Garbage is piling up on the streets, ports are blocked, fuel is running in short supply, transportation of essential goods and services have been brought to a standstill; these are the outcomes of a general labor strike that has been happening in France as a result of protests to Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral pension reforms.
It might seem like a small issue pushing the retirement age back two years for French citizens, but it’s not really about the pension reform – the bigger issue is about this “new democracy” in the aftermath of new powers assumed by the French president during COVID-19.
President Macron used a special constitutional article to push legislation through Parliament last week without a vote. He now faces two efforts to engage a no confidence vote with only tepid support from his totalitarian allies in government. The people of France are not only unhappy with the pension reform outcome, but they are also furious about the nondemocratic process – a familiar and growing sentiment that extends far beyond the borders of France.
While the protests did carry the customary French socialist-leaning violence, the issues underpinning the anger are felt by more than just the radicals. The larger network of ordinary French workers has now begun using the power of the people to shut down the economics of society.
Trash is piling up in the streets as sanitation workers refuse to work {LINK}. Ports and critical energy infrastructure like refineries are also shut down, and things are starting to get sketchy amid the social and economic fabric that generally goes unnoticed. Indeed, you might say, ‘the peasants are revolting‘.
(Reuters) – Several French refinery sites were still blocked from delivering products after two weeks of strikes in France, causing production to be disrupted while the government requisitions workers at the Fos refinery, and power supply was also disrupted.
