European fiscal fundamentalism is the road to nowhere

ETUC Day of Action

Speech by Frances O'Grady

14 November 2012

TUC General Secretary Designate Frances O'Grady addressed a Coalition of Resistance rally on the evening of the ETUC Day of Action against austerity.

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I am proud to be here this evening.

Proud to be part of this ETUC Day of Action against austerity.

And proud to join you in calling for an EU run not for the benefit of bankers and bond market vigilantes but instead in the interests of its citizens and workers.

Today we stand in solidarity with our European brothers and sisters in rejecting austerity and demanding a future that gets people back to work and protects our public services.

Comrades, this is a momentous day.

Strikes are taking place in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Demonstrations are being held across northern Europe to show solidarity with working people in the south of our continent.

And from Romania in the east to Ireland in the west, 40 trade union organisations in 23 countries are joining together to say: enough is enough.

To the Troika let our message go out loud and clear: the people of Europe will not stand for your fiscal fundamentalism and we will fight for an alternative based on social and economic justice.

Friends, it is no exaggeration to say we are meeting at the most critical time for Europe since the end of the war.

Across our continent - from Berlin to Athens, London to Lisbon - governments are imposing austerity measures that are killing growth, destroying living standards and undermining the social provisions that have long been a defining part of the European project.

In Greece, our brothers and sisters are facing yet more savage austerity, with services, jobs, pay and pensions trimmed even further to the bone.

In Spain, half of all young people are now without work, an almost unimaginable situation in a modern industrial democracy.

And here in Britain, a Tory-led government that has acted as an international cheerleader for austerity is destroying growth, destroying hope and destroying our precious public services.

Right across the EU, what we are up against is a collective suicide pact of ideological spending cuts, labour market deregulation and diminished welfare states, putting at risk the distinct and popular social model that ranks as one of Europe's crowning achievements.

Let's be clear: this is the road to nowhere.

It is self-defeating economic masochism on an epic scale, imposed without the democratic consent of national electorates.

Those in the corridors of power in Brussels and Frankfurt need to understand this - that if ordinary European workers feel that the EU is about little more than cuts, open markets and privatisation then the European project will collapse just as surely as night follows day.

Frankly, is it any wonder that the EU has lost the trust of the European trade union movement and the 60 million workers we represent when it is pursuing this right-wing, free-market, anti-worker agenda?

Brothers and sisters, it's time for change: for a workers' Europe, not a capitalists' Europe.

In place of austerity, we need policies that promote decent jobs, decent wages and decent services.

In place of cuts, we need tax justice so the super rich pay their fair share at long last.

And in place of attacks on our rights, we need to get tough on the bankers who caused this mess and where better to start than with a financial transactions tax on the obscene profits of the speculators?

One thing's for sure.

There has never been more need for solidarity and unity between working people across Europe.

It doesn't matter whether it's on our streets, in our communities or in our workplaces, now is the time to stand up for what we believe in.

By sticking together, mobilising together and fighting together we can build a fairer, more equal and more prosperous Europe.

And whether we're British, Greek, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Polish or whatever, let's remember that elemental truth: that workers will always be stronger together.

So let's stand together in unity, let's remain true to our convictions, and let's win a more hopeful future for everyone in Europe

Thank you.