L'Humanité in English

70% of the French people support the Sept. 7 strikes and demonstrations

Gene Zbikowski — 2010-09-07T09:05:01Z

A majority of French people (70%) approve of the Sept. 7 trade union day of mobilization against the bill on retirements, according to an IFOP opinion poll done for Dimanche Ouest-France newspaper. The slim majority that considers it “acceptable” to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 62, the key measure in the reform, declined further in September (53% as against 58% in June). Questioned on the progressive raising of the legal retirement age to 62 by 2018 desired by the government, (...) - Society

South African Government Workers Suspend Strike

Gene Zbikowski — 2010-09-07T08:22:32Z

Government worker trade unions in South Africa announced Monday they were suspending the three-week-old strike by 1.3 million government workers. “The workers have agreed to suspend the strike but this does not mean that we have accepted the government's offer,” said the 19 trade union organizations in a joint communiqué. Government workers are demanding an 8.6% wage hike and an annual R1,000 ($138) housing allowance. Last week the government offered a 7.5% increase and a R800 housing (...) - World

“German model” contested by trade unions ... in Germany

Gene Zbikowski — 2010-09-06T21:11:18Z

“Wage moderation” and austerity don't make it any more. The IG Metall trade union is demanding a 6% hike as wage negotiations begin in the steel industry. The spiel about the “German model” and the wage moderation that is indispensable for the competitiveness of “Standort Deutschland” (production site Germany) is being contested more and more by the trade unions in Germany. The jump in economic growth chalked up in the second quarter (up 2.2%) has reinforced their determination to demand (...) - World

Strike Forces South African Government To Make Pay Offer

Ellie Walsh — 2010-09-06T14:44:18Z

Members were called upon yesterday by union leaders to come to a decision about government proposals, which see it ready to agree to a 7.5% increase in public sector salaries. While waiting for the verdict of striking public sector workers who were called upon to come to a decision about the authorities' new proposals, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) yesterday suspended its call for a solidarity strike on Thursday. The federation said it wanted to give its members time (...) - World / South Africa

Unemployment: Why the Government Is Lying to Us.

Gene Zbikowski — 2010-09-05T12:07:24Z

After a spectacular launch of the 2012 campaign for the French presidency with the dismantling of the first Rom camps, the new unemployment figures permit the government to celebrate. Christine Lagarde is in the vanguard. Unemployment has continued its slow ebb in the second quarter of 2010, following encouraging signs at the beginning of the year. The figures are formal, the unemployment level as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) has dropped from 9.5% to 9.3% in (...) - Economy

"They are Channeling Social Anger by Offering it an Outlet

Henry Crapo — 2010-09-04T16:31:58Z

Police violence, discourse on "security", and xenophobia: the war declared by the government against the Roms and the gens du voyage [1] has unleashed wide-spread indignation. The philosopher Grégoire Chamayou puts this new state-organized man-hunt into perspective. Graduate of the École normale with a doctorate in Philosophy, Grégoire Chamayou published this year Les Chasses à l'homme [2]. Specialist in Kant and Foucault, he also works for the publishing house Zones, centered on (...) - Politics

Stealing the Best Retirement Years

Gene Zbikowski — 2010-09-02T23:37:56Z

Decoding the news: The bill approved by the French Cabinet on July 13 raises the eligibility age for retirement benefits from 60 to 62. Simultaneously, the age at which one is entitled to a full pension, will be raised from 65 to 67. Decoding the news The bill approved by the French Cabinet (Conseil des ministres) on July 13 raises the eligibility age for retirement benefits from 60 to 62. The increase will be applied progressively from 2011 to 2018, four months being added each year. In (...) - Economy

A decisive confrontation lies ahead

Henry Crapo — 2010-09-02T19:46:51Z

This past weekend the Summer University of the French Communist Party took place. What follows are excerpts of the address given by Pierre Laurent, National Secretary of the PCF. During this back-to-work period, a confrontation, perhaps the sharpest since the arrival of Nicolas Sarkozy as president of the Republic, is being played out between the people and the state, between the working class and capitalist interests. Look, we are not involved in an vain exercise to create a political (...) - Politics

South Africa's Public Workers Still on Strike

Isabelle Metral — 2010-09-01T23:07:08Z

Raphaël Porteilla, lecturer at the university of Burgundy, and author of South-Africa: The Long Road to Democracy [1] is interviewed by Rosa Moussaoui: “Equality," he maintains, "is now the incontrovertible challenge for South Africa.” As the strike went into its ninth day, the tug of war over wages between the government and public workers only got tougher: thousands of South African civil workers in several towns turned out into the streets and the strike got massive support. The (...) - World

Togo's Government Cracks Down on the Press

Isabelle Metral — 2010-08-31T13:46:13Z

Togo's government is harsh on those who bring its dealings to light: on August 10 Didier Ledoux was insulted by a French army officer; last Thursday, as he was working for l'Humanité and his Togo paper Liberté, he was attacked by the police in Lomé. Journalist Didier Ledoux was taken in for questioning and beaten by policemen last Wednesday (August 25th) in the area of the Courts in Lomé, the capital of Togo. On August 10th, he had been insulted by a French lieutenant colonel, Romuald Letondot, (...) - World