Laborfest: Coming For A Visit-Immigrant Labor in France-Film

FilmWorks United International Working Class Film & Video Festival
On Vient Pour La Visite (Coming For A Visit)
By Lucie Tourette (53 min.) French with English Subtitles
Sponsored by the Global Studies Program
In October 2008, an unprecedented strike of 6,000 workers took place in the restaurants, cleaning companies, and construction sights of Paris. This strike was unprecedented as these workers were sans papiers - workers without legal papers. The workers, coming mostly from North Africa, work the most dangerous and difficult jobs under constant threat of deportation. From 2008 to 2010 they came together to fight for legal status under the slogan “we live here, we work here, we’re staying here!”.
The documentary film, by Lucie Tourette, follows the story of these workers who, with the help of activists from the CGT trade union, organize to collectively confront their bosses. Their goal? To force the bosses to sign one-year contracts which allow them to obtain legal status. Through the strike, they learn that the key to their struggle is their own confidence and collective power.
See also:
http://www.laborfest.net/2014/2014Films.htm#f10
http://www.laborfest.net/2014/2014schedule.htm