Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Notes on the movement against the loi du travail, by a waitress (May 2016)

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Notes on the movement against the loi du travail, by a waitress (May 2016)

Click here to access article from libcom.

If you were to only follow corporate news while living in the US, you would be completely unaware of the ongoing since late March of the growing protests and labor strikes that have been occurring across France precipitated by an attempt at passing a new labor bill that will further weaken workers' rights. Those of us who refuse to be deceived and ignorant about what is going on in the rest of the world need to read this piece by a waitress who gives her perspective on what is happening there up until May 26.

The oil strikes and blockades, which are now being reported more in the international press, have been ongoing since Thursday 19th, and with increasing strength. On Thursday we heard it was not possible to get cash or oil in Rennes, since the ATMs were smashed during the manifestation, and the refineries were on strike. This is an explicit case in which the actions of casseurs support the actions of a strike. Every day there has been news of another refinery blocked, a new one evicted. They are often reoccupied. Road blockades are too many to count.