6th day of union demos as general strike hits 7 weeks
Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Paris
France’s general strike has entered a stunning seventh week. The government has only met with union leaders for a handful of days to negotiate a compromise, and none seems to be in sight.
President Emmanuel Macron only released his pension scheme’s full details last week, yet a bill will be formally presented to the government on January 24th. That leaves little time for a solution, or even for unions and NGOs to properly analyse a universal pension system, the likes of which does not exist anywhere in the world.
The general strike has not been as general as many originally expected. Despite the six consecutive weeks of sacrifices by rail workers this is only the sixth day of national protests called by union leaders.
Many wonder if unions have fumbled their leadership yet again in the Age of Austerity. When the architect of the pension reform resigned over corruption charges four weeks ago, unions failed to capitalise by immediately responding with massive marches and pressure.
More than 70% of France wants pension scheme dropped entirely, and at least 60% of France has supported the strikers all this time, but unions have failed to make Macron budge, much less concede.
This week strike participation among train conductors fell to its lowest level yet, and train service is getting close to normal. The general strike is not about to fall, but it is wobbling and many say a crisis point could be near.
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