France
French strikers protest prime minister’s pledge to impose pension cuts
By Anthony Torres, 14 December 2019
Anger is mounting among workers after Edouard Philippe stressed he would push through his regressive program despite widespread strike action and popular opposition.
Recording reveals pseudo-left La France Insoumise collusion with Macron in 2016
By Francis Dubois, 14 December 2019
The manoeuvres of LFI deputy François Ruffin with the former banker and future president have recently been exposed.
French prime minister vows to impose pension cuts despite growing strikes
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 12 December 2019
In his speech, Edouard Philippe vowed to impose a pension cut opposed by two thirds of the population.
Mass marches and strikes against Macron’s pension cuts continue across France
By Alex Lantier, 11 December 2019
Rail, mass transit and broader sections of the French public sector continued strikes begun on December 5 in an emerging trial of strength between the workers and Macron.
Protest marches called this week as French public sector strike continues
By Alex Lantier, 9 December 2019
Strikes are set to continue today, as hundreds of thousands of French public sector workers protest President Emmanuel Macron’s pension cuts and austerity policies.
The way forward for the mass strike in France
By Alex Lantier, 7 December 2019
The working class faces a fight to bring down the Macron government, drawing into struggle ever broader layers of workers and youth in France and internationally.
1.5 million march amid mass strike in France against austerity and inequality
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 6 December 2019
Tens of thousands of rail, government, and education workers went on strike against plans by French President Emanuel Macron to slash pensions.
French public sector strikers call to free Julian Assange
By Alex Lantier and V. Gnana, 6 December 2019
Strikers denounced the imprisonment of the Australian journalist under appalling conditions in Britain, for having revealed imperialist war crimes in Iraq.
NATO summit dominated by growing inter-state conflicts
By Alex Lantier, 5 December 2019
Explosive conflicts over trade and military policy between Washington and its main European allies erupted this week at the NATO summit in London.
French public sector strike: Build independent committees of action for political struggle against Macron
By Anthony Torres, 5 December 2019
The December 5 strike is part of a vast international resurgence of class struggle in opposition to social inequality and military-police repression.
Trump denounces Macron’s criticisms of NATO at London summit
By Alex Lantier, 4 December 2019
Bitter conflicts between the United States and the major European powers erupted into the open yesterday, at the start of the two-day NATO summit in London.
Trump escalates global trade war
By Nick Beams, 4 December 2019
Responding to a question in London on whether there was a deadline for a trade deal with China, Trump said: “I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal.”
Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables: French youth in revolt
By David Walsh, 4 December 2019
Ly’s work, with its strengths and weaknesses, is an honest effort to confront the wretched reality prevailing in the working-class suburbs (banlieues) surrounding Paris.
NATO bitterly divided as London summit begins
By Alex Lantier, 3 December 2019
NATO heads of state arrived yesterday in London for a two-day summit beginning today, 70 years after NATO’s foundation in the aftermath of World War II in 1949.
Imperialist powers intensify pressure on Iranian regime in wake of protests
By Jordan Shilton, 30 November 2019
US imperialism is chiefly responsible for the tense standoff in the Persian Gulf. But the claims of the Iranian regime that “collective security” can be achieved by establishing a closer military alliance with Beijing and Moscow are reactionary.
After student sets himself on fire, French youth protest: “Precariousness kills”
By Francis Dubois, 30 November 2019
Anas K.’s desperate action and his scathing denunciation of the Macron government and of capitalism have reverberated powerfully among tens of thousands of students who face the same dire conditions.
Calls grow for mass December 5 protest strike against French pension cuts
By Anthony Torres, 29 November 2019
Amid an international resurgence of class struggle, it is critical for workers to take control of their struggles from the hands of the corrupt union bureaucracies.
French courts sabotage probe of official financing of Islamic State terrorism
By Francis Dubois, 26 November 2019
The French courts are covering for the multibillion-dollar Lafarge corporation and its ties to both the French state and the Islamic State terrorist militia in Syria.
Workers and youth protest French president’s visit to Amiens
By Pierre Mabut, 26 November 2019
The town was in lockdown, with riot police on duty at all intersections, and only vetted guests were allowed to attend official engagements.
France to host “peace summit” with Germany, Ukraine and Russia
By Clara Weiss, 19 November 2019
The summit is part of the effort of French and German imperialism to play a bigger role in Eastern Europe as tensions with the US are rising.
16 November 2019
Macron warns Economist magazine of world war, collapse of NATO alliance
By Alex Lantier, 9 November 2019
Outlining escalating conflicts inside NATO, Macron admitted that for decades it has attacked countries and toppled their regimes without any popular support.
Former neo-fascist candidate attacks mosque in French city of Bayonne
By Anthony Torres, 4 November 2019
The entire political and media establishment bears heavy political responsibility for these attacks, creating the filthy political climate that encourages right-wing elements to carry them out.
Wildcat strike erupts at French National Railways over understaffing, austerity
By Alex Lantier, 22 October 2019
Workers walked off the job after a serious accident wounded 11, amid mounting anger at understaffing, pension cuts and the two-tier wage system introduced last year.
French President Macron launches Islamophobic campaign after Paris police office attack
By Anthony Torres, 15 October 2019
Macron declared that preventing such attacks required a permanent atmosphere of anti-Islamic denunciations.
New Anti-capitalist Party demands military escalation against Turkey in Syria
By Alex Lantier, 12 October 2019
The Pabloite NPA bitterly opposes a struggle to unify the working class internationally in a movement against imperialist war and the Middle Eastern bourgeoisie.
French ex-President Jacques Chirac dead at 86
By Alex Lantier, 30 September 2019
The ubiquitous hailing of Chirac by the ruling establishment reflects above all the former Gaullist president’s ability to appeal to the political and class prejudices of the affluent middle class.
French police launch protests outside Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s headquarters
By Alex Lantier, 26 September 2019
Mélenchon must be defended against the hysterical attack launched at him by President Emmanuel Macron’s government and France’s police-state machine.
Macron, Steinmeier visit Rome to prepare new EU repression of refugees
By Alex Lantier, 20 September 2019
The removal of the neo-fascists from the Italian government has not produced any shift towards a less militaristic and anti-refugee policy.
French transit workers strike against attack on pensions
By Will Morrow, 14 September 2019
The trade unions are seeking to prevent any struggle against Macron’s attack through a series of isolated one-day actions over the next month.
Defending pensions against Macron requires an international political strategy
By Alex Lantier, 14 September 2019
The way forward to defend pensions and oppose the well-advanced drive towards fascistic police state rule is to turn to the international working class.
Unsubmissive France summer school promotes Islamophobia
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 12 September 2019
The move by considerable sections of LFI toward essentially racist positions underscores the reactionary character of its populist and nationalist political orientation.
French unions meet with Macron administration to organize attack on pensions
By Will Morrow, 7 September 2019
The gathering discussed how the unions will suppress the opposition in the working class to the Macron administration’s historic assault.
French government fires bus and rail workers accused of “radicalization”
By Anthony Torres, 27 August 2019
Under the cover of anti-terror laws introduced by the former Socialist Party government, the transport operators are empowered to fire workers based on government accusations.
Divisions between major powers widen at G7 summit
By Nick Beams, 26 August 2019
The G7 meeting held in France over the weekend marks another stage in the breakdown of the post-war capitalist order.
Massive police mobilization in Biarritz, France as G7 summit opens
By Kumaran Ira, 24 August 2019
In preparation for this weekend’s G7 summit in Biarritz, the French authorities are carrying out a massive police mobilization to prepare to suppress any opposition.
UK Prime Minister Johnson fails to secure Brexit concessions from Germany and France
By Robert Stevens, 24 August 2019
Corbyn’s meeting with Remain-supporting parties and MPs is his latest capitulation to the agenda of sections of big business opposed to leaving the EU.
“We are all equal!” Captain who saved refugees refuses award from Paris mayor
By Will Morrow, 24 August 2019
Klemp repudiated the award and denounced the anti-refugee polices of the Paris authorities.
Macron-Putin meeting before G7 summit highlights global geopolitical conflicts
By Will Morrow, 23 August 2019
The meeting took place in the context of increasing calls centered in Paris and Berlin for the European Union to develop its capabilities to wage wars independently of the United States.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon hails Mexican government as embodiment of “citizens’ revolution”
By Will Morrow, 20 August 2019
Mélenchon’s hailing of the AMLO government speaks volumes about what type of government he would lead, were he to win the presidential elections in 2022.
Hospital workers strike spreads throughout France
By Anthony Torres, 15 August 2019
The urgent care nurses and assistants are opposing Macron’s assault on healthcare and the deterioration of conditions for staff and patients.
Immigrant tent camps in Paris: Victims of France’s war on refugees
By Will Morrow, 13 August 2019
Every night in Paris, in sprawling tent encampments lying beneath highway overpasses, or in local playgrounds and parks, thousands of refugees go to sleep on the street.
Paris’s Notre Dame fire: Two children test positive for lead poisoning
By Sam Dalton, 12 August 2019
The revelations are an indictment of the local Parisian government of Socialist Party mayor Anne Hidalgo and the national government of Emmanuel Macron.
French police assault Nantes protest against police drowning of Steve Caniço
By Anthony Torres, 8 August 2019
Thirty people were arrested and 34 detained preventatively by police, who fired water cannon and waves of tear gas grenades against protesters.
095 Police violence in Nantes
7 August 2019
French government bans protests against police killing of Steve Caniço
By Will Morrow, 3 August 2019
President Emmanuel Macron’s imposition of a ban on protests against deadly police violence makes clear that a police state rules France.
French populist Mélenchon gives advice to AMLO in Mexico amid growing social unrest
By Andrea Lobo, 2 August 2019
While supporting his right-wing policies and crackdown on immigrants, Mélenchon advised AMLO on creating new nationalist traps to divert the movement of the working class.
Body of Steve Caniço, killed in police raid, found in France’s Loire River
By Alex Lantier, 1 August 2019
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe shamelessly declared that “no link” could be established between the police raid and Caniço’s death.
Preparing for great-power war, France creates space command
By Will Morrow, 31 July 2019
The implication, covered over by the media and political establishment, is that the French ruling class is preparing for war against militarily-advanced, nuclear-armed powers.
Growing evidence of government responsibility for blaze
Paris authorities cover up lead contamination in schools caused by Notre Dame fire
By Sam Dalton, 31 July 2019
Paris authorities are covering up the risk of lead poisoning after the Notre Dame fire, as new details of mismanagement before the disaster emerge.
One month since Steve Caniço’s disappearance in police raid in Nantes, France
Macron threatens: “Calm must be restored in the country”
By Will Morrow, 22 July 2019
Macron is using the latest crime by police to send a message that state forces can attack and kill working people with impunity.
“The university and its teachers have a responsibility toward history”
An interview with veteran French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier about actress Lillian Gish and director D. W. Griffith
Bowling Green State University recently removed the famed actress’s name from its film theater
By David Walsh, 20 July 2019
French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (Round Midnight, Coup de Torchon, Life and Nothing But, It All Starts Today, In the Electric Mist) is one of the most admirable figures in cinema over the past 45 years.
After three-month cover-up, investigation into police assault of “yellow vest” Geneviève Legay transferred to Lyon
By Francis Dubois, 19 July 2019
The police assault on the septuagenarian in Nice is part of the erection of a police state by the government of the financial aristocracy headed by Macron.
French intelligence strategy document warns of “insurrectional violence”
By Will Morrow, 19 July 2019
The “road map” establishes the target of France’s counterterrorism agencies as “subversive movements” and potential “insurrectional violence” in the population.
France: Delevoye report prepares the slashing of pensions by Macron
By Anthony Torres, 18 July 2019
Despite the growing opposition expressed in the “yellow vest” protests, the Macron government is accelerating its assault on the social rights of the working class.
Police launch mass arrests on Bastille Day in Paris
By Will Morrow and Alex Lantier, 15 July 2019
President Emmanuel Macron was booed and jeered as he drove in the motorcade down the Champs-Elysées on the traditional military parade Sunday morning.
Police crack down on undocumented workers occupying Paris Pantheon
By Alex Lantier, 13 July 2019
Late yesterday afternoon, approximately 700 undocumented immigrant workers held a peaceful demonstration and occupied Paris’ historic Panthéon building, demanding an immediate recognition of their right to reside in France.
Furniture retailer Conforama announces 1,900 job cuts in France in 2020
By Anthony Torres, 5 July 2019
Workers at several stores targeted for closure spontaneously walked off the job in protest at the deal worked out behind their backs by management and the unions.
France’s “yellow vest” protests and the resurgence of the international class struggle
By the Parti de l’égalité socialiste, 3 July 2019
These protests are a turning point in France and internationally, marking the initial re-entry of the working class onto the political stage.
Paris police use pepper spray against seated climate change protesters
By Will Morrow, 2 July 2019
Riot police strolled around the group, pepper spraying their faces from 20 centimeters away and ripping protective goggles off them, as onlookers filmed with their phones.
205 Yellow vests statement
2 July 2019
French police assault at music festival leaves young man missing, feared drowned
By Anthony Torres, 29 June 2019
The violent police attack, during which a young man fell into the Loire river, is the outcome of the government’s repressive program.
Watch: Chris Marsden’s speech to Paris meeting to demand freedom for Assange and Manning
By Chris Marsden, 27 June 2019
The speech was delivered by Socialist Equality Party (UK) National Secretary Chris Marsden to a meeting hosted by the Parti de l’égalité socialiste on June 23.
France: What should be done with Arnault’s $100 billion?
By Will Morrow, 26 June 2019
The CEO and leading shareholder of French luxury fashion retail group LVMH became the third person in history to join the centi-billionaires club.
Parti de l’égalité socialiste meeting in Paris demands freedom for Julian Assange
By our reporters, 25 June 2019
The meeting came three days after the World Socialist Web Site issued a call to build a Global Defense Committee fighting for Assange’s freedom.
Facebook blocks ad for PES meeting in Paris to defend Assange
By Alex Lantier, 22 June 2019
The Parti de l’égalité socialiste calls on its supporters to share its material and support the freeing of journalist Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
French workers, “yellow vest” protesters support fight to free Julian Assange
By Will Morrow, 19 June 2019
For the last two weeks, the Parti de l’égalité socialiste has campaigned in Paris for this Sunday’s public meeting in defense of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
French police interrogate donors to “yellow vest” protester
By Will Morrow, 18 June 2019
Police are questioning some of the 8,800 people who donated to support Christophe Dettinger, the protester and former boxer who punched a riot police officer.
French hospital workers strike against Macron’s health cuts
By Anthony Torres, 15 June 2019
Hospital strikes against the deterioration of the health system that began in March in Paris are now spreading throughout France.
Fiat Chrysler-Renault merger talks collapse
By Will Morrow, 15 June 2019
Both companies have stated that the deal was blocked at the final hour by the French government of President Emmanuel Macron.
French state demands four months’ jail for “yellow vest” protester Eric Drouet
By Anthony Torres, 11 June 2019
The charges against Drouet are unfounded and underscore that a police state is being built in France.
040 Yellow vest interviews
10 June 2019
French Nutella workers strike, Tram and metro workers’ stoppage in Greek capital
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
7 June 2019
Workers at the Nutella factory in Normandy have been blockading the plant over demands for a wage increase while Greek tram workers stopped work Monday to protest the Syriza government’s attacks on public transportation.
French rail workers protest one year after rail privatization
By Anthony Torres, 6 June 2019
With anger growing among rail workers over station closures and worsening working conditions, the unions felt compelled to organize a symbolic one-day strike.
“Yellow vest” protesters speak on the European elections
By our reporters, 3 June 2019
“I came today to support the people fighting against this government that I am against, and because I want a real democracy,” Jennifer, 31, told campaigners for the Parti de l’égalité socialiste (Socialist Equality Party, PES).
France illegally arming Libyan coastguards to stop refugees from Africa
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 1 June 2019
The policy has been condemned by multiple human rights organizations because of the prevalence of torture, rape, slavery and murder in the camps.
Following European elections: EU summit haggles over top jobs
By Peter Schwarz, 31 May 2019
The European heads of government met for a summit in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the future leading personnel in the European Union.
French government threatens “national security” charges against journalists who revealed Yemen war arms sales
By Will Morrow, 30 May 2019
Macron’s actions are part of a drive by capitalist governments around the world to criminalize whistleblowing and destroy the freedom of the press.
The European elections and the resurgence of the class struggle
By Alex Lantier, 30 May 2019
The EU elections revealed the deep discrediting of the political establishment and its imperviousness to growing demands from the working class for political change.
Le Pen’s far-right National Rally wins European election vote in France
By Will Morrow, 29 May 2019
The two parties that have ruled France for half a century, the Socialist Party and the Republicans, received a combined 14 percent of the vote.
“Yellow Vest” Facebook group with 350,000 members frozen on European election day
By Will Morrow, 28 May 2019
The group is used to organize “yellow vest” demonstrations and to share news articles, political statements and videos of police violence.
Ruling conservatives, social democrats collapse in EU elections
By Alex Lantier, 27 May 2019
In Germany, France, Britain and other countries across Europe, these parties that once formed a duopoly dominating the parliament failed to win 50 percent of the vote combined.
“Yellow vest” protesters pay tribute at the Communards’ Wall in Paris
By Will Morrow, 27 May 2019
Hundreds marched through the Père Lachaise Cemetery to the site honoring the massacre of thousands of workers and their families 148 years ago.
Nationalism, militarism dominate final European election debate in France
By Will Morrow, 25 May 2019
Pro-European Union parties attacked the far-right National Rally (RN) on the basis that its turn away from a European army would weaken French imperialism’s ability to assert its interests.
The bankruptcy of Lutte ouvrière’s European election campaign
By Alex Lantier, 25 May 2019
Despite growing social anger over the period since the 2002 elections, when it won 10 percent of the vote, the so-called “far left” expects to get only 1 percent.
Leading Mélenchon supporter backs Le Pen’s neo-fascist National Rally
By Alex Lantier, 24 May 2019
Amid an international resurgence of class struggle, the nationalist and petty bourgeois forces in Europe’s “left populist” movement are moving to the right.
Macron’s Labor Law in France: Unions organize 3,000 layoffs at Carrefour supermarket chain
By Anthony Torres, 23 May 2019
The unions and company are using a procedure for so-called voluntary redundancies introduced in the Labor Law initiated by the Socialist Party and imposed by Macron.
27th weekly “yellow vest” rally in France: Protesters defend Assange, denounce war
By Anthony Torres, 21 May 2019
Tens of thousands of “yellow vests” continue to defy police crackdowns and the French government’s provocative claims that it has satisfied all their demands.
Le Pen’s neo-fascist National Rally leads European election polls in France
By Will Morrow, 21 May 2019
In France and internationally, far-right forces are exploiting social anger produced by the pro-war, austerity and police-state policies of social-democratic governments.
Pentagon threatens Europe over EU army plans
By Alex Lantier, 16 May 2019
The letter came amid mounting tensions between Washington and its European imperialist rivals over US war threats against Iran.
France hosts “Christchurch call” summit to intensify internet censorship
By Will Morrow, 16 May 2019
Under the banner of fighting terrorism, the social media giants and capitalist states are seeking to censor social media to banish left-wing and anti-war views.
French public sector workers strike against Macron government attacks
By Anthony Torres, 11 May 2019
Over 150 demonstrations took place Thursday against Emmanuel Macron’s “modernization” reform that would overturn conditions for public sector workers established in 1946.
Corporate murder: Trial opens of France Télécom executives over worker suicides
By Will Morrow, 10 May 2019
To shrink a workforce legally protected from sacking, executives adopted a covert policy of psychological torture designed to coerce workers to quit or commit suicide.
“We need to fight capitalism and change the whole system”
Uber and Lyft drivers conduct international strike
By our reporters, 9 May 2019
Thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers in the US and several other countries struck and protested Wednesday in advance of Uber’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.
French pseudo-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls for alliance with Socialist Party
By Will Morrow, 9 May 2019
Mélenchon is treading the path worn by his fellow European pseudo-left allies, responding to the upsurge of working class struggle by closing ranks with the state.
France’s “yellow vest” protests and the global resurgence of the class struggle
By Alex Lantier, 9 May 2019
We are publishing here the text of the speech to the 2019 International May Day Online rally delivered by Alex Lantier.
Macron government fabrication of “yellow vest” hospital attack in Paris collapses
By Will Morrow, 4 May 2019
The government’s crude fabrication was aimed at casting the “yellow vest” protests as criminal and morally reprehensible, and justifying police state violence.
2 May 2019
2 May 2019
Macron moves to prosecute journalists who revealed French arms sales in Yemen war
By Will Morrow, 26 April 2019
French security services have summoned Disclose journalists for questioning over their April 15 report documenting French arms supplies to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.
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