Europe in revolt: let's join them on 20 October

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Workers across Europe have been out on the streets this week in a wave of magnificent mass strikes and protests.

Whether in Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome or Paris workers all have something in common. Bosses and politicians want to smash their living standards to pay for the crisis.

When the bankers and politicians talk about bailouts to Greece and Spain, they aren’t trying to help people struggling to survive. They simply want to save their own skins.

That’s why every bailout comes with strings. Governments are told that they have to attack welfare, public spending and workers’ pay and pensions if they want any cash.

But resistance is making life hard for politicians intent on imposing austerity.

We face the same kind of attacks here in Britain. The Tories are ripping up the welfare state and want to drive down workers’ pay and pensions.

If we are going to stop them we will have to follow the lead of workers in Greece. They are demanding their union leaders call another general strike. We need to march together on 20 October. Then we need to strike together to bring the Tories down.

» Workers strike against austerity across Europe

» Alex Callinicos on the European debt crisis