G8 - Trade Unionists oppose neo-liberalism
Trade unionists against neo liberalism! No to a global race to the bottom!
Stop the G8 summit - Trade unions onto the global stage!
We are trade unionists from many different parts of Germany and we are part of the protest movement against the G8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm. These annual summits are a symbol for global neo liberal domination like no other international institution. The G8 summits serve the purpose of global coordination and the division of power between the major global powers. This way, they are stabilising the global neo liberal economic order with worsening effects for the majority of the population. An elitist minority accumulates the wealth produced by millions of people.
We support the protest against imperialist power strategies, wars, environmental destruction and the threat of global warming. In contrast to its promises, global capitalism propels humanity into a crisis of existence. Without an answer to the looming climate catastrophe, there can be no solution.
The globalisation of capital and labour markets has put workers into global competition with each other. Workers, industries and workplaces of individual countries are being played out against each other without any scruples in a ruthless competition about jobs, labour conditions, wages and human dignity. As trade unionists we therefore demand the following:
Essential labour norms are a human right and have to be enforced as minimal standards. Among those are the right to form trade unions, the right to collective bargaining, the abolishment of child and forced labour and a general ban of discrimination at work. Breaches of these rules have to be made public and punished severely.
Maximum working hours: Redistribution of labour is the most important tool to cut unemployment figures of 200 million and 1.4 billion working poor globally. The development of productive forces has to be used for the progress of society, together with a cut in working hours: The 30 hour week is the aim, there has to be a global maximum 40 hour working week.
The minimum wage is already a reality in a few countries, albeit in an insufficient form. The minimum wage has to become a worldwide minimum standard. The minimum wage should be 60% of the national average way and thus become a global reality.
Pension systems have to be built and defended against privatisation and commercialisation. Health, education, public safety and the natural foundations of life must not become a commodity.
Rights at work have to be regulated by law in order to guarantee a minimum level of protection for workers against arbitrary measures by the employers.
As a result of globalisation, the balance of forces between capital and labour has shifted dramatically in favour of capital. Global financial markets and multinational companies have gained a gigantic blackmail potential against nation states (erosion of taxes and environmental standards, deregulation of labour markets) and against trade unions acting within nation states.
We have to get out of this historic defensive position. We have to put pressure on capital, we have to overcome language difficulties, we have to recognise our common interest to work together across all borders on all levels of the trade union movement, as was the case with the strike demonstration against the Bolkestein doctrine and the international strikes of dockworkers and maritime workers and as will be the case in June 2007 against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm.
We know we are only at the beginning of this journey. But we also know that only by overcoming our national rivalries and by creating a trade union movement which is able to campaign globally we will be able to effectively challenge the globally active capital.
Signatories
(This is a selection, an official publication of all initial signatories will follow soon)
Detlef Baade, Betriebsrat/Schweb-Vertretung/K-Sbv, Hamburg
Hagen Battran, GEW Bezirksvorsitzender, Freiburg
Gerd Buddin, Stellvertretener Vorsitzender der Gewerkschaft ver.di, Bezirk Berlin
Patrick von Brandt, ver.di Landesbezirksjugendsekretär Niedersachsen-Bremen
Jeannine Geißler, ver.di Jugendbildungsreferentin, Hannover
Werner Dreibus, Bevollmächtigter der IG Metall, Offenbach
Roland Hamm, 1. Bevollmächtigter IG Metall Aalen
Ralf Krämer, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Berlin
Walter Mayer; IG Metall Gewerkschaftssekretär i.R., Berlin
Bernd Riexinger, ver.di Bezirksgeschäftsführer, Stuttgart
Werner Sauerborn, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Stuttgart
Heidi Scharf, 1. Bevollmächtigte IG Metall Schwäbisch-Hall
Michael Schlecht, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Berlin
Berno Schuckart, Mitarbeitervertretung, ver.di Hamburg
Sibylle Stamm, ver.di Landesvorsitzende Baden-Württemberg
Roland Tremper, ver.di Bezirksgeschäftsführer, Berlin
And many others.
Contact:
Dirk Spöri, spoeri@gmx.net, Tel.: 0160 7942195, Auwaldstr. 29, 79110 Freiburg
Werner Sauerborn, werner.sauerborn@t-online.de
Stop the G8 summit - Trade unions onto the global stage!
We are trade unionists from many different parts of Germany and we are part of the protest movement against the G8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm. These annual summits are a symbol for global neo liberal domination like no other international institution. The G8 summits serve the purpose of global coordination and the division of power between the major global powers. This way, they are stabilising the global neo liberal economic order with worsening effects for the majority of the population. An elitist minority accumulates the wealth produced by millions of people.
We support the protest against imperialist power strategies, wars, environmental destruction and the threat of global warming. In contrast to its promises, global capitalism propels humanity into a crisis of existence. Without an answer to the looming climate catastrophe, there can be no solution.
The globalisation of capital and labour markets has put workers into global competition with each other. Workers, industries and workplaces of individual countries are being played out against each other without any scruples in a ruthless competition about jobs, labour conditions, wages and human dignity. As trade unionists we therefore demand the following:
Essential labour norms are a human right and have to be enforced as minimal standards. Among those are the right to form trade unions, the right to collective bargaining, the abolishment of child and forced labour and a general ban of discrimination at work. Breaches of these rules have to be made public and punished severely.
Maximum working hours: Redistribution of labour is the most important tool to cut unemployment figures of 200 million and 1.4 billion working poor globally. The development of productive forces has to be used for the progress of society, together with a cut in working hours: The 30 hour week is the aim, there has to be a global maximum 40 hour working week.
The minimum wage is already a reality in a few countries, albeit in an insufficient form. The minimum wage has to become a worldwide minimum standard. The minimum wage should be 60% of the national average way and thus become a global reality.
Pension systems have to be built and defended against privatisation and commercialisation. Health, education, public safety and the natural foundations of life must not become a commodity.
Rights at work have to be regulated by law in order to guarantee a minimum level of protection for workers against arbitrary measures by the employers.
As a result of globalisation, the balance of forces between capital and labour has shifted dramatically in favour of capital. Global financial markets and multinational companies have gained a gigantic blackmail potential against nation states (erosion of taxes and environmental standards, deregulation of labour markets) and against trade unions acting within nation states.
We have to get out of this historic defensive position. We have to put pressure on capital, we have to overcome language difficulties, we have to recognise our common interest to work together across all borders on all levels of the trade union movement, as was the case with the strike demonstration against the Bolkestein doctrine and the international strikes of dockworkers and maritime workers and as will be the case in June 2007 against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm.
We know we are only at the beginning of this journey. But we also know that only by overcoming our national rivalries and by creating a trade union movement which is able to campaign globally we will be able to effectively challenge the globally active capital.
Signatories
(This is a selection, an official publication of all initial signatories will follow soon)
Detlef Baade, Betriebsrat/Schweb-Vertretung/K-Sbv, Hamburg
Hagen Battran, GEW Bezirksvorsitzender, Freiburg
Gerd Buddin, Stellvertretener Vorsitzender der Gewerkschaft ver.di, Bezirk Berlin
Patrick von Brandt, ver.di Landesbezirksjugendsekretär Niedersachsen-Bremen
Jeannine Geißler, ver.di Jugendbildungsreferentin, Hannover
Werner Dreibus, Bevollmächtigter der IG Metall, Offenbach
Roland Hamm, 1. Bevollmächtigter IG Metall Aalen
Ralf Krämer, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Berlin
Walter Mayer; IG Metall Gewerkschaftssekretär i.R., Berlin
Bernd Riexinger, ver.di Bezirksgeschäftsführer, Stuttgart
Werner Sauerborn, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Stuttgart
Heidi Scharf, 1. Bevollmächtigte IG Metall Schwäbisch-Hall
Michael Schlecht, ver.di Gewerkschaftssekretär, Berlin
Berno Schuckart, Mitarbeitervertretung, ver.di Hamburg
Sibylle Stamm, ver.di Landesvorsitzende Baden-Württemberg
Roland Tremper, ver.di Bezirksgeschäftsführer, Berlin
And many others.
Contact:
Dirk Spöri, spoeri@gmx.net, Tel.: 0160 7942195, Auwaldstr. 29, 79110 Freiburg
Werner Sauerborn, werner.sauerborn@t-online.de
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home