Grève!

The exclamation point is actually unnecessary. The strikes were hardly unexpected, and we're already in the sixth day of strikes. I've been meaning to write a post about it, but the enormity of the entire thing is daunting. Rather more complicated than writing about pastries!

Last Tuesday was the official beginning of the strike. The movement is being led by l'Union Générale des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe, or more commonly known as UGTG, a powerful workers union that is known for its strong-arm tactics. The UGTG has assembled other unions and associations to form Liyannaj kont pwofitasyon (association against profit). There are a total of 120 demands, categorized under the headings of standard of living, education, professional training, employment, union rights and liberties, public services, production, development and infrastructure, creole culture, and profit-busting.

As you can imagine, the demands are varied. Certain demands seem entirely reasonable, such as the demand for compliance with labor law that obliges companies of a certain size to hire workers with disabilities. Others seem like very good ideas, such as the creation of a inter-Caribbean organization for fishing, even if their proposal by strike seems misguided. But the demands are often incoherent: there are demands that only the national government could redress (increase in minimum wage), that seem to be at odds with each other (priority to Guadeloupeans for hiring vs. end exploitation of foreign workers).

The UGTG uses incredibly aggressive language. Before negotiations even began, the strikers threatened they were ready to do whatever was necessary to get results. They often fall back on a very popular discourse, recalling Guadeloupe's history of slavery and colonialism. The UGTG also uses incredibly aggressive tactics. Strikers have 'invited' stores to close their doors in show of solidarity, where it is understood that non-compliance will result in physical reprisals. This does not simply apply to small shops in the city, but even the largest two commercial centers (think: an entire mall) have closed to avoid conflict.

Concurrent to the general strike led by UGTG, the proprietors of gas stations have shut off their pumps since last Monday. They are protesting the arrival of a dozen new gas stations with self-service pumps (currently, all gas stations are full service).

This is actually the second major strike since my arrival in Guadeloupe. However, that strike was vastly different. The strike was led not by worker's unions, but by the owners of transportation companies, who were demonstrating against the high price of gas. They had their employees block all major roads, and life and business came to a halt on the entire island for 4 days.

An initial meeting was had on Saturday, after 4 days of back and forth, with no results; at 11:30pm, UGTG left the table en masse. This afternoon, discussions will continue, with the sole goal of forming workgroups to breakdown and discuss the 124 demands. The meeting was scheduled for 4:00, and as of 4:40, and UGTG is still no where in sight. It seems unlikely that the strike will end any time soon.