Spontaneously renewed strikes, action committees at the base, which
impose unity on overwhelmed union leaderships... Boy, what is this listof leftist clichés? Well no, these are not clichés, but the publicsector revolt of August 1953 which lasted three (!) weeks and resultedin a total of 4 million (!) strikers... A surge that had curiouslyfallen into oblivion. ---- In this summer of 1953, weighed down by thewar in Indochina, the French State was in dire need of money. The rulingcircles advocate "rigour" : severe cuts in public spending. The taskwill fall to the centre-right government of Joseph Laniel.On July 10, Parliament authorized him to legislate by decree during theparliamentary holidays to freeze the salaries of civil servants, reducethe workforce and, above all, raise the retirement age by two years![1]The reaction of the union federations, however, is quite moderate. Onlythe CGT and the CFTC call, on August 4, to protest by striking... onehour. FO rejects this purely symbolic action... but does nothing else.No one expects, then, that this August 4 will be the prelude to a socialexplosion. Everything will start from the PTT of Bordeaux, and it is nota coincidence. First of all, the social climate is explosive at the PTT,due to low salaries, work rates, and caporalized management. Decree-lawsare the straw that broke the camel's back. Then, at the Bordeaux postoffice, FO is in the majority, on a combative line.On August 4, therefore, the Bordeaux postmen snubbed the hour of strike.But, at noon, returning from tour, they find in the courtyard of thecentral post office, their telephonist colleagues, rather CFTC. Thewomen being on strike, they cannot decently be outdone[2]. The FOmilitants rush up and one of them, Jean Viguié, acclaims the indefinitestrike[3]. In the process, a unitary inter-union committee was formed,which launched an appeal in the country. At the PTT, communication isfast: the next day, several centers stop working. The federal directionsFO, CFTC, FNSA and CGT of the PTT can only follow.The movement was launched by the base, and the base calls for unity:from August 6, in a meeting in the Wagram room, in Paris, 5,000 postalworkers impose that the federal officials CGT, FO, CFTC and FNSA sit onthe same platform - an unthinkable event a few days earlier![4]Anotherunusual event: the next day, a regional strike committee was elected tosteer the fight in unity. In the following days, other strike committeeswill arise spontaneously, in particular at the SNCF, elected by thestrikers. Trade unions are not excluded, on the contrary, they are urgedto participate. A way for the strikers to impose unity of action onthem, while maintaining the direction of the struggle.Joseph Laniel, President of the Council of Ministers from June 1953 toJanuary 1954Inter-union action committees are electedThe libertarian communists of the FA will call for the multiplication ofthese "strike committees" and "inter-company action committees locally,regionally, nationally, by constraining the union leaderships,overflowing them if necessary. These committees will be the real powertomorrow, the management bodies of the company elected and controlled bythe workers' assemblies." The FA also proposes a unifying program in 9points, including: repeal of decree-laws; return to 40 hours; four weeksof paid vacation; alignment of private pensions with the public;withdrawal from Indochina and "independence of colonial peoples"[5].Are we heading towards a revolutionary crisis ? No. For differentreasons, the CGT, CFTC and FO confederations do not want a generalmovement, let alone a general strike. The CFTC, because it does not wantto hinder the Christian Democrats of the MRP, then in government. Butalso because she and FO are paralyzed by the fear of a political crisisthat would benefit the CGT, and possibly bring the PCF to power. Inreality, the CGT will not take a step in this direction, because timeshave changed: Stalin died in March, the armistice was signed in Korea inJuly, Moscow begins a detente with the West, and there is no longer anyquestion of provoking a diplomatic crisis by destabilizing the French state.No inflamed speeches therefore, not even monster demonstrations in thestreets: refusing to "politicize" the strikes as it has been doing foryears, the CGT will accompany them, nothing more; FO and the CFTC, theywill slow them down as much as possible, in a hurry to move on. From August 7, almost the entire public sector is paralyzed: SNCF,EDF-GDF, RATP, Municipalities, Tobacco, miners... we reach 2 millionstrikers. Feeling the wind, the various union federations, with thevocabulary of the time, much more directive than incentive, "gave theorder" to strike. But, as in June 36, the rank-and-file unionsrepeatedly preceded strike orders and disobeyed orders to resume.Railway strike, Dijon 1953Force Ouvrière fears a "CGTist overflow"On Monday August 10, the publication of the decrees in the OfficialJournal raised anger, and new sectors went on strike: Civil Aviation,National Printing, Social Security, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique,ORTF. Ile-de-France metallurgy is affected...On the evening of the 10th, each CGT, FO and CFTC confederal directionmet to take stock of the situation. On the executive board of theCGT-FO, the excitement is extreme. The left, by the voice of AdolpheSidro, of the Employees, proposes the call for a general strike of 48hours. No question, replies the secretary general, Robert Bothereau : itwould open the way to a "CGTist overflow", to a crisis of the regime andto a possible access of the PCF to power[6].In the various branches, FO and the CFTC therefore gave the order tolimit themselves to twenty-four-hour "square strikes" - in vain: workstopped, but did not resume. At the same time, FO and the CFTC arecalling for a convocation of Parliament, in the hope that it willcensure Laniel's decree laws. More comfortable, the CGT approvesindefinite strikes, but without pushing it too far. At Renault, forexample, the libertarian communists point out that the CGT tracts are"surprisingly gray: no slogans, no energetic appeals, as if we wereshouting Long live the strike, wishing not to be listened to"[7].The government belches and gesticulates in vain. He sends requisitionorders ? The strike committees collect them and return them collectivelyto the prefecture. He's trying to replace buses with military trucks ?It's a miss. He sends inmates to pick up trash under police escort ? Theresult is most mediocre. From August 15, Laniel agrees to speak with the CFTC and FO confederalleaders - including the old reformist monk Léon Jouhaux (74)! But Lanielis decidedly low-fronted. Blind to the balance of power, he refuses anyconcession, breaks off negotiations and, on the evening of Monday 17,issues an ultimatum to the strikers on the radio: "I ask everyone to endthe strike tomorrow, Tuesday.[...]There will be no further talks withthose who will not have returned to work tomorrow.»Suffice to say that the "Laniel ultimatum" has exactly the oppositeeffect to that expected. Not only are the strikers holding out, but withthe returns from leave, the risk of an extension to the private sectorbecomes tangible. On August 18, nearly 50,000 workers returned to theRenault factory in Billancourt, this beacon of class struggle, and someworkshops immediately began to stir.Railway strike, Nantes 1953The government capitulates, the strikes continueDisillusioned, begged by the MRP, Laniel agrees to resume talks with FOand the CFTC from August 19 at 11:30 p.m. The pressure is intense, withstrikes now breaking out in the construction industry, textiles,chemicals, steel, in ports and docks... On August 21, Laniel finallycapitulates. Relieved, the FO and CFTC leaders announce withsatisfaction that the government is abandoning the increase in theretirement age, and call for recovery.But, to their great dismay, the mass of strikers did not jump for joy.On the contrary, she suspects a trick : there is no written agreement ;the government is silent; FO and CFTC seem too happy to turn the page.In Paris, the regional strike committee of the PTT is furious at thisorder to resume without either it or the strikers having been consulted.Same topo at the SNCF. The CGT has a good time crying treason. Itencourages the continuation of strikes, while giving them a strangeobjective: the calling of Parliament.This will not take place. Also, from August 25, sector by sector, theCGT in turn gives the order to resume work. At the end of August, thelast strikes died out in the mines and steel industry. It will then betime for reckoning.If the CGT is doing well, it kicks in the stretchers at FO and the CFTC.At the CFTC, activists of the Reconstruction trend are demanding theresignation of the entire federal office of the PTT. At FO, through thevoice of Alexandre Hébert, then close to the FA, the left demanded anextraordinary congress to redefine the strategic line of the CGT-FO.Failing to obtain it, Sidro slams the door of the confederal executivecommission[8].In revolutionary circles, one quickly wonders about the meaning to begiven to this summer explosion, where the self-organization of workershas shaken up the union bureaucracies. Above all, we underline thebitterness of the strikers vis-à-vis a victory which has an aftertasteof betrayal, not very glorious and which, undoubtedly for this reason,has not remained in the memory of the workers' movement.Pierre Monatte, the old sage of revolutionary unionism, chooses to bepositive: "It seems that for some it would be a defeat. Don't believeit. It is an undeniable victory. She ended up in a rout. Otherwisemessy.[...]But that cannot hide the fact that the intended goals havelargely been achieved.» [9]On the side of Socialisme ou Barbarie, we are more mixed: "No victorybecause the workers feel that such a workers' mobilization could havehad much more important results[...]. Nor defeat because practically thedecrees on the retirement age were buried". And, in the end, "positiveresults since the strikes of August[...]marked a recovery of confidenceof the working class in its own forces.»[10]Libertarian communists will learn the lesson that "grassroots actioncommittees are the weapon of victory". Crucial for overcoming uniondivision, "this organizational form must be the necessary stage for aregrouping, a reunification of the proletariat.[11]However, we had towait for the coordination of strikers at the end of the 1980s[12]to seethis form reappear with such vigor, and at the national level.Guillaume Davranche (UCL Montreuil)https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?2023-Il-y-a-soixante-dix-ans-L-ete-des-bras-croises-Et-des-comites-d-action_________________________________________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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