The strike announced for March 7 will be massive. In the meantime, sectors aretaking the lead. Here in the Alps, following a general assembly, the employees ofthe Grand'Maison site, the largest hydroelectric power station in Europe, decidedto occupy the factory and thus take control of the production. Comrades from theGrenoble group went to meet the strikers on February 15. Valentin, CGT unionrepresentative explained to us the challenges of this mode of action, whichcannot be improvised. ---- "On Grand'Maison, we very rarely occupy because it isa very large production site, very difficult to access since it is secured by theMinistry of Defence. On the other hand, for other types of production, we areused to doing it. As proof, almost two-thirds of production in the Alps is at astandstill today, and in the hands of strikers.»The electricity network is a complex system where production must imperativelyequal consumption at European level at all times. In this context, dams are acrucial strategic issue because their flexibility makes it possible to finelyadjust the balance of the latter at low cost. Thus, by deciding to cut or on thecontrary to maintain production, the strikers are forcing EDF to find other moreexpensive means of balancing. "For example, this afternoon we left the machinesrunning. It was costing the state money to run them rather than stop them, sincethe adjustment of the network balance could no longer be done.»Another reason to maintain power on the network is to release constraints onnuclear workers so that they can carry out their own actions, which are, securityobliges, much more supervised. Here, the federal structure takes on its fullmeaning. "We are a federation, Mines-Énergie, and afterwards, we are in contactwith the national picket line which coordinates information. There are sixhydraulic production units throughout the territory as well as around thirtynuclear power plants, and we transfer information between us, on differentchannels, and that allows us to know exactly where we are.»Photo: UCL GrenobleEffective action but significant riskHowever, this operation is not without risks. "If we create a sufficiently largenetwork imbalance[...]we are not safe from being evacuated by the gendarmeriefrom the power stations and from having criminal sanctions[...]for the agentspresent and union representatives. Things that have already happened.»As we can see the workers are self-organizing to bend the government; unions andtheir federations are on the offensive and decisions must be made democratically."The different modes of action will be defined by the GAs.»The occupation ended after forty-eight hours, but it is only a postponement.Tonight was just training for March 7, when a prolonged struggle will begin. "Nowit is the paralysis of activity and the economy that will reverse thesituation[...]employers must be forced to ask the government to withdraw theirproject.»Statements collected and commented on by UCL Grenoblehttps://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Breve-de-classe-Barrage-contre-la-reforme-des-retraites_________________________________________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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