A general strike in France on Tuesday mobilized hundreds of thousands of wage earners. In Paris, as well as in more than 150 other cities and towns across the country, workers in all walks of life protested during the day against the rising cost of living and the growing shortage of staff in public health and education.
The anger of the French was caused, in particular, by the bourgeois-right liberal government of the head of state Emmanuel Macron, which completely sided with corporations in connection with the resignation of oil refinery workers, which lasted three and a half weeks. Having forcibly recruited part of the workforce from fuel depots, Macron and his prime minister, Elisabeth Born, have intervened sharply in labor disputes since the beginning of the week.
On Tuesday, government spokesman Olivier Véran confirmed the executive’s intention to keep the five largest oil refineries on strike in Normandy, Brittany and the Marseille region in operation with the involvement of personnel. Employees who refuse to work risk severe monetary fines and even jail time.
With the forced dismissal of refinery personnel, Macron and his prime minister, Born, spent days trying to disrupt the strike and discredit it with recurring accusations that a minority of employed people were holding the majority of the population “hostage” at gas stations.
Daniel Ferté, deputy secretary of the Force Ouvrière, told Franceinfo on Tuesday:
“The real problem is not waiting in line at gas stations, but at the checkout, when you have to pay up to three euros for a liter of petrol. Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT trade union, which announced and organized general strike, sharply criticized the position of the government – Macron, by his intervention in the labor dispute, decisively weakened the effect of the strike guaranteed by the Constitution. Martinez and Ferte declared the general strike “a fight that will affect everyone”.
Oil refinery workers, railroad workers who also partly quit on Tuesday, and health and education workers have meanwhile defended themselves on what trade unionists say are on two fronts: against capital and against a government that has clearly sought to keep wage workers from huge profits before all from the energy sector. For example, with a net monthly salary of €1,300 for entry-level professionals, school and hospital administrators have long been unable to hire young people and save public social services from collapse.
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