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Defending Public Energy, French Energy Unions Build International Support

1-03-1382 Revolt of the Maillotins. In Paris, artisans, workers, peasants ransack and kill; at the town hall and at the Arsenal they seized lead mallets and attacked tax collectors. [more]

2-03-1791 Allarde’s decree abolished corporations, introducing a radical change in the economy and the organization of work. [more]

2-03-1848 Decree limiting working hours to ten hours in Paris and eleven hours in the provinces. Abolition of labour contractors (recruitment of workers by intermediaries). [more]

7-03-1997 All auto workers strike in Belgium + Eurostrike at Renault (France, Spain) following Vilvoorde factory closure announcement [more]

7-03-1942 Pierre Sémard, Secretary General of the Fédération des Cheminots, General Councilor of the Seine, Member of the political bureau of the PCF, was shot by the Hitlerites. [more]

8-03-1907 A law allows married women to freely dispose of their wages. [more]

9-03-1905 General strike in Brest, clashes with troops are daily especially in the Saint-Martin district. Today, 88 establishments are on strike and there are 3752 strikers. [more]

10-03-1906 The Catastrophe de Courrières. It was a mining disaster killing 1060 workers and sparking a 55 day strike, which was eventually crushed by the French Army. [more]

11-03-1969 National strike at the call of all the Confederations, the demonstrations are massive, a political action to press their demands against the government. De Gaulle lost his referendum of April 27, 1969 and had to resign. [more]

11-03-1906 Courrières disaster, 1,101 miners killed in mine explosion. The employer is implicated. 60,000 strikers clash with non-strikers and 30,000 armed troops sent to restore order. [more]

12-03-1909 Postal workers strike against a wage grid. The Army is called in to replace the postal workers. Clashes. 800 workers are sacked.. [more]

15-03-1944 The National Council of Resistance (CNR) adopts its action program for liberated France: creation of social security, job security, rights at work and pensions. [more]

17-03-1872 The Dufaure Law punishes with a prison sentence any organization "whose aim is to cause the suspension of work, the abolition of the right of property, of the family, of religion". [more]

18-03-1871 The Paris Commune establishes a "minimum labor price", gender equality, the abolition of night work for bakers, the prohibition of fines and deductions from wages, etc. [more]

18-03-1913 Le Havre. 1200 participants in a public meeting organized by the trade unions accuse the government of preparing for war. [more]

19-03-2009 The most important of the four days of strikes and demonstrations organized by the eight largest unions brings together 3 million people against the policies of Nicolas Sarkozy. [more]

20-03-1868 Verdict in the trial of the leadership of the French section of the International Workingmen’s Association. Its dissolution is pronounced. A second bureau has already been elected, whose leading figures are Eugène Varlin and Benoît Malon. [more]

21-03-1804 Article 1781 of the Civil Code stipulates that in the event of a dispute over wages, the word of the boss prevails over that of the worker before the courts (repealed in 1868). [more]

21-03-1884 The Waldeck-Rousseau law authorizes the creation of professional unions, but requires the filing of statutes and the names of directors. [more]

22-03-1841 Law restricting child labour in companies with fewer than 20 workers. 8h / day for children from 8 to 12 years old, 12h between 12 and 16 years old. Minimum age for night work = 13 years. Rarely enforced. [more]

23-03-1870 In Le Creusot, 1,500 miners go on strike against a cut in their wages. The strike fails and 25 leaders aresentencing to a total of 298 months in prison, throwing their families into poverty and misery. [more]

23-03-1979 Demonstration of steelworkers in Paris organized by the CGT against the restructuring of their industry by the Barre government. Violent clashes with "autonomes". [more]

25-03-1919 Establishment of collective agreements intended to fix wages, organization of the working day, etc. [more]

25-03-1982 The retirement age is lowered to 60 years (57 years for civil servants) for employees with the necessary 37.5 years of employment. [more]

26-03-1917 Until April 18, the 300 workers at Maison Lapeyrere refused the directives of the officers of the Military Workforce Control and "remain playing cards at construction sites". [more]

26-03-1956 Creation of a Federation in France by the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Algeriens which brings together 100,000 members in one year and publishes "The Voice of the Algerian Worker". [more]

26-03-1871 Election of the Paris Commune. Out of 80 elected members, 25 are workers. Among the elected representatives are Eugène Varlin, Zéphirin Camélinat, Benoît Malon, Léo Frankel, leaders of the First International. [more]

28-03-1909 Mounted gendarmes charge a procession of button workers on their way to Méru, injuring twenty, most of them women. Protesters strike back with volleys of stones. [more]

28-03-2006 Demonstrations bring together 3 million people against the 'first hiring contract' which guts young workers' rights. [more]

29-03-1933 Citroën workers start a strike against the drop in wages, between 15 and 30%. They are subjected to a ruthless repression: the police surround the factory and arrest nearly 200 workers on the first day. The walkout lasts until 5 May. [more]

30-03-1846 Workers' demonstration in Saint-Etienne, suppressed by the army: six dead. [more]

31-03-1966 Five trade union organizations are recognized as "representative" at the national level: FO, CGT, CFDT, CFTC and CGC. [more]

31-03-1992 Closure the "working-class fortress", the Renault factory on Seguin Island, in Boulogne Billancourt. [more]