WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, UCL AL #348 - Seine-Saint-Denis, What we want is an emergency plan! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Since February 26, a major social movement in education began in

Seine-Saint-Denis. This is the fruit of mobilization work developed by
the struggle unions which began in September 2023. ---- From September,
strikes took place in several establishments in 93, in particular to
protest against the ban of the abaya and staff shortages. An inter-union
decided to come together to build a collective and unitary movement. The
FSU, the CGT, the CNT and Sud Education have decided to launch a large
collection of grievances to build a common demand intended to serve as a
basis for mobilization. Following the model of the victorious
mobilization of 1998, it was decided to once again demand an Emergency
Plan for education in the 93.

A movement is being built...
A questionnaire made it possible to identify the lack of resources. It
appears that the 93 needs 358 million euros and the hiring of 5,200
teachers, the strengthening of medical and social centers by hiring 200
nurses, doctors and social workers, 1,055 positions in school life and
2,200 AESH. Concerning unsanitary premises (pest infestations in 30% of
schools) and poorly insulated premises (70% of colleges), the
inter-union is asking for another collective budget[1]for a major
renovation and investment plan.

In Bagnolet, March 9, 2024.
Photo: Guillaume/UCL Montreuil
Everyone knows the catastrophic state of the public education system in
93. However, this work concretely serves to build mobilization and gives
it credibility. Union activists crisscrossed the department to
popularize what was still only a campaign for an emergency plan. They
organized tours and union information meetings, coordinated email
campaigns, etc. On December 21, a press conference and a meeting were
organized at the Departmental Labor Exchange in Bobigny to publicize the
quantification of grievances and launch the mobilization, with the
support of the CGT, the FSU and Solidaires.

In January and February, the painstaking work continued and the idea of
not returning to school after the winter holidays emerged. The figures
from the national strike of February 1 encouraged activists in this
direction and the announcements of Gabriel Attal (reform of the clash of
knowledge) then the declarations of the short-lived minister
Oudéa-Castera on public schools stirred up the embers.

What if the 93 didn't make a comeback?
In fact, the back-to-school strike on February 26 was a success with 60%
of strikers on average in the 2nd degree. Many establishments have voted
for renewal, AGMs take place in several towns in the department,
sometimes in places where little is happening (in Aulnay-sous-Bois for
example). Furthermore, following a gathering of 700 people next to the
Lycée Stanislas in Paris, a departmental general assembly (GA) brought
together 150 teachers who voted to renew the strike for the next day.

On February 27, the rally in front of the departmental directorate of
national education was a success, as was the departmental AG. From that
moment on, the AG and the inter-union continued to call for a renewable
strike and its massification. This was the case on March 7 with an
increase in the number of strikers (60% in middle and high schools and
45% in schools) and the number of people in demonstrations (several
thousand) and in general meetings. Little by little, the movement
brought together parents of students who organized evening gatherings or
Saturday demonstrations in the main cities of the 93.

In Bagnolet, March 9, 2024
Photo: Guillaume/UCL Montreuil
On Thursday March 14, processions flocked from 8 starting points in the
department to converge 5,000 towards the prefecture. Unheard of for
several decades! The next day, it was the parents who organized a
"deserted schools, middle and high schools" operation throughout the
department.

The movement seems likely to last, with its organization in AGs
respectful of the mandates of establishments and cities which
systematically meet upstream of departmental AGs, holding firm to the
course of local demands for an emergency plan of 93 articulated with
demands against the "shock of knowledge" reforms.

The revolting situation and the youth of a significant part of the staff
give impetus to the mobilization, but it is not equal throughout the
department. The renewable strike is in fact mostly closed. This is also
what allows the mobilization to last for 3 weeks at the time this
article is written. Part of its success is also due to the fact that it
is concrete and speaks to workers as well as users. However, the march
is high: the victories of 1998 and 2015 were achieved under social
democratic governments. Faced with the right which refuses to give in to
social mobilizations, we will have to amplify the balance of power.

In Bagnolet, March 9, 2024
Photo: Guillaume/UCL Montreuil
The assumed failure of public education
Despite the scale of the mobilization, the support of the FCPE and that
of NUPES elected officials, the response from the hierarchical
authorities is non-existent and contemptuous. Thus, neither the
departmental director, nor the rector, nor even the ministerial cabinet
(which received the inter-union vote on March 15) want to give up
anything: not the slightest million, nor even a release of positions.
When we know that the SNU and wearing the uniform would cost more than 4
billion euros, we come to grips with the reality of the political
choices made by the government. There is also a lot of public money in
the coffers of private establishments, more than 70% of which are
financed by the State.

" Money for public school !" Bad luck for the 93 !» is one of the most
chanted slogans of this movement. If the renewal of the strike announced
after March 19 takes root and grows, we can expect a very hot spring in
93 and perhaps everywhere else in France in national education!

Libertarian communist teachers from 93

In Bagnolet, March 9, 2024
Photo: Guillaume/UCL Montreuil

In Bagnolet, March 9, 2024
Photo: Guillaume/UCL Montreuil

To validate

[1]Additional resources from the state budget.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Nous-c-qu-on-veut-c-est-un-plan-d-urgence
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