"Together we're stronger than the troika!"
Dear colleagues,
For the first time in history, on 14 November 2012 Europe will witness a cross-border general strike. Up until now calls for such a strike have been put out in Portugal, Spain, Cyprus and Malta and proposals are being circulated in Greece, Italy, Britain and several other countries. The movement for a European general strike is gaining momentum! We call for working towards a joint general strike in all countries of Europe and taking the initiative in the unions. Let us concentrate our forces on the 14th of November. We also include the worldwide education protests planned for 17 November.
The plant blockade by the Ford workers in Genk (Belgium) can be a signal on the way to the working-class offensive. The industrial workers are the backbone of the Europe-wide struggle against the shifting of the crisis burdens to the shoulders of the workers and the masses. The steelworkers of Aspropyrgos (Greece) and Florange (France), the miners of Asturias (Spain) und Sardinia (Italy), the autoworkers of Opel, PSA, Fiat, IVECO, NedCar and now Ford are taking up the struggle.
The "troika" is only three acting on behalf of a handful of international supermonopolies, but we are hundreds of millions! Why shouldn't we be able to become stronger than them? We want a social order in which the working class holds power, in which the economy serves the needs of the masses and is in harmony with nature. For that, capitalism must be eliminated and United Socialist States established worldwide! Slogans for a "social pact" with the monopolies and their governments lead up the blind alley of class collaboration politics. We have always been told that we must make sacrifices to prevent worse happening. The workforce of Ford in Genk renounced 12 percent of its wages two years ago to "secure" its jobs. At Opel, over the past 20 years one extortionate program has been followed by another, while the number of jobs has been more than halved. The same thing has been going on for years in Greece, Portugal or Spain. These crisis programs in all of Europe have only worsened the situation of the masses and safeguarded the profits of the banks and international monopolies. This policy has failed!
It is time that we go our own way. Our strength lies in unity, in organization!
We can only win this struggle together, in the whole of Europe and internationally. We call for a cross-border struggle against plant closures and job destruction in the automobile industry, the steel industry, in mining and in other sectors.
For a European general strike on 14 November 2012!
Dortmund, 2 November 2012
Unanimously adopted by 1250 participants of the Europe Seminar of ICOR Europe (International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations - www.icor.info) and MLPD (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany - www.mlpd.de).
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