For almost three months, the class struggle in France has been growing sharper. A meeting on April 5 between the union confederations and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne ended after half an hour. Neither side had flinched.
“The prime minister turned us down,” said the new secretary general of the CGT, Sophie Binet, “and we will respond in the streets.”
The government refuses to bargain seriously. The unions and especially the rank-and-file workers who carry the struggle refuse to submit. One can easily ask, are Borne and President Emmanuel Macron trying to provoke an explosion? And if the struggle explodes, how will workers worldwide show their solidarity with workers in France?