AP Photo/Aurelien MorissardPolice are firing tear gas in Paris and other cities at protesters who have turned out for May Day protests across France. Anger continues to flare over the passage of President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reforms
French President Emmanuel Macron faces today, on Labor Day, with fresh protests across the country as he seeks to steer the country away from a divisive pension law that has sparked anger and social unrest.
Unions hope that more than a million people will march in French cities, Reuters reported.
"This May Day will be a turning point," said Sophie Binet, leader of the left-wing trade union Se Ze Te (CGT). She emphasized that the protests will be an opportunity to show that the workers will not move on until the pension reform is withdrawn.
Laurent Berget, leader of the reformist CFDT union, said Macron's government had turned a deaf ear to the demands of one of the most powerful social movements in recent decades. Despite this, he said, this does not mean the end of talks with the government.
Namely, since Macron last month signed the law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite several months of strikes against this law, his popularity has fallen to its lowest level since the "Yellow Vest" crisis.
Red card for Macron
During his visits to the French province, he was repeatedly booed, and the crowd banged pots in protest. On Saturday, he attended the French Cup final match, where he was greeted by activists waving red cards. When the scoreboard ticked 49 minutes and three seconds, as a reference to Article 49.3 of the Constitution by which the pension reform was declared without a vote in the assembly, whistles were heard. At that moment, several red cards with the inscription "No retirement at 64" were shown from the audience, but not as many as the unions had expected.
A survey by the IFOP polling group last month showed that almost three out of four French people are dissatisfied with Macron's policies. Since mid-January, France has been rocked by a dozen days of strikes and protests across the country against Macron and his pensions, some of which turned violent in the streets.
The (vast) majority of French people are against the law, the most powerful unions have launched strikes in an attempt to block the country. The largest opposition parties - the radical right and the parties of the left - are categorically against the government's proposals, "Vreme" wrote in the text France on its feet.
ZS/Le Monde/France24
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Today, the sixth general strike began in France due to President Emmanuel Macron's intention to reform the pension system. The employers announced that they would reduce the amount of wages for the days spent on strike, which did not affect its organizers. So far, the protests have not caused serious damage to the French economy
Tomorrow, President Macron will speak on TV channels about social and political tensions, after the final adoption of the pension reform law. France 24 reports that in the third arrondissement of Paris, protesters blocked streets and set tires and trash cans on fire. New protests are scheduled for Thursday
The outcome of the trade union struggle in France may also have wider consequences in Europe, where the trade union movement has been beheaded for a long time, and practically all governments implement neoliberal policies that go hand in hand with the interests of big capital. If the French unions "win", it is not excluded that in a whole series of countries (a series of strikes have already started in Great Britain) there will be a rebellion of the vulnerable classes against the measures that affect the broadest population, and are justified by economic efficiency or the "green agenda".
What do the workers in anti-worker, anti-solidarity Serbia, apart from the two-day celebration, inherit as an asset of the International Labor Day?
The long tradition of May Day holidays has changed throughout history. The struggle for workers' rights led to the celebration of workers' victory. It seems to me that workers in Serbia do not have many reasons to celebrate, and there is no sign of any organized struggle
The Gini coefficient, which measures the distribution of wealth in certain countries of the world, shows that Serbia is at the very bottom of the European ladder. In Western countries, however, there are those who protest, but not here. Parties that have the word socialism "left" in their name are just as old as the Spanish Generalissimo Francisco Franco. What was created in the meantime died: "leftism" mostly became entertainment for young "freaks" who liked Che-design, partisan songs, endlessly long consideration and discussions on forums.
I moved into two rooms on the fourth floor across from the church of St. Mark at 26 Revolucije Boulevard - today Kralja Aleksandar Boulevard. From there, I had a good view of the May Day events in 1952. Only then did I realize that people had to come very early in the morning, line up, so that everything would be ready for the May Day parade. On their holiday, the working people did not celebrate themselves, but their leaders, their "vanguard"
