Wolfgang Pomrehn, Berlin
Despite the predictions of one of Germany's biggest trade union newspapers, Europe was not on the move on April 3, the first European action day against social cuts. But in Germany the turnout was overwhelming.
More then 500,000 people took to the streets in three demonstrations throughout the country. In most countries — with the notable exception of Rome, where 500,000 also protested — trade unions and social movements had put much less emphasis on the mobilisation.
Germany's biggest protest was in Berlin, the country's capital, with more than 250,000 hitting the streets. Another 100,000 protested in Cologne and more than 120,000 in the southern city of Stuttgart.
Germany has seen many years of step by step dismantling of the welfare system, which has accelerated considerably after the governing coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens came to power in 1998.
The public pension system has been partially privatised, so that many of today's middle-aged working class people will face poverty when they reach pension age. The public health system is under constant threat and earlier this year the government introduced a quarterly fee of 10 Euros for doctor's visits.
This fee has combined with planned cuts to unemployment benefits, additional fees for medicine and the pension cuts, to contribute to a widespread feeling of frustration and insecurity.
The leadership of the big trade unions has protested sporadically — but not loudly or comprehensively. The unions' strong links with the SPD turned out to be handcuffs.
This makes the big protests a turning point. At least some union leaders have been pushed to speak out more radically against the neoliberal austerity policy. The protests were organised by the union bureaucracy, under pressure from many grassroot union activists and other social movements.
For some years, while many have been frustrated about the social cuts, resistance and protest were hard to organise.
Then, last summer, activists from unions as well as from ATTAC, unemployment groups and many other social movements started campaigning for a big national protest against the government policy.
Despite the trade unions' refusal to support it, it was a huge success, as 100,000 people came out on November 1. After that, it was easier for activists to press the trade unions to organise an even bigger mobilisation.
There were still problems. The Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB) was deeply divided on the question of the mobilisation and its relations with the SPD-led government. Some of its members, especially the chemical workers union and the one that covers the energy sector, are deeply conservative.
More grassroots pressure is necessary to ensure the protests continue. An initiative for a new party may help. Earlier this year, social democratic trade unionists got together to discuss the formation of an electoral platform. The April 3 marches reflected the popular support this idea has.
Most people are also disillusioned with the Party of Democratic Socialism, which is mainly based in East Germany. The PDS participates in two state governments, where it has been responsible for harsh measures against state employees, child care, schools and many other public and social institutions. As a result, the party faces a dramatic loss in supporters and members.
However, it will cause a lot of trouble for the SPD, which is losing its social democratic image as fast as its membership.
The moves towards a new party, or at least a new electoral alliance, may contribute to further dissolution of the ties between the trade union bureaucracy and the SPD. For years, this relationship has been a major obstacle to class-oriented unionism.
For decades, the ruling class has switched its support between Christian Democratic and Social Democratic governments. Traditionally, SPD governments have been able to quell social and political unrest through their links with the trade unions. The fact that Germany's first war after 1945 was fought by a coalition government of the Social Democrats and the Greens — who used to have strong roots in the peace movement — fits this pattern.
A real alternative to the SPD for voters would challenge this. For social movements and trade unionists it would in turn open up more space for organising and building up a front against the "Neoliberal Unity Party" as the de-facto alliance of the big parties was dubbed in the marches.
From Green Left Weekly, April 21, 2004.
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