France: an explosive situation

Since the beginning of September, social tensions have been rising day by day. As we write, tens of thousands of high school students across the country are taking to the streets to demand decent learning conditions. The government is responding with insults and police repression.

[Originally published in French at marxiste.org]

On 29 September, many school students joined the powerful mobilisation of firefighters and public sector workers.

The CGT at TotalEnergies – whose bosses are raking in billions of euros in super-profits at the expense of the people – is calling on all the company’s employees to strike on 8 October. Other movements are underway or on the agenda in the private sector, notably in response to the massive redundancy plan at Sodexo.

Finally, calls for action on 17 October have been widely shared on social media. The immediate cause of this initiative is the soaring cost of fuel, which is hitting the vast majority of workers, tradespeople, shopkeepers and farmers. It is difficult to say what will happen on 17 October and in the days that follow. But the fact that calls launched on TikTok have met with such success in just a few days is an expression of immense social anger.

Against this backdrop, the government is preparing €54 billion of budget cuts, at the expense of workers and the middle classes. From the ruling class’ point of view, these cuts are absolutely necessary to constrain the public deficit, and rising interest payments on this debt. From the point of view of the masses of exploited and oppressed, however, it is a provocation and a further reason to mobilise.

This potentially explosive start to the academic year is causing serious concern amongst the bourgeoisie’s strategists and politicians. They had hoped that the upcoming presidential election would guarantee some degree of social stability for the next seven months. They have been telling the good people: ‘don’t take to the streets: read the manifestos of the parties, listen to the speeches (especially ours), and go and vote when the time comes (but not for Mélenchon). It is the winner of the election who, backed by your mandate, will solve all your problems (unless it’s Mélenchon).’

This, more or less, is the advice the rich and powerful are giving to ordinary citizens. But many young people and workers are unwilling and unable to wait patiently for the presidential election, followed by the parliamentary elections. It is now that they are suffering from deteriorating working conditions, stagnant wages, soaring prices, redundancy, budget cuts and the decline of public services.

They have waited long enough. For years, they have tightened their belts in the hope of better days. Some have even, at times, believed in Macron’s empty promises or his mendacious excuses (‘it’s the Russians’ fault’ and, now, ‘it’s the Houthis’ fault’).

But there is a limit to everything, including the patience of the masses. There is a mood in society that, in the coming weeks, could crystallise into a vast movement. One phrase sums it up: ‘enough is enough!’

The leaders of the labour movement have a responsibility to organise the rising anger and, above all, to provide it with a programme commensurate with the stakes.

The nationalisation of TotalEnergies, under workers’ control, is a slogan that would strike a powerful chord amongst the mass of the working class and the poorest sections of the petty bourgeoisie.

This potentially explosive start to the academic year is causing serious concern amongst the bourgeoisie’s strategists and politicians / Image: fair use

Without such a slogan, the demand for a ‘cap’ or a ‘freeze’ on fuel prices would be impotent. Total’s executives have already warned that they would react cynically to any encroachment on their profit margins: by reducing supply, suspending or reallocating investments, and so on. They must be expropriated: only then will it be possible to control prices – and, at the same time, improve wages and working conditions within this multinational.

A second imperative is to raise all wages and index them to inflation. The rising prices of many raw materials will have a lasting impact on various sectors of the economy. Inflation will not subside in the coming months – it will undoubtedly rise.

Under capitalism, only a global recession – that is to say, another catastrophe – could curb inflation, at the cost of a sharp rise in unemployment and poverty.

The crisis of French capitalism is so profound that nothing in the coming months will alleviate the suffering of the people: neither a change in economic conditions nor government policy. On the contrary: the purchasing power and living conditions of the majority of the population will continue to deteriorate, at a faster or slower rate.

To halt this ongoing social decline, a radical change in economic and social policy would be required. Put simply, the government of the rich would have to be replaced by a government of the workers. Unfortunately, this is not – not in the least – the direction of the current leaders of the trade union movement, including the CGT.

On the evening of 29 September, the leadership of the CGT issued a statement entitled: ‘Public services: in the face of public anger, the government has 48 hours to rethink its position’. It stated that “the government has 48 hours” to “increase civil servants’ wages, free up resources for our public services and stop picking the pockets of workers, pensioners, the sick, tenants and families”.

Yet everyone – including Sophie Binet of the CGT, one assumes – knows that the government will do nothing of the sort.

So, what does the CGT leadership have in mind? We do not know. The press release merely reiterates that several protests are planned for the 5, 6, 8 and 14 October. That is all. No strategy worthy of the name has been formulated. 17 October is not even mentioned. Why? Because the CGT leadership fears an explosive social movement spiralling out of its control.

This is the crux of the problem. The most militant CGT activists must take up the struggle within the union to ensure that its leadership reflects both the anger of the masses and the objective needs of the labour movement.

The immediate demands of the movement – on wages, employment, and learning and working conditions – must be linked to the prospect of overthrowing the Lecornu government and the system it defends. As for the methods of action, they must be equal to the task at hand.

No ‘day of action’, however large, will make the government and its supporters – the bosses of TotalEnergies, the multinationals and the banks – back down by so much as a millimetre.

The leaders of the left and the trade union movement – starting with the CGT and LFI – must join forces to build a powerful movement of rolling strikes, backed by a broad campaign of agitation. We must demonstrate to all workers that, without them, society is paralysed; that they create all wealth; and that, therefore, they must run the economy – which means wresting its key levers from the hands of the gigantic parasites who control them.

Finally, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his comrades must not be content merely to support the various expressions of social anger – whilst deferring it to the presidential election in April and May 2027. LFI must throw all its strength into the struggles that are unfolding.

As he did before 10 September 2025, Mélenchon must call on the leadership of the trade union movement to put a nationwide economic blockade on the agenda. Whatever the outcome, that would strengthen LFI’s authority amongst young people, the poor and workers, whilst forcing Marine Le Pen and her clique into hiding – as they always do whenever the working people rise up against the exploiters and profiteers.