[PEN-L:2000] Re: Info from France

[bill mitchell <ECWFM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>   The unions, not the ranks, are leading the current strikes. There are very
>debilitating divisions between the leaderships of the union federations,
>particularly between the CFDT leadership which is not supporting the
>strikes and the other federations.  The CFDT leadership is very much a
>minority but it's in control.

>   A general assembly of the railroad workers is scheduled for Friday, Dec.
>15.  Since the government has withdrawn its plan for the railroads, it's
>feared that the railroad workers will end their strike, isolating the
>public workers at whom the Juppe plan's cutting back Social Security is
>currently aimed.

to doug and the other romantics a friend caught the second train out of Lille
yesterday bound for paris as the trains began to work again. the students have
not got more funding nor have the lower paid workers got any concessions from
juppe about their jobs or conditions. and the unemployed still remained cold
with slightly lower social security entitlements. so why did the trains begin
again? simple: the fucking over-paid and over-entitled (relatively) train
workers cut a special deal for themselves with juppe.

and to louis on the dialectic. i do not believe that every synthesis that
emerges is a step towards shangri la. i don't see this as a valid description
of labour history anywhere in the world. workers are now becoming worse off
than they were 30 years ago, even though the unions have probably got more
funds in the central accounts and more real estate in their national offices.

i don't think anyone on the list who is showing their disgust with me has
addressed the issues that i have raised. are unions in their present structure
(highly divided and narrowly   focused) the best vehicle to attack the
capitalist hegemony AND to establish the pre-conditions for an environmentally
sustainable way of life for all of us? i have got a lot of 1950s romance and a
lot of "isn't bill a revisionist, traitor, really sad, etc person".

anyway, now you can get a train in paris.

btw, while louis is right about us academics being vehicles for the capitalist
bosses, he should also stand accused of programming the  implements that
process things like the exam results sheets that we hand out to divide the
students in preparation for their years in hierarchy. we are all somewhat
alienated by the system, i see nothing particular about academics in this
regard.


kind regards
bill


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