WORKERS’ CARTEL.

Grey River Argus, 31 December 1927, Page 2

WORKERS’ CARTEL.

FRENCH CIVIL SERVICE SCHEME. Some months ago the French national centre (0.G.T.) decided that the federations of the manual and non-man-ual workers of the civil service ami the public services should unite to forn a national trade union cartel of th? public services. The Federations of po-stal employees, railwaymen, worters of the public services, salaried onployees and workers in state enterprises, tobacco-workers, teachers, das and electricity workers and civil servants at once responded to this appal. The value of the cartel was at oire manifested by the success of the joiit fight against the dissolution of the Match Monopoly, and the bargain pr the transfer of the match industry to the international fifim “Svenska/’ Since then the cartel has done ot ier useful organisational work, nun ng which its its encouragement of the h •- mation of similar cartels in the various departments. Thanks to the her.rty co-operation of the federations f the departments, and to the alreaty existing general department cartes, there are already cartels for manual and non-manual workers in some 60 f the departments. Now that they ha e been formed, no effort is to be spar'd to make them really efficient. To th s end a (standardised programme h s been drawn up, of which the followi. g

are the chief demands: the reversion f salaries, wages, pensions etc., to tie real values of the period precedeing currency fluctuation, mutual defence, morgan'isation and industrialisation f the State monopolies, the defence f trade union liberty, better representition on all bodies concerned with tie interests of the manual and non-manutl workers in public services and the o’ganisation of these services, introduction of a national wage standard f< r certain categories, the development (f the pension system, standardised peision fund centres for the railwaymen stability of tenure of office for employees of the departmental and mun - ci pal authorities and in concerns whici have been leased to

Propaganda meetings will be held ii November and December in the larger towns of France to make known anl effective this programme. (The Paris cartel was formed on October 22nd, anl has decided upon a levy of 15 centimm per member per year to cover the working expenses of its activities). It ma# ben mentioned here that the C.G.T. hrs for some time past been taking a sper? ial interest in the development and simplification of the relations wh’ich’t has been establishing with civil ser-

vants’ organisations through the Civil Servants’ Federation. To this end it appointed a commission to examine into the terms of affiliation prevailing for the various various categories of workers represented in the Civil Servants Federation: the Commission has cone to the conclusion that the Federation should consist of two groups, one a federation of teachers, and the other of civil servants engaged in administrative work. The Civil Servants’ Federation as such will henceforth be affiliated with the C.G.T. through thl?se two federations. On the basis of tjhis decision, such organisations as, for instance, the Registration Officials, must henceforth join the Federation of Administrative Services, instead of, ns heretofore, being affiliated directly with the C.G.T. The object of the decision is to consolidate small unions catering for special services into groups of some numerical strength. In the Departmental Sections there will henceforth no longer be large numbers of small civil servant<’ unions, but only two large unions entering for the two above-mentioned groups.