On 5 December 2019, a nationwide series of transport strikes began in France, sparked by the announcement of a government attack on pensions. What has become the longest general strike in French history is posing a determined challenge to the reactionary programme of the government of ex-banker President Emmanuel Macron. Liam Khalem and Séamus Padraic report.
For workers, France has one of the best pension systems in the world. For the government, it is one of the most expensive – currently costing around 14% of GDP, with a rising pension fund deficit. This is unacceptable to a government which, since assuming office in May 2017, has been characterised by a vicious ruling class offensive – extending police powers of repression; attacking workers’ rights, unemployment insurance and housing benefit; and slashing taxes for the richest while increasing the TCIPE fuel tax, falsely painted as a ‘green tax’, sparking the resistance of the gilets jaunes mass protest movement.*
The pension reform is the latest battlefront in Macron’s class offensive. The new system, though not officially raising the legal pension age from 62 to 64, does so in fact: retiring at 62 would lead to a loss of 10% (an average €150 less per month for life) and retiring at 63 would mean a loss of 5% (€75). Calculating ‘points-based’ pensions on life earnings rather than the current best 25 years will penalise those whose careers were interrupted or who worked long years on low pay, which will particularly affect women. Pension spending will be capped at 14% of GDP, despite the fact that the number of pensioners is set to rise by 13% by 2035 (Le Monde Diplomatique, January 2020).
The movement
In the first week, an estimated one million rail workers, air-traffic controllers, public sector staff, teachers and other workers shut down public services and tourist attractions, and slowed Paris to a standstill. 82% of train drivers went on strike, and at least 90% of regional trains were cancelled. In Paris, 11 out of the 16 metro lines were shut. These have been the longest continuous transport strikes, and the longest general strike, in French history.
Members of the Paris Opera and the Paris Ballet joined the strike, with the ballet staging a free public performance of Swan Lake on Christmas Eve. Energy workers organised by the CGT (dubbed Robin Hood) have cut off electricity to businesses, police stations and government buildings, while reconnecting power to the homes of the poor. On Friday 18 January they cut power to the office of the ‘moderate’ CFDT union federation which is linked to the Socialist Party and which has prevaricated – coming late to strike action, and accepting the government’s smokescreen compromise (see below). Most recently, there have been scenes of police baton-charging firefighters who were on a protest over pay.
The response
The police have been quick to use tear gas against the protests, and to beat unarmed demonstrators with truncheons. This sparked anti-police protests across the country, which were themselves then violently dispersed by the police. On 17 December, in the Place de la Nation in Paris, police fired tear gas into demonstrators and charged at them, whilst protesters responded with a hail of missiles. On 23 December in Gare de Lyon, one of the capital’s six main train stations, riot police were forced out of the building by protesters chanting ‘everyone hates the police’. Outside the station, police clubbed and gassed demonstrators. When the government attempted to call a Christmas truce, they were widely met with derision as they continued to send in armed police to subdue protesters.
Following the failed truce, the government offered a sham compromise: temporary suspension of the lowering of the retirement age at full pension in exchange for accepting €12bn of cuts. The union leaders have rejected this, and strikes will continue, as will the movement on the streets. Undeterred for now, on 25 January ministers approved the reform bill for presentation in February to the National Assembly.
In 2019 the gilets jaunes were able to wring some minor concessions out of the government (see FRFI 268); and the two connected movements demonstrate that millions of people in France are unwilling to accept the government’s onslaught against them. More importantly, they are prepared to take meaningful action on the streets and fight back.
* See our website https://tinyurl.com/y2nllj87
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 274 February/March 2020
