A private sector strike for dignity
DRIVE-IN
Do the workers have a country?
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Private sector strikes always frighten those with wealth, and the French truck drivers' strike of November 1996 was no exception. The possibility of simultaneous public and private sector action against neo-liberal reforms has been demonstrated once and for all. This is particularly important in France, where media editorialists have tried to dampen widespread dissatisfaction with government policies by repeating that recent industrial disputes showed very clearly that only the "privileged" public sector workers were willing to strike. Neither the unemployed, nor the private sector workers, the story went, were willing to disrupt the economy.
The victorious truck drivers strike has weakened the confidence of the government and the "experts." The consensus in the bourgeois discourse about "what this country needs" has been broken. Industrial, financial and political leaders contradict each other on television and in the media. Some plead for concessions to the workforce. Others continue to brandish the banner of "competitiveness" and criticise the French government for its interference in what should be employers decisions. Some warned of the extension of the road blockade to other countries, with dire consequences for an increasingly road-transport-based European economy. Others recognised that compliance with the Maastricht criteria for European monetary union can only lead to more frequent confrontations with the labour movement. Former President Valery Giscard D'Estang has even called for a competitive devaluation of the French Franc.
The labour movement, social movements, and lett groups can exploit this blossoming division within the upper bourgeoisie, and the blockage in their project of European capitalist integration. Provided, of course, that the left parties dare say out loud that this is an illegitimate government, which must be replaced without delay. Unfortunately, Socialist Party leader Leonel Jospin has responded with a call for "order" and in support of a strong exchange rate for the Franc. His top concern is to reassure the bourgeoisie that his party is a suitable alternative for managing the system.
But wage earners and the unemployed can't wait until the 1998 elections. Recent disputes on the roads, at Thomson (an engineering company) and at Electricité de France show the possibility of a unitary struggle in a range of sectors. We need to impose this view of reality on the leaders of the trade union confederations, currently bogged down in bureaucrat games at the summit, which can only discourage and demobilise the rank and file. We
Dominique Mezzi Most of the co-ordination of the truck drivers strike a few weeks ago was done through the traditionally moderate Democratic Labour Confederation (CFDT). A good example of ABC trade union work. And, of course, the new possibilities of labour organising thanks to mobile phones and fax machines. This was the first French strike where there was a mobile phone at every barricade.
This was a well-prepared movement. The mobile phone numbers of the regional union representatives had been distributed in advance. Regular conference calls ensured that there was nation-wide support and preparation. Once the barricades went up, reports from the negotiating table were faxed to each barricade via well-equipped lorries, and via the inter-union shop steward network.
France Panic?
The media in other countries was outraged by the French government's intervention in favour of a negotiated settlement. In a private sector dispute, one could have expected the state to give unconditional support to the employers, against the strikers; when Portuguese drivers took inspiration from the French, and briefly blocked a border crossing with Spain in protest at their working conditions, the police set dogs on them, and cleared the road in less than one hour.
The French government seems determined to avoid the creation of any "abcess" of social discontent which could develop into a social movement like the public sector strike which rocked France in November-December 1995. Even before the truck drivers strike broke out, the government delayed, for the second time, its proposed need to introduce the spirit of unity, the con-
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION fident demands and the organising skills of the base of certain unions into the confederations as a whole.
Dominique Mezzi
[Editorial fröm Rouge weekly dated 5 December 1996] by José Iriarte "Bikila"
January 1997 #284 21
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* France reform of the National Railways (SNCF).
Prime Minister Alain Juppé's government backed down rather than use police force. They knew that scenes of police violence would increase the chance of the movement spreading to other sectors, particularly the bus and tram companies in a number of provincial towns.
The government put strong pressure on the employers" representatives to negotiate a settlement with the striking drivers. To sweeten this pill, new regulations proposed by the government reduced the employers' responsibility for the increased social security contributions which any progressive reform would imply. The French state has made similar concessions in other sectors in the past (the Robien law).
The Juppé government faces the beginnings of a real contradiction in its policies. On the one hand, it is introducing outrageous measures to encourage "labour market flexibility," but at the same time it is very concerned not to provoke any social explosion.
The selective barricades which blocked circulation of merchandise, but let passenger vehicles through, caused much more damage to the economy than a rail strike could ever do. This is because more than 70% of merchandise is transported by road, compared to only about 20% by rail. Thanks to France's geographical position, British and Spanish companies were also severely affected by the shutdown of the roads.
As soon as an agreement was reached between strikers and employers, Jean Dan-
WAL * dois of the umbrella National Employers Confederation (CNPF) gave a provocative interview to Le Monde on December 3rd, stressing that the major French employers are still committed to the radical dismantling of legislation on job-security and working hours.
The government seems to have recog nised a structural problem. Road haulage companies have been forced into savage competition, first among French companies, and increasingly with competitors from lower wage countries like Spain. The result has been a beggar-your-neighbour price war, with profit margins in the sector now at an absolute minimum. The only real victors in this system are the companies which "con-
Broad transport. The transport companies themselves are completely dominated. rather like the sub-contractors in the automobile industry, who submit to whatever cuts Renault and Peugeot impose.
This basement pricing is, of course, the main reason that rail transport appears to be not competitive, which is the government's justification for the cuts in the State Railway system. New disputes?
Both the CFDT trade union confederation, and the Communist-dominated CGT come out of the strike strengthened. Particularly the CFD1, Which was the organising force behind about 80% of the barricades. To the frustration of the CGT, the CFDT was already the strongest union among the drivers, whereas the more radical CGT was strongest among the depot and dispatching workers of the road transport sector.
There is also a difference in tactics. The CGT, and the third federation, FO, has traditionally organised industrial action in the workplace only. The CFDT has for some time now combined workplace action with barricades on the highways. They recognised that this was a sector dominated by a mass of very small companies, in which it is very difficult to organise a strike, given the ferocity of the repression which invariably follows.
The mobilisation of the militants of the Transport-équipement sector of the CFDT was quite extraordinary. The federal organisation of their union seems to have contributed to this. Railway workers were the main sector offering indirect support and solidarity. This homogeneity and solidarity reinforces the weight of Transportéquipement within the CFDT, where it is one of the sections most strongly opposed to the collaborationist strategy of Confederation President Nicole Notat.
Conscious of its bad image after Notat's shameful support of the government gainst striking public sector workers in late 1995,
Early retirement, higher wages and dignity!
by Dominique Mezzi France's striking lorry drivers have won the right to retire at the age of 55, rather than 60. This will encourage miners, train drivers. and other sectors fighting to retain their right to early retirement. It is already encouraging other sectors of workers, including public transport drivers, to demand the right to early retirement because of their difficult working conditions.
The gain in basic salary was less impressive than in the other demands. The only concrete figure is a one-off bonus of 3,000 FF. (E350, US$600). But real salaries will certainly rise. Loading and waiting hours will now be paid in full, rather than at a traction of salary. This can only mean a higher salary at the end of the month. New government regulations have incorporated the strikers' demands for a fairer remuneration of shortdistance deliveries, "on call" hours and long distance trips. As a result, many drivers will be able to demand payment for 10 hours a week more: hours that were until this strike counted at half-time, or simply not counted.
Improvements were also made in sickness pay and remuneration of travel to and from jobs. If no agreement on the remaining points of negotiation is reached by the end of December, the government will impose regulations governing remuneration in the areas concerned.
In total, the strike has brought an impressive increase in working conditions and salary, as well as recognition of the stressful and unpleasant aspects of road haulage work, in the form of early retirement on full pension. The new conditions, enshrined in government regulations, are a step towards a new status for the profession.* Rouge, 5 December 1996 most sections of the CFDT did offer some support to the striking truck drivers.
The result was a strong, popular strike with legitimate demands. And in the private, rather than the public sector. Public support was clear, though the petrol shortage was, invitably, beginning to have a negative effect on public opinion. At the end of November, the drivers decided to approve an agreement before creating anther weekend of blocked roads and empty petrol stations.
In these last days of struggle, there was much discussion about the possibilities of winning direct support for the struggle from other sectors of the workforce. But there was no real possibility of spreading the strike to other sectors. Not even to the railway workers, who had been in closest contact with the lorry drivers, and had the most similar demands. There was, invitably, a current of thought among railway workers that "since they didn't support us when we struck in December 1995, why should we support them now?"
Nevertheless, this strike has re-integrated the lorry drivers into the organised labour movement. The public no longer sees them
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION by Catherine Samary
22 International Viewpoint as an atomised, individualist group, but as a group of workers who have regained their dignity, and are no longer willing to do whatever the boss says. *
Source: Rouge, 5 December 1996
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