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Het gevecht voor een strijdbare vakbond
Patrick Zoomermeijer - 04.12.2005 14:13
Johan Kwisthout, lid van Offensief en raadslid voor de SP in Breda, is onlangs geïnterviewd over de strijd van De maat is vol voor een strijdbare FNV. In dit interview geeft hij een overzicht van het ontstaan van De maat is vol en de strijd vorig jaar tegen de bezuinigingen van Balkenende. Interview komt van www.Smashed Images.net
Working class resistance in Holland
Working class resistance in Holland -except in the harbours- seems to be
something of the past. For almost 25 years the biggest unions have more
interest in cooperating with the employer's organisations and the
government than to really support their own members. One of the most
refreshing and inspiring exceptions to this pessimist view is De Maat Is
Vol (It is Enough - DMIV): an active and radical network active within the FNV. A few months ago i had following conversation with Johan Kwisthout who's active within this network.
For the people who're not familiair with the dutch political landscape:
DMIV: De Maat Is Vol (It Is Enough) - active & radical network within the FNV
FNV: biggest dutch union - social democrats
PVDA: Labour Party - social democrats
SP: Socialist party - socialists
Groen Links: Green Party
Solidair: Worker's organisation linked to the SP
Solidariteit (Solidarity): libertarian-marxist orientated group active
within the FNV
CAO: Collective Labour Agreement - this agreement sets the minimum demands concerning payment and secundairy working conditions for each sector.
Q: Can you shortly introduce DMIV?
A: DMIV is an organisation which has its roots in the harbour of Rotterdam.
It's a movement within the union, mainly within the FNV (social-democrat
union). DMIV strives for a combative union. It started with strikes in the dutch harbour. Later on this was extended to other sectors within the union.
Was there any direct reason to found DMIV?
The direct reason, or the trigger was the Port Package. In the past
dockworkers had to be certificated. For safety reasons not everyone is
allowed to unload a ship. Thanks to the Port Package, which is a european
measure, this guideline will be repealed. That means that in the future
everyone is allowed to work in the harbour. That was the direct reason to
found the action committee De Maat Is Vol and to strike against the new
guideline. And we succeeded. People noticed there was hardly any support from the union and saw how the unions had lost their combative spirit. They concluded that if we want to change something and if we want to form the union into a combative organisation, we have to change something within the union.
Why does DMIV choose to stay active within the FNV union? Did you never
considered to leave the FNV to start a new radical union, together with for example Solidair or Solidariteit?
I'm not familair with Solidariteit, although i know it's a unionmagazine.
Solidair is an organisation which is linked to the SP. DMIV often works
together with Solidair. But to answer your question, we never considered to leave the union. The power of the union is the power of the numbers. When a combative group leaves the union, you isolate yourself. Therefor we stay active within the union. There're also other groups and movements active within the union, like the ones you just mentioned. If possible we work together, but like i said we often cooperate with the SP. All these organisations, including DMIV, have more goals than turning the union to the left. For example, an organisation like Solidair also has the aim to interest people for the SP.
DMIV was one of the main forces behind last year's workers resistance, with as a highlight a massive demonstration in Amsterdam in october 2004 with 300.000 people. What's your view on the result?
Like you just said we were one of the main forces behind it. It even goes
further: we threatened to take Lodewijk De Waal (back then the union's
chairman, ed.) hostage in his own office if he refused to organise
actions. After the highlight of october 2004 we saw how the resistance was canalised. Not much later this resulted in the so called autumn's agreement by the unions, employer's organisations and the government. We noticed that both the union bosses and political parties, especially the PVDA, thought the resistance was running too fast and too far. The left-wing parties (PVDA, Groen Links and SP) were aiming at a referendum concerning the new superannuation scheme, while DMIV tries to organise workers with strikes. If you decide to organise a referendum you need to collect the necessary amount of autographs. This distracts from what really counts: resistance. And not only against the superannuation scheme.
Finally the 'social partners' made the autumn agreement. It meant some
minor changes, but like the dutch secretary of state De Geus said, the main issues didn't change. Back then DMIV didn't have the power to influence this agreement. Right now the negotiations for a new CAO for each sector are ungoing. Whenever possible we try to influence this.
You just mentioned referenda. Recently the FNV started using referenda to
aks the members for their opinion on the agreements they made with the
government and employer's organisations. What's DMIV's view on these
referenda?
My main criticism on referenda, something which also happened with the
fall-agreement, is that the people who' re actively involved in the union
were -with a few exceptions - completely against the fall-agreement. The
balance among the common members was completely different. So the people
who're actively involved in the union are overruled by people who're union members -who of course support the idea of an union- but who have different motives besides that. For example the tax-advises union members get, or the juridical support when you lose your job. That's a very strange situation, i think. So the people who're less involved in the organisation of the union and who have less knowledge on the cases a union is involved with, have a bigger voice.
Something that irritated me was the method of questioning. While reading
the question you already know what the union leaders want you to answer...
A very good way to influence the result of a referendum is the method of
questioning, for example "Don't you think this is a very bad plan?" instead of "Is this a good or bad plan?".
Both the peace movement as well as workers resistance in Holland passed its highest level. What's according to you the reason for passing this level?
I think this has to do with the dutch culture, Holland turned into some
polder culture. Since the mid '80ies when the major agreement in Wassenaar was made -temper the rise of wages to create more jobs- the union leaders saw themselves more and more as conversation partners instead of leaders of a combative organisation. Among the union members the question arised if they were still able to mobilise the mass or to organise actions. We saw they still can. Anyway, i think these doubts are the main reason why.I can't say much about the peace movement, as i'm not involved in it. But i think the same happened with them as well. There was a continual change in actions. From actions at factories and demonstrations it changed into meetings with the people in power. As soon as you start to drink coffee and negotiating with them it will be very difficult not to lose your combative spirit and not to become enclosed by them.
If you compare the union tradition in Holland with for example France or
last year in Walloon it's completely different. Do you think this has to do with the fact the social democrats were often in power in Holland?
Hmm, that's a difficult question to answer. I don't know if it has to do
with differences in culture or a bigger class distinction. I don't think
this tradition is impossible in Holland. We saw it during last year's
demonstration...
Ok, but that was on a completely different level than hijacking some bosses like happened in Walloon...
Class distinction is way much bigger over there. Holland has a tradition of negotiating.
Since the sixties the dutch left-wing is moving more and more away from
worker's struggle. What can be the reason of this development?
A main reason is the fact that a traditional workers party like the PVDA
was always assured to receive the leftwing votes. So if they want to grow
bigger, they can only achieve this by attracting voters from the middle of the political spectrum. So during the years this party kept on moving
towards the middle. This also happens with the SP, this party is as well
more and more moving up towards the middle, because people on radical
left-wing will vote for them anyway. So when left-wing parties move up
towards the middle of the political spectrum it's logical they'll have a
bigger focus on this new electorate.
A while ago i did an interview with the english punkpoet Attila the
Stockbroker, who also has his background in the left-wing movement. During that interview he said that it was better to have the Tories in the government than Labour. Because when the Tories are in the government you have the unions with you, as the unions won't take opposition against
Labour. If you try to project this vision on the dutch situation, can you
agree with it?
No, but actually i also don't agree with the english variant of it. It's
about time the unions will take distance from Labour, something which
slowly already happens. The biggest union already made clear the connection between Labour and them isn't for granted anymore. I think in England and more or less also in Holland and especially in the USA the question who's in power is like six of one and half a dozen of the other. Of course this is a hard situation, as it's a powerful force against every new party or movement. There's always the argument that a new party or movement on the left weakens the traditional left-wing and strengthens the traditional right-wing. But it's up to us to make clear that in England Labour and the Torries, or here in Holland the three big parties, share most of their main ideas.
What can we expect from DMIV the coming period? Most big agreements are
already made.
Now the struggle for the different CLA's will start. Members of DMIV will
be involved in that as well. Especially within the bigger sectors and the
referendum concerning the European Union. Another important point is to
strengthen our own organisation. According to me DMIV is too much a common idea and too less an organisation. I think it's important to improve our own organisation, so that people who feel themselves connected to DMIV can receive a newsletter, can meet each other, etc. I think it's important to build up our movement. When we are better organised it will also be easier to react whenever necessary.
Do you have any closing comments?
I think most possibilities DMIV has depends on one single questions: do
people vote pro or against the european constitution. If the european
countries agree on the constitution it means the dienstenrichtlijn will
enter through the backdoor. But also neo-liberalism will be part of the
constitution, just like communism was mentioned in the constitution of the former Soviet-Union. Items like these make it very important to vote
against the european constitution. A majority of no-voters will be an
important boost in self-confidence and action possibilities for DMIV.
For more information on DMIV check the website of De Maat Is Vol. Other
interesting websites of dutch workers organisations are Solidariteit and
Solidair.
(interview na te lezen op:  http://www.rar.dds.nl/smashedimages/politics/dmiv.htm)
 E-Mail: info@offensief.nl  Website: http://www.offensief.nl
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