A look back at a public meeting organized by UCL Grenoble on March 2 on
the theme "struggles and victories of women at work" which included a
round table with women trade unionists who came to talk to us about
their struggles. ---- On March 6, 2023, we held a public meeting in the
form of a conference to present the brochure "The challenges of
unionization in feminized sectors". We had chosen to tell several
stories of victorious struggles of women such as, among others, those of
the Penn Sardins in 1924, or more recently of the workers of the Basque
country in 2021. In the midst of the fight for pensions, the public's
feedback reflected the faith in the feminist strike and hope in March 8.
It is on this enthusiasm instilled by the stories of struggle of
yesterday and today that we have focused this year.
Draw inspiration from two local experiences and make connections
Two CGT unionists were invited to the round table. One is a home helper
at ADF38, the second an engineer at STMicroelectronics (ST). Among ADF38
home helpers, a typical example of a feminized sector, there are 4 men
(including the director) for every 200 employees. The comrade noted the
injustices of the collective agreement in this branch. Among their
demands: taking into account the kilometers between home and work and
hidden working hours, a better training plan, premises, equipment,
restaurant vouchers, the elimination of the three waiting days, an
increase in wages and finally the reduction of working hours to 32 hours
paid 35 hours. The STMicroelectronics comrade told us about the
victorious legal action which led to the Grenoble industrial giant being
accused of gender discrimination and pregnancy in 2023. The current
challenges of ST activists are the facilitation of times partial
compensation of female workers and the fight against career gaps: at the
end of their career, the pay gap between men and women is still 20%.
In addition to the gendered hierarchy and the inertia imposed by the
presence of reformist unions, the two contexts are different. If the
employees of ADF38 - in fact, exclusively among women - - identify
without problem the injustice they suffer, the engineers of ST, when
they manage to realize that they are not spared by sexism, must still
battle with their male colleagues and comrades. The discussion on modes
of action addressed unionization. The pension reform allowed the CGT of
ADF38 to recruit. Territorial anchoring via the local Union of Fontaine
provided workers with the material support point they lacked: a space to
talk and organize. At ST, the influx of young, highly feminized, foreign
and racialized recruits confronts the union with its historical image
and the responsibility that is now its own: to address these new
comrades and join them in the struggle.
Adapt modes of action to business constraints
In feminized sectors, the strike remains an essential tool, but needs to
be improved: "employees want to, but many cannot," underlines the home
help comrade. Coordination with users' families currently allows them to
free up activist time, provided they have a relationship of trust. The
employees then think about new modes of action: strategic mini-blockages
by all going at the same time to the only microwave or to the only two
computers, strike of the reports expected at regular intervals by the
department...
This public meeting takes place in a local context where feminized
sectors are at the forefront of struggles. At the end of February,
employees of Elior-Derichebourg (private cleaning company in charge of
state administration premises in the Grenoble region) went on strike
following the announcement, without consultation, of the forced transfer
of thirteen employees from one week to the next. These discredited,
poorly paid workers, sometimes suffering from health problems, would be
sent to work in university hospitals or nursing homes without adequate
training.
Their struggle was quickly linked to the case of the Grenoble Institute
of Political Studies, whose cleaning is in the process of being
outsourced. Staff and students are currently mobilized to prevent this
project, because the privatization of the household contributes to the
breakdown of the public service and the increased corveability of
employees of which Elior-Derichebourg is the blatant result. This March
8, Rachel Kéké - emblematic figure of the victorious struggle of the
cleaning women of the Ibis Batignolles who became an LFI deputy - came
to mediate, speak and parade with the striking cleaning workers in the
colors of the CGT.
At the same time, the UD CGT of Isère organized a conference-debate on
the intersections between the racist "Immigration" law and feminized
sectors. The UD worked seriously on the slogan of the feminist strike,
so much so that the CGT procession of March 8 in Grenoble had
unprecedented visibility. UCL Grenoble continues to encourage the
development of these feminist and anti-racist lines within the Isère CGT.
Billie and Artemis (UCL Grenoble)
Let's unionize the feminized sectors!
Home help, cleaning workers, nurses, educational assistants (AED),
cashiers, accompanying students with disabilities (AESH), etc. Our jobs
are essential to the functioning of the capitalist system, which gives
us strength: if we stop, the world stops! Organizing collectively for
better working conditions therefore appears necessary, via struggle,
mass, and self-managing unions. A lot of work remains to be done to
create these unions, sustain them, build them up and connect them.
Our campaign for the unionization of feminized sectors has different
objectives: to convince of the relevance of displaying it as a political
priority, but also to connect unionists from the same locality, because
we believe that the links woven between the struggles and the people
allow us to increase our strength. In Fougères, Rennes, Grenoble, Lyon...
Many local groups have organized events around the brochure, and many
discussions have already taken place on the subject. We hope that they
will be able to instill new determination and participate in
strengthening the feminist union struggle within these sectors.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Secteurs-feminises-Luttes-et-victoires-des-femmes-au-travail
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
the theme "struggles and victories of women at work" which included a
round table with women trade unionists who came to talk to us about
their struggles. ---- On March 6, 2023, we held a public meeting in the
form of a conference to present the brochure "The challenges of
unionization in feminized sectors". We had chosen to tell several
stories of victorious struggles of women such as, among others, those of
the Penn Sardins in 1924, or more recently of the workers of the Basque
country in 2021. In the midst of the fight for pensions, the public's
feedback reflected the faith in the feminist strike and hope in March 8.
It is on this enthusiasm instilled by the stories of struggle of
yesterday and today that we have focused this year.
Draw inspiration from two local experiences and make connections
Two CGT unionists were invited to the round table. One is a home helper
at ADF38, the second an engineer at STMicroelectronics (ST). Among ADF38
home helpers, a typical example of a feminized sector, there are 4 men
(including the director) for every 200 employees. The comrade noted the
injustices of the collective agreement in this branch. Among their
demands: taking into account the kilometers between home and work and
hidden working hours, a better training plan, premises, equipment,
restaurant vouchers, the elimination of the three waiting days, an
increase in wages and finally the reduction of working hours to 32 hours
paid 35 hours. The STMicroelectronics comrade told us about the
victorious legal action which led to the Grenoble industrial giant being
accused of gender discrimination and pregnancy in 2023. The current
challenges of ST activists are the facilitation of times partial
compensation of female workers and the fight against career gaps: at the
end of their career, the pay gap between men and women is still 20%.
In addition to the gendered hierarchy and the inertia imposed by the
presence of reformist unions, the two contexts are different. If the
employees of ADF38 - in fact, exclusively among women - - identify
without problem the injustice they suffer, the engineers of ST, when
they manage to realize that they are not spared by sexism, must still
battle with their male colleagues and comrades. The discussion on modes
of action addressed unionization. The pension reform allowed the CGT of
ADF38 to recruit. Territorial anchoring via the local Union of Fontaine
provided workers with the material support point they lacked: a space to
talk and organize. At ST, the influx of young, highly feminized, foreign
and racialized recruits confronts the union with its historical image
and the responsibility that is now its own: to address these new
comrades and join them in the struggle.
Adapt modes of action to business constraints
In feminized sectors, the strike remains an essential tool, but needs to
be improved: "employees want to, but many cannot," underlines the home
help comrade. Coordination with users' families currently allows them to
free up activist time, provided they have a relationship of trust. The
employees then think about new modes of action: strategic mini-blockages
by all going at the same time to the only microwave or to the only two
computers, strike of the reports expected at regular intervals by the
department...
This public meeting takes place in a local context where feminized
sectors are at the forefront of struggles. At the end of February,
employees of Elior-Derichebourg (private cleaning company in charge of
state administration premises in the Grenoble region) went on strike
following the announcement, without consultation, of the forced transfer
of thirteen employees from one week to the next. These discredited,
poorly paid workers, sometimes suffering from health problems, would be
sent to work in university hospitals or nursing homes without adequate
training.
Their struggle was quickly linked to the case of the Grenoble Institute
of Political Studies, whose cleaning is in the process of being
outsourced. Staff and students are currently mobilized to prevent this
project, because the privatization of the household contributes to the
breakdown of the public service and the increased corveability of
employees of which Elior-Derichebourg is the blatant result. This March
8, Rachel Kéké - emblematic figure of the victorious struggle of the
cleaning women of the Ibis Batignolles who became an LFI deputy - came
to mediate, speak and parade with the striking cleaning workers in the
colors of the CGT.
At the same time, the UD CGT of Isère organized a conference-debate on
the intersections between the racist "Immigration" law and feminized
sectors. The UD worked seriously on the slogan of the feminist strike,
so much so that the CGT procession of March 8 in Grenoble had
unprecedented visibility. UCL Grenoble continues to encourage the
development of these feminist and anti-racist lines within the Isère CGT.
Billie and Artemis (UCL Grenoble)
Let's unionize the feminized sectors!
Home help, cleaning workers, nurses, educational assistants (AED),
cashiers, accompanying students with disabilities (AESH), etc. Our jobs
are essential to the functioning of the capitalist system, which gives
us strength: if we stop, the world stops! Organizing collectively for
better working conditions therefore appears necessary, via struggle,
mass, and self-managing unions. A lot of work remains to be done to
create these unions, sustain them, build them up and connect them.
Our campaign for the unionization of feminized sectors has different
objectives: to convince of the relevance of displaying it as a political
priority, but also to connect unionists from the same locality, because
we believe that the links woven between the struggles and the people
allow us to increase our strength. In Fougères, Rennes, Grenoble, Lyon...
Many local groups have organized events around the brochure, and many
discussions have already taken place on the subject. We hope that they
will be able to instill new determination and participate in
strengthening the feminist union struggle within these sectors.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Secteurs-feminises-Luttes-et-victoires-des-femmes-au-travail
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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