatives of trade unions, employers, experts and politicians as part of the conference.
The conference's aims are to:
• provide a forum for lesbian and gay trade unionists to exchange information, policies and strategies
• educate participants on campaigning for lesbian and gay rights in the workplace and ensuring that policies are implemented and address the concern of all lesbian and gay workers 1
Labour Organization, the European Union, governments and local authorities
• draw up recommendations for action by employers
• develop links between lesbian and gay members of trade unions in all regions of the world
• establish an international network to provide a means of continuing to exchange information, co-ordinating initiatives, and providing international support and solidarity, particularly to lesbian and gay workers in countries where homosexuality and/ or trade union organisation can lead to persecution.
The conference is the result of many years of joint work by a number of trade union lesbian and gay groups and a growing level of international networking between lesbian and gay activists involved in the labour and trade union movements. The Steering Group consist of members of the lesbian and gay workers groups in the following unions: AbvaKabo, AOb, Onderwijsbonden CNV and AFMP (Netherlands), OTV (Germany and UNISON (UK), together with representatives of ABV-BTTK Antwerpen (Belgium), CGIL (Italy), AFT, AFL-CIO (United States). Egalité (the European Union Lesbian and Gay Workers Group), and the ILGA. The Steering Committee is seeking the widest possible endorsement and support for the conference from the trade union movement. So far, six unions (UNISON [UK], PCO, KOV, AOb, AFMP, AbvaKabo [NL] & OTV [D]) have agreed to support the conference, and many of these unions have also greed to contribute towards some of the costs of organising it. The two largest Dutch trade union federations FNV and CNV are also supporting the conference, both in organisation and financially. The registration for the conference starts in May, 1997 The conference fee will be 225 Dutch guilders for those who register early, increasing to 325 nearer the date. Travel costs, housing, breakfast and dinners are not included in this fee. Applications for financial assistance must be received by 1 April 1998 PO Box 732, NL 2700 AL, Zoetermeer, Netherlands Tel: +31-30-273 2627. fax: 271 0512. E-mail: <[email protected]> utopia.knoware.nl/users/modijk Solidarity Summer School Chicago, USA. 3-6 August
The US socialist and feminist group will hold its annual summer school at the usual venue. The group's convention will run from 7-9 August.
4. INTERNATIONALE/SAP:
INTERNATIONAL
SOCIAL SUDA
UNGDOMSLEJR 98
Germany's unemployed take to the streets
On February 5th over 50,000 people demonstrated in response to new statistics showing an official unemployment rate of 12.6% (20% in east Germany). Angela Klein reports.
The real number of Germans unemployed or under-employed is closer to 7 million than the official estimate of 4.8 million. But, even according to official figures, unemployment is now twice as high as the post-war 'structural unemployment' level. Despite continued growth in the economy, which is expected to expand by 2% in 1998.
Over 50,000 people, most of them unemployed, demonstrated in 200 towns and cities in all parts of the country. This was the first national demonstration of the unemployed since the early 1980s. As such, it represents an important step in the growth of political awareness by the unemployed, and in their capacity to express their strength through their demands by putting pressure on official political bodies - governments, political parties, and the trade unions.
Most actions on February 5th were "conventional." But, in a handful of towns, demonstrators copied their French counterparts and occupied social security administration offices The best-attended actions took place in the East of the country: Berlin, Erfurt and Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx Stadt).
Germany has no national organisation of the unemployed. The call to demonstrate on February 5th came from the Coordination Office of Trade Union Initiatives of the Unemployed - which also supported last year's European Marches against Unemployment. The planning of the day of action depended solely on local initiatives.
Despite these structural difficulties, the day of action attracted nation-wide media coverage, and had a tremendous political impact. Several days earlier, the conservative government had insisted that "action against unemployment" must take place in accord with the EU Luxembourg Agreement of November 1997 - a "back to work" plan based on cutting unemployment and welfare benefits to force more of the jobless to accept any job offered at any wage. The current minimum revenue guaranteed by the social security system is to be abolished.
Local authorities have been given responsibility for creating jobs and schemes for 200,000 people over the next two years. Planned liberalisation of the labour market will allow private employment agencies to manage much of this work.
For those school-leavers unable to find work, there will be some temporary i work, there wiDe Sore par schemes to help them find some kind of
### KEIN
IG ALEGEN! eVerantwortung o ISSE ER •Ф PEANUTS GICWAHREN OLLIGINEH STATT PROFES EUER REICHTUM •WIRD VERGEHEN AGEN insertion into the labour market. But it is still not clear how these programmes will be financed. Keep up the pressure!
The unemployment question has heightened tensions between the Christian Democrats and their coalition partners: the Liberals and the Bavarian CDU. The "social tendency" led by Heiner Geissler, and half-heartedly supported by Labour Minister Norbet Blum, wanted the government to spend DM45bn ($2-2.5bn) on job-creation schemes. This provoked violent protests from CDU leader Wolfgang Schaube.
If unemployed groups and trade unions can maintain the pressure with further demonstrations, unemployment will probably become the main issue in the run-up to parliamentary elections later this year. The plan is to organise monthly protests to coincide with the publication of new unemployment statistics. The biggest challenge facing activists is to use this time to resolve the political and organisational problems of a fragmented movement, and build new initiatives against unemployment that go beyond the ranks of the unemployed themselves. * contents europe
Germany's unemployed take to
2 the streets • Angela Klein
Labour left • Ken Coates interview
Bloody Sunday • F. Stuart Ross asia
7 Asia's four-in-one economic crisis
• Maxime Durand
Philippines: economic meltdown
• Sonny Melencio and Reihana
Mohideen
10 Rebuilding Palestine's left
• Nassar Ibrahim (PFLP) interview
12 Israel: general strike • Sergio Yani
14 No More War Against Iraq!
• Fourth International declaration i feminism today
Introduction• Penny Duggan
Women and sex • Nancy Herzig
19 Pornography: ban it or read it?
• debate
25 women's strike support groups
• Terry Conway
This violent world
• Estela Retamoso americas
Against the Buenos Aires
Concensus • Ernesto Hererra regular features
34 books
• Radical press review
36 NetWorking • Internet action
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