A banner of the CGT, a national confederation of trade unions, reads: “To live and work with dignity! The right to a job, to public services, and to social security.”
By Nathalie Clark
Paris, France.
On Saturday May 26, 50 organizations—leftist political parties, student groups, and unions—took to the streets across France to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s attacks on workers’ rights and social programs. This coalition united to protest government policy changes, show continued support for the railway workers, and communicate that workers will continue to disrupt business as usual as long as Macron persists in his attacks on their livelihoods. To voice their discontent, French workers from the SNCF—the railroad system—and from Air France, have been carrying out strikes for over two months. Energy workers, involved in a struggle to raise the minimum wage since December 2017, also joined this protest. Air France was forced to cancel 25% of flights, and train circulation around the country was disrupted. What’s more, the SCNF estimates costs of the strike at around 400 million euros since April 3. Workers have demonstrated their enormous collective strength in the face of austerity, racism, and the rise of neo-fascists.
Macron has been carrying out policies against workers across all industries. He is planning to hand over the French railway system to private companies that will attempt to squeeze the profit out of underpaid workers by threatening mass layoffs. Through struggle, railway workers in France have won benefits, such as 3 extra days paid vacation, but these workers still struggle with difficult work schedules, risks posed by the hazardous materials they handle, and health problems often incurred from their work.
In France, energy used to be a public service: the means of production were owned by the state, which gave workers more job security. But privatizing the energy industry has increased prices for individual households, and shortages for everyone. As a reminder to the bourgeoisie that energy is not private property, electric and gas workers have gone beyond merely striking– they’ve cut off power to multinational corporations that fire employees to increase profits for shareholders and have restored electricity and gas to families unable to pay their bills. As part of their support for the railway workers struggle, they also plan on cutting power at railway stations. The energy and gas workers in France are watching history repeat itself; Macron promises that the SNCF (the national railway company) will not be privatized, but the same promises were made about energy. Today, the state owns only 20% of shares, leaving employees at risk.
Attacking workers’ rights in the name of profit is more than immoral, it’s deadly: an estimated 10000 to 14000 people die per year because of unemployment in France. Workers in France and across the globe are defending more than labor laws when they take to the streets, they’re fighting for their right to exist. Workers provide the labor upon which society depends; without us, society would collapse. How would capitalists make their profits, without the work provided by electricians, tellers, secretaries, teachers, hospital staff, and all the other heroes too often forgotten? How would surgeons save lives without lights in their buildings? Capitalism constantly reinforces the idea that commodities and money matter more than people but we of the working class can use our power to put people before profits.
New groups of workers join the strikes
Remy Herrera reports from Paris that unionized fast food workers at McDonalds, at the big retail stores, and in elder care institutions have denounced low wages and speedups; the care workers have also demanded better conditions for the residents. Sanitation and sewer workers mobilized against the hardships of their jobs and demanded early retirement. In mid-June farmers blocked 14 oil refineries. Workers at the Catacombs (an underground cemetery) and museum workers have also gone on strike.