A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #346 - Unionism, Valeo: The question of minority strikes (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In Angers, around the middle of last December, some of the Valeo workers 
who were on strike walked through their factory, raising slogans for 
wage increases, and discussing as they went to convince their 
non-striking colleagues. to join them. ----- In December 2023, a strike 
took place in several factories of the automotive supplier Valeo. At the 
origin of this, the proposal to increase salaries by only 3% for 2024, 
as well as the use of the new collective agreement for the metallurgy to 
try to lower employee rights.
On the Angers site, AGMs were held during traditional "information 
walkouts" organized by the CGT union section of the factory. A few days 
later, the call for a strike was launched. Four days in a row, it was 
continued by the strikers, who numbered around 200 of the company's more 
than 1,000 employees at the time. Aware of the need to be more numerous 
to establish a balance of power that would allow them to win, the 
strikers then implemented actions to expand the strike and bring out 
more people.

Unfortunately, this time, the mayonnaise will not have taken hold and 
the movement will have remained in the minority, but it will have made 
it possible to create links between employees of the company, who will 
have experience of collective struggle, and that some decided to extend 
by joining the CGT. All the temporary workers in a team took the 
opportunity to make a great demonstration of resistance by joining the 
strike on the second day. A little later, around ten delegates from 
other local metallurgical factories came to bring messages of support to 
the strikers and stay for a few hours on the strike picket, creating and 
strengthening links. All of this will have constituted moments from 
which we will emerge stronger for the future.

The strike is a multifaceted fight
Company activists are often used to these situations where a significant 
portion of employees are ready to embark on a strike, but where we also 
know that this portion remains in the minority and that our chances of 
victory are thin. The difficult question then arises as to whether or 
not we should go there. While there is no universal answer to this 
question, it is important that in each case we discuss and study the 
situation, pragmatically, and as collectively as possible.

In certain cases, it may be worth getting started, placing our hopes on 
a dynamic of broadening the strike, and ensuring that whatever happens, 
we emerge strengthened for the future, like this was the case at Valeo 
recently.

But in other cases, it is preferable not to engage in a losing battle, 
to avoid negative psychological effects on workers whose confidence in 
their possibilities of winning is already fragile. It may therefore be 
better to be patient, continue the daily preparation work, and wait for 
a more favorable time.

All this is part of the tactical reflections that we must have, to 
strengthen our class more effectively through our daily struggles, and 
to prepare ourselves for the more decisive battles that await us.

Guillaume (UCL Angers)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Valeo-La-question-des-greves-minoritaires
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