Young people in the Netherlands have been at the forefront of resistance to the government's austerity program. In Amsterdam two leaders of the Dutch radical youth group Rebel, Barend de Voogd and Wilco Altena, talked with Green Left Weekly's Catherine Brown about the campaign by young people against cutbacks.
At the end of April the Dutch government announced a wide range of proposed cutbacks — the abolition of unemployment benefits for under-21s; cutbacks of benefits for 21-27 year olds, the abolition of all rent subsidies, halving of scholarships and increased prices for public transport and medical services.
"It was young people who reacted first to the government's proposals", explained de Voogd. "Student groups and organisations of young workers got together almost immediately to launch a protest campaign of 'two wild and furious weeks'. It started with the symbolic occupation of the same university building, the Maagdenhuis, students occupied in 1968.
"From the beginning the youth organisations were convinced it wouldn't be enough to have the traditional demonstrations: that is, a demonstration then lobbying the government, trying to make the best of it."
Youth groups involved decided to plan continuous activities and protests up to the government's definite announcement of its budget proposals in September. Occupations, blockades and pickets followed across the Netherlands. "The most radical actions" said de Voogd, "were when young people occupied the offices of the two governing parties, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats".
Those two weeks culminated in a big demonstration in The Hague on May 8. Around 35,000 mainly young people were there. Negotiations between the police and the youth organisations prior to the demonstration established that protesters would not gather in the square outside the Dutch parliament, and in return the
police would have a low profile.
"This was a provocation anyway. After all, why shouldn't we have the right to protest in front of the parliament?", argues de Voogd.
Police violated the agreement. "What started as a peaceful march", said Altena, "ended in a battlefield.
"We found police in full riot gear already with their masks down, searching people, demanding that people take off their scarves because it was thought that later on, when the riot started, it would be easier to recognise them. Police confiscated shin pads. One cop commented, 'I want you to feel the dog bites later on'.
"So it was already very obvious that the police had in mind a riot would happen", added de Voogd. "Near parliament the police cut the demonstration in two. Those protesters who were trapped in a dead end were then attacked by police, dogs and water cannons; 250 were injured and 38 arrested."
The Dutch press was quite shocked by it. The letters columns in most papers were flooded with angry comments about police violence from young people, many on their first demonstration and as young as 15.
After the demonstration some of the youth organisations retreated, especially the Social Democratic youth group, the Young Socialists. When the government first announced the cuts, the Young Socialists said they would cut all links with the Social Democratic party because it was one of the parties in government. But they quickly backtracked. Financially the youth group is dependent on the party.
When protesting students occupied the offices of the Social Democrats, it was embarrassing for the Young Socialists because it was their office also. After the rally, the Young Socialists argued, "No more violence, let's lobby instead".
Then the secondary student councils and Rebel took the lead on the campaign, announcing a high school strike on June 10. The strike headquarters for the National
Action Committee for Students was in Rebel offices.
Pamphlets were distributed to schools explaining "how to organise a student strike". Daily, students would ring in to say their school would strike too, even though it was only two weeks before exams.
"The strike was also aimed at maintaining the enthusiasm of students", explained Altena, "and bypassing the reformists from student unions and youth organisations by appealing directly to young people to be involved. This worked quite well."
This was the first high school strike since 1984. The official figure for student participation in the strike was 178,000 — the largest ever high school strike in the Netherlands. Eighty cities with at two, three or even four schools joined the strike.
Rebel stressed in its propaganda the connection between the Maastricht Treaty and the government's proposed cuts. To participate in a united (Western) Europe, each country has to meet certain economic criteria. The Netherlands has not yet reached the required budget deficit limit of 3% of GNP. The cuts are seen by the government as necessary to comply with Maastricht requirements.
"Secondly, all the investments the government is making", pointed out de Voogd, "are aimed at opening the market to Europe. They are building railroads and an extra airfield. So Rebel explained this was a total project, that there is a capitalist project for unified Europe, and that we had to stop it."
Continuous protest actions are now being planned, culminating in a conference around September 11 to bring together high school activists and other young people involved in the campaign.