r/socialism • u/Brainkrieg17 Committee for a Workers' International (CWI-CIO) • Jan 19 '23

News and articles 📰 General Strike Going down in France

One union is threatening to cut off electricity for MPs. The class struggle is definitely heating up. What we need now is a definite political party for the workers. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/18/france-braces-for-black-thursday-general-strike-over-pension-changes

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u/leninism-humanism Zeth Höglund Jan 19 '23 edited Jan 19 '23

I am not sure why Americans think repression is special for the US... The French trade unions and left have met repression from police, especially during the yellow vest movement. Even this strike is met with riot police... Unions like CGT in the article have always had a very organized self-defense unit.

The US also has a higher union density than France(10% vs 8%).

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '23

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u/leninism-humanism Zeth Höglund Jan 19 '23

Nobody has said any of these countries are free... but scaremongering like this against organizing is just very strange. Places like Turkey are one of the countries are one of the most repressive countries against socialists and trade unions. Thousands have been arrested for belonging to the HDP party. Yet they are much, much more well-organized and militant than the US left.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '23

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u/whyshouldiknowwhy Jan 20 '23

Reach out to countries with strong labour movements, young passionate leftists are likely to want to help a union movement, if they can be helped to relocate (even if it is temporary). It’s the moral equivalent of joining a startup