France Winter 1986-87: The Railways Strike - Henri Simon

Cover of Winter 86-87 - just text

A text on autonomous struggles published by Echanges et Mouvement.

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Submitted by Fozzie on August 17, 2022

On November 10, a 31 year old driver (usually a non-striker during ‘small' union strikes) from the Paris Nord depot began to hand round a petition he had written himself. He proposed "to have it out once and for all" (i.e. to go out on an unlimited strike) for a whole range of demands concerning work conditions and pay. The petition was signed by 200 people.

This encouragement led some ADC-SNCF (drivers) to bring out a leaflet reiterating the demands and declaring that if they were not met, they would begin an unlimited strike on December 18 at midnight. They called on the unions to support their call and provided two telephone numbers for contact. The text added "if you agree with us, photocopy this leaflet and hand it around, in other depots as well".

It was not long before the text reached all of France...

PDF courtesy of Sparrows Nest Archive, Nottingham.

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