Solidarity with Grassroots Trade Union! - Picket of the German Embassy

On the 29th of January members of the WSM and comrades will be holdng a picket outside the German embassy as part of a global day of solidarity called by the Free Workers Union (“Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union”: FAU) in protest at their being effectively banned by the Berlin courts.

At the beginning of January, a court in Berlin, Germany, decided that the local federation of the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) is prohibited from calling itself a union or a grassroots union. If the FAU Berlin dares to do so it will face a fine of EUR 250,000 (USD 357,000) or a prison sentence.

This legal attack on the freedom of unions in Germany is the result of a labor dispute, which the FAU Berlin and cinema workers have been involved in for months with the management of the Babylon Mitte cinema. In the FAU’s opinion, it’s up to the workers to decide what a union is or which union they want and not the courts.

The FAU is intent on defending itself against the de-facto ban of its Berlin federation in a variety of ways. Thus, it was announced that the ban would be taken all they way to the Court of the European Union if need be. The strongest weapon of the worker is, however, not our trust in the judiciary but our international solidarity and direct action.

If you can please join our picket. We will be meeting at 12.30 at the embassy which is located at:

31 Trimleston Avenue
Booterstown
Blackrock
Co. Dublin
Tel.: 01 - 269 3011

If you cannot join us you could send an email of complaint to the German Foreign Office in Berlin by clicking here, and to the management of the cinema by clicking here. You can find out more about the case in this flyer and in the website below.