A few answers to the questionnaire from Copenhagen
De precarity webring
On the Euromayday gathering in Hamburg last year, it was proposed to set some wheels in motion in regard to an exchange of information and research. The proposal from the Copenhagen Euromayday group was that a first step in this process could be based on what we already know, rather than what we are still about to learn.
We therefore sent out four different questions (see end of message), to be answered by the different groups. The Copenhagen group would do the editing and subsequent publishing. So far, though, we have only received one and a half answer — these are enclosed below. We hope that by putting these out, we might inspire more groups to answer the questionnaire — and thus give us the double task both of editing the answers and answer the questionnaire ourselves!
All the best,
Jonas/Euromayday Cph
Tabla de contenidos |
1. The field of action.
Finland: The Finnish labour market system has been very centralized and corporativist. However, there are some signs of transformation – local bargaining has increased, some unions have been withdrawing from the centralized wage agreements, increasing part of the workforce is without representation etc.
Almost all Finnish unions are part of one of the three labour confederations: The Central Organisation of Trade Unions SAK, the Confederation of Salaried Employees STTK and the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals AKAVA. Party politics plays an important part especially in the socialdemocrat-led SAK. There exists no alternative/rank-and-file unions.
For most of the last 40 years, Finnish unions have been integrated in the "national consensus" with centralized incomes settlements. This means that the central labour and employer confederations negotiate with the support of the Government which promises to adjust social and taxation policies. These "compromises" have been more and more beneficial for the rich, because of tax reforms and very moderate wage increases. Wage increases have been increasingly substituted with tax cuts. The unions have more or less accepted this and the consequent cuts in public services.
The Finnish consensus model has meant a kind of compulsory social truce: striking is prohibited until collective agreements have expired. Every now and then there have been some "illegal" strikes, for which the unions are punished in the court. In addition, often the union leadership speaks the same language as bosses: we need more competitivity in order to save Finnish jobs, and because of the global competition we cannot afford to make conflicts. However, there have been numerous strikes against layoffs.
The rate of union membership is high but decreasing. It's decreasing especially among the young temp/flex workers, who often feel being practically disregarded by the unions. The majority of new employment contracts are fixed-term. In public sector they are even more widespread than in the private sector. Hired work has increased rapidly.
However, unions have also gained some positive things. For example, in the Employment Contracts legislation, there's now an obligation for the employer to provide their part-time workers additional hours instead of hiring new workers (in case of increased work). This has importance especially in the service sector. Often the problem for workers is not the lack of beneficial regulations but the lack of supervision of their fulfilment (as is especially in the case of agency workers).
There is no law on minimum wage, but minimum wages are specified in collective agreements of each industry. There are relatively universal unemployment benefits and student financial aid. The level of these has been stagnant or decreasing and there have been some steps towards workfare.
Italy: Italy has traditionally been an elitist state with strong bosses and strong unions. It has a liberal political economy but a corporatist system of labor relations. Over the last 20 years, the three major unions (CGIL, socialdemocrat, CISL, catholic, UIL, business unionism) lost most of the bargaining power they had gained in the 70s through working class rebellion but have become an entrenched part of the state catering to middle-aged long-term employees and pensioners. FIOM, communist in inspiration and the biggest metalworking federation, still manages to mobilize industrial workers at FIAT and other large factories.
In competition with the mainistream unions (around 40% of the work force is unionized), sindacati di base (literally, rank-and-file unions) have grown significantly, especially in the public sector. CUB-RdB and Cobas are the two major ones. The former is more union-like and the latter is more movement-like.
Precarious workers constitute around 2/3 of all new hirings and over 7 million people, most of them in their 20s and 30s. No-one other than the mayday movement has made a significant effort to help net/flex/temp workers organize themselves and press their demands.
2. Dealing with precarity.
Finland: One of the main challenges for has been how to pose the problem of precarity in a meaningful way in the public discussion, as the traditional left and unions tend to identify precarity as lack of employment, and put their efforts to defend the "fordist" form of life, with wage work and steady job as the norm. We instead have argued that there is already too much work, and made efforts to raise more awareness on the transformations of labour and production itself. Because of the social and biopolitical nature of contemporary production, we've argued, there should be new forms of income distribution, such as basic income.
Some of the past precarity-related projects in Helsinki include Pummit.org (insurance for free-riding passengers in Helsinki area public transport); Lakko.org (birth strike announced by young greens, to oppose the gender-specific labour precarity of young women); house occupations (to create free social space as well as apartments for those who need); performative protests of Työväen Jousto (athletic club "Flexible Labor" showing up to disrupt employers); Prekariaatti.org website/network and Euromayday, which have been efforts to create space for precarious workers’ struggles and political demands in general. Also some publications have been made and articles been published in Megafoni webzine (megafoni.kulma.net).
Italy: The most vital issues for precarious workers today in Italy are continuity of income and access to affordable housing. The welfare state only protects long-term employees and families, not precarious individuals. In cities like Milano or Rome, the market rent for a one-room apartment is higher than the average entry wage. There are no universal unemployment benefits and very little public housing. As a consequence, the proportion of young people living in near-poverty has doubled over the last decade.
In the public sector, there are struggles demanding that temporary employees be hired with full benefits like every other public employee. Important in this respect is the movement of precarious researchers based in Rome. In the private sector, call center operators have been among the most combative segments of the workforce. In Milano, what's most vital is a very creative movement composed of media activists, cultural workers, militant unionists, stage hands aiming to shift the balance of power in Italy's richest city.
3. Migration, state policies and work.
Finland: Finland has been primarily a country of emigration, not immigration. Only during the last two decades, immigration has become more significant. Recruiting "guest workers" hasn't been significant until now. So far the asylum system has been the primary channel for legal immigration, and the asylum policies have been extremely strict. Only recently has there been debate about the need for labour supply, according to the corporate needs of skilled workers from abroad. "Humanitarian" migration and "economical" migration are being treated as two totally separate things, and selective control is applied to both based on different criteria.
Illegal migration also happens, even if staying in Finland without papers is rather difficult. Finland has a key role in controlling migration flows from Eastern Europe, especially from Russia. Recently politicians have called for even more strict border controls with the excuse of preventing human trafficking.
In some low-paid sectors, migrant labour has become more and more significant (cleaning, construction etc.). The bureaucratic control of work permits has been pushing migrants into dark labor market, working for subcontractors with below-standard wages. In some cases, trade unions have been helpful for migrant workers, who have succesfully sued their employers for paying below-standard wages. One of the main problems with the unions is that while they have been campaigning for equal work conditions, they have accepted unequal social rights for migrants (no equal access to health/social services/benefits etc.).
We started working on the issues of freedom of movement and migrants' rights in 1999, when we mobilized against the EU Summit in Tampere. Since then we have worked as part of the NoBorder network, aiming to open up political space for demands of free movement, but also to learn from the migrants' struggles. We have worked against the detention center in Helsinki (so far there's just one, established in 2002), and campaigned against deportations, the IOM and UVI (Directorate of Immigration). The detainees and deportees themselves have resisted in various ways, ranging from hunger strikes and suicide attempts to escapes. We seek to prevent these struggles to be silenced, and to voice out criticism towards the institutions which control migrants.
There are several migrant organizations and projects which aim to improve migrants' situation, for example the Orange Tree project (http://www.appelsiinipuu.net) which aims to empowerment of migrant women.
Italy: [No answer].
4. Looking ahead: Possibilities for resistance.
Finland: Finland's EU presidency in autumn 2006 etc. etc.
Italy: [No Answer].
Original Questionnaire:
1. The field of action.
Here, we would be interested in a general outlaying of the local situation in its totality (in 500 words, please!). That is, a 'refined' summary of the balance of forces in your country. One could think of it as writing a subverted article for The Economist; i.e., through the eyes not of the financier interested in investment possibilities, but the workers employed by his or her capital. What is the relationship between the working class, old and new, and the ruling class? How corporative is the union structure? Are there any examples of industrial unrest, be that in 'the old economy,' among the immaterial labourers, or among the ones currently under reproduction, as for example the students? More importantly, are there any signs of durable links between these struggles?
2. Dealing with precarity.
A general description of the most pressing questions of precarity as your group sees it: Is it linked to your own experiences, and in what way does it relate to the local and/or international socio-political situation? What will you focus on in the year to come, and why? Do you see your task mainly as one of research? of propaganda? of culture? of creating a more organisational based resistance?
3. Migration, state policies and work.
Many Euromayday groups seems to focus much of their attention on questions regarding immigration policies in general and paperless workers (waged or unwaged) in specific. But paradoxically, few if any non-Europeans have been present at the international Euromayday meetings. Is this because the question is mainly an 'external' one to the groups? More generally, we would like to know what the situation is like in regards to questions of migration in your country and/or region? Are there examples of self organisation worth mentioning? In what ways do you seek to contribute to a Europe without borders — and what does this mean, as you see it?
4. Looking ahead: Possibilities for resistance.
What are the obstacles, and what are the new potentials, for the work your group wants to engage in? Are there particular repressive strategies pursued by the government that stands in your way, and in case, how do you deal with this?
