Today's Topics:
1. France, UCL - Testimony, Cops in front, assailants in the
back: the Parisian demonstration of December 5
back: the Parisian demonstration of December 5
as experienced in
the union procession (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
the union procession (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. vrije bond: J20: Stop the US warmachine! (nl)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, UCL AL #312 - Unionism, Metallurgy: Florange passes,
Mittal rapacious (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Mittal rapacious (ca, de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. UK, Audio versions of ACG articles (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Germany: LIKOS: Do Not Become State Supportive! (de)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
During the demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris, the union procession faced
police violence, unfortunately the usual. But, for the first time, he also had to
endure the assault of a group of demonstrators. Verbal assaults, physical
assaults, ransacking of equipment, burning of a barricade cutting the procession
in two and facilitating the police attack ... Full story. ---- Every year, at the
beginning of December, the organizations of the private and precarious workers
(CGT-Chômeurs rebelles, Agir contre le unemployment, Apeis, MNCP) and several
unions of employees (including those of the CGT, Solidaires and FSU) organize a
demonstration in Paris against unemployment and precariousness. That of Saturday,
December 5, 2020 was part of a convergence of struggles both against the new
"reform" of unemployment insurance and against the Comprehensive Security Law.
This demonstration was also supported by various political organizations,
including the Union Communiste Libertaire. Its activists were present, alongside
their fellow workers, in union processions or in the UCL procession.
A rally at the Trocadero and a united demonstration against this law and against
police violence had already gathered thousands of demonstrators the two previous
Saturdays. This popular success, a real snub for power, was not to the taste of
Prefect Lallement, who tried to ban the demonstration on December 5. But the
unions have maintained their call to demonstrate, even if the demonstration is
banned. A new snub for power, whose frustration will result in repressive rage of
rare brutality.
Police and union preparations
On the said day, the meeting was therefore fixed at the Porte des Lilas, for a
departure scheduled at 2 p.m. towards Place de la République, according to a
route imposed by the police headquarters.
The police force is impressive: the cramped streets are surrounded by armored
cops, heavily armed, trucks and riot gates. The cops keep watch until the
demonstrators arrive by public transport, such as those stationed on the tram
platforms, among the residents of the neighborhood, staring at everyone who gets
off a train.
From 1 p.m., in a dry and biting cold, the trade unionists set up along Avenue
Gambetta to prepare and organize the procession: assembly of sound systems,
arrangement of vans, deployment of banners, balloons and banners for expression
demands and the visibility of the procession.
A unitary CGT-Solidaires service is then set up. What is its role ? It's time to
twist some fantasies.
Adama Committee, CGT, Solidaires, at the demonstration of November 28, 2020
against the Global Security Law.
cc Patrice Leclerc / Social movement photo library
Evolution of union SO design in recent years
A certain number of people have kept from the SO of the CGT a not very tender
image of sectarian "big arms" dating from the years 1970-1980. In fact, in recent
years, a change has taken place, as one libertarian activist testifies: "There is
now pluralism ; we see women taking on coordination responsibilities ; there is
cooperation with the SO of Solidaires, as there was with the SO of the Adama
Committee on November 28. So many reasons that pushed me to accept being part of
it when my union asked me to."
The members of the CGT's SO Ile-de-France, like those of Solidaires, are in fact
delegated by their union to carry out this task. On December 5, there were
intermittent entertainment workers, AP-HP employees, printing workers, education
and research employees, and activists from interprofessional structures. local.
The SO's mandate is not to "police the demonstration", but to ensure the safety
of the demonstrators, preventing the risk of accidents (crowd movements,
vehicles, etc.). He ensures that the procession progresses continuously: in fact,
a procession is never more exposed than when it is at a standstill. The SO thus
helps self-protection against police provocations and possible attacks from
hostile groups, such as those on the extreme right.
How the prefecture tries to use the "head procession"
Shortly before the scheduled departure time, the first police manipulation, now
usual, since 2016: the cops who park in a row near the union procession, at the
corner of the rue des Tourelles, retreat and disappear, leaving a void to the
'front of the procession. This space will allow the constitution of the informal
procession called "head". For those of the demonstrators who join him, it is a
question of occupying a space freed from the constraints implied by the
collective and coordinated action of organizations and structured collectives.
Festive space for some, offensive space for others, but also, for some, space to
monopolize the "direction" of the event.
Since 2016, the prefecture has learned how it can use the "leadingprocession" to
serve its objectives. On the political level: symbolically relegating to the
background the organizers of the event, to better make their demands invisible
and thus undermine the militant mobilization of the previous days in the
workplaces and in the neighborhoods, mobilization essential to bring people into
the street.
On the repressive level, the interest is to position the clashes between cops and
insurrectionists no longer at the rear, as before 2016, but at the front of the
demonstration, to justify the blocking of the streets and justify the violent
charges against the 'entire procession, including against sectors that have
chosen non-violent action.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
A route through narrow streets
The procession ends up moving shortly before 3 p.m. The demonstrators rushed down
Avenue Gambetta, towards Place de la République. The union sound systems give
voice. The square head is in place with its unitary banner, and the members of
the security service are ready to intervene in front of the cops to prevent the
charges. The crowd is very dense, large, the demonstration progresses very slowly
in the narrow avenue. From the point of view of attendance, it is a success.
Arrived at rue Haxo, near the Saint-Fargeau metro, the unitary order service
CGT-Solidaires helps a group of teufeurs to insert their gigantic truck into the
crowd, to constitute a festive pole in the middle of the procession of organizations.
At the back of the procession, political organizations, including UCL, await the
start.
Read also "Faced with the cops, we do not want stab wounds in the back" , press
release from the Ile-de-France groups of the UCL, December 24, 2020.
Unionists believe that police violence could occur near the police station of the
20 th or on arrival at the Place de la République. But Lallement's blow job will
happen much faster, barely 600 meters after the departure of the procession.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
A fire is lit in front of the nursing home
The route imposed by the prefecture leads the procession to walk along an EHPAD,
at 161 avenue Gambetta. It is more than 4 pm when the front of the union
procession begins to arrive at its height, preceded by the procession "leading ".
The caregivers, but also the residents, greet us at the windows. The adjoining
building, at number 159, is covered with scaffolding. While the neighborhood is
crisscrossed by cops, the site is however not secure. Everything is freely
available there: metal barriers, construction materials, various materials and
insulation panels: very light, very large, transportable at arm's length, and
very combustible ... The trap is set. The string is very thick, but the
demonstrators of the leading procession are being tricked. The site is looted. A
fire is lit on the track, hampering the demonstration, in front of the nursing
home... To decide where the demonstration will stop and decide where the clashes
will take place,
The cops attack
The first police charges are violent, first targeting the leading procession. To
the blows of batons are added the fire of tear gas canisters, making the street
unbreathable. "It was burning nearby and, with the clouds of gas, the nursing
home nurses were distraught. They rushed to close the windows and make the
residents move back into the rooms,"said a CGT unionist from 93. Some
demonstrators responded with rocket fire and firecrackers. Then the leading
procession disperses in the face of police assaults, which soon reach the top
trade union positions. Several young activists of the CGT, who nevertheless pose
no "threat ", Apart from the fact that they hold the line and refuse to back
down, are violently assaulted and clubbed by the cops.
The majority of the demonstrators in the leading procession will not succeed in
passing the blocking point located at the level of the building under
construction. They then begin to flow back towards the unitary union procession,
in a crowd aggravated by the gas-saturated air and the cramped nature of the street.
The situation is dangerous: with the disorderly reflux of the leading procession,
with the panic caused by the attacks by the cops, and with the inexorable push,
behind, thousands of demonstrators of the union procession who advance with their
vehicles, the risks of trampling are big. The SW then tightens in the middle of
the track, to clear the spaces on the sides, inviting the demonstrators to bypass
them. A CGT activist, in the front line of the union procession, said: "They were
running towards us. Some had difficulty breathing because of the gas and coughed.
The cops were behind them. We shouted at them to go around us and go through the
sides, to get behind us." The objective is to allow the demonstrators of the
leading procession to come and take shelter in the union procession, behind the
security service which is then preparing to stand up to the cops.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
Confusion, misunderstanding and verbal aggression
Without knowing the unionists' street strategies, the maneuver is not understood
by all of the demonstrators who are fleeing the police. Under stress, some insist
that the SO be retreated, which is technically impossible.
At that moment, the slippages begin. To the worried, but understandable
injunctions, are added insults aimed at trade unionists, with a much heavier
political load: "queers", "collaborators", "whores" ... "There is a guy who
called us" merguez eaters "too. This insult is a classic. Me it makes me laugh,
I'm a vegetarian," laughs a CGT unionist. Homophobia, sectarianism, misogyny and
class contempt, it's all there. Like an echo to the insults launched the previous
Saturday, to which were added racist insults: comrades of the unitary SO then
being called "dirty niggas" by some demonstrators ...
While the whole of the leading procession has ebbed or dispersed, the anti-riot
forces finally reach the union procession. "We first received 4 or 5 tear gas
grenades," says an activist. We couldn't see anything anymore, there was so much
gas. A group of BRAVM came up in front of us. But we held on. We united, we held
the line, and they had to back down."
Hold the line and never back down, despite the air saturated with gas and the
violence of the charges: a strategy that pays off to hold the street. The
procession then resumes its progression as the cops retreat. At that time, the
front of the union procession passed the blocking point located at the level of
the building under construction and the EHPAD, and headed towards the Pelleport
metro station. The trade unionists positioned at the front of the procession are
preparing to take the entire demonstration towards the Place de la République. A
series of speeches is planned there.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
First stab in the back
It is then that a first stab will be planted in the backs of the demonstrators by
a small group, a stab that will seal the fate of this demonstration, but also of
the following one.
After taking shelter in the union procession while the unitary security service
was blocking the police, a group of demonstrators began to stir up the fire at
the level of the building under construction and to build a barricade with the
material available. The effect is disastrous: the union procession is now cut in
two. The front, with the flatbed truck for speaking, the front square and the
unitary order service, finds itself cut off from most of the union procession,
stuck behind, blocked by the barricade, without any possibility. to move forward.
"The procession stopped a little before we arrived at the Saint-Fargeau metro
station. We remained immobilized for at least forty-five minutes, maybe more,
says a CGT unionist from Val-de-Marne.As I walked a little further, I saw smoke
further. The front row had been able to advance but the procession got stuck by a
barricade and a fire."
A barricade - supposed to separate the demonstrators and the power - was
therefore set up by a small group inside the union procession ! An incredible
inconsistency which, from a symbol of resistance, has made a symbol of division
of the social movement.
Rocket and firecracker firing at the union banner
A group (the same ?) Will also target, not the cops, but the front of the union
procession "They fired a small rocket and launched firecrackers while aiming at
the square head. It fell near the unitary banner,"said a friend from
SUD-Éducation. The activists of Solidaires, who secure this sector of the square
head, are near the shots. No one will be hurt and the incident will have no
consequences. But, again, the symbol is very heavy.
It is around 5 pm, night is falling and the situation will become tense, this
time at the back of the parade. Several political organizations, which have been
trampling for hours a few tens of meters from the starting point, like the UCL,
decide to dissolve their processions when it becomes clear that the demonstration
will not be able to achieve its initial goal. The union procession, blocked by
the barricade, also begins to disperse. Despite this, the violence of the cops
will be unleashed.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
New cop assault
The cops are positioned in the rue des Tourelles, in the rue Henri-Dubouillon, in
the rue Haxo and in the rue Saint-Fargeau. Lallement holds his revenge. New
charges, accompanied by tear gas and de-encircling grenades, were then launched
in Avenue Gambetta against the union procession blocked by the barricade. New
crowd movements and new ebbs. The processions of the FSU and Solidaires succeed
in evacuating the premises, despite the chaos. The procession of the CGT is that
day positioned further forward. There, at the stop, there is the van of the
departmental union of 93, that of the CGT-Interim, one of the local Picardy union
of Santerre and finally a van of the regional union Île-de-France . In other
words, the vans of CGT organizations in the poorest department of Île-de-France,
Around thirty activists and CGT activists remain around, initially in charge of
leading the procession: "We suffered a lot of tear gas, without any protective
equipment. It was chaotic. It seemed obvious that we could not continue the demo
as planned. Most of the demonstrators went up to the Porte des Lilas. As the
charges, tear gas, and de-encirclement grenades continued, we had to back up the
vans and then attempted to turn them around."
Second stab in the back
The second stab in the back will be carried at that time by a group of
demonstrators (the same ?) Who sweep over what remains of the CGT procession and
physically attack the trade unionists, even as the cops go wild with batons. The
thirty trade unionists are literally bored (!) By this group. Insults are raining
down: "They shouted at us that we were traitors, cops, tells one of the Nass
union members, that the CGT was worse than the prefecture of police, that we had
started to agreement with her to screw up the demo."Union members are pushed
around, some and some are beaten and slapped. A group among the attackers sets
out to block the trucks, to prevent them from fleeing the cops and to force them
to stay in the middle of the clashes. They also undertake to explode their
windows with hammers. The vans of the UL de Santerre and the UD 93 managed to
cross, not without damage. There remain those of the URIF and the CGT-Interim,
stuck in a double trap, concentric: that of the hooded aggressors, and that of
the cops who in the meantime have spread all around.
New police charges are launched. The remaining trade unionists and the last two
vans managed to free themselves and take refuge in a neighboring low-cost housing
estate, at number 211 avenue Gambetta. "We finally managed to enter an open-air
car park, at the foot of residential buildings. . We parked the vehicles as far
away as possible, then we waited for the leading SO to join us so that we could
evacuate. » Makeshift shelter in the storm of violence.
The cops finish the job
The unitary union SO finally succeeded in joining the demonstrators who had
remained stuck in the trap of the cops, making their way through the neighboring
streets. When the SO militants arrive, they witness a chaotic scene, a vision of
collapse and a totalitarian world: in a twilight light, ranks of armored cops,
blocking all the streets, beat up the demonstrators who seek to flee the scene,
even as some put their hands in the air, amid fires and clouds of tear gas. The
CGT unionists are preparing to leave the parking lot where they have taken
refuge, but this time accompanied by the SO. In the midst of the chaos, the
inter-organ collective Front Social continues to give voice to the sound system
to hammer out its slogans, giving a heartwarming example of combativeness and
solidarity.
Near the rue des Tourelles, when crossing the cordon of the cops, brutality is
unleashed, again: the unionists and the SO cross a "guard of honor»Formed by the
cops in armor over about thirty meters, where they are heavily beaten, with
shields and batons. The trade unionists and the unitary SO CGT-Solidaires finally
reach the Porte des Lilas. It is around 6.30 p.m. The place is calm. Breathable
air. We take care of the injured. The chaos that ravages the streets just a few
hundred meters away gives way to the quiet and ordinary life of the neighborhood.
We start to breathe. We believe we are finally done. But the respite only lasts a
few minutes, police hatred has not yet dried up: heavy grenade fire in the
direction of union vans drowns the Porte des Lilas in a few moments in a thick
fog of tear gas. They will only stop chasing us beyond the periphery.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
Consequences and outstanding questions
First consequence of this delirious day: the trade unions gave up participating
in the demonstration on the following Saturday, December 12. It is impossible to
guarantee the safety of union members in such a context, with both cops and
unidentified assailants on our backs, in an even more dangerous configuration
(the Place du Châtelet).
From this experience, activists can draw lessons on police strategies, on the
porosity of informal processions and on the consequences of authoritarian
practices which reveal the principle of "diversity of tactics". But many
questions remain unanswered. And in particular three: to which camp belong the
groups which helped the cops, indirectly and directly, to suppress the
demonstration ? What camp do the militant groups claim to be on, who subsequently
rejoiced in publications on the web ? And in the service of which camp do certain
groups encourage them to attack union processions during upcoming demonstrations?
Libertarian communists unionized with the CGT and Solidaires
This story was written from the testimonies of 9 demonstrators, some members of
the CGT or Solidaires, who came from all over the Paris region and who
experienced these events.
https://unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Des-flics-devant-des-agresseurs-dans-le-dos-la-manif-du-5-decembre-telle-que
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Message: 2
The US government, built on slavery, imperialism and exploitation, will celebrate
the inauguration of their new war lord Joe Biden on January 20th. Trump and his
open fascist rhetoric was dangerous and luckily he is at his end, but other
horrors, like concentration camps at the borders, the bloody imperialist war in
Afghanistan, and the publicly racist executions that are common there, will
continue under Biden's presidency. In his own words: "Nothing will fundamentally
change". ---- On January 23rd, at 16:00, we will show our resistance against the
US warmachine at Museumplein, Amsterdam. Bring banners and flags. This is a
chance to show anarchists will not sit back and watch this go on.
Come and make yourself be heard.
https://www.vrijebond.org/j20-stop-the-us-warmachine/
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Message: 3
It all started with a cork strike at the hot rolling mill on the Moselle site,
until it took on national proportions. This is a consequence of Covid-19:
employees cannot tighten their belts any further. ---- In October, a strike
movement that started from Florange (Moselle) won over eight other French sites
of the Arcelor-Mittal group (Reims, Gray, Pontcharra, Woippy, Ottmarsheim,
Saint-Nazaire, Bruyères-sur-Oise, Denain), with walkouts and even blockages.
Started on the 6th, the strike was suspended three weeks later, pending
compulsory annual negotiations (NAO). "We worked throughout the period of the
first confinement," explains Lionel Kozinski, CGT union representative in
Florange, " we did not stop. More than 50 employees were affected by the Covid
and we still continued." And for those employees who were on short-time work, the
management did not want to supplement the money paid by the State to guarantee
100 % of their income. So that in September, the union calculated that the
shortfall for employees would be 4,000 euros on average.
Today, he is asking for a Covid premium of 2,000 euros, and covering up to 100%
of partial unemployment. The management responded with silence: "Since the Macron
ordinances and the establishment of the social and economic committee, explains
Kozinski, the" social dialogue "has been broken, the unions are no longer taken
seriously and the breaches of working conditions are 'accumulate, hence the fed
up." The ArcelorMittal group, however, a well-stocked cash. It collects
considerable funds, in particular through public aid, and will benefit from the
State's recovery plan.
The movement started from the base of employees of the Florange steel plant, and
the CGT helped in its construction and extension, in particular by setting up a
strike fund.
Cold rolling mill outlet blockage
It all started with a disengagement of the hot rolling mill which, being at the
first stage of the production chain, brought the cold rolling mill to a
standstill downstream - this is called a "strike. -cap". The workers, each doing
a few hours of strike each day, succeeded in stopping everything, thus
demonstrating that even a small number of determined strikers, in a strategic
sector, can prevent the production of an entire factory.
On Friday, October 16, the CGT and the strikers also blocked the exit of the cold
rolling mill, preventing the trucks from loading the finished products. The press
was present, the movement well followed and the strike fund replenished by
comrades of the CGT Moselle. On the day of the blockade, a group of anti-strike
workers, close to the management, gathered in front of the House of Trade Unions.
Few in number, they quickly broke camp when they saw that the strikers were
heading for the factory cold.
The next day, after thirteen days of strike action, the CFDT and CGC unions,
usually very timid and submissive to management, joined the CGT on its demands.
It was because it was difficult for them to deny that the movement was supported
by all the employees. They would have paid dearly for it in the next elections ...
In December, at the end of the NAO, the group's management finally agreed to a
general salary increase of 0.6%, and an exceptional bonus of 500 euros. We are
far from the 2,000 euros claimed but, after consulting the employees of the
group, the CGT agreed to sign the agreement.
Jean-Baptiste (UCL Thionville)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Metallurgie-Florange-passe-Mittal-rapace
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Message: 4
Visually impaired or just would like to listen to an article without reading it?
As well as the fine videos listed on the ACG Youtube channel and our At the Café
podcasts here on our website, you can listen to the following website articles on
Youtube:
Strikes Not More Talks
Bud Light Putsch (storming of the capitol) article
What They Don't Teach in Schools and Why
How Many Deaths Does It Take?
Spycops Scandal
Labouring in Vain:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Demonstrations Against The Police In Nigeria And Murder By The Military
Guatemala: Congress Building Set On Fire
Johnson's military spending boost
Covid, lockdown and anarchist communism
You can also hear our podcasts on a range of platforms via Anchor FM
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/01/21/audio-versions-of-acg-articles-2/
------------------------------
Message: 5
Shortly after the corona virus spread in Germany and government measures to
contain the pandemic while wage labor continued, the ideological conspiracy
deniers of the coronavirus formed in many cities. ---- But they weren't the only
ones who took to the streets. Leftists also protested, the main topics being the
unequal social impact of the measures, because of the social status of different
risk of contracting the virus. The inhumane conditions in refugee accommodation,
which were made worse by the virus, the unreasonable demands in the care sector
and the increased multiple burden on women were scandalized from the left.
Journalistic and analytical texts were also disseminated by many groups and
newspapers, which promoted the politicization of the Corona crisis and wanted to
use the mood and the interruption of everyday life. Many leftists worked in the
solidarity neighborhood networks,
We have also tried to counter the so-called Corona crisis with a politicization
from the left, for example with actions in front of a DHL distribution center, a
hospital and a nursing home. On May 1st and before October 3rd we criticized the
nationalist cement with flyer campaigns and disseminated class struggle
positions. We published several texts and interviews, held rallies and took part
in the "Shutdown Pig System" campaign, which the public wanted to use around the
scandals in the meat industry to build up further pressure against the system of
works contracts.
Nevertheless, the media spectacle was dominated relatively quickly by the corona
deniers. This is not surprising at first - like many right-wing movements before,
this movement was also "written high" by large parts of the media and enjoyed a
wealth of reporting that left movements and organizations can usually only dream
of. Of course, there was and is also overlap with capital interests, these do not
deny the virus, but have always been about dead bodies for their profits - so why
not use such a foot troop? This soon led to the corona deniers holding a kind of
monopoly on criticizing government measures.
Above all, however, the corona deniers also serve as a good diversionary maneuver
for the state: As right as it is that the conspiracy ideologues pose a serious
risk of increasing the number of infections and have done so, it is so wrong to
blame them for a large part of the infection process. But this suits the state
very well for three reasons. On the one hand, the criticism is then hardly
directed against the continuation of wage labor, the conditions in care, the
opening of schools (so that parents are still available as workers) and shops
etc., on the other hand, this also means that everyone reasonable, left-wing
criticism of the measures is easily dismissed as crazy and conspiracy ideological.
Without question, it is and was right and important as the left (1) to stand in
the way of the corona deniers, but in our view parts of the left have made
several mistakes in dealing with this reactionary movement:
1.Sections of the left have mainly focused on the corona deniers in their
practical work in recent months. Since the left in Germany on the one hand is
relatively marginal and on the other hand we all have limited capacities, this
almost inevitably means that our own positions on the subject of the "corona
crisis" can hardly be disseminated. We are not concerned with declaring the
anti-fascist protest against the conspiracy ideologues to be unimportant, we
ourselves participated and will continue to do so, we are more concerned with the
relationship between our own positions and their dissemination through actions
and agitation as well as the analysis of state measures and the dispute with the
corona deniers is correct again.
2. Often only in connection with the corona deniers, for example in the context
of a rally, criticism of the state measures was formulated. If this mainly
happens in this context, corona deniers are almost inevitably perceived as the
only critics because leftists work on them and often only come up with their
criticism when the conspiracy ideologues march and the focus of the Public lies
on them.
3. The criticism of the content of the corona deniers should not be reduced to
the level that the conspiracy ideologues are "crazy". Of course there are really
strange characters around, but the competition "Who will find the craziest
conspiracy ideologist?" Will not stop this movement and will not help to
understand this phenomenon. It is also not productive to simply describe these
people as selfish. Rather, it would have to be a matter of perceiving the class
composition of this movement (at the top there are usually petty bourgeoisie *)
and putting it in relation to their demands and their drivel about the
constitution and basic rights. Often these mean nothing more than being able to
do business again or to restore or improve the basis for this. The whole thing is
paired with a good dose of macho behavior that the virus cannot harm "strong men
and their immune systems", which cannot be explained without the gender-specific
make-up of this society.
4. If neither left-wing criticism of the state measures nor left-wing criticism
of the Corona deniers is loud and taken to the streets, the tendency to dismiss
all left criticism of state measures as crazy is strengthened.
5. Ultimately, one should be careful not to bump into the rhetorical or
content-wise "We are all in the same boat" horn of the rulers. Leftists are
unlikely to be aware of this. But the state keeps talking about "solidarity". But
we on the left cannot simply adopt that as a popular empty phrase without filling
it with concrete content. Because on the part of the state, it is about the
nationalist ideology, according to which all Germans must now stick together.
This serves to bury the obvious contradictions, injustices and, last but not
least, the possibility of showing resistance, for example by not going to work
and endangering your own health and that of others. Solidarity and solidarity
does not mean, however, Restricting yourself exclusively in your free time and
continuing to do wage work, but it can mean, for example, showing solidarity with
striking nurses. It means concrete help and politicization of the crisis.
6. The corona deniers must not ensure that the left no longer takes its own
positions and is barely noticeable. The conspiracy ideologues must not be the
ticket for anyone on the left to make peace with the state's pandemic policy.
But why are the government measures to be criticized from the left? Of course
not, because we downplay the dangers of the pandemic and describe the measures as
excessive.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and the looming second "lockdown", the state
has pushed forward an actually very transparent discourse which individualized
health protection and largely linked the infection process to leisure activities.
50 people in factories and offices are okay, shopping too, of course, but woe
betide three people sitting on a park bench or three children playing in a
playground. The schools were also kept open for as long as possible, of course
not to relieve parents and, above all, women, but so that they are available as
workers. The message was and is largely: wage labor and thus added value creation
must continue, leisure time must be massively restricted. The President of the
Confederation of German Employers' Associations, as a representative of the
capital, says it very clearly: "If more stringent measures are planned, we should
above all talk about the time after work". But the Tagesschau also clarifies with
its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, crappy, humiliating continues (2). But the Tagesschau also clarifies
with its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, shitty, humiliating continues (2). But the Tagesschau also clarifies
with its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, crappy, humiliating continues (2).
Even now with the very late "lockdown", production is still excluded. Companies
are only asked to consider registering home offices here and there. Of course,
people also get infected at work or on the way there in too small and too few
public transport. The state and capital therefore play a large part in the
increasing numbers of infections and deaths.
Aber auch konkret an den einzelnen Maßnahmen sollte deutlich werden, dass Linke
für diese kein Lob übrighaben sollten. So ist die Gesundheitsversorgung seit
Jahren zunehmend dem Zweck der Profitmaximierung unterworfen. Wo vorher schon
keine ausreichende Versorgung möglich war, ist die Situation nun katastrophal.
Menschen sterben, weil es nicht genug Personal, Kapazitäten und medizinisches
Gerät gibt. Genauso zählt zu den staatlichen Maßnahmen Pflegekräfte weiterhin
beschissen zu bezahlen, sie nun 12 Stunden arbeiten zu lassen und die Tatsache,
dass sie auch infiziert zur Arbeit gehetzt werden können. Ebenso wie die Zustände
in der Fleischindustrie und auf den Spargelfeldern, in den
Geflüchtetenunterkünften und an den EU-Außengrenzen zu den staatlichen Maßnahmen
zählen. Zusätzlich kommt dem Staat in der Pandemie besonders zupass, dass in
aller Regel Frauen Haushalt, Kindererziehung und Sorgearbeit übernehmen.
In short: The state measures mean shifting the corona crisis on the backs of the
working class and on the backs of women in order to allow capital accumulation to
continue as much as possible, which in any case is based on their exploitation
even without a pandemic.
This state continues to be, even in the pandemic, the state of capital and acts
like that.
What to do?
The dispute with the corona deniers should clearly be conducted in opposition to
the state. Above all, however, we as the left should increasingly set our own
topics again in the Corona crisis or in the coming economic crisis and try to
organize ourselves at work, at school or at university and support others in
this. We should use the points we can build on to push our anchoring forward. At
least symbolic campaigns relating to the care sector, parcel services and
supermarkets are easily organized and easy to implement. And of course we should
be considerate, of course it also depends on individual behavior, but we should
always argue against individualizing the infection process and target the sphere
of production.
Health for everyone is a social issue! The state has its side and that is not ours.
In this sense: Do not become state supportive! Against corona capitalism and
corona deniers. For real solidarity
(1) This includes not only organizations, but also individuals.
(2) Of course this does not mean that we are of the opinion that it is no longer
important to reduce social contacts.
https://likos.noblogs.org/2021/01/15/nicht-staatstragend-werden/
https://awsm.nz/?p=8554
------------------------------
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
During the demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris, the union procession faced
police violence, unfortunately the usual. But, for the first time, he also had to
endure the assault of a group of demonstrators. Verbal assaults, physical
assaults, ransacking of equipment, burning of a barricade cutting the procession
in two and facilitating the police attack ... Full story. ---- Every year, at the
beginning of December, the organizations of the private and precarious workers
(CGT-Chômeurs rebelles, Agir contre le unemployment, Apeis, MNCP) and several
unions of employees (including those of the CGT, Solidaires and FSU) organize a
demonstration in Paris against unemployment and precariousness. That of Saturday,
December 5, 2020 was part of a convergence of struggles both against the new
"reform" of unemployment insurance and against the Comprehensive Security Law.
This demonstration was also supported by various political organizations,
including the Union Communiste Libertaire. Its activists were present, alongside
their fellow workers, in union processions or in the UCL procession.
A rally at the Trocadero and a united demonstration against this law and against
police violence had already gathered thousands of demonstrators the two previous
Saturdays. This popular success, a real snub for power, was not to the taste of
Prefect Lallement, who tried to ban the demonstration on December 5. But the
unions have maintained their call to demonstrate, even if the demonstration is
banned. A new snub for power, whose frustration will result in repressive rage of
rare brutality.
Police and union preparations
On the said day, the meeting was therefore fixed at the Porte des Lilas, for a
departure scheduled at 2 p.m. towards Place de la République, according to a
route imposed by the police headquarters.
The police force is impressive: the cramped streets are surrounded by armored
cops, heavily armed, trucks and riot gates. The cops keep watch until the
demonstrators arrive by public transport, such as those stationed on the tram
platforms, among the residents of the neighborhood, staring at everyone who gets
off a train.
From 1 p.m., in a dry and biting cold, the trade unionists set up along Avenue
Gambetta to prepare and organize the procession: assembly of sound systems,
arrangement of vans, deployment of banners, balloons and banners for expression
demands and the visibility of the procession.
A unitary CGT-Solidaires service is then set up. What is its role ? It's time to
twist some fantasies.
Adama Committee, CGT, Solidaires, at the demonstration of November 28, 2020
against the Global Security Law.
cc Patrice Leclerc / Social movement photo library
Evolution of union SO design in recent years
A certain number of people have kept from the SO of the CGT a not very tender
image of sectarian "big arms" dating from the years 1970-1980. In fact, in recent
years, a change has taken place, as one libertarian activist testifies: "There is
now pluralism ; we see women taking on coordination responsibilities ; there is
cooperation with the SO of Solidaires, as there was with the SO of the Adama
Committee on November 28. So many reasons that pushed me to accept being part of
it when my union asked me to."
The members of the CGT's SO Ile-de-France, like those of Solidaires, are in fact
delegated by their union to carry out this task. On December 5, there were
intermittent entertainment workers, AP-HP employees, printing workers, education
and research employees, and activists from interprofessional structures. local.
The SO's mandate is not to "police the demonstration", but to ensure the safety
of the demonstrators, preventing the risk of accidents (crowd movements,
vehicles, etc.). He ensures that the procession progresses continuously: in fact,
a procession is never more exposed than when it is at a standstill. The SO thus
helps self-protection against police provocations and possible attacks from
hostile groups, such as those on the extreme right.
How the prefecture tries to use the "head procession"
Shortly before the scheduled departure time, the first police manipulation, now
usual, since 2016: the cops who park in a row near the union procession, at the
corner of the rue des Tourelles, retreat and disappear, leaving a void to the
'front of the procession. This space will allow the constitution of the informal
procession called "head". For those of the demonstrators who join him, it is a
question of occupying a space freed from the constraints implied by the
collective and coordinated action of organizations and structured collectives.
Festive space for some, offensive space for others, but also, for some, space to
monopolize the "direction" of the event.
Since 2016, the prefecture has learned how it can use the "leadingprocession" to
serve its objectives. On the political level: symbolically relegating to the
background the organizers of the event, to better make their demands invisible
and thus undermine the militant mobilization of the previous days in the
workplaces and in the neighborhoods, mobilization essential to bring people into
the street.
On the repressive level, the interest is to position the clashes between cops and
insurrectionists no longer at the rear, as before 2016, but at the front of the
demonstration, to justify the blocking of the streets and justify the violent
charges against the 'entire procession, including against sectors that have
chosen non-violent action.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
A route through narrow streets
The procession ends up moving shortly before 3 p.m. The demonstrators rushed down
Avenue Gambetta, towards Place de la République. The union sound systems give
voice. The square head is in place with its unitary banner, and the members of
the security service are ready to intervene in front of the cops to prevent the
charges. The crowd is very dense, large, the demonstration progresses very slowly
in the narrow avenue. From the point of view of attendance, it is a success.
Arrived at rue Haxo, near the Saint-Fargeau metro, the unitary order service
CGT-Solidaires helps a group of teufeurs to insert their gigantic truck into the
crowd, to constitute a festive pole in the middle of the procession of organizations.
At the back of the procession, political organizations, including UCL, await the
start.
Read also "Faced with the cops, we do not want stab wounds in the back" , press
release from the Ile-de-France groups of the UCL, December 24, 2020.
Unionists believe that police violence could occur near the police station of the
20 th or on arrival at the Place de la République. But Lallement's blow job will
happen much faster, barely 600 meters after the departure of the procession.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
A fire is lit in front of the nursing home
The route imposed by the prefecture leads the procession to walk along an EHPAD,
at 161 avenue Gambetta. It is more than 4 pm when the front of the union
procession begins to arrive at its height, preceded by the procession "leading ".
The caregivers, but also the residents, greet us at the windows. The adjoining
building, at number 159, is covered with scaffolding. While the neighborhood is
crisscrossed by cops, the site is however not secure. Everything is freely
available there: metal barriers, construction materials, various materials and
insulation panels: very light, very large, transportable at arm's length, and
very combustible ... The trap is set. The string is very thick, but the
demonstrators of the leading procession are being tricked. The site is looted. A
fire is lit on the track, hampering the demonstration, in front of the nursing
home... To decide where the demonstration will stop and decide where the clashes
will take place,
The cops attack
The first police charges are violent, first targeting the leading procession. To
the blows of batons are added the fire of tear gas canisters, making the street
unbreathable. "It was burning nearby and, with the clouds of gas, the nursing
home nurses were distraught. They rushed to close the windows and make the
residents move back into the rooms,"said a CGT unionist from 93. Some
demonstrators responded with rocket fire and firecrackers. Then the leading
procession disperses in the face of police assaults, which soon reach the top
trade union positions. Several young activists of the CGT, who nevertheless pose
no "threat ", Apart from the fact that they hold the line and refuse to back
down, are violently assaulted and clubbed by the cops.
The majority of the demonstrators in the leading procession will not succeed in
passing the blocking point located at the level of the building under
construction. They then begin to flow back towards the unitary union procession,
in a crowd aggravated by the gas-saturated air and the cramped nature of the street.
The situation is dangerous: with the disorderly reflux of the leading procession,
with the panic caused by the attacks by the cops, and with the inexorable push,
behind, thousands of demonstrators of the union procession who advance with their
vehicles, the risks of trampling are big. The SW then tightens in the middle of
the track, to clear the spaces on the sides, inviting the demonstrators to bypass
them. A CGT activist, in the front line of the union procession, said: "They were
running towards us. Some had difficulty breathing because of the gas and coughed.
The cops were behind them. We shouted at them to go around us and go through the
sides, to get behind us." The objective is to allow the demonstrators of the
leading procession to come and take shelter in the union procession, behind the
security service which is then preparing to stand up to the cops.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
Confusion, misunderstanding and verbal aggression
Without knowing the unionists' street strategies, the maneuver is not understood
by all of the demonstrators who are fleeing the police. Under stress, some insist
that the SO be retreated, which is technically impossible.
At that moment, the slippages begin. To the worried, but understandable
injunctions, are added insults aimed at trade unionists, with a much heavier
political load: "queers", "collaborators", "whores" ... "There is a guy who
called us" merguez eaters "too. This insult is a classic. Me it makes me laugh,
I'm a vegetarian," laughs a CGT unionist. Homophobia, sectarianism, misogyny and
class contempt, it's all there. Like an echo to the insults launched the previous
Saturday, to which were added racist insults: comrades of the unitary SO then
being called "dirty niggas" by some demonstrators ...
While the whole of the leading procession has ebbed or dispersed, the anti-riot
forces finally reach the union procession. "We first received 4 or 5 tear gas
grenades," says an activist. We couldn't see anything anymore, there was so much
gas. A group of BRAVM came up in front of us. But we held on. We united, we held
the line, and they had to back down."
Hold the line and never back down, despite the air saturated with gas and the
violence of the charges: a strategy that pays off to hold the street. The
procession then resumes its progression as the cops retreat. At that time, the
front of the union procession passed the blocking point located at the level of
the building under construction and the EHPAD, and headed towards the Pelleport
metro station. The trade unionists positioned at the front of the procession are
preparing to take the entire demonstration towards the Place de la République. A
series of speeches is planned there.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
First stab in the back
It is then that a first stab will be planted in the backs of the demonstrators by
a small group, a stab that will seal the fate of this demonstration, but also of
the following one.
After taking shelter in the union procession while the unitary security service
was blocking the police, a group of demonstrators began to stir up the fire at
the level of the building under construction and to build a barricade with the
material available. The effect is disastrous: the union procession is now cut in
two. The front, with the flatbed truck for speaking, the front square and the
unitary order service, finds itself cut off from most of the union procession,
stuck behind, blocked by the barricade, without any possibility. to move forward.
"The procession stopped a little before we arrived at the Saint-Fargeau metro
station. We remained immobilized for at least forty-five minutes, maybe more,
says a CGT unionist from Val-de-Marne.As I walked a little further, I saw smoke
further. The front row had been able to advance but the procession got stuck by a
barricade and a fire."
A barricade - supposed to separate the demonstrators and the power - was
therefore set up by a small group inside the union procession ! An incredible
inconsistency which, from a symbol of resistance, has made a symbol of division
of the social movement.
Rocket and firecracker firing at the union banner
A group (the same ?) Will also target, not the cops, but the front of the union
procession "They fired a small rocket and launched firecrackers while aiming at
the square head. It fell near the unitary banner,"said a friend from
SUD-Éducation. The activists of Solidaires, who secure this sector of the square
head, are near the shots. No one will be hurt and the incident will have no
consequences. But, again, the symbol is very heavy.
It is around 5 pm, night is falling and the situation will become tense, this
time at the back of the parade. Several political organizations, which have been
trampling for hours a few tens of meters from the starting point, like the UCL,
decide to dissolve their processions when it becomes clear that the demonstration
will not be able to achieve its initial goal. The union procession, blocked by
the barricade, also begins to disperse. Despite this, the violence of the cops
will be unleashed.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
New cop assault
The cops are positioned in the rue des Tourelles, in the rue Henri-Dubouillon, in
the rue Haxo and in the rue Saint-Fargeau. Lallement holds his revenge. New
charges, accompanied by tear gas and de-encircling grenades, were then launched
in Avenue Gambetta against the union procession blocked by the barricade. New
crowd movements and new ebbs. The processions of the FSU and Solidaires succeed
in evacuating the premises, despite the chaos. The procession of the CGT is that
day positioned further forward. There, at the stop, there is the van of the
departmental union of 93, that of the CGT-Interim, one of the local Picardy union
of Santerre and finally a van of the regional union Île-de-France . In other
words, the vans of CGT organizations in the poorest department of Île-de-France,
Around thirty activists and CGT activists remain around, initially in charge of
leading the procession: "We suffered a lot of tear gas, without any protective
equipment. It was chaotic. It seemed obvious that we could not continue the demo
as planned. Most of the demonstrators went up to the Porte des Lilas. As the
charges, tear gas, and de-encirclement grenades continued, we had to back up the
vans and then attempted to turn them around."
Second stab in the back
The second stab in the back will be carried at that time by a group of
demonstrators (the same ?) Who sweep over what remains of the CGT procession and
physically attack the trade unionists, even as the cops go wild with batons. The
thirty trade unionists are literally bored (!) By this group. Insults are raining
down: "They shouted at us that we were traitors, cops, tells one of the Nass
union members, that the CGT was worse than the prefecture of police, that we had
started to agreement with her to screw up the demo."Union members are pushed
around, some and some are beaten and slapped. A group among the attackers sets
out to block the trucks, to prevent them from fleeing the cops and to force them
to stay in the middle of the clashes. They also undertake to explode their
windows with hammers. The vans of the UL de Santerre and the UD 93 managed to
cross, not without damage. There remain those of the URIF and the CGT-Interim,
stuck in a double trap, concentric: that of the hooded aggressors, and that of
the cops who in the meantime have spread all around.
New police charges are launched. The remaining trade unionists and the last two
vans managed to free themselves and take refuge in a neighboring low-cost housing
estate, at number 211 avenue Gambetta. "We finally managed to enter an open-air
car park, at the foot of residential buildings. . We parked the vehicles as far
away as possible, then we waited for the leading SO to join us so that we could
evacuate. » Makeshift shelter in the storm of violence.
The cops finish the job
The unitary union SO finally succeeded in joining the demonstrators who had
remained stuck in the trap of the cops, making their way through the neighboring
streets. When the SO militants arrive, they witness a chaotic scene, a vision of
collapse and a totalitarian world: in a twilight light, ranks of armored cops,
blocking all the streets, beat up the demonstrators who seek to flee the scene,
even as some put their hands in the air, amid fires and clouds of tear gas. The
CGT unionists are preparing to leave the parking lot where they have taken
refuge, but this time accompanied by the SO. In the midst of the chaos, the
inter-organ collective Front Social continues to give voice to the sound system
to hammer out its slogans, giving a heartwarming example of combativeness and
solidarity.
Near the rue des Tourelles, when crossing the cordon of the cops, brutality is
unleashed, again: the unionists and the SO cross a "guard of honor»Formed by the
cops in armor over about thirty meters, where they are heavily beaten, with
shields and batons. The trade unionists and the unitary SO CGT-Solidaires finally
reach the Porte des Lilas. It is around 6.30 p.m. The place is calm. Breathable
air. We take care of the injured. The chaos that ravages the streets just a few
hundred meters away gives way to the quiet and ordinary life of the neighborhood.
We start to breathe. We believe we are finally done. But the respite only lasts a
few minutes, police hatred has not yet dried up: heavy grenade fire in the
direction of union vans drowns the Porte des Lilas in a few moments in a thick
fog of tear gas. They will only stop chasing us beyond the periphery.
Demonstration of December 5, 2020 in Paris.
cc Martin Noda / Hans Lucas / Red Photo Library
Consequences and outstanding questions
First consequence of this delirious day: the trade unions gave up participating
in the demonstration on the following Saturday, December 12. It is impossible to
guarantee the safety of union members in such a context, with both cops and
unidentified assailants on our backs, in an even more dangerous configuration
(the Place du Châtelet).
From this experience, activists can draw lessons on police strategies, on the
porosity of informal processions and on the consequences of authoritarian
practices which reveal the principle of "diversity of tactics". But many
questions remain unanswered. And in particular three: to which camp belong the
groups which helped the cops, indirectly and directly, to suppress the
demonstration ? What camp do the militant groups claim to be on, who subsequently
rejoiced in publications on the web ? And in the service of which camp do certain
groups encourage them to attack union processions during upcoming demonstrations?
Libertarian communists unionized with the CGT and Solidaires
This story was written from the testimonies of 9 demonstrators, some members of
the CGT or Solidaires, who came from all over the Paris region and who
experienced these events.
https://unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Des-flics-devant-des-agresseurs-dans-le-dos-la-manif-du-5-decembre-telle-que
------------------------------
Message: 2
The US government, built on slavery, imperialism and exploitation, will celebrate
the inauguration of their new war lord Joe Biden on January 20th. Trump and his
open fascist rhetoric was dangerous and luckily he is at his end, but other
horrors, like concentration camps at the borders, the bloody imperialist war in
Afghanistan, and the publicly racist executions that are common there, will
continue under Biden's presidency. In his own words: "Nothing will fundamentally
change". ---- On January 23rd, at 16:00, we will show our resistance against the
US warmachine at Museumplein, Amsterdam. Bring banners and flags. This is a
chance to show anarchists will not sit back and watch this go on.
Come and make yourself be heard.
https://www.vrijebond.org/j20-stop-the-us-warmachine/
------------------------------
Message: 3
It all started with a cork strike at the hot rolling mill on the Moselle site,
until it took on national proportions. This is a consequence of Covid-19:
employees cannot tighten their belts any further. ---- In October, a strike
movement that started from Florange (Moselle) won over eight other French sites
of the Arcelor-Mittal group (Reims, Gray, Pontcharra, Woippy, Ottmarsheim,
Saint-Nazaire, Bruyères-sur-Oise, Denain), with walkouts and even blockages.
Started on the 6th, the strike was suspended three weeks later, pending
compulsory annual negotiations (NAO). "We worked throughout the period of the
first confinement," explains Lionel Kozinski, CGT union representative in
Florange, " we did not stop. More than 50 employees were affected by the Covid
and we still continued." And for those employees who were on short-time work, the
management did not want to supplement the money paid by the State to guarantee
100 % of their income. So that in September, the union calculated that the
shortfall for employees would be 4,000 euros on average.
Today, he is asking for a Covid premium of 2,000 euros, and covering up to 100%
of partial unemployment. The management responded with silence: "Since the Macron
ordinances and the establishment of the social and economic committee, explains
Kozinski, the" social dialogue "has been broken, the unions are no longer taken
seriously and the breaches of working conditions are 'accumulate, hence the fed
up." The ArcelorMittal group, however, a well-stocked cash. It collects
considerable funds, in particular through public aid, and will benefit from the
State's recovery plan.
The movement started from the base of employees of the Florange steel plant, and
the CGT helped in its construction and extension, in particular by setting up a
strike fund.
Cold rolling mill outlet blockage
It all started with a disengagement of the hot rolling mill which, being at the
first stage of the production chain, brought the cold rolling mill to a
standstill downstream - this is called a "strike. -cap". The workers, each doing
a few hours of strike each day, succeeded in stopping everything, thus
demonstrating that even a small number of determined strikers, in a strategic
sector, can prevent the production of an entire factory.
On Friday, October 16, the CGT and the strikers also blocked the exit of the cold
rolling mill, preventing the trucks from loading the finished products. The press
was present, the movement well followed and the strike fund replenished by
comrades of the CGT Moselle. On the day of the blockade, a group of anti-strike
workers, close to the management, gathered in front of the House of Trade Unions.
Few in number, they quickly broke camp when they saw that the strikers were
heading for the factory cold.
The next day, after thirteen days of strike action, the CFDT and CGC unions,
usually very timid and submissive to management, joined the CGT on its demands.
It was because it was difficult for them to deny that the movement was supported
by all the employees. They would have paid dearly for it in the next elections ...
In December, at the end of the NAO, the group's management finally agreed to a
general salary increase of 0.6%, and an exceptional bonus of 500 euros. We are
far from the 2,000 euros claimed but, after consulting the employees of the
group, the CGT agreed to sign the agreement.
Jean-Baptiste (UCL Thionville)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Metallurgie-Florange-passe-Mittal-rapace
------------------------------
Message: 4
Visually impaired or just would like to listen to an article without reading it?
As well as the fine videos listed on the ACG Youtube channel and our At the Café
podcasts here on our website, you can listen to the following website articles on
Youtube:
Strikes Not More Talks
Bud Light Putsch (storming of the capitol) article
What They Don't Teach in Schools and Why
How Many Deaths Does It Take?
Spycops Scandal
Labouring in Vain:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Demonstrations Against The Police In Nigeria And Murder By The Military
Guatemala: Congress Building Set On Fire
Johnson's military spending boost
Covid, lockdown and anarchist communism
You can also hear our podcasts on a range of platforms via Anchor FM
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/01/21/audio-versions-of-acg-articles-2/
------------------------------
Message: 5
Shortly after the corona virus spread in Germany and government measures to
contain the pandemic while wage labor continued, the ideological conspiracy
deniers of the coronavirus formed in many cities. ---- But they weren't the only
ones who took to the streets. Leftists also protested, the main topics being the
unequal social impact of the measures, because of the social status of different
risk of contracting the virus. The inhumane conditions in refugee accommodation,
which were made worse by the virus, the unreasonable demands in the care sector
and the increased multiple burden on women were scandalized from the left.
Journalistic and analytical texts were also disseminated by many groups and
newspapers, which promoted the politicization of the Corona crisis and wanted to
use the mood and the interruption of everyday life. Many leftists worked in the
solidarity neighborhood networks,
We have also tried to counter the so-called Corona crisis with a politicization
from the left, for example with actions in front of a DHL distribution center, a
hospital and a nursing home. On May 1st and before October 3rd we criticized the
nationalist cement with flyer campaigns and disseminated class struggle
positions. We published several texts and interviews, held rallies and took part
in the "Shutdown Pig System" campaign, which the public wanted to use around the
scandals in the meat industry to build up further pressure against the system of
works contracts.
Nevertheless, the media spectacle was dominated relatively quickly by the corona
deniers. This is not surprising at first - like many right-wing movements before,
this movement was also "written high" by large parts of the media and enjoyed a
wealth of reporting that left movements and organizations can usually only dream
of. Of course, there was and is also overlap with capital interests, these do not
deny the virus, but have always been about dead bodies for their profits - so why
not use such a foot troop? This soon led to the corona deniers holding a kind of
monopoly on criticizing government measures.
Above all, however, the corona deniers also serve as a good diversionary maneuver
for the state: As right as it is that the conspiracy ideologues pose a serious
risk of increasing the number of infections and have done so, it is so wrong to
blame them for a large part of the infection process. But this suits the state
very well for three reasons. On the one hand, the criticism is then hardly
directed against the continuation of wage labor, the conditions in care, the
opening of schools (so that parents are still available as workers) and shops
etc., on the other hand, this also means that everyone reasonable, left-wing
criticism of the measures is easily dismissed as crazy and conspiracy ideological.
Without question, it is and was right and important as the left (1) to stand in
the way of the corona deniers, but in our view parts of the left have made
several mistakes in dealing with this reactionary movement:
1.Sections of the left have mainly focused on the corona deniers in their
practical work in recent months. Since the left in Germany on the one hand is
relatively marginal and on the other hand we all have limited capacities, this
almost inevitably means that our own positions on the subject of the "corona
crisis" can hardly be disseminated. We are not concerned with declaring the
anti-fascist protest against the conspiracy ideologues to be unimportant, we
ourselves participated and will continue to do so, we are more concerned with the
relationship between our own positions and their dissemination through actions
and agitation as well as the analysis of state measures and the dispute with the
corona deniers is correct again.
2. Often only in connection with the corona deniers, for example in the context
of a rally, criticism of the state measures was formulated. If this mainly
happens in this context, corona deniers are almost inevitably perceived as the
only critics because leftists work on them and often only come up with their
criticism when the conspiracy ideologues march and the focus of the Public lies
on them.
3. The criticism of the content of the corona deniers should not be reduced to
the level that the conspiracy ideologues are "crazy". Of course there are really
strange characters around, but the competition "Who will find the craziest
conspiracy ideologist?" Will not stop this movement and will not help to
understand this phenomenon. It is also not productive to simply describe these
people as selfish. Rather, it would have to be a matter of perceiving the class
composition of this movement (at the top there are usually petty bourgeoisie *)
and putting it in relation to their demands and their drivel about the
constitution and basic rights. Often these mean nothing more than being able to
do business again or to restore or improve the basis for this. The whole thing is
paired with a good dose of macho behavior that the virus cannot harm "strong men
and their immune systems", which cannot be explained without the gender-specific
make-up of this society.
4. If neither left-wing criticism of the state measures nor left-wing criticism
of the Corona deniers is loud and taken to the streets, the tendency to dismiss
all left criticism of state measures as crazy is strengthened.
5. Ultimately, one should be careful not to bump into the rhetorical or
content-wise "We are all in the same boat" horn of the rulers. Leftists are
unlikely to be aware of this. But the state keeps talking about "solidarity". But
we on the left cannot simply adopt that as a popular empty phrase without filling
it with concrete content. Because on the part of the state, it is about the
nationalist ideology, according to which all Germans must now stick together.
This serves to bury the obvious contradictions, injustices and, last but not
least, the possibility of showing resistance, for example by not going to work
and endangering your own health and that of others. Solidarity and solidarity
does not mean, however, Restricting yourself exclusively in your free time and
continuing to do wage work, but it can mean, for example, showing solidarity with
striking nurses. It means concrete help and politicization of the crisis.
6. The corona deniers must not ensure that the left no longer takes its own
positions and is barely noticeable. The conspiracy ideologues must not be the
ticket for anyone on the left to make peace with the state's pandemic policy.
But why are the government measures to be criticized from the left? Of course
not, because we downplay the dangers of the pandemic and describe the measures as
excessive.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and the looming second "lockdown", the state
has pushed forward an actually very transparent discourse which individualized
health protection and largely linked the infection process to leisure activities.
50 people in factories and offices are okay, shopping too, of course, but woe
betide three people sitting on a park bench or three children playing in a
playground. The schools were also kept open for as long as possible, of course
not to relieve parents and, above all, women, but so that they are available as
workers. The message was and is largely: wage labor and thus added value creation
must continue, leisure time must be massively restricted. The President of the
Confederation of German Employers' Associations, as a representative of the
capital, says it very clearly: "If more stringent measures are planned, we should
above all talk about the time after work". But the Tagesschau also clarifies with
its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, crappy, humiliating continues (2). But the Tagesschau also clarifies
with its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, shitty, humiliating continues (2). But the Tagesschau also clarifies
with its survey what the course of the state pandemic policy is, as there is no
differentiation between leisure and wage work on the question of the
appropriateness of the measures. For people this means that most things that are
halfway beautiful or at least compensatory are forbidden, but everything that is
stressful, crappy, humiliating continues (2).
Even now with the very late "lockdown", production is still excluded. Companies
are only asked to consider registering home offices here and there. Of course,
people also get infected at work or on the way there in too small and too few
public transport. The state and capital therefore play a large part in the
increasing numbers of infections and deaths.
Aber auch konkret an den einzelnen Maßnahmen sollte deutlich werden, dass Linke
für diese kein Lob übrighaben sollten. So ist die Gesundheitsversorgung seit
Jahren zunehmend dem Zweck der Profitmaximierung unterworfen. Wo vorher schon
keine ausreichende Versorgung möglich war, ist die Situation nun katastrophal.
Menschen sterben, weil es nicht genug Personal, Kapazitäten und medizinisches
Gerät gibt. Genauso zählt zu den staatlichen Maßnahmen Pflegekräfte weiterhin
beschissen zu bezahlen, sie nun 12 Stunden arbeiten zu lassen und die Tatsache,
dass sie auch infiziert zur Arbeit gehetzt werden können. Ebenso wie die Zustände
in der Fleischindustrie und auf den Spargelfeldern, in den
Geflüchtetenunterkünften und an den EU-Außengrenzen zu den staatlichen Maßnahmen
zählen. Zusätzlich kommt dem Staat in der Pandemie besonders zupass, dass in
aller Regel Frauen Haushalt, Kindererziehung und Sorgearbeit übernehmen.
In short: The state measures mean shifting the corona crisis on the backs of the
working class and on the backs of women in order to allow capital accumulation to
continue as much as possible, which in any case is based on their exploitation
even without a pandemic.
This state continues to be, even in the pandemic, the state of capital and acts
like that.
What to do?
The dispute with the corona deniers should clearly be conducted in opposition to
the state. Above all, however, we as the left should increasingly set our own
topics again in the Corona crisis or in the coming economic crisis and try to
organize ourselves at work, at school or at university and support others in
this. We should use the points we can build on to push our anchoring forward. At
least symbolic campaigns relating to the care sector, parcel services and
supermarkets are easily organized and easy to implement. And of course we should
be considerate, of course it also depends on individual behavior, but we should
always argue against individualizing the infection process and target the sphere
of production.
Health for everyone is a social issue! The state has its side and that is not ours.
In this sense: Do not become state supportive! Against corona capitalism and
corona deniers. For real solidarity
(1) This includes not only organizations, but also individuals.
(2) Of course this does not mean that we are of the opinion that it is no longer
important to reduce social contacts.
https://likos.noblogs.org/2021/01/15/nicht-staatstragend-werden/
https://awsm.nz/?p=8554
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