(The following article is from the March 16-31, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

From a People's Voice Special Correspondent

A 44-day general strike in the Eastern Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, officially a French Department, has ended with most of the demands of a coalition of trade unions, left wing parties, NGOs and others being met. Reports indicate a minority of activists are holding out for 100 per cent satisfaction.

     The strike was led by a collective called LKP (Lyianni Kout Pwofitasyion, meaning in the local French dialect "Stand up against Extreme Exploitation"). At press time, sympathetic support actions in other French "Overseas territories" (the neighbouring island of Martinique and Reunion in the Pacific Ocean) were continuing.

     Among the 150 demands in Guadeloupe were an increase in the minimum wage of 200 Euros (about US$252) per month for lower paid workers, roll back of prices on 53 basic food items, removal of taxes on agricultural items like fertilizers and cattle feed, and permanent contracts for temporary workers. The increases will be footed by the French government, which had sent top officials to the islands.

     Guadeloupe's economy, based on agriculture and tourism, was virtually shut down. Hotels cancelled bookings and gas stations were closed, among other stoppages. Sympathetic farmers provided fruits and vegetables to needy families.

     At the height of the labour action in February, protest and solidarity demonstrations of up to 65,000 were held in the capital Pointe-à-Pitre. Guadeloupe's population is 410,000. In Martinique, which has a similar population, a demo of 25,000 took place.

     The French state sent 450 "riot police" and this served to heighten tensions. A union member, Jacques Bino, was shot dead in circumstances still to be revealed in court.

     LKP spokesperson Elie Domota was quoted in the Paris daily Liberation that the French government had "chartered planeloads of cops to `casser du negre' (`break the niggers')".

     The racial dimension was commented upon by the international press. Part of the strike was to protest the continued grip on the economies of the islands by the descendants, popularly known as "bekes", of the old slave owners. However, the main issues were at a bread and butter level, with some concerns raised about the need for more democracy at the economic control level.

     A top level delegation from the Communist Party of France  visited the islands to speak with collective's leaders and offer solidarity. A statement read in part: "(French President) Nicolas Sarkozy and his government have a contemptuous and irresponsible attitude towards Caribbean people. How many more deaths will it take for (him) to regain his lucidity and finally give satisfaction to the claims of the trade unions?"

     In 1934, the editor of the CP newspaper in Martinique, Andre Aliker, was assassinated. Massive demonstrations followed his death, bringing together islanders from all walks of life. It led to the French Popular Front government of that time supporting the formation of the first trade union on the island, the CGTM. Among those in the LKP coalition today is the local CP.

     Among those offering solidarity in the recent workers' action was Christine Taubira, a Member of Parliament in French Guiana, also a French Overseas territory. Taubira, who was actually in Guadeloupe, is quoted in the http://www.hindu.com website as saying "...the strike leaders are not anti‑white racists."

     The Central Confederation of Workers in Brazil was among those sending solidarity messages, as did Bobby Clarke of the Clement Payne Labour Union in Barbados. There was no apparent reaction from the Barbados‑headquartered Caribbean Congress of Labour, the umbrella group for unions in the English-speaking Caribbean islands.