www.wildcat-www.de/en/zirkular/61/z61e_mou.htm writes

For two generations French workers have been used to the
transfer of economic activities - mainly industrial factories -
from the main towns (especially from Paris industrial suburbs)
towards the country. For a time it was a very profitable for
companies: the mechanisation of agriculture "liberated" quite a
lot of farm workers (in 1945 more than 30% of the population
was living from agriculture and not even 10% 20 years later -
5% today). Wages were lower (then legally) up to 30% less
than in Paris; small towns, local administrations and the state
gave copious incentives. These companies could speculate
with the freed urban land and they could also engage a new
manpower easier to exploit for a while; even if the conditions of
work and wages were not that good, they often were better than
the farm work, for these country people not used to industrial
work; even more important, these workers and their families
could stay close to their birth-place. These economic transfers
did not raise resistance because in the main towns deserted by
industries it was then easy to find another job, the
unemployment rate being very low.

Anonymous Comrade writes

"This was written to share the experience of one waitress with
others. We often work in small places for short times, but if we all
stand together we have a chance to fight back against the crap we
get at work.. This starts with sharing what is going on...

There are lots of us working in insecure, part time, cash-in-hand
service and catering jobs. We are often fairly isolated. We all put
up with similar stuff, but it seems like each thing is a one-off
incident. Well it's not.Here is one story and some thoughts.

Alice's Restaurant

When I moved to Germany, not able to speak German at all, my
choices of employment were pretty limited. I tried all the temporary
agencies, but no luck. The only place I could work speaking English
was the Irish pub. There the boss was Irish and all the work took
place in English. The boss knew that was the only place we could
work and so she could be pretty sure I would accept the 11 marks
an hour she was offering. Which I did.

From Statewatch

Anarchists to be targeted as "terrorists" alongside Al Qaeda (pdf file)

-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

Europol has produced a Situation and Trends report on terrorist activity in the European Union. As might be expected the report covers ETA in Spain, the Real IRA in Northern Ireland, the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica and "Islamic extremist terrorism" (including Al Qaeda). The report stresses that although the number of incidents was "showing a small decrease" the "importance of the attacks increased dramatically" - this was because after 11 September the "European Union is not only a target for terrorist attacks but also an important area for preparatory and logistic purposes in the widest sense". It further notes that progress is taking place in Northern Ireland, and that ceasefires, both in Northern Ireland and Corsica have "been maintained by the main players".

One new category added in 2001 was "eco-terrorism" on which the report gives no examples. The report simply says in total that: "Radical environmentalists and animal rights movements have maintained a limited campaign. Nevertheless, the material damage they caused was extensive". No definition of "eco-terrorism" is given nor is one planned in the proposed extension of Europol's role (see Statewatch's The activities and development of Europol pamphlet). It is thus hard to see the distinction between activity which might be termed a criminal offence as distinct from a "terrorist" offence.

Another new category which is even more problematic is that of "anarchist terrorism". In February 2001 a Europol seminar on counter-terrorism held in Madrid agreed on a proposal by Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy to set up a joint investigation team on "anarchist terrorism". It appears that after Genoa in July 2001 Europol may have set up an "analysis file" on "anarchist terrorism" which in turn fed through into this Situation report. Interviewed by a German newspaper in August Jurgen Storbeck, Europol's Director, said the so-called "Black
Block" of anarchists could be seen as "terrorist or pre-terrorist".

The following analysis looks at the many questions that arise from the inclusion of "anarchist terrorism" which relies almost totally on examples from Italy and at the attempt to extend terrorism in Spain to legitimate political groups.