OLIVIER DELBEKE reports from Paris, 12th January 2020 The Macron government is mandated by big business to make up for the many years lost in doing to the workers of France what Mrs Thatcher and Herr Schroder inflicted on employees and  pensioners in their countries during the 1980s and 1990s. in November 2018, barely 18 months after his election, Macron found himself facing a social … [Read more...]

In France right now the executive power is terrified.  They threw themselves into a campaign to quickly catch up with everything Thatcher’s Britain and Schroder’s Germany had done: to smash pension rights, employment rights, the right to study – it was like a train crashing headlong into a rock. They came up against a pillar of resistance, a counter attack by the masses which has come to be … [Read more...]

By Vincent Presumey in Paris Where is France going? Without a doubt, towards serious social and political confrontations.  This is not a question of either optimism or pessimism: just realism. The outcome of these confrontations will depend on the level of political organisation of the exploited and oppressed. Two years ago, the election of Emmanuel Macron as president was hailed as a … [Read more...]

The weekend of 13th/14th April marked the 22nd weekly “act” of the Gilet Jaunes protest. Over the whole of France, there were 110,000 protesters (by the estimates of the police and organisers) or 30,000 (according to the government), gathered at roundabouts, blocking traffic, marching in the streets of Paris and provincial towns. The movement began last November to protest against a tax on … [Read more...]