The Mitterrand government in France was for a long time held up as a model in the Labour Pariy. It provided an inspiration for the 'Eurosocialist' Party Neil Kinnock is trying to persuade Labour to become.
But three years later the balance sheet of the Mitterrand government has been a disaster for the French working class. The labour movement has been deeply split, tens of thousands of workers have left the trade unions, the racist and fascist right has gained over 10 per cent of the vote in local and bye-elections, and every indication is the right wing parties will score a huge victory in the Euro-elections.
Resistance to Mitterrand's
policies has so far come mainly from 'far left' organisations and from oppositional currents in the Socialist and Communist Party trade unions. This interview with French Trotskyist leader Alain Krivine gives a graphic insight into the state of the French lett after three disasterous years of the Mitterrand government.
Question: What are the main results of three years of Francois Mitterrand's Socialist Party-Communist government with its austerity policies? Krivine: At first • there were positive steps — an increase in the level social liberties France: the suppression of the special courts of justice, and steps to develop he rights of the trade unions in the facOn the economic level the first steps were the five big nationalisations - the banks, the steel industry and the secsions of the metal industry - and steps : o increase wages, to maintain real purnasing power.
This policy ended very quickly.
After a year they changed policy and decided to apply an austerity policy, beginning with a six month wage freeze - the first in France for 37 years.
savage attack on the working ¿lass has developed. Inflation is eight per cent a year. The level of unemployment is about 2,300,000.
They began to attack conquests of the working class - social security, and even the financial allocations for the unemployed have been reduced.
That was when the workers began :o fight - when they began to understand that the crisis was not only a defends the austerity policy, explaining that it is not a strategy, merely a tactic, and that it will stop eventually.
The Communist Party leadership is embarrassed. I ney are caugnt in a terrible contradiction. They want to stay in the government everything. They have no polical alternative. They want to stay even if it is very difficult due to the crisis in their membership. They have policy.
But the fact that the Communist Party represents the more radical and active part of the working class and this part of the working class about this policy, has forced the leadership of the Communist Party to make some public crucisms or govermen policies.
The leadership of the Communist Party uses a double language. government level they support austerily, but to their working class supporters TOTAL Angry workers protest government job cuts Krivine they make criticisms and they call for are very careful to isolate each struggle because they don't want to destabilise the government.
That means auct fightback, but its not organised. That's why there have been electoral victories for the right.
other last month, in big fights master ¿lashes with the police - but without any political perspectives.
tors most affected than national And that is a big problem we are confronted with.
At the Austerity usually with some promise that if the workers example social services. pening in that regard?
that you have where the workers In the last year, and especially in the government inen says there has been an increase social rights. very strong. combative. sometimes It's more rebels coming from secby the austerity, pontical goes hand-in-hand sacrifice wages and conditions they'll be compensated in olner arcas - for What is hapThere are local contracts in each sector relected accept a cellall freeze of wages. Usually they are promised five or six per cent and the inflation is eight or nine per cent. But the 'we will increase The minister says we will have more participation in the factor! the workers can be members of the ad ministration council and things like Then they try, in some factories, to link wages with productivity and to allow a small wage increase in return. Officially this is refused by the Communist trade union. although in practice things are often a little different.
But certainly the workers refuse.
Woul unity. The explanation that we need austerity is accepted by the bureaucracy and the trade unions more or less led by the officials of the party, but as far as the membership is concerned, austerity is All the struggles are militant, nearly all are defensive although offensive demands can come out of the defensive struggles. For example there was a big strike among the shipyard workers — it's a very combative sector.
They put forward the 'zero sackings' demand. but then they went on to demand nationalisation under workers And they explain that is the one was in aroid any sackings. It is defensive and also offensive but it is not old Vital seale Is opposition developing within the trade unions?
We have two big trade unions, the CGT, which is led by the CP and the CFDT which is more or less led by one wing of the Socialist Party Today there is in the CFDT a national opposition which the Trotskyists Communiste Revolu tionaire (Revolutionary Communist League) played a big role in building. It has its own paper — For a Trade Union number three and they sell about 5,000 They're copies per issue.
This opposition is very important It is based on a platform of indepen dent class struggle, against compromise governell, against austerity policy, and for trade union We have a big division today amongst the unions. This organised by the leadership.
If there was a democratic congress of this trade union, the opposition could possibly get about 40 per cent of the vote. With a bureacractic congress it would probably take 25 or 30 per cent
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NOEL THA COKERIE DE MARIENAU T CCT But when they lead struggles they