by Jim H.
Many
millions of workers and other ordinary people joined in a general strike and
participated in huge demonstrations across Europe on 14 November.
This is an inspiring development, representing a new
level of unity, clear sightedness about the situation and the necessary path
ahead, while facing mounting anti-worker and austerity measures being imposed
by the biggest corporations and their governments,
using the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
Workers in Spain and Portugal joined millions of their
class counterparts in Greece, Italy, France and Belgium in a massive show of
force. Important actions occurred in other European countries as well. A massive
‘no’ was delivered against massive cutbacks amid tax hikes and wage cuts, and
the ruining of jobs and the future wellbeing of the people. A resounding ‘no’
was raised against the imposition of anti-worker laws.
The general strike was organised by a broad range of
union and people’s organisations. But the most important feature is that it has
been propelled by a rapidly growing mass movement for change that is emerging
from the grass roots.
In Spain for example, one of every four workers is now
unemployed at the same time that the cost of making ends meet is rising
fast. Many are doing it very hard
indeed. A recent reminder of the human face of hardship is the case of a woman at
Barakaldo in the Basque region, who jumped from a fourth story balcony as the
bailiffs were coming in the front door to repossess her home.
This connects to the special attention being paid to
the banks that are seen to be central to the current economic crisis and the
anti-people measures associated with it. About 80% of current evictions are
being carried out by Bankia. For this reason, there has been a permanent
protest camp outside its Madrid headquarters for some weeks. The former
director of the IMF, Rodrigo Rato, was also head of Bankia and the implications
of this have been taken on board.
Thousands upon thousands of car industry,
shipbuilding, and construction workers, amongst others, joined public sector
workers in walking off the job and participated in huge demonstrations in every
part of the country. Tens of thousands of police joined in with their own march.
A prominent police banner read - “Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those
truly responsible for the crisis: bankers and politicians.”
At this point of time the Spanish government plans to
slash 39 billion Euros (about $50 billion) from its budget to pay a debt to the
monopoly financial institutions that have for years used debt to make massive
profits.
Public debt is a big issue throughout Europe. But it
is not the people who brought this about. It is the result of overpriced
contracts between the state and the monopolies, the tax cuts, the bailouts and
other benefits that have been provided to the monopoly ruling class as a class.
None of this would have occurred without governments that were working in the
interests of the monopolies. The austerity measures are meant to continue this
assistance to the monopolies on the backs of the people.
There is a parallel in this with what is happening in Portugal,
Greece and Italy, and to one extent or another, in the other European
countries. While there are local differences, the essence is a crisis brought
about by big capitalism and the mounting reaction of the people against this.
Behind all the symptoms of economic crisis is the excess
of capital in the hands of the monopolies, which has piled up more rapidly and
highly than ever before in the history of capitalism. The associated crisis of
overproduction is where the destructive impacts are born, including the runaway
financial sector now operating desperately to seek out profits by any means,
from anywhere and at any cost. Survival in the short term is all that counts.
It is madness for those who brought on the crisis to
continue to be in charge. They cannot solve the problem. Capitalism,
particularly in its monopoly form, has become a fetter against itself, let
alone a barrier against a just and sustainable future. It needs to be buried
once and for all. The forces that will eventually bring about its end are on
the rise.
No comments:
Post a Comment