Workers have a different reason for voting to remain in the EU than does Cameron and many Labour politicians. History has shown that we are fragile when divided, and strong when united. Our interest is based on unity with other employees across the EU, on the basis of a common battle for good conditions, against austerity, and to build a different kind of future.
In this series of posts on the EU, I’m providing a new format. First, the punchline, to enable you to determine whether to read on, then a short version that summarises the primary points, and an extended explanation of the quarrels, for those who have the right time to learn in more detail. Workers created trades unions, because they quickly realised that they needed to combine so that rather than competing against each other, for jobs, they were more powerful when they co-operated with each other.
The more people joining together within an organisation, be it a investments union, a sports activities anything or golf club else, the more powerful the organisation and its own members are. When companies became transnational and multinational, that rule and understanding was extended. Workers created Combine Committees, so that they could co-operate with employees in the same firm in various countries, and in the same industry in various countries.
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Workers found that there were some things that they all had in keeping, whatever firm or industry they worked in, and which it was logical to negotiate as a whole, with the state, rather than individually with employers. For example, it is rational to have a common group of minimum holiday entitlements, maximum working hours, safety and health regulations, working ages etc.
The problems facing employees in Greece and other countries aren’t problems created by the EU, or by the Euro, but by the traditional policies that have been implemented. The source of those conventional insurance policies of austerity is not the EU, but conservative makes in each country. Workers over the EU need greater unity, better solidarity so as to oppose those conventional policies, and also to demand higher minimum standards. Separating ourselves off into smaller individual national systems is the contrary of the direction we need to travel, and goes against every lesson of solidarity we have learned over the last 200 hundred years.
As I composed not long ago, employees have different known reasons for voting to stay in the European union completely, in comparison to those submit by David Cameron, or even some Labour politicians. The latter begin by viewing things from the perspective of what’s best for Britain, where they mean really, what is best for British businesses, not for British workers.
But, workers found out, 200 years back, that their passions are collective passions; interests shared by all employees, irrespective of what company they work for, industry they work in, or where they live. They are able to best defend those passions when they could join together rather than compete against each other. That’s the reason they created investments unions.
What is worse, & most irritating, is that those types of conservative, backward looking procedures are actually against the longer-term interests of the accumulation of capital and development of the effective forces. Firms themselves understand that idea. They don’t compete against each other if they can avoid it. There are lots of types of collusion between firms to keep up prices, for example, when its unlawful even! Its not only workers who recognised the advantage of joining together, and co-operating. Besides all of the various cartels, trade organizations etc, firms created organisations like the CBI, Chambers of Commerce and so forth to go after their collective interests.
At an international level, capitalist countries produced collective organisations such as the IMF, the World Bank or investment company and so forth. Wherever, individual companies can, they make an effort to get bigger, and take over other firms, in order to decrease the competition they face. Before, workers too realised that. In the 19th century, the more advanced employees across Europe created organisations like the Communist League, and the First International.
The Co-operative Movement in Britain, quickly used the thought of internationalism, creating links with workers across Europe, and creating the International Co-operative College. Later workers created the Second, and Third Internationals. But, recently, workers extended the lessons they had discovered in the investments unions on a global size. A multinational company like Ford, or GM has employees at vegetation in a range of EU countries, as well as in america and somewhere else.