The strike is actually “only the first 5%” of the story.
In fact it’s not the strike that made it famous in France but the fact that in order to avoid the secret dismantlement of the company : they made it so it was later ran by the workers instead of shareholders, aka self-management by the workers.
“In May 1973, an Action Committee (CA, Comité d’action), influenced by the May 1968 movement, was founded. During an extraordinary works council meeting on 12 June 1973, workers stumbled upon the management’s plans to restructure and downsize, which had been kept secret from them (one note said “450 à dégager”, “get rid of 450”).The company then employed 1,300 workers.”
[…]
“However, the workers were angry at the secret restructuring plan and immediately occupied the factory. On the same day, June 12, they took two administrators and an inspecteur du travail (government labor inspector) as hostages.”
[…]
“The workers also took the plans of the factory, to avoid any risk of the competition obtaining these industrial secrets. The following day, the workers held a general assembly and decided to occupy the factory day and night.”
[…]
"The workers now decided to open up the factory to outsiders, including journalists. This made them more popular. "
[…]
"A large demonstration of 12,000 persons in the average-size town of Besançon, took place on 15 June 1973. Three days later, a general assembly of the workers decided to continue production of watches, under the workers’ control, to insure “survival wages.” The LIP struggle was thereafter popularized with the slogan C’est possible: on fabrique, on vend, on se paie! (It is possible: we make them, we sell them, we pay ourselves!). "
[…]
1976
"Shareholders forced Claude Neuschwander to resign on 8 February 1976 and the Compagnie européenne d’horlogerie started liquidation proceedings in April. Problems between workers and management began again. On 5 May 1976 LIP workers again occupied the factory, restarting the production of watches. "
[…]
1980
"The second struggle did not end until 1980, when six cooperatives, employing 250 workers out of a total of 850, were created. Most of the other workers who had joined the struggle (around 400) were either hired by the city, or signed agreements granting them early retirement. The cooperatives lasted between 3 and 12 years. Three of them, which have since become incorporated, still exist today, employing a hundred workers each. "
The strike is actually “only the first 5%” of the story.
In fact it’s not the strike that made it famous in France but the fact that in order to avoid the secret dismantlement of the company : they made it so it was later ran by the workers instead of shareholders, aka self-management by the workers.
Some excerpts from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIP_(company)):
1973
“In May 1973, an Action Committee (CA, Comité d’action), influenced by the May 1968 movement, was founded. During an extraordinary works council meeting on 12 June 1973, workers stumbled upon the management’s plans to restructure and downsize, which had been kept secret from them (one note said “450 à dégager”, “get rid of 450”).The company then employed 1,300 workers.”
[…]
“However, the workers were angry at the secret restructuring plan and immediately occupied the factory. On the same day, June 12, they took two administrators and an inspecteur du travail (government labor inspector) as hostages.”
[…]
“The workers also took the plans of the factory, to avoid any risk of the competition obtaining these industrial secrets. The following day, the workers held a general assembly and decided to occupy the factory day and night.”
[…]
"The workers now decided to open up the factory to outsiders, including journalists. This made them more popular. "
[…]
"A large demonstration of 12,000 persons in the average-size town of Besançon, took place on 15 June 1973. Three days later, a general assembly of the workers decided to continue production of watches, under the workers’ control, to insure “survival wages.” The LIP struggle was thereafter popularized with the slogan C’est possible: on fabrique, on vend, on se paie! (It is possible: we make them, we sell them, we pay ourselves!). "
[…]
1976
"Shareholders forced Claude Neuschwander to resign on 8 February 1976 and the Compagnie européenne d’horlogerie started liquidation proceedings in April. Problems between workers and management began again. On 5 May 1976 LIP workers again occupied the factory, restarting the production of watches. "
[…]
1980
"The second struggle did not end until 1980, when six cooperatives, employing 250 workers out of a total of 850, were created. Most of the other workers who had joined the struggle (around 400) were either hired by the city, or signed agreements granting them early retirement. The cooperatives lasted between 3 and 12 years. Three of them, which have since become incorporated, still exist today, employing a hundred workers each. "
ETC ETC…