FRANCE

On the international Workers’ Day,
the French working class is on the road of May ‘68!

On May Day, the workers of France honored the date. Far from being a holiday, it was a real day of struggle, against the pension reform that long ago turned into an open combat against Macron’s government and the Fifth Republic regime. There were massive demonstrations in Paris, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Lyon, Lorient, Brest, Perpignan, Toulouse, Montpellier and many other cities.

In some cities, such as Nantes, farmers joined the mobilizations. In Lyon, they marched with umbrellas to avoid police drones chasing the fighters. The same police force that unleashed a violent crackdown in several cities that left injuries as in Nantes, where the explosion of a dispersion grenade injured the hand of a protester. Because of this, and because the police are deeply hated, there were bloody classes with the repressive forces in several places. In Paris, for example, the police were seen retreating before the barricades, the Motolov cocktails and the combativeness of the march led by the youth.

That same combativeness was seen in Lyon, where the symbols of power were attacked: real estate, insurance and banking agencies were looted, and cars were set on fire.

This is the way to fight on May Day!!! And the fight did not stop there. The next day, protesters blocked the logistics bases of supermarkets and bus terminals in some cities. And the whole week was marked by actions and pot-bashing against the ministers and representatives of Macron’s hated government, such as on Saturday the 6th in Marseille among others. The commemoration of the end of the Second World War on Monday the 8th was a sign of the spirit of the masses and the situation that France is going through; this event usually brings together a large audience around the president. This time Macron paraded alone on the Champs-Élysées, surrounded by impressive police custody. No wonder: wherever he goes, he is greeted with pot-bashing, booing and protests, with which the people show their rejection of his government, as happened today, Tuesday 9th, in Lyon, where thousands were waiting for him in the streets. Macron ended up leaving without being able to meet with the mayor because of these protests and because the protesters flooded the town hall.
These first 9 days of May show that the French working class is on the path of May 68, demonstrating to the entire world that to fight for the smallest demand in this rotten system, such as maintaining past conquests, you have to walk on the road of revolution! Great lesson of this first of May.

 Long live the struggle of the working class and the youth of France!

Correspondent

09/05/23