Wellington solidarity with the FAU-B

In Berlin, Germany, workers at the Babylon Cinema are being victimised by management and the German State. The workers are members of the anarcho-syndicalist union the Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union (FAU). The German courts have ruled that the FAU cannot take any collective action or even refer to itself as a union, and have threatened members with fines of up to €250,000 (NZ$494,441) and imprisonment. This has not deterred them in their struggle for the right to collective action for better wages and conditions, and the FAU-B called out for an international day of solidarity with the Babylon Cinema workers on January 30th. More information on the case can be found in this English language leaflet and in the English section of the FAU website.

The Wellington Region branch of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement organised a small picket at the German Embassy on the 30th, and sent a letter of solidarity to the FAU-B. The letter can be read below:

Dear Comrades,

The Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement sends love and support to all those currently suffering at the hands of the reactionary German State. The recent repression against the Free Workers Union of Berlin and the workers at Babylon Cinema sends a clear message to all those struggling for liberation and dignity as human beings; that the loyalty of the government lies with the capitalist class.

However we would also like to share our admiration for the initiative demonstrated by the workers at Babylon cinema, who have fought boldly against the humiliating realities of capitalist exploitation. That the capitalists and bureaucrats have found it necessary to team up shows beyond little doubt that the self-organisation of workers, demonstrated by the FAU-B, is still a real threat to capital.

In the spirit of internationalist solidarity, which has always been a central pillar of the workers movement, AWSM condemns the banning of the FAU-B and shall make this known in no uncertain terms to the German embassy here in Aotearoa.

Victory to the workers at Babylon Cinema!

Long live the Free Workers Union of Berlin!

In solidarity,

Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement