![]() NBEINh6g5L- Joseph Attard January 19, 2023Ī swarm of people (400,000 according to the CGT) assembled at the main rally at the Place de la République in Paris, spilling out into neighbouring streets and boulevards. ![]() kkDX0nNetU- Joseph Attard January 19, 2023 The French workers and youth are on a national general strike today against Macron’s attack on pensions. Demonstrations of tens of thousands took place in many other locations, including Rennes, Bordeaux, Caen, Saint-Etienne, and elsewhere. The anger among workers and youth was palpable in France today, and reflected in the huge crowds, with particularly impressive demonstrations of 140,000 in Marseille, 45,000 in Nantes, 40,000 in Lyon and 50,000 in Toulouse. Already, the government faced a skirmish on the industrial front after using state powers to force striking oil refinery workers back to work last October. The economic crisis is bearing down on French workers and youth. On top of that, the temperature in society is rising. The continued existence of this government could well be tied up with its ability to pass this reform. He might be compelled to use Article 49.3 of the constitution to force through his reform without a vote, considered the nuclear option in the Assembly. Having come under attack from both the Nupes coalition (the main opposition bloc, led by the left-wing La France Insoumise), and the right-wing Rassemblement National (led by National Rally) over this pensions reform, Macron will have to rely on the centre-right Republicans in order to get it passed next month.Īnd with even some Republican MPs wavering, it is not a foregone conclusion that it will pass. He lost his parliamentary majority in the 2022 elections, and has been forced to lean on right-wing parties like the Republicans and National Rally (formerly National Front) in order to get policy passed. Macron faces these new strikes from a weakened position compared to 2019, where he was already in a tough spot. Once again, the unions have responded with a call for a massive mobilisation against attempted pension reform and once again, the French workers have answered. Already, in 2019-20, Macron’s attempt to push through this attack resulted in the biggest strikes the country had seen in decades: a wave of class struggle that came off the back of the near-insurrectionary gilets jaunes protests. The pledge to ‘reform’ pensions has been a pillar of Macron’s policy agenda from the day he was elected. From the safe distance of Madrid, he vowed to press on with the pension reform, saying it “is just and responsible”, and that France “must carry this out”. In fact, he is not even in the country today – having absconded to Spain to sign a ‘Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation’ with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. ![]() ![]() These attacks are stoking an anger inflamed by falling living standards across the board.Īs ever, Macron is (rightly) perceived as arrogant, out of touch, and in thrall to the interests of the wealthy elite in pushing this rotten measure. ![]() This proposal is deeply unpopular with the general public, with a recent poll finding 80 percent opposed it. Currently, the legal retirement age is 62, with Macron hoping to raise it by four months a year up to 64 by 2030. The potential for a showdown exists, but will the labour leaders rise to the occasion?Īs we have previously reported, Macron is under intense pressure from the French ruling class to ‘reform’ the pensions system, which has faced successive attacks for decades. Workers from the railways, the Paris transport system, oil refineries, and the media along with teachers, civil servants, truck drivers and bank staff all walked out in opposition to Macron’s plans to increase the age of retirement. More than a million people were on the streets of France today at over 200 rallies, as part of a national strike against President Emmanuel Macron’s latest attack on pensions. ![]()
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