Lutte ouvrière
Leader	Robert Barcia, Arlette Laguiller spokesperson
Founded	1939 (groupe Barta) 1956 (LO)
Headquarters	F-75865 Paris
Political Ideology	Trotskyism, Internationalism, Communism
European Affiliation
International Affiliation	Internationalist Communist Union
Colours	Red
Seats in the National Assembly
Seats in the Senate
Seats in the European Parliament
Website	LO
See also	Constitution of France France Politics French Parliament French Government French President Political parties Elections

Workers' Struggle (Lutte Ouvrière) is the usual name under which the Communist Union (Union Communiste ) (Trotskyist), a French Trotskyist political party, is known. Robert Barcia (born 22 July 1928) is a French politician leader of the Union Communiste Internationaliste (UCI a Trotskyist organisation Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist politician Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. David Korner (also known as Barta, Albert, and A Mathieu; October 19, 1914 - September 6, 1976) was a Romanian Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The Internationalist Communist Union (in French Union Communiste Internationaliste) is an international grouping of Trotskyist political parties, centred Red is any of a number of similar Colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of Light discernible by the human eye in the wavelength The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958. The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic Republic, whereby the President of France This article is for the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution The government of France is a Semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected Political parties in France lists political parties in France. France is a Representative democracy. Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens (directly or indirectly or appointed by elected This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral In fact, it is the name of the weekly paper edited by the party. Arlette Laguiller has been its spokeswoman since 1973 and has run in each presidential election, but Robert Barcia (Hardy) is its founder and central leader. Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist politician Robert Barcia (born 22 July 1928) is a French politician leader of the Union Communiste Internationaliste (UCI a Trotskyist organisation The word leadership can refer to Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading Lutte Ouvrière is a member of the Internationalist Communist Union. The Internationalist Communist Union (in French Union Communiste Internationaliste) is an international grouping of Trotskyist political parties, centred It emphasises workplace activity and places less emphasis than other left groups on struggles outside work. It has been critical of such recent phenomena as alter-globalization. Alter-globalisation (or Alter-mondialization from the French altermondialisme) is the name of a Social movement whose political line is close to Anti-globalization

Contents 1 History 2 1970s until today 3 Leadership 4 2007 National Assembly election 5 International relations 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

History

Its origins lie in the tiny Trotskyist Group founded in 1939 by David Korner (Barta). Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. David Korner (also known as Barta, Albert, and A Mathieu; October 19, 1914 - September 6, 1976) was a Romanian This developed factory work throughout the war and was instrumental in the Renault strike of 1947, along with the anarcho-syndicalists. This is about the company for other uses see Renault (disambiguation. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of Anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The group was exhausted by this effort and collapsed in 1952.

After attempts to revive the Trotskyist Group, Voix Ouvrière was founded in 1956 by Robert Barcia, known as Hardy and the group's pre-eminent leader, and by Pierre Bois, a leading activist in the Renault plant. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Robert Barcia (born 22 July 1928) is a French politician leader of the Union Communiste Internationaliste (UCI a Trotskyist organisation Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change Effort was made to involve Barta but disputes between him, Hardy and Bois prevented it.

VO established itself through the 1960s by producing mass factory bulletins, usually weekly. The Communist Party of France (PCF) retained its hegemonic position within the workers' movement in France and communists sometimes tried to prevent the distribution of VO bulletins. The French Communist Party ( French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of In part this explains the continued use of semi-clandestine operation within VO and in LO today.

After being banned due to its support of the Students Revolt of May' 68, the group became Lutte Ouvrière. For other events in May 1968 see 1968.

1970s until today

An ongoing issue is the possibility and conditions of cooperation with fellow Trotskyist party the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire, the French section of the reunified Fourth International. The Revolutionary Communist League ( Ligue communiste révolutionnaire) (LCR is a French democratic Revolutionary socialist Political party The reunified Fourth International was created in 1963 by the reunification of the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International: the International Secretariat In 1970, LO initiated fusion discussions with the LC (as the LCR was then called). After extensive discussions, the two organisations had agreed the basis for a fused organisation. However, the fusion was not completed. In 1976 discussions between the Ligue and Lutte Ouvrière progressed again. The two organisations started to produce a common weekly supplement to their newspapers, common electoral work and other common campaigning. Since then on occasions the two organizations have stood joint candidates at some elections.

LO has made great efforts to stand in elections either on its own or in an alliance with the LCR. Arlette Laguiller has, as a result, become well known to the public as LO's perennial Presidential candidate. Another very public activity of LO is their annual fete which is held in the grounds of a chateau which the organisation purchased for that purpose in 1981. The annual Fête de Lutte Ouvrière is probably the largest public gathering of the revolutionary left in Europe at this point in time.

The early 1970s also saw two breakways from Lutte Ouvrière. The first such split in 1974 was centered on Bordeaux and took the name l'Union Ouvrière but rapidly disintegrated. So much so that when another small split group that developed a year later expected to be able to fuse with l'Union Ouvrière, it found it had already disappeared and were forced to form their own organisation as a consequence. This new group, Combat Communiste, was to evolve into Socialisme International, the affiliate of the International Socialist Tendency. Socialisme International (SI is small Revolutionary political organisation that has existed in France since 1985.

Another more recent breakaway developed after Arlette Laguiller's relatively high electoral results in the 1990s and LO's statement that this meant that a new workers' party was a possibility. This statement, as well as a dispute over the personal code members were expected to abide by, led to the departure of over 100 members to form the Voix des Travailleurs grouping. This later fused with another smaller group but has more recently joined the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire as a recognised faction. The Revolutionary Communist League ( Ligue communiste révolutionnaire) (LCR is a French democratic Revolutionary socialist Political party Meanwhile a minority tendency continues to exist within LO and appears publicly, although its supporters are segregated in their own cells.

LO has supported the 2004 French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools. The It considers that the hijab s are a "visible sign of women's submission to their husbands and brothers". Islam and clothing Hijab or ħijāb ( ar حجاب, pronounced) is the Arabic term for "cover" (noun based on the root حجب meaning "to While considering the law as hypocrite, L. O. stated that it could "help women who try to resist ambient sexism in their familial or social environment" 25 April 2003).

Following the very low score of Arlette Laguiller at the first round of the April-May 2007 presidential election (1,33%, compared to 5,72% in 2002), the party was left with a debt of 1,4 millions Euros. The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002 and a runoff election between the top two candidates ( Jacques Chirac and According to Michel Rodinson, a responsible of the party, the campaign cost was in total of 2 millions Euros (800,000 of which are paid by the state). The rent of the Zenith for meetings in Paris, as well as the December political poster campaign, account for most of the expenses. Le Zénith is the common name for more than a dozen similar purpose-built concert venues in France. ^[1]

Leadership

For long, the internal organisations of the party were largely unknown to the general public, the spokeswoman and regular presidential candidate Arlette Laguiller being the only party leader appearing in public. Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist politician Even to party members, some leaders were known only by cadre names. Such measures of secrecy were justified by the possibility that the party may have to enter clandestinity, should there be a highly repressive government in place. The ClanDestine (also known simply as ClanDestine) is a Comic book series about the Destines a secret family of long-lived Superhuman For similar reasons, marriages and children were (and still are) discouraged. Bernard Seytre, a member of LO for 20 years, conifrmed the "iron discipline which rhythms the life of this Trotskyist organisation, whose responsibles [cadres] do not have the right to have children, least they be excluded" ^[2].

Lutte Ouvrière has thus been criticised by political opponents during the 2002 presidential campaign as being a political cult, for example by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, his older brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, L'Humanité and Libération. Political cult is a term used to describe some groups on what is generally considered to be the Political fringe. Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (born Montauban, France, April 4 1945) is a French - German politician and was a student leader during L'Humanité ("Humanity" formerly the daily newspaper of the French Communist Party (PCF was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the Libération (affectionately known as Libé) is a French Daily Newspaper founded in Paris in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre ^[3][4]

In part this strict disciplinary attitude has enabled LO to be a very stable organisation in contrast to the instability that they allege characterises so many other left groups. In fact LO is a difficult organisation to actually join and after becoming a member individuals are expected to conform to a code of conduct which is considered old fashioned by some critics.

Arlette Laguiller, candidate in the 2007 presidential elections under the LO, gained 1. Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist politician 33 %.

2007 National Assembly election

In the 10 and 17 June 2007 French National Assembly elections, the party won none out of 577 seats. The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”) The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic,

International relations

LO maintains relations with the following other Trotskyist groups (Internationalist Communist Union):

• Workers' Fight (UK)
• United States : The Spark
• Antilles : Combat Ouvrier
• Haïti : Organisation Révolutionnaire des travailleurs
• Africa : Union Africaine des Travailleurs Communistes Internationalistes
• Turkey : Sinif Mucadelesi
• Spain: Lucha de Clase
• Italy: L'Internazionale

References

See also

• Arlette Laguiller
• Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire
• Parti des Travailleurs

External links

• Lutte Ouvrière's official site
• Internationalist Communist Union site
• Message Board Animated by Friends of Lutte Ouvrière (FR)

Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (born Montauban, France, April 4 1945) is a French - German politician and was a student leader during Libération (affectionately known as Libé) is a French Daily Newspaper founded in Paris in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre Arlette Yvonne Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist politician The Revolutionary Communist League ( Ligue communiste révolutionnaire) (LCR is a French democratic Revolutionary socialist Political party

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