Immigrants' occupation of CGT hall in Paris under immense pressure from unions

By Antoine Lerougetel 9 July 2008 The occupation of the Paris CGT (General Confederation of Labour) union hall, the Bourse du travail, by some 800 undocumented immigrants organised by the Paris Coordination des sans-papier 75 (CSP75) is in its tenth week. The protesters are demanding the support of the trade union for their applications for residence rights in France. The CGT, which is close to the Stalinist Communist Party, has only been prepared to take up the case of sans papiers workers who belong to its ranks. The Paris prefecture insists that all applications be forwarded through the CGT, making the union a kind of intermediary between the government and the undocumented. The CGT’s refusal to take up the case of undocumented workers represented by the CSP75, after the Paris préfecture told the latter to go through the... [read full story]