AUT: European Union

[dave graham <davgraham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all

One of our number here has been asked to run a short course explaining the
role and institutions of the European Union. It will be for a quite lively
community group in the south end of Liverpool. This group is quite
independently minded and has so far managed to retain a fair degree of local
control in the running of its internal affairs.

Since Liverpool is one of the areas of the UK which enjoys 'Objective One'
status, the course is financed by the EU as part of its attempts at 'social
cohesion'; you will therefore be easily able to imagine, as can the
community group, the kind of material that will be on offer.

And since in the normal run of things in this city it would probably be
someone of a 'new labour' persuasion who would lead and teach this course,
people on this list will appreciate that this particular student body is a
little more discerning than most.

However, it is also our experience in this city that oppositional forces are
still thinking and acting in 'old labour' terms - which often ends up in an
embrace of little englander attitudes and prejudices.

So, we are anxious to bring in material which might encourage people to
break out of this mode of thinking. To this end we would welcome information
and critiques of the EU from a working class point of view. Specifically we
are interested in such material coming from people in countries which are
long time members of the EU and where their ruling classes do not have the
particular kind of hang-up that exists amongst our rulers and which they so
easily transmit to workers here.

Areas we would like to look at are :-

'illegal workers' - many Merseyside workers have worked abroad in industries
where casual and precarious working is the norm. In the UK Merseyside
workers label themselves 'industrial gypsies' - we would like to fill in the
stories that such workers sometimes bring here.

So called 'employment rights' or protection which according to official
mouthpieces is still supposed to exist in Europe - we would like to detail
the reality

Health and safety rights - how [if at all] are they really enforced in EU
countries

There are many more issues which I am sure you can think of and we would
welcome any material that will throw light on the day to day reality of
living and working in the EU.

One last thing - we can access official and academic sources and of course
we will - but what we are looking for is the day to day experiences, the
lived reality of workers.

Since our involvement in the Mersey docks dispute, it is our understanding
that such shared reality is the most meaningful to workers and the one thing
that makes the most impression. Can any of you help ?

DG


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