The Push towards a General Strike in France

We received the following from:Militant in France

The 12th October saw the biggest number of demonstrators on the streets so far, reliably estimated at four  million. Strikes are weaker in the public services but are growing elsewhere, worrying the employers in middle-sized and smaller firms, whether they be in the form of frequent stoppages of work starting every day at 12 o'clock in places where there are union branches or whether they be in the form of one-day stoppages in certain firms, or whether they be in the form of "disturbances" linked in to the presence of squads of trade unionists and militants along the main axes of industrial parks or commercial centres.

The rolling general strike is effective in the refineries. We should be clear on this point: the strike in the refinieries, the one started in Marseilles, is a general strike on the march.
This same general strike is pushing forward, finding its way into literally hundreds of engineering, building etc. firms and into the service industries. What defines this as a general strike is its political content. Its actual extent is still weak but it is polarising the political and social life of the country. There is not the same reaction to the strikes at the refineries in the same way as in the strikes by proxy  towards the railway workers in 1995 and the teachers in 2003; rather there is a broad solidarity which is expressed in financial support from all parts of France.

Teachers and students are not on strike, but they are considering their position; appeals which are being made to them are for a "prolongable or extendable strike" and these are in themselves counter-productive, because a  "prolongable strike " means nothing; the real question is that of a general strike whereas a prolongable strike only makes sense as a means of prolonging a general strike, all the while drawing in from all directions those who is it directed towards, not just for staging some kind of demonstration or other. That is the normal role of the unions.

Activists have entered the strike and have been linking up with cross-union and cross-sector squads which move from one site to the next.  What is happening in these mobile squads has a twin effect: on the one hand they meet up with other activists, ordinary employees and often retirees who wish to extend the strike; on the other hand they aid the leaders in placing the responsibility for victory or defeat on the activists there while at the same time exhausting them.

The current situation (24th October 18.00 hrs)

The present situation is dangerous. State power has begun the seizure of refinery workers site by site and will attempt the same with the garbage workers in Marseilles. These seizure orders  are close to legal limits and represent serious acts of repression against the youth; one school student lost an eye following 7th October and the events which have unfolded in Lyon, on Bellecourt Square have been described by the media as provocations by delinquents, but have revealed themsleves little by little as witness reports flowing in about the true nature of events;  for a whole day, repressive armed groups  of state forces boxed the students into the square, gassed them, beat them and arrested them on trumped-up charges of "flagrant public order offences".

It would be sufficient to change the situation if workers and activists in a single refinery or a single petrol station  offered energetic resistance to the "forces of order" but this has been prevented for the moment by the absence of a national appeal by the unions for a General Strike and by the culture of a "prolongable strike site by site" which came from the activists of 1995 and 2003.

The next national "Day of Action" has been called for Thursday 28th October although the final vote for the law could well take place on 27th; at the same time the inter-union committee is already appealing for demonstrations on Saturday 5th November; the law would already have been voted in by that time and so would  condemn the efforts of the strikers outside to failure.

There are three possible scenarios.
The one worth fighting for is the resurgence of an effective general strike with the occupation of the major places of production.  With the exception of certain large factories such as Michelin at Clérmont-Ferrand or the Peugeot factory at Sochaux, this occupation cannot take the old form of of factory occupation used in 1936 or 1968. Instead there must be sieges of the sites and the industrial parks by mass worker squads. However it is essential that within this framework the salaried employees be able to meet and take decisions themselves. The struggle for the general strike must not ignore the instrctions from the unions: on the contrary people must be reminded that the unions must be able to play their role and launch appeals, aid the movement to achieve centralisation against the main target - Sarkozy. A central demonstration in Paris can become a part of the move to reach this centralisation. Active solidarity with the refinery workers is also an essential element in this struggle.

An effective general strike  will rapidly raise the question of Sarkozy's departure. The only reason for not being able to kick him out would be the refusal of the union leaders and the left parties to demand it. The removal of the UMP-led parliament will also be posed and has been posed since an anti-democratic vote on 15th September.

One difference with May-June 1968 is that there will be less to fear from elections taking place in an atmosphere of fear although the left is weak; the majority of society supports the present strikes to a greater degree than in May 68. It would open great possiblities.

The second scenario would be a Sarkozy victory. A real victory for him would lead to a demoralised working class and youth as in Britain following the defeat of the miners. It would open the road to a wave of brutal reaction, possibly including fascist elements. But let us say that this is rather improbable in the near future because of the extent and the depth of the movement, although it cannot be completely excluded.

The third scenario is that a general strike will not develop but that the movement will continue and take on forms recalling certain historic precedents such as the wild Italian May of 1969 or the Winter of Discontent in Britain in 1979. It should not be forgotten that both these periods were followed by serious defeats.

In all the various cases, the final balance of forces, victory or defeat,  will depend on the political regroupments amongst the combatants, the activists and the strikers and the speed with which an  organisation can be formed, independent of present leaderships, which has no other mandate than that which comes from the rank and file and has no other aim than to gain victory.

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