Paris
France: Victory for KFC workers
After a three-day strike non-unionised workers at the Saint-Denis Basilique branch of KFC won a series of concessions from management.
The strikers obtained:
- The replacement of faulty machinery
- More and longer breaks
- Strike pay for all three days
The strike was accompanied by protests outside the branch. Employees from Pizza Hut (part of the same group) were present at the demonstrations.
KFC workers in New Zealand had previously won other gains by striking (see picture, above).
Clashes between striking firefighters and Paris police
There have been serious clashes betwen striking firefighters and police in Paris today during demonstrations.
Fifteen members of the police force, seven riot-police and eight CRS, were injured and a police vehicle was burnt during clashes with the demonstrators. According to police reports there were thirty-five arrests.
School occupations and attacks on student demonstration in Paris, 2005
Article on the nationwide movement of school students and teachers against education reform, and on the attacks on student demomstrations which occured by youth from the banlieus.
Strike at McDonalds, Paris, August 2004
A brief account and information about a CGT union strike at the McDonald’s Place d’Italie branch in Paris in 2004.
About the Frog Pubs strike, 2003
Detailed article about the struggle of Sri Lankan Tamil migrant workers in Paris against British pub chain Frog.
Documents on cleaners' strikes in Paris and Milan, 2002
Leaflets and information on strikes of cleaning workers in Paris and Milan.
Signac, Paul, 1863-1935
A short biography of Paul Signac a French neo-impressionist painter and anarchist who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the pointillist style.
Paul Signac
Born 11 November 1863 - Paris, France, died 15 August 1935 - Paris, France
2003: Frog pubs strike
An account of a strike of mostly Sri Lankan workers, aided by outside militants, at a British-owned pub chain in France, which won some concessions for the workers.
There are several Frog Pubs in Paris, English style beer pubs, whose menus and ‘sport events on big screens’ are aimed at a young and solvent clientele. Expenses are reduced by all means necessary: the kitchen staff work in tiny kitchens (e.g. 12 square metre kitchen for 450 square metres pub area). The wages vary between the minimum wage and 1,200 euros for the chef.
1871: The Paris Commune
A brief history of the world's first socialist working class uprising. The workers of Paris, joined by mutinous National Guardsmen, seized the city and set about re-organising society in their own interests based on workers' councils. They could not hold out, however, when more troops retook the city and massacred 30,000 workers in bloody revenge.
The Paris Commune is often said to be the first example of working people taking power. For this reason it is a highly significant event, even though it is ignored in the French history curriculum.
Debord, in the Resounding Cataract of Time - David Blanchard
A remembrance of the author's friendship with Guy Debord in the late 1950s and early 60s - with some theoretical reflections.
Written in English by David Blanchard, 1995. First published in Drunken Boat. Also published in Revolutionary Romanticism; edited by Max Blechman, City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1999.
