Intervention of the italian delegation at the rally in Frankfurt on #18M

Here we propose the text of the intervention of the italian delegation read by an italian activist during the rally organized by Blockupy international coordination on the 18th of March.

Hello to everyone, I bring our greetings from italian movements. Many Italian realities are a part of the Blockupy coalition since years. We came here with seven busses to participate to this day of protest against the ECB. As self-organised networks here we stand! we are the Strike Meeting, a network of radical unions, precarious collectives, student assemblies, social centers, that organized the first social strike on the 14th of November in italy. As well we are the Commune of Europe, an open transnational project made by comrades of IL and the italian Social Centers also active on the solidarity networks working with families evicted from their houses and with territorial Cometees such as NO big Ships, Stop Biocidio and NO TAV. Our vision is a new kind of Europe beyond austerity and our wish is to make it real by cooperation with many others who join the mobilization process towards Frankfurt.

We know that Europe is the minimum space of our political initiative that’s why we were more than four hundred people this morning at the blockades. Different colors invadeded the streets of Frankfurt and the rainbow we brought in the streets represents the colors of migrants, student and precarious saying loud and clear that the Europe of austerity and precarization is not the Europe we want.

Just few months ago the italian governement has approved the Jobs Act, a strong and deep liberalisation of the labour market in continuity with the general europeantrends: the lowering of the labour’s costs, the erase of basic rights of many workers to accomplish the profits of few people. The issue of precarity has not been overcome, rather it has been deepened for students, freelancers, employees of public services, precarious but as well dependent workers, migrants and unemployed. But we are not thinking – and we never had – of giving up to a possible, different perspective; they won’t win on us by forcing an individualistic, separated, impoverished and silent kind of life. A strike to hurt capitalistic mechanisms, to enlarge an give new sense to the strike for all those workers and non-workers that today have no rights to strike.

And this is shamefully expressed by today’s inauguration of the Eurotower: 1,4 billion of euros for a deteached and impressive skyscreeper. This is the Europe where we are used to live: capitals’ power without democracy, hierarchies between States, extinguishment of social justice and reinforcement of borders. No money have been used for redestribution and welfare, to tackle pracerity and impoverishment.

The Euro tower is not only a symbol but our direct counterpart. The election in Greece and the negotiations started afterwards are an occasion for movements throughout Europe to say that there is an alternative to austerity. It is an opportunity to say in this day of transnational mobilization that the European institutions are accountable for their political choice to impoverish and exploit millions of people throughout Europe.

But we know another Europe. We know the Europe of cooperation and exchange; we know the Europe of resistances and struggles, of the squares and streets. We have a very powerful tradition to push forward. The 18th of March, 1871, workers and citizens of Paris took the city, blocked with barricades its central zones, stopped the dayly normality and declared a war to their present which echoed in every european quarter: an alternative is there if we start building it up all together. Today, the 18th of March 2015, we must think that we have just begun to engrave a new Continent. Today we have managed a coordination between thousands of activists from all over Europe united to prevent one of the responsible of this Europe from having a quiet and joyful inauguration. After this day of action we will continue to engage in a cooperation and organization on a European level. Tomorrow we will participate in the working meeting organized in the frame of Blockupy discussions about perspectives in social struggles, to push forward the process of a common organization and to work to build strikes and work struggles that go beyond national borders. Today we block the ECB, tomorrow we should keep going in the organization of solidarity, new experiences of mutuality, and self organization. To hit the capitalist production to build a new Europe beyond austerity: our time to act has come, let’ s take the chance to do it together.