Strikes spread in France, piling pressure on Macron
It started several weeks ago at refineries. Then it spread to nuclear plants. And finally, on Tuesday, railway and postal workers, nurses, some teachers and even high school students across France, at least for the day, joined a snowballing strike that has become the biggest test so far of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term.
The widening strike came on the heels of a large march against rising costs of living held in Paris on Sunday, and it increases pressure on Macron’s government, which is already embattled in Parliament, where opposition parties are refusing to pass the budget.
Macron is now struggling to mollify anger on three different fronts, in factories, on the streets and in Parliament, before it coalesces into major social unrest. That could threaten his agenda, including plans for a contentious pensions overhaul, as he seeks a direction for his new term.
The original strikes at refineries across the country have left about a quarter of the pumps across the country fully or partly dry.
While Macron promised the situation would return to normal this week, with his government issuing back-to-work orders and pushing the unions and gas companies to negotiate, lines at gas stations around Paris continued on Tuesday, adding to the frustration among drivers and other commuters.
Hotel owners complained of canceled reservations and worried, should the strike continue much longer, they would lose more bookings during the two-week All Saints’ holiday, which begins this weekend.
The oil workers’ original call for wage increases to keep up with rising inflation has captured underlying concerns about the country’s economic inequalities and mounting bills for working families.
Macron’s government has spent nearly 100 billion euros (S$140 billion) since November to subsidize energy bills for households and businesses, but inflation has pushed up the costs of many basics in French supermarkets, from frozen meat to tissues.
Government officials have also been issuing conflicting messages about the strikes. While Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne told Parliament on Tuesday that “it is unacceptable that a minority continues to block the country,” the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, acknowledged the same day “a problem of salaries” in France and called for wage increases.
The Confédération Générale du Travail, France’s second-largest union, which has been leading the strikes, said more than 150 demonstrations were held across France on Tuesday.
Many left-wing politicians, wearing their red, white and blue sashes, joined in, looking to harness the social unrest to increase pressure on the government.
While left-wing politicians and striking union leaders called for mass mobilization and said rising anger in the country reflected an “autumn of discontent”, Tuesday’s strike was less disruptive to the capital than had been feared.
The unions are also treading a fine line in their confrontation with the government. Polls suggest support for the strikes is declining, with an increasing number of French around the country frustrated by their consequences, particularly drivers and people in the hospitality business.