The integration of ecology into the trade unionism of the Union Syndicale
Solidaires was precocious, and is almost no longer debated within it. It isspreading more and more, including to other trade union organisations. ----"Social emergencies, ecological emergencies, let's take action !" », it is underthis banner that the last congress of the Union Syndicale Solidaires was held, inSeptember 2021. It is not just a slogan ! Solidaires have been debating andbuilding environmental positions for more than a decade. It is the result of adouble movement. On the one hand, the ecological concern is a legacy of themobilizations of the 1970s and 1980s, from which the trade unionism of Solidaireslargely derives.On the other hand, the strong ecological awareness that runs through all ofsociety is taken seriously: organized workers, we have a responsibility toradically change the system of production and consumption. The prospect ofoverthrowing capitalism and tearing down inequalities, oppressions anddominations comes with a new urgency: to keep a viable planet. In this, theecological question can be seen as a new driving force for social transformationin the 21st century.The holding, in June 2021, of a "social and ecological reconversion " day, withthe participation of many unions concerned (Chemicals, Rail, Industry, Post, Air,Amazon, etc.) showed the desire to get things moving, despite the contradictionsthat may exist between wage immediacy and the medium term of productive consequences.The SUD-Chimie federation took the debate head-on. The comrades assume more andmore clearly to work in an extremely polluting sector whose social purpose isweak, even non-existent. The question is to distinguish what is essential fromwhat is useless and accelerates the degradation of our ecosystems. It is also aquestion of reflecting on the reconversion of companies towards useful productions.Fruitful discussion with SUD-Solidaires AmazonBut if this reflection on the reappropriation of work and its tools is essential,it always comes up against the central question of capital. Whoever controls ithas the right of life or death over the company. Thus, when the announcement ofthe closure in 2020 of the Bridgestone tire factory in Béthune and the dismissalof the 850 employees, SUD-Chimie proposed a conversion of the industrial toolthat was ecologically and socially useful: turn to the manufacture of tarpaulinsfor the thermal insulation of buildings. But neither the bosses nor the statewanted this solution and, in addition to the social massacre, industrial know-howwas wasted.Against the closure of the Bridgestone tire factory in Béthune, SUD-Chimiedefended the employment of the 850 employees by advocating a reconversion of theecologically and socially useful industrial tool: turning to the manufacture oftarpaulins for the thermal insulation of buildings.(c) PASCAL ROSSIGNOLOn another front, the explosion of the logistics sector is leading to theproliferation of packaging, storage or "last mile management " warehouses.Solidaires has managed to establish itself quickly and become a majority onseveral sites of the most emblematic company in the sector: Amazon. The work inlogistics is very hard, relies on an unskilled workforce, precarious and policedevery minute by digital surveillance, under the control of an omnipresent andruthless hierarchy[1].However, the sense of belonging to the company remains strong among many workers.Thus, SUD-Solidaires Amazon initiated the discussion in Solidaires on the "StopAmazon" struggles that have multiplied against the construction of newwarehouses, pointing out that other unions in the company were using theseslogans to denounce SUD as wanting to destroy jobs. After discussion, anymisunderstanding has been dispelled and the report is now shared on the company,its methods, its objectives and the destruction of local employment it generates.But obviously, this reminds us that there will be no ecological transformation inproduction without the involvement of the workers directly concerned. At the level of unit managers, things accelerated in 2018 and 2019. With themultiplication of " exceptional " climatic episodes, the major marches for theclimate and the mobilization of yellow vests, it was a question of materializingthe new slogan "End of the world, end of the month, same fight". Solidairespushed for the national intersyndicales to take positions on environmental andclimate issues - which was almost impossible with FO, but had an impact on theFSU and the CGT.With these two unions, Solidaires finds itself in the ecological and socialcoalition Never Again (PJC)[2]. This alliance, which brings together trade unionsand associations, has moved the lines and created convergences and concretesocial and ecological dynamics, as is the case for example around the fight forthe reopening of the Chapelle- Darblay[3], the work around the Grandpuitsrefinery, support for the Masks Cooperative[4]or the fight against mega-basins[5].Internal tensionsThis unitary work revealed tensions in the structures. Thus in the CGT a numberof productivists, on the side of the railway workers or energy for example who donot see the importance of the ecological fight for our class, attack PhilippeMartinez on this subject. At Solidaires, only Solidaires-Industrie openlycriticizes participation in PJC as marking " the transformation of the union intoan NGO " and the shift from " social to societal ". This position hides the factthat this union, at the national level, does not undertake any work on theecological question.Despite everything, Solidaires remains the only union to take part inthe"interorga climat" which brings together dozens of structures and tries tocoordinate collective action on the subject. And the Union has just equippeditself with material for appearances (flags, stickers) which clearly claims to bean environmentalist union.Obviously, there is still a long way to go, including within Solidaires, todeconstruct the productivist thinking that has been hammered home for decades.But it is an irreversible movement, which will soon mark a dividing line betweentrade unionism-greenwashing and ecologist trade unionism, between trade unionismsupporting capital and trade unionism for social transformation. From this pointof view, Solidaires is clearly a tool in the ecological battle that will only getworse.boriaTo validate[1] Read "Amazon: a colleague lasted 5 years ? He is nicknamed "the old"" ,Alternative libertarian , May 2019.[2] Read " This way out of the crisis ", Alternative libertarian , July-August 2020.[3] Read " Papeterie Chapelle-Darblay: Without the industrial tool, no recycling", Alternative libertarian , November 2021.[4] Read Serge Le Quéau (Solidaires 22), on the Plaintel case: "This cooperativewould make any relocation impossible" , Alternative libertaire , July-August 2020.[5] Read " Poitou: The mega-basin war is raging", Alternative libertarian ,January 2021.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Union-Syndicale-Solidaires-rompre-avec-la-complaisance-envers-le-productivisme_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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