LFI deputy François Ruffin in Le Havre, August 24, 2023 (AFP/Archives/LOU BENOIST)
The scene is surprising: François Ruffin facing bosses, in a very chic mansion in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The Insoumis MP came to debate Thursday with “France d’en Haut”, to explain his ideas – but also to find points of agreement.
At the invitation of the employers’ organization Ethic, François Ruffin, in a shirt and suit jacket, took part in a breakfast/debate with around forty bosses, curious to discover the former journalist, champion of class struggle , great defender of workers and “France below”, revealed by the activist documentary “Merci Patron!”.
“I try not to mix sharks and sardines,” says the deputy for the Somme, seated in front of an imposing tapestry in a stylish room in the circle of the Interallied Union, located in an 18th century hotel, one a stone’s throw from the Elysée.
“The small entrepreneur who works and has difficulty getting paid, I understand it very well, I set up my business. Receiving Urssaf checks I know what that means”, asserts, in reference to his newspaper Fakir, the potential LFI candidate for the 2027 presidential election – even if he remains on the fringes of the Insoumis movement for the moment.
But be careful, small bosses also have their responsibility in the social fight, recalls François Ruffin, who came accompanied by the environmentalist deputy for Essonne Eva Sas.
EELV MP Eva Sas leaves the premises of LFI headquarters in Paris, May 3, 2022 (AFP/Archives/bERTRAND GUAY)
“It reminds me of the good country priests of the 18th century who embodied virtue in their village and hid the archbishops who wallowed in stupor and lust,” explains the rebellious elected official, whose political label remains a foil in the managerial spheres.
In front of him, the bosses, some of whom are among the 500 richest people in France, sometimes acquiesce, often pout, but listen and ask questions, between two pastries.
“Why would communism work in France when it has caused disasters everywhere?” asks one of them, while François Ruffin explains his desire to take certain sectors out of the market to regulate them.
“Communism”. The word, almost taboo in this profoundly ultra-liberal assembly, is dropped.
“Before there was a price of electricity which was regulated and which did not depend on the market, it was not communism”, retorts the MP.
– “Gavage” vs “capitalism” –
Concerning the dividends paid to shareholders, Mr. Ruffin raises his voice and calls for “decency”: “There is a big glut, yes!”.
“It’s not force-feeding, it’s capitalism,” replies Sophie de Menton, the president of Ethic, who debates with him.
“You talk about it as you want, I talk about it as I want,” retorts the elected official.
When the bosses tell him they are having trouble recruiting, he talks to them about the working conditions of small hands.
“People are proud of their work, they love it, but they don’t like the way they are made to do their job”, he develops, calling to preserve the “breath” for employees too often ” in apnea”.
To those who praise his “courage” for coming before them, he nuances: “The real courage is that of the cleaning lady who came, at dawn, to clean this carpet”.
LVMH boss Bernard Arnault in Paris, July 24, 2023 (AFP/Archives/JULIEN DE ROSA)
But the deputy also plays reconciliation, even if he knows that no one here will vote for him – Bernard Arnault, unwitting hero of “Thank you Boss!”, is also a member of Ethic.
“I’m a curious boy, that’s why I go to the Monaco Yacht Club or the Polo Club in Geneva. Tomorrow we’ll have to do the country together, I’m curious to see what’s going on in France from now on. high,” he explains.
And when Sophie de Menton and François Ruffin find points of agreement – in particular on the need to impose rules on globalization – the 47-year-old deputy adds, with a smile: “the Pacs is not immediately Madame From Menton!”
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
