He The following is a press release from the Combat Ouvrier group regarding the incident involving Gérard Cotellon, director of the CHUM in Guadeloupe, and several hospital union members.
The real issue at stake in the case of the alleged attack on the director of the Pointe-à-Pitre–Abymes University Hospital is not whether one is for or against violence. Nor is it about defending the Guadeloupe University Hospital in the face of violence. This issue arises in both Guadeloupe and Martinique.
We won’t be fooled into believing that everyone who is coming to Gérard Cotellon’s defense is concerned solely with the safety of hospital staff, the people of Guadeloupe, and public health.
In reality, these are people who, for the most part, take a political stance. They take a political stance against the coalition of organizations fighting against mandatory vaccination and the health pass.
Many of them are taking this opportunity to settle scores with the UGTG, the CGTG, their leaders, pro-independence activists, and far-left activists! Their real concern isn’t this «poor victim,» Gérard Cotellon. Let’s not be naive!
That being the case, whose side are these self-righteous people on in this matter? In fact, they find themselves on the side of those in power—on the side of those who oppress and exploit workers.
At Combat ouvrier, we take a political stand and choose our side. Ours is the side of the exploited, the side of the hundreds of workers who have been laid off or are facing layoffs.
These workers are victims of immense social injustice! They have been deprived of their wages and of jobs they have faithfully performed—sometimes for decades—with courage and self-sacrifice. They are also victims of the capitalist management of public hospitals—that is, management based on profitability rather than on public health needs. Health is priceless and should remain so.
Gérard Cotellon has long been, by virtue of his position and his zeal in defending the government’s policies, one of the cogs in this system of social violence. Here’s just one example: his determination to initiate dismissal proceedings twice against a young engineer, Eddy Fifi, for no apparent reason, after years of service! Or rather, for the hidden reason that he is the assistant secretary of the CGTG-CHU.
At Combat Ouvrier, we stand with healthcare workers who face constant and severe exploitation under appalling working conditions: sometimes working up to 12 hours a day, going months and sometimes years without time off, or being called back to work in the middle of their time off, and working without sufficient staff or adequate equipment.
More broadly, and as has always been the case, we stand with workers who are fighting against such conditions—not only in healthcare companies but in all companies. That is our raison d’être.
We stand with the labor unions that support this struggle and, therefore, with the coalition of organizations fighting against the vaccine mandate, of which we are a part.
We stand with those whose anger is boiling over because they haven’t been paid and are facing a catastrophic personal situation!
Yes, this case highlights the question of which social class one belongs to, and which social class one defends: that of the bourgeoisie? Or that of the working class?
That is precisely the question at hand. Everything else is just idle chatter intended to obscure that question and the settling of scores.
Those who support Gérard Cotellon and condemn the unions« »excesses« or »violence” are, objectively speaking, supporters of the oppressive, colonialist regime and of the bourgeois class, of which it is the political servant.
Friday, January 7, 2022
For *Combat ouvrier*: Raphaël Cécé
0690 62 79 25
Publisher: Philippe Anaïs, 1111 Rés Matéliane, l’Aiguille, 97128 Goyave, Guadeloupe.
Website: combat-ouvrier.com _ Email: redaction@combat-ouvrier.com _
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CombatOuvrieR
