A visit to the Airbus factory in Méaulte, France: Workers reject nationalism of the trade unions

The Airbus company operates on the basis of production processes divided among four European countries—not including a host of ancillary industries. The workers at these factories are bound together in one and the same production process. At the same time, management’s “Power 8” restructuring scheme clearly represents an attack on the entire international workforce.

A visit to the Airbus plant at Méaulte in northern France gave reporters from the World Socialist Web Site an opportunity to listen first-hand to the opinions of the workforce on such issues as their response to the attacks being launched by company management, as well as the response of the trade unions.

The workers we spoke to indicated they lacked any information about the current state of affairs—regarding either the content of the negotiations currently taking place, or the activities planned by the trade unions.

Crôchet, a worker in his mid-40s, stated, “We have received everything we know from the media. And they all say the Germans are to blame.” He had little time for the trade unions, who, he said, were just concerned “with fighting one another.” He was also not prepared to support the statement made by the secretary of the Force ouvrière—FO (Workers Power) trade union, Claude Cliquet, who told demonstrating workers in Méaulte one week ago that German shareholders were responsible for the crisis at Airbus.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/airb-m16.shtml