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The participants at the UNI Europa Workshop on the Crisis, Austerity and its Consequences held in Madrid delivered a call to arms: Europe’s unions must fight the austerity measures and shock the whole of Europe into action with the message, “You could be next.”



Union leaders from countries hardest hit by the crisis, including Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Italy spoke with one voice and had a warning for Europe: “You could be next.” While countries in the south, especially Greece are now feeling the brunt of the Troika’s ruthless austerity measures, the participants argued that if no alternatives to austerity are found Europe will experience a downward spiral.



The workshop led by Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa and Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI Global Union found that despite the negative wave being generated by the Troika and the increasing Eurozone crisis there are signs of a political and economic mood swing toward the need for jobs and growth. The election of François Hollande on Sunday and the opposition of the Greek people to the austerity package underlines this.





Roethig said, “The Troika has intervened at national level in Greece and elsewhere in Europe and appears to have encouraged the use of decrees to short-circuit the parliamentary debate.The Troika’s argument that it is only making suggestions is derisory. He added that in the current Europe business counts and workers don’t. This balance had to be redressed. It is the unions who represent the real Europe, based on social values that put jobs and people first, and not the European institutions.”





He added, “There are positive signs and it is our task at both European and national level to ensure that when the European Commission, European Central Bank, IMF and national governments begin to talk about the importance of jobs and growth that they are not merely paying lip service or worse substituting new austerity budget cuts in their name. Europe’s unions have a responsibility and opportunity to reunite Europe and create a continent where workers are rewarded for their efforts and the unemployed are given the tools and possibilities to find decent work.”



Jennings said, “Austerity has been coupled with draconian reforms of labour markets which has severely handicapped the ability of the unions to do their job. From wage cuts to the end of collective bargaining we are seeing what amounts to a coup against labour institutions. Greece is the canary in the coal mine sounding out a warning not only to its southern neighbours but the rest of Europe.”

Philip Jennings reacting to the strong feelings in the room said, “We are listening, tuning in and not tuning out. There is an alternative. The will of the people will not be broken. We are passionate and indignant – we have to put the union position in Europe as part of the protection of civil rights. The Troika has come in and robbed us of the rights we have fought for. We will get this message out to the UNI family and develop the strategy to galvanise the support we need.”

The unions present in Madrid agreed that the Troika is asserting itself too strongly and putting roadblocks in the way of growth. The Spanish unions said that time was running out and that Spain alone is heading for a social explosion. The Portuguese unions pointed out that there the number of precarious workers in Europe is ramping up and that these workers have no protection while labour costs have gone down dramatically. There is an urgent need for the European unions to present common proposals on precarious work to the European authorities. Both Ireland and Greece said there was greater need to share experiences and to expose how workers’ rights were being undermined in the name of austerity policies.”



Roethig said, “We are facing a social and political crisis not a financial or economic crisis. This is also an attack on collective bargaining. We have to get the message across that it’s a European problem. The UNI Europa Executive convenes May 23-24 in Denmark – we are ringing the alarm that unless there is a change of course social misery will increase as will social unrest. We cannot just rely on austerity in the hope that it will bring growth. It won’t. The assault on collective bargaining structures is unwise and unfair.”