Undocumented Workers Deal Bosses Blow for Blow
Immigrant workers sit by the fire in a "jungle" encampment in Calais, France.PARIS, December 4 — The two-month strike of 5,500 undocumented workers fighting for immigrants’ rights has been a shining light in a depressed French labor movement. Consequently, the bosses and their government have concentrated their attacks on these workers, but the latter have been returning blow for blow.
In their latest action, on December 2, 80 undocumented restaurant workers occupied the tax collection office in Nice on the French Riviera to underline the fact that these workers — many of African origin — pay taxes. Later the police cleared the workers from the building.
That morning, 150 undocumented workers — dishwashers, kitchen assistants, chambermaids and office workers at some of the swankiest hotels and restaurants on the French Riviera — rallied, demanding “legalization.” Of 450 such requests over the past 18 months the Nice prefect has barely granted 40.
Four days earlier, 10,000 people, mostly striking undocumented workers, marched through Paris to the Immigration Ministry chanting, “We’re staying here, we live here! ‘Legalization’ of all undocumented immigrants!” This was in response to an immigration minister circular limiting conditions for “legalization” to less than one in five of the striking workers, and then only on a case-by-case basis.
The five trade union confederations and six associations that are organizing and supporting the undocumented workers associations rejected this as “unacceptable.” They particularly attacked the minister’s five-year residence requirement, the exclusion of Algerians and Tunisians, and of those who work as personal-care providers, many of whom are women.
A strikers’ spokesman declared: “We’ve come here to condemn this half-assed circular, which in no way responds to our demands. Our movement will continue stronger than ever. Already, 5,500 of us are on strike, manning 60 picket lines. We’re more determined than ever, and nothing will cause us to lower the intensity [of our struggle]. We also want to condemn the attacks on the right to strike, with the boss just needing to make a simple phone call to have a picket line lifted, without any court decision.”
The 11 organizations also denounced the labor minister’s new measures to punish the employers of workers in the “underground economy.” This was a ploy to play on the racist stereotype promoted by the French fascists, who say immigrant workers are “bankrupting the social security system.” Quite the contrary, undocumented workers make social security payments but cannot use social services.
Racism — The Bosses’ Tool
In a new version of “blame the victim,” on November 28 French president Nicolas Sarkozy told his UMP party that the undocumented workers’ demand for “legalization” was stirring up anti-foreigner feelings and breathing new life into the fascist National Front party!
Racism remains a weakness in the French labor movement. According to a public opinion poll published on November 30, 78% of the population recognizes that entire industries could not function without immigrant workers. Nevertheless, only 24% favor across-the-board “legalization,” while 64% back the government’s racist policy of “case-by-case ‘legalization.’”
However, some sentiment is represented by a 33-year-old youth worker,
Karima, who told an interviewer: “I feel ashamed of the way undocumented workers are treated in France.... This government is continually stigmatizing not just immigrants, but also the poor and minorities. It’s the same thing with the debate on national identity ; they’re trying to pit people against one another. Unfortunately, some French people fall into the trap.”
And a 22-year-old student, Antonin, who joined the march through Paris, said : “I support the undocumented workers.... It’s about time their demands were met. These workers have been living in France for years and are obliged to live in hiding and are subject to all the pressures of the employers.’’
The only road for the working class to answer capitalism’s attacks is to unite all these movements — undocumented workers, the unemployed, rail and auto workers, teamsters, teachers in France with the workers in Guadeloupe and Mayotte (see articles this page) — into an anti-racist groundswell. This has the potential to turn these fight-backs into schools for communism, leading to the only solution: destroy capitalism with communist revolution.