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Main-d'oeuvre immigrée et revendicotions qualitatives La grève sauvage chez Michelin à Leeuw-Soint Pierre en 1970

par Shin, Dongkyu
Référence Revue Belge d'histoire contemporaine, 42, 1, page (103-138)
Publication Publié, 2012

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

During tlie conflict at the Michelin factory in Leeuw-Saint-Pierre in 1970, "qualitative" claims arose, supported by the action of migrant workers. These claims expressed the bad working conditions as well as the migrant workers' willingness to break through the Belgian trade unions' traditional structure. These "qualitative" claims questioned the hardship caused by the scientific organization of the workplace, as well as the trade unions' tendency to resolve conflict in the firms through wage increase. Having been politicized in their own countries, Spanish and Greek workers of the Michelin factory had stayed far from the Belgian trade unions' culture and had not affiliated themselves with these trade unions. Nonetheless, they took a collective action against the rise of the tempo of work and formed an independent organization - the workers' committee -opposing trade unions' leaders who presented themselves as supporters of "social peace". In this way, they challenged the system of social dialogue and strongly criticized the two-years term of the collective labor agreement, a duration, they claimed, that posed an obstacle to the improvement of working conditions that were a result of social and economic changes. Then, migrant workers in strike joined trade unions - the FGTB and the CSC - with the aim of putting pressure on the trade unions' leaders, but this strategic attempt ended in failure during long negotiations. Finally, they decided on the occupation of the factory in face of the trade unions' leaders's refusal to discuss the rules of the collective labor agreement. The radicalization of migrant workers increased as a result of the political orientation of the trade unions who maintained their position in the system of social dialogue. The CSC, as well as the FGTB both saw the "wildcat strikes" as social disturbances, in response to which they tried to maintain the system of negotiation.