PCOF: Raise the wages! No to the revocation of the right to strike!

I received this translation of an article from the Parti Communiste des Ouvriers de France (PCOF, Communist Party of the Workers of France).  I made a few minor edits.  The French original is much longer and has many photos of the protests and marches across France even if you don't know French or don't machine translate it; this translation is just the introduction:   www.pcof.net/augmentez-les-salaires-non-a-la-remise-en-cause-du-droit-de-greve/

[An included note]  The article below was translated by the comrades of Toufan (Party of Labor) of Iran with slight corrections of the English

Raise the Wages! No to the Revocation of the Right to Strike  

Published by PCOF on October 20, 2022  

 

The call to strike and protest, for an increase in wages and to defend the right to strike, launched by the inter-union CGT [General Federation of Labor], Solidaires, FSU [Unitary Union Federation], FO [Workers’ Force], and the youth organizations, came in continuation of the strike of September 29, or barely 15 days later. It is already a success to have twice as many workers back on the street and especially on strike.  

The strike of the 18th was followed in a wide range of businesses, including private ones. The protests were a reflection of this, knowing that in many companies there were clashes and rallies, mainly over wage increases. This resulted in a very large number of strike pickets, a form of struggle that is developing. The refinery workers' strike made them popular: in front of each refinery, in front of the depots, there is a picket that unites the strikers, where the continuation of the strike is discussed, voted on, and where the[re are] union activists of the other companies, UL, UD, and others who come out to support.  

If the refinery strikers were still often on the picket lines, their fight was in everyone’s head and the government's decision to commandeer the strikers was clearly denounced as an attack on their right to defend their interests by striking, blocking refineries and depots, an attack against all workers' right to strike.  

Just as the profits were denounced, in particular the "super profits", defended tooth and nail by the leaders of the monopolies, such as TotalEnergies at the forefront, and by Macron and his government. The denunciation of the capitalist system was made mostly through signs and slogans.  

"We don't want to be flesh for the bosses"  

The 18th was also a day of strike and demonstrations by the staff of professional high schools, who are fighting, together with the students, against the reform of the course that trains the students of the worker and popular communities, and which the government wants to put even more into the hands of bosses. In many cities, the highly dynamic processions of teachers and high school students took to the streets and in many cities, high school students blocked the entrance of professional high schools.  

The accounts of our comrades [see the original article, with numerous photos] show the extent and variety of mobilizations, all marked by a spirit of struggle and solidarity.  

This mobilization, which is continuing in the form of strikes, in a number of companies, is expected to develop: the solidarity with those who are already striking and those who will be on strike must continue.  

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