Hereby we declare our solidarity with
the striking colleques of the union of air traffic control (GDF) at
the airport of Frankfurt am Main.
The prohibition of strikes, decided
by Frankfurt's labour court, initiated by Fraport and Lufthansa, make
quite clear to everyone that there is no right to strike in Germany
at all. This so called constitutional right has been constantly
breached by minor labour courts in the interest of companies.
The labour court in Frankfurt
prohibited the strike of the union of air traffic control (GDF)
because of formal matters. Two details of their claims do not
accomplish their duty not to engage industrial actions. This is why
the GDF had to stop their strike. And yesterday, the same judge
forbade a solidarity strike of air controller by declaring it
„disproportional“.
But in fact, the people in Germany
are deprived from elemental human rights, as it is the right to build
unions in their own interest. What is it good for, if you have the
right to „organise“ for your interests, but the means to realise
them are forbidden?
An employers' spokesman became very
clear on television this morning. It cannot be, that a small
forcefull union is able to achieve higher wages because then, many
members of Verdi would leave their union, to fight for better wages
on their own, he said.
The topic of the „unity of
collective agreements“ [Tarifeinheit] - which means that only the
collective agreement of the biggest union inside a company is valid –
is one of the favourite political wishes of employers'
organisations. Ursula von der Leyen, who is Germany's secretary of
state for employment, did fastly react by saying that she is going to
do everything possible to cut down the power of small unions. They
might be allowed to negotiate but they are forbidden to fight for
their rights.
The FAU-IWA has been afraid of
attacks against the right to strike since a long time. Yet,
concerning the freedom of unions, Germany is developing country, in
which fundamental rights, as the ILO conventions 87 and 98, are kept
back from the workers.
The refusal to work is a human right and part of our personal self determination; although it is only effective in a joint
effort. This right should not only include economic struggles or
collective agreements, but also so called „political strikes“.
The FAU does not only stand for the freedom of trade unions but also
for the comprehensive and untouchable right to strike for all workers
– whether they are organized in a union or not.
Freie Arbeiterinnen- und
Arbeiter-Union, Workgroup Right to Strike.
No comments:
Post a Comment