The example of the 19th District in Paris.
The new wave of strikes and occupations has sparked a very strong mobilisation around the striking workplaces in the 19th district: TFN, a cleaning company, and Suburbaine, which is building tram-lines.
Militants from political organisations (NPA, Alternative Libertaire, Parti de gauche), unions (CGT, Solidaires, CNT), associations (MRAP, an anti-racist group and the League for the Rights of Man) and community groups (Quartier solidaire Belleville), engaged in the struggle for the regularisation of all undocumented migrants, have regrouped under a single support committee. The handing out of leaflets, sticking up of posters, collections, petitions, letters to representatives, all means are being used to make local people aware of, and to respond to the material needs of the strikers.
“It is through the construction of an organisation that we can build and co-ordinate the mobilisation”, says Francoir Charpentier of the NPA. “We regret the absence of the ground of other political forces, but we are aiming to enlarge the collective, by regularly inviting those organisations who are hesitating to join us. We will launch bigger initiatives in November. Relations with strikers are very warm and we spend our evenings drinking African tea.”
Marie-Au', of Alternative Libertaire, finds it effective to integrate into a pre-existing solidarity network: “Despite the weak media coverage, people from the local area come to discuss with us and learn about what is going on: that creates links and visibility. It is a very tough struggle: we must maintain a broad and united solidarity committee.”
• From the French New Anticapitalist Party website, www.npa2009.org
