Philadelphia Unionists to Picket German Consul in Solidarity with German Union FAU
Submitted on Wed, 06/09/2010 - 2:44pm
Members of the Philadelphia General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World will picket the German Consul during his appearance at the Union League (140 South Broad St.) Thursday at noon to speak to members of the German-American Chamber of Commerce. This is the second action held in Philadelphia protesting escalating violations of basic labor rights in Germany.
Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Horst Freitag will be speaking in Philadelphia as a German appeals court meets to hear an appeal by the Free Workers Union (FAU) against a court order barring them from exercising basic labor rights, including describing themselves as a union, appealing to the public to support their members engaged in industrial disputes, or seeking to negotiate with employers for better conditions.
Unions around the world are deeply concerned by recent court actions in Germany restricting workers rights to organize into unions of their choice, and to appeal to the public for solidarity as they struggle to improve their working conditions. There have been protests at German government offices from Bangladesh to Greece.
Members of the Berlin local of the Free Workers Union (FAU) are under a court order barring them from acting as a union or representing their members at the government-funded new Babylon Cinema, where a majority of the workforce has been engaged in industrial action through the FAU. Managers are now demanding that the union?s officers be jailed and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars because they have refused to abandon their union and its members.
"The Free Workers union has a long history of international solidarity," said Philadelphia IWW treasurer Jon Bekken. "Now that they are under attack for resisting the international competition to undercut working conditions, we?re standing with them."
Founded in 1919, the FAU has a long history fighting for the rights of German workers; a history that led to its suppression by the Nazi regime in 1933. Today, although the German government claims to respect labor rights, it is once again trying to destroy the FAU because of its commitment to workers; rights and to independent unions of their own choosing.
Information on this dispute is available on the FAU's web site.