Speech "People about profits - cheer for solidarity" ---- Dear friends, we are
happy to be part of the alliance and to take to the streets together with you ina self-organized manner. Especially in these difficult times it is important toleave borders behind and work together, because in the end we all have the samegoal: a good life for everyone. And for that we have to overcome this system,which stands in the way of this, together. ----- We see capitalism going fromcrisis to crisis, needing money as a lubricant to generate growth, to sustainitself, to abuse, use and ultimately kill us all including the planet. And whatare we doing about it? ---- We are members of the Freie Arbeiter:innen-Union, theF A U, a grassroots democratic and militant, self-organized and internationalisttrade union. What we stand for, we will weave in again and again and present itin more detail at the end.Money...is a difficult thing to which we have an ambivalent relationship. On the one handwe want to abolish it, on the other hand we are currently still dependent on itand suffer from the fact that we often don't have enough of it.But we all need it to buy groceries, pay rent, get to work, go to the movies, andenjoy our lives.Without it we are poor, cannot do all this or only to a limited extent and aredependent on government services and thus also the arbitrariness of the state.And yet we can't completely replace it with mutual aid, free shops, food sharing,containers, our own art and DIY.Money...is the lubricant of capitalism, more and more profit must be generated, growthhas been the mantra of liberals for centuries. But this growth does not benefitthe people who produce it. On the contrary, the life and happiness of almostevery creature on this planet is subordinated to the accumulation of profits.Social partnership unions always rely on the old horse "wage increase" by meansof negotiations with the bosses and collective agreements. They keep thecapitalist system running, rather than disrupting it or even abolishing it, bypacifying workers with supposed "improvements". Every few years they demand a fewpercent more, i.e. more money. But what does that mean?Colleagues who earn little always benefit less from percentage increases thanthose who earn more. This is the 1st mess, since the wage gap increases with eachwage agreement. The gap between higher and lower earners is widening.This is politically fatal, we workers are divided. On the other hand, onlydemands for absolute wage increases in euros, better still staggered, help. Inthis way, the gap between the poor and poorer can be addressed directly, throughnot only perceived, but actual, real remuneration for the important but sociallymisunderstood professions - equal pay for everyone, since everyone is equallyimportant.The gap between higher and lower earners could gradually close. But neither thebosses nor DGB officials have an interest in it: divide and conquer is still themotto!We should not accept that the owners of the means of production skim off thesurplus value created by workers, but fight to ensure that those who create thesurplus value can keep it!The second mess are the terms of collective agreements. In the meantime, thesehave lasted for several years, regardless of whether in the metal industry, inthe hospital, in the office or in the trade. Then, as was recently the case withIG Metall, a 6.8% wage increase is sold as a success. However, if the term is 2years, this means mathematically that we only have an annual increase of 3.4%,and with inflation of around 8% today, this means a real wage loss of over 4%!Collective bargaining law gives us the security that this collective bargainingagreement is valid for the full 2 years, but also says that we cannot and mustnot react quickly to changes at short notice! Bad luck if you can't pay youradditional payments on the rent including heating at the beginning of next year.It's called LIMITING!The next mess: we must not go on strike in order to emphasize our justifieddemands for more money in the short term - even if ver.di (in July 2022) posts:"Strikes are permissible! - You are allowed to go on strike!"This is not always correct, as we are not allowed to go on strike until thecollective agreement expires. This is called the "peace obligation" and meansthat we cannot react to changing social situations, not to inflation, not toworsening of the situation in the company, not to what is covered by thecollective agreement, e.g. the obligation to perform Overtime.So we see that collective agreements are very double-edged instruments that aresupposed to protect us from attacks and attacks by the bosses, but do not alwaysdo this, because if, for example, the social framework changes or the bosses finda way, the agreements to work around, we are at the mercy of this situation.I could also say more about how "democratically" collective agreements are drawnup, that while 75% of the members of the DGB unions are in favor of a strike,only 25% want it to end and thus accept the new collective agreement, no matterhow crappy it is , must agree. But that has to suffice for now.What does the Freie Arbeiter:innen-Union, the FAU, stand for as a political union?Our principle is the well-known one from the workers' movement: we only get whatwe fight for. No party, no official or higher being does that for us. There isonly a WE when we join forces, organize in the union and oppose the classstruggle from above with our solidarity - You can also start by coming to thetrade union consultation on Monday between 4 and 6 p.m. if you are stressed onthe work or at the office, or just drop by the restaurant for coffee or tea.In the last 10 years, the number of FAU members nationwide has increasedapproximately six-fold. We negotiate with the bosses ourselves, we don't justwrite demands on paper without consequences, we change reality, improve oureveryday life, our working conditions. We are on strike in small businesses withfew employees, whether it's a flower shop or a pub. We help organize strikes incorporations, like last year at the Oetker subsidiary "Durstexpress" - today, bythe way, known as "message in a bottle" - that means we stand together againstlousy working conditions, long shifts, endless overtime and pay, outstandingwages, layoffs , holiday cuts, etc.It is often precisely the working conditions that destroy our lives and make usill, isolate us when we fall into bed tired in the evening and can no longer meetwith friends, cannot take part in social and political life. This is the next mess.Welcome to the real world of capitalist wage labour. A collective agreement won'thelp if the boss says that you'll stay longer today and that for free too. Andalso no:e ver.di official:in. The only thing that helps is to organize andstrike, to found militant and grassroots-democratic company groups and unions.We invite you to become a member of FAU. We fight together for a better life foreveryone, worldwide, without states, borders, patriarchy and capital! This is oursolidarity! Capitalism kills, dehumanizes us and makes us factors in itscalculations to squeeze as much profit out of us as possible. Let's stand againstit in solidarity, because we put people before profits!Finally, we would like to add a quote from Bonnie Garmus' highly recommended bookA Question of Chemistry. It's about a scientist, a chemist, who is raped, rapedand expelled from the university by men and ends up on TV as a chemist in acooking show, because cooking is chemistry! Very interesting, snappy, humorousand crass!In the end, however, she throws down the chunks on TV, with flaming farewellwords to her predominantly female audience, live in the studio:"When self-doubt creeps up on you," she said, turning back to the audience, "whenfear grips you, always remember that courage is the cornerstone of change. And weare chemically designed to change. So when you wake up tomorrow, make thisresolution: No more false restraint. No more subservient to the opinions ofothers who want to tell you what they can and can't do. And never again allowothers to pigeonhole you into meaningless categories like gender, race, economicstatus, and religion. Don't let your talents lie dormant, ladies. Shape your ownfuture. When you go home today, ask yourself what you want to change. And thenget going."https://bielefeld.fau.org/redebeitrag-menschen-ueber-profite-hoch-die-solidaritaet/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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