Arlette Laguiller

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Arlette Laguiller (born March 18, 1940) is a French Trotskyist communist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière (LO) political party. Known to most Frenchmen simply by her first name, Laguiller is committed to the cause of the Communist revolution.

[edit] Career

Born at Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, Arlette joined Lutte Ouvrière in 1968, and became the leader of a 1974 bank workers' strike that began with actions of employees at Crédit Lyonnais.

She has been a constant candidate for the French Presidency, starting with those of 1974, and continuing through those of 1981, 1988, 1995 and 2002. During most of these, Laguiller was the only female candidate. In December 2005, Laguiller announced that she would run for President for the sixth and final time in 2007.

[edit] Popular culture

The puppet show Les Guignols de l'info frequently caricature Arlette as saying "Travailleurs, travailleuses! On vous ment, on vous spolie!" ("Male workers, female workers! You are being lied to, you are being spoliated!"), using the fact that she would begin most of her speeches with the formula "Travailleuses, travailleurs!".

In 1995, pop singer Alain Souchon recorded the song Arlette Laguiller, commenting that "Her words, of course, may be a little worn-out" but praising her "peppermint-fresh" way of expressing them, and indicating that "When Arlette sings, you feel a real sense of love".