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| On arrival at Warschau.In front left Marleen Mens of WCL Staff. At the end 4 EFCM board members from right to left: President Jean Marc Mohr, Antoine Cuijvers, Franz Breuer and Adalbert Ewen. |
EUROPEAN MINERS
Since our visit to the
Polish trade federations in 1992 (see part 4) we had contact with the
miners trade union and the regional organizations of Solidarnosc in
Krakow and Katowice . Together with the European Federation of
Christian Miners( EFCM) of the WCL, a seminar was organized for
miners trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe. Elisabeth Soltysek
of Solidarnosc together with Marleen Mens of the WCL office took care
of practical matters.The seminar was held in March 1993. First we
flew to Warsaw where we had a visitors program with a guide of
Solidarnosc. After the visit we went by train to Katowice. From there
we drove into the nightfall with 2 cars to the union training center
Rudy Raciborski. With snow on the road it was late at night an
adventurous journey on dangerous slippery roads.
The seminar was aimed
to get to know each other better and to inquire about the impact of
mine closures, the remediation of mines, employment programs, the
role of government and the trade unions, etc. like had happened and
still was going on in Belgium , France and Germany. Speakers were
EFCM president Jean Marc Mohr of the CFTC and treasurer Adalbert
Euwen of CGM Germany. The miners in Central and Eastern Europe would
certainly have to deal with closures of mines and large
reorganizations in the future . Even in Central and Eastern Europe
coal mines could not compete anymore with coal mines in the rest of
the world such as North America, and Colombia.
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| Waiting while snow is falling for the bus.On the left two Rumanian miners. Our two assistants Elisabeth Soltysek and Marleen Mens. on the right Jean Marc Mohr. |
During the seminar we
wanted to consult once again the Solidarnosc miners trade union about
their membership of the EFCM . We had doubts whether they were really
planning to become a member. We had the feeling that they kept us
waiting by delaying any decision. The seminar took place in a good
mood with participants from Poland, Russia, Belarus, Albania and
Rumania. Once again the miners once again did not decide on their
membership of the EFCM.
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| WCL General secretary Carlos Custer talking with Polish President Lech Walesa. |
Within the WCL and
especially within the international trade union federations doubts
were growing whether the Solidarnosc trade union federations really
wanted to become members of the WCL ITF’s. This was one of the
reasons for General Secretary Carlos Custer to visit Solidarnosc in
September of the same year, a little bit more than a month before the
WCL World Congress to be held on the island of Mauritius (see also part 3 ) We spoke with the Solidarnosc board led by President Marian
Krzaklewski . We were assured that ties with the WCL were close and
strong. We visited Solidarnosc Warsaw and we were received by
President Lech Walesa, Then we travelled to Krakow and Katowice. Time
and again we were reassured by the regional boards of Solidarity that
ties between Solidarnosc and the WCL were good.
To make clear that we
were prepared to cooperate on all levels, a year later in October
1994 we organized a seminar in Katowice together with Solidarnosc
entitled " Restructuring a threat or a challenge ." The
seminar was intended to exchange experiences on the massive closure
of mines in the region of Limburg, Belgium. The goal of the seminar
was to prepare a draft protocol with the conditions which should be
met in case mines in the Katowice region were to be closed. The
seminar was sponsored by ACV Limburg. Speakers were President Rick
Nouwen of ACV Limburg and Jos Hagendoorn of the Research department
of ACV Limburg . Speakers on the part of Solidarnosc Katowice were
President Marek Kemski and Slaslo Dąbrowskie . President
Kemski assured us again that Solidarnosc had warm feelings for the
WCL . But unfortunately in practice this was not followed by
any change. The miners of Solidarnosc never joined the EFCM and were
not even active as observers which was offered to them.
Why the miners and all
the other Solidarnosc Trade Federations never joined the
International Trade Federations of the WCL? Were the ITF’s of the
WCL too small to be effective? That story was often heard in
and outside the WCL for example from some WCL trade unions that
meanwhile had joined the European and International Trade Union
Federations belonging to the circles of the ICFTU. However, for the
EFCM this was certainly not true. Of course, the EFCM was smaller
than the competing ICEM , but it was no less able to provide services
to its members in and outside Europe . This was clearly demonstrated
by the two seminars we organized in Poland, one for miners coming
from different European countries and one especially for the Polish
miner’s region Katowice. The EFCM had several financial resources
and was recognized by the European Coal and Steel Community and
therefore could use the facilities of the ECSC.
Of course there were
differences between the WCL International Trade Union Federations but
they all had their possibilities at European level. EUROFEDOP (public
services sector) was an eloquent proof that it is indeed possible for
a European federation belonging to the WCL, to become an official
partner in the European Social Dialogue . But of course, this
requires a certain level of representativity on European level, to
lobby hard at the European Commission and the European Parliament and
if so necessary to deal with the competing ICFTU oriented European
Trade Union Federations.
But as I have
observed before, lobbying at the European Commission and the European
Parliament was a taboo within WCL, particularly from the side of the
ACV. Of course such lobbying would have provocated some European
Trade Federations and ETUC members from ICFTU circles but they also
had to recognize that at the end this was the result of their own
refusal to cooperate with WCL Trade Federations. Why this fear for
confrontation with ICFTU oriented trade union confederations and
trade federations? Was it because of certain bureaucratic interests
within the ETUC (there where positions on certain level at stake),
was it because of a certain kind of inferiority complex, was it fear
to get lost in European politics or doubts about its own capacities?
I believe it was a little bit of everything , and therefore it was
difficult to develop new initiatives. Fundamental to this all
was the attitude of the ACV, the largest trade union confederation in
Belgium but also the largest financier of the WCL. But precisely
within the ACV there existed Ideological and strategic doubts about
the future of the WCL.
BELGIUM CAR INDUSTRY
Ideologically because
of what could be called socialist temptations, especially on
international level. But strategic doubts within ACV about which way
to go, were more important. The ACV may be the largest trade union
confederation in their own country, but if that country is very
small, you stay small for the rest of the world. Moreover, Belgium
had and still has many international industrial companies, especially
the automotive industry, where decision taking takes place outside
Belgium, like for example is the case with French Renault, German
Volkswagen, American Ford and Opel, Swedish Volvo etc.
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| Strikers at Volkswagen Vorst in Brussels (2006). In between them the ACV Metal Trade Union flag.
Belgium lost in 10
years time half of its vehicle production. In 2001 rolled 1.2 million
cars and trucks of the band, while last year only 525,000 vehicles
were assembled. Belgium tumbled from 2001 onwards from the 14th place
to 24th. Belgium is now behind Indonesia, Malaysia and Slovakia, and
just ahead of South Africa and Romania. A decade ago, there were
assembled nowhere as many cars per capita as in Belgium. Belgium now
has descended into the lower middle of the ranking of the largest
vehicle manufacturers in the world.
The
European automotive market is lead by production in Germany, Italy
and France. In the EU, the industry employs 2.3 million people
directly and almost another 10.5 million indirectly, according to the
European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. The region produces
more than 17 million vehicles a year, representing a quarter of
overall global production. There are just less than 170 facilities in
operation across 16 member nations, run by 17 vehicle manufacturers.
Leading players include BMW, Fiat, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo and
Peugeot Citroën.
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It is therefore no
wonder that the ACV Metal trade union joined the European Metal
Federation (EMF) and the International Metal Federation (IMF)
already in the eighties as a way to counter this industrial decision
taking weakness of Belgium as a country. They surely thought that by
joining the IMF / EMF a common trade union policy based on European
and/or international solidarity could be developed for all workers in
the automotive industry regardless in which country they were
working.
But unfortunately and
despite many fine words about solidarity it did not work. Already in
1997 Renault Vilvoorde was shut down without consulting the trade
union and the workers councils. Thousands of workers were dismissed.
It was the first Renault production unit outside France (1935).
Others followed. Thousands of workers were fired by Volkswagen Vorst
(2006), in 2010 Opel (GM) Antwerp is closed with about 2500 workers
laid off and in 2012 Ford Genk decided to close its production in
Belgium which meant that 4500 workers lost their job. Eventually the
Belgian workers were sacrificed for keeping Renault , Volkswagen ,
Ford , etc. on the road. It is sad to have to conclude that
international solidarity apparently has its national limits, even in
the European Union. The Belgium workers could only rely on the
solidarity of the Belgium Government and ist tax payers for getting a
compensation for the loss of their job. What could do the Belgium
trade union then to look for solidarity on European level? But it was
WCL that had to disappear as a price to be paid for European
solidarity that until now does not really exist.
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