|
About France strikes
Nicolas Dessaux is a Worker-communist activist from
France. He and his comrades are actively involved in
the nationwide protests by workers and students
against the government passions scheme. We asked him
to give us an overview about the whole situation in
France.
The
questions by:
Muhsin Kareem,
from Worker-communist
Party of Kurdistan/17-10-2010
Comrade Nicolas, First of all, I would like to thank
you for spending your time answering our questions.
I am going to start with the first question. Could
you give us a short description of the national
countrywide strike going on now in France?
The French government, led by the president Nicolas
Sarkozy, decided to change the age of retirement
from 60 years old to 62. This was a project since
2008, so there were monthly demonstrations against
it. Now, the new law is under voting process in the
parliament, so the movement grows quicker and
stronger. Currently, there are two demonstrations a
week, in every French city, and strikes are
everywhere.
What parts of workers have taken part in the strike?
As retirement age is a concern for everybody, most
sectors are involved. For sure, some have a leading
role, for the strategic role they play in the
struggle. Currently, these are the oil refineries.
All of 12 French refineries are on strike, as well
as port workers. So, the government worries because
of the risk the country could be on oil shortage
very soon. Trains and tubes workers are also in a
strategic position in the strike, as they normally
bring everyday workers from home to work. But there
are also strikes in metallurgy and other industrial
sectors, town workers, teachers… etc.
Are all the participating workers from unions?
What is the name of them? What is their political
attitude?
No. The percentage of union members is low in
France, unlike other countries in Europe, but the
relationship between workers and unions is also
different. Unions still have a leading role in the
organising the movement.
Currently, the movement is still lead, on national
level, by a coalition of the seven unions:
Solidaires, CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA, CFTC and CGC.
Locally, this is more complex even, as in some
regions this coalition is effective on a local level
to organize strikes (like in Marseille, the big
south port, where the strike is impressive), while
in others they only agree on organising
demonstrations.
In this coalition, unions only agree on one point:
the current law is bad for workers. They disagree
even on the fact it should be completely removed (Solidaires,
FO) or only changed (all others). But the fact that
the government refuses any negotiations and any
change in its law puts even the most moderate unions
in a situation they have no other real choice than
to radicalize the strike. Today, the moderate CFDT
called truck workers, a sector where they’re the
biggest union, to go on strike. Truck workers are
known also as a strategic sector to paralyze the
country. This is an example among others, which
means the pressure of the worker’s base on
leaderships is high. They (the union leaders) would
like to betray us, but lack the proper margin to do
it.
How many workers in total have taken part in the
event?
There’s a media war about the real numbers of people
involved in the demonstrations. Unions claim that
3,5 millions peoples took part in the three last
one, while the government admit only one million.
But, a policemen union criticized the government for
lying, as they ignore the real data provided by
local cops.
A feature of the strikes in France is that, if the
major industrial sectors are 100% on strikes, it is
common to have a minority of workers on strike in a
single enterprise, and this is more common even in
schools and administrations. So, relationships
between workers from various jobs gathering and
cooperating to help each other organize strikes, but
also road blockades or others direct actions, is
very common.
What is the attitude of people about the strike?
According to polls, 71% of French people support the
movement, and 55% agrees it should be more radical.
After all, most people are workers and will also
suffer from a higher retirement age. This means that
even if they can’t personally go on strike, because
they can’t loose any part of their low wage, because
of boos pressures and so on, they still support the
movement.
What does the government say about it? In other
words, what is the political propaganda against the
strike and the workers and unions?
Government’s propaganda was long time based on the
fact that this “reform” couldn’t be avoided; that
there will be no money left to pay pensions if they
don’t change the retirement age; that this has a
demographic effect, not a capitalist policy. But
these arguments were defeated. The fact that they
gave so much money to save the banks in the crisis
and then the political and financial scandals around
the government both have made workers do not trust
them anymore. Now, they try to minimize the real
impact of the current strike, and also to prevent
the youth to enter the movement. With these
arguments, they can gather support from their own
right-wing base, but don’t convince anyone else.
Has any part of the society shown support to or
started any solidarity action with the workers?
Yes, the youth. Some universities, but mainly high
schools, are on strike and they demonstrate
everyday. An interesting phenomenon is that this
movement is the strongest and the more radical in
small towns with a high unemployment rate. From the
first days, the young fight with the police and many
of them have been arrested. It’s something new in
France, where these demonstrations are usually
dynamic but non-violent. The biggest point is that,
as in 2007, youth don’t stand for education reforms,
but as a part of the working-class, against the fear
of being unemployed. This is a real and deep change.
It explains why they join workers in demonstrations
so easily.
What are the demands and the slogans of the
demonstrations and activities?
The “official” demand is that retirement age should
be kept at 60, as it is currently. But, day after
day, slogans are more and more turned against the
government and capitalism. In fact, pensions is one
aspect, as angriness against government, its racist
and oppressive policy, its attacks on workers
rights, low wages and high prices, is very strong.
Among actions, the favourite, like in 2003, is still
road blockades, on highways, town entrances or
industrial zones. The tactic relies on paralysing
the economy, to inflict damages to capitalists.
Is there any role of socialists and communists in
this event? Is there any influence of them in the
unions and worker organizations?
It depends on what we call a socialist or a
communist, fore sure. France always has been a
country where’s the left is strong. Left parties,
including the “official” communist party and the
various Trotskyites, have a real influence on the
unions. A lot of local, but influential union
leaders are members of these parties. So, their
influence on the strike is real. But, as we
experimented in 2003 with a similar movement, they
lack a real will to appear as a political party able
to lead the movement toward the government
overthrow. Worker-communism has a strong potential
basis in the working-class nowadays, but as a
political and organized current, it is very new here
and can gather only a few dedicated activists.
Are there any other worker's organizations other
than the unions? How radical are they?
Not really. The general assemblies are very common,
but this is a feature of the working-class movement
in France, which is not in complete opposition with
the unions. The radical one, like Solidaires, is
strong supporter of general assemblies, while
others are less; but this is (the general
assemblies) considered as the normal mean to decide
a strike in any enterprise. So, workers assemblies
still play a minor role in the movement leadership,
even if they have it in the enterprises. Radical
workers put emphases on general assemblies, with a
limited success until now. |