« The territory defends the factory, the factory defends the territory. End of the world and end of the month are one battle. We call on the international climate movement to support the idea of reindustrialization from below. » In an Instagram post published on Saturday October 12, the figure of the climate movement Greta Thunberg affirms that we must put an end to “ any opposition between the struggles of the world of work and the fight for climate justice “. The post is accompanied by a photo of her with workers at the GKN factory in Campi Bisenzio, on the outskirts of Florence, Italy.
For more than three years, and the economic dismissal of the 500 workers on the site, the workers have been fighting not only against the loss of their jobs and the closure of the site, but also to reconvert it according to an ecological project, thought out with activists and green researchers. “ The ecological transition is not primarily a technical question, but a social question of expanding participatory democracy. The solution to the climate crisis can only be achieved through real democracy, inside every factory », explains in particular Greta Thunberg, who participated in an assembly of the collective of workers who are leading the struggle.
With the support of supporters of institutional ecology, like the Ecologists in France, capitalism constantly seeks to divide workers and the environmental movement. Faced with this division, calling on the climate movement to stand in solidarity with the struggles of the world of work, and in particular the struggles against layoffs and site closures which are increasing, is an exemplary position.
Initiator in 2018 at the age of 15 of “Fridays for future”, Friday school strikes for the climate, Greta Thunberg became in 2018-2019 the central figure of the major climate marches, which mobilized millions of young people to across the world to demand appropriate measures from governments in the face of the crisis. His journey reflects the energy, the determination, but also the strategic difficulties of a generation which stood up in the face of the climate crisis and business as usual which deepens it.
While international climate bodies and various governments tirelessly try to co-opt his figure in order to redeem himself in the eyes of younger generations, the powerful and courageous “ how dare you? » which she addressed to the main world leaders in 2019 during the UN climate emergency summit had gone around the world. A question which had reasoned with a broad feeling, which crosses young and old, in the face of the disastrous management of the disaster by governments. This uncompromising commitment to the climate explains the visceral and almost fanatical hatred dedicated to him by Pascal Praud, Michel Onfray, Laurent Alexandre and other reactionary editorialists.
More recently, Greta Thunberg took a stand against the genocide of the Palestinian people, stating that there is “no no climate justice on an occupied land », and participating in various support marches and student camps. A courageous commitment, which illustrates the necessary link between a consistent ecological policy and anti-imperialism. This commitment led her to be confronted with the brutal repressive offensive which hits students, trade unionists, and activists supporting Palestine: while she participated in an action at the University of Copenhagen, she was arrested by Danish police in early September.
This new position by Greta Thunberg in favor of an ecology which seeks to forge links with the labor movement is to be welcomed, and should spark important exchanges within the ecological movement. It goes hand in hand with a growing awareness among certain sectors of the green movement of the need to rely on the striking force of the workers’ movement to confront the capitalist system. As it becomes clear that bosses and governments are leading us towards catastrophe, workers do indeed have a unique ability to stop the machine through strike action.
An indispensable force for thinking about a strategy that seeks to put an end to capitalism, and to reorient production towards meeting the needs of all and respecting the environment. For this, the link with the workers’ movement must be thought of without any illusion in the State, in the service of the bosses, and in a revolutionary perspective.
/regions/2024/10/14/wilh-1-670d20206f81f375545314.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Murder of Wilhem Houssin. “We are reaching levels of violence that we can hardly imagine”")