European Initiatives against Unemployment and Poverty

[pform@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe Oldenburg)]

DISCUSSION PLATFORM FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF THE INITIATIVES
AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY


INTRODUCTION
The idea of a "Discussion platform for the international cooperation of the initiatives against unemployment and poverty" was born at the national congress of the abovementioned initiatives 1988 in Düsseldorf, FRG; at a time when latent and open racism
had become evident in the unemployment movement. Partly as an answer to this attitude some parts of the unemployment movement intensified their search for cooperation with groups of refugees and immigrants, as well as with unemployment initiatives from
other european states.
The meeting of the national work groups from 6th. to 8th. of April 1990 in Sprockhövel was an important step in this direction. At this meeting delegations from nine european countries/ regions were present, as well as representatives from refugee group
s in the FRG. Even though at this meeting the most important thing was the exchange of information between the various delegates; it became obvious that a discussion of political positions and basic attitudes was neccesary, as well as to establish a com
mon basic political attitude. The preliminary result of this discussion process is the "Discussion platform...", with which we hope to reach the following goals:

-Unification of the political basic positions of the "Initiatives against unemployment and poverty" in Europe, to make resistance possible through common political/ practical measures against the concentration of political and economical power and polic
e force of a united EEC 92.
-To gain alliances on a common political base.
-To discuss the organizing of a network of all "left" Initiatives and organizations in Europe.
-To support the cooperation between refugee groups in Europe.
-To strengthen the resistance against the "Unified Europe 92" on different levels.

We stress that with the discussion platform the abovementioned goals are being pursued. This means that it is neither intended for mass agitation, nor does it seem to us to be very useful as such!


I.

The breakdown of the authoritarian planning societies in Eastern Europe leaves capitalism as the "winner" on world scale. It seems to be the only reasonable way of production and reproduction. But in fact a few wealthy industrialized nations are confron
ted by hunger and growing impoverishment in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This accumulation of unbelievable wealth in the hands of a few is rooted in the century-long plundering of former colonies and the "third world" of today. It is rooted in the ex
ploitation of wage labour, in unpaid female reproductive labour as well as in brutal force and extermination. Millions of impoverished people are the neccesary other side of capitalist accumulation.
But for capitalism as a world system it is not only impossible to distribute wealth and income fairly. It also destroys the natural basis of reproduction by it's neccesary ecological blindness. In the way firms try to maximize their individual profits a
nd act economically , capitalism as a system develops no rational means of reasonable reproduction of society; it blindly destroys people and nature.


II.

In the last decade Western European countries saw a process of segmentation in society. Capital produced mass unemployment as an instrument for recomposition of labour and reproduction. Mass unemployment was created by new technologies in production and
 administration. This process was politically backed by neo- conservative governments, in the form of restructuring the government expenditure from "social investments" to "business investments", (i.e. armament, heavy technology, atomic power, infrastru
cture, space travel etc.) The profits of firms and banks reached all time high figrues while union power was weakened, net wages went down and mobility and flexibility of labour was enforced. Women got the worst paid jobs or were forced into their tradi
tional role as housewives. At the same time the industrial reserve army of the unemployed was put through a process of selection by official means (qualification programs, governmental labour market). Meanwhile impoverishment and marginalization are bit
ter reality for growing parts of the people in western european industrialized societies. These strategies are effective means to force the employed to work more and harder.


III.

In this setup the "European Common Market 1992" becomes a magic date that promises a brilliant future. "Freedom" is it's key issue: freedom for goods, for capital, for services and labour. The european integration promises an economical upswing, an even
 "better" and larger supply of goods and an end to mass unemployment. For the economical and political elites the European Common Market is a vision of the rise to the role of economic super power. They want to outrun the US and Japan, and they are prep
aring for this attempt with full speed.
But the future has already begun: enormous centralization and concentration of capital; far reaching deregulation of labour markets; segmentation of labour markets through selective mass unemployment, and adjustment of social benefits to the lowest inco
me groups. All this is reality already now; not only for people in the EEC. Furthermore the breakdown of the authoritarian planning systems in Eastern Europe ends the need for western "frontier states" to legitimize capitalism as the "better" system by
offering a standard of social services and consumption. Unprotected and bad jobs as well as mass unemployment for all groups of unqualified, old or somehow "disabled" people will grow. Independent of national boundaries and unevenly distributed among th
e different regions all this will belong to everyday life in the "new" Europe.

This tendency is also being supported by the european agricultural policy which is an important factor in the international exploitation and oppression of the poor countries and regions within Europe. Enormous food monopolies destroy the economic basis
of the farmers by world wide dumping of prices; the shift to monocultures for export to western industrial nations; the introduction of (genetically manipulated) hybrid plants and the then unavoidable dependency on chemical fertilizers and pesticides pr
oduced by west european chemical firms. The results for the small farmers and agricultural workers are homelessness; emigration; hunger and destitution.


IV.

In spite of these segmentation processes in european societies their economic stability and wealth is of great attraction for the impoverished masses in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Bourgeois mass media are already talking about an en
ormous wawe of migrants and refugees that threatens to sweep all over Europe. Because of the actual development it is estimated that alone in the USSR about 30 million people are ready to leave the country, and former countries of emigration like Italy,
 Spain and Greece are now countries of immigration for people from Africa and the Middle East.
But contrary to the socalled "fortress Europe" that hermetically seals its borders to avoid "invasions of the hordes" from the south and the east, there are plans and strategies already made by the market managers and technocrats:


V.

The push towards rationalization in Europe in the eighties has not led to the expected increase in productivity. The efforts to combat falling profit rates are now being concentrated in the areas of fixed capital. This means that the demand for qualifie
d as well as for cheap labour will increase.
 This tendency is shown in all official workmarket prognoses and also in the demographic development in the european countries, (sinking birthrates and a growing number of older people). The prognosis is that the EEC will have an increasing need for lab
our that by the year 2000 cannot be met by the present population; especially in the service field. This need is supposed to be met by a controlled opening of the borders. (A forewarning of this is seasonal employment for polish workers. An other exampl
e: Already today the criteria for immigration in the USA and Canada are being adjusted according to the needs of the labour market). This kind of work migration by a limited amount of permanent immigrants also creates a lower level of non regulated jobs
. This again has the effect of making "foreigners" the victims of anger and hate because of their "dumping of the market" and their effectiveness as tools against the fight for better living and work conditions.


VI.

Social degeneration and isolation of the members of the population not needed in production; war; persecution; work migration; ecological destruction; nationalism; racism and sexism is the daily reality for more and more people, not only outside the bor
ders of Europe.
The exploitation, suppression of and violence against women is older than modern capitalist society. Today's society can thankfully use the historically based existing patriarchy and adjust it for its own purposes of profit maximizing. Depending on mark
et fluctuation women are either integrated into or pushed out of the work market. (War production; "lack" of labour force or unemployment; part time work; special "feminine" qualifications..)
In this way women get the worst jobs, lower wages for the same work and at the same time the entire area of reproduction (housework and childrearing) lies on their shoulders.
But women are not only being discriminated against through economical disadvantages, doubly burdened through housework and employment and the lack of recognition of their reproductive work. Still the patriarchal structures (differently expressed in diff
erent parts of society) contains a widely accepted sexism. This ranges from sexual pressure in society at large via beatings at home to brutal rape and sexual abuse of children. This is supported in society through the use of woman in advertisement and
politics as beauty ideal, (sex) object and ideal mother. These structures also exist in "conscious" and "left" organizations and in the social life of west european societies that have emancipation and equality as their slogans. Women get less recogniti
on for the same work and energy input as men; the housework, childrearing and reproductive work is not equally shared, and women are still serving as psychological and material nursemaids for male frusrations.


OUR ANSWERS

The living conditions of the people of Eastern Europe and the three continents Asia, Africa and Latin America can only be understood when seen in connection with the european state of affairs as described above. The growing movement of refugees and migr
ants must be seen as a movement for the right to live and the right to an income. In this context we demand for every individual the freedom of choice in being member of any group, family, culture or nation; and the acceptance of this independence by th
e group, the people or the state.
Therefore the solidaric and unifying answer to the international unemployment movement that has grown in the european cities is the demand for subsistence money (guaranteed income) for everyone, independent of age, sex, civil status and nationality; and
 independent from the obligation to work. This means a demand for open borders, but is  at the same time a demand for the neccesary changes in society to make it possible that "natives" and foreigners can live together on a reasonable basis, also materi
ally secure. It is our common demand that all have their share of society's goods, and our solidaric offer to all workers that we will not let ourselves be used to lower the wage level or to function as strikebreakers, but to aquire work together. Not t
o be divided from this is the demand for a radical shortening of working hours and a social and ecological rebuilding of the reproduction areas so that all who want to work, can do so. That means that the guaranteed minimum income (subsistence money) al
so includes the recognition, payment and fair distribution in society of housework and childrearing, as well as other social reproductive work that until now has been the sole work of women.

--
Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe Oldenburg (ALSO)
Kaiserstr. 19, D-26122 Oldenburg (Oldenburg), FRG
Tel: 0441-16313 (+49-441-16313), Fax: 0441-16394 (+49-441-16394)
E-Mail: also@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Internet), also@xxxxxxxxxxx (/CL)

## CrossPoint v2.93 ##