VIDEO. In the documentary “Les Gens du Nord”, a look back at the miners’ revolt which allowed the creation of Sunday rest

Nord-Pas-de-Calais… A vast territory which was for a long time one of the most prosperous and most populated in France and which was the heyday of the country’s steel and textile industry until its decline. in the early 1980s. Called Hauts-de-France since its merger with Picardy in 2016, this territory is also agricultural and maritime has a powerful popular culture that its inhabitants loudly claim.

The documentary People of the Northdirected by Jean-François Delassus and Cécile Coolen and broadcast on Wednesday October 2 on France 3, traces the contrasting destiny of this region, from the 19th century to today. Thanks to the testimonies of workers, fishermen, captains of industry, traders, the film draws a fresco which goes against preconceived ideas and highlights the social achievements won through great struggles thanks to its working class, like Sunday rest.

In March 1906, an explosion occurred in mines located between Courrières and Lens (Pas-de-Calais), while more than 1,600 workers were working at a depth of 330 meters. The fire covered 110 km of gallery and officially killed 1,099 miners. The search for survivors lasted three days, then stopped in order to put out the fire and protect the deposit. The population is shocked that the management of the Courrières Mining Company decides to stop the investigations so quickly in order to preserve its infrastructure, to the detriment of its workers who may still be alive underground.

A few weeks later, the miraculous return of thirteen survivors ignited the powder. The revolt spreads among the settlements and the entire northern mining area goes on strike to protest against working conditions and the lack of consideration given to miners. Massive demonstrations are taking place in the streets of all the major northern cities. Georges Clémencau, then Minister of the Interior, mobilized the police to calm the workers’ fury, but nothing worked.

Parliament finds itself obliged to take charge of the safety and well-being of its workers. If a bill had already been tabled in the National Assembly in 1900 by socialist deputies on the need for a day of break for workers, it is thanks to this tragic accident that a law was promulgated on July 13, 1906. A day of rest 24 hours after six days of work per week is decreed for all employees in industry and commerce. Article 2 of this decree stipulates that this day of respite must be given on Sunday, a choice far removed, at the time, from any religious consideration.

The fight of the workers of the North benefits all French people. “When we talk about the working world, it’s something grandiose”is moved by Gilbert Gosse, worker in a steel factory in Denain (North). “It is thanks to their fights, their strikes, that we have achieved social progress.” A working class that wants to be united, united and demanding, as also greeted by actress Corrinne Masiero, originally from Douai, who testifies in the documentary. “But it didn’t happen all at once. (…) The North is a land of revolutions in the plural.”