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blindpig
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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:06 pm

France: 5 December strike – what strategy and what programme?

Révolution21 November 2019

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5 December may mark a turning point in the development of the class struggle in France. Since the RATP and SNCF unions have made this day the starting point for a indefinite strike, calls are multiplying from trade unions in other sectors to join and strengthen this movement, including in the form of indefinite strikes.

It is true that a union call is not always followed by a solid strike when the time comes. Over the last 20 years, there have been many "days of action" and "inter-professional strikes", which in fact mobilised only a tiny minority of workers in the strike – and even only a small part of unionised employees. The fault lay not with the workers, but with the trade union leaders who issued the slogan of "inter-professional strikes" in a mechanical way, without preparation or a serious plan. It was more a hollow formula than a true slogan. Trade union leaders did not believe in their chances of success themselves – and workers even less. The routine repetition of "interprofessional strikes" led Nicolas Sarkozy to quip in 2008: "From now on, when there is a strike in France, nobody realises it".

It will be quite different on 5 December. Many sectors will probably be mobilised. At the very least, there will be a solid strike by the SNCF and RATP, whose employees have already clearly expressed their determination to fight – not by declarations, but by previous strikes: first, the massive one from 13 September by the RATP, then those of recent weeks by the SNCF workers.

The government understands and dreads the upcoming action. But it is unlikely that, by 5 December, it will make significant concessions to the workers of SNCF and RATP, in the hopes of defusing their movement. Macron has tried a small manoeuvre by stating that, on the issue of pensions, concessions were possible, but the vague statements by the head of state engaged only those who are willing to believe him – and that is not a big cohort. But Macron can not go much further than vague statements, because backing down against the threat of a strike would encourage other sectors of the working class to follow their example. A showdown on 5 December – and in the following days – seems inevitable.

The government and its media spokespersons have begun to sing us their old song. They describe the railway workers as "privileged", only out to defend their special benefits. The aim is to mobilise public opinion against strikers who, by paralysing transport, will "hold the country hostage", etc. This strategy can work, sometimes, when the government is attacking only railway workers. But the counter-reform of pensions does not only concern railway workers. It concerns all employees, who therefore have an interest not only in supporting the railway workers' strike, but in mobilising themselves.

In order to focus the people's attention on special privileges for rail workers, the government is burying central elements of its reform – such as the "points-based" system, which is a source of concern for everyone. But many workers interpret this ambiguity as proof that something very ominous is coming. A recent survey pointed out that the 5 December strike is supported by 74 percent of workers and 70 percent of civil servants.

The government attacks these so-called "privileged" workers in the name of "equality". But many employees understand that the kind of egalitarianism the government has in mind is to put us all on dry bread and water, along with the railway workers. Only the wealthy parasites that control the economy are truly privileged.

General anger
Despite all of their manoeuvres, the government is stuck with the content of the pension reform, which will spare no one. On top of that, they are facing widespread social anger that has accumulated over many years. It has reached levels such that an exceptional mobilisation of youth and the working class is entirely possible in the short term. As a result, there is a lot of potential for 5 December to be explosive.

In the last 12 months, social instability has increased by several levels. The yellow vests movement marked the spectacular awakening of the most-exploited and oppressed layers of the population. A movement of this nature and scope could not be a mere flash in the pan. It opened a new phase in the course of the class struggle. The sudden and massive wave of anger that erupted on 17 November 2018 did not subside, it is still there. And it is enriched by the experience of a long struggle. The call of the yellow vests for a mobilisation on 5 December and the favourable reception that this call has received in the union rank-and-file underlines the progress made since November 2018. Fictitious opposition between yellow and red vests is nowhere to be seen.

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Given the immense accumulation of popular anger, 5 December has every chance to be explosive / Image: Révolution

The mobilisation of emergency physicians and firefighters, among others, points in the same direction, as did the recent suicide of a school principal and the attempted suicide of a student. In both cases, these acts explicitly targeted government policy. In response, the government dared to declare, in the person of Gabriel Attal, that "ending one’s own life is never a political act". Such cynicism can only exacerbate the anger of teachers, students and all those who no longer support the contempt of the government towards ordinary people.

The huge success of the mobilisation against Islamophobia on 10 November should also be recorded as an expression of the growing combativeness of the masses. Of course, the mainstream media did everything to discredit this event, before, during and after. But no one will be surprised at this, since these media outlets are themselves the main mouthpieces of Islamophobia. In fact, 10 November was, above all, a demonstration of strength and unity of our class. Its message was clear: the so-called "debates" on Islam will not prevent social anger from expressing itself in the form of great struggles. This diversionary operation, conducted under the guise of secularism, has therefore gone down like a lead balloon.

Finally, the various spontaneous strikes that have broken out from the SNCF in recent weeks are a very clear indication of the attitude that prevails in large sectors of the working class. In a context of great social ferment, the meaning of such walkouts cannot be reduced to the demands of the workers concerned. These strikes indicate a level of fighting spirit that necessarily exists in other areas of our class. The bourgeois press exclaim with anguish: "Explosive social situation at the SNCF". This is clearly so. But the social situation is explosive far beyond the SNCF. It is perfectly possible that, on 5 December and the following days, several decisive sectors will embark on a solid, indefinite strike. Then, the class struggle would enter a whole new phase, which would open the possibility not only of burying the pension reform, but also putting an end to the Macron government.

The role of the unions
All of the above points to the possibility of a very large movement. But the combativeness of the workers can be proved only in the struggle. We already have specific indications of the combativeness of certain sectors: SNCF, RATP, hospitals, firefighters... For other sectors, it is the fight itself that will provide the answer.

However, we must not be content with such generalities. A central element of the struggle is the role played by the organisations of our class, starting with the unions – and in particular their leadership. The strategy and programme of the union leaders weigh heavily in the balance, as workers can hardly do without their unions when engaging in a large-scale fight.

Once again, they will have to do without the CFDT, whose leadership has rallied behind the government. It is a lamentable betrayal, but it does not change much the ratio of forces on the ground. As soon as the leaders of the CFDT change sides, they weigh virtually nothing. If the CGT leads the fight correctly, it will find inexhaustible reserves of support in the working class, including among workers who feel "close" to the CFDT. The CGT is the most powerful and militant union: it is from this union, first, on which the conduct of the struggle to come depends. It is therefore the policy of the CGT’s leadership that we will analyse here.

In recent times, Philippe Martinez (CGT) has insisted that employees will "decide for themselves" in their workplaces if they will rally to the mobilisation of 5 December. He is pushing against an open door. Of course, the workers will not strike against their own will following a nod from Martinez. But the role of the leadership of the CGT must be to do everything in their power to convince workers to engage in the fight, because when it comes to "deciding for themselves" if they will take part, despite the risks involved, they will look towards Martinez. And if the latter is content to invite them to simply "decide for themselves", we will just go around in circles. The leadership of the CGT must present to all workers a clear and combative strategy and programme, in line with the concrete situation in the country. It must make clear under what conditions we can win, and what stands to be won.

Instead of repeating that "the workers will decide themselves" if they engage in the strike, the leaders of the CGT should explain the following: the government will abandon its pension counter reforms only if the movement of indefinite strikes develops beyond the SNCF and RATP. If the rail workers’ and RATP agents’ strike remains isolated, the government will have two options: either to make concessions to the sectors in strike only, or to bet on the exhaustion of the strike, as it did in 2018, helped along by the government mobilising ‘public opinion’ against it. In both cases, the mass of the population would lose. On the other hand, the more sectors that are on strike, the less the government will be able to engage in this kind of manoeuvre. This was effectively demonstrated by the December 1995 movement, for example.

The programme of struggle
While rejecting the slogan of a "general strike", Philippe Martinez calls for a "generalisation of strikes". This kind of subtlety may seem trivial, but it stems from the "let the workers decide for themselves" approach. Anyway, one question remains: what programme should the call to generalise the strikes be based on?

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The fight against the pension reform naturally leads to a fight against the Macron government. This should be front and centre of the CGT's programme of struggle on 5 December / Image fair use

The leaders of the CGT are focusing their fire on the pension reform. It goes without saying that the rejection of this reform must be one of the objectives of the mobilisation that will take place on 5 December. But it is very insufficient. On the one hand, if the government backs down tomorrow, it will return to the offensive the day after tomorrow. On the other hand, the pension reform is only one of the reactionary reforms of this government, among many others. For example, the unemployment insurance reform, which came into effect on 1 November, represents social carnage. According to Unedic's calculations, 240,000 people will be deprived of compensation rights, 424,000 will receive an allowance lower on average by 20 percent, and 291,000 will be compensated for a shorter period. Therefore, why not link the mobilisation of 5 December to the need to repeal this miserable reform?

The same question arises with regard to the two "Labour laws”, the privatisation of ADP (Aéroports de Paris), introduction of university selections, the attacks on the public sector – and many other past and future outrages. Similarly, what of the recruitment deficit for hospitals, nursing homes, the postal service, the fire service and schools (among others)? And what about the growing demand across all of France, in all sectors, for substantial wage increases?

In collaboration with other trade union and political organisations (Solidaires, FI, etc.), the CGT leadership should put all these issues at the heart of the mobilisation of 5 December, in the form of a clear and offensive programme (and not only defensive). This would not be an obstacle to mobilisation. On the contrary, in the current context of a growing combativeness of our class and of a massive opposition to the whole policy of the government, such a programme would be a powerful lever to mobilise broad layers of young people and workers.

It is obvious, for example, that youth will mobilise more easily around demands that go beyond the issue of pensions. But this is not only true of youth. When the time comes to "decide" whether to take the risk of losing days of pay by striking, many workers will be more willing to fight if the objectives are worthwhile.

Finally, it goes without saying that the Macron government will not implement the progressive measures of a programme defended by the CGT. The implementation of such a programme therefore presupposes, at a minimum, the fall of the Macron government. This political perspective should crown the 5 December mobilisation call. Here again, the mobilisation would be strengthened as a result. Let's not forget that the goal of overthrowing Macron has resonated throughout the country, Saturday after Saturday, since 17 November 2018. Linked to the mobilisations of 5 December, this objective would bring to the struggle new, numerous and vibrant forces, given the depth of hatred felt towards Macron all across France.

By limiting itself to the objective of a "generalisation of strikes" to force the abandonment of the pension reform, the CGT falls into a flagrant contradiction. Indeed, let us admit that a powerful movement of renewable strikes is developing not only at the RATP and the SNCF, but in other key sectors of the economy such as the civil service, road and air transport, the Post Office, energy and ports. The entire economy would be paralysed. The government would be on its knees. On the basis of a balance of power so favourable to the workers, it would be absurd to demand only the abandonment of the pension reform. The fall of the government would be at hand, and therefore on the agenda. This would also raise the question of a left-wing government taking over the CGT's programme.

This perspective is not fanciful. It is determined by the deep crisis of capitalism – and, consequently, by the determination of bourgeois governments to carry out their reactionary policies. In response to the many attacks it has faced, the working class can no longer be content with demonstrations or partial strikes, because none of this is pushing back the government. It will be forced to mobilise in such forms and at such levels that the struggle against the government's policy will turn into a struggle to overthrow it and replace it with a "people's" government – that is, a government of the workers. This is the dynamic that can develop from 5 December. Only this will allow us to bury the pension reform, on the way to an even-greater objective.

https://www.marxist.com/france-december ... gramme.htm
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Sun Dec 01, 2019 2:45 pm

French workers organize another large-scale strike
12/01/2019
28
Robbery of workers leads to new strikes

French workers from various industries across the country are preparing to go on strike on December 5, in protest of government plans to reduce pensions.

In Paris, bus routes and the metro are paralyzed, and air traffic controllers, teachers, doctors and postal workers will also take part in the strike. The strike is expected to last at least four days. One of the railway unions, Sud-Rail, said its members could go on strike throughout December.

Truckers in France will also join the strike

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The protests are triggered by an attempt by the French government to reduce the pensions of workers , under the guise of a struggle for "equality" and are not the first time.

Pension reform

And against the backdrop of protests in France, Canadian railroad workers at the same time massively leave jobs due to overwork, some shifts last for 42 hours , which exceeds the average work week in Canada. According to workers on strike, they may have 3 such shifts per week.

The working class is increasingly becoming aware of its interests, due to the inevitable increase in economic and social stratification in all capitalist countries, in favor of the owners of the means of production. The greater this stratification, the worse the demagogic speeches of bourgeois politicians on universal equality and national unity work. Therefore, the attempts of the ruling class to restrict actively striking workers in their rights are obvious, as they tried to do in the UK. But attempts to legally deprive workers of the right to strike, the right to fight for their rights, will only lead to new, more acute forms of confrontation between social classes. No law is able to abolish the contradictions that underlie the whole of society - the contradictions between labor and capitalwhen millions of people are forced to work for the welfare of an insignificant number of rich people - state owners. corporations and monopolies. Only the workers can solve this contradiction by taking economic and political power into their own hands, and turning the distribution of labor products in their favor.

https://www.rotfront.su/rabochie-frants ... ocherednu/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Tue Dec 03, 2019 12:01 pm

SHOCK STRATEGY AGAINST SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Donald Ewen Cameron, an American psychiatrist, has conducted during his research tests-torture on his subjects to destroy their personality with the help of various shocks in order to obtain an empty being that could totally rewrite the personality . We draw this example from Naomi Klein's book, The Shock Strategy . The underlying idea was to say that just as by successive shocks the psychiatrist could change the personality of his patient, capitalism by successive shocks attempts to maintain his ideological hegemony and apply his economic doctrines.

We are in a period of systemic crisis where the heavy tendencies of capitalism are manifested, like the tendency of the rate of profit to fall . A crisis that aggravates:

the exploitation of workers, as seen in the countries of the "third world" with its workforce paid a pittance (Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, etc.), just as in developed countries such as France (accumulation of contracts precarious)
imperialism, first and foremost that of the United States, in decline but still as violent (coup d'état orchestrated in Bolivia by the military, the police and fascist militias);
exterminism , the ultimate phase of imperialism-capitalism, where profit matters more than the living and the environment of man.
This systemic crisis we are experiencing has existed since the end of the 1960s, with strong competition between capitalist countries and the beginning of the crisis of the post-war economic model. This crisis was contained thanks to the existence of strong workers' organizations (in France a fighting PCF and a CGT class), and by the existence of powerful socialist countries which limited the will of management of the economy "to good will of the masters "in the capitalist countries. To be more explicit, with the existence of a counter-model, even imperfect, the exploiters could not do exactly what they wanted in terms of social regression policy, under penalty of giving bad ideas to the proletarians of their country. Since the destruction of these two elements, the exploitation has been unleashed, among others in France.

The strategy of shock today strikes a wide range of sectors of society: besides the workers whose factory was relocated, we find students increasingly precarious , when they do not have a huge debt to their school as in the United States and the United Kingdom, the middle class, artisans, smallholders and many others.

However, where Big Capital is wrong in its strategy of shock, it is because its exploitation is so increased, unfair and antisocial that it always ends up creating protest (even disordered, in the absence of strong organizations that defend their interests). It is in this that we can explain the Yellow Vests, as well as the next big strike on December 5 , which every Democrat must support.

The upper middle class certainly has several cards in their hands to thwart the proletariat and maintain itself:

The parties of the traditional right or the center. In the hexagon, this corresponds to the LRs that are kept on hand or at LREM.
The capital-compatible left parties, those who during the 30s until the second world war proposed to help the capitalism dying, while finishing at Vichy.
The fascist or fascist parties, often forgotten that they were massively financed by the French bourgeoisie during the inter-war period, that it is thanks to the big landowners that the thugs of Mussolini finally took power, without to speak of the brilliant role in Hitler's accession to power. Today, when we see all the light put on Marine Le Pen or her niece with the convention of the (extreme) televised right, who can believe that the finances of the RN are due only to the contributors? Until recently, the RN had huge debts to pay following its various campaigns. How could he repay them?
Finally, it has a great institutional weapon, which must be targeted the essentially counter-revolutionary aspect since its birth: the European Union. We have repeatedly denounced it for years, it which, through its treaties and directives, organizes the breakage of the social achievements of its member countries. As long as working class organizations have illusions about the EU, any credible prospect of emancipation will be impossible.
To all this, we will add that big capital can always use means to its provisions like the media, schools, the police and even the army.
In order to avoid a tragic end for humanity, it is high time for working class combat organizations, starting with the CGT, to return to "red" bases. It is urgent to rebuild a communist party fighting for our country, which will release once and for all the big bourgeoisie of power.

Ambroise - JRCF .

http://jrcf.over-blog.org/2019/12/la-st ... ciaux.html
Share the post "THE SHOCK STRATEGY AGAINST SOCIAL MOVEMENTS"

https://www.initiative-communiste.fr/ar ... s-sociaux/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:08 pm

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PENSION REFORM
Bordeaux. A human tide invades the city center on this first day of mobilization.
It is from the Place de la République that a massive procession has set off in a very combative atmosphere. The first estimates of the CGT give around 50 000 demonstrators: a bet without a doubt successful for this first day of mobilization.

Thursday December 5th

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The parade marched from the Republic, through the course of Albret and the Place de la Victoire. One could then attend in the lead an important procession bringing together hundreds of students from the campuses of Pessac and Victoire, very determined, alongside railwaymen.

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The event brought together many sectors of the world of work at the call of different unions. Amongst many others, emergency workers and hospital workers, as well as firefighters, have been on strike for several months against their working conditions and the deterioration of the public service, which have been very well received in the event.

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But also postmen and railwaymen, having led pickets and meetings all morning: the railway workers have indeed gathered at 150 in front of the Gare Saint-Jean to go into demonstration.
Dockers, teachers, energy workers and even Dassault were also particularly mobilized. Not to mention the many yellow vests present in the procession that testify to the will of convergence between this movement and the syndicalist bases fighting for the same interest: the defense of workers and all precarious.

More than 50,000 protesters according to the CGT
To give an idea, while the head of demonstration was going to the Quinconces after a passage by the Cours Victor Hugo and the quays, the tail of demonstration was still at the beginning Place de la République! So it's a success for this first day of mobilization.

The repression begins
The protest is currently halted at the Quinconces where the police gassed, while the BAC quadrille the city center and seeks to intimidate the protesters in the streets.

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A general assembly inter-struggles and interprofessional will be held at 17:30 at the facade of Victory currently occupied, so that all sectors mobilized to discuss together the consequences of the mobilization and the central issue of the renewal of the strike!

Facebook event of the GA: https://www.facebook.com/events/559793508144100/

https://revolutionpermanente.fr/Bordeau ... bilisation

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:00 pm

Historical mobilization. December 2019 higher than 1995! The numbers #GreatyDecember #General Strike
From Marseille - 16h. Trains, metros, buses, RER stopped, 7 out of 8 refineries on renewable strike , 3/4 teachers of colleagues and high schools on strike , half of primary schools closed, 1 third of public employees on strike , thousands of strike in the private sector ... The strike is general this December 5th. At midday, the SNCF and the RATP announced the renewal of the strike until Monday included. Martinez the leader of the CGT calls for "the strike continues".

And in the street the processions are massive despite the difficulties of transport.

The numbers: more than a million protesters!

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Paris: 250,000
Marseille: 180,000 protesters
Toulouse 100,000
Bordeaux: 50,000
Lille: 40,000
Lyon: 40,000
Rouen 40,000
Limoges 30,000
Nantes: 30,000
Grenoble: 30,000
Le Havre: 25,000
Caen: 20,000
Montpellier 20,000 *
Clermont Ferrand: 17,000
Rennes 15,000
Avignon 15000
Perpignan: 13,000
Toulon 15,000
Pau 14,000
Nice 15,000
Bayonne: 10 00
Lorient: 10,000
Niort 10,000
Metz 10,000
Strasbourg 10,000
Quimper 10000
Dijon 10000
La Rochelle 10,000
Angers 9200
Besançon 9,000
Amiens 8000
Chateauroux 8000
Tarbes 7,000
Valencia 6,500 *
Montauban 6,000
Bezier 5500
Nancy 5000
Compiegne 5000
Saint Denis Reunion 5000
Arras 4,000
Auch 4,000
Albi 4,000
Carcassonne 4,000
Morlaix 4000
Boulogne sur mer 3500
Troyes 3000
Sète 3000
Vichy 2,500
Gueret: 2500
Mulhouse 2500 *
Calais 2,100
Douai 2000
Draguignan 2,000
Montélimar 1700 *
Creil 1500
Abbeville 800
Brignoles 700
Wall 500
* prefecture figures

PRCF clearly visible in Paris, looping on BFM TV
In the newspaper of 20H of France 2, everyone will have been able to see the posters of the PRCF calling to stop the pension reform by points made by the PRCF Ile de France. the result of a massive militant collage

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The organized and solid presence of the PRCF Ile-de-France also burst the screen of BFM TV in the afternoon of December 5th. We could not miss on the comrades of the news channel continuously, the red flags with the tools of the PRCF and the red banner calling to all together

(There follows numerous photos of the strike in various cities. See link)

https://www.initiative-communiste.fr/ar ... egenerale/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 06, 2019 12:48 pm

The PRCF on the offensive
In the wake of its national conference, its very dynamic intervention on the Huma festival and the warm and combative Central Committee held on November 3, 2019, the PRCF is on the offensive on many grounds.

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Internationally , the Pole is largely in France the unitary response to the resolution voted on September 19 by the "Parliament" in order to odiously amalgamate the Third Reich exterminator to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by criminalizing the communists and trivializing the Nazi exterminators. Witness this offensive and unitary attitude of the PRCF, the common call against state anticommunism signed by several French communist organizations , but also the broader appeal that various communist and non-communist democratic forces have supported.. In particular supported this call, at the invitation of Pierre Pranchère, former resistance communist, Admiral Michel Debray, former president of the Academy of Gaullism , and the publicist Gaullist Olivier Delorme. This anti-fascist unity was concretized by the plural speech of 9 November in front of the Polish embassy (as well as in Lens, in front of a plaque commemorating a communist resistance fighter). Also shows that the meeting of 14 December instead of Stalingrad , to mark the 70 th anniversary of the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance De Gaulle / Stalin (Fall 1944), dynamically prepares individual unit in the cluster initiative, not to mention the persistent mobilization, particularly in the North, against the ongoing deleveraging of the Polish PC . In addition, G. Gastaud was able to express himself in Marianne (number of 9 November last); he recalled that " the Berlin Wall fell on the popular classes of the whole world, the capital then touched the jackpott! ".

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The PRCF also mobilized immediately against the coup in Bolivia and was in the "core" of the forces calling for solidarity with the Bolivian people and with the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan peoples literally besieged by Trump. Aymeric Monville, international secretary, is also in charge of meeting the European communist forces during the meeting organized in Brussels by the PC of Greece and already, our comrade was warmly welcomed by the Portuguese CP during the feast of AVANTE, held in September. No one ignores the intense activity of Aymeric Monville in the defense of Julian Assange or the field investment of several southern organizations of the PRCF in the defense of GI Abdallah , the Lebanese patriot unduly detained in France. At the same time, the Breton organizations of the PRCF (Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes d'Armor, Morbihan) together make the Tour of Brittany solidarity with Venezuela Bolivarian.

In terms of the memory of French communism , the PRCF and the JRCF of the departments of the West, especially Brittany, will have marked the 2019 commemoration of Châteaubriant by parading behind mixed red and tricolor flags and brandishing the portraits of the Communist Rifles.. It will be more and more difficult to emulate the renegade Gayssot (who, then minister of the government of euro-privatization of Jospin, validated in 1997 the prohibition of the red flag in the career of Fusillés de Châteaubriant) to prohibit that the TWO revolutionary flags of the French people, the tricolor flag of the French Revolution, and the red flag, which federated the Communards, can not float again side by side, even if to drop the clerical flag of the new German Europe which floats indecently permanently at the entrance to the career of the Fusillés ... Comrade Fabien Roussel (general secretary of the PCF) who recently praised the "two flags", red and tricolor, is now at the foot of the wall:

In terms of domestic political relations , the PRCF has not been idle either. Common texts against anticommunism signed by the RC, the ANC, Polex, the PCRF and FVR-PCF, defense of the French language against all-English with the same organizations (minus the PCRF), expression of several communist organizations to our initiative on Bolivia (the text takes a major step forward by concluding on the inevitability of the dictatorship of the proletariat, keystone of Marxism-Leninism which the PCF renounced in ... 1976!) ... Developing relations also with democrats clearly preferring anti-fascism to anti-communism. Eg. with activists in the field of France rebellious on the occasion of the constitution of several municipal lists, especially in Pas-de-Calais; presence also at our speeches of personalities from LFI (François Cocq for example), "sovereign citizens" (R. Kebaïli, Gwenaëlla Caprani ...), not to mention the Gaullist Jean-Luc Pujo.

In terms of struggles , the PRCF has carried out an intense activity at the initiative of a commission led by five comrades from the working class (electrician, bricklayer, baker, railway worker, metalworker) and constantly connected with the national secretariat and its commission

edition of two national leaflets intended for companies and very widely distributed to companies department by department,
a poster calling on all of us to defend pensions to accompany our already well-known poster " Breaking the chains of the European Union ", specific addresses of "struggles" to railway workers, EDF agents, hospitals (via ANTIBODY bulletin of the Health Commission), to teachers (by means of Class Councils edited by the Education Com- mission), to firefighters, etc.
effective presence, financial solidarity with the key, alongside the strikers of the FRANPRIX in Paris - leading to a letter of thanks from the UL-CGT Paris 10 -, the Ibis Batignolles hotel and Chronopost with intense activity solidarity of the JRCF Franciliennes. Not to mention the political support for the Monaco workers, whose historic union broke with the ETUC and re-affiliated to the WFTU, and the very active presence of many PRCF activists in the struggles and in the numerous bodies CGT and FSU unions with proposals to win, and especially, converge, the struggles by facing the euro-reformism and narrow corporatisms.
All this is accompanied by a permanent background work and not always visible from the Pole : monthly edition of the magazine Initiative Communist , held a national site is the first communist site in France with thirty articles published on average per week, including many original articles on all kinds of political, philosophical, historical, socio-economic, trade union, cultural, "youth", "red note", and so on. ; regular release also of the theoretical and cultural magazine "Etincelles" (philosophy, history, eco, culture ...), constant support to the EMAIL association which leads a pioneering fight against the all-English, animation of Marxist cafés in Paris (and public debate activities in the Tarn, Alpes-Maritimes, Pas-de-Calais), militant support to the books of our comrades Georges Gastaud (article in the book Vests yellow, jacquerie or revolution? , imminent reissue of common lights with a reworked text, Annie Lacroix-Riz's book on non-purging in France, and of course the tireless activity of the departmental associations of the PRCF , the Youth for the Communist Renaissance in France (JRCF ), and permanent support to the friends of the Internationalist Committee for Class Solidarity , etc.

In terms of organization , in addition to the recent establishment of the departmental organization PRCF-46 and the launch of the national commission of work "condition of women ", with a first specific national leaflet, also met the commissions Struggles, Organization, Culture, Economy, JRCF, Philosophy, International and "Political Relations". In addition, in accordance with democratic centralism, a national referent will soon be assigned to each local organization and, wherever possible, a local referent of the "struggles" commission and a local referent of the "youth" commission.

Finally G. Gastaud, National Secretary, published a well-argued critique of the two great books of political science published in 2019, The French Archipelago (Jerome Fourquet), and Block against Bloc, Jerome St. Mary. For his part, the Deputy National Secretary Fadi Kassem published an article entitled Jean-Paul Delevoye heckled by the PRCF! , as well as several videos. The PRCF website has produced feature articles on current events, including a detailed analysis of the counter-reform of pensions.

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From the perspective, the PRCF knows what it wants and where it goes : its national conference adopted a detailed political resolution which, taking into account the "exterminist" dimension of current capitalism-imperialism, proposes to anchor struggles for peace, the environment, gender equality, democracy, social progress, international cooperation and national sovereignty in the aim of a socialist society centered on the world of work and oriented towards socialism- communism , a society in which "the development of each is the key to the development of all" (Marx / Engels).

In this spirit, in addition to the full commitment of the PRCF in the struggles of December, the Pole will work for a united action of the supporters of the progressive Frexit on May 29, 2020 (15 th anniversary of the non-popular with the European constitution), for the implementation place of a frankly communist youth organization, for the presence of militant communist communists in municipal and, at the end of 2020, for a rally commemorating the founding of the PCF and calling for the reconstruction of the Communist Party of combat in France. 2020 will also be devoted to a broad discussion aimed at updating the program of the PRCF in relation to the struggles of demands.

So, reader, do not remain spectator : as approaching a clash of classes decisive for the future of the world of work and the nation, the need to rebuild a true communist party of combat anchored in the struggles and rooted in the Marxist-Leninist analysis of concrete situations, JOIN THE COMMUNISTE RENAISSANCE POLE IN FRANCE and, if you are under thirty, YOUTH FOR THE COMMUNIST RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE!

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https://www.initiative-communiste.fr/ar ... fensive-2/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:29 pm

"Never kneel!" Manifesto of Barbès to Répu in defense of the young people of Mantois

A little more than a thousand people to parade this Sunday with the Moms of Mantois, one year after the violent arrest of 151 young people, December 6, 2018, to demand justice and dignity.

Corinne Rozenn

Jane Mitchell

Monday, December 9

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It was also the heart of the call made by the group of mothers of these young people arrested: " For the sake of our children, walk moms for justice and dignity ." With a call relayed by several personalities of the militant and intellectual world but also political organizations, the demonstration left Barbès shortly after 14:30 to reach the Place de la République.

In the procession, the young people and their families, of course. They are there, in the front line, behind the banner. They did not bend, despite the humiliation they suffered. But also, in solidarity, activists of the neighborhoods and against police violence, the NPA, the PIR, VP, as well as the UJFP, EuroPalestine, yellow jackets of the Mantois, the GA of the establishments in fight, among others .

As Fadila says, one of the organizers, " we do not forget, and we do not forgive. We are here to demonstrate against police violence, but also against social apartheid. When you are young, Arab, and you live in Val-Fourré, you leave with three disabilities. It is a scandal. And we must add violence on a daily basis, facies checks. Today we are witnessing all this violence, and before a death comes on the list, already too long . "

Eric, yellow jacket of the Mantois, railroad wrestler, today, recalls the facts : " December 6, in full movement against Blanquer and at the beginning of the movement of the Yellow Vests, 151 young people are questioned. The youngest was 12 years old. Identity check and custody, for the most part. But before that they were on their knees, their hands on the back of their necks, their faces against the wall, for several hours, by the police who had participated in the operation. The first complaint, filed against police violence, was dismissed .

A symbol and an extremely moving moment: the mothers of the young people put themselves on their knees, hands on the back of the neck, Place de la République, at the arrival of the demonstration. During the speeches, the 20 years of "training" from BAC to the LBD in the neighborhoods are put forward, with young people being abused "for what they are, and not for what they did Says Yessa. And the focus is also on unity and the common enemy, the government, which ensures police impunity. Many tributes and declaration of respect for the yellow vests and the unions that supported the "darons" of Mantes-la-Jolie.

Convergence is in the spotlight because everyone has understood that if the students of Mantois were physically put on their knees, the power today requires the same thing psychologically, Yellow Vests by police violence, employees in companies by professional violence, to the unemployed and retired by a shameful drop in their incomes. A beautiful manifestation of convergence, therefore, between neighborhoods and social protest, between the associative world and unions and yellow jackets.

" We do not forget, we do not forgive! The protesters and protesters chanted, before dispersing and meeting in this week's striker processions. Counter-reform pensions, police violence, attacks against the working class, institutional racism and Islamophobia, it is indeed different facets of Macron and his (im) world.

https://www.revolutionpermanente.fr/Plu ... du-Mantois

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:42 pm

The Euro-Macronian counter-revolution is also an anti-scientific obscurantism!
No one progressive ignores the serious threats to the future of French science due to its budgetary strangulation, its growing subjection to employer funding and short-term performance dictates, not to mention the education crisis. public which does not bode well for the initial training of future researchers. As all readers of Initiative Communiste know, these ultra-reactionary orientations owe a lot to the European Union and are aggravated, in France, by the fascinating Macron as they were in Great Britain by the sinister Thatcher.

Even so, even in the eyes of a large fringe of the left, Macron appears to be a less obscurantist man, in the scientific sense of the term, than the brutal and climate-skeptics Trump or Bolsonaro. The reality is quite different.

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A very significant start to President Macron was the appointment of Françoise Nyssen to the Ministry of Culture. This follower of the esoteric aims of the so-called anthroposophy (see for example the article by Alain Tournebise in n ° 17 of the journal Progressistes - https://revue-progressistes.org/2017/11/05/le- charlatanism-a-la-culture-alain-tournbise / ), ephemeral in government, was it an isolated case? Nothing is less sure.

Very recently, the government decided to liquidate Miviludes (Interministerial Mission of Vigilance and of Fight against Sectarian Drifts). You can sign this petition ( https://www.change.org/p/sauvons-la-miv ... C3%A9rives -sectaries ) to oppose it. The National Union of Scientific Research Workers (SNTRS-CGT) is also indignant in this press release ( http://websyndicats.vjf.cnrs.fr/sntrscg ... rticle2766), who points out with legitimate concern that sectarian aberrations have already been present, albeit discreetly, for years in hospitals and medical research. An evolution that perfectly completes, for the capitalists, the control of the pharmaceutical industry over public medical research (the French pharmaceutical industry, although abundantly fed by public money via the Research Tax Credit, among others, itself does very little research, relying largely on the results of public bodies such as INSERM and CNRS ... but by increasingly piloting research through its presence in contract financing which are increasingly gangrening these public establishments), in a pincer between scientism - which enlists a science under influence, abused by structural conflicts of interest and bad practices ("embellished" results to be more in line with the expectations of funders and provide better “scoops” to scientific journals), which also very strongly affects agricultural research (via pressure from the pesticide industry), for the needs of big capital - and obscurantismwho, pretending to oppose the excesses of scientism throws the baby of rationalism and the scientific approach with the dirty water of its misappropriation by imperialism ... to actually serve other capitalist interests, but in a more underground way.

Still in the health sector, as also denounced by the SNTRS-CGT ( http://websyndicats.vjf.cnrs.fr/sntrscg ... rticle2783 ), while Lyme disease is a public health problem A major emerging in France, the Minister of Health refused to set up a specific research budget on this condition, which is still very little known. Even Trump's United States realized the gravity of the problem and decided on exceptional public funding of more than $ 50 million a year to develop research on the subject.

To defend science, against irrationalism and scientism, let us drive out Macron and leave the EU, the € uro, NATO and capitalism!

https://www.initiative-communiste.fr/ar ... entifique/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:56 pm

Struggles info - n ° 51 - December 2019

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Employees, led by strikes renewable at SNCF, RATP, in National Education, in Health, but also at EDF in Autonomous Ports, refineries, are massively on strike, in the street and in the action to defeat the Social Contract Breakage program resulting from the heroic struggle of the Resistance fighters against the Nazi occupier and the massively collaborated French elites.

The mobilization is massive and lasting. It is the majority in opinion and comes after a year of mobilization of Yellow Vests against social misery and for a fairer redistribution of wealth produced by the world of work.

This mobilization must be supported and reinforced.

In order for it to allow a real change in the balance of power, it is important that this mobilization can help build and anchor a real political alternative to the neo-liberal pincers.

The first deadly jaw of this pincer is fascization: retreat from the rule of law and police repression fall on the People who claim.
The second jaw is the dissolution of our Social Republic and the social contract resulting from the Happy Days program, set up in a few weeks at the Liberation by the Communist ministers, at the forefront of which Ambroise Croizat and Marcel Paul, in the antidemocratic hydra of the European Union.
Remember that already in 1995, it was Maastricht's convergence criteria for dissolving the Franc, in the Euro and making workers pay for this dissolution, which led Juppe to violate OUR Social Security and to want (already) to attack the the deferred salary that is PAYG retirement.

In 2019, the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines engraved in the marble of the Supranational Treaties are the trigger for the Macron Plan against retirement.

It translates into the legal framework of the European Institutions, the class violence that the ruling class exerts against the working class by making its pockets, on wages, on unemployment insurance, and now on retirement.

This illustrates the necessary struggle to get our country out of the EU to allow a real alternative for progress. It is a necessity that the frankly communist militants of the PRCF present in the GAs and in the demonstrations must carry in the struggles. Just as it is necessary for the working world to rebuild an avant-garde to fight effectively and to work for the Communist Renaissance in France.

Newspaper :

The news:

§ - Fuel. Strike at the Donges refinery and at the Vern-sur-Seiche depot from December 17 to 19

From Tuesday 17 to Thursday 19 December, as part of the movement against pension reform, "no drop of fuel will come out" of the Donges refinery, but also of the Vern-sur-Seiche depot, says the CGT.

§ - AESH - Reminder injection

At the call of the teacher union, thousands of accompanying students with disabilities (AESH) gathered around France during a unitary action on 20 November. They castigated unpaid wages, degraded working conditions and part-time work, as well as the obligation to train during school vacations.

§ - Air France - Strike maintenance

The CGT and Sud Aérien called the 200 maintenance controllers of the air carrier to strike on November 15 against the management's plan to abolish the control service, historically attached to the maintenance branch of the Air France Industrie group. The strike notice, 90% of which is followed by staff, could be extended until the start of 2020.

§ - Radio France in struggle!

Four syndicates of radio France (CGT, CFDT, SNJ, SUD) called for a renewable strike from November 25 to protest against an economic plan based on the abolition of 300 positions in the public audiovisual group. The trade unions consider that this is a plan "dangerous for each of the employees and for the sustainability of radio France"

The winning struggles:

A - Châtelet Mail Platform

Following the mobilization of staff, it is obtained:

§ Bringing the Châtelet premises into compliance

§ 1 additional work position at Châtelet and an increase in DHT from 40h to 42h with 2 days of weekly rest,

§ Home storage of service cars for Châtelet agents,

§ 3 CDI.

B - Sexist and sexual violence, the CGT wins negotiations at the regional council.

On December 2, the CGT of Bourgogne Franche Comté met the president of the region following comments made by an elected official against a union representative.

The CGT obtained:

- The opening of inter-union negotiations on gender-based and sexual violence at work within the region.

- The strengthening of the psychosocial risk prevention system will be extended to high school staff.

- A gender and sexual violence component will be devoted to the workshops of the RPS plan.

- An inventory will be made throughout the community.

The CGT also alerted to the behavior of a male elected official in the community and recalled the criminal laws and the obligations of the president as an employer.

The CGT welcomes the launch of a negotiation on violence against women in the workplace and will carry out a poster campaign to raise awareness of gender-based and sexual violence in employment relationships, it is making available to female staff of the region to collect their words concerning the behavior of colleagues or supervisors.

Strikes and demonstrations:

1 - Strike by the collection and recycling center staff of the Quercy vert – Aveyron community of communes

Source: PRCF correspondent 10/12/2019

Since Monday, December 9, the “garbage collectors” - since that is how they call themselves on their vests, have been on strike renewable on the site of the Nègrepelisse recycling center (Tarn-et-Garonne), until satisfaction of their claims!

“The recycling center employs around twenty people. We decided to go on strike in view of the terrible working conditions: the touring trucks are poorly maintained, the rounds for collecting waste in the containers spread throughout the countryside are far too long and painful. For example, there is often only one "ripper" - the worker who "rips" containers to empty them into the truck - by truck instead of two.

It's an extremely hard job, to be done in all weathers, which starts at 5am. The Community of communes provides us with PPE (personal protective equipment), that is to say gloves, shoes, poor quality clothing.

As for the permanence at the recycling center, open to the public 6 days a week, including Saturdays, it is only ensured by one person, who cannot cope with the amount of work, especially on Saturdays. Management has so far refused to hire an additional worker. And yet, there are people who would be interested in working at the recycling center!

And as we were merged with the Montclar-de-Quercy recycling center, when they lack staff, it is one of us who has to go there, sometimes even on his RTT, and especially with his own vehicle!

The revendications :

Hiring with tenure on the recycling center and maintenance to meet needs
Contractual staffing
Hiring of 3 seasonal workers on all school holidays
3 agents by truck from 5 a.m.
Reorganization of tours
Premiums for agents (to take account of climatic constraints)
2 people on the site of the recycling center
2 - An American financial giant attacking French pensions

Source: Humanity of 12/11/2019

The gigantic asset manager BlackRock is eyeing French savings, which he would like to transform into funded retirement. He is waiting for the Pact law passed in the spring and the Delevoye reform to open the doors of this market to him.

No need to look for the name BlackRock in the agenda for ministerial consultations on pensions: it does not appear anywhere. This does not prevent this juggernaut from the American Stock Exchange, present in the capital of the largest French companies and managing the savings of millions of employees around the world, to take a very close interest in pension reform, by providing its “recommendations” to the government and to the President of the Republic. In June 2019, a few days before the delivery of Jean-Paul Delevoye's report on the “universal scheme” project, the investment fund detailed, in a document of about fifteen pages, all the profit that '' he hopes to draw from a pension reform which gives a large place to capitalization,

This law, which is too little known to the general public, has paved the way, creating the conditions for an increase in the power of retirement savings products in the years to come. The Delevoye reform comes in a way as a complement to it, BlackRock's recommendations strikingly illuminating the context of all-out offensive attacks in the world of private insurance in which it is part. An operation facilitated by the accession to the Élysée of Emmanuel Macron, who cultivates his relationships with the CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink.

For the American fund, the Hexagon represents an essential market: "The French are distinguished worldwide by a high savings rate, 14% of their disposable income each year," notes BlackRock. This represents an accumulated wealth, all assets combined, of 13,125 billion euros in 2016, including 5,400 billion in financial assets. In Europe, only the Germans save more. BlackRock would like to get its hands on this mountain of assets, but to do so it must remove a major obstacle: the historic distrust of the French for financial products, and in particular for pensions by pension funds, considered unsafe. 63% of them consider investing in equities too risky, according to the barometer of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. "The various financial crises have anchored in the minds that the financial markets are first sources of risk before being sources of performance", laments BlackRock. And the 15 years of previous pension reforms have failed to open the long-awaited market.

The "pillar" of capitalization is already at the heart of the reform

The fund therefore expects the government to help it overcome this aversion by deeply reforming retirement savings mechanisms. What the Pacte law began to do, “by allowing savers to benefit from tax relief” and “managed management” of their retirement savings plan, a tool programmed to increase share of risky investments, such as stock market shares, for the youngest savers. For BlackRock, at a time when the authorities are preparing to reform the “pillars 1 and 2” of the pension (the basic and complementary schemes), it is urgent to “integrate pillar 3 into their scope of reflection” (capitalization) by "unifying the different aspects of pension reform".

In fact, the “pillar” of capitalization is already at the heart of the reform, even if the High Commissioner for Pensions - whose links with the world of insurance have just been exposed - denies it. His plan for a universal scheme is a "system of distribution by contribution covering a maximum of assets", he argues, since they will contribute for their retirement on a salary base of up to 10,000 euros per month. Almost all of the assets ... but not all. It's all subtlety. As a reminder, until then, supplementary Agirc-Arrco pay-as-you-go pensions made it possible to contribute up to 30,000 euros in monthly salary. It is therefore an additional space for capitalization which has just opened for the better off, for the benefit of insurers. This is moreover written in full in the report by Jean-Paul Delevoye: “Employers and employees who so wish can supplement the level of retirement by setting up collective retirement savings schemes. "

It is this advantage that BlackRock wants to push, by providing fifteen recommendations to the government. The goal is to sell savings products to the wealthiest, but beyond that, the document proposes, for example, an “automatic contribution” of 5% of salaries to company savings plans, supplemented by a “device automatic increase ”in the event of an increase in remuneration… He goes so far as to envisage a“ tax credit ”of 1,000 euros per year“ accessible to non-taxable households ”, which“ would constitute a form of public contribution ” to "democratize the model widely beyond only households with a fiscal interest in building retirement savings". Or how to finance the turnover of insurers from public funds by selling savings products to the poorest.

https://www.initiative-communiste.fr/ar ... mbre-2019/

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Re: France

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 27, 2019 12:04 pm

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A French union cut power to an Amazon facility in support of workers
By Ephrat LivniDecember 25, 2019
It’s a quintessentially French holiday season as three weeks of labor strikes over proposed pension reforms have halted trains, subways, the national economy, and even, briefly, the god of consumption, Amazon.

One Amazon France location near Paris was expected to get 50,000 packages out the door on the night of Dec. 22. Instead, workers at the Blanc-Mesnil site found themselves in the dark. A strategic pre-holiday attack on electricity left the facility without power and the workers idle.


The local Blanc-Mesnil branch of the General Confederation of Labor union (CGT) claimed responsibility for the act. “It is in support of the workers who walked out last week to denounce their working conditions and to mark our opposition to pension reforms,” Marc Fréville, secretary of the local CGT, told the publication Le Parisien (link in French).

The outage began near midnight and lasted until morning. A line of trucks from the site to the highway waited for operations to resume as some workers sat in the darkness until dawn. Power was restored by Enedis, the local utility, at 7:30 AM. A utility representative condemned the attack and told French press it would be filing a complaint.

Amazon has not been the sole target of power cuts, which seem to be the latest innovation in French labor strikes. French utility workers cut power throughout Paris early in December, forcing the Eiffel Tower to close and leaving many homes dark.

Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT union, has told the media that members may sometimes target public buildings and big businesses but that they do not intend for the sabotage to affect households.


These electric rebellions do present certain dangers, however.

On Dec. 21, a surgeon in a clinic near the city of Toulouse found himself contending with a few seconds of darkness (in French). Although he says the procedure he was performing wasn’t affected by the power cut, a fellow surgeon condemned the “illegal” act. “This cut took place while one of my colleagues was operating. This could have had serious consequences,” Philippe Fiatte said (in French).

That power outage was orchestrated by the local CGT 47 and targeted a local stadium. Clinic director Lionel Combs said that he will speak to utility authorities before deciding whether to sue the union.

https://qz.com/1775188/the-french-union ... -facility/

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