PARIS, April 7 — Launching of a national train strike here today indicated that workers’ fighting spirit is growing. They’re demanding 2,000 new jobs and an end to restructuring. A relatively high number of train drivers and conductors — over one-third — are participating in a renewable 24-hour strike against the national train company.
This indicated that worker militancy may
finally be forcing the union misleaders to organize more than symbolic 24-hour strikes. For decades, workers’ capacity to shut down industries here has been frittered away on “symbolic” strikes.
The strike is limited by the small number of non-train crew workers involved, and respect for the government-imposed minimum service, which has kept 75% of the high-speed trains and 60% of other trains rolling.
When rank-and-file workers take control of a strike, it can be a step in upping the ante of class struggle, which, with the development of communist leadership, could lead to a revolutionary movement to end capitalism with communist revolution.