French YCW rethinks its worker character

Two hundred leaders of the French YCW are meeting this weekend for an extraordinary general meeting to reflect on the worker character of the movement.

With French society having undergone deep sociological changes over the last few decades, the YCW is seeking to redefine its worker dimension in a bid to respond better to the concerns of young people from traditionally working class areas, La Croix reports.

Issues on the agenda include: "Who are the young workers of today? Who are the invisible young people who are absent from the social instititutions of the nation?"

A media release from the French YCW emphasises that "it is vital today to give a voice and an existence to these young people". Hence the need to rediscover the vocation of the movement, says La Croix.

The issue was raised during a national meeting last October, says national president Stephane Haar. "Job insecurity, individualism and isolation have spread to the extent that people no longer believe in the collective or community aspect and so we have become isolated," he said.

"For the last 80 years, society has continued to evolve and this has made it difficult to determine the target group of the YCW. Worker consciousness has also become more difficult to identify," Stephane Haar said.

"Based on this questioning of the concepts of "worker" and "working class", the YCW now wishes to reach a renewed understanding of what it means to be a young worker and to define his or her position in French society. Today we have millions of young people who are invisible and excluded," he concluded.

SOURCE

La JOC souhaite redéfinir la dimension ouvrière du mouvement (La Croix)

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