French Gendarmes charge one of many barricades set up by strikers in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean on 16 February 2009. Police on the islands of Guadeloupe have detained dozens of people as protests and a month old general strike continued.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
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.
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