FRENCH WORKERS STAGE ONE-DAY STRIKE
By Pierre Frank
PARIS =-- The one-day strike in the public services and nationalized industries came off as scheduled December 11. For twenty-four hours electric power was cut off and gas pressure lowered. Trains and buses were halted. Schools closed, Sanitary services stopped, Work was suspended in the mines. In Paris the métro [underground, subway] was shut down, Because of the lack of electricity, plants and factories closed and there was a considerable slow down in all activities. Traffic piled up in the streets because the signals were not functioning. Television was dead; elevators motionless. ..
The strike was a success, It was an impressive demonstration in various respects of the power of the working class, its capacity to literally paralyze the whole country.
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In comparison with similar actions in previous years, it was the general opinion among observers of all political viewpoints, that it was the most extensive in many years due to the growth of dissatisfaction, The workers in the public services and nationalized industries have become irritated over the way they have fallen behind in comparison to the gains registered in private industry and over the impossibility of engaging in genuine bargaining with the government-boss, In private industry the workers are disturbed over the absence of gains such as were made in recent years when full employment made the labor market more favorable for them,
The discontent can also be measured by the fact that more than 3,000,000 workers showed their willingness, by going out on strike, to lose a day's pay (out of the twenty-one days on which their monthly wages are calculated), although they knew that the action would not change the government's decisions. This loss in wages means something to the lower-paid categories,
What will happen next? The question was raised at many meet~ ings of the workers before December 11 when militants advocated extension of the action. The leadership of the former Christian federation, now the CFDT [Confédération Francaise et Démocratique du Travail does not dream of going beyond economic demands although it issues declamations about the dignity of labor, etc. The traditional reformist leadership of Force Ouvriére, which feels threatened by the shift of the former Christian federation yet which does not care to make a united front with the cGT [Communist-dominated Confédération Générale du Travail] has been talking demagogically about a twentyfour hour strike of "all" the workers. The CGT leadership has replied, "We are not against it, but it is necessary to prepare for a strike like that..." -
In reality a twenty-four general strike is not the issue; since by itself it could not compel the government and management to concede, Actions of that kind lack meaning unless they are made in the context of appeals aimed at estimating the relationship of forces for a full test of strength in the various industries and companies throughout the country.
But the truth is that the leaderships of the trade~union federations don't have the least intention of engaging in profound struggles, because they don't want a showdown with the government power (which is implied by such struggles), Actions by the workers of the scope of the one on December 11 do have political significance but this cannot be easily grasped without placing them in the context projected for France in 1965,
- Next spring the municipal elections will be held. Later in the year, at a time not yet set, an election will be held for the presidency of the republic -- by universal suffrage for the first time since 1848, For these elections, the leaders of the two big traditional parties, the PCF [Parti Communiste Frangais] and the
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SFIO [Parti Socialiste, Section-Frangaise Internationale Ouvriére], and the heads of the trade-union federations under their influence, imbued with the most inveterate parliamentary cretinism, hope only to convert the discontent of the masses into votes to beat the Gaullist regime on the electoral plane,
The Socialists would like to find some way of attracting Com | munist votes wherever possible in the municipal and presidential’ © elections without granting anything in return. The leaders of the POF talk about a united front, about unity of action among the work=. ers, but their pry n is a combination of reformism (struggle for.” . " genuine democracy" ) and nationalism (with some attempt to outbid de Gaulle) lacking any attraction for those not already prepared, to. vote Communist.
On the level of trade-union struggles and economic. demands, the leaderships are engaging in cagey maneuvers and pressure against each other. The result is that even a big action like that of December: ll, fails practically to advance the unity of the working class. The policies of the government and management engender the demonstrations but the leaderships. of the working-class organizations offer no perspective and no. effective objectives for the working class,
- Of coubse, independently of the policies of these organizations, the workers undergo. a, development of their. own. Two years ago the miners engaged in a very tough struggle for a number of weeks to the surprise of everyone, including the trade-union leaders. | and the government, It is not impossible that the growing discon- — tent will touch off actions in certain companies or industries during 1965, ‘The discontent appears to be particularly high among the railway workers,
The bureaucratism of the organizations prevents a genuine dialogue between the cadres and militants and the broad organized masses -- and still more so with the unorganized workers, This makes accurate forecasts quite difficult. But the mounting dissatisfaction and the political stir which the elections will inevitably arousé make it possible to expect that the situation will become clarified during the coming year.
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