24-11-2007: With the ending of the strike in SNCF (railways) and RATP (metro and buses in Paris and suburb) on Friday 23 November, it is the end of the first round between French workers and bosses and the bosses' government.
The strike started at SNCF and RATP on 14th November and lasted until 22th November with a junction to other workers on Tuesday 20th when public sector federations called for a one day strike for wages, against redundancies and in defence of public service.
In 1995, when the Prime Minister Alain Juppé launched his plan who will enter into history as "Juppé's plan", the workers could rely on the straight reject of it by four federations or confederations. At that time, CGT and FO, as national confederations, FSU as the main teachers' union, and SUD (at that time mainly centered on postal services, telecommunications, healthworkers and hospitals) were clearly rejecting that attack on french welfare state (Sécurité sociale) and the pensions of the public sector workers. The common demand "Retrait du plan Juppé ! Withdraw of Juppé's plan!" was supported by these four unions who constituted by this way an objective united front without a subjective will to go ahead until a final victory. It was not enough to win but it helped the workers to strike and struggle.
Today, transport workers succeeded to make their strike on their own demand (No to 40 years of contribution for pension, Don't touch to the 37,5 years, No to the Sarkozy's plan!) against the will of all the national confederations. National leaderships of CGT, FO, CFDT, CFTC, FSU, UNSA and CGC are agreeing with "the necessary reform" or refuse to contest it seriously. In SNCF, only SUD and FO federations were on the line "Nothing is to be negotiated: withdraw the Sarkozy's plan!". The CGT federation was under common pressure of the government and of the CGT national leadership to accept to "negotiate" something where "there is nothing to negotiate about the fundamentals of the reform" as stated Minister Xavier Bertrand. Meanwhile, the CGT rank and file workers were not ready to be sacrificed on the altar of "the reform". The CGT federation is the first union in the SNCF but SUD-Rail made a breakthrough in the last years due to his fighting spirit and gained the second place in electoral contest.
On 18th October, there were a strike in several sectors but FSU made it impossible a common call on all public sector that day. Despite the fact that all the details of Sarkozy's plan against public services and their workers were quite clear.
The strike in transports started on 14th November but the plan of the bureaucrats was to terminate it before the strike called on 20th November by seven public sector federations (CGT, CFDT, FO, FSU, UNSA, CFTC, SUD). That call in public sector was not based on solidarity with the demands and fight of transports workers but on sectorial demands. But in the spirit of strikers in public services on 20th November, despite all the efforts of the bureaucrats, it was clear it was a common fight against a common enemy: Sarkozy and his politics!
What is the main victory of this eight days' strike? To shut up Sarkozy! Since his victory in May, Sarkozy occupied all media every day, every hour on any matter. And then he remained silent during a long week… People who are not listening to French media can't appreciate how it's good to be free of such a personnage...TV without Sarkozy's every day busy pollution !
So, the unions' leaderships succeeded to terminate the strike by going to negotiations "in the frame of the reform" against the demands of the workers. But they didn't succeed to break the moral and the demands: nearly all local assemblies voted to "suspend the strike", not to end it. The lesson leaned by the workers is simple: next time, (and next is coming soon!) we will secure our struggle with our organisation in general assembly, with our control of the union, of the top officials.
At the same time, a struggle is going on in universities against the law initiating privatisation of university. The main political fact is common with what happens in workers' unions. The national student union, UNEF, is not on the line to reject the law, named "loi Pécresse" from the minister's name Valérie Pécresse. The UNEF's leadership wants to negotiate with the government "in the frame of the reform". The main consequence is a slowing down of the explaination of the law and its consequences for students and their right to free education. If all resources of UNEF would have been working to explain and expose the law, it would have give impulse to the struggle. A national coordination made by UNEF's opponents to the leadership, leftists and anarchists students is a good thing. But it's not enough. On the contrary, in 2006, the commitment of UNEF against the CPE helped a lot for the decisive beginning and the strength of the mobilisation.
Since May, the official left, mainly the PS, is unable to counter Sarkozy, to contest his politics. Hollande and the PS leaders are on the same line as during the last presidential elections: "how to sink the left by not opposing Sarkozy!" The other left parties: PCF, Verts, LCR, LO have key activists in the present struggles but they don't constitute a mass political alternative.
The question of the European Constitution is coming back. Sarkozy wants a vote by MPs to validate a rewritten text who is the same as the text submitted to the referendum on 29 may 2005. To realise that operation, Sarkozy needs a majority of 3/5 MPs. The PS leadership is OK for that. Sarkozy can thank them very much. A new left campaign is being launched to demand a new referendum and denounce a text who is the same as the original: one who constitutionalises the total domination of capital over workers and society, against all workers' gains made by decades of struggles.
Now it's a time of fermentation. Strikers, workers, students, left or union activists, all the lawyers are assessing the last weeks’ experience. Under the fire of Sarkozy's laws, under the permanent claims of MEDEF(union of French bosses) to deepen exploitation in the workplaces [they want to destroy the labour laws (Code du travail) in the coming months], the molecular elements of a big revolt are in generation. Until now, apparatus and bosses didn't succeed in one central goal: making youth and workers accept the perpetual lowering of their condition!
Read the appeal “the right to strike is not to be negotiated!”: droitdegreve.wordpress.com.
