Sozialistische Offensive (CWI Austria)
For the third time in the space of a few months, there has been a massive mobilisation in Vienna by university students and staff against the budget cuts planned by the government.
The government is a coalition of the conservatives, social democrats and the liberals, originally formed in 2024 with the aim of keeping out the far-right Freedom Party. The government is increasingly unpopular due to the cuts it is implementing.
In Spring 2026, 30,000 students and university staff had demonstrated, when the budget cuts for 2028-2030 were first announced.
On 13 October we saw a first protest this autumn and now the massive 50,000-strong demonstration on 22 October, marching from the Technical University to the University of Vienna. Uni staff from other university cities such as Graz, Innsbruck and Salzburg had been mobilised via buses to attend the demonstration by their shop stewards.
The mobilisation shows that young people are not simply going to let their future be taken away from them. Many placards clearly expressed this discontent, linking the cuts, for example, to the issue of military spending. The call to join forces with other sections of the population, such as workers, was also clearly evident. Time and again, references were made in a spirit of solidarity to the protests in France and other European countries.
Sozialistische Offensive (CWI in Austria) was part of these demonstrations, and we took part with various slogans, such as โUniversities, schools, IT, retail, รBB (rail) โ fight together โ 20 November: youth strikeโ or โDemonstration today โ strike tomorrowโ, which were well received.
The demonstrations were a good first step, but there is no plan for organisation given by the leadership and no clear direction for the next stages of the struggle. We propose setting up action committees at universities, where the programme, demands and next steps can be discussed within democratic structures and decided upon democratically.
20 November could mark a step towards further mobilisation. The international protests โ the protests by school students and students in France or the strikes in Ireland โ show that students and university staff in Austria are not alone. Capitalism offers us no future! We wonโt pay for the capitalistsโ crisis! Join us in taking action and become part of the struggle for a better, socialist future!
French protests continue โ Make 5 November a 24-hour general strike!
Read the latest on where next for the movement in France from Gauche Rรฉvolutionnaire (CWI France), published 21 October ahead of the latest mass trade union demos that took place on 24 October involving an estimate 800,000 nationwide.
Students defeat right-wing authoritarian Vucic in Serbian elections
Mass protests have swept Serbia for two years, led by students and sparked by the fatal collapse of the train station in the capital Belgrade. With the โStudent Listโ election win, right-wing authoritarian president Vuฤiฤ has been swept from power. The studentsโ demands include free education and affordable housing. There will now be a presidential election before the end of the year. A full article will follow in next weekโs Socialist.
