02.06.2016

Political response needed

How will the resistance to France’s ‘labour reforms’ end? Daren Greene looks at the contending forces

The struggle against the ‘El Khomri law’, the package of labour ‘reforms’ being pushed through by the French government, has intensified in recent weeks. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets and the trade unionists have taken militant action in resistance to this significant attack.

The bill is an attempt to wrest back various concessions won by the French working class over the course of decades. The legislation would extend the legal working week from 35 to 46 hours, overturning the law brought in during 2000, although currently most work more hours than this already. It would also allow employers to dismiss workers with greater ease, reducing the period for which a business’s revenue must fall before workers can be laid off. Companies would be able to opt out of labour protection measures, make local instead of industry-wide agreements on hours and conditions, and reduce wages more easily. The bill has been forced through the lower house using emergency powers, due to government fears that it would fail to secure a majority - a move that has added to the anger felt by millions of workers. The government appears to have made a U-turn on imposing a cap on payments for unfair dismissal, but it has indicated that it will not compromise on the meat of the reforms.

The resistance to these measures is being led by the Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labour - CGT). Shamefully the opposition of the unions is not unanimous, with the collaborationist Confédération Fran-çaise Démocratique du Travail (the French Democratic Confederation of Labour) accepting the proposed changes, its general secretary even stating that it would be “unacceptable” to scrap the plans under pressure from the CGT. Clearly though, a large section of the working class rejects the idea that these ‘reforms’ are either required or inevitable.

Last week workers blockaded fuel depots and strike action spread from oil refineries to nuclear power plants and docks. The response from the state was severe: police violently dispersed the blockades and clashes broke out at protests in a number of cities. The CGT managed to prevent all newspapers apart from the ‘official communist’ L’Humanité from going to press on May 26 after they refused to publish a statement from the CGT. This was, of course, condemned by liberal commentators as an outrageous assault on the freedom of the press - the editor of Libération claimed the move by the CGT was “shameful”. The freedom referred to by these individuals simply amounts to the freedom for these owners to dispose of their property as they wish, with a guarantee that their employees will do as they are told. It is “shameful” that workers refuse to facilitate the publication and distribution of papers hostile to their cause.

Rail and airline workers are set to join the fight, rolling strikes have been called for by the CGT and other unions and a coordinated day of action is planned for June 14, when the bill is due to reach the Senate. Despite the combativity of the workers, and the widespread support they are receiving, the government is taking a hard line. Prime minister Manuel Valls condemned the actions of the CGT, saying: “You cannot blockade a country, you cannot attack the economic interests of France in this way.”¹ The Socialist Party government is anxious to avoid appearing weak in the face of the unrest and so a climbdown on the key parts of the bill appears unlikely, despite their unpopularity. As has been demonstrated across Europe, ‘social democratic’ parties led by the right are particularly keen to be seen as effective and responsible administrators of capitalism.

The French capitalist class is also anxious; it wants to avoid any repeat of Jacques Chirac’s defeat in 2006, when labour reforms aimed at removing protection for young workers had to be repealed. Hence the shrill cries from the bosses’ confederation, Medef, demanding the restoration of the “rule of law”. From the point of view of large employers, the fact that the working class have been able to effectively defend their conditions in the past reveals a weakness of the French state.

Given the potential electoral impact these measures may have on the Parti Socialiste, you would be forgiven for asking why they are being attempted now. With the resurgence of the right, and the Front National in particular, it is important for the PS to mobilise its base and appeal to the increasing number of working class voters who are attracted to Marine Le Pen’s protectionist stance.

This is clearly a government for whom bourgeois wealth and privilege are off limits. Wealth expropriation and redistribution are not considered possible. That being the case, the government has no choice but to make the working class pay and hope that this frees up employers to hire enough people to put a dent in the 10%-plus official unemployment rate.

The labour reforms, like those carried out by Renzi’s government in Italy, are part of a wider trend, an offensive by the European capitalist class to roll back gains made in the second half of the 20th century. In both France and Italy, strong Communist Parties and a high level of class-consciousness led to relatively large concessions to the working class. Global economic trends, the fall of the Soviet Union and the failed strategies of the left leave us in a very different situation today. Business and its political representatives intend to ‘rectify’ what they see as the excessive gains of European workers. The capitalist class is conscious of its tasks. A JP Morgan report from 2013, ‘The Euro area adjustment: about halfway there’,² includes a section on political reforms required to deal with the crisis in Europe. It talks of “deep-seated political problems in the periphery… reflecting the political strength that leftwing parties gained after the defeat of fascism”, including “constitutional protection of labour rights … and the right to protest if unwelcome changes are made to the political status quo. The shortcomings of this political legacy have been revealed by the crisis.”

The process well underway in southern Europe is gaining pace in France, because the ruling class sees an opportunity to roll back the vestiges of compromise made in the last century - helped by the fact that the governing Socialist Party is steeped in the ideology of neoliberalism.

The outcome of this confrontation remains unclear, although both sides so far seem determined to see it through to the end. Struggles such as these, when it is clear what is at stake, can galvanise large sections of the population. However, the recent history of similar struggles in France demonstrates that it can be the right which benefits. In the context of the hysterical rightwing reaction to the movement of refugees into Europe, it is quite possible that the Parti Socialiste is going to be pushed into third place in next year’s presidential elections. The Front National is going from strength to strength, capturing areas once held by the Parti Communiste Français (PCF). Whatever happens it looks set to make substantial gains.

The left currently has no answer to the resurgence of the right. Some look to Nuit Debout, a movement similar to the Spanish Indignados that has arisen out of the labour law protests, and see the possibility of building a ‘grassroots political alternative’. This is to ignore the experiences of Syriza and Podemos.

There was talk among sections of the PS left and some outside it of a “primary of the left” in order to stand a single candidate in 2017. It is not yet clear which parties would be involved and whether this will happen. The fight over the labour law will probably have made it hard for a candidate from the governing party to win the support of the left, and the Parti de Gauche (Left Party) has already announced that its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will be running. The PCF is yet to announce whether it will be backing him. Whatever the approach of the French left going into the elections, a long-term plan for principled Marxist unity is required, in order to create an internationalist working class political alternative to re-territorialisation and neoliberalism in Europe.

Notes

1. Morning Star June 27 2016.

2. D Mackie, M Barr, ‘The euro area adjustment: about halfway there’ JP Morgan: www.europe-solidarity.eu/documents/ES1_euro-area-adjustment.pdf.