Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We just received a new appeal from the Caribbean Workers and Peoples Alliance (ATPC, in its French acronym) with all the details of the recent attacks by the French authorities against Elie Domota, general secretary of the UGTG trade union federation and spokesperson of the LKP Strike Collective. These attacks -- including the formal legal charge by the Attorney General of Guadeloupe of "inciting discrimination, hatred and violence against a category of persons based on their ethnic origin" -- have rained down on Brother Domota in the aftermath of the March 4 agreement between the LKP Strike Collective and the French government that ended ended the 44-day general strike in Guadeloupe.

The ATPC communiqué urges unionists and labor rights activists the world over to demand that the French government withdraw all the bogus charges against Elie Domota. In response to this urgent request, we have crafted a Sign-On Letter to the French Ambassador in the United States, which we urge everyone to endorse. Please fill out the coupon below and return it to us as soon as possible.

Our initial Sign-on Letter two weeks ago urging the French government to stop the repression against the strikers and to heed their legitimate demands obtained hundreds of signatories in the United States and thousands internationally. Together with the massive delegations to the embassies and consulates on all continents, and the mass demonstrations in the streets across France and other countries, our effort contributed to the wonderful first victory obtained on March 4, when the French government finally gave in and signed an agreement granting the general strike movement all its main demands.

This legal action by the French authorities came in response to a statement made by Domota on Thursday, March 5 -- the very day after the Jacques Bino agreement was signed. (Bino was the trade unionist killed the night of Feb. 16 by bullets now widely believed to have been fired by masked government provocateurs who infiltrated one of the barricades on the outskirts of Pointe-à-Pítre.)

In response to a question regarding the continued refusal by the MEDEF employers' association of Guadeloupe [representing the island's large business interests] to join the trade unions, the French government, and the Small Business Association in signing the Jacques Bino agreement, Domota stated: "Either they sign the agreement, or they will leave Guadeloupe. ... We have to be very firm about this. We will not allow a band of Béké [a reference to the white minority that owns and controls the overwhelming majority of the wealth in Guadeloupe] to re-establish slavery on our soil."

The MEDEF spokespersons insist that they could not sign the agreement because of a clause in the preamble that states that the economy of Guadeloupe is a "plantation economy." The real reason is not this: In the final days leading up to the signing of the agreement, the MEDEF spokespersons told the French government that they could not accept paying 100 euros of the monthly minimum wage increase after the expiration of the French government's three-year commitment to pay the full 200 euro increase.

For the past six days, the UGTG trade union federation and the LKP Strike Collective supporters have been demonstrating in front of the factories, hotels and businesses owned and run by MEDEF employers to demand that they sign the March 4 agreement. Every day new MEDEF employers are heeding the pressure from the workers and agreeing to sign the agreement.

This continued mobilization of the workers and people of Guadeloupe to ensure that all employers in Guadeloupe abide by the Jacques Bino agreement, following on the heels of the powerful show of force displayed during the 44-day general strike, has shaken the ruling Béké and their paymasters in metropolitan France to the core.

Laurence Parisot, president of MEDEF in France -- the equivalent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- said that Domota's March 5 statement "includes threats and pressures that sow a veritable climate of terror in Guadeloupe." No small accusation this one!

Parisot's comments were echoed by Yves Jégo, French Minister of Overseas Departments and Territories, who said that that Domota's declaration was "inadmissible."

It was following these declarations by Parisot and Jégo that the French judicial authorities filed formal charges against Domota for "inciting racial hatred."

On Monday, March 9, Domota replied to these attacks. "This charge of 'inciting racial hatred' is nothing but a maneuver to try to intimidate the workers and people of Guadeloupe."

Domota added:

"If they pursue this legal action and summon me to appear in Court, we will use this forum to expose the true face -- the true social, historical and cultural reality -- of Guadeloupe's society in this year 2009. ... If I am put on trial, it will be the entire people of Guadeloupe who are put on trial. For 400 years, we have endured racism, repression and discrimination. ... It would appear that the Justice Department, the State, and Big Business interests don't want to move beyond this system of domination. Our position is clear: We will endure it no longer."

The attack against Elie Domota by the Attorney General of Guadeloupe -- acting on behalf of the Attorney General of France -- is an attack against the UGTG, which was the backbone of the general strike movement. It shows the total contempt by the colonial authorities for the democratic aspirations of an entire people. It shows the deep fear by the Béké, as the ATPC communiqué puts it, that their stronghold over political power and their privileges have been greatly undermined by the powerful general strike movement that swept the entire country.

By their declarations and actions, the French authorities are clearly aiming to undermine, and if possible torpedo, the agreement signed officially on March 4. The "first victory" that was won by the people of Guadeloupe through their heroic struggle is fragile. The colonial backlash has begun with its targeting of the spokesperson and most recognized leader of the general strike movement.

We urge you to join us in demanding of the French government: "Hands Off Elie Domota! Withdraw the Bogus Charges!"

Again, we thank you for your continued interest and support -- and we urge you to endorse the Sign-On Letter below directed to the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., which will be copied to concerned entities in France and Guadeloupe.

In solidarity,
Eduardo Rosario and Alan Benjamin
For the ILC

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PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LETTER BELOW!

Monday, February 23, 2008

Attention:
Pierre Vimont
French Embassador to the United States
Washington, DC
Telephone: (202) 944-6000
Fax: (202) 944-6072
E-mail: info@ambafrance-us.org

Dear Sir:

We, the undersigned, have been following with great concern the unfolding situation in Guadeloupe in the aftermath of the March 4 signature of the Jacques Bino agreement that put an end to the 44- day general strike. We welcomed the agreement granting the workers and people of Guadeloupe their main demands.

But we've been alarmed to learn that no sooner had the ink dried on this agreement than a backlash against this powerful mass movement was launched by the employers in the MEDEF and by your government -- a backlash that has targeted Elie Domota, general secretary of the UGTG trade union federation and spokesperson of the LKP Strike Collective.

We cannot accept the legal charges leveled by the French judicial authorities against Brother Domota. These are not just unwarranted; they are clearly aimed at undermining the agreement and rolling back the gains won by the workers and people of Guadeloupe through their courageous and peaceful 44-day general strike.

We urge your government to withdraw all these bogus charges against Elie Domota and to put an immediate halt to the legal action against him. We will not rest until justice is served.

Sincerely,

[follows list of signatories, with names, titles (for id. only), city, state and country.]

cc. Mr. Nicolas Desforges
Prefect of Guadeloupe
Rue Lardenoy
97100 Basse-Terre
Guadeloupe
Fax: -11-335-90-81-58-32

Mr. Yves Jégo
27, rue Oudinot
75007, Paris
France
Fax: 011-331-53-69-28-04

LKP Strike Collective
c/o UGTG
Rue Paul-Lacavé
97110, Point a Pitre
Guadeloupe
Email: ugtg@wanadoo.fr and lkp.gwadeloup@gmail.com

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ENDORSEMENT COUPON

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