Socialist Action /June 2000
French Workers Fight Fake 'Shorter Workweek"
Law
By JAN BIRCH
Today all over France, workers are fighting back against a French law
that was held up to them as a step in the fight against unemployment.
Back in 1997, French workers were very concerned about high unemployment-over
12 percent officially-the increase in the rate of poverty, and a generalized
economic crisis that attacked their standard of living. The Socialist Party
government announced that it was planning to legally cut the workweek to
35 hours, saying this would help to create more jobs.
The first phase of this new Aubry law, named after a Socialist Party
employment minister, who was also a former manager of a large French company,
took effect in June of 1998, followed by a second law in January of 2000.
The National Federation of French Employers made a big fuss in response
to the Aubry law. The CFDT, a major French union aligned with the Socialist
Party, openly supported the law. But the CGT-a major union aligned with
the Communist Party-and the FO, a smaller union, were more cautious. They
said it was up to the workers to ensure how the law would be implemented.
What does this mean?
The law is written so that the unions and the bosses must negotiate how
the law would be implemented at each workplace. So instead of the workers
making a common struggle throughout the country, using their power as a
class to fight at the same time, each group is left to fight alone.
The bosses are only eligible for a state subsidy to make up for any cuts
in the workweek if they negotiate a contract with the unions. So this process
tried to give the unions plenty of credibility in the eyes of the workers.
The state gave the bosses a sure fire way not to cut their profits.
Though this law theoretically limits the workweek to 35 hours, the bosses
can still employ workers in overtime. And breaks and lunch hours are not
included as working time in the 35 hours!
For workers who earn no more than the minimum wage, the cut of hours
will not cut their pay. But for workers who make more than the minimum wage,
the new law does not guarantee that their previous wages will be maintained.
Thus this law that was sold as something to benefit the workers has turned
out to be a new attack on many workers' standard of living.
The Aubry law allows the bosses to calculate hours on a yearly or cyclical
basis. For example, 35 hours a week equals 1600 hours per year, with a 48
hour a week maximum. So hours worked over 35 are not considered as overtime
and don't receive overtime pay.
As part of this "math game," the bosses have tried to introduce
Saturday work where it didn't exist before. All of this means a big benefit
to the bosses in arranging the work schedule to suit their convenience.
It can mean overtime with no overtime pay, followed by reduced hours or
shift work.
This wreaks havoc not only with workers' pocket books but also with their
sleep, their health, and their personal lives. Also this flexibility allows
the bosses to hire fewer workers and thus shows the lie to the promise that
this law was a partial solution to unemployment.
In many cases, French workers have not been fooled by the talk of their
so-called representatives in the Socialist and Communist Parties and in
their union leaderships. All over France-in auto, rail, textile, government
offices, hospitals, and schools, in the private and public sector-there
have been militant strikes, demonstrations by tens of thousands and factory
occupations to protest this law.
To imagine how large this protest by the workers is: in the post offices
alone, there have been thousands of walkouts and strikes since the beginning
of this year!
The fight for a reduction of the work week with no cut in pay has long
been on the order of the day in the working-class movement. It has long
been fought for as both a way to fight against unemployment and for the
right of the workers to have more control over their time and lives. But
for the shorter workweek to be of benefit to the working class there must
be no cut in pay and no worsening of working conditions.
The French workers in their current struggles, depending on their own
forces, could have the power to impose a real 35 hour workweek and a real
diminution in unemployment.
Socialist Action /June 2000 |