French teacher says ‘Conditions are ripe for long strikes’ as protests spread

The protests have led teachers to ‘see their students in a new light’ (Photo: RevPermanente)

Students at Nicolas’s school in north east Paris blockaded the entrance on Thursday and Friday last week. They are outraged at overcrowded classrooms, poor teacher’s pay and an unequal education system where a student’s background determines their success. It was one of hundreds of schools that were barricaded.

The state has demanded that the school close and switch to online learning. But teachers say the closure is a manoeuvre designed to break the students’ mobilisation. They have responded by calling a strike.

What is it like being a teacher in a general school in Paris?

My high school is an old, historic building that lacks proper thermal insulation.

Returning from the holidays this winter, temperatures in some classrooms were as low as 15 degrees, whereas during the heatwave, they soared past 32 degrees—even reaching 35 degrees in some rooms.

Classes had to be cancelled or moved to the basement. During exam periods, conditions were unbearable for both students and workers.

We lack fans, adequate window insulation, cooled rooms and greenery in the schoolyards. Like everywhere else, we have been calling for a thermal renovation plan.

However, funding depends on the regional government—controlled by the Conservative-type party, the Republicans (LR)—which cuts public education budgets every year in favour of private education.

The central government cannot find the money to fund school renovations, yet it managed to find £30 billion to increase military spending in April.

Above all, we lack support staff for students with special educational needs and disabilities. Needs are rising year after year but resources are not.

These workers lack proper employment protections and are very poorly paid. We do not have a social worker position at the school, even though many struggling families here need one.

By early October, educational support staff still hadn’t received their September paychecks.

We have class sizes of up to 35 students in the final year of high school. Under these conditions, it is impossible to properly guide students and prepare them for exams.

Furthermore, students have to contend with the admissions system if they want to go on to higher education. It prevents many from pursuing their desired post-secondary paths. It is a huge source of anxiety for them.

What do teachers think when adults accuse young people of “urban violence”?

The blockades at our school on Thursday and Friday were massive and very well organised, involving a wide range of demands. Overall, things went smoothly and there was little police presence in the morning.

However, in vocational high schools—which serve more working class and racially diverse student populations—the crackdown was brutal.

Students were prevented from organising blockades and the situation turned ugly. They rightly feel marginalised and cast aside. They are furious about the lot they have been dealt.

Yet the media labelled them “rioters” and rumours spread across social media—“the rioters are coming”, “they’re armed”.

Some of our students and colleagues were frightened. And those young people did arrive, some with fireworks, others intent on setting fire to the bins. Just like during the Gilets Jaunes—Yellow Vests—movement over the cost of living that began in 2018.

The students wanted to confront the police, who harass them daily in their neighbourhoods. The police escalated the situation by charging at the students and firing tear gas.

We tried to discuss all of this with our students and colleagues. We also took a stand in solidarity.

We said, “The anger that sometimes manifests as violence is a consequence of the destruction of the school system, which is becoming an increasingly violent instrument of social sorting”. And “The best response to repression is unity and solidarity”.

How are the school strikes organised?

We have a strong tradition of trade union unity at our workplace. We hold monthly general meetings attended by over 40 people.

That is where we voted to strike last Tuesday 29 September. But our motion also stated that we should not stop at a single day of action.

Some 50 percent of us went on strike on Tuesday—a better turnout than the national average, though we can do even better. We marched with our banner as part of the massive demonstration.

The situation has changed since then. On Thursday, the local trade union coalition called on people to come early in the morning to support the students outside the high school.

There was a big turnout—not just activists, but also colleagues who only learned upon arrival that the school had been administratively closed.

They got involved in supporting the students and witnessed the seriousness of their collective organisation and their demands. Like me, they saw their students in a new light.

Several colleagues who had not gone on strike on Tuesday told us they were ready to do so in solidarity.

It was difficult for us to hold collective discussions. We held several general meetings in a cafe on Thursday and Friday, but at times we had to break them off to go and support our students.

Our national unions have called for a strike on Tuesday 6 October. We certainly agree with this, but several of us felt we should go on strike starting on Monday and build a long-term strike movement.

As we state in our press release, “We will not let the government gag students and staff. We cannot continue doing our jobs under the threat of repression outside our schools.”

The school’s joint union committee has therefore decided to call for a strike starting Monday October 5.

Not everyone was in agreement. But over the weekend we learned that the school would be closed on Monday, that demonstrations in the vicinity were banned and that drones would be flying over the area.

This convinced many colleagues to join the strike. One colleague who originally hadn’t been convinced wrote on the mobilisation WhatsApp group, “Like many others, I am outraged by this decision. I will be striking on Monday”.

We are trying to build connections with colleagues at other schools and we are calling on our Paris-based organisations to arrange a city-wide general assembly to discuss future actions.

What can workers do beyond this week?

The impact of the high school student movement on teachers’ unions was immediate. We share the same demands. We will be joining forces for the strike and demonstrations on Tuesday.

But we must keep going, as the government will not yield easily. On the contrary, it is planning massive attacks—£46 billion in budget cuts. Every sector is under attack.

Our students talk to their parents in the evening after returning from the blockades, offering them a perspective on urban unrest that differs from the media narrative.

Naturally, the movement is also being discussed in workplaces. This may lead workers to consider joining the movement themselves.

This is especially likely given the CGT union federation’s decision to send representatives from its local branches to schools. This helps forge links with other sectors—such as healthcare—that are facing the same plight as education.

Conditions are ripening for a broad movement of prolonged strikes against austerity measures and repression.

May 1968 showed us how a massive, determined movement of student youth could crystallise into a huge general strike and achieve enormous gains.