WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE EUROPE - (en) France, OCL CA #354 - Social traitors? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Two successive episodes in French political life have revived this old

temptation to mask the weakness of social movements by designating
scapegoats who have supposedly betrayed the cause. ---- First, after the
events of September 10th and the call for a day of action from the
depths of civil society, which promised much but failed to develop as
hoped. In a week, the nascent movement became unionized, culminating in
the day of action on September 17th, much less massive than the previous
one, but better organized! From a desire to thwart the government's
attacks on workers through controlled and organized street pressure, the
focus shifted to supporting the role-essentially symbolic-that employers
were willing to grant unions in negotiations with the government.
"Treason!" was the cry heard from the far left, as always when unions
play the card of pacification and a return to work!

Then, in the strictly political sphere, secret meetings took place at
Matignon between Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and the Socialist
Olivier Faure, who sealed an agreement for the Socialist Party (PS) to
pass a vote of no confidence in the government.

Here again, in bistros and markets alike, from fervent supporters of La
France Insoumise (LFI) and the moderate left, on blogs and social media,
one could hear that this constituted a real betrayal of that entire
segment of the population (the majority in the country) that wanted to
be rid of Macron.

It is clear, however, that one cannot betray a cause that was never
one's own.

In 1914, socialists and unions rallied to the Sacred Union, which they
had theoretically rejected a few months earlier; three years later, the
Social Democrats physically eliminated the Spartacist uprising in
Germany and had Rosa Luxemburg assassinated. In 1936, the socialists and
unions (along with the communists) decreed a return to work: "One must
know how to end a strike." Some members of the SFIO (French Section of
the Workers' International) voted to grant Pétain full powers in 1940.
In 1947, the socialist Minister of the Interior, Jules Moch, ordered his
troops to fire on strikers. During the Algerian War, Le Pen used
torture, but Mitterrand was Minister of Justice. In 1956, Guy Mollet
(SFIO) obtained special powers under the state of emergency to suppress
the Algerian uprising, and Mitterrand, then Minister of Justice,
approved the widespread use of the guillotine in French Algeria (45
executions during his time at the Ministry of Justice). In 1983, having
come to power, Mitterrand, in collusion with employers, implemented
austerity measures. In 1968, the unions again invoked the principle of
"knowing how to end a strike," but were disavowed by the stronghold of
the Renault workers.

Trade unions structurally have a function: to act as a pacifying
intermediary between capital and labor. They can be, at their core, a
place for workers to come together, but never an instrument for
eradicating the bosses. If the bosses were to disappear, they would
disappear too, and for the thousands of bureaucrats, this is
unthinkable. For decades, they have been sabotaging workers' struggles
and militancy. Not only do they not believe that worker autonomy is
possible, but they don't want it.

The Socialist Party, for its part, not only doesn't believe in the
possibility of overthrowing capitalism, but it doesn't want to. Both are
deeply and structurally attached to the system; they live off it, they
benefit from it.

So, to say that the September 10th movement started outside the unions
and was betrayed by them a week later, that Faure's endorsement of
Macron is a betrayal, is a twofold error that allows us to avoid facing
reality, to forget history, and to nurture harmful illusions.

We should examine our own weakness, the reasons why the proletariat is
unable (for now!) to constitute itself as an autonomous class. There are
certainly scoundrels and traitors, but they are not the primary cause of
our difficulties and failures.

Let's not wait for the parties and unions to change and reform; let's
instead focus on understanding why we cannot do without them and
therefore render them useless. For example, in a movement like that of
September 10, roundabouts should be preferred as a place for
proletarians to meet and discuss, rather than the general assemblies
after demonstrations called popular, where most of the time a few
activists who represent nothing are vying for power under the mocking
gaze of the inter-union leaders, safe and warm in their offices,
preparing for a future that will not be bright.

It is certainly outside offices and workplaces, in the streets in the
broadest sense, that this class unity can be reconstituted for oneself.
Not only through riots, black blocs, or leading marches, but in all
attempts to reclaim a space confiscated by the bourgeoisie but difficult
for those who want to become caliph in place of the caliph to control.

jpd

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4565
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