Nice-Premium: According to you, what are the positive aspects of Lutte Ouvrière compared to the other represented parties?
Agnès Benkemoun: Our candidacy will allow employees, the unemployed, and retirees to express their anger. We will be the only ones to say that the situation is catastrophic for workers, with unemployment constantly rising (despite the government’s denials), the fear of losing their jobs for those who have one, the fear of reaching the end of benefits for those already unemployed. And for those who work, often part-time, wages are insufficient, as are retirement pensions. We will be the only ones to say that none of this is inevitable, that there is no reason for the working world to bear the full brunt of a crisis for which it is in no way responsible, a crisis caused by speculative bankers and major capitalists. Let’s take from the accumulated profits of big companies to maintain jobs.
N-P: How do you plan to meet the expectations of citizens? (key commitments)
A.B.: We shouldn’t expect anything… Neither from the regional executive councils nor from the governmental parties, which have been succeeding each other at the head of the country and the regions for years. Workers produce everything in this society; they have the means, through collective struggle, to halt the attacks of the employers and the politicians at their service. This is what needs to be prepared. In the meantime, we are highlighting, in this campaign, goals for future struggles: the prohibition of layoffs, the sharing of work among all without any reduction in wages, employee scrutiny of capitalist finances, the cessation of subsidies to employers, and public money for public services.
Our representatives in the regional councils commit to being the “eyes and ears” of the workers and to denounce all the loss-making subsidies given to the employers. For example, in the region last year, Texas Instruments received money from local authorities even while laying off workers. This is not a small company in difficulty, but a multinational; it’s outrageous.
N-P: Unlike the regionals in 2004, no agreement was reached with the NPA (former LCR), why?
A.B.: We do not say the same thing as the NPA. Depending on the regions, they sought alliances of a variable nature. We remain firmly revolutionary communists. Being a communist today means being convinced that, in the face of this unequal society, workers have the power to impose a different balance of power, have the strength to control the accounts of big companies, and ultimately, direct the economy. Capitalism is a factor of crisis, inequality, and famine, and will someday need to be replaced by a communist society.
N-P: Your program focuses on workers and employees, what do you propose specifically for them?
A.B.: Layoffs must be banned. Work must be shared among all, without any wage reduction, obviously, because it is absurd for some to wear themselves out at work while others endure unemployment or imposed part-time work. Employers tell us it’s not possible? Well, let’s verify by auditing their accounts. We would then see that the profits accumulated over the years allow for job retention. Above all, workers must rely only on themselves, on their struggles.
N-P: What score do you hope for in the regionals in the Alpes Maritimes?
A.B.: The best possible. A vote for the Lutte Ouvrière list will signify that resignation is over, that we rely only on ourselves, on our mobilizations, to change our fate.
