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 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
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 Mannheim 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
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 par-
"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
• Germany, Holland: starting in 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 left in the CFDT, the Group of Ten, SUD, Brussels, 22-23 February 1997 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 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 over Europe.
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), Movement 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 exclusion Jeunes 18-25 ans, SSIPPE-CNT Nord-Pas de Calais, SUD Cheminots, Secretariat des Marches.
European Hearings against Unemployment, Job Insecurity and Exclusion
The Hearings will have three and benefit, the work of
Berlin, with a possible south functions.
associations.
German march, passing via
• Exchange information and
Munich. This would allow the
• rising job insecurity and experience between
Austrians to start a march.
flexibility. The role of trade unemployed groups, unions in the struggle against associations and trade unions unemployment.
"Amsterdam" workshop, at the European level. This which will discus the problems
• housing implies organising lots of of reception, tasks linked to the workshops, so that the
• social and cultural militants can express marginalisation debates during the counterthemselves, and allowing for
• public service, defending sufficient free time for the
"welfare"
informal exchanges.
• the right to asylum, and the dinner and social evening (but
• In-depth discussions on the situation of non-nationals with a "Manifesto" working positions of each participant,
Saturday 17:30 group, in which representatives given his/her country of origin, of each working group will try militant activity, and ideological
Parallel workshops for eachconvictions.
march route, including
(probably)
• Preparing joint activities, above all the Spring marches.
• Ireland, Britain, France,
Belgium, Holland: to discuss
The working languages for
09:00 workshops on the these hearings are English, one or two marches: Ireland, general orientation of the
Britain via London, northern
French, Castillian, German,
France, Belgium, Holland; and
Italian and, probably, Dutch.
• European institutions and
Wales, Brittany, France via
Paris, Belgium via Brussels, their policies (single currency, etc.) and the consequences for
Saturday
Amsterdam.
employment (introduced by
• Italy, Switzerland, France,
12:00
Reception, greetings,
Germany, Holland: starting in reading out messages, short
• The Europe we want to build
Italy, then joined by the Swiss videos
What opening to the East and of the Lake Geneva region and
13:00
Presentation of the the South? Refusing Fortress the French from Grenoble, agenda and the material continuing to Basle, and then conditions of the hearings, someone from the Spanish descending the Rhine valley presentation of the general into Holland project at the European level.
• Finland, Sweden, Denmark,
14:00 Workshops measures for Europe, social
Germany, Holland: a Nordic
• Unemployment in the various march...
countries, systems of support
• There will also be an demonstration, and the summit.
Saturday 20:00 to amend the text.)
Sunday marches
Kairos?)
Europe (introduced by state, maybe the (GT).
• Essential emergency
Europe (introduced by the reporters of the Saturday workshops).
• Abolishing unemployment, reducing the working week, full employment (introduced by
AC!, Michel Husson and/or
Ireland's INOU)
• Specific women's demands
(introduced by Germany)
• Finance, the resources needed for such a policy
Sunday 13:00
Plenary session, lunch break, approval of the manifesto and the principle points of the march strategy. Invitations and observers The proposal is to have a wide range of invitations and observers, going beyond the forces which will actually participate in the organisation of the marches. We will invite associations and trade unions, intellectuals engaged in the struggle against unemployment and marginalisation, parliamentary groups in the European Parliament, and various political currents. These invitations do not imply the obligation to make a speech (although anyone who wants can express him/herself in the workshops). The president of the hearings will read out a list of invitees and excuses.
January 1997#284 17