French workers determined to defeat Macron

L'Egalité, the paper of Gauche Révolutionnaire, being sold on one of the demonstrations, photo by GR

L’Egalité, the paper of Gauche Révolutionnaire, being sold on one of the demonstrations, photo by GR   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

French workers determined to defeat Macron

An angry working class in France is locked in a gargantuan strike struggle with its government and the hated ‘president of the rich’, Emmanuel Macron. Nearly half way through his first term of office, Macron has the support of less than a third of the electorate while more than 70% support the strikers.

“A revolution … is bubbling up from the streets”, comments the New York Times.

After a year of combative Gilets Jaunes protests, which forced small concessions but inspired widespread admiration, the renowned ranks of the French working class are entering onto the scene in their millions.

In spite of the approach of Christmas, this massive confrontation is still building up.

On Thursday 5 December one and a half million took to the streets of Paris and other cities as millions around the country took strike action. Many did not return to work the following day and more millions have been striking since.

Practically all rail transport has ground to a halt as well as the Paris underground system and many flights have been cancelled. Fuel and other depots have been blocked, schools closed and even lawyers and sections of the police have refused to work.

After another day of action on Tuesday, 10 December, and fruitless so-called “negotiations” with the government, France’s unions are gearing up for another national day of action next Tuesday, 17 December and, even if a pause is called for the holiday period, there is little doubt that the fight is back on in January.

The main union on the railways – the CGT – has already warned that there will be no « Christmas truce ».

The above is taken from the first part of an article on the CWI website; click here for the full article.

Click here for photos from a more recent strike day (17 Dec)