Open World Conference of Workers

In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights

Germany

German Trade Unionists and Political Activists Convene International Conference Against Deregulation; Conference to beheld in Berlin in February 2002

(Appeal issued in Berlin on November 27, 2000)
 
In all corners of the globe, workers are the victims of an all-out offensive at the hands of the World Bank, IMF, OECD, and European Union against their collective rights and against labor legislation, collective-bargaining agreements, statutes and systems of Social Security. All the attacks are launched in the name of "globalization" and the "new economy."

The effects of these attacks are more and more serious. All the social conquests won by the working class through centuries of struggle are on the chopping block to drive through the "lowering of labor costs." The workers' political and trade union organizations have been impacted. In every country, the workers and their organizations are waging a struggle against this deteriorating situation.

It is a defensive struggle of dramatic proportions. What's involved is the defense of the most elementary rights and working and living conditions. What's involved is the defense of the independence of the labor organizations. For many workers and peoples, what's involved, is the very struggle for survival.

The IMF and World Bank have been repeating ad nauseam that there's an urgent need in Germany to deregulate and restrict the workers' and democratic rights wrested throughout bitter struggles and extended since 1989 by the united working class: the system of Social Security, the system of collective-bargaining agreements, and the labor relations protected by law. Increasing pressure toward this end has been placed on the government and on the unions.

The German government is being pressured to impose the "reform" of the retirement/pension system in opposition to the resistance of the unions and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This "reform" lowers the legal level of retirement and introduces the "capitalization" of pension and retirement funds.

The application of such a plan by the government of Gerhard Schröder could very well lead to a frontal confrontation with major sectors of the population, particularly the workers, their trade unions and the SPD rank and file itself. ...

Across Germany, moreover, resistance is increasing to the attempts to lure the unions into accepting the government's "Employment Pact."

We know that the same resistance that is growing in Germany has been expressed on all continents. At the center of this resistance is the defense of collective-bargaining agreements, labor codes, social and labor conquests, and, on an international level, the original Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

That is why we are convening an International Conference Against Deregulation and For Labor Rights For All. Such a conference, we are convinced, can serve as a rallying point to launch a counter-offensive from the workers' movement.

The purpose of the conference is to expose fully the destructive policies of deregulation and to explore the causes of these policies. It is also to organize a discussion to determine how we can act together against these deregulation policies, and what initiatives and campaigns we can undertake together. We call upon all workers and their organizations to submit such proposals in advance of the conference.

We address this conference appeal to all workers and their organizations the world over. This conference is not in contradiction with, nor does it intend to substitute itself for, any of the national or international labor organizations. In the same spirit as the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights (OWC), which took place in San Francisco in February 2000, our conference will be open to all currents in the workers' and democratic movements that see the need to build a fightback against deregulation and for labor rights for all in such a way as to ensure a future for working people and for humanity as a whole.

This is why we, the undersigned trade unionists and activists from throughout Germany, decided to constitute a Conference Organizing Committee, and we invite all workers and activists to join us in this effort. And we propose to the Continuations Committee of the Open World Conference that we constitute together an International Organizing Committee for the Conference, which will be held in Berlin in February 2002.

INITIAL GERMAN SIGNATORIES OF APPEAL:

Michael ALTMANN, trade union representative (d. s.) ÖTV Frankfort, SPD, leadership, AFA Hessen-South - Lothar ANDRES, trade union officer ÖTV, Berlin - Manfred BIRKHAHN, president HBV, Berlin Brandeburg - Carla BOULBOULLÉ, former deputy Rhenanie North/Westfalia, GEW - Rainer DÖRING, trade unionist (c. p.), president d.s. ÖTV (Transit Workers Union Berlin) - Udo EISNER, IGM, former city council member, SPD - Elke FALK, c.p., ÖTV, Hospital Workers Union, Berlin - Heinke FÖRST, leadership SPD regroupment, Berlin - Karlheinz GERHOLD, trade union officer, ÖTV, Berlin, SPD, president of AFA Halle - Volker GERNHARDT, president c. p. Hospital Workers Union, Berlin - Eberhard HENZE, c. p. Berlin City Workers Union, president d. s. ÖTV - Karin HOFFMANN, OTV, SPD - Markus HOFMANN, leadership, c. p., ÖTV City Workers Union - Gotthard KRUPP-BOULBOULLÉ, ÖTV, leadership SPD Berlin - Wolfgang MAHNKE, ÖTV, SPD - Rainer MATTHES, former deputy of the Land of Brandeburg - Jürgen MÜLLER, SPD, leadership of the Berlin Land - Henrik SCHENKER, trade union officer, ÖTV Berlin, president d. s. social institutions of Berlin (child care, hospitals, etc.) - Gerlinde SCHERMER, former deputy SPD of the Land of Berlín - Petra SCHMITZ, president c.p. and vice-president d. s., social institutions of Berlín - Volkmar SCHONE, vice-president c. p. administrative workers, Berlín, ÖTV, president AFA-SPD Berlin - Klaus SCHÜLLER, trade union officer DGB Jena, president, AFA-SPD of the Land of Turingia - Roswitha WEIDNER, Women's Regional Council, ÖTV, Berlin - Hans WEIGT, DPG - Axel ZUTZ, leadership SPD Berlin, ÖTV (*).

(Supported by scores of German trade union and SPD officers from above-named cities as well as from Koln, Hessen-South, and Düsseldorf)


(*) ÖTV: Public Service Workers - HBV: Commerce, Bank and Insurance Workers Union - GEW : National Teachers Union- IGM: Metalworkers Union - ASG: SPD Healthcare Workers Commission

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