Intensifying oppression of the working class in Europe
For the past five years, the economies of Britain, France and Germany in particular, and the Europen Union in general, have suffered from sluggish growth rates.
Such sluggishness grows starker in the face of the much-vaunted "unprecedented growth" enjoyed by the United States in the same period. While the US gross domestic product grew by 4.2%, Europe�s grew by no more than 2%. European unemployment rates stand at 9%, more than double that of the US (4%). Out of the 50 biggest companies engaged in high technology, only four are European while 36 are American. Labor productivity rose by 2.4% in the US, rising only by 1.3% in Europe. In 1999, more than 15 million people in Europe were unemployed. Most of them were from Germany (3.8 million), France (2.8 million) and Britain (1.7 million).
Lately, Europe�s future has grown even dimmer. If not for the sale of licenses for new cellphone technology that provided it with a 0.3% surplus in the gross domestic product for the year 2000, it would have registered a 0.8% deficit. Industrial production posted a 1.9% decrease, especially in the production of consumer goods.
In addition, the euro (the common currency of countries in Europe) has failed to transcend its low value compared to the dollar. It is now worth 20% of its original value. In the first quarter of 2000, the current account deficit ballooned to up to 13.3 billion euro (from 7.9 billion in the third quarter). This means that more capital from trade, remittances and bank transactions left Europe compared to the amount that entered it. In the first quarter of 2000, inflation rose to 2.6% from 1.9% the previous year.
The big bourgeoisie in Europe are envious of US imperialism�s lead in high technology and its ability to further maximize profits through "flexible" labor characterized by massive layoffs of workers and contractualization, pegging of wages at the very minimum and withdrawal of benefits enjoyed by the working class.
The imperialist governments in Europe in chorus with big capitalists and their propagandists, blame the sluggish growth of their economies on "pro-worker" laws inherited from previous social-democratic regimes. They wish to pave the way for labor "flexibilization" through the wholesale junking of laws that provide social security for workers, including state subsidies for the unemployed. Such measures allegedly lead to laziness and sluggishness among workers, and remove "incentives" for the unemployed to look for work.
Thus, reactionary governments have, for the past three years, been implementing the worst labor reforms in Europe to make workers "more productive". A common reform involves the implementation of longer and flexible working hours. Many companies have been allowed to intensify workloads by imposing higher quotas.
The practice of multi-skilling is also being propagated, as is employing part-time and contractual workers. In the past three years, most of the four million new jobs have been part-time and contractual in nature. In France and Germany, all or almost all of the new jobs created from 1994 to 1999 were contractual. Accompanying such "flexibility" are the absence of job security, lower wages and relatively worse working conditions.
Wages are pegged at the minimum. In the bigger countries (Britain, Germany and France), minimum wages reach up to 800-900 euro. (The minimum wage in the US is equivalent to 1010 euro). In the more backward countries within the EU, they reach only up to 390 euro. These represent 34% to 54% of the typical wages received by European workers. If not for the continuous bargaining of unions and workers, their wages would never be raised. Nonetheless, the typical wage can not cover their daily needs according to their respective countries� standards of living.
Working conditions continue to deteriorate. More and more workers fall ill and suffer from accidents in the workplace due to intense labor flexibilization. In addition, more than 15 million workers have reported incidents of violence, sexual abuse and harassment in their factories.
Workers� benefits continue to dwindle. Corporations have been allowed exemptions in paying social security. Along with this, governments have lowered tax collections to evade obligations to provide benefits. Funds for the social welfare benefits of the unemployed and retirees continue to suffer cuts. This has pushed the "inactive" (those in need of, but aren�t looking for work), the disabled, early retirees and single parents to work. Sickness compensation and vacation subsidies have significantly been reduced.
The big bourgeoisie in France are taking the lead in further impoverishing workers. In Britain, those who refuse to join government-sponsored trainings are no longer granted subsidies. Thus, more than 500 million workers have been deprived of subsidies and excluded in official statistics on unemployment. In Germany, the government plans to abolish the state pension system and instead pass on the responsibility to private companies.
These reforms have destroyed workers� livelihoods. While corporations are given a free hand to amass superprofits, workers are pushed to the wall and their rights violated. The cruel consequences of these reforms have compelled workers to intensify their struggle for wages and their rights. All over Europe, they continue to launch actions to assail and resist the various schemes cooked up by their respective governments. In addition, workers have been at the forefront of battles against other burdensome laws and policies.
There is fertile ground for the emergence of a genuine workers� party in the countries of Europe � a party that will fight not only for their immediate needs but advance the workers� historic role in changing the society they live in.
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