Phase one of German reunification: Frontal assault on German workers

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HELMIN GO Anti-Kohl demonstration in Leipzig. Workers want to defend gains and social programs of previous years.

Financial harassment trial held against Mark Curtis The following is an abridged version of a July 10 newsletter by the Mark Curtis Defense Committee. Mark Curtis is a Des Moines, lowa, member of the Socialist Workers Party and trade union activist who was framed-up on charges of rape and burglary in 1988. He is currently serving a 25-year prison term which is being appealed. The lawsuit went to trial on July 9.

Last December a financial harassment lawsuit against Curtis was filed by Keith and Denise. Morris, the parents of the young woman Curtis was charged with attacking. The suit aims to put a massive financial burden on Curtis and his wife—to make them pay for the rest of their lives for a crime he did not commit. Its goal is to break Curtis and his wife, to shut them up.

"Today Mark Curtis and Kate Kaku, his wife and defense committee spokesperson, faced a stacked trial," [defense committee coordinator John] Studer reported. "Because of the way Iowa law is written, there was no question [that] Mark would lose." Judge Arhtur Gamble ruled last month [in June] that Curtis' prior conviction barred him from contesting liability for the charges against him. The only issue for trial would be the size of the damages to be assessed against him.

"Even though we did as well as we could [at the July 9 trial] given the circumstances," Curtis defense lawyer William Kutmus explained, "we have to remember that they will get damages against Mark." Judge Gamble ruled that summary arguments would be presented to the court in writing on August 10. At the defense committee meeting that night, John Studer reported, "this trial was the continuation of the cop frame-up against Mark. It's goal is to undermine the success of the international defense campaign. Mark—who remains a political activist in prison-and Kate are SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1990 11 On July 2, the State Treaty-which sets the terms of the monetary, economic, and political reunification of the two Germanys—was signed by the the two German heads of state, Helmut Kohl and Lothar de Maiziere.

The various clauses of the State Treaty represent a declaration of war against the conquests of the East German workers' state. They stipulate the introduction of a capitalist market economy and the suppression of state planning in East Germany. They call for the elimination of guaranteed permanent jobs and of cheap, subsidized housing. (Under the new treaty, rents can go up by 500 percent in the east.)

he treaty calls tor monetary union 1 nich approximately su percent of the sav ings of the East German workers will be lost. West German economists estimate that as many as 4 million workers may be unemployed within two years!

But nowhere in the State Treaty is any reference made to disbanding the remaining Stalinist bureaucratic state apparatus. In fact, current East German Interior Minister Diestel has been openly recruiting ex-STASI agents to his new police force on the grounds they are "well trained, highly disciplined, and skilled in the use of arms" (Informations Ouvrieres, May 23-30, 1990).

What did they really vote for?

Kohl and De Maiziere claim that the victory of the Christian Democrats in the March 18 East German elections represented a mandate for implementing the provisions stipulated in the State Treaty. This is false.

East German workers voted for the rapid reunification with West Germany proposed by Kohl because of their deep and legitimate aspiration for German unity and because they wanted to quickly attain the standard of living of the West German workers they had seen portrayed over the years on television.

Though many East Germans, who suffered for decades under Stalinist mismanagement and repression, may have indicated their support in the abstract for a "free market economy," they weren't supporting massive joblessness, homelessness, and increased austerity. They will not give up their social gains unless they see concrete evidence of higher living standards in the near future.

Kohl, it must be remembered, totally downplayed any mention of unemployment or increased prices during his election campaign. His advisers told him that this would be too unpopular to mention. Kohl's pledge was simple: Vote for my party and you'll get rich quick!

Explosive situation the making With the announcement of the State Treaty, however, things have changed rapidly. An explosive situation is in the making. In fact, even before the new measures were put into effect, the East German workers began to organize and protest.

The railworkers went on strike on May 10 to demand a 300 percent wage increase. Workers in the textile and shoe industries struck for a 100 percent wage increase and a 38-hour week. Farmworkers began to organize against the proposed return of farmlands to the former capitalist owners.

Following the introduction of the State Treaty on July 1, about 20,000 East German metalworkers held brief work stoppages to press their demands for a two-year job guarantee and wage increases.

Another brief warning strike was reported at the Ludwigsfelde auto parts plant near East Berlin, where workers are demanding a shorter workweek and higher pay. And on July 19, about 2500 East German police demonstrated in front of the parliament building in East Berlin to demand higher wages to cope with rising food costs.

Independent unions needed

To accomplish the task of defending and extending their gains, the East German workers are seeking to create new, indepenproductivity. The union demands would dent unions. The Stalinist-led FDGB federation is not an adequate vehicle to fight against the attempts to restore capitalism.

The recent national convention of the FDGB adopted a resolution that supports the framework of the economic reforms and calls for co-management between the workers and the employers. Such co-management would gut the independence of the union, transforming it into a relay mechanism of the government's austerity measures-as is currently the case with Solidarnosc in Poland.

To fight for their interests, the East German workers will need to have the unrestricted right to strike and to organize against the bosses and bureaucrats.

de Maiziere did not produce results.

Meanwhile the mayors of Leipzig, Dresden, Halle, Magdeburg, Rockstock, and Potsdam met with their East Berlin colleague to consider new ways of raising money to fill the empty coffers of the city administrations. Potsdam's mayor, Dr. Gramlich, pointed out that the deplorable state of affairs in the cities was one of the prime movers in last fall's mobilizations that brought down the government. Dr. Keller, the vice mayor of Dresden, noted that 2 billion Marks would be necessary just to keep the buildings in the cities from falling apart.

There's no doubt about it—an entirely new situation has developed. How the German working class will respond to these escalated attacks is a question that will be posed with increasing urgency in the next months.

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WOME Yves Morro/Sygma