Appeal for a Youth Assembly at Florence 10+10

September 30, 2012 By WORLD REVOLUTION Leave a Comment

November 10, 2012. Florence, Italy. Europe has been plunged into austerity and social conflict by the economic crisis. Millions say ‘enough is enough’. Florence is our chance to fight for an alternative; to build an international resistance to all attacks which make the working class and youth pay for the crisis of capitalism.

Ten years ago, radical youth sparked the call for global demonstrations against the Iraq war. Millions responded. Today, young people have again taken the lead by fighting austerity all across Europe. This is why we welcome the decision to call a new European Social Forum at a time when millions are trying to shape the struggle for an alternative.

We welcome the organisers’ pledge that:

“Florence 10+10” aims to be an inclusive and popular space, at our disposal for building alliances and concrete common initiatives: to build convergences for action on a European scale.”

We appeal to the youth of Syntagma Square and Puerta del Sol, of the occupations and the blockades, in the workplace and amongst the unemployed millions, to join us in our call for a European Youth Assembly at Florence 10+10.

We appeal also to our neighbours on other continents and above all in the lands of the Arab Spring to join us and enrich our debates with their experiences.

We want Florence 10+10 to address the key task of our movements. To succeed it must become the time and place for transforming our defensive, local struggles into Europe-wide and even worldwide action.

A Youth Assembly can be a place to debate, build networks for common action and plan an international campaign uniting all those under attack from the bankers, billionaires and their politicians in the European Union.

The EU institutions are the levers of power for an unelected class of exploiters who want to divide our resistance. Their strategy is the rise in unemployment, racism and attacks on the rights of women. Migrant workers are blamed for the lack of jobs while the unemployed and disabled are persecuted.

All who fight back confront the power of the media barons and the violence of the police, courts and fascists. But defiance alone has not been enough to throw out the austerity governments or stop the destruction of jobs, social welfare, and education.

Low-paid work, précarité and forced unpaid work is the future for millions of Europe’s young people. Education privatised, pensions demolished and training schemes abandoned. Everywhere the youth are denied a vote, economically exploited and yet made to pay for a crisis we did not cause.

We appeal the youth of the occupations, the barricades, the anti-fascist campaigns and the working class organisations everywhere to sign the appeal and join forces to build a powerful, democratic and decisive Youth Assembly at Florence 10+10.

Filed Under: Events, International, News, Statements, World Revolution, Youth Oppression Tagged With: Democracy, esf, europe, florence, international, italy, social forum, Youth

Chilean youth resist police crackdown

August 17, 2012 By sean89bowiecat Leave a Comment

Students in the Chilean capital, Santiago, have recently seen their 18 month mass movement hit by state attacks on their democratic rights.

It is mainly secondary school students protesting about a new law which would allow much stricter penalties to those on demonstrations.

The law would remove their freedom of speech and prevent them from legally protesting. It was passed in an attempt to suppress the a movement which has seen occupations, strikes and direct action in an campaign for free education in the country.

Recently students have been blockading roads and occupying public secondary schools as part of a campaign to force the government to withdraw the Hintzpeter law - nicknamed after the country’s unpopular interior minister.

The law would replace fines with long prison sentences of up to three years for those who block traffic or occupy buildings.

It isn’t just the students who will be affected by the new law, any group from factory workers to environmentalists could risk time in jail for taking part in mass demonstrations. Without the ability to withdraw their labour power and cost the ruling money, the main weapon students have is though their self-organisation into a mass movement, acting jointly with the organisations of the working class.

The government are trying to criminalise their movement and ban the right to protest. The legislation aims to intimidate students, and follows an international trend set by the infamous Bill 78 in Quebec. Santiago’s mayor has said that those who do not return to school by the end of this week risk having their scholarships removed.

It’s now key that students and the wider youth mobilise against this immediate attack on their democratic freedoms. To succeed with this resistance it will be necessary to draw the trade unions and working class who can use their economic and political power to defeat the government.

The US continent is engulfed in struggles of young people – from Montral to Oakland, Santiago to Sao Paulo, the youth are resisting the attacks of an elite which is determined to sacrifice the jobs, education and future of an entire generation to pay for its mistakes.

We want to unite these struggles, drawing strength from our collective numbers and experiences; we fight for the youth of the world to defend ourselves and fight for our interests as part of an international movement against capitalism and for socialism and workers’ power.

Filed Under: Cuts, Education, International, News, Police Tagged With: america, chile, education, international, repression, right to protest, Students, world revolution, Youth

French youth lash out against racism and unemployment

August 14, 2012 By KD Tait Leave a Comment

Hundreds of young people fought running battles with police in the northern French town of Amiens.

In the early hours of 14 August, police were called to disperse groups of youth, provoking a night of conflict which saw 150 police attacked with fireworks and projectiles. A school and sports centre were burned down, along with dozens of cars.

Although the ritual burning of cars and bricking cops is not unusual in the impoverished suburbs or banlieues of France’s industrial towns, it was the scale and ferocity of last night’s fighting which has made it national and even international news.

Newly elected Socialist President Francois Hollande has said security “is not a priority, but an obligation” – meaning he will deal with it no differently than Chirac did in 2005 – flooding the estates with police and the hated CRS riot squads. From September he will establish 15 ‘priority security zones’ – pouring money into tougher policing rather than investing in real jobs.

But tear gas and batons does nothing to address the underlying issues. With 50% unemployment amongst young people of Black or Arab origin, and over 20% amongst white French youth, the lack of opportunities is made worse by an intimidating police presence. Police regularly conduct sweeps of working class districts, flooding train stations and estates stopping and searching hundreds of young people at a time.

The new government came to power on a promise of ‘growing the economy’ to avoid austerity. But exactly the reverse has happened. France’s economy has flatlined, cuts have not been reversed, and French youth feel they are being made to pay for a crisis they didn’t cause.

Hollande has also failed to make a clean break with the racist policies of the last president. He has continued to round up thousands of Roma citizens, demolishing their camps and deporting them back to Eastern European countries. This is despite the fact that they are EU citizens and have every right to live in France.

Hollande is not worried about the employment or education chances for young people. He now just wants to avoid a repeat of 2005 where riots engulfed France’s major cities for more than three weeks. This is the great danger – there are now millions more youth with no future than then, millions more youth with plenty to feel angry about, and who feel they have nothing to lose by taking out their frustration on a violent and racist police force.

Filed Under: Anti-Racism, Cuts, International, News, Police Tagged With: amiens, france, international, police, racism, riot, unemployment, Youth

Quebec Spring: no compromise – all out for victory!

May 27, 2012 By KD Tait Leave a Comment

For a general strike!

After the Arab Spring, the Quebec Spring. Mass protests by students opposed to a 75% rise in tuition fees have escalated into an inspirational social movement, resisting government attempts to crush the movement through a violent police crackdown.

Now the movement is at a crossroads. While hundreds of thousands continue to mobilise, some student leaders are preparing the ground for a compromise with the government.

This article looks at how students and youth can build on the movement’s success and what kind of resistance is necessary to prevent a sell-out and defeat the government.

Throughout this week mass demonstrations flared across Quebec as students marked 100 days of resistance to government attacks on Higher Education.

More than 200,000 students from three student federations have been engaged in three months of bitter struggle to stop tuition fees rising by more than £1000 a year.

A boycott was organised on 13 February, which rapidly snowballed into 14 continuous days of demonstrations in towns and cities across the province.

Students and workers unite

Students in Quebec have a radical tradition of defending education for themselves and future generations. Student strikes in 1996 and 2005 ensured that fees in Quebec remained significantly lower than elsewhere in Canada.

This knowledge is undoubtedly very important in convincing students that direct action and mass participation is what is necessary to mount a successful resistance.

But students alone cannot win against the government. That’s why the youth resistance of winter 2010 in Britain was ultimately defeated. Canadian students have not made the same mistake.

Trade unions have donated $90,000 to student federations, and opposition parties have been vocal in their support for the protests.

The implications of this social solidarity are already becoming apparent. The protests have succeeded in forcing a national debate on an unpopular government, which is mired in corruption scandals.

The strength of the movement is worrying for the government, but the growing links between students and the working-class movement threatens to move the struggle into a different league.

The two main unions, who both support the protests, organise more than a million workers in many different industries. Together they have the power to apply real economic pressure on Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s liberal government.

The potential power of a united students’ and workers’ movement is terrifying for the government. That’s why Charest has continuously escalated the repression against the movement.

Repression

Impotent in the face of a social uprising, the government has resorted to passing emergency laws (Bill 78) which ban unauthorised protest and limit the rights of education workers to strike.

The police have enthusiastically carried out this crackdown, staging mass arrests of protestors at many demonstrations and seriously injuring dozens of people.

In response to the passing of Bill 78, 400,000 people marched through the streets of Montreal.

Far from silencing the resistance, Bill 78 has provoked fury amongst huge numbers of Quebecois who were previously indifferent to the students’ demands.

Unsurprisingly business leaders welcomed the measures, acknowledging that they are not the potential allies of the movement, but committed to the defence of the status quo and a police force which exists to defend the interests of property-owners.

The government has declared its intention to ‘restore calm’ to Quebec society. The ‘calm’ that the capitalist representatives want to impose on us is the calm of rubber bullets, tear-gas and sound grenades.

No time for compromise

The attack on the right to strike and freedom of assembly is an attack on all of us. The measures demonstrate the weakness of the government – it has lost the argument and now resorts to violence to force through its pro-business agenda.

At the moment in which the movement threatens to unite much broader layers and escape the control of the big student federations, is the moment that Leo Bureau-Blouin, president of Quebec’s college student federation, had this to say:

“We are ready for a compromise — and if the Quebec government is ready for it too, I think we can come to something,”

“If the Quebec government agreed to move on the amount of the tuition fee hike, I think it would be a great step in the right direction.”

Bureau-Blouin, whose terms ends on 1 June fears that the movement is starting to escape the control of him and his fellow bureaucrats.

The government is on the defensive, we should press forward with our demands and accept nothing less than total victory.

Students now face enemies within and without the movement. Those who would compromise with the illegitimate government open the door to privatisation. They condemn generations of furture students to an overpriced, sub-standard education. They betray the sacrifices of tens of thousands who are fighting now to ensure social provision for the future.

It is at this critical time where the government will attempt to drive a wedge between ‘moderate’ and ‘hardline’ students. It will offer measly concessions to those who return to class, while intensifying repression against those who dare to remain on the streets.

We refuse all attempts at compromise and say that we must not back down in the face of state violence and divide-and-rule tactics.

If the movement is to succeed against those who now seek to demobilise and restrain the youth, then the question of democratic control of the movement must be considered our most urgent task.

The representatives of student federation CLASSE, which is committed to free education have insisted that any deal would have to be decided by democracy of the students. This means the general assemblies organised within university campuses and faculties.

This is positive and a lesson in democracy for the privileged bureaucrats of our own National Union of Students.

However, the movement has now grown beyond the limits of student unionism. The actions of the government are an attack on the working class of Quebec, and set a dangerous precedent.

If we back down in the face of this intimidation, we will simply send the message that repression works. If the students are beaten, the hospital and education workers will be next on Charest’s chopping block.

Escalate the struggle – all out for victory!

Hundreds of thousands of youth and workers have led a heroic resistance for three months. Their only support comes from the collective organisations of the working class and the declarations of solidarity from youth in struggles across the world.

The repression of their movement is not condemned by the world’s great powers – indeed Charest has the full support of the Canadian and US governments, determined to send the message that resistance is futile.

Resistence is necessary, victory is possible.

But this means that the Quebec youth must escalate their struggle – it needs to be turned into a class struggle against the government’s austerity.

If the social movement aims to win it must first win the ability to organise amongst the wider masses. Popular committees will draw in the unemployed, school students, non-union workers and pensioners.

Students should form joint strike committees in every school, university and workplace to enable the democratic control of united action between students and workers.

Regional committees composed of recallable delegates can co-ordinate national action and mobilise for an all-out offensive against the government.

These popular committees will pile the pressure on the official leaders of the students’ and workers’ unions. If these official leaders try to backtrack or sell-out, we’ll have the means to organise action independently.

Against the repression of the police and private mercenaries employed by the state and big business we call for the self-organised defence of our demonstrations, meetings and right to protest.

Together these tactics can provide the basis for a movement capable of combining democracy and unity in a class-wide resistance whose ultimate aim cannot be anything less than the fall of the Charest government.

This means a general strike, where the demands, tactics and aims are controlled through the democratic structures uniting the workers and youth.

Victory in Quebec will send the message that we reject austerity and we are prepared and capable of defeating any government that tries to make working people pay for the capitalists’ crisis.

REVOLUTION says:

Students and workers unite and fight – joint strike committees to prevent a sellout!
Down with police violence – for organised self-defence against the state!
For a general strike to bring down the government!
Victory to the Quebec Spring – for international solidarity!

PROTEST: Solidarity with Quebec Protestors

Wednesday 30 May, 6pm, Canada House, Trafalgar Sq

more info here

Filed Under: Education, International, News Tagged With: canada, education, General strike, international, protest, quebec spring, Students, Unions

BLOCKUPY Frankfurt! 16-19 May European days of action

May 15, 2012 By sean89bowiecat 2 Comments

A coalition of left-wing, environmental and social campaigns have joined forces to blockade the financial district of Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank and the German finance industry.

The european days of action were called at an anti-crisis conference in Frebruary, where the main forces involved were ATTAC an the Interventionist Left. The action aims to last 4 days, ending with an international demonstration on May 19th.

The blockade has been called to protest against the economic dicatatorship of the Troika, for democracy and against austerity.

The Troika (the European Central Bank, the IMF and the EU) have been in charge of Greece and Italy for several months. They effectively took control of those countries finances, after their governments were unable to pass sufficiently harsh austerity measures.

The recent elections in Greece were a massive popular rejection of austerity, with 60% of the vote going to anti-austerity parties. Yet German capitalism, which bankrolls and profits from the EU bailouts, is demanding that Greece stick to the conditions of its bailout – endless cuts and misery.

With new elections slated for June 17, now is the time to rally opposition to the capitalists profiting from the catastrophe in Greece. We need to build an international solidarity movement that can support the Greek people in their rejection of the bosses’ austerity offensive.

The Frankfurt city government have banned all protest during the mobilisation, determined to silence opposition. 15,000 police will be stationed in the town just in case the illegal ban fails.

REVOLUTION are sending members from our European sections to join the blockade.

We will also take part in the conferences and plenaries scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

There we will call for concrete demands which the campaign can base its next steps around.

For the cancellation of all government debts
Nationalise the banks
Rebuild nationwide anti-cuts comittees

Blockupy Frankfurt symbolises resistance to EU-wide austerity and a defence of the right to protest against the millionaires looting public services and destroying jobs across the continent.

Filed Under: Action, International, News Tagged With: frankfurt, germany, international, occupy, protest

1 May 2012: for internationalism and revolution

May 1, 2012 By sean89bowiecat Leave a Comment

Since 1889, May Day has been a day for working class movements across the world to stage displays of strength and international solidarity. From the struggle for the 8-hour day to today’s campaigns against sweatshops, 1 May is rooted in more than 100 years of struggles to create a world free from exploitation, poverty and war.

With marches, strikes and festivities planned across the world, May Day draws it’s real strength from its internationalism. It’s a day when we see the potential that lies within a world movement determined to overcome the barriers of language, race and nationality.

1 May 2012 will be especially important in the Arab countries marking a year since the wave of revolutions which toppled dictators in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. The struggle for freedom is far from complete, with the army, the imperialists and big business trying to limit the legitimate democratic demands of the people.

May Day marches across the world will certainly lend their voices in support of the heroic revolutionary struggles in Syria and to those fighting religious persecution in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

In Europe the situation of ordinary working people is more desperate than ever. With tens of millions thrown out of work across the continent and our countries plunged into new recessions – yet still the bosses and politicians demand we accept deeper and deeper cuts to bail out their system.

From the inspirational student strikes in Quebec, ignored by the world media, to the anti-imperialist struggles amongst women and youth in Asia, the first few months of 2012 have shown that the resistance sparked by the Arab Spring is far from exhausted.

As the capitalist market plunges towards a second, deeper crisis, all these struggles will be multiplied and extended by the relentless attacks on the living conditions of billions of people.

Massive youth unemployment, rising food prices, falling wages and the threat of more war and environmental destruction will underpin further waves of resistance.

May Day is the reminder that only the working class, which creates all society’s wealth for the profit a ruling minority, is the only force capable of carrying out the revolutionary re-ordering of society.

By building international, revolutionary organisations, we can unite struggles around a common strategy for turning resistance into revolution. Putting power into the hands of the millions, not the millionaires means we need our own organisations capable of fighting back against the centralised power of the capitalists and their states.

Young people have the most to gain from abolishing capitalism, which everywhere sets the old against the young, keeping us super-exploited, impoverished and dependent on our families.

We appeal to all those who agree with us to join us in our efforts to build a new world socialist youth movement, committed to the creation of revolutionary parties which can turn capitalist crisis into socialist revolution and working-class power.

Down with NATO – imperialists out of Afghanistan

Solidarity with the Syrian revolution

No war on Iran

For 1 state in Israel and Palestine

Forward to the unification of the revolutionary youth in a new Youth International

Forward to the founding of a Fifth International – a new world party of social revolution

For the victory of the working-class world revolution!

Filed Under: International, News, Statements, Workers Tagged With: 2012, international, may day, workers

Lowkey lays down the mic

April 19, 2012 By SAM ET Leave a Comment

REVOLUTION wishes to express its sadness at the decision by Lowkey, the UK-based rapper and political activist to take a hiatus from music. Lowkey has fought against the imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as being a champion to the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom, he has exposed police brutality in the UK and the extreme inequalities of capitalism both in the UK and overseas. By fusing strong ethics and political convictions with his unmistakable musical style Lowkey brought domestic and international political issues into the minds of many, both young and old. REVOLUTION thanks Lowkey for his unmatchable contribution to politics and music over the last few years and hopes that the future will see him once again turn his mic against the imperialist butchers and those who protect them.

Filed Under: Culture, International, News, Palestine, War Tagged With: culture, hip-hop, Imperialism, international, lowkey, music, palestine, rap, war

Wanker of the Month: Jason Russell

April 18, 2012 By SAM ET 4 Comments

On the 5th March, millions of heartstrings across the globe were tugged by the emotive viral video, “Kony 2012.” The video was released by the so-called ‘charity’ Invisible Children to raise awareness about Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord with a list of crimes nearly as long as George Osborne’s nightly line of charlie, including brutalization, rape, torture and enforced recruitment of children into his rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army.

In an attempt to pressure the United States Government (aka Team America), Invisible Children wanted to make Joseph Kony incredibly famous, or as George Clooney helpfully explains “as famous as me” (Yes George, that does sound a tiny bit big-headed). In their minds, thousands of people wearing Kony bracelets, putting up Kony posters and writing letters to their elected representatives would persuade the ruling elites to bring Kony to justice.

Sounding wonderful so far? It’s not.

Whilst most sensible people would be happy to see Kony before the International Criminal Court (he is their most wanted fugitive) Invisible Children’s gameplan is a fantasy. Firstly, the strong support that Jason Russell and his cronies give to the Ugandan Government and military is either blind and naive, or hypocritical and self-serving; attempting to improve human rights by propping up a regime which attacks homosexuals, employs child soldiers of its own, silences the press and crushes opposition. Still sounding wonderful?

Secondly, even a brief flick through a history book of the last 70 or so years would have helped Jason Russell to realise that the American Government does not interfere in other countries purely for humanitarian reasons, and when it does invade on that pretence, it invariably makes things worse – Afghanistan and Iraq being two of the more recent examples.

Thirdly, it must obviously be nothing more than coincidence that after nearly 30 years of the Lord’s Resistance Army pillaging the region, it’s only in recent years with the discovery of oil and minerals in Uganda that the US Government has taken an interest.

So, Jason Russell, read your history next time and if you can’t be bothered to do that then turn on the news and look at the mess that humanitarian interventions and the pursuit of “justice” have caused in the past, and then perhaps don’t campaign so strongly for there to be a next time.

Lastly, when all the pressure of being a self-serving hypocrite gets too much, don’t get your knob out and start spurting your own invisible children all over California traffic!

Filed Under: International, News, War Tagged With: international, invisible children, kony 2012, uganda, Wanker

Free Hana Shalabi!

March 28, 2012 By Sally Turner Leave a Comment

Hana Shalabi, a Palestinian woman jailed in Israel has been on hunger strike for 42 days, has lost 14kg and is at ‘immediate risk of death.’

Ms Shalabi, 30, is being held without charge under a system called ‘administrative detention’; she is protesting against this illegal arrest and the violent and degrading treatment that she and thousands of Palestinian prisoners are subjected to.

On Sunday, despite her medical condition the Israeli Military Appeal Courts rejected an appeal against her ‘administrative detention,’ and demands she remains under it until it is set to expire on 23 June. The military judge stated she was responsible for her own recovery.

A prisoner can be held in ‘administrative detention’, without charges being brought, for up to four months; it can also be renewed.

Israeli Human Rights group B’Tselem says there are about 320 Palestinians being held without charge in Israeli jails, including one held for more than three years and two for more than two years.

Israel uses this method against those it deems are a security risk. Hana is thought to be a supporter of the militant group, Jihad, which the Israeli State has labelled as a terrorist group, but neither her nor her lawyer have been informed of any charges or evidence against her.

She has previously spent 2 years behind bars without any charge or trial but was freed from Israeli jails last October as part of the prisoner exchange to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. However, like hundreds of other prisoners ‘released’ she was re-arrested in the days following the swap.

Last month another Palestinian prisoner, Khader Adnan, ended a 66-day hunger strike over the same issue, after reaching a ‘deal’ with the Israeli authorities which will apparently see him released on April 17^th.

In the past two weeks, 20 other Palestinian detainees have launched hunger strikes in support of Ms Shalabi.

There are talks about hospital and prison officials preparing to initiate a force-feeding regime, which would be a breach of both international law and medical ethics.

Solidarity demonstrations have been held across the world, with hundreds demonstrating in Glasgow and Liverpool in recent days. More UK demos are planned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

We call for her immediate release and for an end to the illegal arrest and detention of prisoners without charge. This tactic is used by the Israeli state to terrorise Palestinians and intimidate them from resisting the occupation.

We will be working with all those who support the rights of prisoners and the struggle against the apartheid Israeli state to build demonstrations in solidarity with Hana and other prisoners to strengthen an international movement against Zionism, colonialism and the imperialist countries which excuse the abhorrent actions of their allies.

Stage solidarity demonstrations, raise awareness, build a movement to end illegal detention, torture and occupation!

Join the We Are All Hana Shalabi Campaign page here

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Will the Arab Spring reach Palestine?

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Can the UN liberate Palestine?

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How to build a local Gaza solidarity campaign

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Filed Under: International, News Tagged With: gaza, hana shalabi, Imperialism, international, israel, palestine, prisoners, zionism

Spanish youth march against austerity and police brutality

March 6, 2012 By Chris Clough Leave a Comment

As Europe slides back into recession, the crisis is far from over. From London to Athens, Moscow to Madrid, millions of ordinary people are paying the price of the bosses’ crisis. Chris reports on the latest outbreak of mass resistance on the streets of Spain.

Tens of thousands of young people protested in Spain last week. The effects of the crisis have been particularly harsh in spain. With overall unemployment at 20%, youth unemployment has reached 50%. Yet over the past year, the spanish workers and youth movements have shown they have the potential to reverse and stop the punishment inflicted on ordinary working people.

Last week in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante and many other towns, demonstrations of tens of thousands of students marched through the streets occupying buildings, attacking banks and disrupting traffic. These demonstrations had largely been sparked by police attacks in Valencia on a school students’ protest the week before in which 43 were arrested. But the issues that are driving people’s anger range from the high unemployment to the privatisation of education. The youth were joined by tens of thousands of civil servants who rallied in the Basque country and in Barcelona.

Spain has seen dozens of strikes and protests against austerity over the last year, with 8 mass demonstrations in Madrid since September alone. Last summer saw a mass movement of youth, the “Indignados” occupying squares across the country in an attempt to create a popular grass-roots democracy.The dominance of anarchist and autonomist methods of organising was key to the failure of this social movement to unite with the labour movement.

Police brutality in Valencia

The hostility towards trade unions and reformist ‘socialist’ or ‘communist’ parties, because of their history of betraying and selling out workers’ struggles, was expressed by a refusal to try and co-ordinate resistance with the official leaders of the working-class movement. As such, the Indignados’ mass assemblies were not decision-making bodies uniting different sections of struggle on the basis of democratic unity but instead were forums for abstract debate. They also refused to elect any kinds of representative or accountable leaderships. The result was that struggles were disorganised and uncoherent.

Nonetheless these assemblies were incredibly inspiring and contained huge potential, the fact that they withered away should not be seen as a major defeat but rather a need to rethink questions of tactics and strategy.

The events of last week show that the militancy and determination of the Spanish working class, and the youth especially, has not been dampened. The election of the conservative Popular Party (PP), the attacks on education and the huge unemployment rate (around 50% for young people) has created an explosive atmosphere. The new PP government of Prime Minister Rajoy hasn’t even proposed its first austerity budget and already it is coming under huge pressure from popular opposition. This pressure will have no doubt increased on news that Spain’s unions have announced the intention to call a general strike on the 29^th of March or the 19^th of April. Just like the violent reaction of the police to the British student movement, the Spanish government’s response to the student protests exposed their insecurity; they made a great effort to demonise demonstrators as thugs on TV and in the papers whilst at the same time using the police to violently break up the protests.

Fascist legacy

Spain had a fascist dictatorship for over 3 decades and it only ended with the death of Franco in 1975. His regime was not otherthrown by revolutionary means but rather reformed into a constitutional monarchy like Britain by his successors in 1975-8. This has meant that many of those who supported or where in office under Franco not only went unpunished but many are still influential in Spain and they do not tolerate radical protest or industrial action. This explains the brutal attacks on demonstrations and the use of fascist-era trade union laws to break up a strike of air traffic controllers last year. It also explains the recent dismissal of left-wing judge Baltasar Garzon who was made famous for daring to issue a warrant for the arrest of Chile’s brutal ex-dictator Pinochet and for attempting to investigate the murders of hundreds of thousands of Spanish people murdered and dumped in mass graves during the Spanish Civil War.

The recent protests show that the Spanish working class and youth will not sit idly by and watch the government attack its standard of living and dismantle the welfare state. But if the mistakes of last year are to be remedied then it is necessary to apply a different strategy. The union leaders’ decision to call a general strike is promising but like in this country the leaders see it is a token gesture to be used as a bargaining tool for the negotiating table rather than as a weapon against the bosses. They are calling the strike mainly over labour laws that have already been enacted, these laws make it easier to make workers redundant and it is important to fight them.

We think that strikes should be under the control of the grassroots workers who will be losing their pay and risking their jobs. This means making the leaders of unions accountable to elected delegates’ committees representing ordinary union members. Only in this way can workers ensure the strike remains under their control.

Valencia, February 29

The youth movement can be an important ally in the fight against the government, they can radicalise the workers and encourage them to take militant action, such as defending protests and pickets from the police rather than backing down from the threat of state violence. They can also bring their ideas of popular democracy to the workers movement by encouraging workers to organise in their unions and reinvigorate internal democracy through the creation of grassroots committees to challenge the union bureaucracy.

The youth movements need to break from the libertarians’ sectarian hostility to the unions and recognise their allies in the millions of exploited and angry workers who fill the unions’ ranks. The occupations of the ‘Indignados’ was an inspiration to the world and largely inspired the Occupy movement but its limitations need to be recognised. If the youth are to become a force capable of uniting with workers and stopping the cuts then we cannot make popular democracy an end in itself. There can be no genuine democracy when our demonstrations are attacked by the police, and millions are left to rot with no work.

Only a movement which rests on the common action of the youth, unions, unemployed and women can turn the tide in the struggle against austerity. The democratic principles of the youth must be united with the organised economic power of the working class in order to build a movement capable of victory.

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Chilean youth resist police crackdown

French youth lash out against racism and unemployment

Quebec Spring: no compromise – all out for victory!

Students and workers unite

Repression

No time for compromise