On the right and on the left, we are treated to a parade of candidates aspiring for a shot at the presidency. Sarkozy and Hollande have disgusted so many people with their anti-working class policies, all their sidekicks think they have a chance. But what they have to offer is not much different: austerity and job cuts for workers, tax relief for employers. When they try to stand out, it is always by going further toward the foul-smelling ideas of the National Front, using an anti-immigrant rhetoric that seeks only to divide workers.
Don’t let them divide us
The first to suffer the demagogic escalation of the future candidates are migrants. The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, traveled to Calais last week to announce the coming dismantling of the “jungle”.
If the living conditions in the camp are getting worse by the day, it is primarily due to police harassment. The dismantling of the Calais camp would only result into another, even more precarious camp being set up elsewhere. As in Paris, where police operations have multiplied against the camps in recent months, without any accommodation being provided to the evicted migrants.
This world really is upside down. Our leaders multiply wars, support dictators around the world and cause misery all over the planet. But those who try to escape these situations become accused and persecuted. The European policy of the barbed wire, closed borders and police repression has caused thousands of deaths every year. The real criminals are our rulers.
How the working class will be heard
During its Humanity festival, the Communist Party pretended to work for unity on the left of the Socialist Party by bringing together Montebourg, Hamon, Duflot and Mélenchon. All former ministers, who positioned themselves against the Work law but had approved many similar laws when they were in government. With each of them driven by their own ambition, there is no guarantee they will agree to one common candidate. But whatever their negotiations, they offer no perspective of mobilization for the working class.
Workers’ interests will have to be defended in the factories, businesses, public services and in the street. It is through the class struggle that workers will be heard.
The day of action called by the unions on September 15 will be an opportunity to reaffirm that if the Work Law was adopted in parliament, it is still rejected by the population.
We need to keep this mobilization going, against the Work Law, but also against the new job cuts, like at Alstom and SFR, against the competitiveness plans and all the announced attacks. The bosses are not waiting until 2017 to lead their class struggle, so let’s not wait to carry our own!
