It is no time to give up !

international | anti-capitalism | event notice Friday November 12, 2010 18:36 by Appeal from the Tours meeting - the Tours meeting

with international support

Appeal from the Tours meeting

Traduction en anglais de l’appel de Tours.

It is no time to give up !

Appeal from the Tours meeting

Traduction en anglais de l’appel de Tours.

It is no time to give up !

On November 6th, mandated delegates or observers from 25 local
cross-industry General Assemblies, General Assemblies from particular
disputes, joint union committees open to non-unionized workers, struggle
collectives, inter-sector coordina…tions met in Tours. They came from
Laval, Le Havre, Angers, Béziers, Saint Etienne, Roanne, Chambéry, Nantes,
Angoulême, Cognac, Bayonne, Chinon, Nimes, Tours, Saint Denis, Rouen,
Champigny, Paris-East, Paris Centre, Paris 5th, 13th and 20th districts,
Vannes, Lille, Grenoble and Nancy. Aubenas, Agen, Brest, Rennes,
Montpellier and Sarlat sent apologies.

Workers from the public and private sectors, unemployed people,
pensioners, and high school and university students have been massively
protesting, striking, demonstrating, and blockading streets, motorways or
petrol stations, for the withdrawal of the so-called “pension reform”,
with the support of the majority of the French population. To these
protests the government has only responded with contempt, disinformation,
repression, violation of the right to strike, and now it has decided to
try to impose a fait accompli.

The fight against the “pension reform” is at a crucial point. While the
government and media are announcing the end of the mobilization, blockades
and solidarity actions are still going on across the country, and
demonstrations are still massive. This law must be repealed. We refuse to
bury the movement after the passing of the law.
The strategy of the joint union committee at national level has led to a
failure. But we are not going to give up: we are committed to continue the
fight. In many towns, those who struggle, members of different unions and
non-unionized workers too, have met in General Assemblies and collectives
in order to discuss and act together: to inform, to support the sectors
which are struggling, to extend the strikes, and to organize blockades. We
want this process of self-organization and joint action to be sustained,
amplified and coordinated.

This movement is part of a broader struggle to stop the offensive of the
government and the bosses, who are preparing new attacks, especially on
health insurance. The only way to win is to blockade the economy and
organize a general strike.

We call for a common front against the increasing brutal repression used
against the social movements.
We have held this national meeting to start discussing, coordinating and
carrying out joint actions.
We call all those in struggle to organize general assemblies, if they have
not already done so in their localities.
We call on all local cross-industry General Assemblies, General Assemblies
from particular disputes, joint union committees open to non-unionized
workers etc., to attend the next national meeting in Nantes on Saturday,
November 27, 2010, and send mandated delegates.

We call for the following actions, in order to reinforce those which are
already taking place daily:

- A day of economic blockade on November 15th, with international support