France: unions must reject consensus with Macron

Submitted by Matthew on 21 June, 2017 - 10:40

The French socialist newsletter Arguments pour la lutte sociale comments on the second round of France’s legislative elections, 18 June: "Abstentions: 57.4%. Watch out! This major fact must not be interpreted only as a “civic strike”, as Jean-Luc Mélenchon puts it. That is true for many, and for the majority of the 10% of blanked or spoiled ballots or ballots where the two candidates in the run-off were both more or less for Macron. But to see it only that way is to ignore the defeat suffered by the working class on 23 April [in the first round of the Presidential poll]. Also, many abstentions were right-wing or Front National, or an expression of indifference. They have a significance, but not one automatically transformable into a social counter-offensive. The central political issue is the to break the trade union confederations from pseudo-consensus politics at the top."

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