The fight of Leonidas

Eight years ago, in 2008, three greek workers lead a three weeks hunger-strike to obtain to be paid. A collective off Saint-Nazarian citizen was build to support them. 

Since then, one of the three greek worker has been fighting for 7 years so that the "order giver" STX (Aker's successor) is clearly convicted for covering and organizing a system where labor law, human rights are deliberately flouted

Here are documents about this history.

The history of leonidas (in french)
declaration of leonidas in 2014 (french and greek)

A smal video about this story (in french)

Me the immigrant

July 2016

"I will go for two months", thinking at the beginning. And now you are here for five years.
A time come, for everyone is different, in three to five to six months, you feel to arrive at a limit. At the begining you cant stand this life, but at some point, you pass to the other side. You stop complaining and you get used  to this.

Sleeping in the same House or the same room with other men, two or three in the best case. 

To use the same kitchen, the same bathroom and the same toilet. 

You wake up 6 oclock, and return after 18.00 pm. And you have to wait your turn  doing bathroom. 

And  you have your clothes in to suitcase. 

Thinking  what to cook, not to eat at a restaurant and spend money. 

To watch  TV without  understanding the language.
To sleep 2-3 hours from the time you return  from the job. 

And it's like that every day.Every day.

From the needs of the body remember only the hunger and sleeping. You learn to ignore the other needs of the body. You learn living without sex, without touch the evening a woman, without a touching of a woman, without kissing a woman. 

Yes there are many workers do this, to live this miserable life, because not have another selection and need to survive.

Many of us begin accept this life for a short time to earn more money. And the worst is that at some point, this just become normal life with no oter reason.

We doesnt know to do something else. Neither feel that something missing ...

Εγώ ο μετανάστης

Εγώ ο μετανάστης
Ιούλης 2016

Θα πάω για δύο μήνες ,σκέφτεσαι στην αρχή . Και βρίσκεσαι πέντε χρόνια.  Καποια στιγμή , για τον καθένα είναι διαφορετική, στους τρεις στους πέντε στους έξι μηνες, νιώθεις να φτάνεις σε κάποιο όριο.
Λες δεν αντεχω αυτή τη ζωή, αλλά κάποια στιγμή, συνηθιζεις. Περνάς απέναντι.
Σταματάς να γκρινιάζει, να παραπονιέται.
Και συνηθιζεις. Να κοιμάσαι στο ίδιο σπίτι ή στο ίδιο δωμάτιο με άλλους άντρες, δύο ή τρεις στην καλυτερη περίπτωση. Να χρησιμοποιείς την ίδια κουζίνα , το ίδιο μπάνιο και την ίδια τουαλέτα.
Να ξυπνάς από τις 6 να γυρνάς μετά τις 18.00 το απόγευμα από τη δουλειά, να περιμένεις τη σειρά σου να κάνεις μπάνιο. Να έχεις τα ρούχα σου σε βαλίτσα.
Να ασχολείται με το τι θα μαγειρεψεις, να μη φας σε εστιατόριο και χαλασεις λεφτά.
Να χαζεψεις στην τηλεόραση και ας μην καταλαβαίνεις τη γλώσσα. Να κοιμάσαι 2-3 ώρες από την ώρα που γυρίζεις απο τη δουλειά.
Και αυτό κάθε μέρα. Κάθε μέρα.
Από τις ανάγκες του σώματος να θυμάσαι μόνο τη πείνα και τη νύστα.
Το σώμα, αφού επιλέγεις να αγνοεις τις υπόλοιπες ανάγκες , σε αγνοεί και αυτό. Το πιο φοβερό είναι που συνηθιζεις να ζεις χωρίς να γαμας. Χωρίς να ακουμπάς το βράδυ μια γυναίκα, χωρίς να σε ακουμπάει μία γυναίκα.
Χωρίς να σε φιλαει μια γυναίκα, χωρίς να σε αγκαλιάζει μια γυναίκα.
Και ναι υπάρχουν πολλοί που το κάνουν αυτό, να ζουν αυτή τη μίζερη ζωή, γιατί δεν έχουν άλλη επιλογή και πρέπει να επιβιώσουν. Αλλά υπάρχει και ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι που το κάνει συνειδητά για να βγάλει λεφτά.
Και το χειρότερο , κάποια στιγμή δεν το κάνει πια ουτε για τα λεφτά.
Απλά αυτή ειναι πια ή ζωή του.
Αυτός είναι και αυτή είναι ή ζωή του. Για αυτό το λόγο ζει.
Δεν ξέρει να κάνει κάτι άλλο. Ούτε του λείπει κατι άλλο..

The meal of workers should have the same price for everyone!

Every day we talk about the price of our meal. They are very high compared with our low wages. And it is unfair to pay more than French workers, while our wages are lower. This is the agreement between STX with contractors who employ us.
The 2.64 euros more for dinner every foreign worker is not a large amount. But it would be a big act with dignity French Workers and foreign shipyard in Saint Nazaire to end this injustice.
No matter the standard. What reservations made by whom to whom. This is a matter of StX, that impose conditions in shipyard Contractors is nothing compared to StX.
The serving of potatoes will cost the same for the French, Italian, Romanian, Bulgarian, the Greek .…
With our work (10 hours and Saturdays and holidays), our wages are lower than those prescribed or French law (9.60 per hour), bring huge profit to StX who have to find a way to remedy the injustice.

Capitalist exploitation gathered us. Could it be a chance ?

Historically capitalists seek to reduce the cost of labor to increase their profits and, with this objective, put workers in competition with each other. Competition between countries first, up to destroy the economy of another country. Thus in our countries of South and East, we are doomed to leave our families and friends to come here to earn hardly our lives. And so we allow STX to bypass the wages and working conditions of workers in France.
Capitalism today is strong against the workers but fragile to build the future. Faced with the crisis that plagues Europe, it will one day be necessary to invent something else.
We, the workers of the former socialist countries, experienced the failure of the first major attempt to build a society without bosses and we now know the reality of the most brutal capitalism.
We, workers in the South have prospered through the exploitation of immigrants and now suffer the same fate. All this makes us good experiences to reflect on the world we want, isn’t it?
STX and its capitalist logic brings us together, Russians and Ukrainians, French and Italians, Greeks and Albanians, Bulgarians and Romanians. Do not pass up the opportunity to talk and exchange experiences.
Today, our bosses seem more powerful than we are (even if not able to impose the right color helmet to everyone - white for direction, red for safety, yellow for workers, blue for engineers !). But we have no organization, and often worse, we do not feel even the need (and we are happy with just a miserable victory by stealing a few bottles of water …). It is by becoming aware of ourselves, our potential strength, learning to organize that we will be able to invent a different future. And why not starting with modest but strongly symbolic things. For example the price of our meal!

Right now, in Saint Nazaire we unite to build a boat. And it is a start from wich we must try to go further ...

The legend became reality

For wanting to build a tower too high, humans were punished by God who made them speak different languages, so that they can not understand each other and organize. Today, the different languages that are spoken in the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, will probably not prevent the completion of "Meroviglia". But surely it prevents workers to defend their working conditions facing the STX!