Four years ago, in late autumn, France erupted in a protracted "gilet jaune" movement, a protest that nearly forced young French President Emmanuel Macron out of office.
Macron survived the crisis and won re-election in May. However, in less than half a year, he once again faced "autumn dissatisfaction" from the people.
On October 18, local time, more than 100,000 transportation workers, school teachers, and medical institution employees took to the streets of major cities in France to hold a general strike, and their core demand was to match the wage level and the cost of living.
Like many European countries, due to the new crown epidemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other factors, France's inflation rate has been soaring this year. Prices have risen, the cost of living crisis has intensified, wages have not increased significantly, and the purchasing power of the French people has declined, and life has become more and more difficult.
Bernard Merck, a 70-year-old retired social security worker, took part in protests in the capital, Paris. He told The Associated Press: "We are asking for higher wages in all fields and all types of work because we find that our wages are too low compared to the cost of living." ”
Experts believe that the French general strike can be said to be a continuation of the "yellow vest" movement to some extent, which reflects the social and economic development difficulties that France has continued to face in recent years.
On October 18, 2022 local time, strikes broke out in many places in France. Photo/IC photo
Spreading strikes
The French strike began in the energy sector. At the end of September, workers at the refineries of French energy giants Total and ExxonMobil went on strike to demand higher wages for companies profiteering from the energy crisis.
The strike, which lasted nearly a month, at one point caused supply shortages at nearly a third of the country's gas stations, with many people queuing for hours perhaps unable to fill their tanks, and some stations having to be temporarily closed.
ExxonMobil Inc reached an agreement with workers last week that workers would return to work, according to the Associated Press. Total also reached an agreement on Friday with two unions, CFE-CGC and CFDT, agreeing to raise wages by 7 percent and increase allowances. However, the most powerful French Federation of Trade Unions (CGT) rejected the deal, insisting a 10% wage increase.
Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the French Federation of Trade Unions, said: "Our demand is extremely clear, raise wages. We believe that this is France's first priority. Inflation affects workers across Europe, he said, and "anger spreads across Europe when big companies have skyrocketed profits and tell their employees they don't have money and can't raise wages." ”
The French Federation of Trade Unions called on refinery workers to continue their strike and called on workers in other industries to join the strike, triggering a massive, cross-industry strike on October 18. According to French media reports, the strike involved a number of industries such as public transportation, energy, education, medical care, agriculture, and garbage removal.
According to Reuters, Tuesday's strike protests led to traffic chaos in some areas. In the south of France, only about half of all trains are operational; In the northern region, the normal operation of high-speed trains is affected. Eurostar cancelled trains between Paris and London, and intercity train operations connecting France and Spain were also affected.
In addition, there were some vandalism during protests in the capital, Paris, where some protesters dressed in black smashed shop glass and clashed with police. The French Interior Ministry said later in the day that a total of 13,000 people participated in the protests and 11 people were arrested in Paris that day.
Jean Garrigues, a French political historian, told Bloomberg that wages are an important factor in the growing anger of the French working class, "because of the decline in purchasing power, French society is shrouded in anxiety and anger, and workers from all walks of life want to raise wages." ”
On October 18, 2022 local time, striking protesters in Paris clashed with local police. Photo/IC photo
Worsening energy crisis
"The direct cause of this national strike is the energy crisis that France and other European countries are facing." Zhang Jinling, a researcher at the European Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, "The energy crisis has led to soaring prices, which has triggered difficulties in people's livelihood, and people are generally demanding wage increases - this is also the core demand of French striking workers." ”
Affected by factors such as the new crown epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, food and energy prices have been rising this year, resulting in record inflation in many countries around the world.
The decline in purchasing power continues to affect the lives of many French people, especially low-income households. Last weekend, a "march against the high cost of living" broke out in France, and French writer Anne Hernault, who just won the Nobel Prize in Literature, also expressed public support.
In fact, similar protests have occurred not only in France but also in many European countries. In Prague, the Czech capital, thousands of people took to the streets to protest the high price of energy; In Germany and Sweden, aviation workers went on strike to demand higher wages; In the UK, workers in many industries have gone on strike to demand that wages be commensurate with inflation.
As winter approaches and Europe is mired in an energy crisis, the impact of the strike in France on the country's nuclear power output has attracted attention. According to Reuters on October 19, the operation of 20 nuclear reactors in France has been affected by workers' strikes, of which 17 nuclear reactor maintenance work has been put on hold and 3 nuclear reactor production has declined.
Nuclear power comes from about two-thirds of France's electricity needs, and the country was once a major exporter of electricity to the European Union. However, due to this year's high temperature and heat wave, drought, equipment maintenance and other factors, nearly half of France's nuclear reactors have been shut down. Some analysts said that France's nuclear power output this year is expected to reach the lowest value in 30 years.
RTE, France's national grid supplier, warned on Tuesday that the ongoing strike by EDF would have "serious consequences" for the country's electricity supply this winter, as the strike delayed the planned restart of many nuclear reactors by two to three weeks. According to reports, the union will negotiate with the EDF on October 20, local time.
Four cooling towers and reactors at EDF's nuclear power plant on February 14, 2022 local time. Photo/IC photo
A continuation of the "yellow vest" movement
In the face of ongoing strikes, Macron's government has taken some tough moves. Macron, who held a meeting of senior ministers at the Elysee Palace on the afternoon of the 17th, said that the crisis must be ended "as soon as possible" and "do everything possible" to find a solution.
According to CNN, in order to alleviate the shortage of gas stations in France due to the strike, the French government recently used requisitioning power to require some oil depot strikers to return to work for a few hours, or face corresponding penalties, including imprisonment.
The move sparked unrest on the part of the unions, which some said undermined the right of people to protest. But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said it was necessary to use the right of expropriation to secure fuel supplies. He also said the energy company had reached an agreement with most of the workers, so "the time for consultation has passed" and the current strike is "unacceptable and illegal".
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bornet also said at the National Assembly meeting on the 18th that the negotiations have reached an agreement, and the vast majority of unions at Total and ExxonMobil have ended their strikes, "so it is unacceptable for a small number of people to continue to obstruct the country (operation)." "[The workers] have to go back to work." ”
According to Reuters, on October 19, local time, the French Federation of Trade Unions said that workers had voted to end the strike at the Donges refinery of France's Total Energy company. Strikes in two other districts, North and Bouches-du-Rhone, have also been suspended, but strikes in Gonfreville are continuing.
For its part, the French Government sees this as a positive sign. Government spokesman Olivier Veran said earlier that the government was working to get things back to normal, and progress in recent days showed that this could be achieved soon. He noted that the number of gas stations currently facing supply problems in France has dropped to 21%.
However, in Zhang Jinling's view, the recent general strike in France has its deep-seated reasons, which can be said to be a continuation of the "yellow vest" movement, and also a continuation of the economic and social development difficulties and institutional crises that France has faced in recent years.
He explained that from the "stand in the night" protesting labor law reform in 2016 to the "yellow vest" movement triggered by the increase in fuel taxes in 2018, to the national strike against retirement reform at the end of 2019, various intermittent protests during the epidemic, and the current multi-field general strike, it reflects the structural and institutional crisis that France has faced for a long time.
"Every strike in France has a direct tipping point, such as the energy crisis, retirement reform, fuel tax increases, etc., but it will soon develop into a comprehensive critique of France's socio-economic development problems." Zhang Jinling said, "It reveals the long-standing socio-economic development difficulties that France has faced, and also shows the dissatisfaction of the French people with the reform measures proposed by the government." ”
On December 15, 2018 local time, Paris, France, protesters of the French "yellow vest" movement once again launched a protest. Photo/IC photo
"Autumn dissatisfaction" against Macron
The New York Times said Macron is facing nationwide accusations, with many people believing he is not doing enough to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Some worker leaders say Macron's government is once again facing "autumn discontent."
In fact, the outbreak of the general strike coincides with the Macron government is trying to bypass the parliamentary vote in order to successfully pass its 2023 budget.
French Prime Minister Bornet said on October 19 that the government would use Article 49.3 of the French constitution to bypass a parliamentary vote to pass the 2023 budget, AFP reported. Under this provision, the Government may pass bills without a vote of the National Assembly, provided that the opposition does not pass a vote of no confidence in the Government.
Macron's move was very helpless. In June, Macron's center-left coalition retained its majority in the parliamentary elections but lost its absolute majority. This made it difficult for him to move forward with legislation in Parliament.
"Every opposition party has made it clear that it will oppose this budget ... But the French people look to us for action. Borne said at a parliamentary meeting on the 19th. The move sparked discontent among opposition parties, with some Syriza lawmakers leaving before Borne finished his speech, with some calling Macron's government a move that "seriously undermines democracy."
According to reports, both the French Left Alliance and the Right Alliance are expected to launch a no-confidence motion against Macron's government in response, but the motion proposed by both parties is unlikely to pass. Macron has previously said that if parliament passes a vote of no confidence, he will dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Among the 2023 budget proposals proposed by the Macron government, the most controversial is pension reform. Macron proposed pension reform during his first term, but was opposed by many parties and the reform was forced to be shelved. Now Macron wants to force the reform package this winter, which is expected to provoke further protests.
French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo/IC photo
Some analysts believe that the French protests will not have a fundamental impact on the Macron government. Etienne Ollion, a sociologist at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, told the Times that the danger of the fall of Macron's government was "very small". Garrigues agrees that France is not at imminent risk of a "social explosion" because many private-sector employees "cannot afford to strike."
According to polls, a majority of the French population opposes a sustained strike. A poll by French pollster Elabe on Tuesday showed that only 39 percent of respondents supported a France-wide general strike, while 49 percent opposed it.
Zhang Jinling believes that the pressure on Macron, who is entering the second term, is obviously greater. On the one hand, in the face of dissatisfaction from the people, he needs to reform legislation accordingly; But on the other hand, because he loses an absolute majority in Parliament, his legislative reform will face even greater difficulties.
However, the French strike highlights Macron's urgent need to take action to solve the serious problems that have existed in French society and economy in recent years. In addition, France may need to rethink deeply: can its existing system effectively solve the serious problems it faces? ”
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
Editor Fan Yijing Proofreader Li Lijun