Revitalising Labour: April 2017

Below is a translation of the Jean-Luc Mélenchon's election program for 2017 French presidential here).
elections (the original in French is available

Our collective intelligence can overcome all difficulties if we all put ourselves in the service of the common good.

The motto of our Republic, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity "sets a course for us.

We must assume our responsibilities not only for ourselves but also for universal humanity.

I am prepared for it. You are ready, I know.

THE REPUBLIC

The presidential monarchy is out of breath. It must be abolished. We want to put an end to the 5^th Republic. The oligarchy and the caste in power do not represent the people.

For this, we propose to the French to write a new Constitution, that of the 6^th Republic.

The sovereign people must redefine our democratic rules and define new social, ecological and emancipatory rights.

CONSTITUTING PROCESS

Convocation of a Constituent Assembly by referendum (Article 11 of the current Constitution)

Transparency throughout the writing of the new Constitution

Final referendum for approval by the French people

A PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY

Allow all citizens to participate (paid professional leave during construction)

No parliamentary member of the 5^th republic

Equal numbers of women and men

Proportional participation nationally, with participants drawn by lot

This will open a new era: the president-elect, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will resign to allow the new rules of life to take effect, the newly acquired rights apply immediately.

FOR NEW RIGHTS IN THE ENTERPRISES

Reviving the economy will not be enough to create jobs, we must break the financial dominion and limit the power of shareholders. The contract of employment alone does not guarantee the rights of workers and employees, it is the Law that protects. It is time to bring citizenship back into the business.

STOP THE DISMISSALS

End Stock market dismissals

Prohibiting the payment of dividends to companies that dismiss in case of economic difficulties

Granting works councils a suspensive right of veto on redundancy plans

EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATIONS

A right of first refusal to employees to form a cooperative in case of closure or sale of their company
Establish the ability of employees to take a vote of no confidence against company directors or projects with an obligation on a company to examine the counter-proposals submitted by the trade unions

A SECURE FUTURE

Ensure the continuity of personal rights outside the employment contract (right to training, seniority, etc.)
Guaranteeing income in the event of loss of employment or withdrawal of activity, within the framework of occupational social security

An economic policy that creates jobs, useful ecologically and socially, new rights for employees and their representatives in companies.

FOR JUSTICE IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE

The public justice system can no longer properly carry out its mission. The courts are wasting away, human and financial resources are lacking, litigants and legal professionals are entitled to demand an unprecedented effort.

INVESTING FOR JUSTICE

Recruitment of staff to relieve congestion in courts and shorten deadlines
Renovation of prison premises and construction of courts
Increase in the number of prison officers to ensure dignity in prison

CHANGING THE LOGIC

Putting to an end the reliance on prison sentences with alternative penalties
Guaranteeing the judicial protection of young people by giving priority to prevention and by using educational sanctions
Disestablish the Court of Justice to enable ministers to face ordinary justice
Guarantee judicial independence

RATIONAL LAW

Disencumbering police action by legalising cannabis and controlling the production and sale by the state
Repeal ineffective security laws and strengthen prevention policies
A judicial policy equal to the ambitions of equality of all before the law and which rejects the "double standards"

FOR SECURITY RETURN TO REASON

We need a police force of the Republic guaranteeing internal security and safety. Human and financial means must be provided to protect individual and collective freedoms. Prevention, deterrence, sanction: the fight for security will not be effective without resting on these three requirements.

A REPUBLICAN POLICE

An end to the aberrant policy of setting arrest numbers
Rehabilitate the local police by reorganising the municipal police forces and dismantling the Brigade anti-criminalité[1]
Give priority to the dismantling of trafficking (drugs, arms, human beings, corruption, terrorism)

MEANS TO REALISE OBJECTIVES

Plan for the recruitment of gendarmes, police officers (2007 numbers), administrative, technical and scientific staff
Renovating police stations and improving public relations

CONSISTENT ANTI-TERROR WITHDRAW FROM DESTABLISING WARS AND HYPOCRITICAL ALLIANCES

End the state of emergency: exceptional powers do not protect better than the rule of law
Strengthen territorial intelligence by developing human resources
Fight the communitarian logic that seeks to divide us. Fighting against recruitment in prison

A justice policy commensurate with the ambitions of equality of all before the law and which rejects the "double standards"

FOR THE ECONOMY

FREEDOM FROM FINANCE

Instead of fighting finance, Hollande and Valls helped it pillage the real economy. Revenue from shares in France is the highest in Europe. Financial bubbles threaten our jobs. We must protect the real economy from finance!

STOP SPECULATION

Separation of speculating merchant banks and retail banks that help investors in the real economy
Control capital movements to defeat tax evasion and avoidance and prevent attacks by speculators

CONTROLLING FINANCE

An effective tax on financial transactions
Maximum wage ratio between the top and bottom earners within a single company 1 to 20
Supervision of the exorbitant revenues of the largest shareholders
Right of pre-emption for employees in the event of sale of their business

FOR THE GENERAL INTEREST

Reduction in bank charges
Compel Société Générale to repay 2.2 billion euros to the State following the recognition of its responsibility in the case known as Jérôme Kerviel[2]
Pursuing financial criminals

A policy of "definancialisation" of the real economy and fight against stock market speculation.

FOR FULL EMPLOYMENT

10% unemployment! 6 million unemployed workers. The fear of unemployment is an effective muzzle to prevent workers from claiming their rights and wage increases. It is not the "war to the unemployed" that must be carried out, it is to revive the activity and create jobs. Solidarity protectionism is at the service of the general interest against multinationals and financial globalisation. The great movements of the world must stop!

NEW JOBS

Creating 3.5 million jobs through reduced working time, energy transition, peasant agriculture, marine economy, civil service and youth contracts
Invest 100 billion euros to boost activity in major projects of national interest
Increase the net monthly wage to €1,326 and upgrade the frozen salaries of officials

SOLIDARITY PROTECTIONISM

Rejection of the international free trade agreements: TAFTA with the United States, CETA with Canada and TISA’s liberalisation of services
Mileage and Carbon Tax on Imports
Emergency protectionist measures to save strategic industries (steel, photovoltaic, ...)

PROTECTING OUR JOBS

Prohibition of child labour and trade retaliation against tax havens
Prohibition of stock market dismissals and the payment of dividends in enterprises using economic redundancies

A policy of creating new jobs, which protects workers by promoting production in France.

FOR THE RETIRED

GUARANTEE AND SOLIDARITY

With the governments of Fillon/Sarkozy and Hollande/Valls, the retirement age has risen to 66 years with 43 years of contributions for a full pension! After years of work, "seniors" find themselves unemployed while waiting for a discounted and minimal pension. It's insane!

A RIGHT TO A DIGNIFIED RETIREMENT

60-year full-rate retirement with a contribution period for a full retirement following of 40 years.
Retirement pensions at the level of the average wage level for a full career and the minimum old age at 1000 € (200 € more)

DISTRIBUTION PLAN

To make the solidarity regime between generations sustainable by rejecting European policies in favour of funding retirement

DIVERSIFIED FINANCING

Establish a solidarity tax on the financial revenues of enterprises
Expand the basis for contributions to the pension scheme by allowing self-employed persons, craftsmen, traders, small and medium-sized businesses to contribute to the general scheme

A retirement policy that guarantees the right to retire at age 60 and the augmentation of small pensions.

FOR EQUALITY BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN

Equality between women and men is an important social issue! Even today, with equivalent positions and qualifications, women are paid less than men. The part-time constraints affect 80% of women. Maternity remains a "risk" for many women's careers. Consequence: many women in precarious situations, even poverty, and families in distress.

EQUALITY OF WAGES

Generalisation of enterprise agreements against wage and career inequalities between women and men
Financial and criminal penalties against companies that do not respect this equality (including up to a ban on access to public contracts)
Parity between women and men in representative institutions (political, Administrative, etc.)

GUARANTEED RIGHTS

Parental leave of equal duration for parents
Strengthen family planning in its mission of training and education, for contraception and a right to abortion

COMBAT SEXISM

Limiting the use of staggered shift schedules
Fighting Violence Against Women

A policy of equality between women and men and emancipation through the protection of the human rights of women.

FOR HOUSING

UNIVERSAL & SUSTAINABLE

30,000 children are homeless in our country. Nearly one million people are without personal housing, 4 million are badly housed, 12 million have rental problems or live in dirty or unhealthy housing. All have a right to a dignified life.

ALL HOUSES

Prohibition of evictions without a relocation solution
Target of Zero Homeless: Everyone must be offered accommodation or emergency housing
Construction of one million public housing units to ecological standards

BETTER HOUSES

Ecological renovation plan to isolate 3.5 million dwellings and eradicate unhealthy homes
Establishment of a one-stop shop for the ecological renovation of the home of individual owners

STABLE HOUSING

Universal guarantee of rents to promote access to housing for all
Assist participatory and cooperative habitat initiatives (projects between several tenants and owners)
Progressive tax on transactions in excess of €1 million for private dwellings

A housing policy that guarantees a roof to the most vulnerable and gives new rights to tenants and owners.

FOR A TAXATION REVOLUTION

Sharing of wealth is also achieved through taxation. Our country is rich. But the money is taken by some, instead of being made available through taxation to be put in the service of the general interest. It must be re-founded on a clear and redistributive basis. Everyone already pays unjust taxes like the value-added tax (VAT) or the contribution sociale généralisée (CSG)[3]. With the tax revolution, everyone will contribute according to their real means.

MAKING THE REPUBLICAN TAX

Make income tax more progressive with a 14-slice scale instead of 5 today
Impose on income from capital as well as labour through a broad and unified tax base
Remove tax niches considered unfair, socially inefficient or environmentally harmful

REDUCE INEQUALITIES

Surcharge on income above € 400,000 per year (€ 33,000 per month)
Reducing VAT on basic necessities, cancelling recent increases and reinstating a "luxury VAT" to finance these decreases

SHARING WEALTH

Reinforcing the solidarity tax on wealth for assets over one million euros
Increase inheritance rights on large estates (no tax on inheritances of below 130 000 euros per child)
Create a maximum inheritance for fortunes above 30 million euros (the richest 0.01%)

This tax policy will lower taxes for people who earn less than 4000 euros per month and will reduce inequalities by redistributing wealth.

FOR 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY

Climate change requires the emission of greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power is not a solution for the future and an accident will have disastrous consequences with no going back. We have to get out of it. It is a significant technical and human challenge. Scientific studies show that this is possible by 2050. Only political will is lacking. We have it!

RESPONDING TO EMERGENCY

Stop subsidies for fossil fuels and any prospecting of shale and coal gas, and oil
Ending reliance on nuclear power by starting with the immediate closure of the Fessenheim plant by guaranteeing the employment of employees and their training
Abandonment of Nuclear Reactor Projects and Nuclear Dump Policy near the village Bure in the east of France

MODERNISING PRODUCTION

Energy transition plan to renewable energies based on sobriety and efficiency: 100% renewable target by 2050
Public Centre of Energy to lead a coherent national policy, renationalizing EDF[4] and Engie[5]
Development and investment in the search for alternative, non-polluting energies, particularly renewable marine energies

An energy policy that respects the ecosystem, serves the general human interest and guarantees the viability of the planet.

WATER OUR COMMON GOOD

We will ensure a decent life for all, by ensuring access to drinking water and energy. According to the UN, the world will face a global shortage of water by 2030. Water is a common good that cannot be monopoliSed by private interests.

GUARANTEE ACCESS

Establish free access to the necessary quantities of water for a dignified life
Prohibit water cut-offs and flow reductions at home
PenaliSe the misuse and waste by introducing progressive pricing
International support for global access to water and sanitation

STRUGGLE AGAINST POLLUTION

Prohibiting the discharge of polluted water into rivers and the sea without prior treatment
Ensuring public ownership of sanitation

FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Return to a public water authority by not renewing the management contracts of private companies
Involving users, elected representatives and professionals in public bodies

A policy of free access to the first 1000 litres of water and public management of its access.

FOR AGRICULTURE

ECOLOGICAL & PEASANT

Agriculture provides most of our food. Yet the current agricultural model destroys everything: the ecosystem, the health of consumers and that of the peasants. We can do things differently: producing food differently for better nourishment.

A BIOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE

Ban GMOs, and banish harmful pesticides (glyphosate, neonicotinoids, etc.)
Moving towards a 100% organic local food in collective catering
Reducing the proportion of meat proteins in the diet to the benefit of vegetable proteins

A PEASANT AGRICULTURE

Facilitating the installation of young farmers to create 300,000 agricultural jobs and a renegotiation of the Common Agricultural Policy[6]
Stop projects from factory farms where animals are abused
Focus on local distribution networks, and limit the margins of large-scale distribution to guarantee remunerative prices for producers

An organic agricultural policy ensuring prices accessible to consumers and remunerative for farmers.

FOR EUROPE

RELEASED FROM TREATIES

The European Union is on the verge of dislocation. It did not want to listen to the refusals of the peoples since the French referendum of 2005. The European Commission, made up of bureaucrats and dominated by Germany, wants to oblige the countries to repay debts the majority of which are bank debts!

OUR REQUIREMENTS

Stop liberalisation and privatisation of public services requested by Brussels
Amend the Statutes of the European Central Bank so that it can lend directly to states
Disobedience to the absurd rule governing state deficits at 3% (stability pact)
End of the directive on the posting of workers in France: the social contributions must be the same for all

PLAN A

Negotiating a democratic, social and ecological restructuring of the European Union
Submit the result of the negotiations to the sovereign French people to decide the participation or the exit of the European Union

Plan B

Suspension of France's contribution to the budget of the European Union (€ 22 billion per year of which € 7 billion of "net" contribution)
Transformation of the euro into a common currency which is no longer singular
Control of capital and goods at national borders

A policy to exit the European treaties which impose budgetary austerity, free-trade and destruction of public services.

FOR AN INDEPENDENT FRANCE

AT THE SERVICE OF PEACE

France is a universalist nation. The quinquenniums Sarkozy and Holland locked France in NATO and in the wake of the United States' military follies. To promote peace and cooperation, regaining independence is an absolute necessity!

STRENGTHENING THE UN

Refuse any military intervention without a United Nations mandate, the only legitimate body guaranteeing collective security
Leaving NATO and refusing any permanent military alliance
Stop the Europe of the Defence, which prepares the war under the command of the United States

ACTING FOR PEACE

Building peace in Syria and Iraq through the establishment of a universal coalition under the aegis of the UN
Revise hypocritical alliances with the Gulf's petro-monarchies (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, ...)
Recognise the Palestinian state and support the two-state solution peacefully coexisting

BUILDING ANTI-GLOBALISATION

To end Francafrica by respecting the sovereignty of the African States and that of the peoples
Join the BRICS Development Bank (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and build a new Anti-Globalist alliance

A sovereign and anti-globalization policy that ensures the return of the strength to the UN to face imbalances and threats to stability and peace.

SETTING THE CAUSES OF MIGRATION AND RECOGNIZING MIGRANTS

Migration is too serious a subject to reduce it to opportunistic outbidding and uncontrolled drives. The first task is to allow everyone to live at home because emigrating is always a suffering for the one who leaves.

INTERNATIONAL ACTION

Apply active and independent diplomacy to the cause of peace to stop migrants needing to flee from their country by stopping wars and ending unequal trade agreements that destroy local economies
Rethinking the European policy of control of external borders by refusing the militarization of migration control
Working towards the creation of a United Nations-linked World Organisation of Migration

ACTING FOR PEACE

To reaffirm the right of asylum by welcoming refugees who come under it through an administration adapted to this mission
Respect the human dignity of migrants, particularly in host camps
Ensure the fundamental right to family life by stopping the placement of children in detention centres and assisting unaccompanied minors

A policy that respects migrants and seeks to address wars, global warming and free trade the which cause migration.

FOR HEALTH

PUBLIC & FREE

The French health system has long been the best in the world. But today, austerity and commodification have abused it. Health must become a right again for all!

PREVENT

National plan for the prevention of diseases related to pollution, pesticides, food, drug and alcohol use, suffering at work and stress

ACCESS TO CARE

Department of general practitioners, State officials, who will work in rural and regional areas
100% reimbursement of prescribed care: free dental, optical and hearing care and equipment, lower glasses price
Public centre of medicine to lower prices and protect medical research from financial speculation of pharmaceutical laboratories

HIGH-QUALITY CARE

Increased capacity in hospitals and recruitment of doctors, nurses and assistants to make the public hospital a service of high medical and human quality

A public and preventive health policy tailored to the needs of all people, regardless of where they live and whatever their income.

FOR EDUCATION

PUBLIC, SECULAR AND FREE

Education is not a commodity. It is the basis on which we build our person. It is time to repair the damage by educating better and more.

AGAINST INEQUALITIES

Compulsory education from 3 to 18 years, adapting the pedagogies and the school trajectories.
The materials and associated activities free of charge: canteen, transport, extracurricular activities, textbooks, supplies
Reduce the number of pupils per class in primary and nursery schools and support networks for the students in difficulty
Revision of the school map to ensure social mix

FOR EXCELLENCE

Valorisation of the profession of teacher through their remuneration, their mission and the means of exercise
Recruitment of 60,000 additional teachers in 5 years
Repeal of the Carle law which obliges municipalities to finance private education
Restore the duration of the professional baccalaureate to 4 years[7]
Organise a complete territorial network by increasing the number of vocational schools

A policy of education that gives meaning to the mission of instruction. Everyone has the right to be educated and qualified.

DEMOCRATISING CULTURE

FOR THE UNIQUE FRENCH CULTURAL

Culture is the basis of individual and collective emancipation. Today it is the victim of decades of destructive liberalism. Creation and artistic practices in all their forms deserve to be encouraged. Our cultural policy aims to develop art, creation and knowledge, to guarantee a stable and lasting status for artists and cultural actors.

CREATION AND TRANSMISSION

1% of GDP for art, culture and creation
Defence of international exception and diversity cultural
Develop cultural awareness through training in culture from all levels of education

DIGITAL CULTURE

Creation of a public online media library, with a legal offer platform for music, films and cultural content
Removal of the ineffective Hadopi law [8] and introduction of a universal subscription on internet subscriptions to finance non-commercial downloading

STABILISING TRADE

To perpetuate the regime of intermittent performers on the basis of the agreement of 28 April 2016 and extend it to precarious artistic professions

A popular and ambitious cultural policy. Let us not reserve culture to a privileged minority.

THE SEA

OUR NEW HORIZON

With 11 million km², France has the second largest maritime territory in the world. It is a space to explore activity for the ecological recovery. Energy, food, medicine, transport, so many resources are within our reach if we know how to use them with intelligence and awareness of the ecological issue.

NEW JOBS

Create 300,000 jobs focused on the marine economy
Open a public maritime vocational high school in each coastal and overseas department
Develop "blue classes" so that each child can see the sea

MARINE ENERGY

Renewable marine energy (EMRs) to at least 13 GW by 2030 and 30 GW by 2050
Nationalisation of the Alstom Marine Energy division sold to General Electric
Implementing a plan for overseas energy self-sufficiency

PROMOTING CLEAN FISHING

Establish a plan for the renewal of the fishing fleet under ecological conditions, beginning with the 1,700 vessels over 35 years old
Developing offshore aquaculture around off-shore wind farms

A policy that engages France in an ecological "Sea Plan" by creating 300,000 jobs.

SPACE

OUR AMBITION

Space is a formidable challenge for humanity. Our nation, focused on space, can spearhead the research and development of related technologies. It is the object of commercial lusts. It is, in the same way as air or water, a common good, which must be protected from the rapacity of the financial oligarchy.

DEEPENING KNOWLEDGE

Continue scientific discovery of the universe via terrestrial and space observatories
Following up on the Rosetta mission, which, together with the Philae probe, enabled us to improve our knowledge of the origin of living organisms
Developing Interplanetary Missions (Mars)

PROTECTING OUR COMMON GOODS

Launch a land-based orbit clean-up program
Launch a light pollution control program that deprives part of the population of the sight of the stars and harms the observations

DEVELOPING COOPERATION

Ensure a permanent human presence in space
Launch the renewal of the International Space Station
Propose the creation of a permanent base on the Moon

An ambitious space research policy in the service of knowledge and international cooperation to enable more nations to have access to space.

FOR NEW DIGITAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

The digital world is a new frontier of humanity. The activities related to the virtual, the Internet and the robotics are an opportunity for France! Private interests seek to profit from it. If this field is left to the multinationals, they will make it a space of submission to the financial logics and restriction of freedoms. We must affirm the general character of the digital revolution.

SERVING CITIZENS

Remove Hadopi law, an ineffective and costly law against piracy
Ensuring broadband Internet coverage across the country
Prohibit generalised filing and delete the "honest people" file (TES file)
Protecting personal data, including those hosted abroad, and fighting against their mercantile use

PROTECTION FROM MULTINATIONALS

Reclaiming public control over digital and telecommunications technologies (submarine cables, satellite launches)
Guaranteeing net neutrality to ensure unrestricted and unrestricted access

SUPPORT FOR INNOVATION

Encourage the creation of collective places for the creation of digital tools (Fablabs)
Fostering French creations in the field of video games

A policy that puts the digital revolution and technology at the service of human progress.

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1 An arm of the French National Police which specialises in interventions into public housing estates.
2 Jérôme Kerviel - a French trader who was convicted in the 2008 Société Générale trading loss for breach of trust, forgery and unauthorised use of the bank's computers, resulting in losses valued at €4.9 billion. Société Générale characterised Kerviel as a rogue trader and claimed Kerviel worked these trades alone and without its authorization – claim which is widely viewed with scepticism.
3 CSG is compulsory flat levy which funds French social security system
4 EDF is France’s largest power company formed in 1946, it the French government partially privatised it in 2005, floating 15% of the company on the stock exchange.
5 ENGIE is France’s second largest power company and one of the world’s oldest multinational corporations, the French government holds a 33% stake in ENGIE.
6 The Common Agricultural Policy is the agricultural policy of the EU. It includes the administration of subsidies.
7 Vocational degree, which is currently earned after two or three years depending on the type of secondary education.
8 law dealing with copyright, which allowed individuals who had been found to have violated copyright laws to have their internet access suspended (this aspect of the law was suspended as it was deemed disproportionate) and for fines to be issued.