Austerity cuts come over and over again - they are driving down the conditions of life of workers and their aim is to crush or/and weaken the ability to organize and fight The profit is privatized and the rich are getting richer, but the costs, risks and oppression are socialized!
The bureaucratic trade union CGTP has called a general strike in Portugal and the CCOO and UGT have called for a general strike in Spain against the austerity measures for November 14. For this same day, general strikes are also being called in Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus etc. as part of a Day of Action by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
The position of the IWA and its Sections and Friends is that we are not only against the government of the "troika" and the austerity measures, but against the class society and against an economic and social system based on the exploitation of wage labor and environmental destruction. We are for works self- organizing and emancipation, and by this our struggle is directed against and outside the class collaborationist structures!
Our sister organization in Spain the CNT-AIT says in a declaration that the reformist CCOO and UGT after hesitation have called for the General Strike of 14-N which they have been dragged into: “On the one hand, by increasing social unrest and mobilizations in the streets and on the other, by the continued anti-labor measures of a government at the service of financial elites and employers with no intention of conceding even the crumbs that allow institutional unionism to justify their role.”
And further: “CNT has agreed to call a general strike for November 14 and we will do this in our own way, with our own demands. We say that this strike is necessary but is not sufficient and we call for it to go beyond the sterile and frustrating scenario of the institutional unions that people have become accustomed to”.
The AIT- Portugal writes in an article in IWA- External Bulletin-3 about the encouraging demonstrations on September 15 that mainly were convened through internet. It has been estimated that 500 000 people demonstrated in Lisbon and 100 000 in Porto, and there were demonstrations in more than 30 cities in Portugal.
Since then it has according to our Portuguese comrades been held demonstrations almost every week. They also see weaknesses and contradictions in the movement if it is merely directed towards political objectives as early elections etc, the dangers of nationalism and if they only become pressure movements and not “the growth of a social movement for the self-organization of struggles, with prospects for radical economic and social change”.
The Secretariat of the International Workers Association (IWA) sends hereby its support to the mobilizations of Spanish CNT-AIT and AIT- Portugal and the further steps that are so strongly needed to intensify the direct actions and solidarity.
It`s in these times clearly revealed that the “freedom” for the capitalists means economical dictatorship and slavery for the vast majority, and the IWA- Sections and Friends will both show solidarity to our sister organizations on November 14 and protest against austerity measures, exploitation and oppression!
For workers self- organization and emancipation!
Long live the IWA and anarchosyndicalism!
Oslo, November 5 – 2012
IWA-Secretariat