French Trotskyists under the Occupation
Source: La Vérité, August 11, 1944;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor.
The Americans are approaching Paris. The working class must take advantage of the situation and go into action in order to secure its liberation against fascism and reaction, against terror and dictatorship, against the capitalist exploiters. Follow the call of the illegal CGT for a general strike. The railroad workers have already entered into struggle.
LONG LIVE THE RAILROAD WORKERS’ STRIKE! SUPPORT IT as the metalworkers have already done, who have stopped work in several factories. Go to your work places and at the same moment launch everywhere, in the factories, the offices, the construction sites, the
GENERAL STRIKE!
For your demands: a 50% salary increase and a living wage; the return to the conquests of June ‘36
For the control of canteens and re-provisioning by your elected delegates.
For the control of production so that it no longer serves imperialist war, but rather the needs of the people.
For working class freedoms: the right to unions, the recognition of the workers’ right to arm and organize themselves in worker’s militias.
For the immediate liberation of the hostages of July 14 and all political prisoners.
Occupy your enterprises as you did in June ‘36!
Laid off workers, support the strike. Return to your factories, occupy them or join in with the factories in struggle in your region.
As in June ‘36, gather in the factories and elect your delegates. Let them constitute their factory committees. Let the delegates of your factory committee enter into contact with those in neighboring factories.
By expanding to various corporations and various factories the strike will become invincible, as it was in June ‘36.
Reinforce the factory and neighborhood worker’s militias! Let them occupy the vital points of the factories and prevent the management from notifying the Gestapo and the police. Let them establish liaisons between the factories and the neighborhoods. Let them organize re-provisioning. Let them protect the strikers against the police, the brigands of the SS and the Gestapo and Darnand’s [fascist] Milice.
But the worker’s militias are poorly armed. The Resistance refused to arm them because it fears the working class. ARM YOURSELVES by disarming the cops, the fascists, and the SS by seizing the poorly guarded arsenals and stocks.
Above all, don’t forget that that the strikers have allies within the occupying army. The German soldiers are deserting en masse. They are workers like you. APPEAL TO THEM TO FRATERNIZE and to give you their weapons. TO JOIN WITH YOU IN THE FIGHT AGAINT THEIR EXECUTIONERS AND OURS: THE SS AND THE GESTAPO.
As soon as the balance of forces allows it, OPEN THE PRISONS, OCCUPY THE TOWN HALLS, and install in them the delegates democratically elected by the factory and neighborhood assemblies.
This is the program upon which we, the Internationalist Communist Party, appeal to the working class parties, particularly the French Communist Party and the Socialist Party for unity of action.
For BREAD, FREEDOM, AND PEACE.
LONG LIVE THE GENERAL STRIKE!
Central Committee of the Internationalist Communist Party.
(French section of the 4th International)