May Day in Copenhagen (Denmark): The struggle continues despite the leaders of the workers' movement

In spite of the rain and the "routine" speeches of many of the speakers what emerged from the May Day rally in Copenhagen was a mood of apprehension among the workers. They are worried about their future.

The speeches in Copenhagen spoke their own language. There was a serious undertone in some of the speeches of the day, which was, for example expressed by the chairman of the Painters' Union. He put the war in Iraq, the right-wing government and the increasing unemployment on the agenda. These questions were also brought up in the speeches of the main speakers in Fælledparken (where the main event took place on May Day).

That these worries were not addressed directly doesn't mean that they're less important, not only for those they touch directly, but for the entire working class. The increasing unemployment and the war in Iraq may not seem as two closely connected things, but they are both factors that indicate the increasing crisis within capitalist society, a crisis that, as we has explained several times, is developing at all levels - military, political, economic, etc. There are no signs of big improvements in the world economy, nor in the Danish. It means that the working class all over the world can only expect even harsher attacks than before.

But no speakers came up with solutions to what is worrying the workers. The one who came the closest was Mogens Lykketoft (the chairman of the Danish Social Democracy), who in his speech explained how the Social Democracy is the defender of the Danish welfare state. Unfortunately it was not long ago, (although this was before Lykketoft became chairman) that it was a Social Democratic government that was making cuts on welfare. It may be that Lykketoft has forgotten about these cuts, but it doesn't seem that the Danish workers have forgotten – the opinion polls still reveal that the Social Democracy is doing badly.

In the evening the media proclaimed that the class struggle is dead, which is something they do every year, but this is not true. In spite of the rain a sizeable number showed up in Fælledparken. These people showed up because there is still something to fight for, and a tradition to uphold, a tradition which is not of "drinking beer and eating sausages" as the media tries to portray it, but a tradition were the working class comes together, becomes aware of its own strength and poses demands.

It is true that on May Day as it is today in Denmark there isn't much of a fighting spirit, but that is first of all because of the leadership of the workers' movement, who fail to give any concrete leadership to the struggles of the workers. But the Danish workers are more than willing to fight, despite their leaders. This was shown in the media on the same morning. The level of strikes on the part of the Danish workers has been greater than anywhere else in Europe (between 1998 and 2002), with more than double the number of days lost through strike action per 1000 workers than Spain, which comes "second". This is partly because of the big strike in 1998, where the workers went directly against their leaders' proposal of a new wage negotiation and voted the proposal down. That strike didn't end until the Social Democratic government intervened and stopped the strike by suing the law. Many of the other strikes have been so called "illegal" strikes, where the workers have come out on strike for better conditions in spite of the fact that they had to pay a fine, and they didn't get any wages or support, neither economic nor moral, from their unions.

It is clear that the Danish working class is more than willing to fight; it is only the leaders of the workers' movement who are lagging behind. The leaders of the unions have to lead this fight against the rightwing government and its programme of cuts, and demand a workers' government, with a workers' policy – i.e. stop all cuts in welfare, including the attacks on the unemployed, and abolish all anti-strike laws. What is needed is a government which is prepared to break with the capitalists when they demand a worsening of the working conditions, privatisations and cuts, and in stead fulfils the demands of the workers.

If the present leaders of the workers' movement refuse to take their place at the head of this struggle, it is hard to say for how long they can keep their well-paid jobs. A serious struggle requires that the leaders do what the workers have already done: abandon the "peace commitment" which is in the "Main agreement". The "Main agreement" specifies that the bosses can worsen the working conditions as often as they like, that the government can apply cuts, for example on unemployment benefits, they can attack the unions etc., and it also states that the workers have no right to use the only real weapon they possess – strike action.

There is no doubt that the workers still need this day of struggle, and that is not just true in Denmark, but in the entire world. The economic crisis doesn't just affect the Danish workers – capitalism has become more and more international and therefore also the crisis of the system is international. All over the world the workers have been fighting against war, against job losses, for the right to join a union, etc. This is a struggle against the capitalist class. It is a struggle that has to be united across borders if it is to achieve its goal: to secure for everyone a good life.

For a continued international workers' struggle for a socialist world!