Showing posts with label French protests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French protests. Show all posts

Friday 10 June 2016

Another World War, Whose Side Are You On?


         Pick your country, and there is a need for solidarity across those borders, as the various states use their purloined power to stifle any attempt by the people to reclaim that power. There is a world war going on at the moment, it is the war against the tyranny and exploitation of the capitalist system, it is a world wide class war. If we want a world of freedom and justice, a world we would be proud to hand to our children and our grandchildren, then it is a war we must win. 
         We have to forget those phoney lines drawn on maps by kings, presidents and dictators, and realise that the struggle, in any part of this world, by people defending their conditions or fighting for a decent life, is our struggle. The system we are fighting is world wide, it is not national, though states call on us to be patriotic, their masters, the capitalist system, is never patriotic, they laugh at those same borders they insist we observe. 
        Today French unions, students and undocumented workers have been in the streets day and night to reject the anti-labour reform pushed through the government without a vote. Not that our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media notices. They are on the streets defending some meagre conditions that they wrestled from the system, and it now wants them back. That struggle is our struggle, it is the same system, what is implemented there can and will be implemented elsewhere if it suits the profit motive. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda that the French workers have it easy with their guaranteed 35 hour week. The facts are somewhat different. The French workers on average work longer hours than their UK and German counterparts. The figures for 2014 show that on average the French workers worked 37.5 hours per week, UK, 36.1 and German workers, 35.3. Like all conditions for workers, they can be manipulated at will by employers. 
         Those in struggle in France are part of that world wide class war, they are planning a general strike for June 14, it demands all the support and solidarity we can muster. Let the borders melt, we are one people in one gigantic struggle. Our solidarity is our most powerful weapon, if we use it we can win.
 Some points from the French labour reform bill.
  • The 35-hour week in theory remains, but as an average. Firms can negotiate with local trade unions on more or fewer hours from week to week, up to a maximum of 46 hours.
  • Firms are given greater freedom to reduce pay.
  • The new law creates easier conditions for laying off workers, which is regulated in France.
  • Employers given greater scope to negotiate holidays and special leave, such as getting married and maternity leave.
Where in this is there anything that is a gain to the workers? It is an employers bill
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Everything Is Fine, Just Watch Your TV.



He's only doing his job, which just happens to be kicking the shit out of people.!!!!

           France’s “socialist” government is trying hard to follow the dictate of the financial Mafia, to “reform” labour relations, which translates into slashing working conditions to suit the corporate cabal, that own EU governments. Such “reforms” as longer working hours, pay cuts, no overtime payments, are among the “reforms” to help “the economy”. That phrase, “helping the economy”, is supposed to make you fall in line, as if this was for your benefit. However what it really means is slashing workers conditions so that the corporate greed machine can scoop up ever better profits.
       Despite the fact that the people of France are not taking it lying down, are taking to the streets in their thousands, and have been for weeks, in the process being brutally assaulted by riot police, tear gas, water cannon and truncheon, our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, doesn’t seem to notice, its all about football, vitriolic bile about Brexit, BAFTAs and the Queen’s speech. We can’t be giving the plebs over here any idea that things aren’t going well with the system. Everything is just fine, keep looking at your TV, chatting on your mobile, and gaming on your laptop, that way you might not notice that you are being shafted. What is happening in France, is being repeated in Greece, Spain, Italy and here in the UK, as well as other countries across the planet, it is just a matter of different stages, different paces, but the end game is the same, the destruction of social welfare and poorer working conditions for all the ordinary people, in doing so, increasing profitability of the big corporations. When will we ever learn???
      Riot police in Paris used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters who had hurled rocks and other objects at officers. Truckers blocked roadways and railroad workers joined the strikes.
       Here's the big issue — French leaders say they have to make their country's economy more flexible, competitive and productive. To do that, they say they need to end some long-standing worker protections. Legislation that's moving forward would make it easier for employers to hire and fire workers. Truck drivers would also see their overtime pay cut. 
Read the full article HERE:
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk