jef costello's blog

The day began badly with the university authorities calling the police. Around 100 Gendarmes were used to break the blockade, tear gas and batons were used on the picketers. There were no arrests, the police satisfying themselves with hitting a few people, although there do not appear to have been any serious injuries.

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NANTERRE VOTES TO STRIKE

The General Assembly (AG) at Nanterre on Thursday 8th of November broguht together over 1000 students, teachers and staff of the university. More and more universities are joining the strike.

A large majority at the AG voted for the repeal of the law on autonomy for universities and for the blockade of the university until Monday.

Resist, go to the AG!

The mobilisation has begun.

The General Assembly held on Tuesday 16th of October at Nanterre, attended by over 300 students, teachers and administrative staff, came out in favour of the withdrawal of the loi Pécresse. [This new law gives 'autonomy' to universities in terms of budgets and is supposed to create a university system better to suited to the job market]

We have adopted the following platform:

The CNE is an employment law that allows workers in small businesses with fewer than 20 employees to be kept on a two-year probationary period during which they can be fired without reason. It is the sister law of the CPE which triggered waves of strikes, blockades, demonstrations and occupations across France in 2005-6

Sarkozy has major plans to reform French universities. Universities will be given "independance" from the state. The first consequence of this will be large rises in fees, at the moment undergraduates pay around 300 euros (£200) a year to enrol.

This video shows some fighting between police and demonstrators.
The explosions are either teargas grenades or 'flashballs' a flashball fires rubber bullets, I think they're the same as baton rounds in the UK. They are used quite frequently by police and often against the safety guidelines.

Today there was a large demonstration called to protest against Sarkozy's planned education reforms. Students from various universities had voted to attend the demonstration.

A comité d'entreprise (or employer's committee) is a legal requirement for all French companies, and company sites with more than fifty staff. The committee is composed of the head of the company, or a representative, and two other management nominees. The rest of the committee is made up of elected staff representatives and nominees from the representative union at the site.

Les elections capitalistes n'ameneront jamais au communisme. La bourgeoisie n'autorisera jamais sa propre destruction ni celle du ssteme qui les soutient.

In France it is not unusual to be paid for all overtime at the end of the year. Naturally this gives the bosses an extra opportunity to try to withhold payments, especially for jobs where overtime is unscheduled, such as with firefighters.

The French Police union, Unsa Police, is claiming that the interior ministry has ordered the police to 'take uit easy' in the suburbs in the run-up to the Presidential Elections in order to avoid any bavures policières*.

There was a demonstration of over 1000 poeple last night after a Headmistress of a Parisian school was arrested. Valérie Boukobza-Rodriguez was arrested while trying to prevent the arrest of an illegal immigrant, the man in question was trying to collect his granddaughter from school.

According to a recent poll by Ipsos French people aged between 18-25 are most likely to vote for Sarkozy (30%) with Bayrou and Royal tied on (24%)Bayrou, the centrist candidate however would beat either of the two main candidates ibn a second round 53% -47% against Sarkozy 58%-42% against Royal.

At a demonstration last week ended in violence with police making scores of arrests and injuring large numbers of people.

In order to stand in the French presidential elections each candidate must present a list of 500 signatures supporting their entry into the race.

Some 50 students occupying the presidential administration offices at Rennes II University were evicted by the CRS. There so not appear to have been any arrests.

The students are protesting against a raft of measures dsigned to 'reform' the university system. Studnets see the loss of bursaries, academic independance and the loss of what self-determination that they have.

During the three-day Grille la Fac (barred Uni) festival there were three arrests. These arrests have been seen as a disciplinary measure designed to intimidate students after a festival designed to highlight students rights in relation to the varuious security systems that they face.

In 2005 a CNT member was referred by the Montparnasse branch of the publisher Gosport to a tribunal after attempting to stand in workplace elections. The CNT won the case and the member was elected as a representative. The same tactic was attempted last month by the Chatillon Branch, for a second time the CNT defeated them at the tribunal, winning the right for their candidate to stand.

Not sure whether this will be much more that some really enthusiastic leninists putting up stickers and handing out flyers but aparently there will be a series of events based around four themes:

Prison