Interview with a
Fourth Internationalist union activist the Fourth International, the Social Democratic Youth (Jusos), and independents.
Q. What do you think of the demonstration today?
I think there are contradictory As the first European-wide demonstration, it is positive. At the same time, the potential for mobilizing was
The following interview was given to Daniel Raymond for International Viewpoint at the June 4 Stuttgart demonstration by a member of the West German section of the Fourth International who is active in an electrical equipment plant in Stuttgart and a member of the city-wide council of IG Metall.
the problems of unemployment that exist now?
Answer. In the city council of delegates, everything that has to do with the
35-hour week is being discussed a lot.
But it has to be recognized that workers the question the standard of living, and this concern is equally strong in the plants in the smaller towns. This is what explains the success of the first demonstration against
Under the impact of the crisis, the level of consciousness of the workers has risen to a certain extent. But it has to be pointed out that the distinctive policy of IG Metall in Baden-Wurttenberg has played an important role in this radical-
The present leader of the IG Metall
Steinhuehler, is a student of a former
Party. He has a more general analysis of the capitalists' intentions, of the dangers that the bosses' policy holds, and of the kind of relationship of forces necessary, even though the solutions he remain within the capitalist framework. This means that the union is closer to the workers than the factory
The factory councils are elected by the workforce as a whole, regardless of union membership. They were set up under co-
It is true that a small layer in the union is beginning to pose more general questions, for example about so-called economic rationalization policy Metall has set up two groups to study thi one for engineering workers and the other for white-collar workers.
This work by the union is not just ideological. It also has a material base. The economic crisis and unemployment are being reflected immediately in a drop in trade-union membership. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons that the union is now concerned about organizing the unemployed. In fact, that will require a change in the statutes to extend union membership to jobless workers, which has been unknown up till now.
But everywhere you workers are sticking determinedly to all their demands. An indication of this is are groups of trade-union oppositionists in the factories, which sometimes come up against the union
This happened for example with the Plakat group at the DaimlerBenz factory, which waged a dogged fight weak, because there was no clear focus. There has not been enough explanation of the usefulness of a European-wide
There was no discussion of The question was seen as a moral one and not an effective method of
Duesseldorf unionists proposed postponing the demonstration to the day of the EEC summit, in order to give it a concrete focus. be noted that the opposition activists did not do very much work to mobilize for this day of action.
On the other hand, there have already been examples of trade-union coordination at the European level.
Yes, this has been more evident steel. In the auto industry, the question has also begun to be taken up. But this has only involved a fringe of trade unionists, even among the oppositionists.
Q. In the demonstration, there were also slogans for peace.
A. The question of peace and disarmament is being discussed very widely in the union now. The possibility of a warning strike against the deployment of the NATO missiles is being explicity discussed in the leading circles of the union. In Stuttgart, we have seen the formation of groups of activists in the big factories (Bosch, Daimler-Benz, SEL) to discuss actions on the disarmament question.