On Friday, October 22, finally the
French government managed to get the pensions reform passed through the
Senate. The increasingly unpopular government of Sarkozy, faced with an
unprecedented movement of strikes, demonstrations, road blockades, mass
pickets and general assemblies, hoped that this, together with the
beginning of the All Saints school holidays, would bring the mass
movement to a halt. This does not seem to be happening, however.
Photo: airelle.infoWith
all opinion polls still showing 60 to 70% support for the strikes and
blockades, and one of them suggesting that 59% of the population was in
favour of the continuation of the movement even after the approval of
the law, the trade union leaders have been forced to call for two more
"national days of action", on Thursday, October 28, and Saturday,
November 6.
However, there is a general mood in the movement that repeated days
of action are no longer enough to force the government to retreat. Since
the beginning of September there have been six days of action, three of
which saw the participation of more than three million people in
demonstrations all over the country. After the national day of action on
October 12, with 3.5 million people on the streets, a number of sectors
started indefinite strikes, notably the refinery workers and the
railway workers. Despite the stubborn refusal of the national trade
union leaders to call a general strike, section after the section of
workers have joined a growing national movement whose focus has become
the idea that only by bringing the economy to a halt can the government
be defeated.
The continued strike of refinery workers has now reached a point
where nearly half of the country’s petrol stations are without fuel, and
the figure is even higher in the West of the country and the Parisian
region. As in any important strike movement, the workers have become
aware of their own power. CGT shop steward at Total group, Marcel
Croquefer, explains it this way: "We have become aware of our own
weight, of our ability to organise decisive action." He also explains
how they have become a focal point for the movement and have received
solidarity from other groups of workers. Croquefer explains that
solidarity is very positive but "at the same time, the more sectors join
the strike, the stronger we will be".
The same sentiment is expressed in the statement of the National
Federation of Chemical Workers of the CGT. While thanking all those who
have shown solidarity, they explain that:
"We want to state clearly and once again that the best form of
‘solidarity’ is to spread and strengthen the strikes to other sectors of
the economy. Only in this way we will be able, all together, to stop
the dismantling of our social welfare system at the hands of the Medef
and the government".
The refinery workers’ union of the CGT is to the left of the national
leadership, refusing the idea of "social partnership" and remaining
loyal to "class struggle". But it would be wrong to think that it is
only the refinery workers who are part of this movement. The strike is
continuing at the country’s ports, preventing the unloading of crude oil
at the country’s main terminals. There are also road blockades
organised by the lorry drivers, strikes of public transport in cities
like Marseille and Toulouse, there were blockades at several airports
last week, a continued strike of refuse collectors in Marseille, in
state education, etc.
The strike of the energy workers, including stoppages at some of the
country’s nuclear power plants, has also had an important impact.
According to official figures, on October 19, between 13 and 14 hours,
France had to import 5,990 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to the
production of 6 nuclear reactors.
A very interesting video of the blockade of the Toulouse airport
on October 21, shows the mood amongst growing sections of the movement.
"We have had plenty of demonstrations and Sarkozy doesn’t listen – we
must move on to something else… we need to blockade the economy… we
need a general strike" seemed to be the common opinions of those
present. The mass picket involving hundreds (perhaps up to 1,000) was
composed of workers and trade union activists from the buses, Airbus,
students, hospital workers, and many others, and had been decided and
organised at the Interprofesional General Assembly on the previous day.
It is clear that some of the trade union leaders wanted to put an end
to the movement, taking advantage of the fact that the law on "reform"
of the pensions was going to be voted in the Senate on October 20. The
massive scale of the demonstrations on October 19 prevented most of them
from retreating. "Given the mood of the rank and file we cannot put an
end to the movement", trade union leaders both from the CFDT and the
CGT, explained, almost apologetically. However, instead of giving the
movement a clear lead, calling for a general strike the only step that
would make the movement stronger they called for yet another two
"national days of action" on October 28 and November 6 (the latter on a
Saturday). As a matter of fact the trade union leaders seemed to be more
worried about "debordement" (being overtaken by the movement), than
about giving the struggle a clear lead.
This left the movement without a clear direction, but despite that,
stoppages, road blockades, strikes and all sorts of initiatives to
maintain the movement strong developed at the initiative of the rank and
file and local and regional trade union bodies. On the day when the
Senate was supposed to pass the law, Wednesday 20, thousands of workers
and students marched in Paris in two separate demonstrations, one called
by the school student organisations, the other at the initiative of
General Assemblies of railway workers, postal workers, and others. Both
demonstrations attempted to reach the Senate building, but were stopped
by anti-riot police. The main problem was that, lacking a call on the
part of the national leadership, they did not have the necessary
numbers.
The media has concentrated on the strikes at the refineries, but a
report on Friday 22, spoke of nearly 250 industrial establishments in
the private sector which had been affected by strikes and stoppages of
one kind or another. In the North Pas-de-Calais region, where the CGT is
to the left of the national leadership, 25 private sector factories
have been on strike or suffered stoppages of varying duration. Many
industrial areas around the country are only working partially, as trade
union activists organise regular blockades and mass picketing.
The government keeps talking of a "minority of radicals holding the
country to ransom" and the media hide the real extent of the strike.
This is in contradiction with the statement of the Economics Minister
that the movement is causing daily loses of between 200 and 400 million
euro.
The port town of Le Havre is one of the epicentres of the movement,
with mass demonstrations of tens of thousands and an indefinite blockade
of the harbour. Here a daily inter-professional general assembly
involving all sectors in struggle meets to share information and take
decisions on the steps to be taken. The daily bulletin of the general
assembly (Havre de Greve www.havredegreve.org)
has listed all those factories and workplaces which were still part of
the strike movement on Saturday, October 23: Total Raffinerie de
Normandie, CIM (99%), Petrochemicals, SNCF (railways), Chevron, Centrale
EDF (energy), Exxon, Foure Lagadec, Vinci, Ponticelli, Debris, Opteor,
building workers, regional civil servants at Gonfreville, Gainneville,
d’Harfleur , Konecranes, also Aircelle, lorry drivers, Renault
Sandouville, France Télécom, Lafarge, Yara, etc.
The government has responded with violence and repression. There are
now plenty of eyewitness reports and video evidence showing the presence
of agent provocateurs at student demonstrations and orchestrating
violence at demonstrations in general (see for instance this video).
The CGT has denounced cases of plain-clothes police officers wearing
CGT stickers or even CGT steward arm-bands playing a role in creating
violent incidents during demonstrations. In order to defend their
demonstration against provocateurs and anti-riot police, the last
student demonstration was stewarded by trade unionists.
At the same time, realising the key role in the movement played by the strike at the refineries, the government has used violent and legal
means to attempt to break the resolve of the workers. First they used
the CRS anti-riot police to lift the blockades that were organised
outside the main refineries and fuel depots by refinery workers with the
support of trade union activists from other sectors. This soon became a
game of cat and mouse. In one refinery the CRS opened the gates, only
to realise that if the workers continued the strike the refinery would
remain paralysed anyway. At another refinery, the barricades were
removed by the CRS, but the trade union activists then proceeded to
blockade a nearby roundabout, thus preventing any fuel from leaving the
site.
Using emergency laws which are supposed to deal with cases of "national emergency" the government moved to "conscript" all workers at
the Grandpuits refinery on Friday 21, after violently breaking up the
picket line. With 430 workers, Grandpuits is the smallest of the six
Total refineries in the country, but supplies 70% of the Ile-de-France
region. In effect this means that workers are ordered to go back to work
or else they face jail sentences. This is an unprecedented attack on
the right to strike, which shows the truth contained in the Marxist
analysis that the state (police, the laws, etc) is, in the last
analysis, "armed bodies of men in defence of private property". The
initial order forcing all workers back to work was subsequently revoked
by a magistrate, only to be replaced by another ordering about 25% of
the workforce back to work to cover "essential services".
The movement of the oil workers has also found an echo in Belgium.
The socialist union ACOD, who organises the workers on the locks at the
two main rivers Schelde and Leie, have threatened to block river
transportation of fuel to France. Another socialist union, the FGTB, at
the Total refinery in Feluy blocked the whole site today as it realised
that it was being used to break the strike in France. A group of
important socialist and Christian trade unionists, shop stewards and
leaders, including some MPs of the Socialist Party and the Green Party,
and the Socialist Party left wing SP.a Rood have called for the blocking
of all transport to France which is intended to break the movement. On
Thursday, October 28 they will organise a demonstration in front of the
French embassy in Brussels. The Marxists of Vonk have played an
important part in this initiative.
A statement of the FGTB on Monday 25, declared that they would go on
strike at the Total Feluy refinery, which has seen increased production
in the last few days, which the workers rightly interpret as a
strike-breaking activity against their French class brothers and
sisters. The union warned that they have witnessed an increase of 25 oil
tankers a day and that unless production went back to normal levels
they would stop work as of today, Tuesday 26.
The movement of the French workers has captured the imagination of
millions of workers, youth and trade union activists all over the world.
They can see the French workers taking a firm stand against attacks
which are very similar to the ones they are suffering. An example of
this is the call for a general strike in Guadeloupe, Martinique and
French Guyana for Tuesday, October 25. Clearly the reasons for the
strike are particular to these French overseas territories (the rise in
the prices of fuel, food, water and electricity), but they have also
been inspired by the movement in France. This can be seen by the call by
the UGTG for an indefinite strike of oil and refinery workers in
Guadeloupe. In turn, many workers in France were inspired by the
victorious 44-day general strike which paralysed Guadeloupe in 2009.
Despite violent repression and draconian legal measures on the part
of the French government, on Monday, October 25, workers at the six
Total refineries in the country voted to continue with their indefinite
strike. Three other refineries voted the same way. At another three
refineries belonging to Exxon Mobil, workers voted to put an end to the
strike and resume production. According to a company spokesperson this
was down to the "CFDT not playing the game anymore". As a matter of
fact, CFDT national leader Chereque had made scandalous statements on
France Inter, to the effect that "the right of people to free
circulation" had to be guaranteed, and that the strikes and blockades of
the refineries and fuel depots was "threatening to undermine the
popularity of the movement". It has to be said however, that Chereque
was only taking to its logical conclusion the wording which was already
on the October 21 statement of the national Intersyndical (trade union
alliance) to the effect that united initiatives should take into account
"the respect for property and people".
In effect, the CFDT leadership would very much like to put an end to
this movement, but after the massive show of force on October 19 they
were forced to call for the two new days of action together with the
CGT. The government, with its firm and intransigent stance, is also
making the job of the trade union leaders more difficult. The trade
union leaders are begging for the government to reopen negotiations,
rather than demanding the outright withdrawal of the reform. The CGT
leadership also uses the excuse of maintaining “trade union unity” in
order to avoid an open call for a general strike, but when 60% of the
population are in favour of a general strike this argument comes across
as very hollow. The leader of the CFDT, Chereque, has stressed that he
“does not put into question the legitimacy of Parliament” and that after
the law is finally passed we will be in a “new stage”, and he has also
made an appeal for negotiations with the bosses’ organisation MEDEF
about “jobs for the youth and the old”, clearly preparing his own exit
from the movement. CGT leader Thibault, however, cannot afford to be so
open, since he is under pressure from the ranks of his own union, and so
he has insisted that the “movement has not ended”, but adding that
after the law has been passed, the movement “will have to take on new
forms", and by this he clearly does not mean the calling of a general
strike!
The danger in this situation is that the sectors which are on strike
will grow tired and exhausted and the strike movement could fizzle out.
As well as the three Exxon Mobil refineries which have voted to end the
strike, the refuse collectors in Marseille have also voted an end to
their strike at the request of their union FO. Some of the general
assemblies of the railway workers over the weekend decided to continue
the movement but to use other means which will hurt them less in their
wages; for instance, instead of a 24-hour strike, to strike for an hour
at the beginning and the end of each shift, thus causing maximum
disruption. The CGT coordinator at the Total group explained the mood
amongst the refinery workers: "We know that refineries weigh heavily in
this movement, but we do not want to be the only ones to act in France".
The responsibility here is on the shoulders of the trade union
leaders, particularly those of the CGT. The conditions could not be
better for the development of a general strike which would bring the
government to its knees and force a retreat on the pensions reform.
There is massive and unprecedented public support for the movement, even
despite the disruption caused. The approval rating of Sarkozy, now only
29%, is at its lowest level since his election in 2007. Strong links of
solidarity have been built amongst the strikers in different sectors of
the economy through the common picket lines and blockades, and basic
coordination has been established in many towns and cities through
inter-professional general assemblies. All that is missing is a
leadership of the trade union movement which is up to the task.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 27, will see the final stage of the
parliamentary proceedings for the approval of the pensions reform, and
the government is already putting heavy stress on the question of the
legality of the reform as a way of take legitimacy away from the
movement. However, the anti-CPE struggle in 2006 managed to force the
withdrawal of the "contract of first employment" after it had
been approved by parliament. Incredibly, the trade union leaders have
called for a national day of action for October 28, after the
approval of the law. The student organisations have called for a
national day of action for today, Tuesday 26, with demonstrations which
could be joined by many workers.
The current movement of the French working class is an extraordinary
confirmation of the power of the working class today. What is needed is a
clear call for a general strike. If this does not come from above, the
local and regional inter-professional general assemblies should link up
at a departmental and also national level, through elected
representatives, in order to give the movement a clear leadership.
Despite all the obstacles that they face, the French workers have
revolutionary traditions. This is the country of 1936 and 1968, as the
comrades from La Riposte clearly point out, that is, a country
with revolutionary traditions of a movement from below escaping the
control of the trade union leaders. The last word has not yet been
uttered.
