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Today the workforce
in the plants of DaimlyChrysler is on strike nationwide. Out of the 160,000
employees at least 80,000 workers in 11 locations are participating in this
strike. At midnight already the nightshift has stopped working as in the plant
in Duesseldorf. In Stuttgart the workforce is marching on the expressway to the
plant in Untertuerkheim. While the reformist works council leaderships have
planned the day of action as continuation of the company meetings it has become
evident that the workforce of the corporation is ready to fight against the
offensive of exploitation in one of the biggest international supermonopolies
(416,500 employees worldwide). Already during the last days tens of thousands of
blue and white-collar workers staged protest actions and warning strikes. This
is the answer to a horror program by which the executive board of DC wants to
blackmail the workforce. In order to increase the profits by 500 Euros in the DC
plants in Germany alone the employees should sacrifice 700 Euros per month on
average by wage cuts, cuts of wage supplements and break regulations, and they
should also put up with the extension of working hours to 40 hours per week
without wage compensation. To make the workforce compliant the executive board
of the corporation is threatening the relocation of the production of the
C-class from Sindelfingen (South Germany) to Bremen (North Germany) and South
Africa. However, the workers and employees are rejecting the splitting: "The
Mercedes-boss Juergen Hubbert wants the trial of strength - and he shall have
it" - more and more employees are thinking like that. "If they want to
cut 20 per cent of our wages we can easily strike for several weeks -without
strike pay. It this will be successful we will be better off than with
the horrific catalogue of Hubber." In such a way one correspondent is
describing the mood in Bremen. The factory groups of the MLPD are supporting an
unlimited strike and are organizing the struggle. The political struggle for a
full legal right to strike in all matters, which does not exist in Germany is
playing an important role in this context. The workers’ newspaper "Stobstange"
(bumper) appearing every day and in which the MLPD is cooperating, is proving
its worth as an important instrument for the cooperation of the workforce within
the corporation. With the help of its international contacts the workers of
Daimlychrysler in East London, in South Africa have already been informed. It
has turned out that there as well the management is trying to blackmail the
workers into accepting an extension of the weekly hours of work from 40 to 45
hours. In a leaflet distributed in East London it says: Let us come together
to fight jointly with our colleagues In Germany against the
intensification of exploitation by the DaimlyChrysler bosses.
The workers of other
companies in Germany have declared their solidarity and are discussing the
necessity of taking up the struggle by themselves. Already 3 weeks ago 25,000
blue- and white-collar workers of Siemens organized a militant day of action.
Afterwards the rightist trade union leadership bowed to the board of directors
of the corporation, which the monopolies like DC understood as encouragement for
their attacks. However, the workers are drawing their own conclusions. They have
to inflict a defeat on the monopolies as a signal for the entire working class:
No concessions -complete cancellation of the attacks!
It is necessary to
combine the strike against the attacks of the monopolies with the struggle
against the federal government, especially against the Hanz-IV-laws (which will
produce a massive impoverishment of people who are long-term unemployed), in
order to involve the broad masses in the struggle against the monopolies and the
government. Support the struggle of the employees of DaimlerChrysler and the
international cooperation in the struggle against the attacks of the monopolies.
United and organized
the international working class is unbeatable!
Workers of all
countries, united
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