France
Defying the trade unions, Air France workers vote to reject contract
By Alex Lantier, 8 May 2018
Workers defied not only threats from Air France and the government, but also from the union bureaucrats, who demanded that they approve the contract.
French rail workers, teachers protest Macron’s social cuts
By Anthony Torres, 5 May 2018
Rail workers and high school teachers on strike Thursday spoke out against the social cuts and military spending proposed by President Emmanuel Macron.
Citing clashes at May Day rally, French government calls for end to strikes
By Anthony Torres, 5 May 2018
Officials are calling for stepped-up police deployments and closer collaboration with the trade unions to strangle political opposition.
French president calls for new Indo-Pacific “axis” against China
By Mike Head, 4 May 2018
Macron’s trip to Australia and New Caledonia has taken to a new level moves by France and other European powers to assert their interests in the region.
May Day 2018: Millions march on International Workers Day
By our reporters, 2 May 2018
Mass protests, including marches and strikes, and involving millions of people around the world, took place yesterday on every continent, reflecting a growing radicalization of the working class.
Trade unions in talks with French prime minister to strangle rail strike
By Anthony Torres, 1 May 2018
The unions are openly preparing to betray the strike, as the prime minister has said he will negotiate only if the unions accept virtually all of the government’s demands.
French immigration bill attacks right to asylum
By Athiyan Silva, 1 May 2018
The neo-fascist National Front voted for provisions of the bill, marking the first time a French government has passed legislative measures with FN support.
“Old Europe” comes to Washington
By Alex Lantier and Andre Damon, 28 April 2018
Fifteen years ago, the European powers opposed the US-British invasion of Iraq. Now they are scrambling to serve as junior partners in the new carve-up of the Middle East.
Addressing US Congress, Macron backs neocolonial carve-up of Middle East
By Alex Lantier, 26 April 2018
Emmanuel Macron’s address to a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday was one of the most belligerent public statements ever made by a French president.
In Washington, Macron calls for renegotiation of nuclear deal with Iran
By Alex Lantier, 25 April 2018
Paris is joining Washington in telling Iran it must comply with US dictates or face the renewal of trade sanctions and the possibility of military attack.
Starting Washington visit, Macron pledges endless war in Syria
By Alex Lantier, 24 April 2018
Notwithstanding the deep and growing tensions between US imperialism and its European counterparts, all of them are set on a course of escalating war.
French students, workers march in April 19 protests against Macron
By Anthony Torres, 21 April 2018
The first protest of strikers from multiple professions since November 2017 took place amid spreading blockades of universities by students opposed to Macron.
Melenchon keeps silent on Syria strikes at Marseille protest
By Anthony Torres, 21 April 2018
The rally underscored the gulf separating the determination of workers and youth to fight against Macron and the growing danger of war, and the pro-war petty bourgeois parties that called the rally.
Merkel, Macron meet in Berlin as Syrian strike deepens conflicts inside NATO
By Alex Lantier, 20 April 2018
The German and French leaders endorsed the unprovoked strike on Syria, but were unable to hide growing differences inside NATO, particularly over economic policy.
Macron and the democracy of class war
By Peter Schwarz and Andre Damon, 20 April 2018
For French President Macron, “democracy” means the untrammeled domination of the banks and the corporations.
Trudeau joins Macron in celebrating air strikes on Syria
By Roger Jordan, 18 April 2018
Trudeau’s summit with Macron came just days after France joined the US and UK in launching illegal air strikes on Syria.
Bombing of Syria exposes pro-war politics of France’s New Anti-capitalist Party
By Kumaran Ira, 18 April 2018
The fight against Macron requires a political break with the pro-war pseudo-left organisations that support the unprovoked military assault on Syria.
French students protest war, support striking rail workers
By Alex Lantier, 16 April 2018
Students at Tolbiac University spoke to the WSWS Friday about their opposition to war in Syria, plans to reinstate the draft, and social austerity in France.
US and imperialist allies launch strikes against Syria
The World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 14 April 2018
All of the governments participating in this new onslaught are crisis-ridden and lack any electoral legitimacy.
Macron threatens Syria, pledges to make no concessions to French workers
By Alex Lantier, 13 April 2018
Macron baldly announced he plans to launch unprovoked military attacks against Syria and that he would act with contempt for public opinion and the growing strike movement.
France and UK spar to be leading US military partner in Syria
By Chris Marsden, 11 April 2018
The UK’s standing with Washington was undermined in 2013, when Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron called a parliamentary vote on a planned strike on Syria and lost.
Students protest against Macron as strikes against austerity mount in France
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 11 April 2018
All over the country, students are occupying campuses and holding general assemblies and demonstrations.
UK and French forces on ground in Syria as US prepares wider war
By Halil Celik, 10 April 2018
The alleged chemical weapons attack provides an all-too convenient excuse for both countries to deepen their existing operations in Syria.
Strikes mount as National Assembly opens debate on French rail privatization
By Alex Lantier, 10 April 2018
Air France workers are taking strike action today over wage demands, after rail workers mounted a fourth day of rotating strikes yesterday.
French government launches brutal attack on environmental protest camp
By Johannes Stern, 10 April 2018
On Monday morning the National Gendarmerie deployed nearly 2,500 heavily armed officers to assault an environmentalist camp in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, near Nantes.
New Anti-capitalist Party seeks to strangle French rail strikes
By Alex Lantier, 10 April 2018
Fifty years after the 1968 general strike, the Pabloite NPA insists workers should take orders from organizations it admits support the attacks on rail workers.
As the unions continue talks with the government
French rail workers, students resume strike action against Macron
By Kumaran Ira, 9 April 2018
The trade unions are coordinating with the Macron government to contain the rail workers’ strike movement against the planned privatisation of the French National Railways.
Fifty years after May-June 1968, the class struggle erupts in France
By Alex Lantier, 7 April 2018
With growing opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s labour decrees, the class struggle in Europe is entering a new and explosive stage.
Strikes by railway workers and aircrews paralyze France
By our correspondents, 4 April 2018
The striking transit workers were joined by students walking out in opposition to the Macron government’s assault on public education.
Major strikes in France challenge Macron’s right-wing reforms
By Peter Schwarz and Eric London, 3 April 2018
The railway workers’ strike, which began Monday evening, is the biggest test of strength to date between President Emmanuel Macron and the French working class.
Perpetrator of Carcassonne and Trèbes terrorist attacks known to French intelligence agencies
By Anthony Torres, 29 March 2018
The bloody attack raises more questions about the responsibility of the French state, which has infiltrated Islamist terror networks in their war in Syria.
Major protests against French President Macron’s austerity measures
By Kumaran Ira, 24 March 2018
The strikes and protests express the social opposition that is developing against the Macron government.
No to talks with Macron on the privatisation of French railways!
For a political struggle against austerity and militarism in Europe!
By Alex Lantier, 22 March 2018
Workers taking part in a nationwide strike in France on March 22 are confronted with an international political struggle.
French President Macron signs basing deals in India
By Athiyan Silva, 20 March 2018
Macron’s four-day visit to India last week highlighted the growing military build-up in South Asia.
French ruling elite brays for war in Syria amid US-UK threats against Russia
By Alex Lantier, 15 March 2018
As Paris moves to restore the draft, the major NATO powers are creating conditions for major wars in which large draftee armies could be deployed.
Anger mounts after Paris tries to crush general strike in Mayotte
By Alex Lantier, 13 March 2018
Strikes erupted afresh on the French Indian Ocean department after police launched a sneak attack on pickets at the port of Longoni.
France’s fascist National Front congress sets out “to take power”
By Francis Dubois, 12 March 2018
The weekend congress of the National Front set out to deepen the neo-fascist party’s integration into official politics in France and internationally.
French ruling class promotes memoirs of neo-fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen
By Francis Dubois, 9 March 2018
As French imperialism prepares for new wars, a vast operation is underway to rehabilitate the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime and France’s colonial war in Algeria.
After Burkina Faso bombing, France pledges to step up war in Sahel
By Francis Dubois, 8 March 2018
The capital of Ouagadougou was shaken on March 2 by an attack by two commando squads on the French embassy and Burkinabe army headquarters.
French neo-fascist Marine Le Pen indicted for tweeting pictures of IS killings
By Francis Dubois, 3 March 2018
The indictment of two National Front deputies for posting pictures on Twitter is an act of political censorship threatening basic democratic rights.
French unions negotiate rail privatization with Macron government
By Anthony Torres, 2 March 2018
The unions and the Macron government plan to discuss for two months how to implement the EU-mandated opening of French railways to private competition by privatizing the SNCF and gutting the rail workers’ statute.
French President Macron turns his labor decrees against rail workers
By Alex Lantier, 28 February 2018
On Monday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced plans to end the French rail workers' statute and privatize the French National Railways.
Parti de l'égalité socialiste holds meeting in Paris against militarism and austerity
By our reporters, 27 February 2018
The meeting exposed the militaristic plans underlying attempts to form a Grand Coalition government in Germany working closely with President Emmanuel Macron.
Air France workers strike to demand pay increase
By Anthony Torres, 23 February 2018
Rejecting a miserable sweetheart contract negotiated by a group of trade unions closely allied to management, Air France workers took strike action yesterday.
The 2018 Munich Security Conference and the emerging conflict between the US and Europe
By Alex Lantier, 22 February 2018
This weekend's conference was dominated by rising, potentially violent conflict between the major powers, notably the United States and Europe.
Macron launches campaign to privatise French railways
By Kumaran Ira, 20 February 2018
The report calls for the privatisation of the French National Railways, aiming to eliminate basic social rights of the working class to finance Macron’s militarist policies.
France to sign basing deal with India, drawing Europe into drive to war in Asia
By Athiyan Silva, 19 February 2018
The Indian Ocean more and more resembles a powder keg, as competing nuclear-armed powers set up rival networks of military bases to surveil and threaten each other.
A tool of imperialism: Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France calls for military buildup
By Alex Lantier, 19 February 2018
As Paris threatens to bomb Syria, and Washington threatens Russia and China, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is stampeding behind calls to build a European war machine.
#MeToo campaign turns on French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot
By Francis Dubois, 15 February 2018
The media hysteria that the French government initially helped stir up around #MeToo is now turning against the government itself.
French President Macron calls for the draft and threatens strikes on Syria
By Alex Lantier, 15 February 2018
Macron's alliance with Berlin is aimed at converting Europe into an aggressive militarist bloc.
French president Macron prepares to privatize railways
By Anthony Torres, 13 February 2018
After announcing the end of lifetime employment guarantees for public sector employees, French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to do the same with rail workers.
French media endorse plan for anti-worker Grand Coalition government in Germany
By Alex Lantier, 12 February 2018
The Grand Coalition deal and the new Berlin-Paris axis are both based on the most right-wing program since fascist parties ruled Europe.
French President Macron proposes 35 percent increase in military spending
By Alex Lantier, 9 February 2018
The ruling elites throughout Europe are determined to make the working class pay for a massive program of military rearmament.
Belgium: terror trial begins of Saleh Abdeslam, “Europe’s most wanted man”
By Anthony Torres, 8 February 2018
The trial of the sole survivor of the team that carried out the 13 November 2015 attacks in Paris, Saleh Abdeslam, opened Monday in Belgium.
Why does Mélenchon want to expel Syriza from the European Left Party?
By Alex Lantier, 8 February 2018
Mélenchon wants to defend the anti-worker policies of European Left member parties in the face of rising social anger and working class militancy across Europe.
French president Macron to end lifetime job guarantee for public sector workers
By Francis Dubois, 5 February 2018
The Macron government is seeking to scrap the rights of public sector workers amid rising strikes and social protests across Europe.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde gives #MeToo the banks’ seal of approval
By Alex Lantier, 5 February 2018
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde’s interview in Le Monde hailing #MeToo underscores that this movement has the support of the financial aristocracy.
French workers support growing mass strikes in Germany
By V. Gnana and Alex Lantier, 3 February 2018
“If we support their struggle today, they will support our struggle tomorrow,” said a day laborer working multiple jobs in Paris.
“Our job is like working in a slaughterhouse”
French retirement home workers strike to defend elderly, working conditions
By Anthony Torres, 2 February 2018
In an unprecedented event on Tuesday, workers at retirement homes (Ehpad) across France overwhelmingly followed calls for strike action.
Amid state censorship campaign, French media denounce “conspiracy theories”
By Anthony Torres, 26 January 2018
The French daily Libération has published a prominent article denouncing the “conspiracy theory” that the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are “in fact manipulated by Western intelligence agencies.”
German, French parliaments prepare new alliance, 55 years after Elysée treaty
By Alex Lantier, 25 January 2018
The resolution commits Berlin and Paris to a major arms build-up and deep austerity to enable them to carry out military operations independent of Washington.
#MeToo censors French filmmaker Brigitte Sy for signing Le Monde appeal
By Francis Dubois, 22 January 2018
Supporters of the feminist #MeToo campaign have banned a showing and discussion of Sy’s film L’Astragale, an adaptation of Albertine Sarazin’s book.
UK, France boost military, intelligence ties at Sandhurst summit
By Robert Stevens and Alex Lantier, 20 January 2018
The summit aimed to boost UK-French cooperation despite the crisis in NATO caused by the election of Donald Trump and Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Macron prepares draconian new French anti-immigrant law
By Athiyan Silva, 19 January 2018
The bill represents a drastic assault on the right to asylum, effectively handing police authorities the power to deport refugees without any serious hearing whatsoever.
France’s Socialist Party attacks Catherine Deneuve for opposing #MeToo witch-hunt
By Alex Lantier, 11 January 2018
The courageous column published by 100 women in Le Monde criticizing the #MeToo campaign has provoked a venomous response from the French state machine.
French artists rebuff #MeToo witch-hunt
By Linda Tenenbaum, 10 January 2018
An open letter signed by actress Catherine Deneuve and other prominent women emphasizes the anti-democratic nature of the #MeToo movement and its repudiation of due process.
French automaker PSA colludes with unions to prepare mass job cuts
By Alex Lantier, 10 January 2018
PSA Peugeot-Citroën is slashing jobs across Europe and in France, where it is using provisions of President Emmanuel Macron’s antidemocratic labor decrees.
French chemical industry unions back contract violating minimum wage laws
By Alex Lantier, 8 January 2018
Backed by the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron is using his labor decrees to try to scrap basic social rights won by the working class.
Macron turns France’s labor decrees on auto workers
By Alex Lantier, 29 December 2017
The announcement of mass layoffs by Europe’s second-largest automaker is part of a relentless international assault on workers' jobs, working conditions and social rights.
Lafarge affair exposes French ruling elite’s funding of Islamic State terrorists
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 20 December 2017
From 2011 to 2015, a multi-billion-dollar firm leading the CAC-40 French stock exchange funded a terror militia that carried out attacks across Europe and in France.
French conservative leadership election signals move towards far right
By Anthony Torres, 16 December 2017
Laurent Wauquiez won The Republicans (LR) party presidency by attacking Muslims and gay marriage, prompting speculation that LR will seek neo-fascist alliances.
EU rejects Trump’s call to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
By Alex Lantier, 12 December 2017
The EU meeting in Brussels pointed to divisions between Washington and its European allies over the explosive conflicts in the Middle East.
General Electric follows Siemens in announcing mass layoffs
By Gustav Kemper, 12 December 2017
The American conglomerate General Electric announced the layoff of 12,000 workers last week, including 4,500 in Europe.
At Abidjan summit, EU and France intensify neo-colonial scramble for Africa
By Francis Dubois, 2 December 2017
Faced with the disastrous results of the imperialist wars in Libya and the Sahel, the European Union is proposing to intensify its neo-colonialist and military interventions.
French campaign on violence against women intensifies police repression
By Francis Dubois and Alex Lantier, 1 December 2017
The campaign launched in France in the aftermath of the Weinstein affair in the United States marks a further shift to the right by President Emmanuel Macron.
Paris: Protests erupt against slavery in Libya
By Kumaran Ira, 23 November 2017
The auctioning of refugees as slaves, filmed by CNN, exposes the criminality of the imperialist war in Libya waged by NATO with the support of the international pseudo-left in 2011.
France arranges Hariri’s return to Lebanon amid danger of regional war
By Kumaran Ira, 22 November 2017
The crisis provoked by Saudi Arabia’s arrest of the Lebanese prime minister threatens to escalate into a new conflict in the Middle East.
France: Masses stay away from November 16 protest against austerity
By Anthony Torres, 20 November 2017
Since the union bureaucracies began organizing symbolic one-day protests and rolling strikes against President Macron’s cuts, fewer and fewer workers have attended them.
France intensifies intervention in West Africa with launch of Sahel G5 force
By Kumaran Ira, 18 November 2017
The spreading war in the Sahel, which flows from the 2011 NATO war in Libya, threatens to plunge the entire region into a broader war and humanitarian crisis.
EU anti-“fake news” authority prepares mass censorship
By Alex Lantier, 16 November 2017
The EU is preparing censorship aimed not at false information, but at news reports or political views that encourage popular opposition to the European ruling class.
France throws masses of people off unemployment insurance
By Francis Dubois, 15 November 2017
With one in every seven people already living in poverty, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is trying to develop a massive low-wage sector.
EU member states take major step toward a European army
By Peter Schwarz, 14 November 2017
The European Union has agreed on a framework to develop the capacity for waging war independently of and, if necessary, against the United States.
Right-wing French Twitter campaign over Weinstein affair backs Macron
By Francis Dubois, 14 November 2017
The French media and President Emmanuel Macron’s government are denouncing “street harassment” amid the US media campaign against film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Abdelkader Merah’s conviction stokes anti-Muslim hysteria in France
By Anthony Torres, 14 November 2017
The brother of 2012 Toulouse shooter Mohamed Merah was sentenced to 20 years in prison, though the court admitted there is no evidence he was complicit in the killings.
French president travels to Saudi Arabia amid danger of war with Iran
By Francis Dubois, 11 November 2017
In a surprise visit to Riyadh, Emmanuel Macron argued against a regional escalation of the Middle East wars flowing from the NATO countries’ imperialist interventions.
French state of emergency expires in name, but police state remains
By Alex Lantier and Kumaran Ira, 4 November 2017
The expiration of France’s two-year state of emergency does not signify a return to conditions before 2015, but stepped-up attacks on democratic rights.
Trade war in the aerospace industry: Airbus takes over shares in Bombardier
By Gustav Kemper, 25 October 2017
Airbus will be the main beneficiary of the trade war measures imposed on Bombardier by the US Commerce Department following pressure from US competitor Boeing.
French president Macron and ex-left Cohn-Bendit advocate a militarily strong Europe at Frankfurt Book Fair
By Marianne Arens, 14 October 2017
French President Emmanuel Macron is striving for a heavily armed Europe capable of pursuing its own imperialist strategy around the world, while suppressing opposition at home.
After German elections, France’s Macron proposes European deal to Berlin
By Alex Lantier, 28 September 2017
Macron’s call for more spending on intelligence and the military has been overshadowed by the German election result, which strengthened parties hostile to financing his plans.
French truckers take strike action against Macron’s labor decrees
By Anthony Torres, 27 September 2017
The trade union bureaucracy is isolating the truckers’ strike in order to block the growth of a broad movement in the working class against President Macron and the EU.
In Paris, Mélenchon calls on trade unions to control opposition to austerity
By Anthony Torres and Kumaran Ira, 25 September 2017
On Saturday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France movement held its national rally in the Place de la République in Paris.
French President Macron signs labor decrees, trampling on social opposition
By Anthony Torres, 23 September 2017
Showing contempt for mass popular opposition and growing strikes and protests, France’s president signed decrees destroying the country’s Labor Code yesterday.
Workers and youth mobilize in second protest against French labor reform
By Anthony Torres, 22 September 2017
Protesters who spoke to the WSWS opposed the destruction of the Labor Code and the growing drive to war and dictatorship in France and internationally.
French unions try to strangle workers’ opposition to Macron
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 19 September 2017
The unions, whose strike calls are carefully prepared beforehand with the government, are terrified of being outflanked on their left by an eruption of workers’ struggles.
Inhabitants of Irma-ravaged Saint Martin gain nothing from French President Macron’s visit
By Francis Dubois, 18 September 2017
After ignoring the island territory for two days, Macron was compelled to visit by a rising drumbeat of public criticism in France.
Truckers announce strike against attack on Labour Code in France
By Kumaran Ira, 16 September 2017
The French government has already stressed that it has no intention of modifying its position, despite growing opposition in the working class.
Hundreds of thousands march against Macron’s austerity measures in France
By Alex Lantier and Anthony Torres, 13 September 2017
The demonstrations point to the mounting opposition among French workers and youth to the government’s plans to carry out a social counterrevolution by executive fiat.
Macron goes to Greece: “Radical left” Tsipras welcomes ex-banker turned French president
By Alex Lantier, 12 September 2017
Macron traveled to Greece to hail the austerity measures imposed by the Syriza (“Coalition of the Radical Left”) government, which show the future for the workers of France.
Macron announces cuts to French social programs
By Francis Dubois, 7 September 2017
In the wake of the decrees against the labor code, the government is launching attacks on unemployment insurance, housing and vocational training.
Mélenchon sets nationalist trap for opposition to austerity in France
By Anthony Torres, 7 September 2017
Mélenchon is proposing a populist and nationalist movement, compatible with a strategy of entry into the Macron government that he claims to oppose.
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