INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-BERLIN GERMANY:

LEGAL SETBACK FOR NEW BABYLON CINEMA WORKERS:

In Germany the , Freie Arbeiterinnen und Arbeiter Union, Free Workers' Union (FAU), the German section of the AIT-IWA, carries on the historical tradition of anarchosyndicalism. For almost a year now the workers of the FAU have been struggling for a collective agreement with the management of Berlin's 'New Babylon Cinema'. Through this time management has employed various legal manoeuvres to try and avoid recognition of the union. Here is the latest example, a temporary court injunction against the union. From the A-Infos site...

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Germany, FAU Berlin may no longer be called union:

The Free Workers Union Berlin has, on 11.12.2009 by a temporary injunction of the Berlin district court, been prohibited from calling itself a union or base union. This is the culmination of a series of attempts of New Babylon Berlin GmbH to take legal action against the strongest and most active union workers in the company. ---- Without hearing the district court followed the reasoning (argumentation) of the opposing side, who already in October got the Labour court to divest FAU Berlin of it's union status. In this judgement although the FAU Berlin was forbidden the boycott of the cinema, the union status, however, was not negotiable. ---- It is a novelty (new factor) in German law, that an organisation would be forbidden to call itself a union.

It is all the more absurd, if it concerns an organization that has for a good year led a labor dispute, which ultimately forced collective bargaining.

"This attack on the fundamental right of freedom of association is a union ban (in the sense of immediacy). It is our understanding that it is still always the workers themselves, who decide how they organise themselves. Should this decision survive/be long lasting, it is not only an attack against the FAu but against every form of independent grassroots/base organising." said Lars Rohm, Secretary of the FAU Berlin.

The FAU Berlin announced, however, to take action against this decision.

Chronology of the conflict in Babylon Cinema

*13/02/2009 Rally of the FAU Berlin in front of the cinema for higher wages during the Berlinale

*11/03/2009 Dismissal of employee and active member of the FAU

*04/06/2009 Presentation of the collective agreement of the FAU at the Babylon cinema

*17/06/2009 Rejection of collective bargaining by the New Babylon Berlin GmbH

*25/06/2009 Demonstration for the establishment of collective bargaining with the FAU

*13/07/2009 Calling for a boycott of the cinema by the FAU Berlin with the aim of bringing management to the negotiating table

*23/07/2009 Expansion of industrial action/workers struggle onto the second GmbH the management operated open air cinemas

*29/07/2009 Complaint for trespassing against members of the FAU Berlin at a leaflet campaign in the cinema

*03/09/2009 Intervention in the labor dispute by verdi

*25/09/2009 Protests of the FAU Berlin at the "Left Cinema Night" in Babylon Mitte. „Die Linke“ distributed flyers on which it indicates mediator/arbitrator of the intervention is ver.dis

*06/10/2009 First official meeting between ver.di and the FAU Berlin about forming a Tarifgemeinschaft (I think they mean common rate?)

*07/10/2009 Temporary injunction by the Labor Court Berlin prohibiting the boycott at the request of the New Babylon Berlin GmbH

*12/12/2009 Prohibition against FAU Berlin, by preliminary injunction, to describe themselves as a trade union or base trade union by the Berlin District Court on application by the New Babylon Berlin GmbH

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HOW YOU CAN HELP THE FAU:

Well, from the above it is certainly plain which side the German courts are on. The only way that the FAU can win through in this fight is by political pressure. Here, from an English section of their mostly German website is what they suggest you can do in solidarity.

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How to support us?:
Get involved: Solidarity is our weapon!

English: Here you find every information you need to support the FAU Berlin.Deutsch: Hier findet ihr alle nötigen Informationen, um die FAU Berlin zu unterstützen.
You can help us – amongst your own ideas – by:
♠Carrying out protest actions in front of German diplomatic missions (embassies, consulates) or other institutions that represent the German state.
♠Sending protest letters to German embassies in your country, including a carbon copy to the management of the Kino Babylon Mitte.
♠Sending protest faxes to the responsible Berlin court.

Here you find a list of all German diplomatic missions. Look if there is an embassy or consulate in your city. This file also includes information on how to contact the embassy in your country. The listed country names are given in German.

Here you find – if necessary – a table to find out how your country's name is in German.

Here [soon to come] templates for protest letters you can direct to the German embassy.

The contact to the Management of the cinema Babylon Mitte is:

Fax: +49 - (0)30 - 24727-800

E-mail: grossman@babylonberlin.de

hackel@babylonberlin.de

The contact to the competent court (Landgericht Berlin) is:Fax: +49 (0)30 90188 - 518

Here [soon to come] templates for protest letters you can direct to the Landgericht (court).

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Please stay tuned to the FAU website (or later here at Molly's Blog) for the details from the German comrades.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

THE FALL OF THE WALL-20 YEARS ON:

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall as an effective barrier between East and West Germany. This sudden collapse of one of East Germany's main controls on its citizens was certainly not the first, the last or even the most important event in the relatively fast crumbling of the Soviet Empire and the Marxist Leninist system of rule that underpinned the Empire.

The end of the Empire wasn't necessarily an unalloyed good, and many elderly people in the successor states long for the stability and security that dictatorship provided. Many are also offended by the conspicuous nature of inequality that has grown up. Not that the old communist ruling class wasn't just that- a ruling class with all the perks of same. It's just that they tended to flaunt it far less than the nouveau riche in eastern Europe today. On balance the end of central planning probably has improved the economic situation of the average person, but it certainly hasn't improved it as much as some might have thought it would at the beginning of the transitions.

The end of the Soviet Empire was also either the beginning of the end or the hastening of disintegration for a vast sea of communist parties that existed in countries where they didn't have state control. Most of these are pale shadows of their former selves. Some are certifiably dead. Others have successfully jettisoned their Marxist Leninist ideology to become ordinary social democratic parties. This implosion wasn't confined to the 'Moscow Line' Leninists. While the Maoists were already in a state of decline before the late 80s the fall of their supposed enemy led to a much more rapid decline. People (rightfully) saw that there was little difference between these two forms of Stalinism, except that the Maoists had a far greater potential for brutality in power. Even the Trotskyists saw their decline accelerated. Even though they were not Stalinists their Leninism tarred them with the same brush.

Today Leninist parties are pretty much a dead issue except for some very isolated situations. None, outside of Nepal, have even the remotest chance of becoming the new ruling class. Even being junior partners in coalition with other parties is becoming less and less common. Only North Korea stands as an horrible example of what Stalinism was in its full "glory". Many states (China, Vietnam, Laos and, to a large extent Cuba) maintain a Leninist concept of dictatorship while abandoning more and more of the economic fantasies that underlaid Marxism in power. These states may still be Leninist, but they can hardly be called Marxist anymore.

Not that the corporate managerialism of 'the West' is without its own problems, as citizens of the ex-communist states soon found out. This type of society also generates its own opposition, but the end of the Marxist dreamworld has left others to take up the fight. There have been many different beneficiaries of the disillusionment with Marxism. Anarchism (which was already growing) became even more attractive to radicals and potential radicals as the anarchists definitely had the best "I told you so" record in regards to the communist states. Green/ecology parties also experienced a boost as, for at least awhile, it seemed that their main competitors on the left were totally discredited. After an initial period of confusion and a certain anxiety left social democracy has also made a comeback, especially in South America. It often does this by borrowing/stealing mightily from the rhetoric and rarely the actual programmatic content of the anarchists and the ecologists.

Of course there are illusions and then there are illusions. Right wing commentators who were breaking their arms patting themselves on their backs about their 'great triumph' or 'the end of history' were given only a few years grace before history came back to bite, both politically and economically.

The fall of the Soviet Empire, and all the changes it set in motion, was, on balance, beneficial. Nobody can tell what new forms of class rule and opposition to class rule the future will hold. What is certain is that no grand political theorist or movement even foggily predicted the timing and manner of the end of the Empire. This should give anyone pause when confronted with those who, like the commies of old, claim to have a hidden key to the course of history in some sacred text. Beware of too much certitude.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR/INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-GERMANY:

SUPPORT THE WORKERS OF BABYLON CINEMA:

The following appeal is originally from the anarchosyndicalist FAU of Germany. It comes Molly's way via the Anarkismo website.

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Support the workers of Babylon Cinema in Berlin:
On March 11, Benoit Robin, a projectionist at Babylon Cinema in Berlin and an activist of FAU, was fired from his job. He was in the midst of organizing for improved working conditions in the cinema.

In January a FAU group was organized at the cinema. The workers there have poor wages: from 5.5-6 euro per hour, 6.4 euro for projectionists. This is a very poor wage in the industry. Many of the workers are precarious and have no contracts. They have no paid holiday or other benefits. By comparison, workers in another cinema chain receive 8.5 euro per hour plus 30 paid paid vacation.

Currently 27 people work at the cinema.

The cinema cannot be said to be in poor financial condition. As an art cinema, it receives a large government subsidy - almost a half million euros per year. Despite this, the workers in Babylon Cinema get extremely low wages - even less than in some workplaces known for their extremely poor work conditions.

The workers at the cinema organized a protest during the Berlin film festival. A month later, Robin was fired. It is believed that he was fired due to this organizing campaign.

Robin was not the only comrade ever fired from Babylon. Last year one comrade was fired for no reason but later received compensation for this. He is currently involved in the protests and organizing campaign.

The workers of the cinema have a blog: http://prekba.blogsport.de

There is also an online petition you can sign: http://prekba.blogsport.de/solidaritaets-erklaerungT

here is a video here (in German) with a machine translation of an article about the situation, but you can get the sense.

http://freundeskreis-videoclips.de/en/arbeitskampf-kino-babylon-berlin-mitte/

FAU is asking people to send letters to the cinema:

Neue Babylon Berlin GmbH

tgrossman@kinoundkonzerte.de

hackel@babylonberlin.de

Tel.: 0049 (0)30-24 727 804

Fax: 0049 (0)30-24 727 800

Re.: Dismissal of Benoit Robin

It has come to my attention that staff at the Babylon Cinema and the FAU-IWA, which has a presence there, have been opposing the precarious working conditions at the cinema.

I was sorry to learn that projectionist and union member Benoit Robin was fired just before he would have become entitled to job protection. This message is a strong protest against that unfair labour practice. Beyond the issue immediately at hand, I urge you to desist from interfering with organizing in your shop.

Best Regards

Copy of your letter to: faub5@fau.org