The weekend began internationally: in 2019 the contradictions of capitalism came to the surface. There were massive movements — from Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon to the impressive struggles of the working class in France and many other countries. Claus Ludwig from Cologne stressed in his contribution that many of these movements have the character of an uprising and are highly dynamic.

International Developments

Established parties are eroding, and, in many countries, left-wing candidates are gaining popularity. The elections in Ireland expressed the hope for a left-wing alternative, although the Sinn Fein party will not deliver on these hopes. Andros Payiatsos, a member of the ISA’s international leadership, reported on the Bernie Sanders movement, which involves one million activists. Our comrades from Socialist Alternative in the USA are part of this movement and emphasize the necessity of breaking with the Democratic Party and building a party with a socialist program for and by the working people.

In some countries the work for Socialists is particularly complicated. Kacper Pluta from Poland went into the circumstances of the rise of the right-wing populist government in Poland. Capitalism has been rampant in Poland and the right-wing PiS (Party for Law and Justice) manages to fill the vacuum with a mix of reactionary, anti-democratic measures on the one hand and social reform measures such as increasing child support on the other hand. Given the growing strength of the AfD, these developments must also be a warning to the German left and Die Linke.

Germany: Crisis of Legitimacy for the Establishment

The discussion on political and economic perspectives for Germany revolved around the economic crisis looming on the horizon, the crisis of legitimacy of the former “people’s parties” and the never-ending internal party crises, which have reached a new high point with the Thuringia regional crisis and the announced resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. At present, the Greens and AfD can both benefit from the political polarization.

An open debate developed on the question of who supports the AfD and for what reasons. A large majority agreed that decades of racist policies of the established parties, the development of the NPD and DVU in the past and now the AfD have led to a strengthening of a racist world view among a growing layer of AfD voters. All participants agreed that Die Linke needs a consistent attitude and must go on the offensive in order to push back the right-wing populists and demoralize them.

Marie Rosa, SAV member in Flensburg and a nurse, reported about the fights in the hospitals. The historical fight of the Charité hospital workers has led to a wave of collective bargaining movements. The push by ver.di (public sector union), the German Hospital Federation (DKG) and the German Nurses’ Council for a new regulation over personnel assessments will only be implemented and meet the needs of patients and employees if there is massive pressure from workplaces and if political pressure is increased by protests, including against the conference of Health Ministers on 17 June in Berlin and by a more combative approach to collective bargaining negotiations in 2020.

Climate Movement

The decisive political issue on which a whole generation of young people has radicalized and engaged in collective resistance over the past year has been the climate crisis. With the end of the regular Friday strikes in many cities, the movement is facing new questions and challenges. Differentiation, radicalization and a temporary slowdown are possible consequences.

All in all, the climate crisis will again mobilise a great number of people this year and requires international and socialist answers. The SAV National Conference unanimously decided to take up the topic of public transport, rail transport in as many places as possible in the coming months and to develop activities to this end. In addition, we will mobilize with our own material for the climate strikes in April, offer our events and activities and support possible strikes in June/July within the context of the collective bargaining round for local transport. In the congress workshop on climate movement and youth, more than twenty young comrades developed concrete ideas on how the climate movement can develop more radical demands and win local campaigns next year.

This conference was characterized by a special atmosphere. After last years’ experience, all participants were particularly keen to have plenty of room for open, self-critical and collective debate and exchanges, in the spirit of solidarity. This was clearly noticeable and increased the motivation to build an International movement that can show the way to a socialist society.