The CWI in the Czech Republic
| name | Socialistická alternativa Budoucnost |
| address | Socialistická alternativa Budoucnost, D. V. S., PO Box 227, ul. V háji 4, 170 00 Praha 7- - Holešovice, Czech Republic |
| telephone | ++ 420 604 37 02 30 |
| budoucnost@email.cz | |
| web site | http://www.levice.cz |
Socialistická alternativa BUDOUCNOST (Socialist Alternative - the Future) is the CWI's Czech organisation. We have our roots in the school students' movement of the so-called "Velvet revolution" in 1989. A group of young people who recognised that privatisation, unemployment and rising social insecurity which was the prospect facing most Czechoslovaks after the restoration of capitalism was not the way to solve the problems of the old Stalinist regime, came into contact with the CWI. We agreed to set up a CWI affiliated organisation in what became the Czech republic. We started producing a paper called "Budoucnost" and organising demonstrations in the early 1990s - the first social and anti-capitalist demonstrations since the collapse of the old regime in 1989.
During our existence in the first period of 1990s there were many illusions in so-called capitalist "democracy" and so our work was directed at a minority of mostly young people. We were the only ones who openly opposed privatisation and clearly explained that it would not solve economic and social problems but actually increase them. We fought against racism in the Czech Lands organising a wider campaign under the CWI led Youth Against Racism in Europe. Our main campaign in this field of work was to fight discrimination against the Roma minority.
From the beginning of our existence we directed our work towards the new and politically inactive layers in society, amongst workers and youth. However, we also worked amongst the rank and file of the trade unions. We were the first left group in the Czech Republic to produce political material directed towards the workers and trade union movement, including the production of a pamphlet explaining the case for the need to build a new workers' party.
In 1994 we started, as the only one group at that time, a campaign against the university fees. Thousands of people signed our petition, and hundreds came to demonstrations which we organised. Our campaign was victorious with Parliament voting against the implementation of university fees in the run-up to the 1996 general election. It was the first successful campaign against the right-wing Klaus government of the time.
After election of the so-called social democratic government other left forces waited for reforms from this government. However, we had no illusions in this government and continued our campaigning work in defence of living standards of Czech workers and youth. We supported striking teachers from Vrapice who fought against the idea of closing special schools and behaviour of the Education Ministry against their school and the director of this school.
We also actively supported striking miners from Kohinoor. They spent 28 days underground to fight closure of their pit.
In September 2000 we mobilised youth for Prague protest against IMF and World Bank meeting. In November 2000 we started a public campaign for Social Justice to show the contradiction between the misleading propaganda of the pro-capitalist right wing parties about November 1989 and the reality that Czech workers and youth have experienced since then. We defend the tradition of independent actions by workers and youth, of self-organisation which played a major role in overthrowing the old Stalinist regime. This tradition can lead us to build a movement which ends poverty, and the misuse of the abilities of the working class, the resources of society and of nature.
