2 m. public sector workers strike by Evariste Liegenfal
THIS GOVERNMENT HAS MANAGED TO UNITE THE SEVEN TRADE unions which represent civil servants. They started by announcing a public sector pay freeze for 1996, and topped it off with hasty and ill-considered public statements. And yet, this new unity of protest did not seem to worry the government. They increased their attacks and insults as the date set for the strike, October 10th, approached. Partly they underestimated the effect of a public sector strike. And partly, since they could not prevent the strike, they decided to make a big show of their firmness and determination in the face of social conflict.
L'élan unitaire
The French government wants to reduce public spending for two reasons: to please the financial speculators, and to fulfil the Maastricht criteria for European monetary union. Doing so obliges them to contradict the promises made by Jacques Chirac in order to win the presidential election earlier this year. It also obliges them to confront the social movements, notably organised labour. The result so far has been an unprecedented decline in popularity for both the president and the government. In the current context of corruption scandles and clumsiness, the main effect of the government's tough-guy statements has been to boost public sympathy for the unions. According to one survey, 57% of the population "support" or "sympathise with the strike by those public sector workers who are protesting against the 1996 freeze in their salaries". Only 26% declared themselves "hostile" or "opposed" to the action.! And the unemployed seem to be slightly more sympathetic than the general population.? 26 International Viewpoint n° 271 - November 1995
In other words, the much discussed divergence between public sector workers and the public, between the unionised and the unemployed, has not emerged. Partly because the strikers put employment at the centre of their concerns. And the slogans and banners on the big day dealt with the degradation of labour conditions in the public service, the generalisation of part-time, fixed-term,
"re-insertion", replacement" and other precarious contracts.
Other concerns raised by the strikers included salaries, of course, and privatisation. This is an imminent threat at
France Télécom, where 70% of workers participated in the strike.3
More than two million people stopped work on October 10th. Public transport in the major towns of France was paralysed. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated.
There was a real desire to build not just a bond between public sector workers, but also between providers and users of public services. The schools are not responsible for youth unemployment.
The unions are not responsible for the degradation of public transport and the increase in fares.
The four "reformist" union organisations receive a minority of votes in workplace elections, but have a majority of seats in the various tripartite and consultative structures, largely thanks to the previous government of Edouard Balladur.
The [Communist-dominated] CGT and the FSU (the largest education union, non-attiliated) proposed that the demonstration in Paris be composed of unitary contingents marching by sector of employment. This was rejected, leaving each federation to march separately. Only one in five marchers joined the contingents of the four reformist unions, which are now clearly waiting for the government to make a new offer. Public Sector Minister Jean Puech has proposed meeting for negotiations "in the second quarter of 1996". In contrast, the CGT and FSU had impressive followings, as did the "Group of Ten" non-affiliated unions. These are all planning further action on jobs, salary, and security. They still demand the non-implementation of the 1996 pay-freeze, and call for immediate negotiations. Watch this space.
1. Le Parisien, 10 October 1995
2. 58% of unemployed respondents "support" or "sympathise", 20% are "hostile" or "opposed".
3. Two teachers out of three also stopped work. Elsewhere, the rate of participation was nearer to 50%
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