Stop Austerity and the Destruction of the Social State!

This November, the canton of Bern will treat an austerity package worth 185 million Franks. The cutbacks once more attack the social sector, the public health-care system, education, and aid for handicapped people. Simultaneously, tax-reductions for corporations amounting to 300 million Franks are being demanded.

Who is affected?

  • Quality of life is being reduced: The austerity program makes particularly direct hits at single parents, women*, retired people, education, migrants and refugees, as well as workers with low wages.
  • The achievements of the women’s movement are being attacked: When work in education-, care- or health-sector are publicly neglected because of cutbacks, they will be transferred to the domestic sphere, where women* still bear most of the work load.
  • State employees are under pressure: due to the cutbacks and personnel reduction workers in the educational, social or health sector have to work faster – and under worse conditions. Workers who, for example, like being good at teaching or taking care, will find it harder to maintain their quality of work under these conditions.
  • A general wage reduction is taking place: irrespective of our opinion on state services, we finance them through our taxes and social security contributions. In this way, attacks on public state services represents an indirect reduction of all wages.

What now?

  • Demonstrate: There does not seems to be enough opposition against the austerity program in parliament. Only if the affected stand together, we stand a chance. The next step to a demonstration is in your hands. Act as an ally, make use of your possibilities: At work, at school, with your friends, in your family, in your institution or on social media.
  • Don’t let them play us off against each other: If we manage to prevent cutbacks in a certain sector just to let them steal them in another, we’ve accomplished nothing.
  • We must go on the offensive: Cutbacks will only stop if resistance is strong enough.

Who is organizing the Demonstration?

We as a group of people were negatively affected by the austerity politics and have decided to offer resistance against these social cutbacks. We are convinced that the people concerned must be more visible, louder and stronger.