https://socialistaction.org/2018/12/13/the-yellow-vests-struggle-and-the-french-crisis/
The yellow vests struggle and the French crisis
/ 23 hours ago
JAN. 2019 YELLOW VESTS (DR)This interview with Pierre Rousset, a leading
member of the Fourth International and the Nouveau Parti Anti-capitalist
in France, is to be published in Chinese on the Borderless website, in
Hong Kong. The English-language version was published at
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/.
Au Loog Yu – The French president Macron’s wanting to raise the gasoline
tax is supposed to be part of the policies of phasing out fossil fuels,
right? Should one support an environmental position such as this one?
Pierre Rousset – No. In fact, the increase in the automobile fuel tax in
the name of the fight against climate change has brought to light all
the hypocrisy of Macron’s ecology policy. More and more railway lines
are being closed in the logic of private sector profitability. Other
public services are cut in many localities (schools, post offices,
health centres, administrative offices, etc.). Outside the cities,
people are therefore more and more dependent on the car and must make
longer journeys.
In general, Macron does the opposite in France of what his speeches at
the UN suggest. He pursues policies of privatisation (including in
transport) and deregulation. Like Trump, he “liberates” the big
companies from environmental regulations. It deprives the public
authorities of the means necessary for the implementation of public
policy and relies on the market. Its concrete record in the fight
against global warming, the defence of biodiversity or regional
development planning is pitiful – in France and in the world as well
(French transnationals are free to exploit humans and nature). French
banks continue to prioritise financing the most polluting energy.
Eco-taxes are rarely effective and often socially unfair [1]. They
cannot be the basis of an ecological transition program. In fact, the
crisis of yellow vests illustrates how it is not enough “to accompany”
taxation through some compensation measures. The policy itself has to be
changed in order to take a set of major social and ecological measures.
Saturday, December 8, the yellow vests once again came to Paris and
gathered in many other localities. On the same day, “Climate” events
were organised throughout France under the motto “Let’s change the
system, not the climate”. The yellow vests uprising has been taken into
account, with frequent contact points between “yellows” and “greens”.
The motto was “Making ends meet and saving the planet, one common fight”
– one cannot ignore social misery in the name of climate change (and
vice versa); all the more because the poor are the first victims of the
global ecological crisis.
Why is there so much anger from a large section of the population? News
reports here say that it is because of the growing urban population and
the marginalization of the rural one. How far is this true? Are there
any other dimensions of this anger as well? Is it connected to anger
against what Macron represents? What is the deeper factor behind this
protest?
The rise in fuel prices does not have a significant impact on the rich,
but it weighs heavily on the monthly budget of modest households. France
is one of the countries in the world where the price of fuel is the
highest and where the share of taxes (60%) is the largest. The latest
rise was the spark that unleashed the movement of yellow vests against
the high cost of living, poverty, fiscal and social injustice.Jan. 2019
Yellow vests (Chris McGrath:Getty)
If this spark sets the plain on fire, it is because the social situation
is very serious. Let’s say that Macron launched the final offensive
against the collective rights obtained by labour struggles, especially
after the Second World War. The previous governments already restricted
and partially dismantled them (the Labor Code, for example, was written
to guarantee minimum rights of wage earners, and now must guarantee
above all the “competitiveness” of companies). The goal is to break down
collective resistance, but also to allow private capital to take over
what has been in the public sector since 1945 – it represents a huge
source of profit!
People realise that we are moving into a world where finance and big
business decide everything, with devastating consequences. We had one of
the best health systems in the world, a public service. It is being
destroyed. Inequalities in health are exploding.
Macron personally embodies this shift. He worked in an international
bank, he belongs to the social elite directly attached to the world of
business. He has some government experience, but no political
experience: he has never been elected until he became president. He is,
moreover, unable to hide his class contempt for working people. He
declared publicly that there are winners and “those who are nothing”.
“Illiterates”. That it is enough to “cross the street” to find a job,
that the unemployed are therefore “loafers”. That those who testify on
their situation and present demands are always”complaining“:”in France,
we do not complain“. On the other hand, he is full of attention for the
powerful and his own relatives and friends. His arrogance is such that
he is now hated – while, for example, the previous president, François
Hollande, was mocked. The most common motto is “Macron resign.”
The uprising of the yellow vests, a socially very composite movement,
received immense popular support (70 to 80%) and opened the crisis of
Macronism. Macron got only 24% of the votes in the first round of the
presidential election. He was elected by a wide margin only because in
the second round, his opponent was Marine Le Pen of the National Front
(far right). His majority was not “for” him, but “against” the FN and
the number of abstentions was very big. He should have taken it into
account, but he is incapable of thinking as a head of state. He
therefore very brutally implemented his program of social destruction.
How widespread is the protest? What are the main components of the
protest? News reports said that it was at first a spontaneous protest?
Is this true? Could you elaborate on this?
Initiated by calls on Facebook, the dynamics of the yellow vests quickly
became national. They are present throughout France (except, as such, in
urban centres). According to the Ministry of the Interior (Home Office),
up to 300,000 yellow vests were once mobilised at the same time (there
is obviously rotation on the action points). This is a figure comparable
to that of recent major social movements if we stick to the same source,
the Ministry of the Interior.
At the same time, these are local mobilisations, carried out in
permanence – a month of daily initiatives: total barricades or filtering
of road traffic, blockage of shopping centres and gas depots, operation
“free highways” … The “ordinary people,” who have never campaigned
before, and women are strongly represented on the ground. And then, they
came to Paris and other big cities, clashing with the police.
I would like to address here three issues.
1.Yellow Vests is to a large extent a local, grassroots movement.
Territorial mobilisation is becoming more decisive today. This is where
action is organised over time and the bonds of solidarity with the
population are woven. More generally, given the precarious wage
situation, the capitalist reorganisation of work, deindustrialisation
and the accumulated defeats in companies, territorial action (including
the territorial strike) has an increasing strategic importance (in fact,
even in 1968, there was a “general stoppage of work” dimension in
France, in addition to the massive general strike in industries).
Unfortunately, the French trade union movement has not for long
incorporated this dimension into the heart of its action – and the union
leadership is concerned about a movement they cannot control. At last,
most of the unions are now calling for actions, including strikes,
beginning Friday 14 and continuing on Saturday, the yellow vests global
action day.
2.There is a great mistrust toward the parties and unions and the yellow
vests want to be independent. There are often very democratic local
practices (daily assemblies to decide on the next actions or discuss
demands). But it is impossible for them to elect a national
representation (and many do not want it). More or less self-proclaimed
“figures” declare themselves “representative” (sometimes with some
obvious political ambitions), which provokes exasperated reactions on
the ground. The government took the opportunity to invite who it wants
and claims it cannot answer the yellow vests for lack of interlocutors.
There are, however, a number of well-known “flagship” demands (and many
more) that it could have quickly responded to if it wanted to.
3.The action of the yellow vests have been nonviolent … and sometimes
violent. One of the achievements of their uprising was to impose a broad
public debate on the issue of violence: the terrible but invisible (in
the eyes of the elite) social violence suffered by the poor who
basically legitimise violence in action (visible) of people who are
victims. After the clashes that took place in Paris on December 1, the
government launched a very tough ideological counter-offensive to divide
the yellow vests or to reduce their support from the population. All the
means of the new security laws were implemented in Paris on December 8,
after the introduction in these laws of measures which previously fell
under the state of emergency: searches and preventive arrests, use of
armoured vehicles, massive arrests (more than 1700 on the national
scale); numerous and harsh jail condemnations by the courts …
There are modalities of violence that many yellow vests reject. However,
even the most pacifist note that if there had not been violence, the
government would have had the opportunity to turn a deaf ear while
waiting for the mobilisation to run out of steam…
What is the attitude of the bourgeoisie parties and the left parties,
from SP, Mélanchon (France Insoumise), to the NPA?
Given the popularity of the movement, the right-wing opposition seized
the opportunity to isolate Macron. Given the current degree of crisis
and the call to return to order, it is now much more discreet. The far
right holds the pressure. The PS (Socialist Party) remains in ambiguity.
France Insoumise (Insubordinate France, LFI) has supported the movement
from the beginning and continues. After some initial hesitation (the
time to understand what was happening), the PCF (French Communist
Party), the NPA (New Anticapitalist Party) and some of the other leftist
forces do the same. The bulk of the labour movement has remained at
least “distant” … but it must retake their claims, evoke the
“convergences” of struggles and recognise that some unions have joined
the yellow vests.
Now that Macron had conceded to certain demands, is the protest
receding? We heard from news that high school students are also
protesting. What are they protesting against? How big is the mobilisation?
Macron did not concede anything substantial. He remained silent
(incredible!) until Monday 10 of December. It is the Minister of the
Interior and the Prime Minister who spoke on behalf of the regime. They
hoped to calm the game by cancelling for 2019 the increase in the fuel
tax, and announcing some other minor measures. Too little, too late. The
demands of the yellow vests have grown enormously, sometimes including
new elections and constitutional reform (the 6th Republic). Indeed,
there is a strong call for democratic reforms, as the introduction of a
citizens initiative referendum right (it does exist yet in France). Or
against inequalities, i.e. for the legal ceiling on high salaries. There
are two major areas: a real rise in purchasing power (including a sharp
rise in minimum wages, and the cancellation of the rise of a social
contribution levied on pensions) and more social justice (make the rich
pay) by reinstating the tax on large fortunes and by taxing the GAFA
(Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple).
The fact that Macron had to speak last Monday is politically
significant. He recognised that his words hurt many. He declared a
“state of social and economic emergency”. He made many vague promises.
For now, he announced only four concrete decisions, responding
apparently to some of the yellow vests’ demands. But all of them concern
only segments of the population – and not the poorest (i. e. for
pensioners). It is untrue that the minimum legal wage will be raised by
100 €. This amount will be given only to part of the population
receiving the minimum wage, through an existing mechanism of bonuses,
taken from the state budget. Companies are not concerned by this “rise”.
Other measures were already planned, but were to be implemented
progressively during the coming years.
Macron’s class line of march is not changing. Nothing is asked from the
rich, the bosses, the shareholders. The measures will be financed by
public spending (meaning us). More cuts will probably be done on public
services, etc. The public debt will also increase, probably beyond the
European Union’s legal ceiling (the “social and economic state of
emergency” formula also aims at justifying the increase of the French
debt before the European Commission).
Are university students supporting the high school students?
The high school movement started before the university students began to
move. It is a little early to know how much it will expand. It has
immediately been met with very violent repression. High school students
are sometimes dragged into court for wanting to hold a general meeting
in their high school! One scene was particularly shocking, on video:
dozens of high school students on their knees, on the ground, their
hands tied behind their backs or placed on their heads, laughed at by
policemen. It was, it is true, in a poor neighbourhood high school …
Social stigma, as always.
Injuries caused by the use of tear gas weapons and grenades have become
numerous and sometimes grave (to the hands, eyes, feet, chest, head).
After the others, the high school students undergo it too. And old women
died after been hit by such police dangerous weapons.
What will happen next, for the government, for the protesters, and for
the parties. How can this protest affect the 2022 general election?
How will the movement of yellow vests continue? While we have reached a
pivotal point (very high level of confrontation on December 1st,
unprecedented use by the state of “emergency like” measures on the 8th),
the political pressures are becoming very brutal and as Christmas comes…
difficult to be sure. But this movement is not a fire of straw. It
expresses a very deep social distress. It will continue and rebound, but
it may divide. Demonstrations will be organised coming Saturday, but we
don’t know yet the impact of Macron’s intervention.
The political crisis is becoming more intense. We are now hearing about
the “twilight of Macronism”.
Macron won because both the classical governmental parties were
marginalised. The Socialist Party by its antipopular policies under the
previous government. The right by the multiplication of financial
scandals that affected its candidate. The Republique en marche (LRM)
(Republic on the move; Macronist) is an inorganic movement with little
social implantation (its MPs often come from the world of
entrepreneurs). French institutions are among the least democratic in
Western countries. Macron enjoys exceptional presidential powers and a
massive majority in Parliament, even if it is a minority in the country.
He can “hold”, but not regain his authority.
The next elections (European and local, before the presidential and
legislative elections) are a bad omen for the République en marche. The
results will depend in particular on the rate of abstention, currently
very high. Will one of the next elections be the occasion for a sanction
vote, or will abstention increase further? It is likely to be
particularly high next year, when the European Parliament is elected.
The problem is deep. It is hard to see how the République en marche,
this inorganic movement, could be consolidated in the present
circumstances. France Insoumise (LFI) is also a “movement” (a “gaseous”
movement, Mélenchon said) driven from above, but without a skeleton
(there is no formal membership, for example). All this cannot remain in
the present state. Depending on the circumstances and events, there may
be decomposition, structuring, divisions …
We are going through a social, political and institutional crisis, the
outcome of which is very “open”, in a profoundly new situation. It is
hard to make predictions. It will depend on struggles that take
unforeseen paths, indeed.
Photos: (Top) DR, (Below) Chris McGrath / Getty Images
See video of Gaël Quirante speaking about protesters’ demands:
https://www.facebook.com/1463327013/posts/10217045534798220/
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December 13, 2018 in Europe, Uncategorized. Tags: France, yellow vests
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