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Friends Meeting House, Mount St, Manchester
Speaker: Ed Maltby, who visited France twice at the height of the strike movement.
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The French embassy, 58 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7JT (Knightsbridge or Hyde Park Corner tube)
Join our protest at the French embassy in London in solidarity with the French strike movement, and against the Sarkozy government's police repression.
Called by: Alliance for Workers' Liberty, Worker-communist Part of Iraq, Worker-communist Party of Kurdistan, Worker-communist Party of Iran (Hekmatist)
To add your organisation's support, email edward.maltby@gmail.com
Facebook event here.
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The Exmouth Arms, Starcross Street, Euston, London NW1 2HR
A London AWL public meeting
Millions of French workers have been on strike against the government's attempt to raise the retirement age. Beyond that issue, however, the bulk of the working class feels a more general anger at the Sarkozy regime and wants to force it out. On the regular days of action, millions of workers strike and come out on the streets.
What next? How can we help the French workers? And what can we learn for our battle against cuts and attacks on the working class here? The French newspaper Le Monde summarised the difference between France and Britain as "Let's make a molotov cocktail" and "Let's make a nice cup of tea". Come and discuss how we can prove them wrong!
Speaker: Ed Maltby, who visited France twice at the height of the strike movement. We are also hoping to bring a French activist over.
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School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H
School students’ struggles in France - a student activist from France’s New Anticapitalist Party speaks in London
A joint Education Not for Sale - London School Students’ Union meeting
The past year has seen huge waves of student resistance to cuts and privatisation. As the economic crisis deepens, public services are facing the brunt of the crisis through cuts and redundancies. Education too is being used for cost cutting, with school and university students facing higher tuition fees, school closures and crippling budget cuts. Throughout Europe, governments have been attacking education, and throughout Europe these attacks have been met by mass, grassroots opposition and resistance from school and university students.
From school walkouts and demonstrations to university occupations, students have defended education, and France has been one of the most inspiring and successful examples of this. These student movements have had many impressive achievements and can provide many important lessons to us in Britain, facing the same threats to our education system.
London School Students’ Union and Education Not for Sale, a student group campaigning for free education, are holding a joint public meeting about this movement. Ameline Shah, a student activist in France’s New Anticapitalist Party, will speak on the youth movements in France and the rest of Europe and her involvement in the French school students’ union.
For more information ring Tali on 07800 921 828 or email londonssu@gmail.com
Facebook event here.
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School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square (Russell Square, Euston or Goodge Street Tube)
Hosted by London Workers' Liberty
In the last French presidential elections, a revolutionary socialist candidate, Olivier Besancenot, won over a million votes, 4.2%, including 10% among young people. Meanwhile the French revolutionary left is strong and growing, and French workers, young people and students have fought many battles against Sarkozy's right-wing government.
Now socialist activists are seeking to capitalise on this movement by creating a new united anti-capitalist party, the "NPA": a process rich in lessons for Britain's divided left.
Come and hear Catherine Ayme, an activist in the French socialist youth organisation Jeunesse Communiste Revolutionnaire talk about the NPA and what it means for class struggle in France and across Europe.
For the Facebook group for the event, see http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=46174220820&ref=mf
For more about France and the NPA see:
http://www.workersliberty.org/lcr-npa
http://www.workersliberty.org/world/international/europe/france
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The Union Tavern, 52 Lloyd Baker Street (corner with Farringdon Road), London (Kings X or Farringdon Tube)
Last year, French workers and youth rose up and defeated the CPE, a major attack on young workers' rights. The last few months have seen major struggles against the country's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, including by rail workers and students. Meanwhile, the far left is strong and growing, and in the last presidential election, two million voted for revolutionary socialist candidates.
Come and hear a report back from the delegation of young AWL members who visited France last month, and discuss how we can support and what we can learn from the French workers' movement and left.
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Presles, near Paris
More: fete.lutte-ouvriere.org. If you want to join the AWL delegation to the fete, please email [+anti-spam+]awl[+at+]workersliberty.org, after removing the anti-spam bits from the address.
More: fete.lutte-ouvriere.org. If you want to join the AWL delegation to the fete, please email [+anti-spam+]awl[+at+]workersliberty.org, after removing the anti-spam bits from the address.
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Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester (behind Central Library)
MANCHESTER WORKERS' LIBERTY PUBLIC MEETING
STUDENTS AND WORKERS CAN WIN TOGETHER - LESSONS FROM FRANCE
This Spring a massive movement of students and workers forced the French government to withdraw the CPE – a law which would have given employers the right to sack young workers without reason. This was a revolt against the whole system of “neo-liberalism†— the capitalism of today — in which jobs become less secure and workers have to adapt more “flexibly†to the demands of employers while profits spiral.
Students occupied the universities, blockaded roads and railway lines and defended themselves against the riot police. They decided the course of the movement in democratic assemblies, coordinated across the country.
Thousands of workers went on strike to support them. Most of these workers were not affected directly by the CPE.
But they knew about “neo-liberalism†— and about solidarity. Faced with this movement, the government had to back down.
Could this 'only happen in France', as the press claims? Or can we build a similar movement here?
Dan Randall (NUS Executive, personal capacity) will give an eye-witness account of the French movement and its lessons for Britain.
MANCHESTER WORKERS' LIBERTY PUBLIC MEETING
STUDENTS AND WORKERS CAN WIN TOGETHER - LESSONS FROM FRANCE
This Spring a massive movement of students and workers forced the French government to withdraw the CPE – a law which would have given employers the right to sack young workers without reason. This was a revolt against the whole system of “neo-liberalism” — the capitalism of today — in which jobs become less secure and workers have to adapt more “flexibly” to the demands of employers while profits spiral.
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Presles, near Paris
More: click here.
More: click here.
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Paris, France: to 22 January
