D13-15: Workers, anti-capitalists stage large protests

Fifteen European prime ministers met at a castle in the Laeken neighborhood of Brussels Dec. 14-16. They were determined to unite Europe on the basis of strengthening capitalism and reducing social services, while establishing a common police force and a Reaction Force" for military interventions.

In response, some 80,000 workers demonstrated for social justice on Dec. 13. The next day another 20,000 people, saying "another Europe is possible," called for an end to the war on Afghanistan.

Many in the media, including the Dec. 14 Wall Street Journal, took note that these actions showed the anti-globalization movement in Europe is still very much alive. It had been quiet for a few months after Sept. 11, but was now taking up where it left off after the Genoa summit in July.

The coming World Economic Forum protests on Feb. 2 in New York will show if this spirit of struggle has also reached the U.S. movement.

On Dec. 13, labor unions led the protests, bringing upwards of 80,000 workers and supporters into the streets. According to reporter Herwig Lerouge in the Belgian weekly newspaper Solidaire, there was a strong difference between what the union leadership asked for and what the rank-and-file workers demanded.

The official slogans were, "More Europe: We are Europe" and "For a more social Europe," which means accepting a capitalist Europe but asking for a few more social benefits. The slogan carried by most workers said, "We don't want that Europe," that is, they reject a European Union ruled by the capitalists.

Tens of thousands of French, Portuguese, German, Greek, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Luxemburg, Irish, Turkish and British workers, as well as unionists from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia in Eastern Europe, showed they had a common enemy in Brussels--the headquarters of the European Union.

The move by the European capitalist governments to unite does not simply mean removing borders among peoples and easing economic and social contacts. It aims at strengthening the capitalist corporations relative to the workers. It aims at reducing social benefits to the lowest common denominator.

It means increased unemployment as nationalized industries are sold off, as recently happened with Sabena Airlines in Belgium. It means a more U.S.-type social system, with fewer benefits and guarantees for workers and a greater gap between rich and poor.

That's why the move to strengthen the European Union has aroused such anger and opposition among the European working class, from Turkey to Portugal.

Anti-capitalist content

European communists and anti-imperialists had chosen the following day, Dec. 14, to target a Europe dominated by capitalists. The Workers Party of Belgium, a leading communist organization in the country, had formed an international coalition to build for what it called the D14 protest.

This protest had a strong anti-capitalist character and included many banners protesting the aggression against Afghanistan led by the U.S. and Britain.

According to Lerouge, the majority of the demonstrators gathered behind the platform of D14. This included a large contingent from the Workers Party of Belgium. Many youths wore sweatshirts with the slogan "Chénge-the-World," incorporating the name of the late revolutionary Che Guevara. The Brussels newspaper De Morgen said this sweatshirt is slowly becoming the symbol of the anti-globalization movement.

Many communist parties from abroad were represented, including the two most active communist groups from Turkey, the New Communist Party of the Netherlands, and Greek, Italian, German and Spanish communists, notes Lerouge. The Socialist Workers Party of Britain, which has recently been active in the anti-war movement, had a contingent. The anti-globalization group ATTAC-Europe also was part of the demonstration.

Using some attacks on property by elements within the march as justification, police assaulted a large section of the marchers. The cops trapped about 1,000 people, fired an icy blast from a water cannon at them and arrested dozens of protesters.

The main significance of the march, however, was political. The slogans were even noted by Louis Michel, a Belgian foreign minister who is currently president of the European Union. "It is astonishing," said Michel, "to see that so many young people are wearing Ché and Marx during the demonstrations. It is not good that they see communism as an alternative to the democratic EU. But it is understandable because they have no experience of what communism was. More education must be done to reverse their wrong ideas."

This capitalist minister's worst nightmare is a sign of hope for the working class of Europe and the world.

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)