France update 28.10.2010. General strike and nationwide protests. Anarchists world wide sent protest resolution to Sarko.
There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy" of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
IWW's international direct action 'Towards anarchy in France 2010' and the situation in France!
From IWW's Website: http://www.anarchy.no/iwwai.html. Click on http://www.anarchy.no/iwwai.html to read the full report/resolution: IWW's international direct action 'Towards anarchy in France 2010' and the situation in France!
See also (click on:) www.anarchy.no , i.e. AI/IFA and AIIS acting against the ochlarchy!
General strike and nationwide protests. Anarchists world wide sent protest resolution to Sarko. The union-led protests still enjoyed the support of about two-thirds of French people. Unions see retirement at 60 as a cornerstone of France's generous social benefit system, but the government falsely postulates that the entire pension system is in jeopardy without the reform because French people are living longer - an average of nearly 85 years for women and 78 for men. IWW however declares that by taxing the relatively rich and the bureaucracy in general sufficiently more, financing the present pension system also in the future will be no problem.
IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent a protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy" of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
28.10.2010. General strike and nationwide protests. Anarchists world wide sent protest resolution to Sarko. The union-led protests still enjoyed the support of about two-thirds of French people. Strikes and protests follow adoption of pension reform. French unions are holding another day of strikes and protests against the pension reform, a day after the lower house of parliament gave approval to a controversial bill that raises the legal retirement age from 60 to 62. Further strikes disrupted rail and air transport in France on Thursday. Thursday marked the seventh day of general strikes and protests called by the unions over the plans to make people work two years longer for a pension, all but one of them since the start of September. Union spokesmen noted the bill has yet to be signed onto the statute books. Either way, the damage caused by the government's failure to heed their demands would not vanish, they said.
"This will leave deep scars," Jean-Claude Mailly, spokesperson of the Force Ouvriere union, said on France 2 TV, acknowledging at the same time that the protest movement was starting to show "a little fatigue". "No law can decree an end to the union struggle," Bernard Thibault, spokesperson of the CGT union told Europe 1 radio. As a day of further protest rallies kicked off in cities such as Marseille, before one in Paris in the afternoon, a CSA opinion survey showed the union-led protests still enjoyed the support of about two-thirds of French people. A separate month-old strike at the port of Fos-Lavera near the southern city of Marseille may now become the government's main focus. It is starving many French refineries of crude oil even after workers at several of them voted to resume work after weeks of work stoppage. The bill got the final vote of approval in parliament on Wednesday. It still needs to be approved by the constitutional council where a last-minute challenge by the opposition Socialists could mean a delay of a few days but is not expected to overturn it. Petrol station shortages have eased after the government cleared fuel depot blockades and increased imports.
Later in Paris, demonstrators waved union flags and set off flares, while in southern Marseille, they beat drums and blew whistles. Past demonstrations have drawn more than a million protesters into the streets: This time, the Interior Ministry put the figure at 560,000 nationwide. The hard-line CGT union contested that number, putting turnout at 2 million. "It's true you could say the anti-reform movement is slowing down, but you need to ask why," Serba Germain, a 67-year-old retired police officer marching in Marseille, told Associated Press Television News. "People are disappointed, they are frustrated" because the government hasn't listened. Unions, anarchists in general and opposition parties urged Sarkozy not to sign the law, which polls show is unpopular. He is as mentioned expected to do so by mid-November, after it is cleared by France's constitutional watchdog.
Socialist leader Martine Aubry urged Sarkozy to listen to the people. "We will fight until the end," she said. But Sarkozy has refused to back down, even amid two weeks of strikes that canceled trains, shut down oil refineries and left drivers struggling to find gasoline. A small number of trains were canceled Thursday, but the problem was bigger for airlines. A third of flights at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport and half of those at the city's smaller Orly were canceled. Flights were expected to run as normal Friday. Though the strikes are tapering a bit off, the fuel shortages they caused are still a problem. One in five gas stations remain empty or short of gas because of the refinery strike, said the national petroleum industry body.
Striking dock workers have exacerbated the shortages. Oil tankers are lined up by the dozens in the Mediterranean off the port of Marseille, waiting to unload. The Normandy port of Le Havre faces a similar situation. Dock workers have been protesting for a month, partly over the pension plan, though their central concern is port reform. Unions see retirement at 60 as a cornerstone of France's generous social benefit system, but the government falsely postulates that the entire pension system is in jeopardy without the reform because French people are living longer - an average of nearly 85 years for women and 78 for men. IWW however declares that by taxing the relatively rich and the bureaucracy in general sufficiently more, financing the present pension system also in the future will be no problem.
IWW continued the international world wide solidarity action, see the report of 19.10.2010 updated. The Anarchist International world wide, the whole network, supported this direct action of IWW, and sent a protest resolution to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, a.k.a. Sarko, the unenlightened arch-plutarchist, i.e. from more than 50 000 anarchists world wide, see (click on:) Solidarity action. This resolution was also sent to international newsmedia and mandated persons world wide, and anarchists & syndicalists, etc... There were no reports of violent ochlarchy. The joint direct action "Stop the ochlarchy" of IWW, AI and AIIS has been a success.
Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10 & 06.11 2010: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! See the report of 19.10.2010
17.10.2010. Call for referendum! And more! Ad ochlarchy in France. No anarchists participated in the ochlarchy. Brown Cards from IAT-APT to the liers the French Police & BBC and to ochlarchist anti-capitalist youths, i.e. marxists.
BBC/Web - 16.10.2010 about 23.30 GMT reported: "A group of what the police described as anarchists operated on the fringes of the main demonstration, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris. As the protest drew to a close, they began [with ochlarchy - i.e. mob rule broadly defined...] ransacking café terraces, breaking windows and setting fire to bins. Some of them briefly occupied the Opera House at Bastille. The clashes did not last long, but they are a reminder to the government and unions of how quickly things can get out of hand, our correspondent says." The IAT-APT - The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch, hands out Brown Cards to the a) anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, plus b) ochlarchist, i.e. authoritarian, c) youths. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and the Brown Cards to the youths also mean they are expulsed (if they ever claimed to be anarchists) from the anarchist movement, according to the Oslo Convention. These ochlarchist youths are thus not anarchists, but marxists.
The French Police, BBC and BBC's Hugh Schofield also get Brown Cards for the lies that the ochlarchist marxists were anarchists. To mix up opposites as anarchists with marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, as BBC and the French Police do, is equally authoritarian, i.e. politically brown, as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984" newspeak, and deserves Brown Cards.
In fact, no anarchists participated in the ochlarchy. To falsely put the blame of the ochlarchy on anarchists is horrible and can get mislead kids, including copycats, from all over Europe to go to France and falsely pose as 'anarchists', in the false meaning of ochlarchists, and do ochlarchy... [Or do the same locally, all over Europe and perhaps more...] The French police, with their lies in this connection, are not only Big Brother authoritarian, but also quite dangerous! The French police may very well get more ochlarchy, falsely and wrongly called 'anarchy', than they expect! ... and want??? And the international and domestic media have a responsibilty to report objectively and fairly about a) the situation and b) the opposites: ochlarchists vs anarchists and ochlarchy vs anarchy! See also the resolution IWW protest against G20:... below for more information, and a similar case.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing a make-or-break week for his unpopular pension reform as rail and refinery workers, truck drivers and street marchers, anarchists and others - domestic and international, ramp up pressure to scrap it before a crucial Senate vote. Unions are betting the next in a series of street protests since the summer will have more clout if combined with fuel shortages, canceled trains and trucker disruption on roads. Truck drivers - the big guns of French protests because of their ability to block off major highways and disrupt the transport of vital goods like food - will start to block roads from Sunday evening, a union spokesman said.
Spokespersons of France's powerful unions and IWW say they will not give up until the government drops the bill and invites the main domestic unions to the table to have their say in a pension overhaul. There is toughening of resolve. The direct actions will go till the end. Most of France's fuel depots, which are mainly outside refineries, have a couple of weeks' supply, but depots in southwestern France are already depleted because a three-week unrelated strike at a major oil port near Marseille has hit supplies of crude into refineries in the area. Tuesday 19.10.2010 is the big direct action day. Unions also plan to meet on Thursday, a day after the Senate's final vote, to discuss further action. If the Senate votes in favor, the bill would go to the president for his signature, possibly as early as Friday. The anarchists including IWW say to the Senate: Vote NO Wednesday!!! And if the Senate votes Yes: Sarkozy! Don't sign!!! And if he signs, and in general: We call for a referendum about the pension 'reform'.
And we call for more anarchist economics, as outlined in the resolution IWW protest against G20: The policy of a) the uninformed of real economics and b) bureaucracy economics below, to do away with the unenlightened plutarchy in France and world wide. The IWW did a world wide direct action Sunday afteroon directed at anarchists and syndicalists etc., and international newsmedia and mandated persons.
18.10.2010. Truck drivers join French pension protests. Forecourts are running dry despite the prime minister saying there is enough fuel in the system. French truck drivers are the latest group of workers to join the strike movement against government plans to reform the state pension system. They have staged several overnight protests, including a go-slow on motorways near Lille, Paris and Lyon. More than 1,000 supermarket petrol stations have run out of fuel, their industry association has said. A general strike is scheduled for Tuesday. More go-slow protests by truck drivers are planned during the rest of the day. There have been further blockades of fuel depots in western and southern France, and petrol stations are running out of fuel. "At least 1,500 stations that have run out of at least one fuel product or are totally dry," an industry representative has said. About 4,500 of France's 12,500 petrol stations are attached to shopping centres, and supply 60% of the fuel used by French motorists.
Oil company Exxon Mobil has described the situation as "critical". "Twenty to 25% of our distribution capacity is either stopped or in trouble," said Alexandre de Benoist, a senior official with the Union of Independent Petroleum Importers, which represents the sector. The situation in some regions, like Brittany and western France, was "very worrying" because fuel distribution stations were either on strike or blockaded by strikers from other sites, he added. Workers at France's 12 oil refineries remain on strike for the seventh day on Monday, unions officials have said. In other developments:
- Students at secondary schools have joined the protest, with at least 261 schools affected. Clashes between students and police erupted at one school in a western Paris suburb as students tried to blockade the school.
- In some cities, such as Toulouse (south-west) or Saint-Etienne (centre), public transport depots were blocked on Monday morning, preventing buses and tramways from operating for several hours.
- Rail traffic was being disrupted with one in two fast TGV trains running, and one in three normal-speed trains running.
- Although the Eurostar train service between Paris and London is normal, there is no Eurostar service between Brussels and London on Monday due to a strike in Belgium.
- Outside the Grandpuits refinery, east of Paris, strikers burned tyres in defiance of a government order that the facility should be reopened.
- A key fuel pipeline that supplies the two airports in Paris has been restored, but the civil aviation authority is warning airlines operating at Charles de Gaulle to arrive with enough fuel to make the return journeys.
The government remains firm in face of the protests. "I won't let the French economy suffer from a supply blockage," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Sunday. "The right to strike isn't the right to stop access to a fuel depot. That's an illegal action," he said on French television. Several government ministers have said the country was not at risk of fuel shortages. "The government is in control," Industry Minister Christian Estrosi told French radio on Monday. "There will be no blockade for companies, no blockade for transport and no blockade for road users." France has a strategic fuel reserve which holds up to three months of supplies, the government says. President Nicolas Sarkozy has called a crisis cabinet to protect supplies. He also told reporters that the reforms were "essential" and would be carried out.
As mentioned, there were already demonstrations outside 261 schools on Monday, which the education ministry said had been blockaded. In the western suburb of Nanterre in Paris, dozens of students clashed with riot police who fired rubber bullets. Shop windows were reported broken in the Saint-Denis suburb, where education officials said more than half the areas secondary schools had been blockaded. In Lyon, several cars were burned and one teacher whose car was badly damaged by fire complained: "They want to fight [against the pension reform]. OK, but they have to understand the meaning of what they are doing".
The IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, and urge everybody involved in this struggle to listen to (click on:) the IWW's Anthem Of 'Towards Anarchy In France 2010', and follow the message and meaning about how to fight in this song, i.e. in short: "Anarcho-Punk-Out!!! No-To-Ochlarchy!!!" The IWW and anarchists in general also strongly condemn the French riot police's use of rubber bullets, and the hard-handed police ochlarchy in general. This indicates that the societal system of France may have left the right social-democrat sector of the marxist quadrant of the economic-political map and has entered the populist sector in the fascist quadrant of the map!!!
Public support in France. According to the latest opinion polls, more than 70% of French people continue to support strike action. Rail unions have called for new transport strikes to start on Tuesday, including the Eurotunnel services between France and England. On Saturday, a fifth day of protests brought 825,000 people on to the streets, police said, although unions put the figure at 2.5 million to three million. The pension reforms have already been approved by the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament. The upper house, the Senate, has endorsed the key articles on raising the retirement age, and is due to vote on the full text on Wednesday. IWW continues the international direct action - 'Towards anarchy in France 2010'... !!!
Nicolas Sarkozy says France can't afford to pay the pensions agreed upon. This is a lie. IWW and anarchists in general say: Tax the bureaucracy [including the economical plutarchists - the capitalists] broadly defined in private and public sector, i.e. the superiors in rank and/or income - more, and give the money to pensions for the grassroots = the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, the bureaucracy!
19.10.2010. Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10 & 06.11 2010: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! IWW continues the international "Towards anarchy in France 2010 " direct action with a special world wide solidarity campaign and calls on all a) anarchists & syndicalists and b) the people seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income in general, c) grassroots-organizations, d) labor confederations, as well as e) mandated persons and f) the international newsmedia - to join in the struggle as they see fit!!!!!! By the way, the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy has official Web-e-mail address at: webmestre@elysee.fr. May be he will 'like' to hear your opinion.... Be matter of fact - no ochlarchy! Don't spam!
If you don't have other ideas, you can just click on webmestre@elysee.fr and copy and paste in the phrase " Towards anarchy in France 2010! " or " No to the pension reform! ", or preferably both, also in the header, and then send the e-mail to Sarkozy. All organizations, groups and individuals are welcome to join in...
The whole network of the Anarchist International i.e. more than 50 000 anarchists, has signed up for IWW's international world wide solidarity action, in e-mails sent to Sarkozy etc., see (click on:) Solidarity action. Updated...
New France shutdown on sixth day of pension protests. France is enduring a sixth national day of strikes and protests over plans to reform the country's pension system. Protests are planned in more than 200 towns and cities. The government's pension reform plans are widely unpopular with the public. Protests on Monday turned violent in some areas. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, see the report of 18.10.2010. Left-leaning senators have submitted hundreds amendments in an attempt to delay the vote. The bill was initially expected to be passed on Wednesday, but some reports say the debate could last until the weekend. In Paris, marchers will set off from the Place d'Italie at about 13.30 local time (11.30 GMT). A high turnout is expected following the success of the last weekday protest.
Renewed strikes and an ongoing week-long blockade of France's 12 oil refineries are expected to hit transport networks as well as private fuel supplies. Half of flights in and out of Paris's Orly airport have been cancelled and 30% of flights at other airports have been affected. Train operator SNCF said it expected 60% of trains to run on Tuesday, the Le Monde newspaper reported, with Metro and local trains around Paris also expected to keep some services running. One in four supermarket petrol stations are said to have run dry or are on the verge of closing. Later, with all 12 French oil refineries shut down by strikes, Sarkozy said the cabinet would draw up a plan to stop France grinding to a standstill. The government tapped on emergency reserves to offset the growing fuel shortage...
French fuel and heating federation FF3C said the "extremely worrying" situation "should definitely be called a shortage," while the International Energy Agency said France has "sufficient stocks" to deal with the situation. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said a third of departments or local administrations were experiencing fuel shortages. Fillon said that the government's fuel resupply programme would see the situation restored to normal in four or five days' time. The head of the national road haulage association, Jean-Paul Deneuville, told AFP that "the end of the week is going to be very difficult" with many transport companies unable to work because of the fuel shortages. While the Paris metro is running almost normally, people in rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to get to work, the CPME association of small and medium businesses said.
Despite the disruption, one opinion poll on Monday suggested that 71% of those surveyed supported the strikers, despite the increasing effect on people's lives. Franck Wadteau, team leader at a local council, called the strikes justified. "This is a massive change for public service workers. Yes, there is money to be saved, but it shouldn't be like this. There are other ways of doing things." [Say, see the report of 18.10.2010, about more tax of the bureaucracy.] In the face of hugely unpopular reform the unions and picket lines refuse to give way. A clear majority of voters resent the plan to raise the minimum and full retirement ages by two years to 62 and 67 respectively, and unions are demanding negotiations on the pensions overhaul. "I want to live my retirement," read one protest poster.
Tuesday was the sixth day of nationwide - general - strikes and protests against pension reform since June, and perhaps a last-ditch challenge to Sarkozy before a final Senate vote this week. Sarkozy hopes the Senate will approve his bill by Friday, after which it needs a last vote by a parliamentary committee. Some French political analysts expect the pension reform law will pass within days and the protests will fizzle out. But the unions, which defeated pension and labor reforms with strikes in 1995 and 2006 with the same passion that saw student protests in 1968 drive out President Charles de Gaulle, say they will press on regardless. "Tougher guys [than Sarkozy] have backed down" said auto factory worker Patrick Planque, 42, at the main march in Paris.
Millions took to the streets. Officials say almost half a million people have taken to the streets of France in a sixth national day of action against planned pension reforms. However according to France24, a labor union estimated the number to 3,5 millions. Later, more than a million people, i.e. 1.1 million, had turned out and joined the protest marches, the government said, while unions put the figure at 3.5 million nation wide. Strikes have hit transport and education, 4,000 petrol stations have run dry. The protests have blown up into the biggest test yet for Sarkozy, whose popularity ratings are dismal 18 months before a presidential election which polls show the left would win as things stand today. The unrest has put him under an uncomfortable spotlight as France prepares to take over the G20 presidency in mid-November.
Sporadic ochlarchy. The Paris march ended without reports of major trouble. Police said nine people were arrested for robbing people. However police have clashed with protesters in several cities. Shops were looted in Lyon. Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of rioters in Lyon after a day of running battles, using a helicopter to track gangs and at one stage deploying an armoured car. Police arrested 75 people and 25 were hurt, half of them riot police. Rioters burned or overturned about 30 vehicles, police said. The interior minister promised tough action as clashes erupted anew outside a secondary school in Nanterre, near Paris, where youths burned a car and threw rocks at riot police for the second day in a row. Police fired tear gas and arrested nine youth protestors in the central city of Lyon who had overturned cars and set one alight. The ministry said that 1,158 troublemakers [ochlarchists/ochlarchs] had been arrested at demonstrations since the start of the week, 163 of them on Tuesday morning...
Ochlarchists/ochlarchs, in short mob rulers, are as other rulers, archists/archs (and not anarchists), a form of superiors, typically extremists, very much a top-down approach and ultra-authoritarian on the economic-political map, and not a part of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors. However a vast majority of the protesters are and were non-ochlarchical, among the people, seen as a class. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, also of course the police ochlarchy, see the report of 18.10.2010.
In the French newspaper Le Monde, Pierre Jaxe-Truer asks if the protests signify deeper discontent: "Is the strike movement just a simple refusal of the pension reform, or does it express a wider malaise, with opposition against Sarkozy as the background?..." "The government's gamble, which involves holding onto its position come what may, while hoping that the discontent will die down once the bill is voted on, is risky..." " Since the beginning of the protests, the support of public opinion for the strikers and the demonstrators has been strong. And, importantly, remarkably stable." "Polls follow one another and resemble each other. A CSA poll showed that 71% of French people support or have sympathy for the strike action on Tuesday. There is no sign of weakening."
The IWW and anarchists in general assume that the protests signify deeper discontent regarding the traditional top-down economic-political system of France, now also with a relatively strong tendency of unenlightened plutarchy... As mentioned above, the system may by now even be populist, i.e. within the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map, and quite far from real democracy. The main slogans of the French republic, freedom, equality and solidarity, sound very hollow for the time being.
20.10.2010. The struggle continues! Ad the General Strikes in France 19 & 28.10 & 06.11 2010: Join in the international world wide solidarity direct action!!! See the report of 19.10.2010
Brown Cards to French marxist ochlarchists, Bernard Vivier and France24. Brown Cards to the lier and high ranking authoritarian marxist Bernard Vivier, director of France's Higher Institute of Labor, and France24 publishing his lies. "The unions are embarrassed by this violence, which is led by anarchist elements of the unions who want to derail any attempts to negotiate with the government," he told France24. France24 has no critical remarks to Bernard Vivier's lies, and thus are also liers in this connection.
1. The IAT-APT - The International Anarchist Tribunal - The Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch, hands out Brown Cards to the a) anti-capitalist, i.e. socialist, plus b) ochlarchist, i.e. authoritarian, c) youths and their leaders. Authoritarian socialists are marxists - not anarchists, and the Brown Cards to the youths and their leaders also mean they are expulsed (if they a) ever claimed to be anarchists, and b) if the ochlarchist youths had leaders from the unions, that may c) be discussed!) from the anarchist movement, according to the Oslo Convention. These ochlarchist youths and their leaders are thus not anarchists, but marxists. Any ochlarchist/ochlarch is an arch, not only their leaders.
2. Ochlarchists/ochlarchs, in short mob rulers, are as other rulers, archists/archs (and not anarchists), a form of superiors, typically, and in this case, extremists, very much a top-down approach and ultra-authoritarian on the economic-political map, and not a part of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors. In this case ultra-authoritarian marxist extremists. Any ochlarchist/ochlarch is an arch, has de facto a top-down approach, not only their leaders.
4. However a vast majority of the protesters are and were non-ochlarchical, among the people, seen as a class. As mentioned the IWW and anarchists in general condemn the ochlarchy, also of course police ochlarchy, see the reports of 18.10.2010 and 19.10.2010. And the sporadic violent and other ochlarchy, say theft, will probably have marginal influence on the result of this struggle.
3. Bernard Vivier and France24 also get Brown Cards, for the lies that the ochlarchist marxists were anarchists. To mix up opposites as anarchists with marxist ochlarchists/ochlarchs, as Bernard Vivier and France24 do, is equally authoritarian, i.e. politically brown, as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984" newspeak, and deserves Brown Cards.
5. In fact, no anarchists participated in the ochlarchy. To falsely put the blame of the ochlarchy on anarchists, as Bernard Vivier and France24 do, is horrible and can get mislead kids, including copycats, from all over Europe to go to France and falsely pose as 'anarchists', in the false meaning of ochlarchists, and do ochlarchy... [Or do the same locally, all over Europe and perhaps more...] Bernard Vivier and France24, with their lies in this connection, are not only Big Brother authoritarian, but also quite dangerous! France may very well get more ochlarchy, falsely and wrongly called 'anarchy', due to such false reports. And the international and domestic media, including France24, have a responsibilty to report objectively and fairly about a) the situation and b) the opposites: ochlarchists vs anarchists and ochlarchy vs anarchy! See also the resolution IWW protest against G20:... below for more information, and a similar case. ***
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered police to clear all remaining blockades at French fuel depots. Police cleared protestors blockading French fuel depots on Wednesday, and youths skirmished with police as the government warned of economic damage from prolonged strikes against its pensions reform. The IWW and anarchists in general of course continue to condemn the tendencies of ochlarchy, and call for continuing strikes, demonstrations and protests, as long as the direct actions have support from a majority of the French people, and are compatible with the framework of real democracy.
Fresh blockades by French workers continued Wednesday as senators examined the contentious pension reform bill. The country's fuel crisis worsened as oil workers blocked depots despite police intervention. With a Senate vote on the pension reform expected by the end of the week, unions tried to tighten their grip on key sectors of the economy with a ninth day of refinery strikes, go-slows by truck drivers and work stoppages at regional airports. The wave of protests has become the biggest and most persistent challenge to austerity measures and economic 'reforms' being enacted across Europe.
Backed by a majority of voters and vast majority of the people - seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, unions are trying to force Sarkozy - whose ratings are near record lows 18 months before a presidential election - to retreat on what is seen as the defining reform of his presidency. The government has stood firm through a wave of protests and strikes since the summer but the most serious test of its resolve came last week when union strikes began to target fuel supplies, transport and air travel. Police have cleared access to 21 oil depots since Friday, although a barricade reformed at Donges, western France, on Wednesday. Strikes halted operations at two of France's three liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. Public utility EDF told Reuters there was no immediate risk of LNG shortages. "We're ready to continue striking every day and go all the way," a CGT union representative near Marseille told Reuters.
Protests have largely been peaceful and non-ochlarchical except for sporadic episodes of violence and ochlarchy in the southeastern city of Lyon and in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where clashes between youths and riot police broke out again on Wednesday. Youths in both cities burned cars and threw projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas, police said. Nearly 1,500 alleged rioters, i.e. ochlarchists/ochlarchs, have been arrested so far, 428 of them after flare-ups on Tuesday, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said, adding that police had deployed extra measures including helicopters to boost security.
The Senate is working its way through hundreds of amendments to the bill and a final vote could come late on Friday, at the weekend or be put off until Monday, Senate officials said. The legislation is by some analysts expected to be approved as the key provisions have already passed. "In a few days the pension reform will become law," Prime Minister Francois Fillon suggested to the National Assembly. The government is betting that protests will gradually fizzle out as 10 days of school holidays start on Friday evening, but unions repeat they will not back down. "You cannot say, 'now that it's been adopted we simply swallow the law and everyone goes home'. I think we have to go on," said Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the Force Ouvriere union.
Student protest tomorrow. Disruptions on the SNCF rail network eased with two out of three high-speed TGV trains running and regional services at around half-capacity, but fuel shortages were a major headache. The government is tapping strategic fuel reserves and says supply should be normal by the weekend, before the holidays. Elsewhere in the energy sector, striking liquefied natural gas workers blocked the unloading of an LNG tanker at the Atlantic terminal of Montoir. Students plan new protests Thursday, with a demonstration in Paris hours before the Senate, by some persons, is expected to approve the retirement measure. The administration of Jean Monnet University, in the city of Saint-Etienne, near Lyon, announced Wednesday the college would be closed through Nov. 2 following a student vote to block the campus.
Anarchist tradition. Trying to undo what the State wants dates back to an anarchist tradition of the 19th century, when unions first led a struggle against capitalism, economical plutarchy, and statism, and a refusal to align with political parties. This is the struggle of the people, grassroots organizations and labor confederations, the people seen as a class, as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, in public and private sector. Many workers feel the change would be a first step in eroding France's social benefits - which include long vacations, contracts that make it hard for employers to lay off workers and a public-subsidized health care system - in favor of "American-style capitalism."
The IWW and anarchists in general are strongly opposed to a development toward an economic-political system similar to in the USA in France. The US system has only about 42,5% libertarian degree and about 75,5 % degree of capitalism, economical plutarchy, compared to France with about 43,5 % libertarian degree and about 48,6 % degree of capitalism, as long term structural estimates, see the table above. However the very significant degree of statism in France, at about 63,4 % - i.e. political/administrative very much a top-down approach, should of course be reduced - this is very much opposed to the anarchist tradition of the people...
And if France adopt a degree of capitalism as in the USA, about 75,5 %, and continues with about 63,4 % degree of statism, the result is an ultra-authoritarian, extremist, right fascist system with about 69,7 % authoritarian degree and only 30,3 % libertarian degree, see the economic-political map above. An economic-political system with more than about 67 % authoritarian degree, i.e. more than about 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, means an extremist, ultra-authoritarian hell system for the people. This must of course be avoided!!!
21.10.2010. The struggle continues - The struggle will continue!!! Stop the tendencies of ochlarchy - i.e. in this case politically red & brown marxist extremists!!! Ochlarchy is the opposite of anarchy!!! Towards anarchy in France!!! Stop the ochlarchy - continue with the strikes, demonstrations and protests - i.e. non-ochlarchical and compatible with real democracy!!!
Strategy-meeting by the main labor confederations. The eight main French unions are meeting Thursday to discuss their strategy for continuing their opposition to government plans to raise the retirement age. The organzsations have been at the forefront of the largely peaceful and non-ochlarchical campaign to prevent the government from unilaterally imposing the new law raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. On Thursday morning Bernard Thibault, leader of the powerful CGT union, called for further days of protests. "There is no reason at all to stop," he told RMC Radio. "There is no other alternative while the government remains intransigent." "We need to continue with massive action as soon as next week," he added. "We will ask the unions for strong action that will allow people to stop work and go on to the streets."
Unions! Unite! says a spokesperson for IWW. The unions are in a position of considerable strength. Firstly, they have demonstrated an ability to mobilize a huge number of supporters and have the backing of some 70% of the population according to polls. Furthermore, one important precedent which continues to give the unions heart was the reversal of a 2006 law on work contracts that would have given employers greater flexibility but left new employees with less job security. That law, put forward by then Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, had been approved by the Senate but was nevertheless withdrawn after massive protests.
Holiday and ochlarchy problems? So far the government has refused to budge in the face of the anarchists' and unions' demands. Sarkozy insists that he will not back down and is determined to push through the controversial law as quickly as possible. And it may not be as easy as in the past weeks to gather demonstrators at this crucial time. The unions have the problem of the ten-day half term holiday which begins on Friday. Not only will probably less activists be available, but the continued fuel and road blockades will perhaps not go down well with families embarking on their holidays? There is also the issue of violent ochlarchists, i.e. in this case politically red & brown marxist extremists. This has perhaps also undermined the unity and credibility of the protest movement to some extent, but this issue should not be exaggerated.
Anyway the anarchists have launched a direct action to stop the ochlarchy. A.o.t the AI/IFA and AIIS have highlighted the slogan 'Stop the ochlarchy' at the index-page of www.anarchy.no. A spokesperson for AI/IFA and AIIS says this will continue as long as the marxist ochlarchy is present. But the ochlarchy is mainly a police matter. Stop or at least minimize the ochlarchy NOW!
The law-bureaucracy. France's upper house of parliament, the Senate, is busily hammering out the last amendments to the law and could be in
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