PARIS, June 18 — The eight-month strike by over 6,000 undocumented workers appeared to be ending today — resulting in their winning some of their goals — but the workers are maintaining their occupation of various work-sites and government buildings all strikers have received their temporary residence and work permits. They are remaining vigilant regarding the application of the new measures.
We congratulate the workers on carrying on such a long, militant, anti-racist struggle against the racist French government.
The very fact that they struck as undocumented workers is in itself a huge victory. It shows the international working class that immigrant workers worldwide can make such a fight and should be supported by all workers. A crucial factor essential to conducting the strike was the forging of multi-racial unity, notably between workers of African and Chinese origin, which gave the workers the fighting spirit needed for the “illegal” occupations of work sites, and more recently of Bastille Square.
PLP has consistently pointed out that as long as the bosses can divide workers by defining some as “illegal” because they have crossed capitalist-created borders — and enables the bosses to super-exploit them and use them against native-born workers — it will weaken the entire working class. That’s why PLP says workers should “Smash All Borders!” — which can only be accomplished through a communist revolution that eliminates all bosses and all borders.
While the strikers did force the government to adopt uniform conditions for their “legalization,” the continued existence of “conditions” still differentiates these immigrants from France’s native-born workers. Like the outcome of many workers’ reform struggles under capitalism, this one is a compromise. However, with communist leadership it can become a springboard for a continued fight towards the goal of smashing capitalist borders.
The strikers — mainly immigrants from Africa but also from China — have forced the government to admit that France’s 250 prefects abuse their arbitrary powers. The “prefects” are direct agents of the national government at the local level and have lots of police powers which they use to favor bosses who kowtowed to them. Undocumented workers could only be “legalized” if they were on “good terms” with their boss and if their boss was on good terms with the prefect. That’s why the strikers fought for uniform conditions for “legalization.” The agreement provides for uniform application of the following:
• “Legalization” of all undocumented workers who can show they’ve worked 12 of the preceding 18 months, and six of the preceding 12 months; work for different employers counts;
• “Legalization” of all undocumented temporary workers who can show they’ve worked 310 hours for the same temporary agency, plus a promise from the agency to employ them during 12 of the coming 18 months;
• “Legalization” of all personal care providers, most of whom are women, under a temporary residence permit while they seek a “promise-to-employ” from an employer;
• Recognition of all strike days as days of employment;
• Recognition that all 30 crafts and trades in which the strikers are employed are trades where there are not enough native-born workers; and,
• Issuance of three-month temporary work permits to all strikers.
It is obvious that within each of these changes, the bosses retain the ability to limit such reforms and the power to reverse them with their hold on the state apparatus. The workers are still subject to having to “prove” certain past work records, dependent on agencies’ “promises” to employ them, and provide proof of five years residence in France, among other conditions.
The strikers opposed the combination of proof of work and proof of residence. Conditions for the “legalization” of Algerian and Tunisian workers, who are subject to special laws, and of undocumented workers in the underground economy, also remain unclear.
While some of the provisions give the workers a leg up on becoming “legal,” they still are far from being on an equal plane with native-born workers. And enforcement of the agreement will be “monitored” in quarterly meetings of representatives of the trade unions and of the Ministries of Immigration and Labor.
Struggle on these issues continues. The strikers were scheduled to hold a June 20 meeting to decide on how to continue their movement.
Once the agreement ended the strike, 1,000 strikers concluded their three-week occupation of Bastille Square chanting, “We work here, we live here, we’re staying here!” Xiaoqiu Zheng, a 52-year-old seamstress, explained that, “In China, I had seen very few Africans. Here [in Bastille Square], we spend a lot of time together. We have become like brothers and sisters.”
Of course, the very idea that workers can be “illegal” is a bosses’ ploy. The “illegal” label makes possible the super-exploitation of immigrants. The bosses want their racism and nationalism to divide the working class into antagonistic groups. It’s only when the workers’ internationalism destroys the bosses’ state power through communist revolution that categories such as “legal” and “illegal” will be abolished.