Marchers set out to win jobs

Date: 10/04/1997

By Simon Coss

THOUSANDS of protesters will set out from cities across Europe and beyond over the coming week in a huge 'march for jobs' set to converge on Amsterdam just two days before the June summit of EU leaders.

“The objective of these marches is to mobilise against unemployment and social exclusion. European statistics officially count 20 million jobless and more than 50 million living below the poverty line,” explained an official at the event's headquarters in Paris.

The organisers hope to influence the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations which are set to be concluded at the June summit. “We want to bring the idea of Europe as a social entity to the forefront of discussions, just as the workers at Vilvoorde are doing,” explained one protester, referring to the demonstrations sparked by car manufacturer Renault's decision to close its Belgian plant with the loss of 3,100 jobs.

The marches will bring together delegations of unemployed people, those whose employment is precarious, as well as workers with secure jobs.

The first contingent will set out from Tangiers in Morocco tomorrow (11 April) and head for the Dutch capital via Spain, France and Belgium.

Immigrant workers from countries such as Morocco are the source of a great deal of contention in discussions on European labour policy. They are certainly amongst the lowest paid of all workers in the Union but are nevertheless regularly accused of entering Europe illegally and 'stealing' jobs.

Over the next few days, two more groups of marchers will set off from France, with one contingent leaving Grenoble and heading through Switzerland and western Germany, while another departs from Brest in Brittany to join up with Belgian colleagues further up the coast.

Other marches will begin in Almeria in southern Spain, Crotone in southern Italy, and Sarajevo and Tuzla in former Yugoslavia.

In Finland, three separate groups will join up in Helsinki to make the long trek south. One of the trio hopes to arrive in the Finnish capital on skis from Ivalo, 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

Between the end of April and mid-June, other groups of protesters will take to the road in Marseilles, Reims and Toulouse in France, Frankfurt-an-der-Oder on the German-Polish border, Rostock on the German Baltic coast and Vienna. Several marches will also leave from the British Isles.

The organisers have planned a series of large-scale events to coincide with the marches, beginning in Paris this weekend with a major demonstration outside the Gare Montparnasse. Similar protests will take place in Geneva, headquarters of the World Trade Organisation and the International Labour Organisation, and Lille in northern France.

On 28 May, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is planning a 'European Day of Action for Employment' and march organisers hope to link up with these events.

The marches are set to culminate in a huge demonstration on Saturday 14 June in Dam Square, Amsterdam, outside the Dutch bank where political leaders will meet two days later.