My name is Faye, I work in the social sector
with people who have few resources.
The reason I am here is that it directly affects me, and of course
also the people I work with,
because the money that is put into rearmament, into militarization
is of course missing, particularly in the social sector
and is then missing for the people who already have few resources.
And what I notice is that there is very little awareness among my colleagues
of the connection between militarization, rearmament and social welfare cuts.
As a workforce, you hardly notice anything,
because everything is glossed over with the issue of disaster control.
It's not explicitly stated that we are now preparing for a case of war,
but rather disaster control exercises are taking place,
where, however, topics such as
gunshot wounds and the like are increasingly becoming part of the agenda.
A year ago, the Berlin Senate,
the Berlin Hospital Society and the Army invited people to an information event,
advertised only on a small scale, to inform employees in the Berlin
healthcare system about the civil defense of hospitals.
The fact that the Berlin Senate had called upon
the Hospital Society and the Army to do this
made me sit up and take notice back then, me and a few colleagues.
And we went there and were actually relatively shocked,
how detailed some of the plans already were,
how clearly the Army colonel
who spoke there had constructed the enemy image, Russia.
And how enthusiastic the head of the Berlin Hospital Society was,
because: "finally money is flowing into hospitals again"
It's still in my ear.
So it was frightening. I was glad
that colleagues from IPPNW were there,
because I was so paralyzed,
I couldn't express my protest at all.
They interrupted the event and made a clear statement.
I am very grateful to them for that.
I'm Vincent, I'm one of the co-initiators of the Red Trade Union Meeting
in Waiblingen in the Stuttgart region and Ludwigsburg
and I work in the healthcare sector in nursing care.
Right, I'm Nikki and I'm also part of the circle that
co-initiated the Red Trade Union Meeting back then.
Well, I think the basic insight into why this meeting
was necessary and still is and will continue to be,
is sort of the state of the
German workers' and trade union movements.
In our view, there's simply a lot that
could be going better and where things have been better in the past.
We have never before seen such an attack on the welfare state.
Factories are to be closed or jobs cut left, right and center.
Prosperity through arms spending is a specter that's haunting everywhere.
All of this comes with fatal consequences for
our class, for the proletariat.
Yes, at the same time it's a kind of door opener and perhaps also inspiration for
Marxist leftists, communists, class-struggle leftists.
Exactly, a way one might perhaps practice Marxist education or
hold discussions together with actual workforces
about Marxist classics or current struggles or such.
Exactly, and in that sense, I think, we have already
inspired a few people with it, or at least I hope so.
So what is still prevalent everywhere is a bit of this fallacy.
That all this has to happen now because it's about our security.
And the question we would pose there and what, I think, is the starting point
for concrete resistance in the interests of our class,
is the question: who is "we" and whose security is this about?
Is there a common togetherness of us and our
bosses, and is there a security that concerns us all?
Or is it ultimately, perhaps unsurprisingly, more about
the economic-military influence of the FRG?
Well, I think people have simply unlearned, to some extent, how to fight.
Shining examples, which lie far in the past,
are constantly being cited regarding escalatory strikes, wildcat strikes,
which were often successful too.
And now we're also encountering a
generation that may have never been on strike.
And it's simply about gaining experiences and
really considering all levels of this confrontation.
And if need be, when the capital side
won't back down, to concretely think about
actually using such means, such methods.
And not, top-down, to not even allow workforces
or to even put the word strike in their mouths.
We observe that often too.
I think we'll stick with the unified trade unions for now.
I wouldn't want to point at any one in particular.
But I observe, both with Verdi and with IG Metall,
that they often don't ask themselves uncomfortable questions.
And I think that's where we need to start and change that.
Yes, definitely.
Well, I think one thing is confidence in one's own strength, which you
also have to have experienced in order to be able to assess
how strong you actually are, what means you might have at your disposal.
I think the social climate isn't always necessarily pro-strike,
especially when it affects public transport, for example.
And the capital side, or the press which is to some extent guided by them,
I would say,
talks about extremes, about strikes,
which we aren't actually observing at the moment.
Or about a certain irresponsibility that labor disputes currently have.
We don't share that assessment.
I think the concerns that the workforces want to defend
in this case are completely justified.
And I think we need to be militant there.
Yes.
Hi, I'm Emile.
In November, along with some other people, I occupied the port of Hamburg
against the weapons deliveries originating from Germany.
Because the port of Hamburg is a hub
and a focal point for imperialist warfare.
And yes, that's what we committed ourselves to.
Or rather, that's what we demonstrated against.
And yes, it's really over the top how they
are now trying to make us out to be terrorists somehow.
Even though we're actually doing the only right thing.
Opposing them.
And that's why I'm also here today.
And I've already been able to learn and take away an incredible amount.
And I'm curious and happy that a huge
networking is taking place and hopefully a big movement will happen.
And I don't think it's right that now our youth are used as cannon fodder for
their wars, just to gain more power and land again and again,
and to increase capital. This is not our war.
And yes, I encounter this again and again in everyday life.
And I'm also afraid that, well, I'm trans myself.
And I've now decided not to change my
my gender marker, because otherwise I would be conscripted.
And something's wrong with that.
I'm Tobias.
I'm a father of three children.
Basically, I simply don't want my
children to have to die in a war for this state.
For them to become the human material on the battlefields.
That's why we're organizing ourselves here and making sure that as families, as
parents, we fight against conscription and rearmament.
I believe that we must overcome the divisions
that have existed in the movement so far.
That we should bring together many different forms of action.
And that we should create a powerful anti-war movement.