Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Police fire teargas and water cannons at angry protesters as strikes across France challenge President Macron's economic reforms

I doubt if this will be in your headlines anywhere.

All hell is breaking loose in France, starting in a few minutes.

Via Facebook, Pepe Escobar

Welcome to THREE MONTHS of rolling rail strikes.

Staff at the SNCF state rail service will be on strike two out of every five days.

Only one TGV out of eight likely to operate. Only one regional train out of five.

Three out of four Eurostars to London will go, same for the Thalys to Brussels and Amsterdam.

But no trains whatsoever to Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

Tomorrow is Black Tuesday. Strikes also include rubbish collectors, some people in the energy sector and Air France (only 75% of flights assured).

So it’s Macron Le Roi Soleil versus the unions. Some reform of the SNCF is inevitable considering a humongous debt of roughly 35 billion euros. But how to do it?

The French knew what they should expect from a Rothschild minion; a “more competitive” environment in a neoliberal Maggie Thatcher sense.

And the neoliberal EU only cares about deregulating train service by 2020.

The unions are livid that Macron’s plan – pushed by executive order - is a first step towards privatizing the SNCF. Support for the strikes is around 50%. But most people in France would be against privatization.

Welcome to Brussels-style “democracy” in action.


From about a week ago


  • Mass protests against president Emmanuel Macron descended into violence with teargas used by police
  • Demonstrators were protesting against latest economic reforms and the country was plunged into chaos
  • Police clashed with anarchists across France, using teargas and water cannon in major cities including Paris



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