AFTER the magnificent success of the Euromarch campaign last year its time to gear up again for the September 20 The day will givé marchers and their supporters the opportunity to discuss the lessons of the campaign so far. Reminiscing about our successes will give us the impetus to plan new tasks for the months ahead - and a full calendar looks likely to emerge.
Local campaigning strength especially in the North East and North West has been the bedrock of our success so far and must be sustained.
The battle against Blair's Welfare to Work is likely to be harder than campaigning against the JSA and Project Work as tragically more people in the trade unions -and even some amongst the unemployed have illusions that these schemes may benefit them.
Never the less the lessons of previous campaigns here, together with the bitter fruits of Clinton's reforms in the States will stand militants in good stead battling against unemployment and job insecurity. Linking up with others campaigning across the continent on similar themes will strengthen our resolve and allow different experiences to be built on.
At the same time plans will be laid for action around the Cardiff Intergovernmental Conference in June - the last before the planned introduction of the single currency.
It may well not be possible to replicate the spectacular demonstration of Amsterdam in June and there needs to be an assessment of whether we should attempt continental wide marches of such length again - but there is more than one way to skin a goose. There seems little doubt that buoyed up by the spirit of solidarity and comradeship we have engendered so far we will ensure that our voices are heard in Cardiff.
The support that has been built in the British trade unions - with eight national unions so far supporting our demands - means that heightened intervention into next years union conferences and into the TUC itself next autumn is a realistic prospect.
Hopefully discussion can also Welfare State Network Conference Saturday 18 October South Camden Community Centre, London develop as to how we ensure greater participation of women in the campaign. After all we are so often at the sharp end of attacks - whether as unemployed, at work or as users of services. May be it is time to talk about a Women's day of action in the run up to the Cardiff summit?
Discussions I heard at a recent meeting in Southall involving the Hillingdon hospital strikers and Southall monitoring group around their determination to campaign against job insecurity and low pay in the black community made me feel that there had to be a way of making stronger link-ups on these issues too.
These are just a few thoughts of mine and I'm sure everyone else has at least as many good ideas of their own. It looks liké a busy year ahead but one in which I am confident we can build even more on the successes of the last. Saturday September20. European Marches Reportback conference. 11.30 a.m. -5p.m., University of London Union, Malet Street, London WCI (Euston).