Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron made a lot of noise when he argued at the NATO summit in London in front of an open camera with US President Donald Trump. But now not a word is heard from him.
"Calm and determined," he said, came out of the Élysée Palace after Thursday's biggest protests in France had opposed his pension reform in less than ten years. It seems as though the protests have left the president speechless.
Police said more than 800,000 French protested against Macron's plans. Trade unions even spoke of 1.5 million participants. Hardly anyone expected such a big protest.
And it is not over. Also on Friday, rail traffic in France is severely restricted, with most metros in Paris resting, Air France has canceled a third of its domestic flights. The strike not only affects the public transport: in seven out of eight oil refineries nationwide, workers on Friday stopped working, which does not threaten overnight, but over the next few days and weeks, gas supplies in the country.
The teachers also continue: Which school was open on Friday morning in Paris, the parents could only find out at the school gate, city administration and school authorities gave different information. It was only clear that nearly half of the schools in the capital were still being exploited.
Video: General strike is followed by rioting in several cities
REUTERS
"We will not stop there at this point, and we will not oppose it when it comes to a general strike," said Olivier Terriot, secretary-general of the Paris Bus Driver Union CGT-RATP. Whether the strike will continue is now being voted on daily in the union-organized general meetings of the companies concerned.
Many French unions have no strike funds. Employees therefore risk losing income if they vote for strikes. But unions such as railroad workers, whose strikes are particularly fast and massive, can receive financial support from other unions. The next decision is according to Terriot Monday.
Publicly, most unions are demanding the abandonment of pension reform. Macron wants to replace more than 40 different pension schemes with a single pension system, depending on the industry. (Read here an interview with an expert on reform needs in the French pension system.)
Macron wants to reduce the benefits of individual occupations such as early retirement and save money for the future deficit French pension fund. But locomotive drivers and bus drivers have hard-fought their early retirement - at the age of 52 in the Paris RATP transport companies - with previous strikes. "A bus driver in Paris does not have it as hard as it used to," said Macron's government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye on Thursday evening in one of the most popular French talks at France 2. Philippe Martinez, head of the influential CGT union, said: "Are you? drove a bus for a month in Paris? "
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Strike in France: Day of mass protestsFor Macron, the TV discussion did not bode well. "His young spokespeople and ministers have no weight over union sizes," says former French Harvard professor Dominique Moisi. He supported Macron 2017 in the election campaign. The political scientist sees the president in grave danger: "The French think about strikes and social movements as about wine: there are big vintages like 1968. And 2019 is undoubtedly a big vintage."
Macron apparently recognized that and asked his prime minister to seek compromise.
- The government is offering teachers to increase their salaries to accept pension reform.
- The government wants to dissuade police officers from striking more in numbers than they have hitherto, promising to maintain the status quo for the time being.
- Overall, the pension reform could be introduced much later than previously planned: Not for persons born in 1963, but from 1973, but in any case from 1977, the year of birth Macrons.
Further measures will be announced by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe next Wednesday. This is the common tactics of the rulers in France: In the crisis, the prime minister speaks first, so that the president still has all options open.
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Politician Moisi is skeptical of whether the offers are enough to end the strike. Macron is in the quandary. If he gives in too much, he loses "the backing from his conservative right-wing voters he won last." Conversely, uncompromising government could lead to a long strike that weakens the French economy.
For Macron, therefore, it is already in the current protests for his re-election in 2022. "The situation for the president is serious," states Moisi. The strikes have just begun.