(en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL #226 - Boxes fight: What the fuck are we waiting for fire? (fr)

Box after box ads by thousands of layoffs are increasing. The employee-es are struggling 
to save their taf, but it is far from a struggle together. It is urgent to coordinate 
struggles to work our watchwords and consider another mode of production, breaking with 
capitalism. ---- Everywhere. The multiplication of plant closures is a phenomenon that 
affects not only France, but throughout Europe. The reasons? Setting international 
competition "costs" of labor by capitalists, the movement and concentration of production 
units worldwide, the market logic that leads to close profitable plants ... In France, 
names are scattered amidst a gloomy geography of industrial disaster: Petroplus, Goodyear, 
ArcelorMittal, General Motors, PSA, Rio Tinto, Fralib, Freescale, Technicolor, Renault ... 
No region is spared.

Beyond industry, redundancy plans are underway: Sanofi Presstalis, Conforama, Virgin ... 
And do not forget the non-renewal policy officials that continues to affect a significant 
portion of the public service.

Weaknesses

There is anger, but for the moment she can not speak out en masse. No major day of action 
worthy of the name, very few practical convergence of struggles. There is first the habit 
of trying to get out individually, which feeds resignation. Fear is difficult to overcome 
to reach the stage of collective struggle and to not let desperation grow - and with 
despair, work-related suicides or deprivation of employment. Bosses blithely benefit, 
especially for blackmail employment through the "productivity agreements." We pay by the 
disintegration of social ties due to the weakening of collective defense tools and control 
that are unions. This is the second element.

Forget the accompanying unionism kind of capitalism that can be CFDT itself confederate 
contradiction between its base and that employer is under attack, as Florange. If we stick 
to control unionism, especially CGT and South Solidarity, the difficulties are numerous. 
Found at the base of many teams in the boxes militant CGT affected. But there is a real 
difficulty to coordinate wider than local, perhaps because there are currently no 
confederal will build a broad movement on the issue of employment . Seen for example on 
the issue of the agreement CFDT-MEDEF on the "job security" announcement of mobilization 
date March 5 by the CGT and FO, refusing at the national level by the outstretched hand 
FSU and Partners to mobilize together. It remains in display logic and not to build a 
relationship of forces in favor of workers and employees. Solidarity at the location in 
the private, up in recent years, is still not large enough to successfully weigh heavily 
nationally on the subject.

Convergence of struggles

However, the desire to unite the struggles are at the base. We have seen in recent weeks a 
number of initiatives starting control committees, general assemblies of strikers or 
interunion county (events, meetings ...). But they remain, for the moment, mainly meetings 
of activists convinced es. To overcome the difficulties in building convergences, it is 
already that are employee-fighting continue to have joint initiatives. The objective is to 
build a broader movement that restores confidence to employee-es: yes it is possible to 
fight and even win. Fear must change sides!

We know that there is nothing to expect from a government that shows that the state is not 
a backup solution for workers. Right and left governments are ass-licking employers. Thus, 
it is currently the fool who wants to give Montebourg fiber but justifies all social 
attacks, such as the 7500 Renault job cuts. Valls is the baton wielding the new "red 
menace" and "dangerous class", with the striking workers ouvrierset as thugs, all taken 
very complacent by most mainstream media.

But more importantly, behind in ambush, is the extreme right which seeks to butter her on 
the crisis, such as the National Front being able to spend a few years of ultra-liberal 
discourse in a pseudo- social. It is so widely retrieve people who are afraid of losing 
their job, crisis, foreigners ... If we do not deal much in the field, they are our 
enemies and our enemies in charge .

Prospect

Although the word order banning layoffs remains strong in the early events involved, there 
is a lack of unity in the claims of social movement: Securing employment, prohibition of 
dismissals stock, veto es in the employee works councils ... These differences are related 
to the objectives of the structures that carry (make proposals to unify the struggles, 
mobilize employee-es ...). But readability is not obvious.

Beyond this is the question that is asked of protectionism by some as an alternative to 
free trade to protect jobs in France. Referring back to back these two policies, 
Libertarian Alternative proposes the notion of autonomy productive. Reduce production to 
the needs of the people, to break with productivism. Reduce working time and profits. It 
is also an environmental issue. There's tracks to popularize not only be in a defensive 
position, but to put forward alternative self-management, anti-capitalist and 
environmentally friendly society.

Simon Laviec (AL Saint-Denis)