European general strike? - 14 November

#14N - European Strike on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/EuropeanStrike

‪#14N‬ on Twitter

http://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%2314n

Sten

ETUC appeal for "a day of action and solidarity" on November 14, "including strikes, demonstrations, rallies and other actions". Dated October 17th (after the Greeks and the Portuguese called their strikes).

Comment on urban75 re the international TU politics in the background. I couldn't make any judgement on its accuracy as I really know next to nothing about the ETUC. Apart from this it will be interesting to see if the call out takes on a momentum of its own, independent of trade union officialdom.

There's a europe wide day of action? Shows how much the TUC are going to put into it if I've not heard of it... buy yeah, you're right, aside from N30 which was driven by/about the strike (and followed by sell out), what you want hasn't happened, and I've no idea how to make it happen either. Midlands TUC are fucking useless. December 5th is Autumn statement, we're organising a demo in Birmingham, I imagine there'll be a few around the UK.. but then that's not enough time to pass motions etc. all the way up to the TUC central committee I suppose.

It's criminal what TUC, Verdi IG Metall, CGT - the major 'north' European countries are doing - every time the southern European countries get together and coordinate their strike days - the north European countries think it inappropriate to attack their own governments. Only by threatening to breakaway from ETUC was the Day of Action even on the agenda.

Who is the General Secretary of ETUC? John Monks (has been since 2003), former General Secretary of the TUC, and he is strongly pro-EU integration (part of the European Movement), which to the south Europeans seems like 'shaft the south with austerity and steer clear of it up north'.

The northern Confederations basically believe the Greeks deserved it and are lazy, and 'their' national money is being spent on Greece so they better show value for money. (Greeks on average work about a fifth longer than British people do).

I think I had better stop now. Does anyone remember John Monks? What was his role in the 1970s and 1980s?

Some discussion in Spanish. In Spain there's the complication that the CGT had already called its own general strike for 31 October. It's unclear whether they'll change this (edit: CGT to make a decision on this tomorrow).

Santiago Talavera: Sobre la jornada de huelga del 14-N y el sindicalismo combativo

The CGT has moved its strike call to 14 November but will keep 31 October as a day of action. The CNT had previously agreed to join the CGT's strike call and so will presumably now also be joining in on 14 November.

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http://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23n14

http://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23EuropeanStrike

http://twitter.com/EuropeanStrike

From 15M in Spain:

http://huelgainternacional.wordpress.com/

International general strike 14 November 2012 against the financial markets and European austerity and privatisation policies

[youtube]y3z8xSpjQes[/youtube]

CNT statement:

CNT convocará huelga general el 14N contra la reforma laboral, los recortes y el saqueo contra la clase trabajadora

More from Spain: Solidaridad Obrera joins in. Bloque Unitario meeting in Madrid to plan for 14N. Video from CGT:

[youtube]8Y-H_KssDdk[/youtube]

Civil Service Rank & File Network: Call for a day of action against attacks on civil service terms and conditions

On Thursday 18 October, HMRC staff in Coventry took part in a 15 minute walkout to protest the arrival of cabinet minister Francis Maude. Trade union activists are now calling on civil servants across the country to follow their example, with a day of action on 14 November against plans to roll back terms and conditions.

The government has announced plans to undermine the working conditions of civil servants, already facing a pay freeze and pension cuts. The plans include increased working hours, reduced leave, reduced sick pay and the prospect of forced moves anywhere in the UK. The PCS union has condemned the plans, whilst rank-and-file members and workers are livid and demanding action.

A member who took part in the Coventry walkout said:

Today marks the beginning of the fight against vicious attacks on us all as ordinary hard working people.

To members and activists everywhere: don’t wait any longer, call your 15 minute meetings and one by one start walking out all over the country, drive this Government to the negotiating table on our terms. We can’t always wait for the ballots and the leaflets and politics at the top of the union.

To the union leaders: take up this fight with no compromises and repay the bravery shown by ordinary members who have taken a risk today on behalf of all of us.

Government departments are due to present their proposals for changes to terms and conditions on 16 November. Two days before, at least four European countries will be taking part in coordinated general strike action. We call on civil servants to join them, and make this day a landmark in our own fight against these vicious attacks.

We urge workers in all government offices, through mass meetings, rank-and-file workplace committees or union branch committees, to support the following action on Wednesday 14 November:

▪ 15 minute lightning walkouts
▪ Protest rallies outside your workplace
▪ A communications blockade* of the office of Francis Maude

We further call on all fellow trades unionists, trades councils and individuals or organisations opposed to austerity to join us in these actions and show the workers your solidarity.

If we do not beat these attacks, it will embolden employers to drive down the working conditions of all workers. The time to stand our ground and fight is now. Join us.

The Facebook event for the day of action can be found here and for the communications blockade here.

*A communications blockade entails mass phone calls, emails and faxes with the aim of jamming up communications.

[quote= Algarve Resident]

Last month Portugal’s largest trade union CGTP called a general strike for November 14 against the “exploitation and impoverishment” of the Portuguese population.

The union stressed the need to change government policies “for the sake of a better future” and urged all to join in the protest against the government and its recently announced austerity measures for next year.
[...]
Turning its back on CGTP, the country’s second largest trade union UGT decided to go it alone, with leader João Proença saying his union would not be joining the general strike due to CGTP’s “divisive and partisan intent”, like calling a general strike without previous discussion. “This strike is against the government, but also against UGT,” said Proença, adding that his union may organise another general strike in the near future.

Now, Spain’s main trade unions have announced that they too will join the strike on November 14 and thus “celebrate the first Iberian general strike”, said Fernando Lezcano, spokesperson for the trade union federation Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras, which called the strike in agreement with its counterpart Unión General de Trabajadores and other smaller unions, after a week of protests against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government.
[…]
Greece recently held its second general strike in three weeks and the head of Greece’s trade union federation General Confederacy of Greek Workers (GSEE), Ylannis Panagopoulos, has already declared that another general strike would be held on November 14.

Meanwhile, other South European countries may consider joining Portugal, Spain and Greece in the protests, after the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) enticed all European countries to oppose austerity in the face of the current economic crisis.

After a meeting in Brussels on October 17, the ETUC’s executive committee called for a “day of action and solidarity” for a Social Compact for Europe, on November 14.
[…]
While Cyprus and Malta are still considering the matter, a strike contagion is likely to be felt across several other European countries.[/quote]

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LaCerca.com: CC.OO: Los sindicatos italianos y alemanes se sumarán a la Jornada de Acción europea del 14N

Report in Spanish of a meeting between the CC.OO (Spain), CGIL (Italy) and DGB (Germany), with an unconfirmed proposal for a two hour strike in Italy.

[youtube]Lu6iJRIPOIQ[/youtube]

'Support from the world of culture for the 14N general strike'

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CNT: huelga general 14N - razones contra las sinrazones

[youtube]Kx2Gshq26Iw[/youtube]

CGT (France) to strike

CGIL (Italy) announces 4 hour strike

Communiqué commun CFDT, CGT, FSU, Solidaires et Unsa

Gazzetta del Sud: Italy's CGIL union calls general strike November 14

Critical Legal Thinking: #14N: European general strike

pressdigital: la primera huelga de ámbito europeo: #europeanstrike

In Portugal various UGT affiliated unions have now said they will strike on the 14th, including civil servants, teachers and media workers. The UGT had previously declined to join the CGTP's call out, arguing that it was 'party political'. Report in Portuguese here.

In Barcelona the CGT and CNT are going ahead with their own general strike today, in addition to the strike on the 14th:

http://www.alasbarricadas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=53427&start=195

Hi anarcocapo - welcome to libcom. Don't worry about your English - any updates would be helpful.

Público: El sindicalismo europeo se prepara para dar la batalla el 14-N

[youtube]0WDjBNIkss0[/youtube]

FdCA: 14 November, first European general strike

On 14 November, workers are called to a Europe-wide strike, the first sign of an international response to an attack being made on the working class of the entire continent, in different but equally harsh forms, by the European bourgeoisie and its governments. The workers must take back their pride of place in the struggles, struggles which will be as radical as the workers themselves are able to make them.

They will have pride of place, over and beyond the union they belong to, finally unifiying their demands and their dissent; they will have pride of place over and beyond the fragmentation that exists, over and beyond the logic of each to his own or of testing the waters, as is the case with certain unions who are thinking more about internal politics than the streets, a fine example of the cultural and political subordination of a large part of our union leaderships, but also a confirmation of the different commitment and support needed to fight the restructuring of capital and the effects of this on society in general.

Let it be the workers themselves who stand up to the subordination imposed on them by the ideology of capital and by trade-union collaboration, the residue of twenty years of defeats resulting from a system of now redundant social relations, no longer able to withstand the struggle.

Let it be with a general strike of the workers themselves and not their various unions, one which involves casual workers and students, those made unemployed or redundant, freelance workers and migrants.

Let it be a strike which is built up city by city, in assemblies, a strike which must not end at the end of the day without a definite plan to continue to build more mobilizations.

Let it be a strike that sets out to win back political and labour freedoms, inside and outside the workplace, demanding better pay, hours, rights, equalities, pensions and public welfare, guaranteeing secular public education for all.

All this today seems like a utopia. But only this can avoid a war between the poor, between natives and foreigners, in a framework of widespread precarity into which the first signs of barbarity are working their way and where class solidarity is an increasingly rare sight...

14N is now getting plenty of mainstream media coverage in Spain. Here are a couple of reports from Público. The first is about the involvement of 15M and the indignados. The second report is about Agora 99, an international meeting of activists from across Europe organised by 15M, aimed in part at coordinating their action on the 14th.

El 14-N, la fecha en la que los indignados europeos tratarán de "reconquistar el futuro"

Indignados de media Europa se citan en Madrid contra la austeridad

France - Solidaires proposed a strike, the other union federations declined. Agreement for a national call to organise demonstrations instead.

Salarié-es en activité, au chômage, en retraite, en formation, nous sommes tous concerné-es 
Nous manifestons le 14 novembre!

Le mouvement syndical doit agir à travers les frontières pour imposer un autre système que celui qui exploite les travailleurs/ses, pille les pays du sud, organise la famine d’une partie de la planète, … Le 14 novembre, la Confédération Européenne des Syndicats appelle à une journée d’action et de solidarité contre l’austérité, sous formes de grèves, de manifestations, de rassemblements,… Solidaires soutient cette initiative car nous avons besoin d’actions convergentes au plan européen ; mais nous disons aussi notre désaccord avec certaines positions développées dans l’appel de la C.E.S., notamment le soutien aux Traités européens dont nous considérons qu’ils sont, non pas des garde-fous, mais bien des outils pour organiser l’austérité et la politique pro-patronale que nous combattons. 


Licenciements, précarité, suppressions d’emplois publics, flexibilité, … D’autres solutions sont possibles!



La journée européenne du 14 novembre s’inscrit dans notre réalité quotidienne. En participant massivement aux manifestations interprofessionnelles organisées partout en France, en agissant de manière coordonnée en Europe, nous affirmons notre solidarité, mais surtout nous continuons à défendre nos intérêts face aux prétentions et appétits patronaux.

14 novembre, grèves nationales interprofessionnelles en Grèce, en Espagne, au Portugal, à Chypre, à Malte … 
En France, seule l’Union syndicale Solidaires a proposé un appel à la grève



Les organisations membres du réseau européen des syndicats alternatifs et de base (l’Union syndicale Solidaires mais aussi la CGT et la Confederacion Intersindical en Espagne, CUB et USI en Italie, le réseau TIE en Allemagne, SUD en Suisse, etc.) soutiennent les grèves et manifestations du 14 novembre. Une journée de grève nationale interprofessionnelle est décidée au Portugal, en Espagne, en Grèce, à Chypre, à Malte. En France, une rencontre intersyndicale s’est tenue le 26 octobre ; seule l’Union syndicale Solidaires a proposé un appel à la grève. L’accord s’est fait sur un appel national à organiser des manifestations.

Agir ensemble dans toute l’Europe, le 14 novembre! 
Débattre et décider ensemble des suites, en se réunissant dans chaque entreprise, chaque service, chaque ville!

Dans plusieurs pays européens, les manifestations seront accompagnées de grèves sectorielles. En France, des rencontres intersyndicales se tiennent dans les prochains jours, mais le refus des autres organisations interprofessionnelles de l’appel à la grève que nous proposions laisse peu de marge pour organiser une grève d’ampleur. Pour autant, des mobilisations existent dans diverses branches professionnelles ; l’Union syndicale Solidaires considère qu’il est dommage de ne pas les faire converger le 14 novembre, mais elles demeurent un point d’appui pour la suite...

http://www.solidaires.org/article42617.html

It's obviously a big deal in Spain. I'm not sure how much interest or coverage there is anywhere else. Portugal will be involved - the CGTP really set the ball rolling - but maybe it's just one more in a series of strikes. Likewise Greece where the general strike planned for the 6th and 7th is getting the publicity - I think the call out for the 14th is still on but you wouldn't really know this from anyone reporting from Greece. Cyprus and Malta are supposed to be involved but I haven't seen any direct confirmation. There seems to be a real mismatch between the interest in Spain and elsewhere.

FAU article on 14N (in German): http://www.fau.org/artikel/art_121104-220908

machine translation

FAU is calling for participation in the European day of action and solidarity with the general strike in countries from Portugal to Spain to Cyprus. Basic enforcement of impoverishment is unparalleled against the European population under significant influence of the German government. 


Workers in this country may not therefore stand aside. And ultimately, no one can say exactly what happened, when the economic downturn also covers Germany. Therefore: 



14th November Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate
- 15:00 clock rally of the DGB 

- 16:30 clock demonstration of Greece Solikomittees
See you at the black and red flags!

[...]

From an interview with CNT secretary general Alfonso Álvarez in the November issue of CNT:

¿Qué objetivos se marca en concreto la CNT para el 14-N?

Nos marcamos los mismos objetivos que en anteriores huelgas: trabajar de cara a generar una oleada de movilizaciones que marquen una ruptura con las políticas de concertación social del mal llamado sindicalismo mayoritario. Nuestra idea del 14-N es que es un día de conflicto abierto, de enfrentamiento con quienes están expoliando a los trabajadores; por ello la CNT apostará por realizar convocatorias unitarias lo más masivas posible, siempre al margen del sindicalismo institucional y centrándose en incentivar el espíritu de lucha de los trabajadores/as. Es muy importante para nosotros que cale el mensaje de que enfrente tenemos a todo un grupo de políticos y empresarios/as que están dispuestos a robárnoslo todo, y que ante eso sólo queda organizarse para responder con idéntica contundencia a la que ellos emplean.

Va a haber algún tipo de actuación coordinada con el resto de las secciones de la AIT, -o sindicatos cercanos a la Internacional- en aquellos países donde se van a producir procesos huelguísticos?

CNT siempre ha defendido la necesidad de internacionalizar las luchas, y es evidente que una respuesta adecuada a las políticas que se están imponiendo en distintos paises europeos desde las intituciones políticas y financieras europeas exige una respuesta coordinada de la clase obrera por encima de fronteras nacionales que hace mucho que el capital ha dejado atrás. En consecuencia CNT viene defendiendo en el seno de la AIT la necesidad de coordinación de luchas entre las secciones europeas, y más allá del aspecto sindical ha participado en llamamientos a la acción en otros ámbitos de coordinación como el M-31. Y en esa línea vamos a seguir porque es vital el fortalecimiento de la lucha internacional. En el caso concreto de la huelga del 14N, trataremos que la AIT se movilice, especialmente en aquellos paises donde haya finalmente convocatoria de huelga o jornadas de lucha y que el trabajo que se realice sirva para construir las convocatorias de lucha internacional que necesitamos y que habrán de venir.

http://www.cnt.es/periodico/periódico-cnt-nº-394-noviembre-2012

In Madrid the CNT has two different demos scheduled for the same time on the 14th, the Bloque Unitario demo from Plaza de la Beata to Neptuno and a Madrid CNT demo in Vallecas that is also backed by the FIJL. I assume this reflects divided opinion about working with the CGT.

Greece: 'GSEE Nov14 work stoppage 12:00-15:00 & demo at 13:00 in Athens', from here.

marta bolgan

Does somebody know about demostration in Ireland on November 14th?

General Strike in Southern Europe: 14 November (14N)
Irish Solidarity Rally 1pm Central Bank Plaza, Wed 14 November
[...]
We call on all Irish trade unionists to support the solidarity protests on Wednesday 14th November at 1pm at the Central Bank Plaza on Dame St, D2.

The strike on 14N cannot be an end in itself. It must serve as a springboard for further action, it must also be a step towards an even wider European mobilisation. We are calling on the ICTU to join any future co-ordinated international days of action by organising solidarity protests and strikes in Ireland alongside the European trade union movement...

http://en-gb.facebook.com/events/501186876572614/

I'm not sure who's organising this.

Report on the Agora 99 meeting:

European movements share strategies in Madrid ahead of general strike

[youtube]fFMDBi7SlWM[/youtube]
Video from CC.OO Catalunya

[youtube]a-qEw6T4AoM[/youtube]
Video from CGT/CNT Nafarroa

The CGT's 'respira' video has now had over 600,000 views.

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ETUC statement

ETUC map of actions across Europe

Solidarity actions in Belgium

CGIL demo in Rome

Solidarity actions in Latin America

List of actions in Britain - mostly organised by trades councils or Coalition of Resistance. I'm not sure what they'll amount to.

[youtube]FL3b8vzFIhc[/youtube]
Video from Juventud sin Futuro

Some 14N posters from Catalonia here

14N twitter feed: https://twitter.com/search?q=%2314nRiseUp

14N updates from Spain: http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/22619

The first signs of mainstream media coverage in English. I've never really looked at Deutsche Welle before but going off this its reporting seems worse than the BBC.

Deutsche Welle: Spain in turmoil ahead of general strike

Telegraph: Flights cancelled ahead of general strike

Pickets have now started in Spain and Portugal.

Occupied Times: live updates

Twitter updates from Portugal: https://twitter.com/Igualitarista

Coordinadora 25S: The night of dignity and citizen indignation

[youtube]TtKulFM9r74[/youtube]

[quote=Anarchists in Jordan]General strike tomorrow is announced[/quote]

[quote=DarthNader]Jordanian activists call for a general strike tomorrow...the same day as the European general strike![/quote]