This leaflet produced by the GRI for the social movement of 2 October follows their previous leaflet distributed on 10 and 18 September.⁽¹⁾ The comrades felt it was important to write another one, more critical of the counter-revolutionary role of the left of capital and its dead-end methods, whether they be ‘blocking everything’ or arranging leisurely trade unionist walks. These two mobilisations, despite being fairly massive in regard to the number of demonstrators, did not manage to block the economy or remove the government’s budget proposal, one of the most financially austere in decades. Workers’ self-organisation in general assemblies or strike committees, guided by a revolutionary party against the workers’ left-wing and trade-unionist false friends, is today still the only possibility for the working class to emancipate itself once and for all from the yoke of capital.

Enough with the trade unionist “days of action”! Let’s organise independently to extend and generalise the struggle!

The left-wing parties tried to depict Bayrou’s departure as a first victory. As for the leadership of the unions, they gained time by pretending to give the new prime minister, Lecornu, a chance and gave him an ultimatum that, to nobody’s surprise, led to nothing. In truth, a puppet was succeeded by another and without the radical struggle of the proletariat the bourgeoisie will impose any measures it deems fit to balance the budget and reestablish the national economy’s competitivity.

We must not fall for the promises of this or that politician, who all dream of being the new managers for capital. Across the world, capitalists, whatever the political label of the local government, have launched an offensive against the working class to defend the national capital of their respective countries in a context of global competition exacerbated by the major structural crisis facing capitalism. This has led to attacks aiming to intensify labour and reduce social spending, as well as ideological and practical preparations for possible wars.

To counter this offensive, the working class cannot trust the various bourgeois parties or the unions which have long demonstrated they were loyal allies to the state and capital.

The working class must also not fall into the left-wing of capital’s trap, with its pseudo-radical methods and postures. Setting bins on fire, breaking shop windows, pointless confrontations with the cops, however fun it may seem, does not express our strength but our impotence. It is therefore not a model to be spread and followed. Likewise, blocking may be a valid strategy but cannot replace strikes. Calls to block everything are only the counterpart to the calls for a general strike. We must organise the largest strikes possible. The unions have transformed strikes into inoffensive strike days and it’s up to us to retransform them back into a weapon of our class against the bosses and the state.

To defend our living and working conditions, let’s renew with the methods and objectives of our class:

• Let’s create independent local organisations (struggle committees, general assemblies…) open to all workers and taking charge of all the struggle’s needs (strike funds, defence against repression, etc.).
• Let’s extend and generalise the struggles by sending massive delegations to workplaces, whether private or public.
• Let’s refuse to sacrifice ourselves in the name of the national economy or the health of the companies.
• Let’s refuse all nationalisms and all support for one camp or another in the imperialist conflicts.
• Let’s demand higher wages, to compensate for the inflation of these past years.
• Let’s demand fewer working hours for the same pay.

In the coming struggles we will need a party on a global scale, a party distinct from and opposed to all existing parties, to guide us in the decisive clashes. The creation of this international communist party requires a great amount of preparatory work, which we are already doing today, to be operational when the time comes.

The bourgeoisie is dragging us into the abyss, let’s counter with the open and independent struggle of the working class!

Notes:

Image: Wyslijp16 (CC BY 4.0), commons.wikimedia.org

(1) leftcom.org