workers will understand and begin the process of mobilizing appropriate action to mootity -Matters. : November 30, 1964,
A CHANGE IN MQOQD_ AMONG THE FRENCH WORKERS ?
By Pierre Frank
.. The scason of labor demands in France began this year rather late, with the approach of winter instead of early fall, the usuel period. Once again it is the workers bound by government statutes (public services, municipal employees. . . }) and government functionaries as well as teachers who are raising their voices. A demonstration has been scheduled for December @ and a 24-hour strike for Friday, December ll, — The workers in the public and nationalized sectors have not caught up on wage levels, and the government, since putting into -. effect its "stabilization" plan in September 1963, has blocked any rise, This is the explanation for the continuous discontent of these workers, who constitute a third of the wage-workers in France, and the demands they are now making.
But there are other elements ‘in the present situation. During the past year prices continued to rise although ata slower rate than in the past. Receritly they took another jump. In addition, in comparison with the private sector, wages have not tended .to mount primarily because of a shift in the labor market.
In addition, a possibility can be discerned this time for associated or common action among all the workers whether they belong to the public or. private sectors, The perspective is' of great interest, since one of the elements that has favored the game of the Gaul- List regime, as a consequence of the relatively good economic conjuncture, was the presentation of the demands’of the different categories of workers in a scattered way. This still holds, but the ” elements for overcoming | it are beginning to" appear. ore
-This is. the background to the activities of the various trade~ union organizations, their réciprocal relations and also ~~ although
this is neither direct nor conscious -- the political problems in France, particularly the 1965 presidential elections,
The trade-union situation changed: in October when.the Christian CFTC [Confédération Francaise des Travailleurs Chrétiens] voted by a big majority to give up designating itself "Christian," changing its name to the Confédération Francaise.ct Démocratique du Travail [cFDT],. This decision resulted from the action of several currents. On the left in the CFTC a current has been genuinely in favor of socialism, in a confused way certainly, mixing Marxism with idealist philosophies, Through this change they sought to break with ‘the past. For the leadership and the majority, the change is primarily a maneuver -- a rupture is involved .only with the integrationist wing of the Church -- the aim being to adapt the organization to the modern: world, (The move is within the line adopted by the Council in Rome but as applied to the French labor movement. ) .
Through this decision, the new federation aims for the first time to open an offensive against-the two other federations, the OGT [confédération Générale du Travail], which is under Communist influence, and the FO L[Force. Ouvriére], which is not so militant and which displays rigidity in its relations with the other federations. The FO is the more immediately threatened inasmuch as the big battalions of workers will not soon forget that the CFDT was formerly named the CFTC,
In any case, the change in name will not fail to stir up competition among the trade-union federations which can be carried over into activity in the field of demands. ; oe
If the preponderance of the CGT is considerable in the private sector, with the exception of the white-collar categorics, the rela~ . tionship is quite different in the public services;: the nationalized industries and among the government functionaries. The CFDT has in- 'fluential minorities amonig various categories of workers, above all. the white-collar categories. The main bastions of the FO are among postal and railway workers as well as government functionaries.
Formally, the FO organizations are barred from having relations with CGT affiliates, But this holds only at the top level. On the lower levels of unions, locals'and departments, fruitful contacts often exist. However, it takes time and negotiations involving much diplomacy to reach common action. The agreement this time, for the workers in the public and nationalized sectors, exists in the demonstration set for December 2 and the strike scheduled for December 11.
For December 2 the trade unions at first projected a big street demonstration in the center of Paris. The police banned the demonstration, but after negotiations authorized a gathering at the Bourse du Travail, This means practically that a street demonstration will take . place but will be held in a less central location than was originally _ envisaged, Indications are that this demonstration willbe a success
and that the December il strike will get a big response. But what next? ren
For the leaderships of the federations the main question is to combine the demands of the workcrs coming under.government regulations with those in the private sector, Threatened, as we indicated above, by the formation of the CFDT, the generally timorous and passive : leadership of the FO suddenly launched the idea of a nation-wide, ‘24hour strike and proposed that the date be December ll. Such a demand from this. leadership is both demagogic and symptomatic -- demagogic because it is not a firm decision, the FO having neither the weight nor the following to assure wide response to such a decision; sympto-= matic- because the FO leaders, linked primarily with the most backward layers, could not have launched such an idea purely out of demagogy. They are aware of something ripening among the layers where they have influence, .
This proposal, addressed to no one in particular, not even being placed formally before the other leaderships, brought no response .from the CFTD., The CGT, through its main loader Frachon, had no trouble pointing to the incapacity of the FO to carry out a single letter of such a slogan and condemning the refusal of the FO to meet with the CGT to organize common action.
But at the same time, Frachon took an ambiguous position on the essence of the problem, Without rejecting the idea of such a general demonstration of the working class, he sought to make much of the difficulties it offered and on the fact, according to him, that it should be the culmination of a number of partial actions, |
- Truth to tell, the trade unions face difficulties in their tactical problems because of the assortment of existing situations, Some industries are. still prosperous, others are suffering stagnation, still others are dying. For the time being the bosses hold the initiative, and certain attacks have to be met without waiting for the. entire working class to show its readiness for action.
But the. doopost cause of the embarrassment of the CGT leadership lies in the absence of perspectives and political. line among the leaders of the French Communist party. We will take up this question in another. article dealing with the prosidential elections in “1965. November 29, .1964,°
Imprimerie: 21 rue ataboukir, Paris 2 “(Cimprimé par les soins de 1'édi- Directeur-Gérant: Pierre FRANK, teur),