[were convinced to join the strike; red flags…]

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were convinced to join the strike; red flags were raised over the rooftops.

By the following week, over 9 million workers were on strike. A few plants were reopened later under control of the workers. Farmers unions mobilized their members to help feed the strikers. In some towns, strike-support committees (inspired by the students) supervised the distribution of goods-and even directed traffic in the streets.

As workers laid down their tools at factory after factory, the union leaders of the CGT tried desperately to maintain their control. They hoped to negotiate some wage gains quickly in order to convince the workers to go back to work.

On May 26, the union tops worked out a deal with the government in which the workers would receive a 35-percent raise in the minimum wage (to 60 cents an hour). But when the union leaders carried the terms of the settlement to the occupied factories, they were jeered.

Twelve days after the first sit-down strikes began, a reporter for The New York Times visited Boulogne-Billancourt. He commented that now "there is a marked change in the Renault factory here, and it is summed up in the two words of a sign over the main gate: Worker power!"

"The sign," the reporter continued, "symbolizes the new realization among the rank and file in this southwestern suburb of Paris that striking workers throughout France may be capable of forcing not only sweeping economic changes, but political ones as well." (May 29, 1968)

"Adieu de Gaulle!"

Indeed, on the same day in the heart of Paris, as many as 800,000 workers chanted together, "Adieu, de Gaulle!" The CGT had reluctantly called the mass demonstration. Now for the first time, the bureaucrats of the Communist Party and the unions they dominated were permitting political slogans to be raised in the streets.

Pushed to the wire, the Communist Party advanced the slogan of a "popular government" in which its representatives would share power with the capitalist class.

In contrast, the Revolutionary Communist Youth (JCR, a Trotskyist group with tremendous influence among the students) pointed out: "The government we want must spring from the strike committees and action committees of the workers and students.' But de Gaulle refused to say "adieu." He had been allowed some breathing space; now he took measures to strengthen the forces of the bourgeoisie. Loyal army units were placed on alert, ready to march on Paris. Armed police began to attack some of the weaker strikes. Many left-wing organizations, such as the Trotskyist groups, were banned.

At the same time, de Gaulle knew that only the powerful Communist Party was capable of "normalizing" the country (that is, convincing the workers to return the factories, stores, and utilities to the capitalist class).

Accordingly, the CP (and the other reformist mass parties) were offered a carrot. The National Assembly was dissolved and snap elections were called-to take place in two weeks.

Once again, the CP proved amenable. The party proclaimed a "victory" and geared up for the electoral campaign. Striking workers were urged to settle for limited "economic" gains-and to go back to work. When police broke through the picket lines at the Renault plant at Flins, the CP said nothing. By the end of June, the strike wave was over.

The CP justified its treachery by arguing that the workers were not yet ready for "revolution." But the Stalinists chose to ignore a fact that had become clear to millions—only consistent mass action could force the Gaullist government to yield on their demands for justice.

During the rapid pace of events, the embryo was formed of a nationwide movement for workers' self-rule. But no mass-based revolutionary party had been constructed that could guide the working class to a more advanced level of struggle. That task still lies ahead.