The political crisis accelerated after former prime minister Michel Barnier lost a vote of no confidence
GCT union federation members on the march in France
By Thomas Foster
Friday 13 December 2024
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue 2935
France’s neoliberal president Emmanuel Macron named centrist politician Francois Bayrou as the prime minister on Friday. He is the fourth prime minister this year, as the French political system plunges further into crisis.
As Bayrou doesn’t have a majority, he has to rely on “moderate” politicians from left and right—and authoritarian measures in the constitution.
Right wing Tory Michel Barnier had to resign after opposition parties brought him down in a no confidence vote last week.
But workers are gaining confidence—and an escalation of strikes could force out Macron, Bayrou and their rotten system.
Industrial workers in the CGT union federation struck on Thursday with up to 120 rallies across France in response to bosses threatening up to 300,000 jobs. Michelin, a flagship French manufacturing company, has confirmed the closure of two sites by 2026 threatening more than 1,200 jobs.
This is at a time when the company made two billion euros in profits and paid 1.4 billion euros in dividends.
Rail workers have been on a continuous national strike since Wednesday over the breaking up of the publicly-owned freight train company.
Dock workers struck nationally earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday amid an ongoing dispute over pensions.
Teacher Nicholas told Socialist Worker that since public sector workers struck on 5 December “there has been a lot of debates in our workplaces”.
The crucial debate has been “whether it is necessary to continue to strike because of the collapse of the government”. “Some are saying that, because there is no government, there is no use to strike,” he said.
“But in other places, such as in my workplace, many thought it was necessary to strike.”
‘Look to the streets and strikes as French government collapses’
Nicholas warned that “a lot of unions are being moderate about the strike”. Many “have no confidence” in whatever new government is formed. But when “the top of the unions are waiting”, it has an “impact on the confidence of people”.
“Those who think the strike should have stopped because the government resigned are wrong,” he said.
“The new government will do the exact same thing. The feeling that there are no solutions from above is growing. This means people look to something else and the alternative is trying to build from below.”
The CGT is also backing the day of action on Saturday “calling for a united mobilisation to defend the rights and dignity of migrants”. The federation demanded the end of racist migration policies and full rights for undocumented workers.
This is a positive development, but Nicholas said that as a whole “unions aren’t doing enough to tackle the far right”.
“What they denounce the social and economic programme of the fascist RN, the union leaders never insist that the RN is racist,” he explained.
The hope lies with workers’ strikes escalating, combining economic and political demands against Macron and the bosses. And to stop the RN benefiting out of the crisis of the centre, it requires an explicitly anti-racist response in the working class
France’s neoliberal president Emmanuel Macron named centrist politician Francois Bayrou as the prime minister on Friday. He is the fourth prime minister this year, as the French political system plunges further into crisis.
As Bayrou doesn’t have a majority, he has to rely on “moderate” politicians from left and right—and authoritarian measures in the constitution.
Right wing Tory Michel Barnier had to resign after opposition parties brought him down in a no confidence vote last week.
But workers are gaining confidence—and an escalation of strikes could force out Macron, Bayrou and their rotten system.
Industrial workers in the CGT union federation struck on Thursday with up to 120 rallies across France in response to bosses threatening up to 300,000 jobs. Michelin, a flagship French manufacturing company, has confirmed the closure of two sites by 2026 threatening more than 1,200 jobs.
This is at a time when the company made two billion euros in profits and paid 1.4 billion euros in dividends.
Rail workers have been on a continuous national strike since Wednesday over the breaking up of the publicly-owned freight train company.
Dock workers struck nationally earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday amid an ongoing dispute over pensions.
Teacher Nicholas told Socialist Worker that since public sector workers struck on 5 December “there has been a lot of debates in our workplaces”.
The crucial debate has been “whether it is necessary to continue to strike because of the collapse of the government”. “Some are saying that, because there is no government, there is no use to strike,” he said.
“But in other places, such as in my workplace, many thought it was necessary to strike.”
‘Look to the streets and strikes as French government collapses’
Nicholas warned that “a lot of unions are being moderate about the strike”. Many “have no confidence” in whatever new government is formed. But when “the top of the unions are waiting”, it has an “impact on the confidence of people”.
“Those who think the strike should have stopped because the government resigned are wrong,” he said.
“The new government will do the exact same thing. The feeling that there are no solutions from above is growing. This means people look to something else and the alternative is trying to build from below.”
The CGT is also backing the day of action on Saturday “calling for a united mobilisation to defend the rights and dignity of migrants”. The federation demanded the end of racist migration policies and full rights for undocumented workers.
This is a positive development, but Nicholas said that as a whole “unions aren’t doing enough to tackle the far right”.
“What they denounce the social and economic programme of the fascist RN, the union leaders never insist that the RN is racist,” he explained.
The hope lies with workers’ strikes escalating, combining economic and political demands against Macron and the bosses. And to stop the RN benefiting out of the crisis of the centre, it requires an explicitly anti-racist response in the working class
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