BY MICHEL DUGRÉ
PARIS - More than 10,000 workers demonstrated January 18 in the streets of Marseilles against French prime minister Alain Juppé's plan to slash social security and impose a new tax fallaciously called Reimbursement of the Social Debt (RDS). Demonstrators carried placards saying, "Our public sector means equality. Let's defend it."
This was the most important action in France since the rail worker-led mobilizations that shook the whole country in December.
Among the demonstrators were Marseilles transit workers who had voted to send a strike notice to their bosses for the duration of the march. Less than 10 days earlier these same workers had won an important victory in their 33-day strike, forcing their bosses to abandon two-tier wages and agree to better working conditions.
Transit workers were joined by unionists from Electricité de France who had occupied their power plant for three weeks in December, forcing the company to grant permanent status to 10 of the 30 temporary workers there. Other workers involved in the December mobilizations were also present such as postal employees and teachers. Many unemployed workers were also marching behind their own banners.
"We wanted to remind the French government that we are still here and that we oppose its plan to undermine our social security system," said Jacques Alimi, a Marseilles bus driver.
Alain Juppé was in town to announce a train of measures touted as a solution to the so-called "suburbs problem." The French government proposes the creation of "enterprise zones" in the most depressed urban areas. The daily Le Monde described one such area, the Montchovet City, where 70 percent of families are immigrant and the unemployment rate hovers around 60 percent. With Juppé's proposal, companies investing in these areas would be exempted from any tax for a period of five years.
Representatives of organizations of the unemployed said that the plan would not create a single job. A similar measure introduced in 1992 was followed by a rise in the jobless rate in the targeted areas.
The Juppé plan also includes a proposal for adding 4,000 more cops in the suburbs, in particular around Paris, using the pretext of an allegedly high crime rate in these areas.
This last measure comes after the government's recent decision to maintain the most visible aspects of its Vigipirate - its so-called "vigilance against foreign terrorism" plan. Since the introduction of this plan last summer, more than 2 million people have been stopped for questioning and more than 7,000 deported - the overwhelming majority of them Algerians and other North African immigrants.
The government will maintain massive patrolling by the militarized police and army - in squads of up to 20 with machine guns at the ready - in border areas, major airports, as well as the subway and train stations of Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, and Lille. These measures come as Elysée Palace is still trying to save some of its proposed social expenditure cuts and other measures that provoked the November-December strike wave.
Capitalists around the world are growing more and more concerned over the state of the French economy. Signs of an economic slowdown are growing. Lawrence Summers, U.S. deputy treasury secretary, participated in the January 19 meeting of top officials of the Group of Seven imperialist powers (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States) here. While in Paris, Summers spoke of the danger of "a deflationary trend in France and Germany." He expressed concerns that low inflation rates in these countries, far from being positive signs, might instead be caused by deflationary pressures contributing to the slowing of economic growth.
Meanwhile, political life in France is still dominated by the recent labor mobilizations, the most important in the country in almost three decades.
Changes are taking place among a broad range of political organizations, as more working people are looking for ways to get involved in politics.
The French Communist Party (PCF) hosted the first of seven national forums in Marseilles on January 19, which was attended by 3,000 people. Robert Hue, PCF national secretary, shared the platform with representatives of the Socialist Party, the Greens, the Radicals, and the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR).
The PCF has its eyes on the 1998 legislative elections and is seeking support among working people who participated in the December actions. At the center of the meeting was the initiative of the PCF, supported by the LCR, to launch a national petition against European monetary union.
The national coalition Acting Together Against Unemployment! (Agir Ensemble Contre le Chomage! - AC!), organized a conference in Paris Jan. 20-21 attended by some 300 representatives of trade union federations and unemployed organizations. AC! is calling for a law that would impose a 32-hour work week with no cut in pay. It also opposes the two-tier employment policy, known as precaire, that allows part-time and casual work. AC! is planning a demonstration March 23 against cuts in unemployment benefits.