Talks Deadlocked in Guadeloupe and Martinique General Strikes

[XXPANTHAXX]

Guadeloupe, Martinique await salary negotiations

2009-02-24 21:06:59

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe (AP) - Protesters in the French Caribbean
island of Guadeloupe said talks aimed at ending a paralyzing 36-day-old
general strike over wages and high prices would resume Wednesday.

Leaders of the strike-leading Collective Against Exploitation, or LKP,
have already met with small business owners and are expected to meet
with major employers and government officials on Wednesday, according to
Richard Flessel, head of the LKP-aligned Guadeloupean National Alliance.

Government representatives left the bargaining table Monday night,
saying they were not prepared to agree to a ¤200 ($250) monthly raise
for those making ¤900 ($1,130) a month.
They have since been awaiting new instructions from Paris.

Strikers are warning of more roadblocks and street protests if their
demands are not met in Guadeloupe, where rioters last week smashed
windows, burned cars and threw rocks at police, who fired tear gas. One
union member was shot dead, apparently by rioters.

The labor collective has a list of nearly 140 demands including the wage
increase, covering issues from lowering the cost of imported goods to
environmental and judicial reform.

Meanwhile, similar pay negotiations were expected to resume in the
nearby sister island of Martinique on Tuesday, where a 20-day strike has
paralyzed the French overseas territory.

On Monday, protesters in Martinique walked out of a meeting after
business owners did not offer a concrete counterproposal to demands for
a monthly pay increase of ¤354 euros ($452), strike organizer Michael
Monrose said.

Before negotiations can continue in Martinique, strikers must allow
businesses to operate as usual, said Patrick Lecurrieux-Durival,
president of Medef Martinique, a union that represents businesses.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week announced a ¤580 million
($730 million) financial package to help development
in France's overseas regions.

But Sarkozy remains unpopular in Guadeloupe, where his response to the
global financial crisis, including bank bailouts, was seen as
management-friendly.

Associated Press writer Rodolphe Lamy in Fort-de-France, Martinique
contributed to this report.


A French West Indian crisis that Paris fails to comprehend

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

“Lyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon” (LKP), Union against exploitation. A fire
that sparked in Guadeloupe, then spread to Martinique now threatens to
blaze even farther.

Sana Harb, Algiers

This all began with a mere protest against the high cost of living
there, a movement that struck a chord with the Guadeloupian people who
were tired of the lasting colonial anachronism that the French flag
embodies. “Guadeloupe belongs to us, not them!” cried protesters.

The “them” refers to the companies owned by a minority of whites,
locally called béké, who are descendants of colonists and have a firm
grip on the local economy. Their prices are often 30% higher than those
in France.

“In mixed families, the children are of different colours. It is not
harmonious. I don’t think that’s a good thing. We wanted to preserve the
purity of the race.”

Gas prices there remain high despite oil prices plummeting. France seems
a distant place. The prefect representing the French Republic stayed at
the home of the of 80 year old béké, Alain Huygues-Despointes, who
uttered racist remarks during a report on Canal -uteur de propos
racistes dans un reportage diffusé sur Canal.

“In mixed families, the children are of different colours. It is not
harmonious. I don’t think that’s a good thing. We wanted to preserve the
purity of the race” he said while criticising historians for only
talking about “the negative aspects of slavery, which is unfortunate.”
The prefect of Martinique Ange Mancini, who presided over the
negotiations during a general strike across the island, cleaned things
up afterwards but the symbol remained – a distant republic that clings
to an anachronistic system.

A distant republic, an anachronistic system

In an interview in the Libération newspaper, the economist Pascal Perri,
provides a diagnosis of the profound causes that have led to the current
social movement. “Guadeloupe remains in a colonial and monopolistic
economic system.

Certainly, the plantations have disappeared but the descendants of the
planters are now heads of distribution and import-export companies. This
is no small fact on an island that imports 90% of everything it
consumes. The lack of competition is particularly striking in the French
West Indies.”

Perri’s comments echo the sentiments of a union worker who describes the
fight against “pwofitasyon” as “a second abolition movement.” Indeed,
the movement, which buried unionist Jacques Bino on Sunday the 22nd, who
was fatally shot in dubious circumstances, is gathering support from the
French leftwing political community and embarrassing the government.

Yves Jégo : “The conflict between the colonists and slaves has exploded
in our faces.”

Egged on by strikers, José Bové denounced, “the neo-colonial regime that
exists in Guadeloupe” and “the plantation structured economy that exists
to the detriment of the local population.” For him, LKP’s fight “goes
far beyond financial considerations,” and is a question of “cultural
identity and the struggle for the right to food.” Olivier Besancenot,
spokesman for the New Anti-capitalist Party and Ségolène Royal also made
the trip to the French West Indies.

Ideas for the Left in France

While the French government fears the spread of this social unrest to
other overseas departments, LKP’s fight is inciting “militant” interest
in mainland France where a social movement is also gathering strength.
Some 15,000 persons protested in Paris to support the LKP.

Even if this fight is about more than basic financial concerns, the
demand for a 200 euro increase on base salaries is at the core of the
negotiations led by the LKP.

The MEDEF is stalling. Sarkozy, who had failed to mention the situation
in the French West Indies, the 5th of February, during his televised
address, decided to get involved. This is because the movement is
gaining strength even if a certain degree if calm has recently become
apparent.

“This crisis is highlighting something other than a social crisis. The
structure of the economy is completely archaic and is a vestige of the
colonial era […] Much needs to be done in terms of culture and history
[…] the conflict between the colonists and slaves has exploded in our
faces.”

These are not the words of José Bové or Olivier Besancenot. These are
the remarks of the very official and overwhelmed overseas territory
Secretary of State, Yves Jégo.


Talks deadlocked in Guadeloupe wage strike

By JONATHAN M. KATZ

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe (AP) — Protesters rebuilt roadblocks Monday
as talks showed little progress in ending a 35-day-old general strike
over wages or helping this French island's inhabitants cope with
economic crisis.

Representatives of the French government left the negotiating table
Monday night, saying they were not prepared to meet the strikers' demand
for a euro200 ($250) monthly raise for those making euro900 ($1,130) a
month.

"The state doesn't believe that it should finance or reimburse wage
increases for private employers," Nicolas Desforges, the island's top
Paris-appointed official, told reporters. He said the representatives
were awaiting new instructions from Paris before they would return.

Leaders of the strike-leading Collective Against Exploitation said they
had reached a tentative agreement with small business groups to meet
half the requested raise but that the rest would have to come from the
government.

Meanwhile, protesters prepared to take the dispute back to streets where
riots raged last week, pushing burnt-out cars back into intersections
and erecting new roadblocks on major highways.

"If they don't want to talk, we will put the popular pressure on the
streets and make them share their fortune with the people of
Guadeloupe," Patrice Tacita, a Collective Against Exploitation official,
told hundreds of supporters in front of the seaside port authority
building where negotiations are taking place.

Last week, rioters smashed windows, burned cars and threw rocks at
police, who fired tear gas. Union leader Jacques Bino was shot and
killed, apparently by rioting youths, in an incident still being
investigated.

The workers have been striking since Jan. 20, tapping widespread
resentment over the control that descendants of slave holders hold over
much of the island's economy. Strikes also have taken place on the
nearby French island of Martinique.

The labor collective has a list of nearly 140 demands including the wage
increase, covering issues from lowering the cost of imported goods to
environmental and judicial reform.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week announced a euro580 million
($730 million) financial package to help development in France's
overseas regions.

But Sarkozy remains unpopular in Guadeloupe, where his response to the
global financial crisis, including bank bailouts, was seen as
management-friendly.

"They give plenty of money to the banks to face the crisis, they must
make an effort for the consumers too," collective negotiator Harry
Durimel said.

Shops in the principal city of Pointe-a-Pitre opened briefly on Monday
for the first time in more than a month, but metal storefront gates came
crashing down as the marchers approached waving red flags and pumping
their fists.


Guadeloupe marchers converge on strike talks

By JONATHAN M. KATZ

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe (AP) — Shops in this French island's biggest
city opened Monday for the first time in more than a month, but then
slammed their doors shut as thousands of chanting protesters marched to
a meeting aimed at ending a 35-day-old general strike.

Even as protesters blocked highways with new barriers, hopes were high
among islanders that unions, businesses and French officials will reach
agreement and prevent a repeat of last week's riots. The workers have
been striking since Jan. 20, demanding lower prices and a euro200 ($250)
monthly raise for those making euro900 ($1,130) a month.

Also fueling the unrest is resentment over the control that descendants
of slave holders hold over much of the island's economy. Strikes also
have taken place on the nearby French island of Martinique.

For a few hours Monday, Pointe-a-Pitre's commercial center returned to
normal as shopowners took advantage of a lull in the street protests.
Women lined up at a pharmacy and the smell of cinnamon and licorice
filled an open-air spice market that normally caters to cruise ship
passengers.

But the city's stores hastily closed down as the marchers approached
waving red flags and pumping their fists. They chanted "We came to
negotiate!" and sang the anthem "Guadeloupe is ours!" as they marched to
the seaside port authority building, where talks are taking place.

"We are afraid for ourselves, we are afraid for our businesses and we
are afraid for our customers," said a visibly nervous shopowner, who
asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

Among the marchers was French leftist leader Olivier Besancenot, who
walked behind strikers carrying red flags bearing the image of
revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Leaders of the strike-leading LKP, or Collective Against Exploitation,
told supporters that no deal had been reached by mid-afternoon and that
talks were continuing.