THREE QUARTERS OF A LIFETIME
Wage at Peugeot: 120,000 minus 40,000; 80,000 remaining.
Could you tell me, where I can find Peugeot's Hotel No. 1?
The Hotel No. 1 is down there...
You need to take a taxi, it is too far away!
Don't you know it?
I have just arrived and don't know where it is.
You better take a taxi to get there.
Which way is it?
Down there.
Three kilometer, on foot.
Can you get there without a taxi?
Yes, you need to walk to the left, underneath the railway, go straight,
and then ask again.
To Hotel No. 1?
I don't know.
It should be in this direction, let's have a look.
We fell for the mixed announcements,
but your case seems to be different?
A Peugeot representative came to our school.
He offered us jobs.
He said that otherwise there would be no work after the schooldays.
Eventually, he showed us brochures, too.
Did he tell you about the wage?
At the moment, it should be 120.000.
And what did he say about a flat?
We should not worry about that, we would get one.
And about the canteen?
The prices should be low... 2 francs 65,
coffee for only 0.50 franc, he said,
in Avignon, on the contrary, it is 1 franc.
And what did he say about the work?
Whether you have a certificate or not, first you make a test.
That determines which work you will get.
A real paradise!
He came to the school,
then he gathered the young people...
What kind of guy was that?
A guy from the human resources department.
Ah, that one... the marketing agent.
He was in Avignon, Orange, everywhere...
"Cards on the table, this is an employment
for your future."
Are you from Avignon?
-- Yes. --
Do you know Sochaux?
I have heard the name in football...
They say Sochaux is in Eastern France...
I didn't even know that.
10 kilometers from Switzerland,
80 kilometers from Germany,
4 hours from Paris.
So I told myself:
one weekend in Germany,
one in Switzerland,
then one in Paris.
Didn't he say that the wage would not be enough for that?
I have debts, 10,000 old francs,
I have worked for two years.
You get here without a penny,
we don't have cars either...
In nine months I have been to Switzerland once!
I was there for 5 minutes, and then returned...
You think you can see the country, but you see only the factory.
He said that the climate was healthy and very mild.
And what did they say about the food?
Very cheap: 2 francs 65.
And beverages!
The we calculated:
Cheap coffee...
three times a day you can save 3 francs.
At the end of the month... nearly a Mercedes!
Do you already have your Mercedes?
I bought an old Dauphine for 30,000,
and I paid for it 2 months later.
Hello gentlemen! I thank you for this meeting.
At the end of your schooldays you are looking for a job.
Peugeot gives you this opportunity.
With or without a certificate, you will find a job
in our factories in Sochaux.
After Renault, Peugeot is
the second largest car company in France!
Regarding sales, we are no. 10 in France.
If anyone has questions, I would be happy to answer them,
on living conditions, wages and benefits.
Are there any flats?
Very close to the factory.
And canteens?
Of course, and very cheap ones! 2 francs 65, with beverages.
Here a coffee costs 0.80 to 1 franc.
At our place it is 0.50!
Is there an exam?
No, only a test, for orientation of your work.
Where is Sochaux?
In Eastern France, 10 kilomenters from Switzerland...
17 from Belfort, 80 from Besancon and Germany,
4 hours from Paris,
and a 6 hour flight from New York!
What is the wage?
About 120,000 old francs! Later there is more...
and if you go on strike, even more than that!
And benefits?
There are many chances for promotions!
You get a discount on Peugeot and Renault cars,
also on bicycles, household appliances, petrol, etc. ...
And leasure time?
There is everything in Sochaux! Ping-pong, pinball...
And the women?
The ball! In Sochaux, they always party!
At Peugeot you will come to fame! That's waiting for you, guys!
Come to Peugeot! You will have everything!
Come back, guys, please!
Damned strike agitators, communists!
I will hang you... shoot you... get the police!
Please, sit down. Here you have some squares.
Assemble as many as possible in 10 seconds.
Go... Stop!
Here you got a nail, a board and a hammer.
What do you do with them? 15 seconds!
Here you got a srew and a nut.
20 seconds!
Go... Stop! Thank you.
Based on your test we send you to line 504.
But I have a certificate as a painter...
Okay... you will become welder.
Based on your test you will go to the paint shop.
But I am a mechanic...
Yes, the flats are owned by Peugeot, of course!
They hide behind laws, federations, names,
but it is still Peugeot.
They give us 100,000 and take most of it back.
How is the job?
-- Bad. --
What kind of entertainment is there?
Dormitory... leasure time... don't know.
Just promises!
The shop stewards are only secretaries.
You meet them when you pay the pension insurance, otherswise not.
The Z.U.P. is an apartment building for families.
However, Peugeot needed flats for young workers.
They simply confiscated them.
They put 2 people per room in flat F4,
who pay 15,000 francs.
The administration receives 120,000 for the flat.
So is this about accommodation,
or is it again about exploitation?
You cannot take training courses.
2 people have to work at a tiny table,
and 8 people have to eat there.
You need to queue up...
In the factory you work at the assembly line
at home you have to queue up for food.
When you get back around 2, you eat around 4...
What are the working hours?
I get picked up for the morning shift at 4:15 a.m.,
and I finish at 1:15 p.m..
When do you get up?
At 3 a.m., 3:15 a.m.
The evening shift is from 1:15 p.m. until 10:15 p.m.,
so you get home at 11 p.m.
When do you go to sleep?
11 p.m. ... we still talk... so around midnight.
Midnight?
And what did you eat, at 11 p.m.?
There is breakfast for 1 franc 10,
coffee, 15 grams of butter, 2 to 3 pieces of bread.
After work...
After work your stomach is empty.
After 9 hours at the assembly line there is nothing substantial.
Such a breakfast isn't enough for people around 20...
So most people eat liver sausage in the rooms.
But that is no solution either...
10,000 young workers in Sochaux. One needs to organize.
That's why they go to the flats, the rooms,
to the foreigners, too.
The management does not like that.
The management lets the Marrocans live far away.
We demand that the Maroccans live in our buildings, too.
The management claims, that we would not get on with each other.
That is not true.
Why should Marrocans, Yugoslavs, and others not live together?
We go out with our Marrocan friends,
in order to break down the walls.
I have my dignity which I defend.
I work in order to earn money, like everyone.
Peugeot has gotten us here with a long-term contract.
That's why no other union should exist.
We need an independent union for the Peugeot plants.
That's why we are in the union C.F.T.
It is prohibited to be a member of another union.
Peugeot will only pay more money if all young workers demand it,
if the company fears
by a strike of the young workers.
3,000 angry young workers, that is a threat...
Thank you to Kino Arsenal for the historical subtitles
labournet.tv, Berlin 2015