indefinite postal strike in Paris

[anna]

Starting this Monday the Greater Paris area of the French postal service (185 offices) is on indefinite strike over job cuts - there have been 3,500 over the past 6 months.
This Tuesday there will be a national strike against PRIVATISATION plans, with demonstrations in all the big towns. Expected to be solid!
"Tous ensemble!".
Of course, if postal workers here aren't even all out, all together, maybe it's understandable that this important news comes to us so late in the day? Should the Paris posties be invited over to help ???? In the meantime Glasgow has been showing the way.

[borders]

the french working class certainly dont mess about, workers at a car components factory threatened to blow up the plant unless the the firms biggest customers stumped up extra compensation, transport workers threatened to pour 1800 gallons of toxic fuel into the river seine unless their payoff was upped and also they have been known to kidnap the boss until he accepts the workers demands !!!

[Shrek]

the french working class certainly dont mess about, workers at a car components factory threatened to blow up the plant unless the the firms biggest customers stumped up extra compensation, transport workers threatened to pour 1800 gallons of toxic fuel into the river seine unless their payoff was upped and also they have been known to kidnap the boss until he accepts the workers demands !!!

Ahh the good old days before Thatcher and the me me me culture of cash is king FCUK everyone else

[anna]

I posted this because it is an indefinite strike in Paris - what is needed here, asap, I think, to be effective and what lots of people here feel should be done - but it hasn't been on offer, has it.
The usual reaction to anything French workers do is to say they're so militant over there, not like us, but it's not militant to threaten to blow things up, it's desperate. Neither is it militant to take managers hostage - it just shows perhaps that you couldn't mobilise the whole workforce for a proper strike using your collective strength. The question is what next for the postal strike here - and is it a good thing to wait any longer for the outcome of the national ballot, when it looks like another compromise is already being stitched up?

[Shrek]

We have to look at our anti-union laws, which the french along with the rest of Europe don't have. That makes it very difficult for UK workers to take any action other than action that employers know is coming. This takes away one of the most powerfull tools which is surprise instant action and the rite to secondray picket. Most countries think these are rites under your human rites, but what can you do when you put a so called left of centre party in power who is meant to support the rites of the working man/woman but only support the rich few. We have a choice when we have an election either vote Tory or vote for a party that pretends not to be Tory but is just as far right and will just continue tory policies. :mfo :mfo is it just me or is he Thatchers child lost at birth

[borders]

I posted this because it is an indefinite strike in Paris - what is needed here, asap, I think, to be effective and what lots of people here feel should be done - but it hasn't been on offer, has it.
The usual reaction to anything French workers do is to say they're so militant over there, not like us, but it's not militant to threaten to blow things up, it's desperate. Neither is it militant to take managers hostage - it just shows perhaps that you couldn't mobilise the whole workforce for a proper strike using your collective strength. The question is what next for the postal strike here - and is it a good thing to wait any longer for the outcome of the national ballot, when it looks like another compromise is already being stitched up?

Anna, are you postie yourself ? while i agree with your sentiments , to get all posties out on unofficial strike all at the same time would be very difficult. if you look at our recent ballots as many people didnt bother to vote as did, even on a ballot whether to accept a new pay deal or not !! the management have been very clever over time in gradually changing and splitting the workforce. this attack seems to be mostly aimed at Deliveries and because the workforce is fractured there is not the solidarity so much between the functions. for example the workers in the MC's look at all these so-called Spanish Practices as only applying to delivery land, MC workers work 8 hours every day. the Capitalist Class are excellent at dumbing down the nation, we need everyone to become more politicised , more class conscious, more people to join Unions [ even though they are reformist] etc.