Labour Green Left (Australia)
France: The brass band and the revolution
The student-led uprising in France continues to grow, with more than a million people taking to the streets in 200 towns and cities, on November 5, in support of the students and to demand wage rises,
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For the third time in a week, there were major strikes in education and mass demonstrations across France, on November 10.
More than a million people took to the streets in more than 200 towns and cities, on November 5, in support of school students and to demand wage rises, more jobs and an end to cuts in public service budgets. Health workers, dockers, teachers, journalists, municipal staff, train drivers, bank workers and many others joined the one-day strike.
Two days later, hundreds of thousands marched again.
Student assemblies attracted more than a thousand participants at many universities, including Marseille, Rennes, Bordeaux and Paris-Cité.
In some towns, notably Rennes and Bordeaux, and in sectors such as university staff and healthcare, general assemblies of workers (known as interpros or coordinations) are taking the lead in organising the struggle, hoping to overcome the horrific inertia of the national union leaderships.
High school student representatives walked out of a government consultation session on university admissions policy, held in Paris on Monday November 9, when they discovered that ministers had invited fascist MPs to take part.