November 25, 2024 editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French
Loads of layoffs
With the announcement of 600 layoffs at Teleperformance and 130 at ArcelorMittal, the wave of redundancies continues. The figure of 150,000 layoffs mentioned in the press has been replaced by a figure of 300,000 jobs at risk. While the automotive and chemical industries have been particularly hard hit, all sectors have been targeted.
Many employees, particularly those working for subcontractors of the companies laying off workers, are worried about their future. Patrick Martin, the head of Medef, the French bosses’ association, cynically explained that if the Parliament passed a budget that imposed too many taxes on companies, there would be tens of thousands more layoffs. This is nothing more and nothing less than blackmail, all the more revolting given that the groups laying off workers (Auchan, Michelin, Stellantis) have been showered with public money for years. As usual, big business plans to take the public money and lay off workers anyway. Striking workers at Michelin in Cholet [near Nantes and Angers in northwest France] and Novares in Ostwald [near Strasbourg, in eastern France] are showing that, in the face of this social upheaval, workers have no choice but to take the path of struggle.
Drastic cuts in public services
The 5-billion-euro ($5.3 billion) cut in local government budgets means not only a deterioration in public services, but also thousands of layoffs. The reduction in employers’ social security contributions will have similar consequences for hospitals. The Minister for the Civil Service, Kasbarian, plans to increase the number of days of unpaid sick leave for civil servants from one to three, and to reduce the reimbursement of sick leave. This prefigures similar offensives in the private sector. Employees in both the public and private sectors face the same difficulties at the end of the month, and the same deteriorating working conditions that wear down our health. The real beneficiaries are the bosses, who pocket billions in profits from our work and billions in subsidies.
Nothing to expect from the budget drama in Parliament
In the National Assembly, the discussion around the budget showed that the game of amendments led by the left, but also the far-right RN (National Rally Party) and even [Prime Minister] Barnier’s own party, that is currently in a coalition with [President] Macron, has not prevented this budget from remaining brutal for the world of work. Whether the Prime Minister is Castets at the left, Barnier at the right or Bardella at the far-right, employers intend to push through the measures they want. We can expect nothing from parliamentary bargaining. It’s up to us to take the offense in our mobilizations.
The solution: going at it all together!
Strikes in the airline and SNCF (railroad) sectors have had good participation, not to forget many other local strikes. New dates for mobilization are just around the corner, starting with the call for a one-day strike on December 5 in the civil service against the introduction of three days’ sick leave. While they may not coincide for all sectors, they could be an opportunity for workers to use each date as a stepping stone for the next. It’s an opportunity to make demands heard on wages, the number of staff, a ban on layoffs. It’s also an opportunity to forge links and establish contacts with workers in other companies experiencing the same difficulties: we need to unite all our anger against the current anti-worker policies. The “All together!” movement has to be built! While for the time being, strikes against layoffs are being carried out on a company-by-company basis, [or even plant-by-plant], the forthcoming days of mobilization, notably at the SNCF and in the civil service, will provide an opportunity to discuss how we can go further, towards a truly global movement. This is what the government and employers fear: the convergence of our struggles.
Whether in the public or private sector, in the face of layoffs or deteriorating working conditions: we must all fight together!
