TRADE UNIONS

In • June. 1970, 1970, Chaban-Delmas government brought a new law against civil disorder— 'la loi anti-casseur'—onto the French statute books. Part of the preparation for the next revolutionary development of the working class after the May-June 1968 General Strike, article 314 declares:

'When, as the result of a concerted action, carried out openly, with force, of violence or assault and battery against people, or destruction and damage to property, the instigators and organizers of this action, as well as those who participated voluntarıly, will be punished, without prejudicing the application of heavier penalties inscribed in law, with sentences of one to five • Monday, November 27, 1972, Berliet, the producers of buses and heavy-goods vehicles, brought nine workers before the court in Lyon under article 314.

After the formal opening of the case, it was adjourned until December 18.

Berliet is part of the Citröen group which, in turn, is controlled by Michelin. The Michelin and Citröen factories specialize in employing immigrant workers from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Algeria, and using the deportation threat to keep them in line.

It is no surprise then that the Citröen-Berliet management should be the first to crack the legal whip against French trade unionists in the midst of cut-throat competition by the carmonopolies in the Common Market-and on the eve of Britain's entry.

Citröen in Spain is already bitter about the decision by Franco to allow Henry Ford to set up a factory in Valencia. The European lorry market Is also tempting to investors in British - Leyland manufactures heavy goods vehicles in Spain through the ENASA company a branch of which is Pegaso that already has a contract with a Belgian firm to manufacture lorries in Belgium with cheap, made-inSpain components.

PERTURBED BY LOSSES Berliet's profits for the first nine months of 1971 were 451 million francs compared with 388 million in 1972. Exports have been cut by a third in a year. Contracts with Cuba and Poland remain, but Paul Berliet has just returned from a trip to China without a contract signed.

In France, the tonnage carried by lorries to be changed from 13 tons to !! tons to bring France in line with the rest of the Common Market and that means expensive modifications in Berliet's factories, which are main suppliers to the domestic market.

These uncertainties are compounded by the failure of Citröen-Michelin to form new coherent European multinational with Fiat. Michelin is perturbed by the losses and continuous strikes in the plants of its Italian partner.

Discussions are being held with Daimler-Benz which involve the future of Berliet, and perhaps Citröen itself.

Whatever the outcome, the state of the European 'multinational' is not one of harmony and high profits. The capitalist Utopia of the Common Market cannot break down the historical barriers of the nation-state, national currencies and the whole legacy of the out-worn system of private enterprise.

The French Communist Party accepts the reality of the EEC and Duoney policy and morate too ey policy the Market, puts the brake on the struggle against the monopolies.

So, the defence of the Berliet workers, which would mean striking at the Pompidou government, is subordinated to the nondisruption of the 'democratic' process-as if article 314 were not an attack on the real democratic rights of French workers! ation of Labour. This strikebreaking, company union is already well-implanted in the Citröen car-factories.

The 4th Congress of the CFT in 1969 described the CFT as 'an instrument of struggle against the disinteration of the nation' and the defender of the family which is the basic cell in our society and the guardian of the moral Values li our civilizanon.

In July 1971, just before the summer holidays, the management ended a practice which had given the Berliet plant a reputation for liberal attitudes on the shop-floor—the right to hold meetings in the workshops to discuss trade-union affairs.

After the holidays, the struggle became more intense. For nine weeks, the tradeunion leaders called a series of lightening strikes in the French Stalinists tradition, in pursuit of an additional monthly bonus of 200 francs and an increase in basic pay Some high-points in this frenetic activity: in CD shop No. 4 800 workers stopped work 16 times on one day; in another shoot short stoppages. there have been lubert Mazoyer, a techniciar nember of the leftist Unifiec Socialist Party claimed: 'It needs a higher level of consciousness for short strikes than for an indefinite strike' Sometimes, the short strike is escalated into a demonstration through the factory or a mass-meeting.

Paul Berliet has met the guerrilla tactic with a series of 'shock' actions. It is one of his boasts that I have read Mao' On November 15, he issued

PAGE December 1 71, 7982 Rrannan (halnw loft) rama December intends to hring more trade