FRANCE WAS "NOT. COMPLETELY PARALYZED"
By Pierre Frank
On March 18, three or four million French workers went out on a one-day strike; many others pulled partial stoppages.
Most of the strikers were workers in the public utilities and government administrations «= railways (95%), electricity and gas (80%), post office, telephone and telegraph system, atomic energy, schools, government functionaries, the Paris subway and buses, mines, armaments, tobacco and matoh factories, social security, Air France, construction, metallurgy, chemical products, etc, (The day before the strike, the radio and television unions announced that, having won some concessions, they would not go out.)
The bourgeois press sought to minimize the movement by pretend~ ing that it was not as strong as the trade unions had hoped for and that the country was "not completely paralyzed," Not completely. From eight o'clock in the morning until six in the evening, no electricity, gas pressure very low, no freight trains, few passenger trains, no mail deliveries, few subway trains or buses, Orly airport closed, no cleaning of Paris streets, garbage not collected, most schools closed, the mines completely shut down, etc. The country was "not completely paralyzed," | ;
It is true that in certain areas the unions were not absolutely unanimous in calling out the workers, For example, in gas and electricity, only the CGT [Confédération Générale du Travail _-- General Confederation of Labor] sent out a strike order, the FO [Force Ouvridre -~ Workers' Force] and the CFTC [Confédération Francaise des Travailleurs Chrétiens -- French Confederation of Christian Work~ ers| declining to pull the pin, In the postal system the CFIC refused to join the movement, But by and large this did not affeot the size of the walk out.
The movement expressed o general discontent although it was not a demonstration for well defined demands, Among all those working for the government, the pressure aimed at a pay boost, Their dissatisfaotion was all the keener because the government quite literally ridiculed them, In fact, two years ago the government promised to increase wages and salaries, which are much behind those of private industry, in a series of stages, But after a small rise, it did not carry out the promise made for last fall under pretext that a "plan for stabilization" of prices had just been launched, that it was necessary to struggle at all costs against inflation, and that it would take up the question with the workers again in the spring of 1964, Come spring, the government announced that the execution of the plan for stabilization had not yet been completed, and, conse quently, it would not grant any new increases.
As for the workers in private industry, particularly the metal
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workers, what has fed their dissatisfaction the most is not so much the question of wages (although the rise in the cost of living has been considerable) as the threat of unemployment or decreased wages due to a lowering of hours, As yet the threat of unemployment is not great except in certain areas like Saint Nazaire where the shipyards have been affected by the world-wide crisis in this industry and where there are no other industries in the region capable of absorb~ ing the lay offs. In Saint Nazaire, consequently, demonstrations have grown, the unemployed having entered the plants several times to occupy them for a number of hours, Skirmishes have occurred with the police force,
The government, while refusing to grant wage inoreases, has sought to divide the unions, Premier Pompidou met with various trado=union leaders, seeking to divert their attention to two reports made by top government advisors. One, the Toutée report advises establishment of wage negotiation procedures for functionaries, public services and nationalized industries, etc., with the management of the enterprises rather than the government, The other, the Massé report advises an “income policy,"
If, in general, certain unions are not unresponsive to the Toutée proposals, which, however, could affect the right to strike in the categories it covers, the Massé report has been met with much greater hostility. In fact it's the old story known in other countries, They would like to "plan" wages but leave profits completely free,
Last September when the "plan for stabilization" was launched, the unions, including tho CGT, offered only verbal protests, The ancient "argument" about the race between prices and wages still oarried, Above all, the trade unions projected no test of strength with the. governmont, since under current circumstances in France this would signify a test of strength with tho regime. The same state of mind still holds today among the union leaders,
However, a hardening attitude has been observable for some weeks in the CGT leadership. In the metallurgical industry, without giving up the polioy of so-called "partioularization" of struggles (that is, fragmentation by shops, by crews, etc.) which has been followed for many years, they have begun to foster the idea that there are some demands which cannot be won except through an over-all strategy. Thus it was due to the CGT leadership that the demonstrations promulgated by leaders of unions and federations were brought together for the same day. The hardening nevertheless remains on the level of economic demands and does not extend, among the workers! organizations, to a struggle directed against the Gaullist regime,
Gaullism is fought only in the parliamentary arena, That is why the Communists and Socialists have been shouting, "Victory!" because in the cantonal elections held this month overywhere except in Seine department, a de facto coalition of the two parties, often widened to
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include bourgeois elements, dealt some serious setbacks to the UNR [General de Gaullets Union pour la Nouvelle République], But if these elections indicate the tendencies in French society, the power structure pays little attention to them, There is no point bothering about soothsayers who dream of beating de Gaulle with a Defferre [mayor of Marseilles nominated by the Social Democrats to run against de Gaulle in the next presidential elections -=- see World Outlook January 24],
But to go back to the March 18 strike. It was a demonstration of loyalty by the workers to their organizations, a demonstration of dissatisfaction with the government boss, but it was not an enthusi-~ astic demonstration. The workers are becoming more and more aware that such demonstrations, imposing as they are quantitatively, do not bring changes in the decisions of the government, Something different is needed, But here their organizations do not give them any slogans, or perspectives or inspire them with real fighting spirit.
Last year the dissatisfaction of the miners reached such a point that it forced the hand of the leaderships, Will this now be the case in the coming period with other seotors of the workers? Nothing at the moment indicates this, but relations between the rank and file of the unions and the leaders are such that some surprises could be in store during the course of the year,
LONDON LABOUR