The General Strike in France

From a Striking French Oil Worker:

We've spent the last three days going from road block to road block,
together with teachers, railroad workers, truckers, nurses, etc.

As a result, all the petrol stations in a radius of 70 kms (50 miles)
are closed, completely out of gas.

Today, we got the main Teachers' Union to call on all striking teachers to come and
help block all the remaining fuel depots. The police can't intervene, because the
truckers have established road blocks on the major roads leading to the oil depot.

All 12 French oil refineries are on strike until next Friday. Many depots are
blocked. Half the train stations (including major ones) are closed. Truckers have
blocked the roads leading to the main production areas, and factories cannot
function because they lack raw material and pieces (they don't have any stocks of
materials stored because they believe storage costs money).
What is incredible is that despite the fact that there is no more oil
available, and therefore that people are blocked at home, a resounding
71% of the population approves of the strike (according to today's polls).

The movement is set to last at least another week. I spent the whole of
Sunday night with transport (railway and truckers) workers playing cards
and drinking beer. It was quite cold (2°C) around 4 AM, but the railroad
workers brought several truck-loads of "palettes" (empty wooden
containers) and we lit a mighty bonfire.

Workers are determined to fight until the bitter end. Workers who chose
not to go on strike are being encouraged to donate part of their salary
to the workers of the most "strategic" sectors, especially the Donges refinery.
Personally, this is my 6th day of Strike. The consensus now being that "revolving"
strikes (15% of the workforce on strike on a given day) would enable us to hold out
longer.

The support from "ordinary people" is astounding. When we block a
freeway, drivers often honk to support us, give us money, hand us daily
newspapers, even though we are effectively blocking them.
Anyway, the mood is indescribable. Workers from every sector are united
and determined, and for the first time, many workers can chat with
people employed in other industries knowing that they share a common
goal.

Victories for Progressives

PROGRESSIVES' PROGRESS
by William Floyd

On October 2nd, the One Nation Rally in Washington DC unified organized
Labor and hundreds of PROGRESSIVE, Peace and Justice groups from
around the country. There is no stronger force in the America than

organized Labor, and our Progressive grass roots community movement.

Evidence: 200,000+/- Union and Progressive Protestors achieved:

Many Permanent War Machine and Wall Street Puppets Resign:

Rahm Emanuel (Obama's Gatekeeper excluding all Progressives)
Permanent War Gen. James Jones (Obama's National Security Advisor #1)
Permanent War leader Defense hawk Robert Gates will resign April 2011
Larry Summers, author of the Wall St. Crash via derivatives and swaps
Peter Orzag, key Budget advisor to Obama administration
Treasury Sec'y Geithner's 2 fresh appointees refused to work for him
David Axelrod, Obama Team's chief 2008 Election Advisor

There were no such widespread resignations from either the Bush-Cheney

crime regime, nor the Nixon-Kissinger international criminal syndicate.

Local Progress:

The Santa Monica Peace Club and national PDWA sent 75 Letters to Progressive Caucus
members at their home state offices. These letters concerned the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds by the H. Clinton State Department trying to overthrow another democratic election in Venezuela.

Result:

Secretary of State Clinton did an about face and supported Equador's President Rafael Correa after the Police/Air Force coup d'etat.

Contrast this with Clinton's support for the S.O.A. murderers in the Honduran coup.

Also, Bob (Watergate) Woodward said that the White House wants to "Switch" H. Clinton with VP Joe Biden for the 2012 Election. Obama thinks he needs Clinton's supporters to win the Presidential race in 2012. And Joe Biden admits he always wanted to be an international player.

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC WORKERS for AMERICA (PDWA)

www . pdwamerica . blogspot . com