- 2008-2010, à L'Étoile, Somme
- 2009, à Koudougou, Burkina Faso
- 2008-2009, aux Malmaisons, Paris
- En Thiérache du centre, Aisne
- La lettre "Et le Travail ?"
- 2005-2008, premières étapes
- Avant, en 2004, à Belfort
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/// In short
What about work?
Question
What about work? Its meaning, its future ? Work changes. A difficult question considering the hard working conditions.
LA FORGE Group
Jeanne Benameur & Denis Lachaud (writers), Nathalie Ferreira, Sophie Boutillier and Nelly Jazra (economists) joined the group for this project.
Territories
In Picardy: central Thiérache, Montataire, Guise.
Thiérache : North-East of Picardy, an agricultural, dairy and livestock farming area.
Montataire: South of Picardy. A working class town and its high-tech metal working plant ARCELOR with its problems of dwindling workforce and rising profits. There, work has changed.
Guise: In the Aisne department, hometown of “Monsieur Godin” who, for more than a century, in his stove factories, used the profits of labour to carry out a social experiment: le Familistère , with its social palace, its crèche, its theatre...
Approach
With work groups and “cafés du travail”. In each place, the work group is composed of persons interested in the question. It chooses the topic and its coordinator.The “café du travail” is a public place where we talk about work. It is an open forum for debating and allowing artists and scientists to collect and spread the words of the people taking part in the discussion.
The medium of communication is La Lettre on paper and on the site. It gives information on the next meetings, literary, scientific and photographic productions and the answers given by the “workers” to a questionnaire on work.
Actions
Chronology of the Cafés du travail and the Letters:
4 october 2005, Guise
Café du travail around Jean-Pierre Bertrand, manager of SCOP ACE in Noyelles-Godault.
Then, The Letter with the articles: Let’s not give up by Jeanne Benameur, Working differently : a utopia that works by Nathalie Ferreira. In front of the Godin factory on strike a photo by M.Mahieux-Buquet. And the questionnaire on the work of La Forge.
13 december 2005, Montataire.
Café du travail: constrained work, global and financial companies. The Letter, the articles : A tale or a Tragedy ? by Jeanne Benameur, What about the meaning of work ? by Natalie Ferreira.
Work as seen by Vincent Lambert, Godin (answers to the questionnaire)
9 february 2006, Guise
Café du travail : What about the labour profits ? according to J-B A’s expression.
The Letter: I don’t want « to lose track » by Jeanne Benameur, The Godin company: from the cooperative dream to the capitalist nightmare by Natalie Ferreira.
Work as seen by Marie-Claude Michel et Roselyne Louvet, farmers.( answers to the questionnaire)
6 march, Montataire.
Café du travail: Work and Innovation?
The Letter: Workers are eaten out by Jeanne Benameur,
Work value, usefulness value, stock value... by Sophie Boutillier. Work as seen by Jean-Pierre Hannecart, Godin. (answers to the questionnaire)
11 april, central Thiérache.
Café du travail: “Milking, from hand to high tech...”
The Letter: Under the milk skin by Jeanne Benameur and Nourishing and educating, the women farmers in dairy production by Nelly Jazra, economist.
“Montataire in 1993 : a solidarity demonstration” a photo by Fernand Thuil.
Work as seen by Daniel Ficheux, Etouvie (Amiens)
1 may, Guise, Familistère, Godin Theatre.
Café du travail : What about the association of labour and capital today? By J-B A. Godin
The Letter: On may 1st, I didn’t sit around doing nothing by Jeanne Benameur, Joint worker-management control and cooperation : from dream to reality, by Natalie Ferreira.
“Little stories” a photo by Fred Boucher.
Work as seen by Jérôme Guiguamp, Arcelor.
13 june, Montataire.
Café du travail: solidarity. What has become of it ?
The Letter: Solid and showing solidarity by Jeanne Benameur. Work and solidarity, work and common interests by Sophie Boutillier.
Work as seen by Sophie Quaeybeur, a 22-year-old woman farmer in central Thiérache.
4 july, central Thiérache.
Café du travail: A woman day’s work on the farm.
The Letter: The farm and the outside by Denis Lachaud. Woman’s place at work : the case of the French woman farmer today by Natalie Ferreira.
Work as seen by Christian Carlin, Montataire.
2 october 2006, Guise.
Café du travail: celebrating, honouring labour? Its association with capital? Re-creation of a trophy?
The Letter: Workers leaving the factory by Jeanne Benameur, writer.
The first of may celebration (Labour Day) : between workers’demands and how to increase the image of labour by Natalie Ferreira , economist and researcher. Montataire, a photo by Eric Larrayadieu.
7 november, Montataire
Café du travail:the usefulness of the past to consider the future?
5 december, centre Thiérache.
Café du travail; solidarity, mutual aid, independence, and competition? Here in Thiérache and elsewhere.
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