A strike for salary increases puts Macron in check before a dissatisfied France without gasoline

Various sectors of France, from the healthcare and education until the Public transportationare called this Tuesday to the strike and several demonstrations to demand a salary increase, of pensions and social subsidies to combat inflation in full escalation of prices and in the face of an economy that hits the brakes.

With skyrocketing energy and food prices and many gas stations without fuel, the french president, Emmanuel Macron, he is on the ropes for a dissatisfied France and a left that takes to the streets emulating the yellow vests. A large demonstration against the government will walk the streets today Paris at 2:00 p.m. The same will happen in other large cities in the country.

A part of the French unions, led by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), have made a call this Tuesday to go to an “intersectoral” mobilization to add other productive sectors and society to the refinery workers strikes and deposits from France to ask for better salaries for the great profits obtained in the last year by the oil companies.

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CFDT, the first union in France, has not joined any of these strikes, which shows the division in the union world. It should be remembered that France is the OECD country with the least trade union membership after Estonia and Lithuania.

No fuel at gas stations

Two of the largest refineries in the country, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, They have been on strike for several weeks now and there is no sign that the situation will improve. The Prime Minister of France, Elizabeth Bornerecognized that the fuel shortage situation in France is “untenable” and has threatened the forced opening of several refineries of these companies with essential personnel to decongest this crisis.

The situation is such that almost half of the gas stations in Paris are without fuel, but the situation worsens in the north of the country, with long queues and waiting to fill the tanks of trucks, cars and vans, causing millionaire losses in the sector of transport and logistics.

The fear of the Macron government is that this discontent initiated by the refinery workers spreads to other sectors. And that is precisely the objective of this Tuesday’s strike in France.

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Transport and education strike

In rail transport, the biggest problems are going to be in the commuter trains in Paris and in the regional ones, since among the latter only half circulate, according to the forecasts of the state company SNCF. The French capital’s metro is operating relatively normally, with punctual accumulations of passengers at times.

In the long haul services and, above all, in high speed trains (TGV) the strike is expected to have a slight impact and function relatively normally. The same will happen with national lines. The railway connections between France and Spain are “slightly disturbed”, according to the SNFC.

As far as road transport is concerned buses, a third will not be in service, although the figure is expected to be much higher, not only because of the strike on Tuesday, but also because of the lack of fuel.

In the education, it is anticipated the total cancellation of classes in high schools and that parents cannot take their children to nurseries due to lack of staff. In several schools it is the students who are blocking the entrances in protest in favor of the improvement of the living and study conditions.

The left and the street put pressure on Macron

This day of strike marks a clear point of continuity with the one held on September 29, which did not have a great follow-up, although since then the situation has worsened ostensibly for the Government of Emmanuel Macron, especially due to the lockdown of protests of the refinery workers that has made the lack of fuel already noticeable by the citizens.

The pressure on Macron is also exerted by the left Opposition, which takes over from the yellow vests and pressures the Government to take urgent measures.

In addition, the left already pressed this Sunday with a demonstration that brought several tens of thousands of people to the streets to demand compensatory measures for the loss of purchasing power. She joined Jean-Luc Mélenchonof France Insumisa, who described the march against the cost of living and climate inaction as “a great success”.

“Popular unity is the solution to the open crisis,” Mélenchon stressed. “You are going to live a week like we don’t see it so often,” he added, asking citizens to join the general strike this Tuesday. “Do not miss it. Don’t leave your place in the fight to others,” asked.