WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE News Journal Update - (en) France, OCL CA #335 - Meetings of struggling professions ---- Is there strength in unity and dialogue? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 

On September 23 and 24, 2023, the Last of the Rope Festival took place.
In a small village in the south of the Allier department, TAXAT-SENAT,
on the initiative of the angry rope access workers and the STUCS-CNT-SO
03 (Union of United Workers of Culture and Entertainment). Despite
prefectural pressure before and during the meetings (see box), the
debates and festivities took place as planned. ---- Present during these
meetings: ---- * In addition to the angry rope access workers (1) and
the organizing STUCS (2), "Haut Pluri'Elles (3)" was present, a
collective of women rope access workers from this organization. replaces
"Women in rope access France".
* Echafaudeurs/Scaff'holders(4) "Scaff de France" the professional who
ensures the assembly of stage structures or mobile structures: a control
or sound tower, an outdoor stage space for a festival, a structure for a
set or an artificial ski slope...
* SGT "Flock Keepers Union" (5), affiliated with the CGT.
* Solidarity "Workers of the Earth".
* S+JV "Video Game Workers Union" (6). Syntec collective agreement.
* STAA "Union of Artists-Authors Workers" (7) affiliated with the CNT-SO.
* Labor inspectors (CNT and SUD).
* Road (SOUTH road).
* Cleaning workers (CNT-SO)(8).
* Bookstores (Book Bloc).
* Family collective (Stop death at work)(9).
* Collective Stop mines 03.(10)
During these meetings, interviews were held with representatives of
angry rope access workers, the "Haut Pluri'Elles" collective, the SGT
and Solidaire TT unions.

Interviews:
Some of the speakers wished to remain anonymous. The choice was made to
only indicate the structures of the speakers who participated in the
interviews.

Following consultations between the different organizations,
associations or collectives of shepherds, the creation of the SGT
(Syndicat des Gardiens de Roupeaux) affiliated to the CGT appeared to
them as a necessity in the face of the new unemployment reform which
calls into question their right to compensation. . Indeed, the alpine
pasture lasts on average between 4 and 5 months, with the new
legislation they are required to work 6 months in the last 24 months,
which implies 2 seasons to claim compensation. The choice of a
representative union at the national level was made to have the
possibility of participating in the joint commissions for the
development of the National Collective Agreement (CNN) of agricultural
and production workers, at the invitation of the CGT (Confederation
General of Labor). This agreement also includes agri-food employees and
forestry workers. Before their arrival, only a representative of
agri-food employees was present. The idea supported by the SGT is to
integrate not only shepherds, but also goatherds and cowherds, hence the
name herd guardians. Who better than them can talk about their working
conditions, the precariousness of their accommodation during the long
months in the mountain pastures, security, health, loneliness, family
life, hours spent unaccounted for? account for their unemployment
benefits. The possibility of choosing between year-round caretaking or
that of a mountain pasture season and in this case, being able to take
time to recharge your batteries among your family, without being
deprived of their unemployment benefits. Added to this is the complexity
of contracts which can be concluded with several employers depending on
the size of the herd. The harshness of the work in the mountain pastures
means that the career for a man is 5 years and for a woman 3 years on
average.
All of this must be taken into account in the negotiations when writing
the NCC. But also the integration of certain more favorable territorial
agreements into the national collective agreement.
They do not recognize themselves in the term peasant, because the
peasant owns these means of production, while they sell their labor
force. As a result, they are part of salaried workers and recognize
themselves as agricultural workers.
Their participation in these meetings allowed a sharing of experiences,
despite the difference in professions, the same precariousness
encompasses all these professions with the common points, the need to
organize themselves to defend their interests and if possible escape
from corporatism and romanticism passion professions very present in
their different environments. Considering themselves to be new to trade
unionism, a lot of training lies ahead of them.
Their arrival follows information given by the herdsmen's union. Unable
to integrate (with different problems) this union, the creation of a
specific land workers' union appeared to them as a necessity. The choice
fell on Solidaire, because the peasant confederation could not accept
them, as employees, since it is a farmers' union in the same way as the
FNSEA (National Federation of Agricultural Operators' Unions). As for
the CGT (General Confederation of Labor), the closest federation is that
of the agri-food industry, apart from the herdsmen who, despite an
identical collective agreement, do not exactly meet their needs. The
specification of land workers corresponds to travel throughout France,
foreign labor is omnipresent on the farms, of which Europe is their area
of intervention with these different labor legislations. All this poses
problems for them to organize and adds to these difficulties their young
existence, creation of the union a year ago, hence the interest for them
to participate in these meetings.

The following interviews were conducted jointly between male and female
rope access technicians, hence the responses which may be redundant.

The male rope access technicians present discovered the existence of the
"Haut pluri'elles" collective during this festival. They find that the
creation of a specific women's collective is an important and necessary
point concerning their professions. The organization of salaried rope
access technicians is based on two structures, an associative "angry
rope access technicians, solidarity rope access technicians" and the
other union "SYSOCO, SYndicat Solidaire COrdistes" (11). The union
structure allows them to participate in joint committees, a necessary
presence given the presence of employers' organizations in these committees.
Two conceptions oppose each other in the definition of the profession of
rope access technician. The first is international IRATA (Industrial
Rope Access Trade Association) which is primarily based on training in
risk management using ropes in industrial environments. And secondly
that of France whose origin is quite different, based on the rope
technique, the first rope access technicians come from the middle of the
mountain, the mountaineers, and in fact are considered to come from
leisure, where technicality takes precedence over risk management. When
for IRATA, feedback is used to change the rules in risk management,
France considers that initial training, based on technical skills, is
sufficient to compensate for the hazards of the profession.
All the work of the union is to enforce the European directive of June
27, 2001 transcribed into French law by the decree of September 1, 2004,
and to advance mentalities from pure technicality towards risk
management by means of ropes in industrial environments. .

The choice to create a single-gender female collective was made
following the arrival of a number of women in the profession. While this
profession is generally considered masculine, the creation of the
collective complements and does not oppose specifically masculine
collectives. The idea is, as for the whole of society, to have meeting
places between women where speech is free, as well as to understand the
feminist demands specific to the profession, for example: equipment for
people of small sizes, which can also be applied to men of small sizes.
But also, sexism, salary, menstruation, etc. The collective integrates
perfectly by providing specific demands that only women can have on
their working conditions with all the general demands.

Aside from the precariousness of all professions, it is the notion of
passion that emerges in the choice of practicing these professions. But
so that passion is no longer the cause of their precariousness, the need
to organize themselves in the face of the exploitation that they suffer
appears necessary to them. And to make the choice to join trade union
organizations remains, for them, the most suitable tool, regardless of
the union. Both to integrate joint committees with a view to developing
collective agreements in line with their needs, to move from precarious
professions to secure and sustainable professions.
These two days were of certain interest, both for the multiplicity of
professions represented and for the sharing of the problems encountered
in their professions.

The closing took place at a general assembly, where an appointment was
made to continue the adventure next year with an organization
distributed between the various structures. Contacts were created and
coordination emerged. We are waiting for the sequel.

Moulins on November 11, 2023

notes
1. cordistesencolere.fr/
2. cnt-so.org/auvergne/stucs/
3. facebook.com/groups/319769895349010/
4. scaff-and-co.com/
5.travailleur-alpin.fr/2022/09/01/syndicalisme-comment-se-cree-la-cgt-des-gardiens-de-troupeaux/
6. stjv.fr/
7. staa-cnt-so.org/
8. cnt-so.org/category/unionism/cleaning/
9.
facebook.com/people/Collectif-familles-Stop-%C3%A0-la-mort-au-travail/100089216336090/
10. facebook.com/stopmine03/
11. solidaritecordistes.fr/

The organizers would like to thank the Mayor of Taxat-Senat, who stood
firm in the face of incessant pressure from the gendarmerie and the
prefecture, to dissuade him from authorizing the holding of the festival
on his territory. And his presence throughout these 2 days. One of the
reasons given by the administration was the possible arrival in its
municipality of a large contingent of S files.
Before the festival took place, one of the members of the CNT-SO 03 was
harassed by the gendarmerie, with summons at any time. The constabulary
had an obsession, 8 years old, during May 1, 2015 a libertarian
gathering in Saint-Pourçain, not far from Taxat-Senat, had preceded the
opening of a squat, the resentment is tenacious, the date of 23
September seemed suspicious to them (demonstration against police
violence), was there something wrong? What followed proved that no!
(Like in the song). As for the member of the CNT-SO being promised the
option of the arrival of the SPIG (Peloton de Surveillance et
d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie), the cowboys of the gendarmerie, the
friend retorted that this would be seen as a provocation .
During the festival, incessant traffic of gendarmerie vehicles (commune
of less than 200 inhabitants), never in the memory of residents, so much
navy blue in such a short time, had been seen. Incursions at all hours
of the day and night of the soldiery on the gathering place, including
at breakfast, with all the paraphernalia of the perfect trooper. Despite
all this presence, the atmosphere remained calm and the SPIG did not
show the end of its tonfa.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4017
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