—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

 

5,000 protest stiff sentences dealt to French Goodyear tire unionists

AMIENS, France — More than 5,000 unionists — including delegations from Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and across France, as well as Philippe Martinez, general secretary of the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) — rallied here Oct. 19 against the prison sentences of eight unionists at the local Goodyear tire plant.

They were convicted of holding the production manager and the head of human resources in the plant for 30 hours in January 2014 after management announced the factory would close.

The protest took place during the appeals trial of the workers, who were sentenced in January to nine months in prison and a suspended sentence of 15 months.

The same day several hundred unionists protested at the local affiliate of the main bosses association MEDEF in Marseille.

When Goodyear closed the Amiens plant 1,143 workers lost their jobs. Three of them have since committed suicide. More than 75 percent are still unemployed or working temporary jobs.

Although the two executives and Goodyear declined to press charges, the prosecutor continued with the trial. The ruling Socialist Party has led the charge. The sentences were “undeniably heavy,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the Senate Jan. 14, but workers shouldn’t “plunge into violence.”

“I love business,” Valls told a meeting of MEDEF in August 2014. “It’s business that creates jobs. How many of you fight to keep jobs, to motivate, and to reassure?”

The decision on the appeal will be announced Jan. 11. The prosecutor has asked for a suspended sentence of 24 months and no jail time.

On Nov. 30, a verdict will come in the trial against 15 Air France workers accused of assaulting two company executives whose shirts were ripped off after they announced cuts of 2,900 jobs in October 2015.

— Claude Bleton

Pa. professors’ strike, supported by students, pushes back attacks

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Over 5,000 members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties carried out a three-day strike that shut down 14 universities across the state and pushed back some of the administration’s attacks.

“They wanted to do more classes online instead of in the classroom and increase the class load of adjunct professors,” said Mark Rimple, a music professor and president of the association at West Chester University.

“I’m completely supporting the faculty,” said Ryan Susko, 19, a sophomore from Allentown, one of dozens of students on the picket lines. “That’s why I’m not going to class. I don’t want more online classes — I want to talk to a human being and discuss the issues.”

“I feel like I would be betraying the teachers if I crossed the picket line,” said Tori Evert, 17, a freshman from Bethlehem. The administration attempted to keep classes, dining halls and residences open, but the support for the strike brought everything to a halt.

As Oct. 22 homecoming approached, the union organized to picket the events. The day before the administration agreed to a settlement. Unionists will vote on the contract in the next few weeks.

— Chris Hoeppner

 
 
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