The Workers' Party (PT), named the Independent Democratic Workers' Party (POID) until 2023, is a French far-left political party led by

Daniel Gluckstein Daniel Gluckstein (born 3 March 1953 in Paris) is a French Trotskyist politician best known for running in the French presidential election of 2002 as the candidate of the Workers' Party (''Parti des Travailleurs'', PT). Biography In 1968, he j ...

. It was founded in 2015 following a split with the

Independent Workers' Party The Independent Workers' Party (, POI) is a French Marxist political party founded in June 2008 after the dissolution of its predecessor, the Workers' Party. It claimed 10,071 members at its founding congress in 2008, and 8,000 members on its sec ...

(POI).

History

The Democratic Independent Workers' Party (POID) emerged from a split from the

(POI) in 2015. This was after disagreeing with the majority decisions of its current executive. After having announced that he wanted to create a trend supported by more than 700 members of the Internationalist Communist Current (CCI) and entitled "Return to a policy of party building",

was suspended from the POI, as well as the other members of the leadership national who supported him. The national office removed Gluckstein as well as Gérard Schivardi and

Jean Markun Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

from their mandates as national secretaries. At the end of two separate congresses held on 21 and 22 November 2015, the movement launched by

decided to form itself as a new party named the "Independent Democratic Workers' Party". Gérard Schivardi, Daniel Gluckstein and Jean Markun, the three national secretaries of the POI (Claude Jenet having died at the time of the split), became its national secretaries. The POID declares itself internationalist and gives its motto "For

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

". The party claimed nearly 2,900 members in 2022. Its weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

is ''La Tribune des Travailleurs'', which aims to be a "free forum for the

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

". It claims nearly 7,000 subscribers in June 2023. The POID aims to continue the activity of the original POI. The party platform indicates:The party platform also stands for: * "For socialism", because it aims to put an end to the regime of private ownership of the major means of production and exchange and to replace it with their socialization. * "For the Republic" one, indivisible and secular, heir to the French Revolution, founded on the existence of more than 36,750 communes and departments and on the

separation of Church and State The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

. * "For democracy", because the emancipation of workers requires the right to free trade union and political organization, the foundation of democracy. This political democracy relies on elected officials, representatives of the people and mandated by them. Within the party there is a "Trotskyist" current of the Fourth International (ICR).. The POID is part of the International Workers' Committee, whose last world conference in October 2022 brought together representatives from 43 countries. In December 2023, the POID changed its name to the Workers' Party, in order to distinguish itself from the POI which had campaigned for

La France insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...

in 2022. It took the name of the party which preceded the POI, founded in 1991.

Political positions

The POID participated in the organization of a movement titled "For the lifting of the state of emergency", on Saturday January 23, 2016. It intends to bring together 1,500 participants at a meeting during which many political and union leaders spoke and organised. The POID organized a meeting on 28 May 2016 in support of

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in the runup to the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

, with the participation of workers from different

European countries The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...

. The POID organized a demonstration "

Macron Macron may refer to: People * Emmanuel Macron (born 1977), president of France since 2017 * Brigitte Macron (born 1953), French teacher, wife of Emmanuel Macron * Jean-Michel Macron (born 1950), French professor of neurology, father of Emmanuel ...

, one year is enough!" on 13 May 2018 in Paris, bringing together 4,000 participants. From March 2020, the party launched a campaign for the restitution of the 343 billion euros (unanimous vote in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

on this subject) devoted by the Macron government to aid to businesses, so that they could be used for hospitals, increasing wages and education. On 5 December 2020, the party participated in the Parisian demonstration entitled "For freedom of the press and the defence of social rights. In the context of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the POID is mobilizing "against the war and against the defence budget of Emmanuel Macron". The party calls for "an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine including the withdrawal of all foreign troops outside the countries they occupy. In 2022, the party is leading a campaign in support of

Afghan women Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the 2020–2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, US troops with ...

under the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Elections

When it was founded, the POID had elected officials (former POI elected officials) in a certain number of municipalities: mayors, deputies or councillors. The POID presented 64 candidates in the 2017 legislative elections but none were elected. The party also stood candidates in the 2021 departmental elections. In 2022, while the POI joins the Popular Union formed by

to tackle the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, then on the occasion of the

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (

NUPES The New Ecological and Social People's Union (, NUPES) was a left-wing electoral alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance included La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Part ...

) supported by his party the POID remained uncommitted.
par Abel Mestre et Julie Carriat, sur ''lemonde.fr'' du 27 5 2022. Noting for his part that if he claims power, "at the same time,

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...

undertakes to respect the institutions of the Fifth Republic by cohabiting with Macron (which amounts to "governing" under his control)". The POID stood around a hundred candidates in the elections but achieved weak results... In 2024, the Workers' Party presents a list for the

2024 European Parliament election in France The 2024 European Parliament elections in France were held on 9 June 2024, as part of the 2024 European Parliament election. Background The Borne government lost its majority in the 2022 French legislative election. Electoral system A bill ...

named "For bread, peace, freedom". It is led by Camille Adoue, a 23-year-old editor.

Trade Unionism

Like the POI, the POID is present in the trade union movement, particularly within the

Workers' Force The General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force (, or simply , FO), is one of the five major union confederations in France. In terms of following, it is the third behind the CGT and the CFDT. Force Ouvrière was founded in 1948 by former ...

confederation due to the presence of its activists in particular. The two parties are now in conflict within FO since the ousting of Pascal Pavageau, the short-lived successor to

Jean-Claude Mailly Jean-Claude Mailly (born 12 March 1953) is a French former trade union leader. Born in Béthune, Mailly grew up in Lens, then studied economic science in Lille. He found work with the National Health Insurance Fund. In 1974, he met Marc Blonde ...

in 2018. However, the POID's line of conduct is the independence of the party vis-à-vis the unions, and conversely the independence of the unions vis-à-vis the party.

Legal cases

On 17 February 2023, the Paris administrative court rendered a decision favourable to the Independent Democratic Workers' Party, condemning the former Paris Police Prefect , who had banned a demonstration of this party on June 5, 2021...

Election results

European Parliament

References

{{Portal bar, Communism, Marxism, Politics Trotskyist organizations in France Far-left political parties Eurosceptic parties Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Communist parties in France Political parties established in 2015 2015 establishments in France