An example of real internationalism
Support the French postal workers!
SUPPORT THE SUD POSTE 92 STRIKERS!
For a marathon eight months now 150 workers in the French post office have been on strike. The management of La Poste in Paris have sacked a principled and effective union representative and political activist but his fellow workers immediately went out on strike to have him reinstated. This has developed into a struggle against privatisation and the destruction of their pay, terms and conditions.
They are up against not only the might of the French State but also the weight of the same EU wide economic policy that is crushing Irish public sector workers, holding down wages and privatising transport.
A large strike wave during the summer has receded but against the odds these workers have held out and now see a new wave of popular protest against the government. An essential element of the postal workers struggle is their internal democracy. In their own words they are; “a democratic movement, one in which the workers make the decisions. We strikers meet daily and we make all of our decisions in general assemblies.” This frees them from bureaucratic interference and allows them to work, “consciously to build links between all current social struggles in France.”
Unlike bureaucratically controlled strikes they strike spontaneously at a variety of locations, invading sorting offices, calling out workers, and joining “the strikes and protests of railroad workers, Goodyear rubber workers, retail workers, and students, as well as immigrants’ protests.” This inspiring strike has already gained the admiration and solidarity of similar postal strikes in Belgium and in Canada.
Macron has boasted that demobilising the broader strike wave of the summer was his “Thatcher moment”, a reference to the British miners strike, but as long as these workers hold out he has not been fully successful! Do not allow him to have his victory! If he succeeds, he will have inflicted an important defeat not only on these workers but also on the broader European working class and will have moved France further to the Right.
THE SUD POSTE WORKERS' STRUGGLE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR ALL WORKERS WHO ARE STRUGGLING AGAINST AUSTERITY AND PRIVATISATION! They are asking for messages of solidarity to their Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/ sudposte.hautsdeseine/ Irish solidarity link at; Change.org Support La Poste strikers, fighting for trade union and workers rights.
But they urgently need financial support! Donations if it is possible, “large or small as that may be” can be made at the address below. https://www.gofundme.com/donate-to-la-poste-strikers (gofundme asks for a tip but this can be set to zero in the tip amount box)
You can watch a video calling to support the strike here : https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=c52f13gmkWA&feature=youtu.be