4-02-1970 An explosion kills 16 people in a Fouquières-lez-Lens mine belonging to the Compagnie des mines de Courrières, in Pas-de-Calais. [more]

7-02-1934 Strike by the CGT and CGTU following a violent demonstration of the extreme right, the day before. Socialists and Communists parades in Paris. [more]

7-02-2006 400,000 people in 187 cities protested against the new CPE law which gave bosses right to fire 18-26 year-old workers with neither notice nor reason. Strikes, riots, occupations and blockades forced govt to drop it. [more]

8-02-1962 The Charonne massacre took place in Paris, when nine members of the CGT trade union were killed by the police while demonstrating against the OAS French paramilitaries in Algeria. [more]

10-02-1905 As a cobblers 'strike at the Monteux factory ends, 600 people listen to Auguste Delalé, secretary of the Parisian CGT cobblers' union at the Limoges LaboUr Exchange. [more]

10-02-1913 Strike at Renault against timing and payment for missing parts and broken tools, the creation of a workers' committee. In retaliation, 436 strikers were dismissed, the workshops closed. [more]

11-02-1911 150,000 people accompany trade unionist Albert Aernoult's body to Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. A public subscription call from l’Humanitémade made it possible to repatriate the body of the activist who died of abuse at the Bat d´Af on 2/7/1909. [more]

16-02-1943 Establishment of the compulsory labor service (STO) for men aged 21 to 23. More than 650,000 of them will be sent to Germany to work there. Almost 35,000 will die there. [more]

17-02-1864 The "Manifesto of the sixty", signed and published by sixty workers from the Seine, called for workers' representation in Parliament. [more]

18-02-1924 Madame Sorgue, French revolutionary & feminist died in London. A fierce advocate for the working class, she supported many strikes, including several by women workers in France against sexual harassment from male bosses [more]

19-02-1920 Responding to the dismissal of a trade unionist from the Villeneuve-Saint-Georges workshop, 1,500 railway workers went on strike, the start of a movement that lasted 5 months. [more]

20-02-1906 At the Mines de la Bellière, a strike ends in failure after several days of revolt against the actions of the foreman and the head of the mines. 14 workers are dismissed with compensation and ordered to leave the region. [more]

20-02-1810 The penal code regulates any association of more than twenty people and qualifies participation in a workers' coalition as an offence. [more]

20-02-1926 Jules Durand, trade unionist from Le Havre, dies in the insane asylum. Arrested and falsely accused of murder on 6/6/1918, his crime is to have launched a strike for wages and compensation for mechanization [more]

21-02-1884 A miners' strike began in Anzin following a change in the organization of work imposed by the Coal Company. It failed after 56 days and violent clashes with troops. 140 unionized miners are dismissed. [more]

21-02-1946 Reinstatement of the law on 40 hours of weekly work. [more]

22-02-1945 Creation of works councils in establishments with more than 100 employees (and more than 50 the following year). [more]

23-02-1848 An insurrection in Paris ends the July Monarchy. After 10 days of tension, the troop opened fire, killing 50 demonstrators on Bld des Capucines. Workers and students rob the gunsmiths and set up 1500 barricades in the city. [more]

25-02-1848 The worker-mechanic Marche manages to present a petition asking for "the organization of work, the guaranteed right to work, social security for the worker and his family" which is received as "an absurdity" by the Provisional Government. [more]

25-02-1792 Working class ‘sans-culottes’ invaded shops in Paris forcing merchants to sell their goods at affordable prices. [more]

26-02-1906 In Cerbère, the women who carry 15 to 20 kilos of oranges in baskets on their backs between two railway lines strike. They lie down on the tracks until they win better wages. [more]

27-02-1914 Anti-war demonstration in Paris, at the call of the CGT Seine UD. [more]

27-02-1912 Legislation lowers the age of the Workers 'and Peasants' Retirement, called "retirement of the dead" by the CGT, from 65 to 60 years. This funded system later fails due to post-war inflation. [more]

28-02-1956 A third week of annual paid vacation is established for all employees. [more]

28-02-1848 In the aftermath of the Parisian revolution, the provisional government of the Second Republic issued a decree guaranteeing work to all citizens. [more]

28-02-1848 Popular demonstration by thousands of workers on Place de Grève (Strike Square) in Paris to demand a ministry of labour. [more]

29-02-1848 The streets and squares of central Paris are occupied daily by workers electing their delegates or going in procession to the provisional government to ensure that their victory is not once again stolen. [more]