The following solidarity message was sent by the Network of Action Committees for Safe Workplaces to the Frankfurt WISAG workers who have been on hunger strike at Rhein-Main Airport since February 24.

Dear WISAG colleagues:

We at the Network of Action Committees for Safe Workplaces have read on the World Socialist Web S ite about your hunger strike to protest against, and reverse, your arbitrary dismissals, theft of wages and unsafe working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

We assure you of our full support.

You have taken the initiative to make a stand against the united front of the WISAG management, supported by the German Federation of Trade Unions, works councils, the entire state administration (including opposition parties) and the official media. This is very important!

Your slogan “Us today, you tomorrow!” is absolutely correct. You are not alone, but you are the first.

We regard your industrial action as an expression of the growing anger and indignation in many factories, workplaces and offices throughout Germany. On the one hand, the government and employers force us to go to work, although the risk of contagion increases every day. On the other hand, they are using the coronavirus pandemic to impose dismissals, wage cuts and social cuts, as is the case at WISAG.

We recently founded the “Network of Action Committees for Safe Workplaces” to bring together, coordinate and expand the emerging struggles, independently of the trade unions and their works councils.

There must be an end to accepting job cuts, wage reductions and a dramatic worsening of working conditions. There must also be an end to accepting the high risk of infection in factories, the systematic cover-up of the numbers of infected and the continuation of production despite the dramatic spread of the pandemic.

We are currently heading towards a third, evidently even more dangerous wave of the pandemic. Without immediate action, a disaster looms.

The emergency measures required can be enforced by us alone. To ensure these measures are taken workers must organise anew and on a completely independent basis.

We call on you to make your hunger strike the starting point for the building of an action committee. We need staying power. Make your struggle known to other airport and aviation workers, including through the use of social media. We will support in this respect with all our means.

Join our network of action committees for safe workplaces. We are building links with workers in other countries and preparing for a national and European general strike. Workers everywhere face the same problems and must fight together.

Join the Facebook group of our network!

Solidarity greetings,
Network of Action Committees for Safe Workplaces