LKP ends strike in Guadeloupe

Negotiations continue in other French-controlled islands

Published Mar 15, 2009 9:26 PM

The Collective Against Exploitation (LKP) signed an agreement with employers on March 4 ending a 43-day general strike in the French-controlled Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Class struggles continue in the nearby island of Martinique and in La Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean. All three islands and French Guiana are held by France as “overseas departments.”

Actions in these French colonial possessions since late January have highlighted the impact of the economic crisis that began in the U.S. and the Western capitalist countries. People residing in these areas are subject to higher prices for food, rent and other services, while their salaries are far lower than what prevails in mainland France.

The need for national independence and a break with French imperialist policy underlies the struggles in the four French-run areas.

Since Jan. 20, the LKP coalition, led by the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe, had engaged the bosses and French colonial authorities through work stoppages and mass rallies. LKP disseminated regular reports through a web site that supplied photographs and daily briefings on strike developments.

Referring to the Jacques Bino Accord, named after a labor unionist killed on Feb. 16 and signed by the LKP and some Guadeloupe-based bosses, union leader Rosan Mounien stated that “From now on, things will no longer be done as before! That’s over! We have come to realize that when we are together, we are stronger! So there is only one thing to do: stay together.” (Links, March 8)

The preamble to the Jacques Bino Accord indicates what the LKP perceives as the underlying reasons for the strike: “[T]he present economic and social situation existing in Guadeloupe results from the perpetuation of the model of the plantation economy.”

The Accord continues: “This economy is based on monopoly privileges and abuses of dominant positions that generate injustices that affect the workers and the endogenous economic actors and block endogenous economic and social development.”

Finally the Accord calls for the end to these problems “by establishing a new economic order enhancing the status of everyone and promoting new social relationships.” (Journal officiel de la Republique Francaise, March 7)

The Accord includes the following: a 200-euro wage increase per month; an average 6 percent reduction in the price of water; the hiring of 22 Guadeloupean teachers on the waiting list; measures to aid farmers and fishers, including the setting aside of 64,000 hectares (158,000 acres) of farmland for future use; lower bank service rates; lower interest rates on loans, which are still being negotiated; a housing rent freeze and ban on evictions; improvements in union rights through the appointment of mediators to resolve outstanding conflicts in some major industries; and provisions for cultural development.

In Martinique, the February 5 Strike Collective is continuing with its negotiations to end the work stoppage. On March 6, a convoy led by the employers sparked anger and violent outbursts from the workers and youth on the island. Most bosses are the so-called Bekes, descendants of French slave-owners who, in conjunction with the metropolitan France-based imperialists, control the economy.

Rebellions highlight Martinique strike

Striking workers clashed with the business owners. Then French riot police launched tear gas against the people. Martinique workers set up roadblocks to halt a convoy of automobiles owned by the bosses, who were demanding that the French authorities end the strike and force strikers back to work.

“The provocation of the beke employers, in wanting to come to Fort-de-France, has produced these predictable effects and that translates into the same arrogance they express in the negotiations,” said Philippe Pierre-Charles, a member of the CMDT union that encompasses hundreds of workers. (International Herald Tribune, March 6)

An agreement reached earlier in the week set a 200-euro monthly pay increase as in Guadeloupe. Other issues involving support for farmers and increased funding for education are still outstanding.

Strike in La Reunion

In La Reunion, workers struck March 5. Following French police provocations, youth began pelting gendarmes with rocks and set up road blockades.

According to a March 5 French Press Agency report: “Hooded youths set up a roadblock near Reunion’s capital, Saint-Denis, and a separate demonstration in the city forced a supermarket to close when protesters tried to burst in.”

Thousands of workers and students marched in Saint-Denis and the town of Saint-Pierre to express their outrage over high prices, rising unemployment and the reduction in wages.

“Our objective has largely been fulfilled,” said Jean-Hugues Ratenon, president of Agir Pou Nou Tout (Act for All of Us), which is part of a coalition consisting of 36 groups (COSPAR) that are fighting for better living conditions and wages. “Reunion is united, unified and together.” (AP, March 5)

The strikers submitted a list of 62 demands to the French colonial authorities. The most prominent on the list was the 200-euro monthly wage increase that was demanded in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The French prefect of La Reunion stated during the March 5 strike that there would be a decrease in the cost of bottled gas beginning March 12 and a reduction in the price of fuels starting April 1. However, the workers pledged to fight on.

“We will lean on the victory in the [Caribbean] to satisfy the biggest number of our grievances,” said Ivan Hoareau, a labor union leader. “If we continue here, it is to help our buddies in the [Caribbean].” (AP, March 5)

The strike collective in La Reunion announced that if their demands were not met immediately there would be another general one-day work stoppage on March 10.