Why Mélenchon Is Renouncing His Popular Front With The Unions – The HuffPost

OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP Why Mélenchon renounces his Popular Front with the unions OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP Why Mélenchon renounces his Popular Front with the unions POLITICS – Philippe Martinez can curl his mustaches: he has just won his showdown with Jean-Luc Melenchon. Faced with the reluctance of the CGT, in particular, the third man in the last presidential election gave up organizing a joint mobilization with the trade union centers, as he had nevertheless called for it since the start of the school year. In a note published this Saturday, October 22 on his blog mélenchon.fr, the leader of the rebellious explains that it “is better to give it up to avoid wasting time”, “to create unnecessary tensions”, or “to take them from meeting to meeting”, so difficult are the conditions for such a union, on a national scale, to be fulfilled today. “The trade union confederations each have their reasons for refusing joint politico-social action. It seems insurmountable, ”regrets Jean-Luc Mélenchon, after several fruitless meetings between the different parties and a disorganized return to school. expensive life? With the trade unions, strictly speaking, certainly. But the former deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône believes above all in bringing together the “People and employees”, these “two fundamental actors”, in the same mobilization with or without the centrals. A Popular Front from the base In short, writes the 71-year-old tribune, his “Popular Front strategy is built with those who want it”, the objective being to unite “the People against Macron’s reforms. As for the Popular Union, which he had not succeeded in obtaining with the various left-wing forces before the presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is betting on mobilization by the base, the branches and on the ground. “I have been informed that in several regions collectives are forming, uniting unions, parties and associations”, he writes in the course of his text, as if it were the best example to follow for the advent of his Popular Front. Because for him, the reluctance of national union officials does not prohibit the action of employees, union members or not. And the march against the high cost of living would be the best illustration of this. “The two most important federations of the CGT called for the march of October 16 (…) At least one member of the confederal office did the same. On the ground, many branch unions and local sections of unions often call to join the action with us”, he takes care to list in his blog post, between signs of convergence, and a new chapter of the Coué method with LFI sauce. In short, summarizes Jean-Luc Mélenchon at HuffPost, “the purpose of my post is not to renounce the presence of the unions but to show how it remains possible by adapting our attitude in a realistic way. “I try to make it possible by avoiding conflict with the confederations. This only designates a LEVEL where agreement is impossible, ”he told us, a few hours after the publication of this article. Mélenchon attacks the “sectarianism” of Martinez In hollow, the leader of rebellious France struggles despite everything to hide, on his blog, his sourness in the face of the situation and the resentments on a national scale. He criticizes, for example, the trade unions for their disunity. “The unions are divided while the political organizations of the left are united”, he writes, calling on his troops to stick to “a careful equidistance” And do not forget to castigate, among other pikes, the attitude “sectarian of the head of the CGT Philippe Martinez. “Even if remarks as sectarian as those of Philippe Martinez are made and repeated, we must not reply to them”, writes Jean-Luc Mélenchon while endeavoring to specify that “those of the unions and associations which refuse on principle joint action should not be harassed or even challenged. “Behind this short preamble, the leader of the rebellious judges “lamentable” the reasons given by the union leader to justify his refusal to participate in the march against the high cost of living. The latter had notably criticized the slogan, not offensive enough in his eyes. For his part, Jean-Luc Mélenchon deplores, through “the messages” that he “received about the day of action” from the unions on September 29, a solitary “method” which “upsets. The group is not living well. In this context, doubt is allowed as to the presence of rebellious political leaders at the next demonstration organized by the CGT, Thursday, October 27. The former deputy, who promises to no longer “meddle” in their affairs, does not make a single mention of it in his text. Enough to augur dispersed social mobilizations as Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular reforms are announced. See also on The HuffPost: You cannot view this content because you have refused the cookies associated with content from third parties. If you want to view this content, you can change your choices.